Your BDE For This Semester!

[lockestheway]

Hello and welcome back to another semester of the zany chaos we call Fandom, where timelines intermix and wrap around each other, where doppelgangers room together and occasionally date, where you can meet three versions of your father before you graduate...

Strangely enough, there are beings in the multiverse who aren’t so enamored with the chaos, and those beings are known as the Auditors of Reality. The Auditors are supernatural celestial bureaucrats: they make sure the laws of gravity are obeyed, file the right paperwork for chemical reactions, and so on. They hate life because life is messy and unpredictable and makes them fall behind on their paperwork. They really hate humans and other sentient beings because they are much messier and more unpredictable than other living things, and have attempted more than once to remove this issue.

Fortunately for humanity and every other living thing, the Auditors can't simply wipe out life, because that's against the Rules; the Auditors can't break the Rules because, in a certain sense, they are the Rules. There are, however, loopholes.

The loophole they will exploit in Fandom? Nothing.

Or rather, The Nothing. Simply put, the Nothing feeds on things that are forgotten--hopes and dreams are its favorites--and leaves nothing behind. If it destroys a lake, there wouldn’t be a dry lake bed left behind: that would be something. Nothing is the blackness that you see when you close your eyes before you sleep. The Nothing doesn’t just make things disappear--it makes it so they never existed at all.

Okay, that’s nice and creepy. How will it work here?
Slowly at first. The BDE will unfold in four phases across the semester (which is why we’re telling you now!)

Phase One (September 20-October 20)
The Auditors will release the Nothing and it will beginning nibbling around the edges of Fandom, going after long-dropped characters who have been forgotten by the people currently on the island and erasing their existence. As we get closer to Homecoming, the Nothing will expand into universes our current, alumni, and expat characters come from.

What does this mean for us?
That means that, starting September 20th, we’ll be putting up weekly posts in which your long-dropped characters can post one last hurrah before the Nothing removes them from existence. NOTE that there will be an option later on in the semester for past dropped characters to leave messages before they vanish; this option is only for those who never quite manage to contact Fandom before they fade (or have been gone so long they don’t know anyone on the island any more). So snag your ancient former character journals and have fun with it!

Beginning October 10th, little-known NPCs from your home universes can also start fading. Participation in this is up to you, of course. Fandom characters might still remember these people - vaguely, as we’re talking about That Janitor They Spoke To That One Time In Season 1, not the brother they phone up every week - but chances are when asked, people at home will respond with a simple “Who?”

Alumni can also notice these disappearances, but the more time they’ve been spending away from Fandom, the more trouble they’ll have to notice anything amiss when an NPC goes missing.

Phase Two (October 23-November 20th)
The transportation of all the alumni back to the island for Homecoming will snap the poor little Nothing’s...well, what passes for its brain, anyway, as beings from all kinds of timelines and universes arrive in one place. (He’s from the past! She’s from the future! He’s from spaaaaaaace! Poor little Nothing.) It will start attacking the home dimensions more visibly, but again, only visible to people who have left and returned. Alumni coming back from the dance will have the option of returning home to discover some people they know have disappeared, as have buildings, lakes, small villages...whatever you’d like. News can get around, and people on the island can also go home to check and see if things are missing. They don’t have to be: you can choose to leave your character’s universe unaffected by the Nothing. It’s gone insane, after all, and there are a lot of universes. It can’t have gotten everywhere.

On November 14th, Portalocity will admit that the portal system is becoming unbalanced with all of the chunks of universes the Nothing has taken and will begin limiting transportation into and out of affected dimensions, leaving your characters with the terrible decision of leaving their dimensions to disappear without them or staying to disappear with it. This is also the time to call in favors to fight the Nothing if you choose, but you will not be able to defeat it. Mwahaha. Portalocity will shut down all portals for non-Fandom, non-alumni characters on November 20th.

Phase Three (November 21st until December 3rd)
The Nothing starts inching toward Fandom itself. Dropped characters (and their universes) start disappearing in droves and will be given the chance to leave one last message to people they knew on the island before fizzling into the Nothing. From this point on, alumni and expats will be allowed back onto the island for the duration of the event if they choose not to go out in a blaze of glory at home. On December 3rd Portalocity will shut down all portal service to and from Fandom entirely, so even those alumni staying behind in Nothing-safe dimensions won’t be able to jump universes or talk to their friends on-island.

Phase Four (December 4th-December 10th
The traditional BDE showdown! We’ll be providing more details as we get closer to December, but the Nothing will attack Fandom itself, the shielding the island has will begin to fail, and the Auditors will show up to see What Went Wrong just to add to the chaos. NPCs on the island will disappear (Tino! Noooooo!), then characters themselves can blip out of existence, and we’ll be down to nothing but the school building proper by the end of the week.

What we need from you!

- As you’ll see in the convenient OCD below, we’ve got all kinds of sign-up options!
We need the names of dropped characters that you’ve played who have lost all contact with Fandom but weren’t killed off permanently in-game (for example: Barbossa) for unnoticed disappearances in early/mid October. This is just a headcount, so we’ll know how many folks we can expect!

- We need to know which alumni/expats/island minions will be going home and noticing chunks disappearing in October and November. Please note (if you’ve decided) if they will be returning to Fandom in late November or going down with the ship. Er, universe. Something. We need those names by October 21.

- We need the names of dropped characters that you’ve played who will be leaving one last message before disappearing forever (or until we fix the multiverse!) in late November. We need those names by November 20.


None of this is mandatory. You’re free to participate in any stage of the BDE lead-up that you’d like, participate in one but not another, or forgo them entirely - whether it be to keep your character sane, your plot running, or even create a safe haven in terms of a place the Nothing hasn’t touched yet. Just keep in mind that by the BDE week in December, the island will be completely cut off from the multiverse, and Portalocity will no longer be functioning.

There! Comments, questions, icons of pretty people making out?

Comments

Questions!

[lockestheway]

Got any? Let us know!

Re: Questions!

[trigons_child]

What about pesky teleporters, particularly ones whose soul exists in multiple dimensions at the same time? Eeep?

And are the ones devoured by the Nothing going to reappear safe and sound at the end? I know they did in the movie but didn't want to assume.

Re: Questions!

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, you guys, this is EPIC.

I also kinda love that it intersects really incredibly conveniently with one of my alumni kids being completely out of touch with Fandom for a chunk of time anyway -- can I poke you guys via email about the possibility of having reasons for that dovetail with my personal stuff, or would you rather keep it separate?

Re: Questions!

[sizzler-sisters.livejournal.com]

We have a question, Jerry! May we telephone someone on-island entirely by accident? Press the wrong numbers and leave an incomprehensible message about donkeys and the mayor of Mexigreenland?

Re: Questions!

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

What happens to Fandom's connections to other realities? For example, Faramir has always entered the island by using the causeway. Would he still be able to do so after Portalocity shuts down? Or will those connections be affected as well? And if so, what would be the timeframe for that?

Re: Questions!

[answer2bheard.livejournal.com]

I have this boy here on hiatus until spring, but would it be possible for him to be snagged by the Nothing, too? And if so, would it be okay for me to toss him into the contact group with the dropped characters?

If hiatus means he's in a weird touchy place and the answer is no, I'm okay with that, too, and I've got more than enough names in the hat to keep me occupied either way. :)

Re: Questions!

[living_endless]

Sigh. I apologize for being difficult, but I have two Endless as dropped characters. Is it okay to opt Death and Dream out entirely? I can't wipe them from existence without screwing up their particular chunk of the multiverse.

(What I'd *like* to do would be to do a cameo with them meeting and agreeing Strange Things Are Afoot that it's best for them not to meddle with, but I understand if that's contrary to the spirit of the plot.)

Re: Questions!

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

So I also have a question! Rather belatedly, even!

If someone's world disappears, what happens to things from their world that may be left in Fandom? Specifically, Triela gave quite a number of gifts before the end. If she were to disappear, would those things stay, or go? (Clearly I'm asking because I think one of those is more interesting, but I'm asking anyway.)

Re: Questions!

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Just to clarify. Is it possible for an NPC to disappear, particularly during that Phase 3 period, and for the people around them to still remember them? They'll just be gone without a trace? For example in the clip you linked to, the creature remembered the lake being there. But then suddenly, there was nothing. I have an NPC or two I'd like to make go poof just for maximum angst.

Comments!

[lockestheway]

Got any? We'd like to know, too!

Re: Comments!

[angelo_wings]

Holy fucking shit, you guys. I am squeeing IRL. ♥ ♥ ♥

Re: Comments!

[inaskinnyway.livejournal.com]

*changes journals for appropriateness*

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Re: Comments!

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

*jawdrops*

I have never heard anything so incredibly epic in my life. Awesome. AWESOME.

Re: Comments!

[therewaslife]

I hear The Nothing and all I think of is this. WRECKED ME AS A KID, MAN. FREAKING WRECKED ME.

Re: Comments!

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Guys as someone that only has alumni characters at the moment, can I just say how much I love you for setting up a plot I can participate in?

SO. MUCH. LOVE.

Re: Comments!

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER AND I LOVE YOU ALL. I WOULD OFFER TO HAVE YOUR BABIES WERE THAT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE.

... ahem. Er. Nicely done, yous!

BDE: Dropped Characters, Mark 1!

[lockestheway]

Ping in here with your dropped characters from times past who won't be contacting the island as they disappear in late September/early October.

Re: BDE: Dropped Characters, Mark 1!

[likeguidelines.livejournal.com]

Barbossa!

Re: BDE: Dropped Characters, Mark 1!

[peter--parker.livejournal.com]

Peter Parker

Re: BDE: Dropped Characters, Mark 1!

[honoraryphd.livejournal.com]

Doctor Doom

Re: BDE: Dropped Characters, Mark 1!

[puppy_fair]

Zack Fair

Re: BDE: Dropped Characters, Mark 1!

[feline-royalty.livejournal.com]

Tybalt Capulet

BDE: Dropped Characters, Mark 2!

[lockestheway]

Ping in here with your dropped characters from times past who will be leaving one last message before vanishing in late November, early December.

Re: BDE: Dropped Characters, Mark 2!

[nojesusfreak.livejournal.com]

Biff!

BDE: Alumni!

[lockestheway]

Ping in here if you'd like your alumni to notice that people and places have gone missing in late October/early November.

Also let us know if you're planning to have your alumni/expat stay on-island during the last weeks of the event in late November/early December!

Re: BDE: Alumni!

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

Savannah Levine and Phoebe Halliwell will definitely be noticing that people and places are missing. :D

They -- along with Gwynn Hood -- will be staying on the island during the last part of the plot.

OOC

[lockestheway]

Because we do need one!

Re: OOC

[bugofjustice.livejournal.com]

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!