Event - All In Your Head

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All In Your Head

➥ Night's Embrace

(cw: supernaturally-induced hysteria/intense emotion; violence; maiming; assault, burglary; murder; implied violence against children)

There's been a sense of unease hanging over Gloucester as the Ides of March approach. First a few, and then a great many locals begin to hurry indoors each evening, lights kept blazing in the windows of homes and businesses all night…when they can be. Stories of assault, burglary, and vandalism dominate the news and no one can seem to agree on the cause, psychiatrists weighing in on air as reports flood in of a woman, a creature, that hunts in the night, along with perpetrator after perpetrator with no history of violence before they suddenly broke into a neighbor's home to smash every source of electric glow. It might be mass hysteria, the talking heads hypothesize, or perhaps pranks taken too far. The alternative is not spoken. It's safe, though, with the lights on and the door bolted. Stay inside, stay in the light, and nothing can harm you.

Too bad about the blackout, then.

It's the night of March 16 when the efforts of the shadow woman meet success thanks to the earnest efforts of a kindred spirit. Gloucester is plunged into darkness with only the waxing moon to dapple the city in silvery shadows, the entire grid taken down. ADI Headquarters and apartments flicker weakly back to life on emergency power, though there's more shadow than light in their halls. Bonnie's Flophouse, like much of residential Gloucester, doesn't have even that saving grace.

The attacks are swift and furious. The shadow woman seems to be in many places at once, appearing simultaneously in family homes, all night businesses…and ADI properties. Where there had been some reprieve in the last days for those in ADI apartments or spending the night at headquarters, as of tonight those places are no safer than the city streets. Some of those she catches she kills or maims; others are sent spiraling into blind terror by the touch of her claws and released to run and be chased again.

But still she does not step into the light, seemingly repulsed by what little brightness can be found or made. Best hope the batteries in your flashlights are fresh.

➥ Illuminating

(cw: derogatory language; mention of long-term imprisonment and murder attempts)

un: n.lehrer

To All Staff,

Report to ADI HQ for an emergency meeting at 11 AM in Conference Room 6. I will be broadcasting over the network, but I would prefer to have everyone together so that we can hand out equipment. Reyes has briefed me on what's been going on while I've been away.

Katie Dunn, an avatar for the Dark native to this world, was recently set free by Deepthi Anand. Dunn is practically allergic to light. We'll be handing out supplies for those who attend the meeting in-person. More soon.

- Nia Lehrer, Warden

It's only a few hours after the message goes out that people who come will find Nia Lehrer stepping up to a podium in the designated conference room. There's also a filming set-up so people can watch the broadcast on the network. Questions that come from the network will be… read by Reyes for Nia to answer, but a back-and-forth conversation may be more challenging for those not physically in attendance. On the wall behind her, there's a projection of a seemingly harmless-looking woman.

There's a definite air of relief among the native staff, along with a significant uptick in focus. Non-native staff may notice a similar sense of renewed determination and attentiveness for themselves, if they let themselves be swept up in it. Whatever fog and oppressive sense that's hung about for the past month or more appears to have dissipated… at least for the moment.

"Thank you all for coming. I'll make this brief: Katie Dunn is one of the most dangerous avatars we've ever encountered since I joined the Apocalypse Disruption Initiative. We've had run-ins with her more than once, but haven't actually figured out a way to kill her, yet. Her capture was a major achievement about two years ago. Which makes her escape particularly frustrating. What's done is done, though.

"Deepthi Anand developed a connection of some sort with her while she was assigned to assist with guarding her while here at ADI. I suspect that's why she returned to free her. And make no mistake, everything I've seen about the attack points to Deepthi… with her boosting Katie's abilities somehow. Right now, we're most concerned with keeping the lights on. Cape Electric has been trying to restore power, but each time they fix something, another piece of the grid gets hit. Whoever blew the entire town's power supply gave her the in she needed to wreak havoc.

"We're going to need all hands on deck. First, we block her ability to cause problems. For that, I need people willing to help with requisitioning generators and high-powered lights, and getting them to the places and people in town who need them most. Hospitals, nursing homes, food supply warehouses, all-night locals, playing interference for electric company personnel. I'm also going to need PR folks spinning up some reasonable explanations for these blackouts and what's been happening with people who get touched by her. Electromagnetic storms? Something about tectonics. Experimental drug from the military that blew through on the wind. Whatever you can come up with.

Little Ms. Blackout wants to play games to create fear and turn people on each other? We cut off that power flow to her, and she becomes an inconvenience, more than an actual problem. I expect her to start targeting us more directly once we start squeezing her, so we'll be issuing flashlights to everyone here. If you know someone who needs one, tell us, and we'll get them one, too."

Nia takes a breath. "While Dunn doesn't like the light, she can survive in it. Direct exposure to it will ward her off, but as long as she can find some kind of shadow, she can squeeze herself into it to stay alive. We know she has the ability to split into multiple shades of herself to cause wider problems. We caught her by trapping all of those in beams of light last time. We need a more coordinated response to be able to handle her, though. I'll be here, working on that if anyone wants to weigh in. In the meanwhile… let's make that bitch's life harder, huh?"

➥ WALKING HELL

(cw: altered mental state, hallucinations, violence, scopophobia, body horror)

Suddenly and without much warning, the world changes. Or….it changes for some people, some of the time. Anyone who finds themselves outside the sanctuary formed by ADI’s buildings will feel woozy, perhaps drowsy for a moment before they blink….and find themselves trapped in a nightmare.

The exact flavor of the nightmare isn’t always constant. In fact, it may not even feel like anything at all is wrong….at first. Characters may continue on after their brief dizzy spell, going about their business until they slowly start to realize that the strangers that they pass in the street are watching them. Watching them as they pass, watching them as they walk away, watching them as their heads turn at unnatural degrees to just keep watching.

Or maybe the nightmare is more immediately obvious. A hole you fall down and just keep falling down for what feels like forever. An angry mob of townspeople who descend on you at random, hands like claws that seek to rend your flesh. It can be any number of things. And it can change. Characters might find that seeking to get away from the source of this horror might work….for that particular horror. Get far enough away, and trade one nightmare scenario for another. They might even find familiar faces stuck in the same situation and can try and work together to get out of whatever nightmare they’ve found themselves in. (It won’t work. But they can try.)

The nightmares don’t come over everyone at the same time, though, and they may even be intermittent for some. Characters might find themselves walking with a friend, only to have one of them begin to react to something that the other can’t see. (..Any injuries sustained, however, will become visible. Even if what’s causing it isn’t. Where did that chest wound come from?)

Even if you’re alone, snapping out of a nightmare might mean finding some of Glouscester’s townspeople staring at you in something like distress or horror. Trying to get medical help from them…will only exacerbate their concern. What wounds, you don’t have any wounds. But you do…don’t you? They’re definitely there.

The only true safety seems to be in ADI Headquarter or housing. ADI staff will be concerned when they do hear reports of the nightmares, but most will swear that they can’t see any wounds that characters have either. And they understand it might be terrifying….but things still need to get done. Characters will be asked but not pushed to go out into town. Or they can just stay inside until this is fixed. Whenever it’s fixed. If it’s ever fixed.

➥ Dunn With This

(cw: attempted capture and imprisonment; reference to attempted murder; violence)

There comes a time when the best defense is, as they say, a good offense. The work ADI has done to cut off Dunn's power by turning back on the lights and calming the public is working; though there are still sightings around Gloucester, she does not seem to have the full free reign she enjoyed in the first nights of the blackout. It's clear that she hasn't given up on whatever she means to accomplish, that she isn't prepared to retreat or lie low.

It's ADI's turn to go on the attack. Word comes down from the top that all staff with field or combat experience are requested to assist in a coordinated effort to recapture Katie Dunn. The plan, as it stands, is to lure each of her shades to a location where she can be pinned in a beam of light. The catch, of course, is that they've done this dance before and she'll be expecting them to try just that. As such, the floor is open for suggestions.

Characters who volunteer to participate in the effort will be informed that the planned procedure for an encounter with one of the shades is for an agent (chosen from those quickest on their feet) to act as bait and try to get Katie to chase them to a predetermined location where other ADI agents lie in wait with a rig of floodlights. It's tricky, dangerous work, and there's no guarantee she won't catch on and avoid the trap or even attack the agents waiting there for the return of their comrade. Worse, it's unclear whether the multiple shades of her roaming the city are separate entities or if they're a hive mind instantly aware of whatever trap one of them falls into.

Characters may also propose alternate plans and methods, and agents will be allocated to assist with any such plans that are deemed to have a decent likelihood of success. Or, of course, they could strike out on their own, though ADI strongly advises against it.

➥ Mod Notes

• GENERAL - Players are welcome to play background NPCs for themselves when they are needed in a thread. If you need more information on general behavior for these types of NPCs, please feel free to ask! In general, the information provided in the prompts should be sufficient and ordinary people will act like… ordinary people! You're welcome to make up any details beyond that for your specific scene. Nia Lehrer and Katie Dunn will be available as mod-played NPCs for their specific prompts via the starter below. Also, please remember that character deaths are permanent and plan accordingly!
  
  
• NIGHT'S EMBRACE (16-18 March) - Characters may find themselves the victims or the perpetrators of the violent and wild acts induced by the shadow woman and her touch. They may also be able to ward her off of an active attack if they're lucky and happen to have a good flashlight with them. After the 16th, nowhere will be safe in town, and characters may find sleeping a challenge when there's a good chance they'll be attacked in the middle of it. Sucks that the coffee pot runs on power, too.
  
  
• ILLUMINATING (19-23 March) - Nia will be available to take questions directly from PC's during the meeting. Players will generally be welcome to threadjack as everyone will be hearing Nia's responses collectively at the same time. Network interaction will be possible, but less focused on quick back-and-forth, and more Q&A-style things that Nia can respond to. Characters in the Administration and Public Relations departments will get a particularly heavy tap to assist with requisitions and spinning up stories, but everyone is welcome to help with either the logistics of acquiring supplies or actually bringing them to people in town or setting up extra floodlights around town. The locals will be very grateful, but confused by the gifts of the generators and lights. Characters with mechanical knowledge will be asked to help with actually installing these for people. If you would like your character to come up with a specific IC story for the blackouts and/or crime streak, please let the mods know in the Questions header on the event OOC post! We will incorporate these into our Headline News items next month.
  
  
• WALKING HELL (22-28 March) - This prompt is very much open to players inventing their own nightmare patches. As stated in the OOC summary, the nightmares can last for any amount of time (including days). Anyone not experiencing the nightmare (including other PCs) will not be able to see what the character is reacting to or see any sort of wounds they suffer while stuck in the nightmare. Any wounds sustained during the time in the nightmare will continue to be visible to PCs and some NPCs even after it ends, but will not be immediately life-threatening no matter what. Two characters in the same place who are both stuck in the nightmare will see the same thing. Please remember to appropriately warn for any triggers/content warnings, especially considering that they are going to vary greatly between different threads. Here is list of player-requested content warnings to keep in mind specifically.
  
  
• DUNN WITH THIS (29-31 March) - While characters are advised by ADI to use the tactics noted above, they are welcome to employ alternate methods of dealing with Katie Dunn. They will have ADI's general support regardless of whether they follow ADI's playbook or come up with their own tactics, including equipment as well as the ability to recruit background ADI NPCs to their plans. However, NPCs generally will not agree to take part in anything that looks like a suicide mission (if you have any questions about whether background NPCs would agree to your character's plan, please submit those under the Questions header on the OOC post). Katie will be available for (hostile) NPC interactions. Please note that the outcome of all encounters with Katie must be decided by March 31, as the outcome of this event will impact the April TDM. If threads have not reached their natural conclusion by that date, players will be asked to decide OOCly on the outcome (and are welcome to continue to tag to reach that conclusion ICly).
  
  

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QUESTIONS

[apocalypsehowmods]

Please respond HERE.

NPC Interactions

[apocalypsehownpcs]

If you would like to interact with Nia Lehrer in the "Illuminating" prompt or Katie Dunn in the "Dunn With This" prompt, please reply here!

Please note that the outcome of all encounters with Katie must be decided by March 31, as the outcome of this event will impact the April TDM. If threads have not reached their natural conclusion by that date, players will be asked to decide OOCly on the outcome (and are welcome to continue to tag to reach that conclusion ICly).

Katie Dunn (Night's Embrace) cw: violence, altered mental states, hallucinations, death

[cacophonish]

When the shadow woman's influence wears off, it's like the worst comedown from the best high.

Jeff had felt so sure of himself, dragging others into her path, watching as they became a frenzied mob. They trashed the lights, and as darkness spread, so did the infection. Madness, violence, vandalism--

But it wasn't enough. There was still light. So he helped guide the mob towards the biggest source of all, and he laughed and sang as Gloucester went dark.

And then he came down. He doesn't know how long it took, how long it's been since the blackout started. Time feels funny. Fuck, everything feels... wrong and unreal, and he's pretty sure it's because he's wrong and-- and--

He hears someone screaming outside, and it's his fault. All of this is his fault. Fuck, he doesn't even know what to do-- what can he do? He can't make this right (he can't make anything right), and if he stays, he'll only keep hurting people and making everything worse. He could turn himself in, and let the ADI do its thing, or he could just-- run.

Run from his problems. It's what he's always done, what he's good at. He'll just keep on running, which is what he should have done months ago.

Jeff gathers what little courage he has, what little he's even capable of, and he makes a phone call that's... too little too late, really, but he hopes... He hopes, if everyone survives, they'll be safer, once he's left town for good.

There's madness outside, but now it's quiet here, inside the empty club, where Jeff sits at the edge of the stage, alone with an audience of broken glass and busted furniture. He thinks he sees something moving in the dark. For once, he doesn't look away.

Katie Dunn (Dunn With This) cw: self-harm, blood, potential for suicidal ideation

[whisperedone]

What ADI is planning sounds...good. Their advisement to not go alone is equally wise, but there's little else he can do. He can't aim a light, he can't see his fellows to aid them, he can't coordinate a trap. So he doesn't.

Bloodhunters work alone more often than not, trained to hunt the monsters that prey on innocents, so he heads out with glaive in hand and the single-minded focus of finding his quarry.

He carries a single candle as he makes for where they'd said she might be. The whole city was her hunting ground and everyone her prey. She attacks with shadow and affects the minds of those she injures. Facts run through his mind and low whispers just behind them. Garner strides to an open area cool with a lack of light upon his face but for the candle in his hand. He crouches to place his fingers to the ground, listening and feeling for the sounds of disturbed earth, but surely a shadow weighs little to the earth...

With a final, calm, inhale, he blows out the candle and leaves it on the ground as he stands. And listens. And waits.

Nia Lehrer - Illuminating

[canofmanji]

"Her initial capture." Manji raises his voice once all other questions have been answered. Thinking his concern isn't actually a pressing one, but regardless, he feels to be important. He's come dressed in the kimono he arrived wearing and he has his sword at his hip. The one armed, one eyed, immortal samurai had come prepared to be sent out to a fight. "Was that done because she was doing as she is now? Corrupting people? Causing blackouts?" Or is this because you pissed her off by locking her away? Is the thought he keeps to himself for the moment.

Nia Lehrer - Illuminating

[setthetone]

Carter listens quietly at the meeting, carefully watching his own emotional response to everything that is being said, then taking it and putting in on a shelf. It sits like a jack-in-the-box that wants to come out and yell how insane all of this is. Women with the power of darkness haunting the streets.

But it doesn't matter. There's no time for that. People are in danger and he sits up a little at the mentioning of hospitals and nursing homes. The idea makes his blood run cold, imagining all those people in need of medical attention, helpless if their caregivers suddenly turned violent...

He tries to think practically, like he did these past few months. Make do with what you have.

When there's an opening, he raises his hand slightly.

"You wrote that she's practically allergic to light. If that wards her off, could that also interrupt her hold on people? There are some strong light treatments like phototherapy. They're not exactly for... dark magic afflictions, usually, but maybe it could help those under her influence? If you can spare a generator I could run some tests. Or set up at one of the hospitals when we bring them over."

He frowns, the box on his shelf rattling.

"If you think it's worth a shot."

Katie Dunn - Dunn With This

[worthallthis]

Firing with light is different from what he's used to, firing with bullets, but Winter is adaptable. He is not the bait-- he might have combat experience, he might be quick on his feet, but he is not as quick as someone without a heavy metal arm, now that he's without his serum strength more regularly. And Dunn knows by now that she doesn't frighten him, and he will fight back if she tries to hurt him. He is a poor target for her, in this way.

But he is a hunter, and he has a rifle. Instead of bullets or darts or whathaveyou, he's attached a lighted scope to it, with a piercing laser sight and an enhanced bulb provided by ADI. And he lies in wait from a rooftop for her to cross his path-- Yelena the bait, leading her to him. Hopefully.

Katie Dunn (Dunn With This) cw: self-harm, possible violence, altered mental states, hallucinations

[cuttypie]

So Luka may have overhead Carter talking about running tests, and well, you can't run tests without people to run tests on, right?

He thinks he may have encountered the phenomenon before. And well, if he made it out once, he can make it out again, right? This time he has light, and this time he has a plan. Stick near ADI as close as possible, and lure Katie into the light and get himself enchanted again or whatever the hell this is...

...the supernatural gives him a headache. It's just a lot.

It's late, and Luka's got a flashlight turned on in one hand, walking near, but not quite to ADI property lines outside. He has it mostly for back-up in case things get too out of hand, but he's willing to see how far he can get with this, and by being close to ADI property he knows that if he ends up losing his mind again he'll likely be seen relatively quickly by someone. He clicks the flashlight off, standing in the darkness.

He's pretty sure this is a great plan.

Nia Lehrer; Illuminating

[welladjustedwhitly]

Q&A's are nearly natural as breathing to Ainsley. She came prepared with a notebook and questions. She listens intently, jotting important things down for review later. Once the floor is open, her hand goes up immediately.

"Even if you do manage to apprehend her for a second time, what's to stop her escaping again? Are there going to be additional security measures put in place to prevent the escape of criminals of this caliber, and what can you tell us about those measures as it stands, right now?"

Someone's in her element, and it shows.

Nia, "Illuminating" pls!

[lesbeau]

[As far as ADI is concerned, Beau has been presumably doing good work since the months when she last spoke to Nia, and not doing any weird magic from as far as she knows it. She's playing nice. But this is honestly a little much even for her, so she's intending on another chat with Nia, walking up as soon as she's able to take a moment to speak.]

Hey. So. Were you gonna just, ever tell us we were walking above some of the most dangerous people this world has to offer, or was that only going to be a thing we got to know when something like this happens?

Katie Dunn - Dunn With This

[canofmanji]

Volunteering to try and lure Katie into the light was something Manji wasn't interested in at first. Did she need to be stopped? Yes, but his own imprisonment back home was still sitting uneasily in his mind. He didn't really like the idea of locking someone away for eternity. He was still relatively new to the immortal life and the idea of being left in a box for endless centuries puts a cold spot in the pit of his stomach.

In the end he agrees to it. Probably better an immortal man than someone who could be torn to shreds go out to play bait. Plus, it gives him an excuse to go seek out some more information that doesn't come directly from ADI without hopefully raising too much suspicion as to why he was seeking someone out. Manji hasn't yet fully decided if he's actually going to try and lead Katie to the trap just yet.

Maybe Katie will have heard of the one armed immortal man who got back up after being hit by a car while trapped in a nightmare. Maybe she hasn't. Manji isn't expecting to be a known person to her as he walks with a candle in his hand. Feeling more comfortable with that than the flashlight he has hidden in the pocket of the winter jacket he's wearing.

"You out here Shadow Bitch?" He calls out with amusement in his voice. Unsure how this interaction will go he can't help but be excited by it. Maybe she'll find a way to kill him for good, maybe he'll go mad, or maybe he'll get answers to questions he's got. Either way it was going to be better than staying stagnate. "Got some questions for ya!"

Garner Cinderbrooke | OTA

[whisperedone]

➥ Walking Hell (CW: Hallucinations, feelings of insanity)
A) He's been practicing going for walks, they help clear his mind and give him something to work towards: familiarizing himself with walkways and the patterns of day-to-day noise in the town. Each day he can successfully make it out a little further without having to turn back too soon, is a day that marks as progress.

He's focusing on the sounds of the traffic and the passing of someone on his left, another someone a few paces behind him, when the sounds all vanish. If anyone is unfortunate enough to fall into his nightmare with him, there's nothing at all to see. Darkness stretches on forever and a bone-deep chill like death creeps over the shoulder and brushes the backs of it's fingers behind the skull. Only then do the whispers start: quiet, then louder, constant and pressing as they fill his mind. Secrets, insecurities, facts, trivia, the mundane mixes with the useful in a melted mess of cacophonous presence. There's no escape from them, they are everywhere.

Anyone passing by might notice as Garner stops dead in his tracks, then looks around wildly as though clouded eyes might finally see something, before his hands clamp tightly over his ears and he falls to his knees there on the sidewalk right next to the street. "Go away!" His own whisper is sharp and ineffectual, as it always is.

B) After his own brush with the hallucinations, he's more keen when passing people, listening for sounds of distress or anything out of the ordinary, anything that might indicate someone nearby needed help with their own waking nightmares. Of course, he could hardly watch where he was going, so if he accidentally stumbles into one, it will be hard to tell until he can hear something.


➥ Dunn With This (CW: Referenced Self-harm)
'Don't head out alone.' It was wise advice, it would be wiser still to heed it. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option. Garner listens to the activity of others around him as he straps down the armor he'd arrived in, practice making the buckles easy to secure. He pulls his cloak around him and unwraps the long leather strap that covers his left arm to tie it around his waist and out of the way. His arm is a labyrinth of crisscrossing scars, some pale and older while others stood scabbed and fresh. He would need his skin available.

He lingers in his corner, listening to people plan using things he can't begin to imagine with tactics that would all require a keen eye. He was no use here, he would be better off out there. He takes a deep breath and, quietly, turns toward the exit.

A. Walking Hell

[canofmanji]

Not every day, but sometimes Manji would join Garner on his walks. Not because he thought the man needed a guide or help, but because for all his talk about being fine on his own it was sometimes nice to have company. He wanted to get a better understanding of this strange city and map it out better within his own head. So, when it seemed like Garner was going in a similar direction Manji would join his roommate.

He's usually pretty quiet on their walks. Striking up friendly chatter if Garner seems to want it, but normally he was pretty happy with the companionable silence. When the nightmare hits it takes him by completely surprise. "Wh--what the hell?" The last time the world had gone so dark his remaining eye had been damaged. Immediately he reaches up to feel it. Had he been attacked and missed it somehow? "Ow!" Nope, that eye was still there and in tact.

Misty Quigley | Yellowjackets

[citizendetective]

ILLUMINATING; OTA
[Misty has been here for less than a week, but by all appearances, she's all in: she takes a seat at the front of the room and, pad of paper and pen in hand, spends the entire meeting studiously taking notes. She stays past the end of Nia's speech and into the Q&A section, paying close attention to anything that gets asked - and, potentially, throwing in some questions of her own, depending on what topics come up. It's not until everything is clearly, definitively over that she finally stands.]

Wow, what a ride, huh!

[She says - to the person sitting next to her, maybe, or to someone who just happens to be heading down the aisle towards the door at the same time that she is.]

I can't wait to get started! I've never helped kill someone with flashlights before.


WALKING HELL; OTA
potential cws: cannibalism, plane crashes, physical trauma (direct mentions or depictions of these will not be touched upon without player permission, and can be avoided entirely on request); emotional trauma, physical isolation, emotional isolation, wilderness survival (depictions of these are integral to Misty's nightmarescapes and cannot be avoided in threads taking place within them)
[Generally, the things in Misty's history that most people would find terrifying are happy memories for her - or, at worst, bittersweet.

Nevertheless, anyone who falls into her nightmares with her will invariably end up in the woods.

The air is cold, but luckily, they'll find themselves wearing a heavy but amateurly-made fur cloak. Misty wears one too, and her hood is down, showing the panicked, stricken look on her face as she trots through the undergrowth, looking wildly around her.]

Wait!

[She calls, though she's clearly not talking to her companion - she hasn't even noticed them yet.]

Wait for me, I'm coming, I-- Shauna? Is that you?

[Another cloaked figure flashes by, moving faster than should be humanly possible; Misty tries to sprint after them, but they're out of sight in seconds.]

Shauna, wait; don't leave me behind, I want to come with you!

[The crack of a rifle shot sounds from the opposite direction, and Misty whirls around to face it, eyes wide and confused and hopeful.]

Natalie?

[She murmurs to herself under her breath - then, louder:]

Nat, where are you? Shauna? Tai? Nat?

[Shouts and gunshots and bird calls and wolf howls sound from all around her. She spins in frantic circles, unsure of where to go.

No one she calls out to acknowledges her.]

[OOC: content warnings for this character!]

[canofmanji]

[The man next to her is dressed a little strangely. Like he's jumped right out of an old samurai movie. Dressed in a black and white kimono and even a sword on his hip. Yet, the most striking feature on Manji might be that he only has one eye and is missing his left arm. In his one remaining good arm he's inspecting the flashlight he's been given. He's never used one before, but it's simple enough and he's starting to get the hang of it.]

This? This is suppose to kill her? [He sounds skeptical.]

Manji | Blade of the Immortal | OTA

[canofmanji]

NIGHT'S EMBRACE
A. CW: Physical violence and blood

Those foolish enough to try to attack Manji in the darkness are going to find him to be a harder man to scare or attack than he seems to be. He looks like he should be an easy mark. Dressed in weird clothes, one arm, half blind, and walking around with just a candle to light his way. A candle that can so easily be blown out.

Manji is quick to turn the tide on those who try to take out his light and rob him. He's been trying to hold back on scaring people to feed his powers, but no more. Not on people like this. "So... you think it's fun to pick on the weak, do ya?" Screams still fill the air, but they don't belong to Manji.

He has the skills to let them go, to chase them off, to hurt them just enough to incapacitate and leave them for the authorities, but he doesn't. Instead he stalks and strikes. Doing his best to cause fear in the only way he knows how. His sword cuts through the night air and across his attackers. They weren't going to leave here without some scars for their troubles.

B. CW: Gun violence, blood, and worms that could be considered body horror/feeding the corruption

It takes almost no time at all for the first person to try and shoot the crazed man swinging at them with a sword. The shot rings out and Manji will fall back with a spray of blood. He must be dead. Only after a couple of still moments, Manji stirs. In the darkness it may be impossible to tell exactly what is happening, but try and look close enough and there is movement happening at the point of impact. "Oh, now you're gunna get it. Do you have any idea how hard it is to clean blood out of this thing?!" Manji snarls as begins to rise back up to his feet. Blood streaked across his face and eyes wild he looks a every bit like a corpse come to life.

Illuminating

Manji attends the meeting. Quietly listening to what is said and even has a few questions he wants to ask by the end. He takes the offered flashlight and looks it over. "Heavier than it looks." He's at least smart enough to not shine it directly into his own face and one remaining good eye, but he might not be overly careful to the people near him as he tries out the switch.

WALKING HELL CW: altered mental state, hallucinations, violence, car accident

Manji doesn't even realize he's walked into a nightmare. Everything seems completely normal until he hears a familiar, mocking laugh and catches a glimpse of what he thought looked like a kimono with a sun on it. Was that a man with white hair ducking through the crowd? The phantom has Manji stopping in his tracks. "Shira?!" Doesn't matter if Manji had been in mid conversation with someone, he takes off after the man.

"SHIRA!" He screams out the man's name. Violently pushing through the crowd of people. Uncaring of who he's shoving, even if it's a kid, he can't let this man out of his sight. "You bastard! Stop running!" No, wait-- he's suddenly to the right. When had he gotten so fast?! Manji skids to a stop, spins to turn to the right to keep up. "What have you done with Rin?!" Blindly Manji continues the chase. He doesn't even hear the honking of horns as he dashes out in front of traffic.

(OOC: Feel free to save Manji from getting hit by a car or watch him get hit. He'll survive the accident. If you want to see him get hit, please tell me if you want no description of worms as that is how he heals. I can skip a description as needed. Also don't google Shira. The man is a walking trigger warning with the things he's done, but all things I don't plan on bringing up for the nightmare.)

Dunn With This

Have you made it known that you have a plan to stop Katie, but you need someone to play bait? Have a one eye, one armed man dressed as a samurai approaching you. "I might be able to help, but what's your plan first?"

Walking hell

[nonmagical]

"Wait, please stop!"

Mirabel can't stop someone like Manji from running into traffic, she can only watch in horror as the man is about to be hit by an oncoming car. She is it, she's going to end up watching someone die.

[I'm fine with the description!]

Luka Kovač | ER - OTA

[cuttypie]

I. Nights Embrace

cw: minor wounds

[Luka's out with a flashlight, a little aggressively maybe. He tries to get the light switch to work, but alas.]

If this is what I think it is...

[He looks over and points the flashlight towards the hallway. His voice sounds...shaken, maybe. Nervous. He points the flashlight back towards himself, on his face, where there are fresh scratches healing.]

She's gotten me before. The other night, I was...not myself. Don't let her get you.

II. Waking Hell

cw: graphic descriptions of war and destruction, major character and child deaths due to war, PTSD, trauma, contagious illness, gunshots, explosions, fire, brutal violence, blood, suicidal ideation

[He doesn't notice the world shifting around him. He doesn't remember where he was going, initially, until a desperate need overcomes him.

He has to find them. His family. He can hear their cries, their voices in the distance. Some are Danijela's voice--why hasn't he seen her in awhile? He can't remember, why can't he remember?--and some are the children's voices.

Luka?

Luka!

There's explosions in the distance. It's simultaneously tropical and hot, with bright lush tropical forest around him, buzzing with mosquitos, and also nothing but rubble--buildings, smashed to pieces, craters in the ground, debris everywhere, small fires in windows. It shouldn't be possible, it shouldn't make sense, but it just does, right now.]

Danijela! [Luka screams, he knows this story, he just knows he's not going to reach them in time.] Jasna! Marko! I'm coming--

[Bullets whiz past him, and the sounds of trucks coming in the distance get louder. He recognizes the voices of the Mai-Mai and he knows that if they catch him, he's dead. They're all dead. He has to get to his patients, he can't leave them, they're coming and he has to get them, and his family, too--

--the mosquitos are louder and louder and he feels sick. Like he has a fever, like he's burning up. Sweat starts to pour off him and he stumbles through the rubble-and-trees, looking for a place he can't find. Looking for people he lost.

And then he sees them. Patrice, shot because he was helping people, shot because they got to him first, shot because he followed him and stayed with him and wanted to help, his body lying in the dirt. Other people--lying around him, because they wanted to help. Because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

His wife, Danijela, crushed under rubble, even though he remembers this being in what was left of their apartment. Why are they outside? It doesn't matter. Blood lies in a pool around her, because he didn't get to her in time. Because she followed him.

His children, next to her, lying there was if they were asleep, but he knows that it's not sleep. It's his fault that they have died, they should have been priority over his career, he was stupid, so stupid

He falls to his hands and knees, trembling, all the strength sapped out of him. There's more shouting nearby, more gunshots, more explosions, but it's too late.

He's too late.

He's always too late.]

II. Waking Hell

[setthetone]

[This is all wrong.

It's strange but Carter can't quite remember when it all turned wrong. When did it become hot again? Gloucester's climate had been such a welcome change from heat and humidity that its return hits him like a truck.

For a moment he's afraid and disoriented. Was all of it a dream? ADI, the end of the world? What if he's lying in a tent somewhere, wrecked by malaria like Luka was before he found him? It would make sense, right? Avatars, Entities, how could that not be delirium?

The mosquitoes are driving him crazy as he runs and he's shivering even though he's sweaty. His head feels hot. Definitely a fever. Shots are being fired. He's terrified.]

Luka!?

[When Carter sees him, he almost stumbles to a halt. No, Luka isn't here. He was on a plane home. This is all wrong, everything is wrong. The buildings are wrong, too. Where did this rubble come from? What's real anymore? There are bodies everywhere and Carter keeps his head low as he runs, trying not to be a target.

He hardly stops in his run as he reaches Luka, grabbing his arm and pulling him up and along.]

What are you doing!? Move!

[failedpromise]

Night's Embrace (CW: Potential for violence and injury.)

(She'd stayed late at work on the night of the 16th, and she was still there when the power went out.

Not one to be afraid of the dark, Cortana swore at the inconvenience and inevitable loss of unsaved progress on her task, then began to grope around for something to use as a light source. There had to be a flashlight around here, right? What about her phone?

She didn't notice that she wasn't alone until she heard the sound of footsteps.)

Hello? (Figuring it was probably another late working coworker, equally lost, she began to move towards where she thought the sound was coming from.) Who's there?

(It's not until the shadow woman launches her attack that Cortana begins to scream.)

Illuminating

(She's at the meeting, though she remains fairly quiet for much of it, listening to and considering the plan. She's not much of a fighter, and she's not sure how good she'd be as bait... but she knows technology well enough that she'd probably be able to help with installation.)

I can help set up generators and lights, if need be.

Waking Hell (CW: Thoughts of death, questioning reality)

(It happens without warning: one moment, she is heading back to ADI headquarters after helping with the delivery and setup of some lights, the next, she's in the darkness, alone.

It's almost like the Forward Unto Dawn, she thinks, and then to her horror, realizes she's beginning to float away from the Earth. With a sudden desperation she reaches out for the nearest thing to grab onto, straining desperately but not quite reaching it.)

Hello?! I could use some help here!

(She can't be alone, there were just people here! She was just in town, heading back to headquarters...

Was it just the rampancy? Did she just imagine everything that'd happened since she and Chief had left that ship? The thought was almost a relief, that she hadn't betrayed him, she hadn't killed those people. That it was all just the dying dream of a broken AI.

Even now, the feeling of floating away could just be conjured by her mind. She'd seen enough people die in space...

She probably looked kind of ridiculous to anyone not currently trapped in her nightmare.)

Night's Embrace

[inlieuofadad]

[She's not the only one working late. Gil has been going back over the personnel files of some of the most recently-vanished ADI and non-natives he's aware of, trying to find some kind of connection. Trying to find anything. He'd practically fallen asleep at his desk before realizing the time.

He's making his way toward the lobby by cell phone light when he hears the scream and breaks into a run, pulling his service weapon and thumbing the safety off as Cortana and the shadow-thing come into view, highlighted by his phone.]

Hey! [He fumbles his phone, drops it, swears as the offices go dark around them except for the emergency lights.]

Bucky/Winter | MCU

[worthallthis]

I. Embrace

The dark is one of few things that doesn't scare Winter at all. Being randomly attacked by clawed women... also not actually scary, he finds. He just fixes a light to his rifle scope, carries three different flashlights, and prowls through the halls of ADI on the levels with no windows, and in the streets of town after dark, in search of people injured and afraid.

Even without his serum strength and speed, he still has good reflexes, intensive training, and a big ole metal arm that he can use to block said claws.

He naps for a couple hours during the day, in the apartment with all the curtains open, with one of his roommates on guard. They'll switch places eventually, and he'll guard them.


II. Illuminating

To his mild surprise, Winter finds he does, in fact, know how to set up a generator and hook it up to an electrical system. Weird. Useful, but weird.

So he can be found during daylight hours, when he's not napping at home, driving a truck packed with equipment to various important locations. ... not the hospital. He gets there, stares at it for a long moment, and backs out of the parking lot again to deliver somewhere else. One of the others can deal with the doctors. Not him.

The ADI apartments are one such place, so anyone who lives there might stumble on him cursing under his breath at a loose wire somewhere in the second-hand generator, reaching in blindly to try and find it.


III. Walking Hell (cw amputation, WW2, child death, flashbacks)

The waking nightmares haunt Winter for about two days. For him, they're basically fully-immersive flashbacks. One minute he's searching for someone he heard screaming on the next street over, and the next he's staggering through the snow, missing an arm, dizzy and forgetful, clinging to his bleeding stump and trying to find Steve. Or anybody, really.

Or he's trudging home after a patrol in the ADI buildings one minute, and then he's ducking to one side against a building that's in ruins from Axis bombings, swinging a gun out of a hidden holster, peeking around in search of the tank he's sure he heard a moment ago.

Or he's coming back from repairing a damaged generator, and he hits his knees, staring at a pile of rubble that's from his bomb that he set on his handler's orders, except he didn't know... he hadn't realized there were so many children in that building. He digs at the rubble-- at the sidewalk, at someone's lawn-- to try and get to the bodies. Maybe someone's still alive. Maybe he can make this right. Maybe he can at least save one.

Apparently Dunn finally finds something that will scare him.


IV. Dunn With This

And now Winter is pissed. He's not good bait, because he's too angry. Dunn knows she can't scare him, as herself, only by hurling his own goddamn past at him. So he's on call for anyone who wants to be bait, themselves, with a sniper rifle and a high-powered light fixed to his scope.

He follows anyone going out. He lies in wait, sometimes with a partner, sometimes without. He always has his company phone on him for communication, with the bluetooth in his ear so it doesn't make too much noise. Or require his hands.

I - feel free to handwave previous interactions/ping me on discord to hash some out?

[conning]

Neal knows Winter, peripherally--they're both in security, though Neal is more in the "developing better versions of" side than the "doing physical damage to those who try and usurp said security" side.

Still, he's wildly grateful to spot Winter in the fading light of town as he tries to shepherd three homeless people--one elderly, two young--toward a church that has a generator running and floodlights on the buildings. He's supporting the older man, or trying to, while the guy fights against him, trying to scratch at his face.

"Hey! Winter--hey!"

Neal winces as the homeless man's nails catch his cheek, leaving a scratch and surprising him into letting go. The guy starts to run back toward the suddenly dark part of town.

Malcolm Bright | Prodigal Son | OTA

[abrightboy]

Night's Embrace
Malcolm is walking back towards ADI when the city goes dark. He pulls his trusty flashlight out of his jacket and shines it around. If you're heading to ADI, he'll walk with you. If you need help, he'll help you.

Illuminating
Malcolm attends the meeting, lingering in the back of the room. Avatar. The shadow woman is an Avatar. She used to be a person and she's become this. What will Jeff become if they can't pull him back? He's leaning on the back wall and brooding if you want to talk to him.

Walking Hell
For an attempt at one moment of normalcy, Malcolm leaves ADI to go to the coffee shop down the street. His usual haunt for a morning cup, before he heads back to the ADI offices for work.

This time, he steps out into the street and he feels dizzy. Weird. But okay. Fine. He's fine. He heads down the sidewalk.

Someone is waiting for him by a No Parking sign. Martin Whitly. No. Not again. He stills.

"Is this a dream?"

"Why does it have to be a dream? Your sister is here. Good ol' Gilly boy is here. Why not your dad, huh?"

"I stabbed you."

"Twice. But if I can get past that, then so can you." He steps over and puts an arm around Malcolm's shoulders and steers him back on his path to the coffee shop. "We were heading to get a cup of coffee, right?" Malcolm nods dumbly, but his heart is racing as they walk. He feels like he's leading a monster to prey and there's nothing he can do about it.

[conning]

Neal, ironically, is coming back from the coffee shop, having done a quick run of the neighborhood near ADI to look for some of Kugrash's--some of his 'regulars' when it comes to handing out warm meals. He's been feeling a little off for the past block. Dizzy. Then watched. Hunted. He has a flashlight in hand, even though it's still daylight. Better safe than driven insane, though he has no idea how a flashlight will do anything if daylight doesn't.

He pauses as he sees Malcolm, brightening up--then the bottom drops out of the world and he spends a paralyzed few seconds of eternity caught between wanting to run toward Malcolm and run away from Martin.

Ainsley Whitly | Prodigal Son

[welladjustedwhitly]

— Night's Embrace —

↳ In her first bad decision since arriving here, Ainsley seeks out the shadow woman on her own. She crosses paths with Jeff and ends up attacked.

↳ A one-response only call for help after the attack.

— Illuminating —

↳ Ainsley attends Nia's emergency meeting, makes notes of things she might need to know for later (including: Shadow Woman = Katie Dunn (captured once, -2yrs, murder considered (?!) ; Deepthi Anand = Dunn's accomplice, boosting Dunn's abilities (?) ; Cape Electric - fix ≠)

↳ Ainsley sets up to talk with other displaced and spitball ideas for ideas for by explanations for the blackouts.

— Walking Hell —

↳ Feel free to walk into her nightmare!

{Night's Embrace

[welladjustedwhitly]

Malcolm had made her promise: Investigate something, tell him. Even if he doesn't come with her, at least let him know what she's doing. Unfortunately, Ainsley has the exact same gene that makes her reckless that her older brother does, and there was a story to be uncovered in all this– and the only thing she knew to do when she was out of sorts was throw herself into work.

So. Here she was. Wandering around, semi-interviewing anyone she might catch to talk to. Random ADI agents around the building, native locals in any easily accessible space, and maybe, just maybe, she approaches you in the mix of it all.

Her cut-ins mostly start with a gentle easing in of, "All this is pretty crazy, huh?" because if nothing else, she knows discretion, and she's picked up from her Orientation, from Malcolm, from Meredith, that they aren't supposed to really be here, but they are, and there are things that the ADI knows, and operates within, that the rest of the population aren't aware of. She's been pretty good at judging how much crazy someone knows based on their answer to her bland, conversational commentary.

Eventually, of course, she gets caught in the dark during her investigations. Perhaps you find her after her encounter with Jeff, and the Shadow Woman.

John Carter | ER | ota

[setthetone]

i. Illuminating/Dunn with this - Medical Wing

a. coffee break

[Here's the good thing.

The good thing is that this works. After setting up and running a few trials, Carter is quick to notice the positive effects of the light. Yes, there are side effects and he is dealing with a lot of frightened people. But they have something to break that awful hold on their minds and that, to Carter, is an absolute win. It feels good. It makes magic a little less scary and a little more tangible. A mundane treatment that drives out the inexplicable.

But it's also daunting. It's been a while since he conducted his last study and it's been, well, never that he conducted a magical study at that. While simultaneously treating people and trying to help them. He's always had a good bedside manner but the violent yelling, the threats, the fear and pleads are getting to him and he's stretching himself thin trying to stay on top of it all.

There is a bit of a downtime and he sits, exhausted while he catches up on some charts and nurses a long cold coffee. When someone approaches he looks up.]

Hi.

[He sniffs, rubbing his face and forcing himself to sit up straight.]

Anything you need?



b. Treatment Wildcard

[ooc: Bringing someone in? Being brought in yourself? Here to help? The Doctor is in!]



c. For Luka

[When they bring in Luka, Carter closes his eyes, trying to ward off the multiple deja-vus that hit him.

Luka, shattering lights all around Gloucester.

Luka, throwing rocks at him.

Luka, in a tent, more dead than alive.

Luka, on this stretcher right now, in restraints and clearly as out of it as he was before. Carter moves, starts working on him right away but it's hard. When did this happen? How did this happen? In the end he sits, monitoring him, waiting to see if his condition improves. Sometimes he checks his pulse, hydration levels, temperature. Sometimes he's in the back of a pick-up truck again, dabbing Luka's sweaty face with a cool towel.]

This is a real bad habit you've gotten yourself into lately, you know that?

[He mutters quietly to himself, checking the IV.]

What, you think I'll always come running to bail you out?

[The answer is yes. Yes, he will.]



ii. walking hell cw: addiction, hard drug use, syringes, ptsd, survivor's guilt, violence, stab wounds, blood, gore

[The dream is a mess. It's disjointed, it's hazy, it's disorienting. There are hospital hallways that go on and on and on. Enter a door and it leads into another, an endless maze, there's no way out. There's upbeat music and it's loud, too loud, thumping basses and funky drums.

There's Carter and he's running.

There's himself, chasing him. Younger but looking much worse for wear. There are dark circles under his eyes and something manic in his attitude. There's a knife in his hand and he brandishes it. Sometimes he rams it into his own side, bringing it back bloody, then waves like a promise. This is coming for you.

Despite of the music it's easy to hear this other Carter. His voice is snide, sharp, unpleasant.]

You know, I had everything under control. I did! I was figuring it out? I was handling it, I was doing a good job. But noooo, you're making it so difficult. And for what? You're sick of it. I'm sick of it. And so is everybody else.

B. Treatment

[canofmanji]

[The physical injuries of the attack were healed right away. Almost as fast as they might have healed back home as Manji suddenly gained a taste for going out at night. Of finding people to frighten and terrorize. Something he had been trying to avoid doing and growing sluggish as a result once he learned how to maintain his immortality in this world.

It felt good to be full of energy once more. He just needed to hurt and scare enough people so he wouldn't be so worn out. Greater good is the reasoning he gives himself at the start, but he keeps going well beyond that. It's when he has to stop himself from hurting a completely innocent kid for simply being an easy target that he realizes that he may have a problem. That his curse my have healed the physical wounds, but there was something broken within him that they just can't fix on their own.

That is the reason why he brings himself to see John Carter. He hated doctors. He didn't want to be here. Didn't want to give this one the chance to experiment on him as well. What was he doing here? He shouldn't be here. He's fine. There was nothing wrong with him. This was stupid.] Maybe I should go. [This was a mistake. He's fine. He's fine. He's completely fine. He thinks about the kid's face.] But what was it you're going to do? You know, if I hypothetically needed help?

jeff calhoun | oc | ota

[cacophonish]

i. walking hell
cw: references to character death and bleeding, potential for delusions, hallucinations

It's nearly a week after his death before anyone sees Jeff again. As far as anyone knows, he either vanished like so many others, or maybe he got swept up in the chaos, or it could be that he just booked it out of town for a few days during Katie Dunn's reign of terror. Whatever the case, he seems... fine. Totally fine. Better than fine, really, because it's like that gloomy cloud that's been hanging over his head for the past few months has finally dissipated.

Maybe that's all he needed, all along: for the cloud to burst in a torrential, cathartic downpour. He may have drowned in the process, but now there's a carefree weightlessness to him.

(Maybe it's all the blood he lost. That had been weighing him down. Now it's dried up on a stage in a wrecked club-- out of sight, out of mind!)

It's kind of weird, though. Anyone who might be looking for Jeff (if anyone really wants to find him) won't run into him while they're totally lucid. He only seems to exist in those strange pockets of unreality, the nightmares creeping into the waking world. It's just a coincidence, right? After all, it's not totally unusual to run into somebody else in these shared dreamscapes.

But the thing is: he's there, but he doesn't seem to be affected by the nightmares. It's like he doesn't... quite... belong. One moment, you're being chased by a mob out for blood, and there he is, busking merrily on a street corner. You're being stalked by some creature in the woods, and there's Jeff, hanging out on a tree branch, humming. In some nightmares, he seems to stand out, a bright and colorful oasis in the middle of the gloom.

If you catch sight of him, he won't try to hide. He'll just smile and wave. Maybe he's here to help?

ii. wildcard

[ Jeff can be found properly in the waking world after March 28, but he won't be participating in the attempted capture of Katie; he'll just be chilling like everything's normal. Catch me on Discord (weeyotch#8200) or plurk (weeyotch) if you'd like to do something of a non-nightmare variety! ]

cw: nightmarish imagery/HORRIBLE STUFF idk I'll be more specific later

[inlieuofadad]

Gil has been looking for Jeff, in-between emergencies and assistance given to various projects and people. He has (in to-be-written toplevels) heard rumors and stories and discovered one very concerning crime scene. He knows about the messages Jeff left, thanks to Malcolm. But he hasn't been able to concentrate as much focus on looking for the kid as he wants to, with the continuous flow of crises and his typical sources being busy or unhelpful.

He hasn't been able to, and its been driving him more and more insane, and he finally said a mental fuck it and grabbed a backpack full of supplies (first aid, food, flashlights) and he's been prowling Gloucester from docks to Dogtown since shortly before dawn.

He doesn't realize he's walked into a nightmare right away. Gil's worked hard enough to get dizzy spells before, and it doesn't last, so he ignores it. The first changes--each and every street sign going blank, the signs in the windows not quite being readable--are subtle enough that he doesn't immediately notice.

No, what he notices is Jeff. Jeff, standing on a street corner with the Stratocaster that Gil has been quietly putting tiny deposits on once he found out Jeff had it on layaway. Nothing big. Nothing too noticeable. Just something to get it into the kid's hands a little quicker.

Jeff, standing on the street corner with the guitar and belting out a song with a lightness and charisma that makes Gil's neck hairs prickle.

Yelena Belova | MCU | OTA

[musicdied]

I. Night's Embrace
Thus far, Yelena has avoided signing on for security detail, for reasons entirely her own. The blackout puts an end to that, and she can be found prowling the halls and grounds of the housing complex after dark, a heavy maglite in hand, and a backup clipped to her belt, alert both for stalking shadows and maddened victims.

Perhaps it's prompted by the scent of smoke on the wind, or a siren or wild scream the next street over, or simply the approach of someone with whom she's familiar, but eventually, of someone non-hostile, she'll ask, "How long do you think they can hold out?"

Not ADI - they have resources and equipment and, perhaps most importantly, some understanding of the things that go bump in the night. But there's a whole city's worth of people out there, trapped in the dark.

II. Walking Hell

Yelena doesn't stay penned up on ADI property. Even if she felt no obligation at all to help deal with the nightmare that's spilled forth from the bowels of the organization's headquarters - and she does - the thought of being trapped in place again after February's blizzard makes her want to crawl out of her skin. She helps to deliver supplies, heads out to follow up on sightings, and plays escort for those without much combat capability who might find themselves uneasy travelling alone through the stricken city.

And that, of course, means that in due course, she'll stumble into a patch of nightmares.

a. cw: blood, gore, animated body parts
The first time, she's standing at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. There's a gurgle from the storm drain, and she glances over in time to see a wash of blood burble up over the grate, carrying with it a matted clump of long, dark hair like some macabre string of seaweed, pieces of scalp still clinging to the roots.

"What the fuck?" she mutters under her breath, and grimaces, choking on the stench of rot.

There's another gurgle, and then blood geysers up out of the drain, thick and dark and clotted. Some of the pieces are more solid, here a finger, or an ear, or an undifferentiated clump of flesh. It repeats along the street in sequence, like the world's worst decorative fountain show.

She jerks back, jumping away from the red tide that washes along the gutters, not quite in time. Something collides with her ankle, hard and heavy, and she looks down in mute horror to see a hand, fingers shredded and showing bone, scrabbling at the leather of her boot. She kicks it off (sends, in the waking world, a stray can soaring with more force than could possibly be necessary), and backs away rapidly as it struggles against the river of gore lapping at the kerb, scrambling its way up onto the sidewalk.

b. cw: child death, violence, murderous children, mention of human trafficking
One moment it's daylight, bright and crisp and as close to safety as anything can come at the moment. The next moment, it's night, sodium lamps reflecting eerily off the damp ground, the air reeking of salt and oil and rust. Shipping containers loom nearly as tall as the buildings that should line the street Yelena had been walking along.

Her stride falters, then stops, and she turns a slow circle, and then freezes for a moment, breath catching, before she's racing across the pocked ground to drop to her knees beside the small, slim figure in the yellow-and-white shirt and jean shorts, blue-dyed hair just beginning to grow out.

(Distantly, she's aware this isn't how it happened, that they both survived this place, survived to be separated and collide again years later, but memory is nothing in the face of the young girl crumpled on the asphalt, blood already drying around the bullet hole that punches clear through her chest.)

Someone coming across her might see her clutching the girl to her chest beneath the dull orange lights, might see something shift at waist height between the shipping crates, see light glinting off of pale hair, reflecting off of something metallic as who or whatever's lurking circles to get a better angle.

Or they might just see her clutching at nothing at all, murmuring something in Russian between ragged sobs, tears rolling down her cheeks.

c. cw: blood, injury
The third time, she breaks free before anyone else can become tangled in her nightmare, darting across the boundary separating ADI headquarters from the street as though she's fleeing from something, then stumbling to a stop, blinking in surprise as the world shifts abruptly back to something sane and familiar. She pauses a moment, gaze searching the grounds as though not entirely convinced that what she's seeing is actually real, and then moves towards the entrance at a more reasonable pace.

It isn't until she's inside and down a largely-unoccupied hall that she stops, leans one shoulder against the wall, and pulls her coat open enough to extract the hand she's been holding clamped against her side and grimace at the sticky blood coating it.

Blood that, judging by the puzzled look the native admin agent passing by shoots her, isn't necessarily visible to everyone.

Wonderful.

IIb because of course I did

[worthallthis]

Winter's been through a couple of these before, now, so just like with the circus, when he steps into this one he knows it's not real. That doesn't make it not awful, finding Yelena on the ground clutching a face that he knows he's seen before. He's seen it shaved, the blue long gone, but he knows that nose, that mouth, those eyes.

There might be danger here, sure. But he goes to Yelena first, going to one knee beside her. Maybe he's keeping the metal arm between her and whatever is making that moving glint of light, but Yelena is still his prerogative here.

Neal Caffrey || White Collar

[conning]

➥ Illuminating - NETWORK (open)

I don't know who heard and who didn't, but there are homeless people out on the street right now that ADI isn't interested in doing more than the bare minimum to help.

They're sending some lights and supplies to a local shelter that's already overfull and understaffed.

I'd appreciate volunteers to help at least inform the homeless that the option is there. Encourage them to take it if possible. Hand out spare lights if they won't.

...Please. The only difference between us and them is that we got 'lucky' enough to be interesting to the ADI.

➥ Illuminating - A (open)

The people who volunteered to help the folks on the street won't find him hard to track down. He'll either straight-up give them a place to meet him--very likely well outside the protections of ADI--or he'll be the dude in the expensive-looking suit trying to convince a cranky middle-aged woman with a pocket-sized mutt and a shopping cart full of recyclables to leave her haul somewhere safe and come with him to a local shelter. Or he'll be backed into some corner or other fending off Katie Dunn with a flashlight. Or something similar. Dealer's choice!

➥ WALKING HELL - (open)

He doesn't let it stop him. Even after he gets stuck in a nightmare more than once, more than one landscape, he doesn't let it. He tries different routes between the ADI and the homeless shelter, tries to go out less, but it doesn't stop him, knowing something out there isn't right.

Neal is starting to wonder what Peter and Mozzie would think of this person, wound tight with anxiety and paranoia. Today, on this street, it's a school bus parked at the foot of a small sloped Montessori driveway, doors open. No one inside. No one around at all, in fact, the only sign of children being the toys scattered around the gray-green lawn of the school. It's cloudy, or rather, it feels cloudy, even though the sky above is slate-blue. It's missing a sun.

This time, it's the gray-faced apparitions of a dozen off-world acquaintances, most (not all) of them vanished, drooling blood and snarling secrets Neal doesn't want anyone to hear.

This time, it's a path through a park that has plants dying around it, slowly melting away, leaving Neal and whoever is lucky enough to get caught with him standing on a black nothingness that feels like falling even though he knows he's not. Shapes move in the dark, neon colors, abstract and brief, and he presses his fingertips against closed eyelids. Not again. Not again.

Or maybe he feels a little spasm of dizziness and wanders into someone else's dreamscape. Maybe he gets to take a stroll through one of your characters' nightmares. Lucky, lucky him.

➥ Dunn With This/Wildcard - A (open)

Neal can be found through most of the event at the local homeless shelter, which at the moment is really a local high school gymnasium partially converted by a local interfaith organization. The actual established shelter was already full to begin with. He's in the cafeteria kitchens, working with surprising skill to turn limited ingredients into actually decent meals. Or reading to the kids of the families whose houses have been either destroyed by circumstances or are currently uninhabitable. Or picking up groceries with other volunteers, or doing laundry, or serving food, or really really hating but still attempting to clean up the occasional biological mess or patch up an injury that he's really not equipped to handle.

Halp.

➥ Dunn With This - B (closed)

Neal sits down on a currently-unoccupied cot, staring at the clean pillowcase on the clean pillow and trying to remember who was in this bed and where he can probably find them to try and convince them to come back. Yeah, there are more lights on in Gloucester now, but it's not safe out there. Not remotely.

God, he's tired. He scrubs his hands back through his hair, then leans forward, resting his face in his hands and trying not to fall asleep as he sits.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm turns up at the shelter with a frozen lasagna. The third in two days.

Neal wasn't at his apartment.

He pokes his head in and looks around until he finds the man in question, sitting on the edge of his cot, head in hands.

"I, um. Brought this." He holds it out. "You know. For..." He gestures around.

Peter Parker | Marvel Cinematic Universe | OTA

[heyunderoos]

1. Nights Embrace

[There is still a lot to the ADI Peter doesn't know, nor really understand. He knows at best he's kind of just here and he isn't sure what to do about that. He wants to help, he wants to do more, but everything is new still.

It means Peter has a lot of excess nervous energy to burn off. He doesn't want to actively wake his roommates up with his pacing, so he takes to the halls. The thought of checking on Mr. Stark is a strong one, but Peter shelves it. He doesn't want to bother Tony. Not with this. He doesn't even bother to change out of his baggy pajamas.

Peter has paced the length of the same hall twice by the time, on the edge of doing it for a third time when the lights overhead flicker. The teenager pauses to look up, squinting at the lights warily. Just as he relaxes the power drops completely. Peter startles a little bit, whipping around to stare at the darkness.]

Hello? Uh- Is anyone else out here?

[He fumbles to find his cellphone for any kind of light. Only for something to leap out at him.

The teenager yelps, colliding into the floor. Something is clawing at him and all Peter can do is flail and try to kick it off to no avail.] Stop!

2.Walking Hell CW: claustrophobia, panic attacks

[Peter is happy to be out in the sunshine, away from ADI headquarters. The fresh air and reminder there is more here to see.

He feels himself relaxing for the first time in a while. There is still a threat out there, but, right now he wants to just enjoy the sunshine a little. He wants to feel normal for a second.

The feeling carries him forward across a crosswalk onto the other side of the street, onto the sidewalk. He laughs a little at the warmth on his face.

Then Peter walks directly into a nightmare. The air is knocked out of the teenager as he staggers. Suddenly he's alone. All the pedestrians with her just disappear from existence, turning into dust around him. That alone makes his skin crawl.

"You don't know what's real, Peter-" Quentin Beck's voice rings out and the world whips around in an array of colors. Peter feels frozen in place as the sky darkens overhead, green overpowering everything else.

"Scared, Peter? You should be."

Peter sucks in a sharp breath, stumbling before he breaks into a full run. He only makes it a few feet before he's stopped. He collides with something with a thunk, falling back with a yelp. Peter realizes quickly its glass as he looks up. A glass dome starts to form around him.

Peter scrambles up to his knees to throw himself against the glass. He slides of off it. A perfect snow globe with New York forming around him. His breathing becomes erratic as he struggles to make room for himself. The dome is filling up quickly with city and snow, making the teenager feel more trapped by the second.]

No! No! Stop it!

[Peter slams his fist against the glass, anger, and fear written across his features. He thrashes, kicking out at the city, trying to push away from it. He squishes himself tightly against the glass. Panic is overriding everything else, tears stinging at Peter's eyes as he sucks in another short choppy breath.

"Oh, you want to be saved? How sweet. Heroes like you just know how to lay down and bleed."

To anyone outside of the nightmare, well, they'll see a teenager curled into a ball on the sidewalk, slamming his fist in the air repeatedly.]

3. Dunn With This

[Peter shifts foot to foot, looking at the other person he's with uncertainly. The night air is quiet, eerily so. The quiet air makes the teenager want to burrow more into his jacket, but he resists the temptation as he tries to stand a little taller. The flashlight felt heavy in his hand.]

Trust me, I can run pretty fast. [Not as fast as he usually could, but he's at least still in shape enough he can manage it without his powers. He's going to have to not rely on his powers for once and it's nerve wracking.

But he has to do something.] Are you ready? I'll take off and get the attention on me.

Night's Embrace

[bloodalwaystells]

[Nighttime patrols are a regular thing for a restless, sleepless man like Jaeger. With the curfew, it's hard to roam far but at least he can check on the area around the apartments within the gates, the hallways and paths that he roams with professional care.

Flashlight and pistol, because he is technically ADI security, though he's dressed in normal evening clothes of a gray turtleneck and slacks. When the lights flicker, he frowns but is prepared to at least find his way back to the apartment. Tony will be having fits about the loss of light, he's sure.

But then the noise of distress catches his attention and he zeroes in on it.

His voice is rough, a harsh rasp that's barely more than a whisper at most times, but this time he does raise it, as much as he's able.]

Hey. Hey!

[Long legs make for quick strides, the beam from his Maglight stabbing through the shadows and forming a darting circle on the ground. The pool of light finds Peter, after a moment, and the shadowy thing on top of him.]

Meredith Idlewild - OC

[henchgal]

Walking Hell [OPEN] (CW: claustrophobia, possible body horror, animal transformation, sensations of being trapped)

Meredith's nightmare comes over herself and whoever's with her sense-by-sense. The darkness first, and then the small. Sea-salt air and rotting seaweed choke lungs with every desperate breath. Footsteps begin to echo, a faint drip-drip-dripping like water on stone. And then, as she (and whoever's with her) moves, the world seems to get smaller, like there's suddenly a ceiling or something above, slightly damp, forcing them to first hunch over, then crawl on the ground to progress.

To those who've been here since July, to those who remember being kidnapped by kelpies, the atmosphere is likely to feel dreadfully familiar.

cw body horror, reanimated animal corpses (i have no idea what to label this ok)

[cacophonish]

Something thick, and heavy, wraps itself around his legs: it's a pelt, trying to swallow him up, and contort his body in an uncanny mimicry of another animal. But this isn't his nightmare. Jeff's just a visitor, with one foot in this world, and one foot in another.

He doesn't fully know what he is, anymore, or what he can do, but... He knows what this is, and that a dream is only one left turn away from a delusion. There's power in that knowledge.

"Shh..." He reaches down stroke the pelt, and it quivers under his touch, before sloughing off of him. Jeff walks along the beach, and the empty selkie follows behind him, flopping and lurching in clumsy, boneless movement. Murky water laps at his ankles, and it smells like salt and decay, all around him.

Jeff looks around for Meredith, curious to see what else her subconscious will throw at her.