If You Don't

[animusmods]

Characters: All who are signed up for the If You Don't event!
Setting: Everywhere
Format: Anything
Summary: The shadow children come out to play, hungry for their candy...
Warnings: Psychological horror, possible character death.

As those who are participating in the event wake up on the morning of the 26th, they'll see clawing hands at the edges of their vision that dart away as soon as they're fully awake. Maybe it was just a lingering dream? But there's another note left for them to find:

trick or treat
smell my feet
give me something good to eat

i f y o u d o n ' t

There is a drawing of a heart at the bottom of the paper, as usual for notes received during Ruana's games, though it's wet and red and appears to be fresh blood.

Still nothing, will happen until the sun begins to set. Once it does, skittering, shifting shadow children will come out to play, tracking down one of the characters participating in the game. They will request a specific kind of candy--not with a normal voice, but with a penetrating, tearing sort of mental intrusion.

You will have until 11:59 PM to figure out what they want, and woe betide you if you get it wrong and give them something they don't like...

Reply to the subthread for each night to receive your character's riddle for that night. Note: While you can request riddles in advance, you will not receive the riddles for nights 2 and on until your character has solved or failed to solve the riddle preceding it and received their consequences, if applicable.

Riddle Subthreads:
October 26th
October 27th
October 28th
October 29th
October 30th
October 31st

Feel free to create your own top-levels for IC mingling during these days - to have your character trying to puzzle out their riddles, search for/negotiate with people who have the candies they need, make attempts to steal candies, and deal with any consequences they get later on for not giving their shadow children the correct candies - but be sure you indicate which night it is in the subject header.

Some other things to note:
- Now that all the remaining candy in the Tower has been put into bowls, it can be perceived and interacted with by everyone, even those who are not signed up for the event.
- Candy that is removed from a bowl will remain in existence so long as it is in a character's hand, but will vanish if set down, put into a bag, etc. If it is transferred from one bowl to another, that is okay. If it is taken from a bowl and handed to a shadow child, that is okay.
- Only the character being asked for candy will be able to hear the shadow child that is doing the asking, though others will be able to see it.
- The shadow child will follow your character until they fetch the candy from their room and will repeat the riddle at any time, when asked; this can be handwaved without a mod response.
- The shadow children will not take any notice of characters that are not the ones they are asking for candy from.

Mod replies will only occur in the riddle subthreads, to 1. give out the riddle and 2. respond with any consequences once a character has given (or not given) a shadow child their candy.

Comments

OCTOBER 27TH

[animusmods]

[Reply here with an IC tag of what your character is doing at sundown to receive their riddle for the 27th.]

sorry for asking for all of these on the first night...

[heavenscorpse]

[At sundown V/V is ready, though only slightly less nervous. That riddle hadn't been very clear, and only luck had gotten her to choose the right candy. She might not be so lucky this time.

Her bowl is on her bed as she paces the inside of her room.]

[notsogrimreaper]

[Ryoji was more than a little shaken up after his mistake last time around, and has retreated to the media room in an attempt to watch something that relaxes him. He can't help but start to glance over his shoulder more often as it gets closer and closer to sundown. Maybe he should head back to his room. Will he have the right candy this time around? Will this feeling get worse if he doesn't have the candy again?]

[taintedwhite]

[Alright. This was fun. So Shiro is willing to play the guessing game again tonight. Even if it means losing more candy, it was funny enough. And maybe the child will end up being a friend to Shiro? Shiro's never had any shadow friend before.]

[sicharia]

[Claudia is, once again, in her room at sunset. After what had happened the night before, she isn't reading this time. Instead, she sits on the edge of her bed and waits, if somewhat tensely.]

[midgarhorizon]

[When night fell this time, Reno is laying on his own bed, the blanket pulled over his head so he didn't have to look at the bowl. Exhaustion wore on him; he has nothing to drink himself into oblivion and let him fall asleep, though he desperately could use something. Pain flared through his wrists and ankles again, yet one more torment keeping him up. The sensation brought back the memory of those thorns digging clawing tearing into his brain.

He just wants to sleep... just some sleep, that's all.]

[bydefacto]

[Shaken from the first night the shadow had visited, Sealand again stays in his room, for most of the day this time, guarding his candy supply.

He hides in the covers of his bed, sitting cross legged with the duvet covering him. He wears his power ranger costume, and his seagull lies down next to him.]

[sageprincess]

[Once again, Zelda has retreated to the safety of her room by the time the sun has set, locking the door behind her. Not wanting to deal with a shadow child on her lap again, she spends this time doing a bit of tidying, sorting through her trunk and folding her clothes.

No use in just sitting and fretting.]

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick is done with sitting still--if cabin fever hadn't already gotten to him, the constant crawling of his skin was enough to keep him moving, anxiously pacing circles in the center of his room, casting weary glances at his candy bowl. All of that work for all of that candy, and still it hadn't been enough...he was going to die for this.]

[Night approaches and Rick grows increasingly more restless. He's tried sleeping but he can't--he always wakes to the feeling of a bug darting across his back, or wriggling into his ear, if he can even go that long without swatting at his arms or shivering himself sick. The anticipation of those grinning white teeth and daggers in his mind drives him mad with anxiety.]

...P-Please...just...g-g-get it o-over with...

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch has spent most of the day in his room. With his stomach feeling stuffed and the taste of sugar constantly in his mouth, he hasn't felt like eating anything at all, and all he could get himself to drink was a few sips of water. He has an arm draped protectively over a pillow over the candy bowl and another wrapped around his stomach, his eyelids heavy and his mind numb.*

October 27th - [OU] Sephiroth

[neverbeamemory]

[He's caught his shower a little earlier this time.

At sunset Sephiroth is enjoying the permanent nightfall in the Meadow, it's cooler temperature and -for now- silence. Letting his gaze wander the pseudo-starlit sky while he listens for variations in the sounds he can hear around him. Anything to take his mind off (yet again) waking up in the Infirmary again earlier today.]

[savedbyasong]

Luckily the feeling of his blood boiling had not lasted the whole day, but it had been awful when it had and he had been restless all day, not to mention he hadn't slept. He had recorded it though and the next evening he didn't go to his room at all, instead doing some work on the collar fluid. Recording some test results.

[notachickenhawk]

[Trick or treat, huh? He's not really eager to see this place's tricks, so at sundown Tobias is perched on his bed again, grooming himself.]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Veronica's breath attacks came at any possible time. She knew for a fact that her lungs were in perfect condition, so this was not anything normal. It only made her more furious at the admins, and the tower as a whole.

She's ready for the next riddle though. Having been out all day, trying to improve her breathing problem, she has just arrived back at her dorm room, closing the door behind her.]

OCTOBER 27TH

[no_longer_a_king]

[This time, Arturia is sitting patiently in her room with the candy bowl in her lap. The day has been unnerving thanks to constantly feeling as if she is being followed, reminding her of when the Hound chased her through the Tower. The memory of finally being pinned still sickens her, but Arturia knows she has to see this to the end.]

[great_king_of_evil]

[ This time Ganondorf would be in his room. The patterns of this tower were so easilly predictable and he didn't want to waste any more time than he needed in the company of the shadow child.

Re: OCTOBER 27TH

[cursedchosen]

[Zelos is pretty confident after getting the guess right the first time, so he's going to be in the same spot in the lounge, on the same couch, in the same lounging position.]

[keepscalm]

[The shadow's appearance the night previous has England a little on edge tonight. He's in his room this night, too, watching his candy and occasionally glancing around the room in anticipation of the phantom's visit.]

[ladyliberty]

[Amelia was antsy. She'd tried to go about business as usual that day, but she'd kept returning periodically to her dorm to check her stash of candy. She hadn't touched a bite of it-- not since the shadow child came for it yesterday.

At sundown she's pacing the room, her wings folded about her shoulders like a cloak. She knows that thing is going to come again. She still remembered what they were like last time.]

[bowandblade]

[The feeling of things crawling over his skin had fortunately faded. He had no idea if this was something that the shadow itself had done or if it was something Ruana managed to do, but it didn't help his mood -- or that feeling to just stand in the shower trying to get that sensation to fade.

He's heading back to the dorms with a sour expression, already wondering if those shadows would appear again.]

[ambassadorasshat]

[Luke isn't waiting for a shadow child to show up this time, he's just heading up to the dorms from the cafeteria, in the elevator. He's not too worried about this candy thing right now, since he got the first riddle right. Even if it was actually mostly just luck.]

[mostremaining]

[Huh. That first night didn't go so badly. Feeling fairly confident in his ability to solve the riddles (though perhaps said confidence is unwarranted), he waits in his room at sundown for the next one.]

[terra_nullius]

[After the first time, he's more aware of what to expect. This time Xehanort sits patiently and waits... or as patient as his anticipation seems to allow. What will happen this night?]

[brbtalkingtogod]

[Lucifel waits for the event of this day - or rather the riddle of this day. The last riddle wasn't so hard, but who knew what would be in stock next...]

OCTOBER 27TH

[gradosfinest]

[Last time didn't go so badly, but that doesn't mean Amelia's about to let her guard down. By her count, there are still a few days left before the turn of the month, and that means odds are there will be more of those little shadow bastards.

So this time come sundown she's standing in her room next to her candy bowl, arms folded with a frown on her face as she waits for the next shadow child she's certain is coming.]