TDM #19

[apocalypsehowmods]

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➥ Arrival

(cw: potential for severe disorientation/vertigo, claustrophobia, arachnophobia, body horror)

It happens in the blink of an eye. You may have been asleep. You may not have. You may have stepped through a door or turned a corner. You may have seen a flicker of something at the corner of your vision and turned to look. Or maybe you didn't.

It doesn't matter. What matters is that you find yourself somewhere entirely new and entirely unfamiliar. The arrival point is not always the same. (If you're lucky, it might be a canteen or an open office. If you're not, well... you aren't claustrophobic, are you? Or arachnophobic. These ducts do seem to be a bit cobwebby.) You might even arrive in a section of building that has been demolished, leaving a pit of rubble open to the sky–hope you're up on your tetanus shots! There is no one waiting for you but you don’t seem to be alone, either. Even in a janitor’s closet or the bathroom, you’ll find at least one person who seems to be just as out of place as you are. The one exception is the demolition zone off what used to be one corner of the building: it seems the security teams are keeping a particularly close eye on that area to document new arrivals and bring them in quickly.

If characters have arrived in a location devoid of NPCs, they may want to work together to figure out what is going on... or to avoid their 'kidnappers.' If you’ve arrived in the middle of the entry foyer or the gym, there may well be a few people who startle a bit at your arrival and try to approach (or discreetly leave the room... where are they going?). Will you cooperate or fight? Do you even understand what they're saying? You might need to find a translator, if you’re not immediately willing to follow a stranger.

After characters follow their new hosts (or are forcibly taken in) there will be a limited tour and the chance to settle in at the ADI-provided housing. (Do you enjoy living with strangers? Well. It's a new situation to navigate, anyway.)

➥ Arrhythmia

(cw: auditory hallucinations, decay, rot, filth, mold, blood, blood sacrifice, violence, brief allusion to self-harm and harm to animals)

Things seem to have quieted down in Gloucester after a rough January. Everyone is still recovering from the severe localized internet failures that took place last month and disrupted everything from basic research to every level of commerce. Life has stabilized, though, and it does the heart good.

Not just your heart, either. It doesn't happen to everyone. In fact, it seems random, and it's not confined to just off-worlders, but everyone living in Gloucester; though, most are loath to talk about it. There is a heart beating within the room that you take refuge in to sleep, and it is not your own or even that of a partner you might bed down with. It seems to be beating within the walls and under the floorboards, never in the same place twice, but definitely there.

Those plagued by the heartbeat will find that their living conditions begin to degrade night by night, seeming to coincide with a slowdown in the beats of the heart. You might wake with dust covering you, cobwebs in the corners, mold and rot spreading across the floor. Your sheets and clothes may degrade to rags, your body may be covered in filth. You know instinctively what this is. The heart is beginning to die. Your room is dying, and there is only one way to fix it: blood. Not just any blood, though. No, that would be too simple. Your own is insufficient. Animals will not work. You need the blood of another person marked upon the spot where the heart beats. Blood spilled willingly or taken without the knowledge of another may stave off one effect for the night, but it does nothing for the others, nor the worst of them. Blood spilled from an unwilling person, from someone who knows they've been taken from for this terrible purpose, is the most potent. The heart races with this and the room seems to be right and well, returning completely to normal and staying as such for several days. But the heart that beats is a weak and fickle one. Go too long without another blood-letting, and the decay will creep back in.

People who might wish to avoid this all together will find their options limited. There are some living spaces that aren't affected, but that means crowding into one place. Time to get cozy with the neighbors if you don't want to stab them and steal their blood. If you're one of the lucky ones with a heartbeat-free room? Get ready for an influx of potentially long-term house guests.

➥ Love Potion Number 9

(cw: altered mental states; stalking; unwanted romantic advances; toxic romantic relationships)

Emotions can run high around the holidays, especially holidays that are all about displays of emotion. A small uptick in domestic altercations in Gloucester at the start of February initially goes unnoticed as anything significant. But then boxes of chocolates appear in break rooms around ADI, an early Valentine's Day gift from HR staffer Pam Ruan in lieu of an actual holiday party. And those romantic tensions that have been going around? Well, now they're coming around at ADI.

It starts as soon as you eat even one chocolate. At first it's just a flurry of affection for whomever you happen to lay eyes on next, or perhaps it's merely noticing them as a romantic prospect in a way you never did before. The more time you spend around that person, the more the feeling deepens. This is love, isn't it? This desire to be near them, to gaze upon them, to chatter and giggle with them like schoolchildren–that's love, isn't it?

Parting ways with the object of your affection can allow the feeling to fade over the next hour until it's forgotten, though they'll stay in your mind and the urge to seek them out remains for that time. Unless, of course, you had more than one chocolate! The intensity of the feeling, of the need to be near your person is exponentially more intense for every chocolate you've consumed, and to part with them hurts your soul. And why should you part with them? Why should you be denied your love?

Pairs who have both eaten chocolates and been "lucky" enough to mutually imprint on one another will find themselves practically glued to each other by the need to remain close, jealously guarding their new relationship against any potential interference. Those whose completely legitimate chocolate-induced love is unrequited, however, still feel the need to be close and the same possessiveness even if it's not returned.

Stalking, spying, and even kidnapping is going around, but within a day ADI's higher ups are aware of the situation. Staff are instructed to incinerate any chocolate found on the premises, and anyone caught stalking their coworkers or suddenly engaging in a codependent relationship is to be separated until the effects wear off–by force, if necessary.

[See Mod Notes below for an important message regarding this prompt.]

➥ Bumble Gum

(cw: entomophobia, arachnophobia, bugs, bees)

Everyone’s abuzz about a new shop in town. Bumble Gum has opened its doors just in time for a season of sweets and sweethearts. A jaunty bee sits on the round sign over the door and as decals on the windows, but it’s hardly necessary with the bright white and pink-striped awning welcoming in the curious.

Inside, white wicker baskets decorated in large bows line a front table, each filled with a colored cellophane treat and labeled with a similarly-designed cute bug picture for easy identification.

Because it doesn’t take more than a sharp eye to notice what’s inside the cellophane.

The baskets hold an array of chocolate-covered, cinnamon-covered, and candied bugs, from butterflies to beetles to mealworms. Along the walls hang other enticing offerings including fried flies in charming pink and white bags, a ‘protein-rich potato chip alternative!’ Lollipops that hold whole insects like tasty nuggets of amber and even a tiered arrangement of ‘bug juice’ styled drinks line another wall. Go to the counter, and their fresh assortment of powdered-sugar moths, truffles garnished with ants and wasps, and even a sign inviting you to order some freshly steamed pupae are there to greet you. Along with, of course, a smiling and cheerful cashier dressed in a frilly pink and white uniform complete with a set of costume bee’s wings on their back. Why, what can they help you with today?

It certainly doesn’t seem like the kind of place that would get popular…niche as it is, but it’s new and gossip-worthy and offers free samples on Thursday and a couple of wary fishermen soon swear by it. Teens dare each other to buy something…and some of them come back again later. Even ADI isn’t immune as one day a carton of chocolate-dipped spider legs are left out with an open invitation to try them!

A little salty…a little crunchy…a little sweet! Who knew?

➥ Mod Notes

• ARRIVAL (February 1-28): Two people will almost always arrive in the same general location together. Arrivals occur throughout the early month, not all on the same day or in the same place. Arrivals are not naturally fluent in English/other languages immediately upon arrival. Characters may attempt to evade capture, but they will eventually be snagged before they can leave the building (or the rubble that used to be part of the building). PC's already in-game are more than welcome to interact with and try to guide new PC's to get them oriented. Please refer to the Arrival page for details regarding the arrival and onboarding process, as well as information about the state of ADI Headquarters.
  
  
• ARRHYTHMIA (February 5-15): Not every room will be afflicted with the heartbeat, but a lot of them will be. As mentioned in the prompt, this is not limited to just ADI housing or Bonnie's Flophouse; although, getting locals to admit to their experiences will be difficult for those who go investigating. Many are frightened, confused, and ashamed of themselves for what they're doing to try to keep their homes from becoming unlivable. They may even think they're hallucinating. The decay effects are visible to anyone who steps into a living space, though, and they do not disappear unless cleaned up or until the heart is 'fed.' Those who go looking for an actual heart will need to rip up floorboards or break through walls to try to get to it… and the heartbeat seems to always be a little off from where the person is investigating. Audible, but never visible. The heartbeats will fade after two weeks if they're left to their own devices. Those who have left their rooms to decay will find that their room is a disgusting and degraded mess to clean up afterwards. Time to get your spring cleaning on early!
  
  
• LOVE POTION NUMBER 9 (February 1-15): Reminder: As per the game's rules, the following types of plots/character interactions are not allowed: rape, sexual violence, underage sex, pregnancy. The effects of the chocolates do not include an urge to perpetrate acts of sexual violence. Threads with obsessive and unwanted romantic behaviors per this prompt must be clearly marked with content warnings.
  
  
• BUMBLE GUM (February 1-Onward): There’s all kinds of bugs to be had in Bumble Gum, if it’s feasibly edible, it’s feasibly found! Andrena is a friendly young adult who greets new friends with pep and enthusiasm, a true ‘kill them with kindness’ sort. If you have trouble choosing, they’re happy to help you find your new soilmate today! Hard scrutiny of the sweet and savory treats will reveal: they are, in fact, bugs. Enjoy!
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Comments

QUESTIONS

[apocalypsehowmods]

Re: QUESTIONS

[easilyamused]

How much blood is needed to stave off the decay for a while? Is someone who's determined to keep the effects at bay going to be killing someone every few days, or would a pint or two be enough?

[apocalypsehowmods]

It's less about volume/quantity and more about fear and violation. Enough blood that it will viscerally upset another person. For a normal human, that might be a pint. For a non-human that's hard to kill, it might take substantially more to make them actually afraid. For small reprieves of a single effect (like for blood given willingly/taken without knowledge), it would be about half a pint.

[dangerousmind]

Can Aelwyn do some digging into "Andrena". She doesn't trust like that.

[apocalypsehowmods]

Could you give us a max of three specific questions Aelwyn would want answered about Andrena and what methods she would employ to answer them?

[failedpromise]

What would happen if Cortana were to purchase a selection of treats from Bumble Gum and feed them to some lab rats? (Probably setting up a different group for testing each treat on + a control group that is simply fed their normal diet.)

cw: animal testing

[apocalypsehowmods]

Feeding that much sugar to rats isn't going to be good for them! But beyond the effects you might expect to see from rats who have been given too much sugar, they seem perfectly fine.

Gil Arroyo || Prodigal Son || BACK TO THE FUTURE

[inlieuofadad]

➥ Arrival
It's April.

It should be April, and he should be walking out of a local coffee shop with a to go cup of black coffee in hand. Instead he feels oddly like he's tripped and suddenly the raw spring weather feels brutally wintery and he's surrounded by rubble. A vision? A nightmare? Gil gives things a brief, dizzy look, recognizing the partially-destroyed ADI building, the raw edges made blunt with time.

"What the hell," he murmurs. He clambers over the rubble as best as a man verging on 60 in unyielding slacks can. If he's not caught before he gets to the edge of the collapse, he'll make his way into the more inhabited parts of the building.

Once he's made it there? Next stop is the ADI apartments.


➥ Bumble Gum
Gil stands across the street from this weird sugary place with his arms crossed and faint disapproval on his face.

It's candy. Candy full of bugs. In a weird traumatizing town where new and unusual is almost always a precursor to utterly terrible.

He's just gonna... keep sipping his terrible coffee that he finally got and glaring at people having a good time, but like, in a dad way.

➥ Wildcard
Different idea? Want to find him elsewhere around Gloucester? Hit me up.

[lobster_bib]

Something he's learned since coming here: everything sweet tastes too sweet. Call it the side effect of the apocalypse, where the only sweetener available were beets.

But bug candy might be doable, so he's cautiously bought some and hasn't yet worked up the nerve to taste it. He ends up standing next to Gil because it has the best vantage point of the street, and if things go wrong he can make an easy getaway.

But it does mean he's standing next to a stranger so he gives him a little grin. "Want to take bets on what the chocolate covered ants do?"

[inlieuofadad]

He knows that voice. Gil turns toward the speaker, frown gone slightly concerned and remonstration ready. “Are you sure you should be—”

And then his brain comes to a screeching halt. Because that is definitely Malcolm’s face, but it is also definitely not. Gil’s hand drifts toward his service weapon from instinct and paranoia more than anything else. “What—who are you?”

Wildcard

[abrightboy]

Malcolm is walking towards ADI, thinking about going into the coffee shop, but debating it. Should he get that latte when they probably need their money for the wedding?

But he forgets about all of it for a moment as Gil comes out of the coffee shop. Malcolm stares at him.

“Gil?”

[inlieuofadad]

He knocked on B1’s door and no one answered. He tried his key and it didn’t work. None of this makes sense, but he knows that Malcolm likes that coffee shop, and he’s trying not to panic. Panic is the enemy of progress.

He doesn’t get coffee when he goes inside, just scans the room twice to see if he can spot Malcolm or his Robin Hood before turning to go outside again.

It’s still freezing. He’s still dressed for April weather.

But there’s Malcolm. Gil gives a little gasped exhale of relief, closing the distance between them at a trot and yanking Malcolm into a tight hug.

[ployboy]

His phone likely has messages left on read or never opened at all, Tim's late nights and mornings and mid days once again melting into one and the same. But something's off in his open-secret snooping today: Lieutenant Arroyo had been registered in ADI's logs again.

If Tim had paid attention days earlier, this wouldn't be as big of a shock as it is but... anyway, he sets off into town with a new awareness and a goal in mind. And the new-- candy store is conveniently placed enough that Tim passes by it on his way to the hardware store. He slows his steps, cautious and curious and stamping down a tidal wave of warm feeling when he calls out, "I'm not a fan of that store either but I think a bad review will do more good in shutting it down than, uhm, that."

Who the heck just stands there and glares at brick and mortar shops. Boomers, that's who. Boomer cops especially. --Gil.

[inlieuofadad]

Gil recognizes the voice. He looks over as soon as he hears it, his scowl already half-way to disappearing. It's turned into a smile by the time Tim says do more good, and he's come over to give the boy a tight, warm hug when he hits that.

"Tim. Good to see you, kid. I was wondering when I would."

arrival

[dangerousmind]

That's another one returned... Aelwyn didn't know Gill well before he disappeared off the face of the earth, but it's more proof that whatever happens to them can be reversed, that they're not dead.

She experienced this with Tim, him stumbling all over the place and her lending support.

"Welcome back," She says cautiously, after all, she has no proof that he's even real, does she? "You're looking worse for wear."

Wednesday Addams | Wednesday | OTA

[fortunatedead]

I. Arrival | ADI

[Wednesday is covered in blood. It's still wet on her palms and fingers, still soaking into the cuffs of her crisp white shirt. There's a dark stain spreading across the front of her black sweatervest, and the hem of her white shirt is untucked and stained dark red. Another stain is spreading across her shoulder. Her fringe is windblown, partially plastered to her forehead by dark red rivulets running down from her forehead across her cheek and dripping onto her stiff white collar. It's on the sole of her boot, too, as though she stepped in a puddle of the stuff.

She doesn't mind. She's never minded blood. Quite the opposite.

The strange moment of disorientation she experiences as she steps through the gate marking the entrance to Nevermore, however, is not welcome.

The lights are blinding after the dark forest road, but Wednesday doesn't react, her expression remaining flat and guarded as she takes in her new surroundings. Desks. Computers. People sitting and staring at her.]

What is this place?


II. Arrhythmia

[Nothing like this ever happened at home. Once she gets back, she'll have to speak to mother and father about arranging for it. There must be a few cursed hearts in the world that could produce a similar effect.

She's sitting at her desk in her room at Bonnie's Flophouse, handwriting in a notebook until she can get a typewriter, enjoying watching the cobwebs that have built up between the desk and the wall dance in the faint draft.]

You want blood, is that it?

[The heart beats faintly.]

You'll die without it?

[The heart beats faintly.

Wednesday likes the room this way. She likes the effects it produces when it's near death. Perhaps she could feed it just enough to keep it barely alive, just enough blood to allow it to persist while also creating all these cozy decaying effects.

Well. No time like the present.

She picks up a knife, strides out into the hallway, and accosts the first person she sees.]

I need your blood.


III. Bumble Gum

[The only thing that strikes Wednesday as odd about this shop is the color scheme. It's nauseatingly bright and jolly. She hates it. It reminds her of Enid, who - against her will and better judgement - she misses. Which makes her hate it more.

Adding to the shop's sins are the lack of savory options and the egregious level of hospitality displayed by the person behind the sales counter. Currently, despite Wednesday making it clear she dislikes sweet food, they're insisting she try an earthworm lollipop.]

Recommend that lollipop again and I'll put your eye out with the stick.

[The salesperson isn't deterred at all by this warning, and prattles on as though they didn't even hear it. Why not try some fried flies or peanut butter beetles, if Wednesday doesn't want anything too sugary?

Near her, Wednesday spots someone looking at a selection of candies. A reason to disengage from the salesperson's aggressive positivity without admitting defeat.]

Those things will give you cavities.


IV. Wildcard!

[I'm up for pretty much anything, hit me up by PM if you'd like to plot!]

III

[punched_hitler]

[Steve might have actually tried the candy, but he's been warned away by now. He is, however, still inspecting the options curiously, maybe with the intent of bring back a few samples (not for human consumption) with half an ear cocked toward the poor kid being chatted up (or, really, chatted at) by the shop employee.

He does glance over when her voice seems pitched for him to pick up, though.]

Oh, I - [There's a slight, awkward little pause, before,] can get cavities, yes.

But I was just looking, really. I take it you're doing the same?

[Since she doesn't seem interested in actually eating anything.]

iii

[dangerousmind]

[Aelwyn glances over at the girl in black being hounded by the salesperson and can't help but smile. She likes this girl's intensity. She doesn't help, because she's a bitch and she wants to carry out her investigation without being bothered. Better the goth girl than her, sorry.

But then she aims a question her way and this time that earns her a short laugh.]

It'll do a lot worse than that, I can guarantee you. [The fact that it's still winter means that nobody bats an eye at the fact Aelwyn's wearing gloves and not letting it come near her skin.]

jeff | oc | returning spiral avatar

[cacophonish]

I. ARRIVAL (REMIX)

There's a young man loitering around Gloucester. You won't find him at the ADI Headquarters, or at Bonnie's, so it might be easy to mistake him for a local at first. Maybe he's just moved here. Maybe he's just passing though.

...probably just a college kid, in town to visit his parents. Yeah, that's it.

Except he's around an awful lot, hanging out at places where ADI transplants tend to congregate. You know, like your favorite coffee shop, or that one late-night diner, or this store or that. Totally casual, seemingly minding his own business, and maybe it's just a big coincidence that he turns up multiple times, in multiple places.

...of course, to anyone who's been around since before the mission to Wolf Pen, he's pretty easily recognizable as Jeff. Troubled, confused, dreamy, difting Jeff, who ran away after the big confrontation in the mines.

He's looking better these days. Still lanky and a bit too skinny, but there's none of that sickly quality he had in the months leading up to Wolf Pen. His hair's sun-kissed and blonder than before, and there's a healthy, rosy flush to his skin, and a light dancing in his hazel eyes. Wherever he's been, it seems to have done wonders for him.

Sometimes, he'll have headphones on as he fiddles with an apple green, totally outdated ipod shuffle. Sometimes, he's got a weird sphynx cat in his arms, bundled up in a rainbow knit sweater. (Long-time Bonnie's residents might recognize her as Macaroni, Jack's cat. She's back, baby!)

You might catch him looking at you, a faint smile lingering at the corners of his mouth, like he's laughing at a private joke you're not in on. Come on over and say hi. Or get in his face. Or punch him, he probably deserves it.

II. ARRHYTHMIA

After a few days of loitering at the periphery, Jeff's finally back at Bonnie's. Home, sweet... ehhhhh....

Where's the leaks? What happened to all the charming disrepair? Somebody even patched up the hole in the wall that connected his (former) room to Wanda's (former) room.

It's fucking gentrified now. Even the wave of filth and decay seems to bypass his room, which is really just adding insult to injury, you know. Time to drown his woes with music.

But hey, if you live at Bonnie's, and you're plague by a phantom heartbeat, it's about to have some competition in the form of Taylor Swift, blasted at full volume.

III. LOVE POTION NUMBER 9

So there's one good thing about never going into the office: no exposure to fucked up love chocolates! But it would be a total bummer if Jeff totally missed out on this prompt, so maybe he just happens to be at the exact wrong-slash-right place while some ADI drone (you!) happens to sample some chocolate.

Or maybe you're feeling generous and want to share with him.

Or maybe there's some other wildcard option, I dunno, man, this is basically a wildcard prompt.

IV. BUMBLE GUM!

"Whoa, it's like Lisa Frank puked up a bunch of bugs."

Jeff's in the shop. He's gazing around slowly, blinking, looking like some cross between vaguely amused, curious, and confused as he drifts around the offerings.

"Dude... there's like, no vegetarian stuff."

Yeah, that's his main takeaway from this.

ooc: Jeff's back, and he's still an avatar of the Spiral, so that may come up in threads, and I'll make sure to warn accordingly. Hit me at weeyotch#8200 on discord or weeyotch for any plotting!

II

[fortunatedead]

Wednesday detests modern pop music. And, since she's separated from Taylor Swift's ear-splitting discography by nothing more than a thin wall, she is currently experiencing an agony beyond what she imagines any other person has ever endured.

With a level of righteous indignation that only a teenager can muster, she abruptly pushes her chair back from her desk, stands, and strides to the offender's door.

She turns the doorknob, planning to just walk in uninvited. But even if the door's locked, she'll say - loud enough to be heard while trying to sound like she isn't shouting - "Turn that off."

jimothy (cont)

[cacophonish]

[ CONTINUED FROM HERE ]

Their hands fit together nicely and-- that's a weird thing to notice. It's not like Jeff's been so starved for touch that a little hand holding is totally novel and special. It's not like he hasn't spent the last six months using casual intimacy as a weapon.

But maybe that's why he notices every little sensation right now. Because... because it's also been six months since he's touched somebody and felt anything other than a vague predatory instinct to taunt and twist and devour.

He follows easily, heads out of the shop with Tim. The frustration and distress and not-knowing, festering and bubbling-- he wants to nurture it with lies, uncertainty, mistrust-- no, he doesn't. Does he?

Boyfriend or meal? (Why does it have to be one or the other? Why not both--)

"I..." His fingers twitch in Tim's hand. "Yeah, um, when I couldn't find you, I... I went looking." He went to Gloucester, first. Looked for Tim there, then took his own things (and a cat) and ran. "Then I just kept going. I thought, maybe I'd find you, or-- or some version of my family, or..." He shrugs. "I dunno."

Then.

"It sucks, losing time." Understatement. "It's like, you're being haunted by the possibility of everything that could've happened, that you'll never know."

III

[abrightboy]

Malcolm knocks tentatively at the door to Jeff’s room. He knows it’s Jeff’s room because of the Taylor Swift. He has a baggie with a few chocolates in it in his hand.

gilliam (cont)

[cacophonish]

[ CONTINUED FROM HERE ]

"What's there to be sorry for? You didn't choose to lose time. Nothing could've stopped it."

Right? Gil didn't choose to be another jenga block in Jeff's crumbling humanity.

"And anyway, plans are just roadmaps for shit to go sideways." He grins, bright and cheery as he says it. "So, when'd you get back?"

maldamn it i can't think of a stupid nickname (cont)

[cacophonish]

[ CONTINUED FROM HERE ]

"Thanks," Jeff beams. "This means you're gonna throw me a party, right? A welcome back-slash-congrats on your newfound sobriety party?"

Come on. THROW HIM A PARTY.

"So how's it been going, um, you know, with life in--" This crapsack town, under the ADI's thumb-- "Gloucester?"

i

[dangerousmind]

[It sends a chill down her spine, just the sight of him. In contrast, while he looks healthier, there's only a quiet smokey misery following Aelwyn to anyone who has an eye for someone starved of pain, and beneath the surface there's an endless hunger and desire.

She's not sure he's real. She'd really given up seeing anyone who's gone again - but first Tim, now Jeff... She smiles at him, despite herself, as she approaches.]

You know, I kind of thought you were dead.

[And then she slaps him in the face.]