Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom

[reddosmod]

OCTOBER 2021 EVENT

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Band playing on moving float with people in masks walking behind.]
[Image Two: Woman in gas mask and elaborate ballgown.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Man looking away while creepy corpse-like woman puts hand on window.]
[Image Two: Two contorted girls crawling across floor with blood flowing out.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Headless horseman with jack-o-lantern rearing on horse.]
[Image Two: Annabelle doll rocking on its own in chair.]

[NAVIGATION]

Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3 • Plotting • Newsletter

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE

WHEN: During the daytime every day of October
WHERE: Throughout the streets of Cellar Door and Willful Machine.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A

---

The Black Parade has begun in Trench. You will begin to see residents painting skulls and monsters onto their faces, even the ones who abide by practical lifestyles. By the first week of October, you won't see a single resident of Trench without facepaint or a mask of some kind obscuring their face.

"It's for the Black Parade," they say, "It's to keep us safe. You should start painting your face too. You should disguise yourself so they can't find you."

Who, you might ask? Anyone dangerous. It's vague and unsettling, but you think maybe they are onto something. Call it intuition or basic common sense. Stalls pop up all around Trench selling cheap masks and costumes. They aren't exactly Halloween costumes. There's less of a focus on becoming something and more of a focus on looking different than you currently do.

Then the Black Parade really takes off. Black and white confetti seem to fall from the sky and you can hear the distant sound of trumpets and drums. You can feel the earth give small tremors and Trenchies begin to flock to Cellar Door and the Willful Machine. They line the streets and you can see why: a literal parade is coming through. Stages are set with talented musicians rocking out, singing into wireless, floating moonlit mics. Incredible, giant puppets walk through the streets guided by a dozen talented Architects. Other people move about in stilted costumes, elaborate gowns. Some performers set up small, stationary areas to perform for smaller crowds. The sky is filled with massive and unusual kites. Find one among the many stalls or make your own!

Stalls hand out candied applies, foil-wrapped candies, and roasted pumpkin seeds by the bundles. Hot ciders are kept in barrels ready to be served up in tin mugs, with or without alcohol. It's a festive atmosphere that seems to go nonstop 24/7 throughout October but exclusively in these areas. It's a good place to go to avoid some of the haunts of October and to have a good time. Why not get involved? Make your own puppet, float, or costumes, and join in the fun. Chunks of the road are reserved for parades, but others have been sectioned off for people to dance and mingle about. You quickly learn that face-paint and masked/concealed faces seem to be a good way of avoiding the attention of beasts, angry Pthumerians, and other unusual creatures in Trench.

It's not a foolproof method, but October largely celebrates the safety of ambiguity and is one of the few times the practical and pleasure factions get along. Get your face painted up or pick out a costume - it's both aesthetic and life-saving! The Black Parade is held annually every October all October long and is considered a significant Trench holiday. Many people refer to the costumes specifically as "Black Parade" costumes and sentiments commonly exchanged at this time include: Have a blessed and safe Blood Moon; May your Seasons pass unseen; Bless the many faces of cleverness; May you go unseen by the blood; Blessed Black Parade.

QUICK FACTS

1. Halloween costumes you can buy at the store won't be available unless a character intentionally makes one. Most of the costumes in Trench are more or less eccentric make-up looks and unusual masks. They look a lot more like Cirque du Soleil costumes than Halloween costumes.

2. Characters can have multiple costume/face-paint/mask changes throughout the month. No one will be forced into these - but it is strongly, culturally encouraged for everyone's safety to dress up!

LONELINESS KILLS: THE CURSE OF CLOVERFIELD

WHEN: October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological-based curse, feelings of intense loneliness, mental health.

---

It is said that the Blood Moon reminds Cloverfield of those he has lost over the decades. They say that the howling wind is actually the sound of Cloverfield's cries and there seems to be some truth to that. He can be seen wandering the Farther Shores and watching the moon. If you seek out Cloverfield and offer him comfort and companionship, he will bless you with a worn picture of a loved one or someone you miss desperately or even just a place you miss...Even if it's impossible for such a picture to exist.

Of course, not everyone will visit Cloverfield. Cloverfield's loneliness begins to curse the city of Trench. Sleepers will be impacted the most heavily as their blood will directly react to this curse. Sleepers who have a good sense of relationship may be able to avoid the curse, but those who often feel lonely or homesick will start to feel worse and worse as the days go by.

Eventually, their loneliness begins to manifest as a corpse-like version of themselves or the person they care about most. This corpse follows them around everywhere like a shadow. You won't notice your own Loneliness, but other people might, especially palebloods, Night Walkers, and Disciples. These corpses don't seem to care about anything or anyone and at first don't seem violent...But eventually, this Loneliness becomes consuming.

Once it does, you too will contort, and you and your Loneliness will soon be crawling about on all fours, blood floating out of you in thin streams. You'll be lost to your feelings of loneliness, stalking the streets with your Loneliness, looking for companionship. Of course, you're completely corrupt at this point, so your version of finding companionship most likely involves accidentally suffocating someone or other violent actions. Some people may never become violent once they are in the Final Stage, but the blood constantly flowing from them will create heavy blood pollution and may draw in far more dangerous creatures. You really don't want Lonely People walking around!

Better start some conversations - even if these Lonely People are creepy as hell. But, then again, they are just lonely. Hopefully, you will find peace of mind and find your people. Hopefully, you will banish loneliness...For the time being.

QUICK FACTS

1. This curse will impact people who are more isolated than others. Interaction with other people or animals will alleviate the curse and may completely stop it for some.

2. You can stop the curse at the corpse stage by confronting a Sleeper and opening up an emotional conversation about their loneliness. This may not always work, but the more the conversation works for the Sleeper, the more effective. The corpse will fleck away once the curse has been reversed.

3. Curses can continue to come back throughout October, but once you've experienced it once, it's less likely to occur again.

4. The Final Stage of the curse is the hardest to stop and most of the time, it's easiest to just kill the Cursed. It's easier to kill them than talk them out of their loneliness, but it is not impossible to talk them out of it. It requires dedication, patience, and some serious cleverness on how to survive a monster trying to kill you at the same time.

5. Loneliness can be widely interpreted once in the Final Stage. People should generally still look like themselves. How people act in this stage can vary from character to character and should be centric to how characters deal with their loneliness in general. If they're prone to shutting people out, then maybe their Loneliness is aloof and distant. If they're prone to clinging to toxic people, then maybe their Loneliness is accidentally violent. It's open to interpretation.

LEGENDS OF TRENCH

WHEN: All October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghosts, Themes of death.

---

Unfortunately, not everyone can gain control of their loneliness. As blood is spilled throughout Trench over loneliness, this blood pollution festers and begins to claim poor souls. Corruption leads way to beasthood and people lost to this find themselves transforming into familiar, legendary ghost stories of old-world lore. These Legendary Ghosts come out primarily at night. As the Black Parade established, anyone who keeps their faces disguised with make-up or masks will be completely safe from the Legendary Ghosts. Though if you go after a Legendary Ghost in a costume, you'll only be safe until you attack them. It's not a bad move for a sneak attack though!

...But those who forgot to dress up or felt like such superstitions wouldn't work...

Congratulations, you might come across the path of a Dullahan: a headless horseman carrying a whip made from a spinal cord, ready to throw basins of blood on you and draw in other beasts. Or maybe you encounter a far more subtle Legendary Ghost. Maybe you see a hitchhiker on the side of the road and decide to give them a ride, but when you look in your rearview mirror, they are no longer in your backseat. While most of these Legendary Ghosts are intending to harm you and spread more blood pollution, some just seem to be genuinely lost souls, lost to corruption, lost to their own failures and loneliness. In some cases, freeing them is protecting yourself and others, but in other cases, freeing them is just simple kindness.

You may meet a ghost bride who is waiting eternally for her wedding by one of the shrines in Cassandra. Maybe you meet a ghostly scholar at the Archives in Gaze. The spirits range widely and seem to haunt every corner of Trench - including your own homes. The only real way to deter a Legendary Ghost from your home is by heavily decorating your home with things like jack-o-lanterns, fake blood splatters, fake gravestones, and various other death-centric decor. This seems to repel Legendary Ghosts as they see it as a reminder of their own fate. Some are angered by the decorations while others are terrified by them and seem incapable of telling the difference between real blood and fake blood.

QUICK FACTS

1. These corrupt souls can be saved through blood rituals/magic/ghost banishings relying on blood artifacts. This will usually put the soul to rest - it will not bring people "back to life."

2. While it is mostly Trenchies turning into these beings, Sleepers can also be transformed into Legendary Ghosts. We provide a general outline, but the idea is that people are turning into legendary ghost stories so you can play with your own ideas/canons.

While Trenchies cannot be saved, we leave it up to you if a Sleeper could be brought back to themselves or if they will have to "die" to be cured of their Legendary Ghost status.

3. You can use famous Legendary Ghosts from around the world. We gave a few examples, but have fun with this! The Legendary Ghost-like creature you go with should generally be "ghost-like" / have to do with death specifically. They do not need to be exclusively evil/violent spirits, but many are.

CODING

Comments

nehan | granblue fantasy

[torpour]

the black parade: kites

[like an old man who doesn't participate in fun anymore, nehan just ignores the fun things to do. when he's given a black and white kite depicting a dragon made of bones by a friendly soul, he holds it awkwardly in his left arm until he finds someone to foist it off on.]

Here. You can fly this better than I will ever be able to. [the reason why is not immediately obvious, even if the crutch strapped to his right arm is evidence that he's disabled in some way. then he tugs his coat more around his shoulders with the same arm, the left one now hanging limply.] Go on, it's a free kite.

the black parade: stalls

No, I prefer uncooked ones, if possible. [that's spoken to one of the vendors who attempts to offer him some roasted pumpkin seeds-- and people look at him strangely, though he doesn't mind at all. but the stall owner pushes a hot pumpkin cider into his hand anyway, while an assistant digs through bags to look for raw seeds.]

No, I just-- [even if he protests, citing his inability to use his left arm today, he still gets accommodated for it, a chair put out just for him. and he sits on it, right hand over his face in embarrassment and drink almost forgotten on the stall counter. this is embarrassing...!

meanwhile, the stall owner calls the nearest person over, possibly just another sleeper, and asks them to watch out for this man as he explores, and he needs his face painted too, for protection. that catches the erune's attention, ears standing all the way up, shoulders rising, and he jolts up to a better sitting position.] Do not.

[then he addresses his fellow sleeper in a more firm tone:] You do not need to escort me around.

curse of cloverfield (cw: mentions of mental illness and child abuse)

[the sense of being alone is a constant companion to nehan. he knows it, is aware of it, and has always been. ever since he was a child in manacles, awaiting daily beatings in a dungeon by his master.

the curse that nehan is not aware of corrupts him swiftly and easily, a shade he never notices following him around wherever he goes. it doesn't look too different from the erune, a copy from the scraggly hair to the ripped ears, the nice clothing, and even the slow, labored walking-- but the difference is that his shade isseveral shades grayer and paler, lacking the color he still has on him. it doesn't have his cane, walking free, nor his voluminous coat or scarf-- which means the back of his suit is open for the world to see, with the back cut out to bare pale skin.

a strange fashion choice, but who's looking at fashion choices when one's skin is littered with scars? and if that shade is an almost exactly copy of the man struggling to walk before it, surely, the man himself has the same, does he not?

nehan pauses and looks up every so often, ears turning forward as he spots someone, the look on his face seeming as i he's seeing another person for the first time, or just waking up from a long sleep. but while he looks like he wants to interact, he eventually shakes his head and turns away. no one owes him anything, he thinks.]

wildcard
[[ byop! feel free to grab me at wildtrapinch or wildtrapinch#1171 if you want to plot out more before responding. ]]

stalls

[sideeffect]

[ boy, this stall owner really wants to see to it that this man gets taken care of, huh. riz supposes that's just another cultural aspect of the city. initially, it's the ears that catch the bear's attention towards the situation, let alone being beckoned this way - he has yet to see animal features on what (he presumes, anyway?) looks to be a human. ]

[ riz can't help a small chuckle; given he's a vileblood, he does - mysteriously- feel a bit tipsy. he's wearing some jagged, black half-mask he picked up. ]

You sure? You do kinda look a bit tired.

[torpour]

This is what I always look like. [nehan's tone is dry, dry, dry. but, indeed, tired. when is he ever not?

still, he has to raise his head to look up at the bear more closely. he knows he should be shocked, but does this place not take from many other worlds? and has nehan not seen a lot in his own? bears as people should not be a shock. but still it's a surprise, and his ears twitch forward.]

So you don't have to go out of your way.

[sideeffect]

That doesn't mean you aren't tired...

[ as someone that also looks... exhausted, in a bearish sort of way, don't think he would miss that...

the lack of reaction isn't unwelcome; it makes things easier for the both of them. and while riz may not be adept at guessing people's ages, at least those that look human, he'd bet this guy is older than him.

so that warrants being a little more respectful than he might usually, particularly when he's feeling tipsy. ]

Oh, but you should probably cover your face, at least... [ he points a clawed finger at his own. ] Did you wanna borrow mine?

[torpour]

[so many people keep asking him to put on a mask... he understands that it's now a need for them, rather than a part of the festivities, but really. perhaps nehan should stop being stubborn.]

Keep your mask. [or not. but he can tell the truth, cant he?] I already have one of my own, hence why I turn down everyone who tries to do something with my face.

the black parade: kites

[swornto]

[Oz is a touch surprised when a kite is pushed into his arms. Perhaps he looks like someone who would enjoy such a thing, being young in appearance and all. The other man's ears quickly catch Oz's attention, reminding him of a certain Chain that once plagued him. He seems quite grouchy too, hm... Well. Best check if that's an act or not, before he lets the stranger get too far away.

Resolved to be a pest, he calls out with an insistent tone.]

You can't give this to me and not show me how to use it!

[torpour]

I don't know how to use it either. [nehan's tone is prim, unbothered.

still, he does pause to look over his right shoulder, one ear turning to face the man as well.]

And if I did know, I cant use it. Hence why I made the decision to give it away.

[swornto]

Hmmm... [Oz looks down at the kite, before politely returning his gaze upward,] How do you know you can't use it before you even know how it works?

Besides. I've heard kites require two people somehow.

[torpour]

[nehan raises his eyebrow, then turns slowly, owing to his lack of ability to move quickly (except in combat, where the adrenaline and need to survive pushes him in ways he didn't think he could anymore, but he's not in combat, now is he?). then he tilts his head towards other people with kites. people using both hands and, yes, in some cases, a second person to help.

then the erune nods down at his own arms, one strapped to a crutch and the other practically hidden underneath the folds of his coat.]

I only have one arm to use, and I require it to stay standing for long periods of time. That's how I know that flying kites is beyond me.

Stalls

[searingwing]

That is true. I have a stall of my own to watch. But I would suggest you at least put on a mask. Whatever they’re afraid of coming…it will come.

[He shrugs his shoulders and briefly takes the half-mask of a dragon’s visage off his face. Long enough to be identified then slips it back on.]

[torpour]

I'm aware that there is a reason for all of is, but I'm not accepting any mask or any face paint. [and while it seems as if they're at an impasse, with nehan being far too stubborn for his own good... that's really not the point. nehan has something. it's been with him this entire time, even at the beach where diluc watched him take his belongings back.

but he never showed the man the full contents of his bag.]

[searingwing]

[Diluc merely nods and glances at the other shopkeeper. They've gone back to their business dealings now that Nehan seems in the hands of the red haired Sleeper.

He snorts as the smoke pours from his chest and winds around his arm. Dellingr about the size of a falcon perches on his shoulder.]

Fair enough. Did they find those raw pumpkin seeds for you?

[torpour]

I'll take them when I leave. [but given his stance and how he's seated, and the drink in his right hand, nehan doesn't look like he's about to leave soon. he is rather tired-- it's a bad day, his left limbs feel more like dead weight than usual, even if it's not immediately obvious.]

Do you not have a stall to get to?

kites

[tonedeaf]

Would me taking this from you truly make you happy?

[ despite being offered it, venti hesitates in accepting said kite. as he looks at it then back to nehan, the bard doesn't raise his hand yet. ]

What if I helped you fly it? I promise that if you're willing, it'll certainly take off no matter how much energy you put into it.

[ even if it's nothing. after all--- nehan has no idea who he's talking to. ]

[torpour]

[nehan's outstretched arm, his left arm, is beginning to tremble. not from emotion, but from strain. he knows he cant keep it up-- he's already pushed the damn thing far enough.]

Please just take it. [before his arm stops listening to him. he's already close, even if he cant feel the kite in his grip. but he can visibly see it slipping.]

[tonedeaf]

[ venti doesn't delay, taking the kite from nehan as quickly and carefully as possible, not wanting to hurt the man. ]

Sorry, sorry. I have it.

[ holding it in front of himself, the bard hums in thought. ]

There doesn't seem to be a strong enough wind to fly it...

[torpour]

[nehan sighs in relief when his arm is finally allowed to drop. he's not going to be using it again for a while, he thinks. he can barely feel it on a good day, but right now he can feel it trembling, and nehan tucks it into his coat to hide it from other people. no one needs to see his shame.]

There may not be wind, but the other kites are still staying up somehow. [he leans heavily on his crutch.] I'll leave you to figure it out.

[eiternity]

[Raiden is certainly not a stranger to festivals, but it doesn’t mean she actively partakes them. Of course, even if she did, the festivals of her homeland are far different than the one here.]

[She’s content to spend her time milling about the stalls, finding what sweets she can, when someone approaches her with a strange object. Well, ‘approaches’ is a weak word. Nehan hands the kite to her before she has a chance to react.]

I do not understand. What is the purpose of this device?

[torpour]

[with the deed done, nehan's arm falls back to his side, and he can no longer feel it. ah well, it was gearing up to be a bad day anyway-- he find a way to get errands done with only one arm.]

It's a kite, meant for play. [then he tilts his head towards the people around, as they send theirs high up.] That's what you do with it.

[eiternity]

I see.

[Ei takes the kite, and sends it up in the air. It flutters back and forth in the wind. Her eyes stay trained on it as it moves, although she doesn't appear to be particularly happy. She doesn't appear to be sad, either.]

I do not fully understand what would make this fun, but the people around us seem to find enjoyment in it.

[She looks back to Nehan.]

Would you like to fly it yourself?

[torpour]

I cannot. If I could have done it myself, I already would have, for instance, rather than leaving it in someone else's hands. [coming from anyone else, his words should be snippy, would come out snippy and irritable. but nehan just sounds tired.

like he's said this before a number of times already, and cannot be bothered in putting more emotion into it.]

You need both hands for it, and I don't have that luxury. [and the reasoning for that may be obvious.]

cloverfield

[bolstafir]

[Qrow does not, generally, go out of his way to make chitchat with strangers--especially ones that are not going out of their way to make any particular friendly overtures, and especially in a situation with a huge crowd (he's always a little twitchy in those, for reasons that have little do with socializing at all) but there's something about the way Nehan looks at him before he shakes his head and turns away that catches at something in Qrow's chest; maybe it's the curse floating in the air bringing up memories of a time when he was surrounded by people who would only look at him with disdain when they looked at him at all, but he finds himself stepping away from whatever he was doing, following after the man.]

Hey, wait...!

[It's called out to the man, and should Nehan turn around he'll see a human, about middle aged, hurrying to catch up with him before he gets swallowed into the crowd.]

[torpour]

[nehan's ears wiggle, hearing someone call out, but assumes he's not the one being called-- for one, the voice is unfamiliar. for another, who would call for him? except for his own child, but mugen is not here.

it's better for mugen not to be here.

but the erune pauses when a crowd of merrymakers cut into his path, a crowd of people much taller than himself, and if he hadn't let them go ahead before him, they would have easily swept him away simply because he's small and slight, and relying on a crutch to keep himself standing.

easily caught up to.]

[bolstafir]

[Ah, there he is. The ears are distinctive enough. There's a brief moment of curiosity if this guy might be a Faunus from his world, but he shrugs it off just as soon, feeling that tug under his ribs again. If he is, it'll become apparent soon enough. It's not what's important right now.]

Wait, [he calls again, catching the man by the shoulder this time] you wanted to say something before, right?

[torpour]

[nehan makes a soft sound in his throat when he feels a hand on his shoulder, his ears standing straight up. he blinks, and looks up, though he has to tilt his head at the human to see him properly out of his uncovered eye.]

What? [the warmth of another body is nice, however. to someone so touch-starved... well. nehan has to fight himself for some self-control.]