· network ·

[carmesi]

Who: wanda maximoff
Username: un: max
Warnings: mention of dead animals

has anyone been to dogtown recently? i got a strange feeling when i walked up the path earlier today — and i don't think i was imagining it. dead animals, plenty of them. it was never a welcoming place, but it definitely feels less of it now.

i might not be the first to notice, but i thought it was worth mentioning.

has anyone else felt something off? *has* anyone captured anything paranormal yet? i do not know if $100 is worth the feeling when inside there, but at least we're not competing to put up flyers like a few months ago.

might be best to heed what the warning sign at the entrance says and stay on the trail. or don't go by yourself at least.

[wanda struggles with the whole 'expressing herself' thing. she knows what she wants to say, but sometimes it feels unnecessary — leaving her to feel inadequate in these kinds of conversations. all this is a team effort though, isn't it? she's made acquaintances that she can call friends, and maybe she doesn't want whatever fuckery that usually happens to hurt those in her company.

this whole post was a huge consideration of 'might delete' before she decides she'll just put it out there. solitude does not generally do good to her, anyway, and she's always been the more cautious of the twins.

.....]

just be careful.

[on another note—]

...how have ten of you blown past the high score again?

[yes, the worm game 😔]

Comments

Text - un: a.jaeger

[bloodalwaystells]

I think at this point, it's safe to say that nothing about Dogtown is safe...I feel that going with a partner and armed is wise.

The hunting camps and pig creatures left behind a lot of blood and scraps, so that's keeping with the theme. The pig creatures fell apart when they died, so unfortunately there was little proof there. Just dead pigs in a pile of scattered body parts. Grotesque, to say the least, but I bring my camera every time I'm out there in the hopes of catching something. Or at least, just keeping a record. Things don't have to be obviously supernatural to be disturbing.

[carmesi]

disturbing as things may already be, it makes one wonder why the ADI is asking us to capture paranormal things specifically. sign of dead animals and carcasses littering the forest grounds was enough to clue in the people in my country that something strange was happening.

maybe we're expected to find something explicitly paranormal.

i did find information of alleged witch activity around dogtown sometime back during WWI. that kind of thing could have spilled over.

[bloodalwaystells]

I don't think there's any doubt that there are supernatural things going on in Dogtown and have been for a long time. It may be a naturally occurring hotspot, given its history, or it could simply be that it's isolated. It's hard to say.

ADI is probably sending us out just as much to test us as to gather information. They know that there's a great deal of strangeness centered on the woods, but not always exactly *what*, especially given there's something new every few weeks. It's worth keeping a close eye on.

I recall being told that it was wise to carry some alcohol in Dogtown in case you meet a witch. That seems like...sound advice, I suppose?

@jelica

[musicdied]

Every day that passes, I'm more and more convinced that the solution to Dogtown is orbital bombardment.

[She's joking. Probably. The fact that she's suggesting a form of mass destruction that isn't really possible might point to that.

Unless...]

I don't think we'll find many answers by staying on the path, but you're right, no one should be going there alone.

[carmesi]

even if (i think) you're joking, that solution would be too simple. it never really works out like that.

[besides, bombing anything steers a little too close to when stark industries sponsored the bombing of her home. there's less explosion-y solutions, yelena!! cool as they may make you look.]

i just think it is best to be prepared before planning to go off the path. you do know what it's like, right? old stories about forests. even if just told to scare children i believe there is truth in them.

[good old eastern european folktales yelena may or may not have heard of.]

[musicdied]

Don't worry, I don't actually have access to orbital missiles. Or any heavy ordnance.

I'm always prepared, within the bounds of the intel we have. But Dogtown is difficult. It changes. The disappearing caverns, the hunting camps, the boars... Last month, there were whispers about the sky hunting people, and now...whatever it's doing now.

I don't think it's like the folktales. It's like a testing ground. And not just for us, even if ADI likes to throw new people in there to see if they can survive. It's like it's being used to test new nightmares to see which ones are effective, and which need to be refined or rejected.

un: strange

[sorser]

Are you planning on visiting Dogtown again?

[carmesi]

if i was to say yes i would hope i would not get a repeat lecture on whether i can or cannot paint any dangers in red.

[sorry, it's just the dad vibes. she also refers to her magic thx for catching on.]

what about you?

[sorser]

[Wow, he is not giving off dad vibes… (Sure, Stephen.)]

I’m not a record player. I’m not here to repeat the same song and dance when I’m pretty sure I made my point clear the first time.

[And the public network is definitely not he place for it; besides, it wasn’t his point.]

I was just going to say that if you’re going again, take me with you.

un: NO

[marmoron]

[ considering the fact that the last time keith was in dogtown he almost died? yeah. he's not thrilled reading about this. ]

did the boars come back? or is this something different?
either way, i can tell you for sure that the hundred bucks they're offering you isn't worth it if the money is the only incentive you've got for going in there

[carmesi]

i do not think it is the boars. it feels different.

and yes, that was what i was trying to say. money may be scarce with the stipend they give us, but this isn't one offer i would like to take on. but everyone can choose their own poison.

[marmoron]

so there's something new and fucked up going on in there. great. perfect.

[ just going to take a moment to sigh bone deep. ]

starting to think there should be a group put together to investigate dogtown itself. there has to be a reason that place keeps spitting out paranormal activity

un: Aberration

[aelwyn_aberration]

What makes me curious about Dogtown is why on earth they actually believe it's safe to use it as a testing ground?

Nobody's died as far as I'm aware, but that hardly seems like something we can credit ADI with. The first time, sure, it was only some exceptionally mean rocks, but after that it's just gotten progressively more dangerous. Especially with the mutated pigs.

[Yes, she's posting this publicly. What are they going to do about it. Losers.]

[carmesi]

probably because it is abandoned and has high probabilities of getting the results wanted without the general populace hurting.

the point is not to die, obviously. but if it has gotten progressively more dangerous, it feels like it needs dealing with before it becomes a huge problem we'll be asked to fix while having our hands tied in terms of using our powers, for those who have any.

un: bright

[abrightboy]

Does witnessing death by horse monster count as ‘collecting something supernatural’? Anyway, if you want the high score, focus less on creepy supernatural stuff and more on wormie chomping.

[carmesi]

i'm not the one keeping track, you should ask those at the ADI. you guys are taking this game way too seriously. are you on the high score?

[abrightboy]

Sometimes. I don’t usually play phone games but this one is great.

un: blam

[earthshine]

[ dogtown. right. uh huh. yeah. that’s alarming. someone should look into that.
so about this game.
-- shiro ignoring the mention of spookies: that’s sus. ]

Perseverance and skill.

[ he’s so freakin’ proud. ]

Are you playing it much? Are you scoring high?

[ are you competition?? ]

[carmesi]

[shiro...]

define 'scoring high' because at this point my efforts feel like they amount to nothing. are you?

un; mkblackwood

[lowficharm]

It doesn't really make sense that Dogtown is so ever-changing. It would make sense if it was haunted by a specific entity or something, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's some of the energy that's dragging us here. It's just weird.

... Also, you shouldn't play that game. It's creepy.

[no, martin, you just really hate worms.]

[carmesi]

that's what's worrying though, isn't it? you would expect it to be a specific thing but it isn't, and that just means more unknowns we'll have to deal with later. hopefully sooner than when it's 'too late'.

i'm starting to notice the gaming scene might a little too toxic for my likes.

[lowficharm]

Yeah. :/ I wonder if maybe we could track it somehow? Record what's gone on and see if we can find some patterns. Or if there's energy or something that it has and maybe we have? I'm not really a scientist.

And don't worry about it. It's not what it's hyped up to be. There's a lot better games, promise.

@GasStationJack

[stations]

( so like the rest of everything in there is super important and all but- )

There's kind of like this pattern it follows,
if you get into the groove and pick up on it, it gets pretty meditative

[carmesi]

i don't think i have patience enough to pick up on the pattern, but every time i try to put it down i pick it up again.

have you been playing it a lot?

[stations]

Oh yeah, all the time, my sleep's fucked up so I have kind of an advantage

( He... does not see... anything wrong with that... )