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Oct. 5th, 2020
RULES
Laws to keep our town happy and safe.
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APPLICATIONS
Oct. 5th, 2020 17:14APPLICATIONS
Remember to dot your i's and cross your t's!
APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED
BEFORE YOU JOIN US...
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Please post your application in a comment below, with Character Name | Character Canon | Reserved/Not Reserved in the subject line. Do not link your application. If you need to make edits, please contact the mods.
There is no word limit for any sections of the application. As you write your app, assume canon blindness and briefly explain any key terms or other names that aren't your character's that make it into any of the sections. In our application process, we don't ask for revisions, but rather for clarification on certain sections, or to point out if you've filled out a section incorrectly. In the case of the latter, we will offer applicants 48 hours to make the necessary correction. Failure to do so within the offered time limit, or to adhere to any of the other rules listed here, may result in an automatic rejection. Lastly, please note that we process applications on weekends during app periods, which are only during relaxed months and if we have at least five player slots available. We have a player cap of 50 and a cast cap of five with all players being allowed to play a maximum of two characters in the game. Before apping into a cast, please double check the Taken Page to make sure that we have fewer than five characters in your intended cast. All applications will be screened and processed on a first come, first serve basis in the order in which they are received. |
...THERE ARE A FEW THINGS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW.
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PLAYER INFO.
NAME: The name you would like to be called. PREFERRED PRONOUNS: What pronouns would you like us to refer to you by? ARE YOU OVER 18? You must be at least 18 years old to join We're Still Here. CONTACT: Some form of contact such as Plurk, Discord, email, or a journal to PM. CURRENT CHARACTERS: (If applying for a second character only.) Please list the other character you're playing in the game. CHARACTER INFO. NAME: Your character's full name, in Western order. CANON: The full name of their canon. CANON POINT: What point in canon is your character coming from? AGE: How old is your character? List their physical and mental age, noting if they're immortal or look younger than they actually are. Characters must be at least 12 years old. GENDER: What gender does your character present as? HISTORY: A wiki link that gives an overview of their backstory, personality, and world is fine. If one isn't available or is missing key elements/details, please write a short description. For players of original characters, you are required to write this section out with your character's backstory as well as information about their world. APPEARANCE: A link to an image works fine. Please don't embed images. If you're playing a nonhuman character, you can use this section to describe what their human form will look like when they awaken in Santa Rosita. ABILITIES: Your character's abilities and skills. Abilities and skills should have a firm basis in canon and the version of choice (ie., if you are playing the MCU version of Thor, please do not list powers that Thor exhibits in comics or video games). This encompasses both supernatural abilities and normal skills, such as hand-to-hand fighting, weapons training, or genius level intellect. If your character is supernatural, please list whatever weaknesses they have (for example, silver if they're a werewolf). Please don't link or copypaste information from a wiki and write this section in your own words. For supernatural characters, make sure you list every ability they possess that you would like them to regain ingame. Any abilities not listed here will not be eligible to be regained. Only include abilities that you intend to have your character regain. SUITABILITY: We're Still Here is a survival and psychological horror game with recurrent and heavy themes including graphic violence, death, torture, gaslighting, brainwashing and other surreal and tangible horrors. How is your character suited for the setting? Use this section to briefly touch upon if your character has ever dealt with any similar weighty subject matter in their own canon that justifies why they would be appropriate for the setting, how they would approach their circumstances, if they would have any reservations, etc. A paragraph is fine! PERSONALITY. In lieu of a traditional personality section, our application is a series of short questions about your character. There isn't a word limit for this section, but each answer to each question must be a minimum of 200 words. There is no maximum word limit. Applications that fail to meet this standard will be rejected and may not be resubmitted until the next app period. Answers should go into detail about your character's thought processes, motives and beliefs. We're looking for well thought out but not necessarily overly long answers that display an understanding of your character's personality that goes beyond the surface level. ● Your character has a chance to undo a terrible mistake, but in doing so, there could be unintended consequences for everyone they know. Is it worth the risk? Or should the dead stay dead? WRITING SAMPLES. SAMPLES: Please link two writing samples that demonstrate your ability to play your character in a game setting. One of them must be a network sample, in which your character speaks through text or voice or video to an individual or group of people, and the other must be a log sample in which your character physically engages with someone or something, either in action or prose formats. You can link threads from the TDM, other games, memes or PSLs. Samples may not be older than 12 months. NOTES. QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS: Use this section to ask any questions or clarify any points you would like to raise about your character before we make our final decision. An example would be if you play a disabled character and want to request information on what accommodations would be available for them in their house, if you're unsure if a certain physical attribute of theirs would or wouldn't change when they cross over into Santa Rosita for the first time, if it's alright to request certain reasonable, personalized items to already be available in their house when they wake up, etc. |
Application Samples
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Canon Character w/ Wiki Links: Miguel O'Hara (Marvel Comics) Canon Character w/o Wiki Links: Christopher Wolfe (The Great Library) Original Character: Vasiliy Yegorovich Ardankin |
RESERVATIONS
Oct. 5th, 2020 17:15RESERVES
Wish you were here.
RESERVES ARE CLOSED
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Reserves open on Saturday, April 10th at 6:00 PM EST. Reserves will be closed on Saturday, May 1 at 11:59 PM EST. Your reserve is valid throughout the entire reserve period until applications open, after which it will continue to reserve your character for 48 hours. Once the reserve expires, the character will be available for other players to app. Character reserves are on a first come, first serve basis. Please bear in mind a reserve is for the character. A reserve does NOT guarantee an application spot. Applications will be on a first come, first serve basis. Once all player slots are filled, applications and reserves will close and will only reopen if we have at least five slots available. Proxy reserves are allowed. Proxy reserves will be replied to with an unscreened timestamp, and the player you're reserving for has 24 hours to confirm their spot and officially make it on the reserve list. If they don't, the proxy reserve will be rescinded and that character will be available for other players to reserve. |
PREMISE
We've been expecting you.
THE MEAT AND POTATOES
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It could happen at any time. Maybe you were in bed, finally beginning to nod off after a long day of work or adventuring. Maybe you had taken a moment to catch your breath in the heat of battle, or maybe you finally fell after taking a mortal blow. Whatever the case may be, sooner or later, you close your eyes.
And somewhere, in that vast darkness between sleep and wake, dream and reality, life and death, you hear a small and quiet voice whisper, "Help me. Please, help me..." Then, the world blacks out. When you open your eyes again, it's morning. You're lying in bed, safe and sound. The alarm clock on your nightstand is blaring, and this is perhaps the point where you realize something is wrong because you don't own an alarm clock, or the nice pair of comfortable pajamas you're now wearing, or just about everything in this unfamiliar yet utterly charming bedroom straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Looking around, the world has completely changed — and maybe you have, too. The clothes in your closet look like they're from a different time period, as do the people you see going about their business outside your window. Framed pictures of you with strange people you've never met line the walls. Maybe one of them is in the same room with you, sleeping in the bed across from yours. You have no idea what's going on. The golden light streaming through the windows, the jingle of an ice cream truck outside, and the faint smell of freshly baked pie hanging in the air like an afterimage all say one thing, though: It's going to be a wonderful day. |
THE BLOOD AND GUTS
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This is how characters arrive in We're Still Here, a horror/psychological horror game set in a town called Santa Rosita in what is ostensibly 1961. Characters awaken in an unfamiliar house with their memories and identities intact, but lose everything else that ties them to their worlds, including clothing, powers, personal belongings and whatever else they had on them prior to their abduction. These changes even go so far as affecting dead and inhuman characters who will find themselves returned to life or granted a human body. Everyone is human and, at the moment of arrival, completely and utterly powerless.
Characters are assigned homes in groups of four that are meant to mimic the structure of a traditional nuclear family: a mother and a father and two children. According to the people of Santa Rosita, they've just moved to town with their family, and everything characters find in their houses from family pictures to mail, to marriage and birth certificates validates these claims. Everyone will treat characters as if they really are from the early 1960s and all of their wild stories of different worlds and magic are just products of an overactive imagination. Worse, the town's leaders are very committed to maintaining the illusion that Santa Rosita is every bit the little slice of heaven it appears to be, and they really don't like it when you challenge them. Primarily a Suburban Gothic setting, We're Still Here draws inspiration from the media and culture that shaped America in the late 1950s and early 1960s and throughout the mid to late 20th century, including the Cold War, post-apocalyptic fiction and, of course, horror. The town of Santa Rosita is a frightening place to be trapped in, but an even worse place to die in. As the game is intended to be plot-focused, characters will be pushed to discover what's really going on in Santa Rosita and where they factor into its complicated history. They might even have the chance to save not only themselves, but someone else too. If they survive long enough. |
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SETTING AND LOCATIONS
Oct. 5th, 2020 17:16SETTING AND LOCATIONS
Oh, the places we will go.
WELCOME TO SANTA ROSITA
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Santa Rosita is a small mountain town with a population of 10,000. Its climate, terrain, flora and fauna ostensibly place it somewhere in Northern California, far inland. The summers are hot, spring and autumn are cool and mild, and the winter months can be as frigid and snowy as some of the Midwest and Northern territories of the United States. Compared to its peers, it may seem like it doesn't have much to offer, but don't let its size fool you. The town is much bigger than it looks and is growing by the day as new businesses open and locations once closed off to the public become accessible.
Take a look around. We guarantee you’ll never want to leave. |
NORTH SANTA ROSITA
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Uptown, Santa Rosita’s shopping and financial district is a bustling hub of family-run stores, businesses and municipal services. The road that cuts through South Santa Rosita grows less rugged the closer it gets to the center of town, gradually melting into Santa Rosita’s designated Main Street. There are a large number of establishments located here that range from practical (hardware and grocery stores) to pleasure (restaurants and record stores) with many of them having been around for generations.
• TOWN HALL: Santa Rosita’s town hall is a brick building with a clock tower that keeps time with perfect accuracy, chiming every hour on the dot, and two stone lion statues flanking the front entrance. The interior is every bit as lavish as you would expect, with portraits of previous mayors lining the walls and rich mahogany fixtures. Here, important records of the town’s history including census information can be found, but access to the archive rooms is by appointment only, as are meetings with Mayor Clarke. Clarke’s secretary, a Robbie woman named Ethel, handles all of his affairs including booking appointments for tours and personal one-on-one meetings with the man himself. Unfortunately, slots seem to go fast, so you might have your wait cut out for you if you’re desperate to see him. • POLICE STATION: Home to Santa Rosita’s boys in blue, the police station is an ominous building situated on the very edge of North Santa Rosita, right on the cusp of East Santa Rosita. A fleet of police cruisers is parked outside the precinct, and Robbie officers can be seen going in and out at every hour of the day. Like Mayor Clarke, Chief Harding also has his own Robbie secretary — Susie — who’s as endlessly chipper as she is pretty, the one bright ray of artificial sunshine in this cold, grey building. Unlike Ethel at Town Hall, she’ll tell you exactly where Harding is (usually, his office) and what his schedule is looking like (usually, no visits or appointments before noon) and how soon you can expect to see him (usually, not until he’s sober). • THE BLUE MOON DINER: Burgers and fries and milkshakes as thick and creamy as freshly churned butter are the pride of this trendy diner. Tucked away on the outskirts of North Santa Rosita, close to the corner road that leads to East Santa Rosita, the Blue Moon is one of the newer establishments to set up shop on Main Street. The interior is replete with neon lighting fixtures and blue and white pleather booths, around which waitresses glide on roller skates to deliver meals packaged in cute little paper cars to hungry guests. At night, its hot pink and blue neon lights make it something of a beacon for late night patrons wandering the streets for some excitement or a midnight snack, allowing it to live up to its namesake. • GREENE’S GROCERIES: Your one-stop-shop for the freshest produce, meats and dairy in all of Santa Rosita. The Greene family has been running their grocery store since 1921, and in the years since it’s grown exponentially from the tiny bodega Adam Greene’s grandfather operated with a staff of one. It’s a grocery store, deli and butcher’s shop rolled into one that boasts a varied inventory of food, cleaning products and other miscellaneous wares, all for affordable prices. It’s a popular place for part-time work, not least of all because of its generous employee discount and the ever-present opportunity to convince Mr. Greene to impart the secret recipe of the dressing for his famous Reuben sandwich on favored employees. • MAPLE PARK: Located in the center of North Santa Rosita, Maple Park isn’t really a park so much a small patch of grass surrounded by flowers in what is evidently the town’s attempt at a garden. At each of the park’s four corners is a stone bench, and in the center of it is a fountain — the perfect place to spend one’s lunch break, meet with a friend or take a quiet moment to collect your thoughts amidst the high energy of Main Street. • HONEYBEES: Other than the Blue Moon Diner, Honeybees is Santa Rosita’s other newest business, a department store comprised of four floors of the former office building it’s taken up residence in. Each floor specializes in different products: the first floor is clothing, cosmetics and toys, the second is housewares and furniture, the third is appliances and sporting goods (including guns and rifles) and the fourth is hardware. Despite the undoubtedly important role it plays in Santa Rosita's economy, there’s an impression that many of the smaller stores on Main Street look upon their new neighbor with a sense of passive aggression, some more open than others with lamenting the business it takes away from them. • SANTA ROSITA GENERAL: Santa Rosita’s hospital is a sterile and white but welcoming building with its own pharmacy, staffed by volunteers and medical professionals alike. Most of the doctors and nurses here are Robbies, which means their bedside manner is always impeccable and their skill always reliable. For the most part. Every so often, the staff has been known to suffer certain lapses of judgement, such as mistaking a tonsillectomy for an appendicitis, or a broken arm for a gangrenous wound that needs amputated, but these incidents are uncommon and seldom investigated. As anyone will tell you, the doctor is always right. |
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EAST SANTA ROSITA
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Santa Rosita’s residential district is characterized by its large but not excessive amount of sycamore and rosewood trees, the latter of which leave the neighborhood perpetually smelling like roses. The atmosphere in this little slice of suburbia is quiet and peaceful; it’s everyone’s home, and as such, everyone does their part to take care of it, be it by studious maintenance of the outside of their houses or by taking part in Santa Rosita’s neighborhood watch, a program jointly sponsored by the police department and the HHA.
• SHADYSIDE: Santa Rosita’s suburbs certainly live up to their name. Shadyside is a beautifully kept little neighborhood with carefully planted trees along the streets, white picket fences, perfect lawns and houses that look exactly the same going down the line. The residents are all very proud of their community and everyone does their part to make sure it remains every bit the face of Santa Rosita as it appears to be. Everyone knows one another and no one locks their doors, making it very tight-knit as well and the perfect place to raise a family. • SCHOOLS: East Santa Rosita is home to the town's two schools: Santa Rosita Elementary and Frederick Loren High. Santa Rosita Elementary serves children from kindergarten to 8th grade, and it is here where they’re given all the tools a child needs to be happy, healthy and wise in the 20th century: how to write in cursive, how to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. (Remember, duck and cover!) Likewise, Frederick Loren High — named after a beloved and dearly departed local entrepreneur — prepares teenagers for adulthood by serving them up a rich curriculum of math, science, home economics, history and literature. Their basketball and football teams, the Frederick Loren Rose Buds, draw crowds from all over town for their games, and their school colors are red and white. • THE LIVING ISLAND: Deep underneath Santa Rosita Elementary is a labyrinth of tunnels and loosely connected rooms that at one point functioned as a fallout shelter. Those days and that intended purpose are long gone, however, leaving only a network of dilapidated hallways where the air is fetid and stale, sections of the floors and ceiling are rotting away, and the few operating light sources are just a flicker and pop away from burning out. Still, there are some signs that the shelter is not as abandoned as it may seem. Underneath the pungent smell of decay and dust is an undercurrent of fresh blood, and one particular room has been converted into a crude operating theater filled with surgical instruments, restraints, and other evidence of the meat work that went on within all too recently. The shelter can only be accessed through two ways: through a steel hatch in the basement of Santa Rosita Elementary or through a storm drain in the depths of Old Growth. If approaching from the basement, you know you're headed in the right direction if you come across a strange mural painted on the wall just outside of the shelter — a helpful landmark and as good an answer as any for where it got its name. • SANTA ROSITA PUBLIC LIBRARY: The public library is one of the oldest buildings in town and shares many similarities with Town Hall, from the stone lions that stand watch outside its double doors to the mahogany interior which speaks to a lifetime of care and generous funding from the town government. The windows are stained glass with the center one on the ground floor in the children’s section bearing the inscription Sapientia et veritas, esse tuum gladium et scutum — "Wisdom and truth, be thy sword and shield." There’s a wealth of classic literature to be found here, but oddly not very much nonfiction. The atlases, history textbooks and biographies stocked on the shelves are all painfully out of date, many of them so old that their covers are falling apart. As well, there is a microfilm reader available for anyone to use, but the only reels on hand are for old articles and local publications from the early twentieth and late nineteenth century, nothing current from the last decade. Maxine, the elderly librarian, is always around and ready to help would-be readers, although her advanced age, bad sight and ailing mind make her spacey at best and unreliable at worst. • ROSE GARDEN PARK: Rose Garden Park’s name is a bit of a misnomer in that it’s the furthest thing from a garden, nor has it seen a rose in bloom in the last thirty years, but it is a park and a nice one at that. Often, Santa Rosita’s Little League team can be found practicing here at the small but well-maintained baseball field set up in the corner of the park; when they’re not using it, it’s available to the public and has everything one needs for a game of ball. There’s also a picnic area on the other side of the park, complete with tables and a fire pit, and a playground. • DAGON LAKE: Near Rose Garden Park and butting up near the Old Growth is Dagon Lake, shining blue and promising endless summer (or winter!) fun. While it may not offer much in the way of beaches, there's a floating dock alongside a boat ramp, a metal slide that ends a couple feet above the water for maximum splash, and a small building that rents out rocket-shaped paddle boats during the warmer months. The proprietor of this small business is happy to rent out boats to anyone who asks, but he'll warn every customer to keep their eyes on their rental — sometimes they'll go missing and you'll have to pay for a replacement! But he's certain it's just some of the town's kids playing pranks, and you're only young once, so why not let them have their fun? What's a missing boat here or there? • THE ROCK QUARRY: Go past Rose Garden Park and through the trees that make up the edge of Old Growth and you’ll eventually find your way to the rock quarry, a treacherous cliff-side with a 250 foot drop down into a lake-sized body of water. With the obvious danger the quarry poses to wayward travelers, especially children, it’s surprising that it hasn’t been walled off. Most children in Santa Rosita know better than to go here, however, especially at night when the water looks pitch black and the light from the moon and stars reflect off its surface in strangely soothing, almost hypnotic patterns, leading many who stare into its depths to attempt to get closer to the edge to have a better look at it, often tumbling straight off the cliff. |
WEST SANTA ROSITA
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At a glance, West Santa Rosita may seem barren, but it primarily functions as the town’s camping grounds and festival space, making it quite the place to be during the summer months when the town gears up for its annual carnival, or when enterprising families pack up for the weekend and take the kids out to rough it underneath the stars. Though Old Growth can technically be entered from any part of the town, it’s in West Santa Rosita that there are actually trails and designated camping areas set up for residents that do decide to brave the forest, either in a misguided attempt to prove to themselves and others that they’re no city slicker, or in desperation to see what else Santa Rosita has to offer outside its boundaries.
• STARLIGHT DRIVE-IN: Located on the outskirts of West Santa Rosita, the Starlight Drive-In is a two screen outdoor theater with an attached refreshment bar that serves up hot dogs, popcorn and soda to patrons looking to catch a movie on a Friday night. The theater sees all of its business on weekends, which is the only time it’s open, making it a popular date spot for teenagers and couples looking to spend a night away from the kids. The movies that play here range from saccharine beach movies to westerns and musicals, but once in a great while they’ll play a sci-fi or monster movie — which are always a big hit with hopeful young men looking to comfort their easily spooked ladies. • LOVER’S LANE: Past the drive-in theater is a long and winding road that stretches into the woods and leads all the way up to a small mountain summit that offers a gorgeous panoramic view of Santa Rosita. On a clear day or night, one can see the entire town laid bare before them; at night, it’s particularly breathtaking with each house identifiable by the twinkling lights illuminating them. Nicknamed “Lover’s Lane” by the locals, it’s another favored dating spot for the youth of Santa Rosita. Supposedly. In actuality, there’s very little evidence that anyone visits the summit, and the road leading to it isn’t well-traveled or maintained, making driving through it something of a gamble. One never knows when their engine will stall, leaving them stranded in the dark. • THE DOC HOLIDAY BAR AND MOTEL: The name of the former owner of Santa Rosita’s only bar and grill has been lost to time, scrubbed away from the sun-bleached and weatherworn sign out front below a blinking neon image of a cowboy spinning a lasso, and the current owner and employees can't quite remember it either, leading them to rename the establishment to something a bit more fitting: the Doc Holiday Bar. Despite its ungainly exterior, the bar's interior is surprisingly nice with clean — though not immaculate — countertops, secluded tables lit by candles and a sizable and respectable selection of spirits to order. Attached to it is a motel that advertises cheap rates, clean beds, and a television in every room. While one of those is very debatable, everyone can at least agree that two out of three isn't bad. • OLD GROWTH: Surrounding Santa Rosita on all sides is a dense forest nicknamed Old Growth by residents, presumably for its advanced age which has left it vast and unruly. Though the overgrowth of trees give it the impression of being unchecked, there are some areas of Old Growth that are easily accessible and even frequented by the residents of Santa Rosita, who can occasionally be found hiking and camping around the various well-loved trails. These areas are helpfully identified by trail markers left by the town government. However, the further away you get from them, the more difficult it is to find your way back, and the more hazardous the path — if you’re even on one by now — becomes. Wild animals like black bears and coyotes make their home here, but they’re surprisingly rare, and not as common as the occasional bursts of shrieking laughter that can be heard echoing through the trees, warbling noises halfway between terror and sobbing. |
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SOUTH SANTA ROSITA
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Heading south from Main Street takes you out of North Santa Rosita proper and into the south end of town where a few other miscellaneous businesses lie, including a gas station and attached mechanic garage where the owner, an old man with coke bottle glasses, will happily work on your car if you’re in need of repairs. Past these, there isn’t much left of Santa Rosita save for the trees and the long road that winds through them. Even the street lights are scarce out here, which can be dangerous at night as the further you travel away from town, the darker it gets.
• THE TUNNEL: At the end of South Santa Rosita is a double-deck tunnel. Signage around it indicates that it leads to the highway, though the specific interstate number has been defaced by rust and age, as have a good portion of the signs themselves. Painted over the arch of the tunnel is a rainbow, the paint faded and pale. If it weren’t for the police presence that constantly patrols the area, one would get the impression that this road has been abandoned, and indeed, that’s the excuse you’re likely to get from the officers stationed here. The tunnel and the road beyond it are under construction, you see, and the county has cut funding in all the wrong places, so until the builders can resume work, it’s off limits — as a matter of safety. Santa Rosita’s police stick to their story very stubbornly, but with nothing less than a smile and a calm, reassuring tone as they attempt to redirect wayward souls away from the tunnel and back to Santa Rosita. Refuse, and they’ll become a bit more forceful, though no less calm than they were before. The best case scenario is that you wind up having to go back. For many, the worst case is incurring the wrath of multiple police officers at once, and the absolute worst would be actually making it into the tunnel, a cold and dark shaft lit by dull orange lights that flicker intermittently where the air is moist, the ground craggy, and the feeling of being watched is almost overwhelming. |
DEATH AND TRANQUILIZING
Oct. 5th, 2020 17:17DEATH AND TRANQUILIZING
This is not an exit.
ON DYING
Poison, drowning, claw or knife. So many ways to take a life.
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Death is every bit as realistic and painful for your character as it is in canon. It also comes with a price.
Whenever a character dies, their body will remain in the place they died in, unless another character moves them. There, their body will begin the usual decomposition process you would expect from a freshly dead corpse for a few hours, after which the character's body will disappear and reappear back in their house within one to three days. They will awaken in their beds in the morning similar to how they did when they first arrived in Santa Rosita, wearing their pajamas. They will also feel very groggy, nauseous and weak, and will take about a week to fully recover. Physically, your character will gain ugly looking scars and bruises reminiscent of and hinting at the way they died. For example, a long scar across the throat if theirs was slit, puckered bullet wound scars in the area they were shot, burn scars if they were set on fire, heavy bruising if they were beaten or bludgeoned, etc. You can get very creative with the appearance these marks take, but they will remain with your character for the rest of their stay in Santa Rosita and can not be healed, even with magic or if you request them to be healed as a regain. However, all other injuries will be healed upon resurrection, including lost or maimed organs and limbs. The first time your character dies, it will take them twenty-four hours to revive. They’ll only gain one mark and will seem normal, mostly. Starting with their second death, they’ll start coming back... wrong. They’ll gain more scars in addition to their old ones. Their body temperature will start to drop until they become completely cold, and their skin will lose its color. They’ll notice their joints and bones popping noticeably from time to time, and they'll gradually begin to lose the ability to feel pain. They'll start to smell bad. Animals — including their own pets — will be terrified of them. Emotionally and mentally, they’ll still be the same characters, but their moods might become just a little more unstable, their tempers shorter and more violent, or they might begin to exhibit characteristics reminiscent of extreme PTSD. Essentially, the more they die, the more, well, dead they’ll begin to seem. These effects will stack and worsen with each death. Just like death scars, they can't be healed by any mechanic in the game. Additionally, each time they die, it will take one more day for them to revive; so, the second time they die it will take two days, and the third time will take three. After a character dies 3 times, their next death — their 4th — will be permanent and the player will have to reapply for them from a different canon point. They will not keep their previous regains or memories of Santa Rosita. For all intents and purposes, they will be treated like a completely new version of the character pulled in from a slightly different universe. You can pick any of these effects to implement for your character, or you can let a mod decide for you. You can have your character undergo all of them, or you can choose one and have that effect get noticeably worse each time they die. Most of them can be opted out of if you so choose. However, death scars can not be opted out of, and every time your character dies after their first death, they must gain one effect. |
TRANQUILIZING
We found a way of doing it, and it's just perfect. Perfect for us, and perfect for you.
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One of the greatest dangers your characters will face during their stay in Santa Rosita won’t just be to their bodies, but to their minds as well. Santa Rosita’s community leaders employ many punishments to discipline wayward citizens with, but their favorite is Tranquilizing, a process that’s very similar to brainwashing.
The Santa Rosita Police Department and a select number of named NPCs have the ability to Tranquilize characters on the spot, usually in response to infractions, crimes, flagrant disregard to the rules, or pure disrespect. These NPCs include Mayor Clarke, Chief Harding and the Happy Homes Association. The effects of Tranquilizing vary but are generally based on the severity of the infraction your character commits; the lesser the infraction, the more mild the Tranquilizing is and the quicker it takes to wear off. There are six stages of Tranquilizing: • Stage 1. Mild. Characters will immediately forget whatever they were doing at the time of Tranquilizing, feeling compelled to return to their homes and go about their day normally. Usually only lasts for an hour. • Stage 2. Moderate. Characters will immediately forget whatever they were doing at the time of Tranquilizing, feeling compelled to return to their homes and go about their day normally, although they will suffer headaches and be more than a little dazed. Lasts longer than one hour but less than a day. • Stage 3. Average. Characters will immediately forget whatever it was they were doing at the time of Tranquilizing. Any negativity will be immediately wiped away and they’ll forget whatever it was that had them upset, brushing it off as unimportant and returning to their homes. They will also adopt some of their neighbors’ mannerisms, including early 1960s vocabulary and a cheerful attitude. Lasts for one to three days. • Stage 4. Severe. Characters will not only forget whatever it was they were doing at the time of Tranquilizing, but will also begin to forget certain details about their original life and homeworld, having them replaced with very realistic memories of their fake life in Santa Rosita. They will adopt their neighbors’ mannerisms, including early 1960s vocabulary, values and a very cheery attitude. Lasts from anywhere between three to seven days. • Stage 5. Very severe. Characters will forget whatever it was they were doing at the time of Tranquilizing as well as large swathes of their memories of their original life, including names of friends and family and events in their canon. All of these lost memories will be replaced with realistic memories of their fake life in Santa Rosita that are indistinguishable from their real ones. They will essentially believe and act as if they really are from 1961, that their fake family is their real one, and that they really did just move to Santa Rosita. Lasts anywhere from one to two weeks. • Stage 6. Extreme. The character becomes a Robbie. Loses all memories of their homeworld and original life, as well as the ability to express the full spectrum of human emotion, behaving more like a robot attempting to mimic emotion — specifically and only happiness and occasional, mild disapproval. Loses the ability to feel pain. Believes they really are from 1961 and completely loses themselves in their fake identity. Can last anywhere from a week to a full month. Note that any stage of Tranquilizing will leave the character docile and with no inclinations to fight or rebel against Santa Rosita and its leaders, and is incurable by supernatural or scientific means (but if you attempt to use either to cure a Tranquilized character, let us know — something special might happen). Your character just has to ride it out and wait for it to wear off. The duration we have listed here for the various stages are just general guidelines; you have some flexibility for how long you want the Tranquilizing to last, such as if you want your character to be a Robbie for one week or ride out the full month. Currently, there are no penalties or long-term effects for Tranquilizing beyond what is listed here, except for the very unique form a certain ice cream loving friend to the town utilizes. What does it do? Well… |
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DEATH AND CRIME RECORDS
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This page also functions as a catch-all post where players can report character deaths as well as character committed crimes. Simply fill out the appropriate form below and comment with either DEATH or CRIME in your header.
Please note that changes resulting from death that aren't death scars are determined by mod discretion if you opt-into having us choose them, meaning that if you put down that you would like a randomized death effect that isn't a scar, we will assume that you're alright with having us do whatever we want to your character. This includes mental changes. An important note about crimes as a whole: just because your character commits one doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll always be Tranquilized or punished as they have to be caught first, so don't feel like you can't do anything rebellious or creative in the setting, or that you have to be a perfect angel that goes along with everything Santa Rosita asks you to do because you're afraid of being punished. We just ask that players use their best judgement in determining what they could feasibly get away with, unless they have mod permission or have made some arrangement with the mods due to an event. |
CRIMES
HIATUSES, DROPS AND CANON UPDATES
People come and go every day.
HIATUS/DROPS
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If you know you will be too busy to make AC, you may take a hiatus at any point before that month’s AC goes up. While you’re on a hiatus, you will be exempt from that month’s AC. Consecutive hiatuses will not be permitted, and once the AC period begins, you are not permitted to apply for one. If you find that you need to drop, please use this post instead of idling out. If you idle out, we reserve the right to kill your character off at our discretion for plot purposes. If you idle out and want to reapply for the same character, you must wait one application round before you can do so again. Please state in your comment title whether you are taking a HIATUS or DROPPING. If you are dropping multiple characters, you must fill out the removal part of the form for each character. |
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CANON UPDATES
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If you wish to canon update your character, please fill out the following form with the subject line "CANON UPDATE - [YOUR CHARACTER NAME]". Please note that you may only canon update your character to a future or new point in canon, not a past one. Also, canon updates for newly released canon material can only be applied for six weeks after the new material’s release. This is to give other canon familiar players a chance to digest the new material and to prevent premature circulation of spoilers. While undergoing a canon update, your character will disappear from Santa Rosita and return to their homeworld with no memories of their time in Santa Rosita. They may return to Santa Rosita at the player’s convenience, either within seconds or days. |
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HOUSING AND FAMILY ASSIGNMENTS
Til death do us part.
HOME, SWEET HOME
Population: growing!
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The residential district in East Santa Rosita, Shadyside, is clean, affordable and within walking distance of most of the town's landmarks, making it the perfect place to raise a family. Many of the homes here are your standard multi floor houses with a ground floor (living room and kitchen), second floor (three bedrooms and two bathrooms), and attic — and an attached garage with your very own car, of course.
Each house is fully supplied with the trendiest furnishings and appliances a modern family could ask for, including a laundry room with a top-loader washing machine and dryer, a television set (black and white, sadly — maybe you should've saved your money on the dryer and sprung for a full-color set), kitchen gadgets like a toaster and all the wares you need to cook and bake for your hungry family. Each bedroom has a closet stocked with period appropriate clothing as well as a record player for easy listening after a long day at work (or school). As well, every house has two phones and an accompanying directory with every character-inhabited house's phone number. You can call each house individually or all at once by setting up a party line; the directories give instructions on how to do so. |
HEY GOOD LOOKING, WHAT'S COOKING?
You're not too bad yourself, handsome.
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Every character who arrives in Santa Rosita is given their own house. Sort of. When they officially enter the game, they're sorted by age and gender into a family unit of four people: a mother, a father and two children. All members of a household will be player-controlled characters; as players join the game, incomplete households will be filled out.
Parents are characters aged 20 and older, children are characters between 12 and 19 (some of them are late bloomers). Parent roles are determined by the gender the character presents as, with nonbinary and genderless characters given their pick of either role per their player's preference. Once a character receives their assignment and role, their family name will become the father character's surname and all townspeople in the game will refer to them by that name and treat them like they're actually related.
Your character's house is an important part of their time here! Whenever your character dies, they revive in their bedroom, and when they receive their post plot-heavy event regain, it appears in their home overnight. While you don't necessarily have to live in your house, it's highly recommended that you do. Treat it like your base camp and refuge from the strange people and things that lay outside in Santa Rosita. Someday, it just might be. To receive your house and family assignment, fill out the form below and comment with your character's name and canon in the header. If you have a preference with who you'd like to share a house with, whether it's someone who's apping into the game with you or otherwise, make a note of that. Otherwise, write RANDOM and we'll choose your house for you. While we can't promise that we'll be able to fulfill every request, we will certainly try. |
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HOUSES
LOOMIS DRIVE
101 Loomis Drive - The Lornlits
"Parents" Daylight vis Lornlit "Kids" Peter Parker 103 Loomis Drive - The Undertales "Parents" Sans Undertale & Lorna Dane "Kids" Sayori 105 Loomis Drive - The Knochenmuses "Parents" Papyrus Knochenmus & Kiara Sessyoin "Kids" Louis |
MOCKINGBIRD LANE
209 Mockingbird Lane - The Greyjoys
"Parents" Theon Greyjoy & Amanda Brotzman 210 Mockingbird Lane - The Williams "Parents" Ellie Williams "Kids" Wrathion Prestor 212 Mockingbird Lane - The Ardankins "Parents" Vasiliy Yegorovich Ardankin & Natasha Romanov 214 Mockingbird Lane - The Fells "Parents" Aziraphale (A.Z. Fell) & Anthony Crowley |
MIDWICH STREET
321 Midwich Street - The Ackermans
"Parents" Levi Ackerman & Diana Prince 323 Midwich Street - The Smiths "Parents" Erwin Smith & Rapunzel der Sonne "Kids" Falco Grice |
CARPENTER BOULEVARD
432 Carpenter Boulevard - The Huaisangs
"Kids" Angelo Sauper 433 Carpenter Boulevard - The Flaggs "Parents" Randall Flagg & the Countess (Elizabeth March-Drake) 434 Carpenter Boulevard - The Archers "Parents" Sterling Archer & Cassandra Ofstegard 436 Carpenter Boulevard - The Kesis "Parents" Takame Kesi & Monika "Kids" Shinjiro Aragaki |
KARLOFF COURT
540 Karloff Court - The Karnsteins
"Parents" Carmilla Karnstein "Kids" Anduin Llane Wrynn 542 Karloff Court - The Maximoffs "Parents" Wanda Maximoff "Kids" Okuyasu Nijimura |
EVENT SUGGESTIONS AND ENGAGEMENTS
Dare you.
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Interested in running a player plot? Have an idea for an event? Just looking to see what would happen if you did a certain thing? This is the place to do it. Here, you can pitch your ideas to the mod team and ask questions about or following up on things your character is doing in the game, such as exploring locations or interacting with the world in a meaningful way.
All comments will be screened, and answers to questions will go out on weekends, except during time-sensitive cases such as events. Try to reserve this page for asking about things you want to do or permission to do them; direct all worldbuilding and game mechanic questions to the FAQ. Please be as detailed as possible with your questions and suggestions so we don’t have to ask for clarification! For certain engagements, use of a virtual D20 die or other RNG based mechanic will be used to determine the success of some actions. |