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September 2023 TDM
SEPTEMBER 2023 TDM
You wake up completely alone in an unfamiliar place. The forest around you is awash in the pleasant warmth of late summer. Any time-telling devices have stopped working and nothing looks familiar. But the visitors center has maps and information on the area, and with a bit of looking around you find the name of a nearby town: Ashbrook.
Welcome to Ashbrook's very first TDM. Take a look at our navigation page to get started, or skip right to the prompts below! TDM threads may be kept as game canon.
While Ashbrook is an invite-only game, you do not need an invite to play on the TDM.
Please direct any TDM-specific questions you may have here.
Welcome to Ashbrook's very first TDM. Take a look at our navigation page to get started, or skip right to the prompts below! TDM threads may be kept as game canon.
While Ashbrook is an invite-only game, you do not need an invite to play on the TDM.
Please direct any TDM-specific questions you may have here.
Of Monster and Men
What:
Lost in the woods with friends and 'friends'
When:
Throughout September
Warnings:
Stalking, paranoia, violence, being lost in the woods
With summer nearing its end and school already begun, it seems as if every teen's got a story to tell.
One of them that's pretty popular starts off like any other. Couple of kids go into the woods, one of them goes missing, and gets found later on — but they're not right, it's not them; the rest of the story goes as it goes and the group ends up dying or scared half to it by the week's end, tormented by the Goatman. The story has its variations depending on the person telling it. Sometimes there's a creature staring from the treeline; or unexplainable, not quite human voices calling from outside the campfire's light. No matter what the creature is hard to identify, and you can only really catch it by spotting oddities in the way it mimics its victims.
The stories aren't just stories, though. In any other town they might be, but in Ashbrook, they're warnings. You're cutting through the woods after class, or heading back to the car at the end of a camping trip, or maybe you're even a new arrival stumbling your way home. No matter what, there's an odd scent, sharp and metallic, that's following you around. It disappears when you think about it; maybe it's the mind playing its tricks after hearing the stories, or the stress of being somewhere unfamiliar?
But when you glance at your companion they're suddenly gone; look away and back and they're suddenly there again. It can happen a few times and it does. You try not to think about it, but it nags at the back of your mind — how well do you really know the person beside you? Are you sure they're safe? Are you sure they're really them? You decide to press on, sure you're imagining things.
Until you discover the eviscerated body of the person you've been traveling with.
You hear footsteps behind you.
TL;DR
- There's a Goatman that's said to roam the woods and slip unnoticed into groups, disguising itself as someone else. You won't ever catch it taking someone, just the mangled corpses it leaves behind.
- The Goatman has an acrid scent to it, metallic like blood in the back of your throat, but it doesn't linger enough to tell who it's coming from.
- The Goatman can take on the face of anyone at all. Identifying it is tricky, but possible — but it requires you the know the person it replaced well enough to spot the oddities.
- The Goatman will also play dead while disguised as a member of a group, in hopes of inspiring paranoia in its victims.
- Characters can experience visceral, gruesome deaths in this prompt, due either to the Goatman or to the paranoia of their traveling companions.
Ghost on the Shore
What:
An encounter on a foggy night
When:
Evenings in September
Warnings:
Drowning, compulsive behavior
As summer turns to autumn, fog from the rivers rolls steadily over the town in the early evenings, and only dissipates in the morning's rays. Visibility is low, but it's perfect if you want to go for a quiet evening stroll or pre-dawn jog. It's just you out there — you and one other person.
You don't know if they were there a second ago. And maybe it's just the cover of the fog making it hard to see but... they seem familiar. You feel drawn to follow the path they take. No matter how hard you try they don't slow or respond to yelling, and you never catch up. You eventually find yourself at the river's edge, one foot ahead of the other as you've seemingly started to tread the depths of it. You can't see the person you were following but you're certain they've gone into the water. You just need to follow them, and never mind how cold and swift the river runs.
But maybe that didn't happen. Maybe you thought you heard someone calling your name and snapped out of it. Your first instinct may be to get out of there and away from whatever had you hypnotized in the first place, but then you see it: someone else still chasing after a phantom.
If your first instinct isn't to help, as a decent person should, there's something like a soft voice as the wind caresses your ear, pleading for you not to let them near the water, not to let them sink... and you move, for whatever good enough reason your mind conjures, to help those who have yet to wake.
TL;DR
- Characters see a familiar face on foggy knights. They're driven to follow them, because who wouldn't want to see an old friend or even enemy?
- Unfortunately, characters will never reach that person. They can walk all they want, run or sprint, but the other will remain both unresponsive and just out of reach.
- Eventually, the phantom will attempt to lead their victim into the river, where they will likely drown if not rescued.
- Characters can be snapped out of this trance by a whisper on the wind they can't quite identify. Those that are will be compelled to seek out and help anyone still in a trance. Just don't wait too long, or you'll find the other party willingly taking a dive six feet under.
Toil and Trouble
What:
It's time to learn magic!
When:
Weekends in September
Warnings:
None
A more welcoming rumor is about the Witch of the Woods. The teens describe her as a stern but beautiful woman who's willing to teach anyone who comes seeks her out. Bring her a suitable offering and knock three times on her door in the middle of the night, and she'll answer to teach you what she knows of the supernatural and magic.
... Thankfully, no one has to find out how wrong that is right now. There are flyers, decorated childishly with bat and cauldron stickers, inviting the reader to the "Witch's Retreat". These flyers seem to appear when a Visitor glances away for a second to pick something up, or gently drift down right into their hands. Even the most skeptical, scoff-likely of Visitors will find their interest piqued in the days before it, mind drifting back to the promise of help in their unusual situation.
The retreat itself is headed by a middle-aged woman, who's narrowed gaze inspects the people who've come before she grumbles something under her breath and waves her hand.
"Look in the tree holes for your books and pick a partner to pair with — they aren't the kinds of things you'd want to test on your own. First rule: Always have a third hand. Second: Don't do it in public if you can help it. Final: Don't even try skipping ahead, because they won't answer you."
Whatever that means. It's time to learn magic.
The Witch — if pressed, she'll begrudgingly allow the students to address her as 'Ms. Spinner' — will force characters together with a surprisingly powerful shove of her hand if she passes and you aren't already paired with someone too, so don't think you can get out of this little exercise by going solo! You can't. As far as the promised spirituality goes... listen to the voice within, find your inner peace, and the rest'll come naturally. The Witch isn't too pressed for you whelps to understand off the bat, though she won't leave you out on a limb either.
TL;DR
- The characters — Visitors, as they're referred — are able to learn basic level magic with the help of the Witch.
- Pair up and practice. This is essential to the process, and the Witch will force unpaired individuals to partner up.
- Anything higher level magic won't come to the character; it may feel like there's a kind of blockage, even to those who're used to magic themselves.
- The Witch isn't open to questions about the town in particular (are you here to gossip or learn?) and won't answer anything about it, so stay on task if you want answers to your questions.
A Day In The Life
New Visitors may wake up in the woods, but that's not where they're going to be spending all of their time. They have homes, jobs, work, entire lives they need to attend to. They'd better get to it!
A Visitor will be instinctively drawn towards both their home and job; they will always know how to navigate the former, and may find the tasks they perform at the latter suspiciously easy. Outside of that, their life will be incredibly normal for the first few days. No one will acknowledge the strangeness in the woods, and a Visitor's insistence that they're not from around here will be treated like a joke.
And then suddenly it's weird again. They wake up one day and realize they have a different job, perhaps even a different home. They will lose any instinctive understanding they may have had of their old job and gain similar understanding of their new job. Visitors will retain all of their memories of their previous job, but if they bring it up to the townsfolk none of them will have any idea what they're talking about.
TL;DR
A Visitor will be instinctively drawn towards both their home and job; they will always know how to navigate the former, and may find the tasks they perform at the latter suspiciously easy. Outside of that, their life will be incredibly normal for the first few days. No one will acknowledge the strangeness in the woods, and a Visitor's insistence that they're not from around here will be treated like a joke.
And then suddenly it's weird again. They wake up one day and realize they have a different job, perhaps even a different home. They will lose any instinctive understanding they may have had of their old job and gain similar understanding of their new job. Visitors will retain all of their memories of their previous job, but if they bring it up to the townsfolk none of them will have any idea what they're talking about.
TL;DR
- This prompt is meant to allow players an opportunity to experiment with the role mechanic, without forcing them to retcon their threads if they receive a markedly different role after applying.
- Retconning is, of course, still an option - but if you want to give your character another bit of existential confusion, this is the prompt for you.
OOC Notes
If your character dies... While characters may die during the TDM, these deaths do not count towards a character's death count. If a character dies, they will vanish the instant they lose consciousness. The dead character will reappear safely back at the nearest visitors center, and both they and any witnesses will have only a hazy recollection of the event.
If a character TDMs but doesn't app... You have the option of having your character remember these characters. ICly, characters that TDM but do not apply will simply vanish without a trace under mysterious circumstances.
If you have any questions, please direct them here. Enjoy your new life.
If a character TDMs but doesn't app... You have the option of having your character remember these characters. ICly, characters that TDM but do not apply will simply vanish without a trace under mysterious circumstances.
If you have any questions, please direct them here. Enjoy your new life.
"Hikaru" | The Summer Hikaru Died
ii. toil and trouble
iii. A day in the life.
iv. wildcard
He never used to be afraid of walking anywhere at night. On clear ones, he liked being out under the stars and moon. When it rained, he'd go out in the late evening under an umbrella to go down to the creek. It was peaceful then, thinking he was alone. Nowadays, he wonders if he ever was.
He knows he's not now. He's trying not to think about it. He's trying so hard he almost misses the scuff of shoes ahead of him, instead of behind, and his eyes flick up reflexively.
It's a silhouette he knows better than his own shadow. The anxiety clinging to him like muggy humidity gives way to a cool, sweet burst of relief. For a suspended, surreal instant, all he feels is gratitude. When he calls out, his voice is low and cracked with it. ]
'Hikaru'?
no subject
An easy grin slide's across his face and he reaches up to wave just like Hikaru waved at Yoshiki ever since the fifth grade and he saw someone give a cool wave in a movie. The action is natural, like it is everytime he does it. This form has only done it a thousand times after all
(Is Yoshiki happy to see him? Or just to see Hikaru's form? Does it matter?)]
Hey, Yoshiki? What's up with this place it's weird. And... American.
no subject
He raises his hand and waves back, already closing the rest of the distance between them with hurried strides. Hikaru's ease, even if he doesn't know anything, feels like an assurance of safety. ]
I don't know. [ He stops short only within arm's reach, his face creased with residual worry, tone pitched low. ] I just woke up here too.
[ He looks at Hikaru for another long moment, flitting over that face he knows so well. He realizes, with a sick jolt, that he wants to reach out and drag him in close, just to feel his weight.
He won't do it. Can't bear to. He still wants. ]
...we should get out of these woods before we start worryin' about anything else.
no subject
[All forests are unique but there's a certain similarity between all of them and he can feel it here. It reminds him of being up on the mountain, formless and indistinguishable from the untamed trees and the dirt that caused humans to determine it to be a forest.]'
So. What now?
no subject
[ It's awful, the way a tiny, nervous smile breaks across his face. It's the best he's felt since he woke up. That driving need to get somewhere else, get somewhere safe, is ebbing in Hikaru's presence. ]
We keep walkin' this way, I guess. And once we get to town...I'll look after all that.
[ Hikaru is his responsibility, wherever they are. It's a familiar anchor on his ankles, holding him down to the earth. ]
You just stick with me, okay? And don't talk to anybody about anything without talkin' to me first.
no subject
[A huff. Is it a compliment? Or just ribbing. He choose to think it's meant like a compliment because it's easier to think he knows what Yoshiki is thinking. Still, he glances down the forest, down towards where their town would be if they were on their own mountain and not that of an unknown place.]
At least... it'll be easier here, yeah? I mean... no one knows Hikaru.
[It's freedom.]
no subject
He knows Hikaru. He knew Hikaru. Setting aside every other thing wrong with what Hikaru just said, that hurts the most. Hurts like kicking a rock in the dark with bare toes, or biting his tongue hard enough to flood his mouth with metal, that sudden, unexpected kind of hurt. Yoshiki has to duck his head and breathe in deep to settle it, and the taste in his mouth only gets worse, so much so he thinks he maybe did bite right into his tongue to keep from saying anything rash.
He wonders what Hikaru would make of that, Yoshiki's teeth all bloody. If he'd be curious. If he'd want to taste it like an ice pop, lick it right off- ]
We ain't stayin' here. We can't. [ It comes out harsher than he means it to. ] We're goin' home, soon as we figure out how.
[ They'll have to find an embassy, Yoshiki thinks. He doesn't know what kind of story they'll tell them, but he'll figure it out. He has to figure it out, and swallow down the coating of resentment on his tongue.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a white shirt, bare arms, a suggestion outlined against the dark trees. His stomach flip-flops as he jerks his head up, instantly sorry for his tone. ]
Wait -
[ He says, and then stops, because Hikaru is still behind him. It's just that, somehow, Hikaru is also standing in the woods with his back turned to the trail. ]
iii!
she thinks about it. they just keep going toward the school. she too, felt compelled to go to school rather than figure out what it was that was happening around them to get back home, but even then asa had rationalized it as discovering who this . . . other “asa” was.
she ends up opening her mouth to mumble, but doesn’t look at the boy. ]
Maybe it’s just your conscience.
no subject
[He remembers Hikaru watching the movie in which a puppet had a cricket that acting as a conscience but he's never met a talking cricket, in this life or any other ones.
But he also knows he's not at all up to snuff on "doing the right thing".]
no subject
If you feel guilty about things, I guess.
no subject
[His brow is furrowed, like he's considering some sort of complicated trolley problem where his absence from school causes the death of multiple important doctors or something like that.]
no subject
Because it hurts you?
i
[Akira's surprised his voice is so steady, considering the slight thrum of panic in his veins. He's always been this way, but something this time feels... sharp. Intense. Being able to stay calm under pressure has always been something he could use to his advantage, but now...
The person walking with them keeps disappearing. Why? Why? They- they should get out, shouldn't they, aren't they in danger like this-
This is unlike him.
His voice is calm and steady, tamping down the thoughts that swirl in his head. If anything, it's just a little bit faint.]
Something about our form is appealing to him... Or maybe it's even our humanity itself.
no subject
[There's so many of them. They're out there driving cars, reproducing, having kids. It's not that hard to imitate a human, if you really wanted to. The question is why you would want to.]
I mean... maybe it's hard for him t'understand us. And that's why he can't get it right.
no subject
[Akira can't quite agree, but that's because he finds people interesting. Their likes and dislikes, the things that make them tick - all the little pieces of their lives form a picture that brings color into the world, one that he'll look at again and again.]
I think it's a good theory, though. In trying so hard to be one of us... he misses the mark, but in a way that we'd find frightening.
[Ironically... That's probably a little human, too. Akira thinks it but doesn't say, considering their current circumstances.]
iii
It makes her sick, thinking about it. She knows that if she tries to protest, they'll put her someplace worse. So Lottie keeps her head down, and her mouth shut, and she waits for this to stop. In that respect, it's not much different from being out in the woods.
When she comes across the boy on the curb, he echoes her thoughts so completely that her face twitches, briefly holding some thin imitation of a smile. ]
Yeah. I know how you feel. I don't want to go, either.
[ A beat. ]
Don't tell anyone I said that, please.