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vestigechat2020-11-21 02:56 am
vestigemods) wrote in vestigechat2020-11-21 02:56 am
Entry tags:
(event) H̸̠͉͖͌̓̋̽E̵̯͐ͅĻ̵͛̕̚L̶̨͈̪̗͑̀̀̚Ơ̵̢̠̣̐̏̚
NOVEMBER EVENT: H̸̠͉͖͌̓̋̽E̵͐Ļ̵͛̕̚L̶̨͈̪̗͑̀̀̚Ơ̵̢̠̣̐̏̚
NOVEMBER 25TH - 26TH
► SO HERE'S WHAT THE FUCK IS UP
- Belated bienvenido to my cold, damp November homies. 🌧️ (If you're warm and/or dry, this is clearly your cue to dampen yourself in solidarity.) It's time, at long last, for this month's event!
This month's event is largely psychological horror! While it may seem like monster horror (what with the conspicuous and alarming visitors), that implies there's some way to fight them and, well. That's not so much the case. This is, at its core, an environmental effect event kind of like Shatter & Decay back in July - things happen to the characters, and their only real recourse is to try to hide and wait it out until it's over. And while the event itself is quite short (25th - 26th), the after-effects of the event last anywhere from a few days to... well, however long you decide it's fun to make your character miserable, really.
If you want to opt out, feel free to say your character was just plain never in range of any of the effects, though you may have to finagle where else they might be if (for example) your characters' housemates are affected, since it's not really something that affects some but not others. Content warnings are minimal for the event overall - some of the things which can be experienced are also things which, in the context of some mental health struggles, can be very troubling (disassociation, for example). Other than that, any CWs are subject to how y'all extrapolate on what I've given you.
But what have I given you? Let's find out.
THEY COME
- Though November is, overall, a fairly dreary and nondescript month, one thing of note has certainly occurred: For the first time since characters were first turned loose in the containment zone, one month has rolled into the next and the increasingly alarming tree hasn't moved any closer. It still sits 50 yards from the barrier, creepy as hell, fucking your brains.
Until suddenly, it doesn't.
On the 25th, at the godawful hour of 5 AM, a ripple wakes everyone from whatever level of sleep they may or may not have been previously enjoying. It's not a sound nor a sight, nor is it even really a sensation that can be felt on the skin - and anyway, it's gone by the time most characters are properly conscious, leaving them wondering what exactly woke them. But everything... seems pretty ordinary, to be honest. They may even decide to settle back in to steal a few more hours of sleep. Wouldn't that be nice. What a shame that things have only just begun.
Five minutes later, with the obtuse buzzing of an emergency alarm, a senderless text alert arrives on every phone:
Wait for follow-up alert that situation has been contained.
For all intents and purposes, the visitors are indistinguishable from one another. Humanoid but hairless, with necks just slightly too long and no discernible noses. When they move, they walk with gradual steps, as if strolling... But it's like they flicker or (for lack of better word) glitch forward through time-space at a speed incongruous with the visible motion of their steps.
But that's fine, because characters still find that they can't seem to bring themselves to look at the visitors. Those who try are seized with a primal and mind-numbing avoidance reaction, as if some part of them recognizes something in that tree as beyond the scope of what they're prepared to handle or comprehend. This can be overcome - more on that in the next drop-down.
Throughout their time in the containment zone, they can feasibly be found wandering literally anywhere, always alone as opposed to in pairs or groups. They never seem to have a specific destination in mind, though they do seem to wander more frequently through populated areas like the cabins and around the apartment complex.
But what do these visitors do? That depends on who you ask.
THEY WANDER
- So for simplicity and for the sake of not making this later by wasting time padding it, I'm going to break this shit down for you bullet-point style. Note that of a given list of possible symptoms, it's entirely up to you which ones your character experiences (as few as 1-2 symptoms or as many as the whole damn list, if you're feeling ambitious), and it's also up to you how strong those symptoms are. All symptoms last basically as long as you want them to, go nuts with it.
And I cannot emphasize this enough: If something (especially in the 'fuckeries' below) seems too abstract/ambiguous for you, take whatever parts resonate with you and re-interpret them however you want even if it's not at all how I described it here. Consider these more ideas than strict guidelines. This is like Build-A-Bear if by 'Bear' we mean 'existential reality-shifting mindfuck trip'.
IF A VISITOR IS NEARBY, BUT NOT IN VISUAL RANGE
- mild to moderate disassociation; feeling outside of/apart from their body or feeling disconnected from the world around them
- deja-vu
- synesthesia (especially chromesthesia or mirror-touch synesthesia)
- the perception that they or those around them are moving either too fast or too slow
- distortion of sounds (everything sounds muffled, or echoed, or tinny, or distant)
- low buzz of anxiety (nothing sharp or urgent, more of an undercurrent)
- dilated pupils, possibly eyes going unfocused
- mild aphasia (swapping of words/inability to find correct ones)
- (in rare cases) prosopagnosia (face-blindness)
- TIME FUCKERY - the character essentially no longer feels constrained by the linear concept of time. maybe they watch their memories like a movie. maybe they see what they feel like is a vision from their future. maybe they feel like they've transcended to a place where they're in the past, present and future all at once. maybe they literally are, for a minute - depending on which way you want to go with it, it's possible for characters to experience 'memories' of things in their future which have yet to happen, or to feel like the past/present/future versions of themselves are all present within their body. you can also go a totally different route with this than anything I've listed here. for real, go nuts.
- 'VERSE FUCKERY - this is like 'TIME FUCKERY', but instead of the past/present/future, they experience parallel versions of themself alongside the current one. they might remember the alternate self's memories, feel their emotions, etc. it could be a vague awareness of their presence, or it could be as intense as a brief hivemind scenario. make up whatever wild ass AUs you want for this, no rules.
- INTERPERSONAL FUCKERY - let's hope you like the motherfucker hiding here with you, because shit's about to get real personal. the distinction between two people blur in some shape or form - maybe they're briefly a telepathic hivemind, or remembering one another's memories interchangeably with their own, or feeling/sensing things which the other person is feeling/sensing. or hey, maybe it's not even the person next to you! maybe it connects you with someone halfway across the containment zone! that definitely won't be awkward or anything.
EARLY SIGNS -
- (any of these can be experienced if a visitor is within 20 feet, regardless of walls/obstacles between them )
LATER SIGNS -
( any of these can be experienced if a visitor is within 10 feet, regardless of walls/obstacles between them. ) ( these fall into three key categories; extrapolate as you please )
IF A VISITOR IS WITHIN VISUAL RANGE
- This, unfortunately, is when the fear kicks in.
While present but out of sight, the visitors largely just seem to emit ambient ripples of reality distortion. When you see one, however - whether one crosses your path or you simply peek out the window and catch sight of one in the distance - what feels like the most primal of survival instincts begin to claw at you from within. Any symptoms of a panic attack are things which can occur if your eyes stray too near one of the visitors, though it only seems to apply so long as the visitor is within some part of your visual range - once it no longer is (you shut the curtain, you closed your eyes, etc) you can typically calm down/be calmed down without too much struggle.
Like I said in their introduction, it's nearly impossible to bring yourself to look directly at them, but this can be overcome if someone is stubborn enough to fight back against what's likely the most visceral existential fear they've ever experienced. But this is hardly a preferable outcome - as if feeling your gaze upon them, the visitor will stop, turn, and visually locate you with unerring accuracy. From there, the visitor begins to approach with the same unhurried reality-glitchy steps. Now that their eyes are on you, it's impossible to miss the dark voidlike quality of them. In fact, if your vision strays too near their face, you're inexplicably drawn to meet those voidlike eyes.
Those who meet the visitors' eyes find at once that doing so was a mistake. Regardless of the distance between you and the visitor,you feel an immediate intense sensation of plunging forward into those voids and over a precipice, falling a great and terrible distance. In actuality, you've fallen into something between a trance and a daze, and will remain like this (with the continued perception/sensation of falling) until someone else interrupts you and jars you out of it. Luckily(?), the visitor seems to lose interest the moment you fall into that voidlike gaze, either focusing instead on whoever else is with you or wandering off in some nonspecific direction.
But let's say you managed to look at the visitor, drew its attention, but did not meet its eyes. What then?
The visitor continues to approach, steady and sure, until it stands just before you. Walls are no obstacle to the visitor - in the span of a blink, it somehow exists within the safety of your cabin (or wherever else you hide) instead. It's all you can do to convince yourself not to freeze in place as the visitor slowly reaches out with the apparent intent to touch. Do you allow it? Can you even convince your body to flee?
IF A VISITOR TOUCHES YOU
- Should you remain there in place, the visitor slowly reaches out to brush wondering fingertips against your cheek - and from the point of contact blooms a radiant mishmash of synesthetic sensation all at once, melodies that sing colors that you can taste, it's all just so much - and then you collapse. Not unconscious, but a nebulous sort of consciousness, like when you're incredibly drunk and have no grasp on what's going on but aren't properly dead to the world just yet. This lasts anywhere from minutes to hours, and when you wake up, things are a bit... different. (See the below drop-down for more.)
THEY GO
THE DEPARTURE(??)
- Late on the 26th, the Technicians finally seem to take matters into their own hands. Whether the decision was made unanimously or one of the Technicians just got sick of debating and did a thing, what looks very much like small barrier bubbles (picture it without a door) shimmer into existence around each of the visitors with no particular warning, then drag them sharply downward to be swallowed up by the earth.
The tree, for its part, can next be sighted as a large stump protruding from the middle of the road surrounded by stacks upon stacks of freshly-cut firewood.
Somebody downstairs ain't fucking around.
THE AFTER-EFFECTS
- Though the visitors have, in no uncertain terms, been removed from the vicinity of the containment zone, that doesn't mean things are quite back to normal.
- fatigue, partial numbness (physically or mentally)
- mild oversensitivity of one/more senses
- lingering anxiety or unease, possibly even flashes of panic (nightmares an option)
- occasional mild resurgences of synesthesia
- those who experienced the fuckeries may have trouble sorting out which memories/feelings were theirs for a bit
- ( MANDATORY ) for the next 2-4 days, those who come within proximity of your character (5-10 feet, you choose the specific threshold) begin to experience some of the milder side effects within the 'early signs' list above.
- none of the disorienting effects of the visitors' presence seem to have any disorienting effect on your character
- a prevailing low-key feeling of warmth or acceptance (nothing cult-y, just like warm fuzzy vibes)
- everything seems a little bit richer (smells and flavors have brand new facets of nuance, they can see colors which they never knew existed, etc)
- more vividly synesthetic or generally impossible sensory capabilities (being able to touch something and feel what color it is, for example, or tasting emotions in the air and naming them correctly, etc)
FOR EVERYONE -
- ( anyone affected by the visitors to any degree may experience whichever of these you feel are applicable! most last for just a couple of days, but you're welcome to play with some of them lasting longer if you want)
FOR THOSE TOUCHED BY A VISITOR -
- (these effects begin directly after the person regains proper consciousness post-touch, no need to wait for the event to be over. aside from the one mandatory effect, the rest are entirely optional. in general, all of these fade away over the course of the week following the event, some faster than others.)
A NOTE ON THANKSGIVING
- Because this was pushed back a couple of days, the Thanksgiving feast will be arriving a day late, too. It's fine. The food's still going to be delicious. And as an added bonus, within the bar during the feast, any lingering negative after-effects of the visitors' presence temporarily seem to dull to a minimum. Characters are less fatigued, less anxious, less plagued by memory fuckery (or at least less stressed by it), even if only for the duration of the feast.
My brain is too dead for a Q&A segment this time, feel free to ask any that you have here in the Mod Qs top-level or on Discord! I'll be getting the event log up as soon as I get some sleep.
MOD QUESTIONS
Re: MOD QUESTIONS
no subject
edit: no okay an actual answer -
yes! he can. but the bullets don't seem to do anything to them.
which isn't to say that the bullets don't do anything in general. they absolutely do. some of them might flicker through the visitors and continue on out the other way, some might shift trajectory as they get near their target, and others still might stop in midair (up to you if it falls, ascends to some unknown heaven, or hovers indefinitely in place as That Bullet That Is Just Stuck In Midair In This Exact Spot Forever Now).
Re: MOD QUESTIONS
no subject
- the explosion might, at some point across the distance between lana and the visitor, convert into some other non-explosive form. maybe a blinding array of lights, maybe an obscenely loud array of sounds, maybe a vivid and almost psychedelic array of colors which paint the visitor's vicinity.
- the explosion might avert, as if reality has shifted, missing the target entirely and causing (you guessed it) property damage.
- the explosion might hit the visitor square in the chest, sending a ripple through it. it stops and considers for a moment, then opens its mouth much wider than it should be capable of and emits that very explosion back at lana almost like an eerily poised belch.
go nuts.
no subject