EVENT & TDM 017

[sticksandbonesmods]

WHO ARE THEY?

WAKE UP

Grey, overcast skies. A touch of autumn rain. The smell of crisp apples and fallen leaves, and the crunch of grass underfoot. Pumpkins growing along the path and out of the walls of the buildings and on the rooves and wait what—

You’re not sure how you got here, but does it really matter? There’s something more urgent happening. As you stare at the pumpkin growing out of the wall by your head, something small and coin-shaped bonks you right on the noggin. As you look up, you’ll realise that the rain is gradually becoming less and less wet, and more and more… candy.

It’s raining candy. Wrapped candy, mind — the sky doesn’t want any food safety issues! No razor blades in the chocolate this year! — but candy nonetheless. Chocolate coins, taffy, sour candies, you name it, all coming down gradually before an absolute deluge of goodies pour down upon Aldric’s Grove. Some of them include wrapped bags of microwave popcorn and, yes, the occasional toothbrush. If you’re lucky, you might get clocked in the head with a mini pumpkin!

…don’t be lucky. Maybe get inside and wait for the trick-or-treat storm to pass, and make some friends while you’re at it. Surely the people who’ve been here for a bit can explain this one? Surely…?

A BONE TO PICK

At midnight the day after the candy storm ends, a distant rattlin’ sound can be heard. From the forest surrounding the Grove comes the clickety-clack of dry bones as what appears to be a small army of skeletons assembles. At the head of the phalanx is none other than everyone’s favourite friendly skeletal spirit, Mr. Bone-Jangles. If anyone happens to be up at this late hour, he’ll wave hello and greet you… by plucking one of those pumpkins off the wall or out of the ground, breaking it open by ramming his skull into it, and handing you one half.

It’s full of candy, just like the skies were. Has anyone cleaned up the candy sitting on the ground from last night’s storm…? This is too much! Just as someone tries to tell him that there’s too much sugar here, he breaks open a second pumpkin, which contains fully-baked pumpkin pie that uses the shell of the pumpkin as the crust. Sigh.

This will be your entire month. Mr. Bone-Jangles will hand you sugar-filled pumpkins if he thinks you’re getting too sad or uncomfortable at any point, and his skeletal entourage follow behind him, loudly playing off-key music like the worst marching band you’ve ever heard. You’re not entirely sure how skeletons can play the trumpet — they don’t have lungs! — but it doesn’t really matter. It’s happening. You must deal with it. He’s not taking “no” for an answer.

Cheer up! Stop being depressed! Try Not Thinking About It™!

IT’S YOU, IT’S ME

Not everything can go smoothly, though. Not that one would call Mr. Bone-Jangles and his marching band of goobers smooth, but at least they aren’t an active threat to you. The same night he appears, so do others. Your “Other” — a doppelganger who looks just like you, thinks like you, acts like you, has powers like you do (or don’t). They know you. They want to be you.

The Others don’t make their appearance too obvious. They hide in the shadows, waiting for the opportune time to strike. Some might even wait until you’re talking to someone else to appear and cry out that’s not me! I’m right here! in an attempt to frame you. In almost every way, they’re the perfect “you” — especially should they get the drop on you and slash your throat, or gut you like a cod, or push you into the well where you’ll fall for an eternity before drowning all alone. Your Other will replace you seamlessly and, perhaps, they might turn their attention to your friends and loved ones next.

Yet, there’s always something “off” about them, no matter how perfect a replica. Perhaps your Other is more temperamental. Perhaps they don’t speak as well, or they speak far more intelligently than you ever did, or they’ve forgotten basic facts about their life. Perhaps your Other forgot that their dear friend’s birthday is coming up here soon. Or perhaps…

…the knife they brandish in broad daylight is a dead giveaway?

…IT’S US

If you don’t kill your Other first, they will certainly kill you. The Others aren’t too concerned about any corpses hanging out in broad daylight, easily discovered by the masses where they can try to investigate if it’s “you” or “them”. Their job is to kill you; the method and clean-up really don’t matter, and since they’re the only ones left, they can claim easily that you were the doppelganger all along.

Where does your spirit go when you die to an Other? Deep within the forest lies a mansion made of creaky old wood and worn-down stone, one which no one outside can currently get into. The spirits of those who died are trapped here, left to haunt these halls. It is, ostensibly, a normal-if-decrepit home inside. There are living rooms, there’s a foyer, there are plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms, there’s a humungous kitchen — and as you float through the home, sometimes, a sense of mischief overtakes you. You really want to throw that table at someone. You really want to jump out at someone and frighten the daylights out of them. It’s dark in here, and there are plenty of places to hide.

Sadly for your prankster’s heart, the living — no matter how hard they try, and you sure can hear them trying — have been unable to break in, and they won’t be able to. Yet, standing just outside the iron-wrought fence, a stalwart figure of chaos and bad ideas, holding a greatsword with both skeletal hands… stands Mr. Bone-Jangles.

It seems like a way inside might unveil itself after all.

SPARK NOTES

CLICK TO EXPAND!

WAKE UP

Welcome to Aldric's Grove, newbies! It's raining candy and the pumpkins are growing out of everything they can, no matter how nonsense it is. The people who've been here for a while probably know how to explain this one. Definitely.

A BONE TO PICK

An army of skeletons with instruments are here to cheer you up. Whenever you're Too Sad or Too Uncomfortable or Too Negative Emotion Here, they will chase you down and play music, and their leader will hand you a broken pumpkin full of sweets. Yaaay!

IT’S YOU, IT’S ME

The peace doesn't last long. Doppelgangers appear, seemingly from nowhere, with the intent to kill and replace you. They're almost-perfect copies, but there's always something off about them. They're perfectly killable, if you're smart about it.

…IT’S US

Those of you who die to your doppelgangers will leave a pretty corpse behind, and your spirits will be trapped in a (currently inaccessible) mansion in the forest until further notice. Your spirits will be quite tempted into mischievious ghost activities while you await your rescue.

OOC

Welcome to October's TDM! Reminder that all TDMs are game canon. This is the LAST TDM of the year; November & December won't have any due to the holiday season. We'll see you guys in January with a fresh new TDM, but feel free to continue playing on this one until then. OOC Plotting Lives Here if you'd like to plot anything out!

Living characters cannot currently get into the mansion to stage a rescue, but we encourage anyone who's "gone ghost" to float about in there. The rescue will be a mid-month event for our current playerbase at time of writing.

UPDATES

❖ None yet!

SUBMISSIONS

QUESTIONS
INVESTIGATIONS
PAST-LIFE PLOTTING

(CODE)

Comments

Add (Mad Paradox) | Elsword/Yogen CRAU | TDM

[subtract]

[A - It is always an appropriate time to make a bomb]

[A certain scientist has found his way into the lab, because of course that's where he'd go first. He's looking a little... different from how most might remember him, though. His hair is a tangled mess, clothes dark as night and accented with bright pinks and purples. Glowing dust seems to trail in his wake, and there are patches on his arms and foot that glow white hot with strange energy, and his array of drones look like strange diamond slabs instead of complicated needles...

But it's most obvious from the front. His eyes are flooded black, glowing strangely, and look upon all with an air of suspicion. Who the fuck are you people.

Anyway, he is currently entertaining himself with... a bomb! An unfinished bomb that Gnosis left unsupervised* (he may have broken into a drawer but like that's obviously a security flaw do better Gnosis). Not gonna be unfinished for long! He is not wearing ANY lab safety equipment for this.]

[B - Please be patient this is only my second rodeo]

[Later, Add is different again?? Somehow? Are there perhaps three Adds in the Grove now?? Don't worry about it. He's significantly shorter, looking more like a young teen than an adult now, short hair to match, and a cat-eared hood pulled up over his head. He's looking a little less glow-y and fragmented, at least, and only one eye is black instead of both... this is good, maybe, probably.

He's sitting on the edge of the well in the town centre, swinging his legs, calmly eating candy out of a pumpkin shell. He pauses when someone comes close by, though, putting the pumpkin aside to call out to them.]

Hey, you. How long have you been here? A few months, a year? Give me a rough estimate.

[Wildcard]

((hit me up on discord/BlueFlewFedUQueen/plotting for something else! probably not gonna app Add fr but like... it's a maybe....... anyway you can also attack him if u want but he won't stay dead that's his specialty, he's only here on vacation rn anyway. i am here for the chaos))

B) ain is so fucking mad

[eidxiety]

[The most OFFENDED fucking look because he'd know that voice anywhere and yet there is this fucking? Child?? Here???? Ain goes from briefly excited because Yay Friend (they're not friends) (but they're friends) to "motherfucker not again".

Not his. Where the fuck is his???]

Wowwww, Mr. Ancient... you're so tiny! [He does not answer the question, FUCK you.]

[subtract]

[don't worry ain the feeling is mutual. not even hiding the face he's making rn]

Ugh. Another one... I'm not explaining the same thing again, so don't bother asking. [??????? literally not even the same Ain but he's still expecting you to know all that, get fucked]

Just answer the question. How long?

[eidxiety]

[Typical fucking Add, not explaining!!! He hates this toddler. Who are you. Wheremst is his steroid-addled idiot jock?]

Ugh, since late spring? So going on six months now.

[subtract]

Six months... [He trails off, rolling that number around in his head. Six months is nothing, really, but...]

Who else is here, or has been here? Anyone from the El Search Party?

[eidxiety]

Haha... well, no one from mine. Mr. Jellyfish [figure that out on your own scrub] said that there was a version of Elsword and another Mr. Ancient here. Actually, I met this Elsword, and he was messed up badly by the El, but he's not "here" here. The other Mr. Ancient, according to Mr. Jellyfish, had long white hair and was some kind of doctor.

I doubt any of you could pull that off, though~.

[subtract]

[just. tired squinting, at this obnoxious twink version of his void buddy. nothing new to report compared to what Mizuki said, at least...

... wait.]

Don't tell me... you're also dating Elsword?

[eidxiety]

Oh, by the El, I wish.

anyway you know I was coming back for A.

[succiduous]

[Gnosis left a lot of half-finished and 1/3rd-finished bombs lying around everywhere. They aren't even hidden, he doesn't care anymore, they're just tucked off on the workbenches/off to the sides of the lab, but not near his two eyeball fish. He's exhausted and murderous.

He sees that long white hair, though, and wonders briefly if Add is back. And yeah! Add is back! Just not the right one, he realises, when he comes home at the point where Add is almost done finishing that for him.

...

Well. All Adds is same, he supposes.]

I see you have a passion for explosives as well.

[Also, hi????]

[subtract]

[He pauses in his tinkering, stealing a sidelong glance at... whoever this is. He allows his gaze to linger for awhile before looking away again, back to focusing on the delicate wiring.]

Wouldn't call it a passion. It was interesting, so I wanted to see how it works. [and he can't do that unless he finishes it the rest of the way, obviously.]

Is it yours?

high fives myself and files this under "tags i lost"

[succiduous]

This whole space is mine, yes.

[...]

At the cost of sounding strange, you don't appear to be the Add that I knew, who was stationed next door at the clinic. Your voice and appearance are generally the same, however.

hell yeah surprise tags

[subtract]

Hmmm. [He seems to consider that first statement very seriously, tapping the end of a solderer on the bench.] ... Organized space, better stocked than I'm used to. Security needs work, however. I give it an eight out of ten.

[Passing grade! And if a nerd can be judged by the quality of their lab, Gnosis is on Add's good side, probably.

The question that comes after doesn't get as much of a reaction, meanwhile. Add waves a hand.]

Alternate timelines. This is the first time we've met, so consider me a separate entity from the one you know. I'm just passing through.

[succiduous]

Right. I'm familiar with the concept of alternative timelines, at least. [Mizuki is God, Ain was getting real angry in the netbook months ago about "Doctor" Add, the works.] In that case: Gnosis Edelweiss-Silverash. Just call me Gnosis. Nice to meet you... and yes, I'm aware of the lack of security. I have an open door policy for others who might want to do research, or who need me.

b... npc tags u

[mermaidcursed]

( oh it's add.

but not her add.

... it's okay, though, she still loves him.

... and she's very much not his nene, given the flowers growing in her hair, the eyepatch and the mechanical legs. still, she answers readily- )

At least several thousand years, but I'm also something of an outlier among the residents of this town, as are Heimr and Ydalir! The rest showed up around last summer.

hell yeah

[subtract]

[Oh... it's Nene...

but not his Nene.

...

Very quietly opening up a holoscreen and tapping in some notes. Hmm hmm hmmm.]

That's quite a length of time. Are you a native to this dimension?

[mermaidcursed]

Yes! Heimr, Ydalir and Rusty are, too. Everyone else is... ccccomplicated.

[subtract]

Complicated?

[... an odd choice of wording, that. He has an idea of how everyone got here, based on prior and current experience. Is it really that complicated?]

Explain. Complicated in what way?

[mermaidcursed]

...

Everyone in the town currently are the reincarnations of people who used to live in the town while it was thriving. Most of the souls lost were cast into different dimensions to give them a second chance at life while saving them from becoming food or worse for the culprit behind the slaughter. The ones I listed and I are not reincarnated souls, but the original residents, though some lives may have echoes of us?

It's kind of a lot.

A.

[mooninthewater]

[ It's the long white hair that catches his attention immediately, to be quite honest. The floaty drones also... Add had been gone for a while to be left to his own devices. Maybe this was just what he'd been working on in the Grove? Mizuki can't help the welling excitement, yet he's so, so hesitant to get too into his enthusiasm.

Instead, he does the quick, logical thing! You know, reaching out into the hivemind. It's probably dusty at this point - Mizuki hasn't used it all that much besides to ping and make sure Elsword is okay.

Doctor Add? Doctor Add, is this you? Did you come back…?

… … …

He can't tell if the silence is because it's not his Add, or because he's done something wrong. He decides the best thing to do is just ask, right? So he goes up, pulling out his phone to type, before turning it around to show this Add. ]

Did the forest change you this much, Doctor Add?

[subtract]

[There's no reaction at all from the first attempt. The second attempt... he looks up, eyes flicking to the phone curiously. Ah, this is...

He looks Mizuki over once, eyes a touch softer. Then, with a snap—a keyboard forms in the air, along with a small screen. Something a little comfier to write with, maybe. The hologram should be familiar, but the colour is off. The Add he knows liked blue more. This one is a bright purple, almost pink, and somehow feels a bit sharper to the touch.

Add's gaze turns back to the bomb in his hands, fiddling with nothing in particular.]

You don't have to turn it around for me to see. I'll hear it. [not as direct as a brainchip tho]

... You have the wrong person. This is the first time we've met.

[mooninthewater]

[ What an unsurprising response, truly. Mizuki holds the phone closer to him for a moment and hangs his head, though not long enough to really give much of an impression or anything. He shouldn't be disappointed. This means new friends, even if…

He picks himself up and puts on his usual, sunny smile. He's even got a screen for Mizuki to type with instead of using his tiny phone screen! How kind of him to share. ]

It's nice to meet you, in that case! Sorry, you just seemed so familiar. Are you new here? Do you need help? Mister Gnosis has already tried blowing up the forest, if that's what you're thinking about.

[subtract]

[One of the drones hovers a bit closer to Mizuki as he types. Might be running a few scans, don't worry about it. It'll beep in a friendly tone if he acknowledges it.

Add hums thoughtfully, still pretending to be focused on his tinkering.]

Yes. Possibly. Just thought it looked interesting, so no. What would blowing up the forest accomplish?

[mooninthewater]

[ As if Mizuki of all people would mind. He's willingly given his blood, a scan is absolutely fine. He figures it's likely doing something like that, really and gives the drone a little wave. Almost instinctively, the friendly beep is responded with a hi, hello! in his head... whoops. He gives it a little pat instead, after he realizes. ]

Stress relief, mostly. Not very productive stress relief, but these past few months have taken a toll on people. I'm Mizuki, by the way. I'm not that useful, but if you need any help, I'll do the best I can.

[subtract]

[!!! pats... he gets another string of cheerful beeps after that, Mizuki has Dynamo's seal of approval.]

Mizuki... [Slowly, as if testing out the name in his mouth... nope, not anyone he knows.] It's Add, but obviously you know that already. If you find that too strange, just call me whatever.

[He drums his fingers on the desk, more or less giving up on pretending to be busy now. The bomb was just something fun to mess with for a bit, to help him relax. Stress relief, yeah. But he'd rather make some headway on a real problem, if he can, and this person seems to be on friendly terms with a version of himself. That could be an advantage, as long as that other self doesn't turn up.]

... Extradimensional pull is unusually strong in this world. Easier to enter than it is to leave. I was only passing through, but got too close and was dragged in... annoying, but not the first time I've dealt with this issue.

I don't suppose you'd know where the dimensional walls might be thinner? If you're trying to escape this place, I'll offer some assistance in return. I have no interest in staying here, but I have my methods of navigating interdimensional spaces.

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki lulls from side to side for a moment, clearly in thought, but he's not sure this is a question he can answer. He doesn't really do the interdimensional stuff himself. He knows about it! He's - or rather, We Man have seen how it works, and We have also seen the branching tree of the different timelines, as well. We do not know how to access said tree, though, and have little interest in doing so.

Mizuki, on the other hand, only has experience with it through video games. ]

The rules of this place are a little funny. I don't see these walls you're talking about, but I know the force keeping us trapped here does wane during certain days or hours, rather than certain places. So... more bound by the laws of time than that of space?

Does that help at all?

Also, I don't need help escaping. I've decided I'm staying here. I just want the Forest to stop torturing people for fun. I appreciate the offer.