Hello, neighbors! It’s February, and romance is in the air—you know what that means, right?
It’s time we introduced you lovebirds to what is obviously the most romantic restaurant in town to get together and mingle!
Like with December, this month’s plot month will be split into two parts, the first of which running from February 5 to February 14. A second plotting post will go up on February 13, with the second half of the event running from February 15 through February 28. Here’s what you can expect:
On February 1, characters will begin to hear about a luncheon the HHA is hosting on Friday. Representatives of the HHA will be leaving neatly lettered invitations in mailboxes and going door-to-door to ensure that everybody’s heard about the event — no finding out about it the day-of this time, no sir! But watch out; some of your Robbie neighbors are most insistent that you should come, and they won’t leave you alone until you agree!
On February 5, the HHA luncheon will occur, held at one of Santa Rosita’s many restaurants. Come on over for some tasty food, delicious drinks, and as much conversation as you could ever want! The head of the Happy Homes Association will be in attendance, seeking out new neighbors willing to volunteer their time and skills to help the HHA be the best it can be while keeping track of donations on the side.
Donations? Did we forget to mention that this luncheon is also a fundraiser? The HHA is raising money for the upcoming Founder’s Day celebrations, and the more you contribute, the better the celebrations can be...
On February 10, something special will be discovered. :) We can’t give too many details about this yet (more details will become apparent when Friday’s log goes live), but this is where the sign-ups we mentioned in the EOM post will come into play. Let’s talk a little bit more about those below:
Character Sign-Up Info
As we stated before, we’ll be holding sign-ups from February 5 to February 7 for players to volunteer their characters for special involvement in this month’s plot. The direction of part 2 of this month’s plot will be directly impacted by the number of player signups we receive. Call it a choose-your-own (with 47 of your closest friends)-adventure of sorts.
Characters who are selected for plot participation will not be able to interact with the setting of Santa Rosita for a period of approximately 5–7 days beginning on February 10 (though don’t worry, you’ll still have opportunities for CR during that period and might learn a few things along the way…) and will be subject to Tranquilizing and body horror/experimentation. Some examples of possible modifications include the following (highlight to read; content warning for body horror, surgery, dismemberment): organs such as kidneys, livers, lungs, etc. being removed and replaced (with either natural or artificial replacements); amputation of fingers/toes, hands/feet, or arms/legs; surgical alterations to the face and/or other parts of the body (superficial or major); brain surgery.
We understand that players may be open to some of these things, but not all. The sign-up form will have a dedicated Opt-Outs section so that you can tell us if there’s anything in particular you want to avoid. In addition, any character alterations sustained during this event can be undone via regains obtained at the end of plot months. Character alterations can be healed in any plot month as a regain and do not need to be healed at the end of the month they were sustained in; if you’d like to retain them for a while and heal later, you may.
If you don’t want to deal with the above content, don’t worry — there will still be opportunities to participate in this month’s plot. We don’t want to pressure anybody to participate in an event that may trigger them. If a player chooses not to sign up, we expect players to similarly respect each others’ boundaries (this may be a good time to make sure your permissions posts are up to date!).
With this being said, we do want to be clear and reiterate that the unfolding of the plot for this month — and how it affects the overarching plot — will be affected by the number of sign-ups we receive. Player and character choices can and will have an effect on the way this story resolves. We’re all in this together. And sometimes choosing your own adventure can resolve in a not-so-nice ending.
Whew! That sure was a lot, but hopefully this gives you a little more information on what to expect coming up. As always, this OOC post will also function as a catch-all plotting post. Please feel free to use the space below to connect with other players for potential meetings and CR.
If you have any questions, please direct them to the FAQ top-level below or reach out to us on the Mod Contact page! |
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dullsville2021-02-03 05:31 pm
FAQ
Invitations!
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at the luncheon, will the volunteer work asked for directly lead to the bodily trauma taking place starting 2/10? or will it be related to something else?
if the former, can you give any clues for plotting purposes as to what IC inducements there might be for people to either (unwittingly) lean into volunteering or hang back — as in, what volunteer work will the HHA be asking them to do?
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1. If a character catches the HHA rep dropping off the invitation in their mailbox, what kind of conversation might they expect to have with said HHA rep?
2. With the HHA, are they accepting people donating time (to help with event set-up) versus funds or things of that nature?
2.a) What, if anything, will they be saying about Founder's Day celebrations?
2.b) How do the HHA persons respond to non-serious flirting a la the wink wink and compliment variety?
2.c) Can he help volunteer for a bake sale that he bakes nothing for. He'll flirt to sell you your goods, HHA, tell him about all your plans.
2. When it comes to stating what we're opting out of, is there anything to also indicate the extent of what we're more opting in for? For example, saying "surgical alterations to the body as long as it's not grafting other organs/appendages/changing aspects of physical sex" or "to the level of extensive scarring, leaving the face intact but anywhere else is fair game" or things like that?
This is also to avoid (for now) instances which get repetitive to have to state up front if there's an icon mismatch (so, say, facial scarring not present from canon, a missing ear or eye or eyes) if we have to buy that back as a regain over doing any other regain during plot months. It doesn't feel as, hm, earned as choosing for our characters to do A Thing ICly and having them live with the consequences of having Done The Thing.
3. Is there any chance the upcoming event will involve vivisection of some kind, or non-anesthetic surgery?
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While the HHA insists that they've got everything for Friday under control (it's at a restaurant, after all; the staff there does most of the setup!), they'd be happy to accept offers of help for the future! If asked about the HHA's future plans, they'll direct him to talk to the head of the HHA, who will be in attendance at Friday's luncheon. Most of the ladies will titter and blush at any non-serious flirting; what a compliment! If Wei is too forward, he might get a "Why, Mr. Wei, my husband wouldn't be too happy if he could hear that!" or similar response, but for the most part they'll seem to respond positively.
To respond to your questions about sign-ups: At this time, we have no plans for non-anesthetic surgeries or vivisections. While it was only an example in your question, there is no intent to change aspects of characters' physical sex, either, as we realize this could be triggering to many players.
The purpose of the Opt-Outs section of the sign-up form is to ensure we do not accidentally present players who volunteer for this plot with content that may be triggering to them. While we understand that not being able to limit the extent of opt-ins introduces an element of the unknown into what may befall characters (and that this can be worrying as a player), we wish to preserve the horror aspects of the game to their greatest extent and find that uncertainty of the unknown to be an important part of the game's atmosphere. Similarly, the use of the regain mechanic to recover from metaplot-related injuries or alterations is to allow an "out" of sorts from events that might otherwise be permanent. If players are worried about their icons not properly reflecting their character's state, we encourage them to make use of the Identifying Features + Medical Information section in their Permissions post to note any changes that may have occurred.
A calm, unremarkable stay in Santa Rosita is unfortunately not in the cards for any of the characters that have been brought there. We encourage all players to consider carefully whether they wish to take the risk of relinquishing their character's well-being to the mods for any metaplot sign-ups.
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For sure, no horror game is something to go into thinking ah, yes, nothing shall happen here! It's also good to know what is not included with opting out, and gives me the information I want as a player to decide if it's something I'm game for (especially brand new here) or not. Thank you for the in depth reply!
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Will be signing up for the event! He wants to get more involved and see if he can gain favour with the HHA so them asking for volunteers for something? He can't miss this one out so will be joining it. He'll make his decision known to his CR so he can keep them updated on whatever he may or may ont find. If you want to know about Daylight's plans - willingly or not (gotta love those walkie-talkies being so archaic to Daylight and making misfires possible) - let me know!
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Will not be signing up for the event! Due to her still being new to the area (against her will) and trying to get a better feel of the situation, she'll politely demure for the time being as she waits it out, sees how this is going to play out. She is curious about the 'volunteering', however, and will try to encourage those interested to join this if they express interest or curiosity. So if you need an IC reason why your character is doing this, Noelle can totally be a part of the peer pressure.
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He will come with a pocket full of whatever he's managed to cobble together thus far to defend himself if necessary, for all good that will do, including a few makeshift batarangs and smoke bombs from things purchased at Honeybees during the last month or so. If that happens to get him into more trouble, so be it!
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Hopefully they don't donate his organs to anything terrible, because his new body needs those :(
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Anyone wants to come with or cross paths with him hmu!
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As far as the luncheon goes, she'll probably kick a few bucks towards the donation box and maybe look into volunteering? It doesn't seem like a bad way to spend her free time and maybe she can learn a few things about this place.
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