The Nightmare Before Christmas

[guppy_sandhu]

*using other journal pending approvals - plot kindly approved by mods in advance*

Good evening, Millifolks!

While Halloween is hot and fresh on all of your minds, we would like to announce for your delectation and delight:

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS PLOT 2014

Following on from the awesome stuff you guys made last year in the Krampus plot; Maru, Write and I have decided to turn the tables this year, and there are lots of ways for you to take part.

Premise - Halloween Town has discovered the presence of Christmas Town, and is determined to have Christmas for themselves. After trying to work in parallel, the monsters decide to take over instead, and arrange the kidnap of Santa Claus so that their own leader, Jack Skellington, can take his place.

Unfortunately for the patrons of Milliways, Christmas town isn't the only door the monsters have found.

[ETA: The different areas of audience participation occur at different times through November and December and there are opportunities to be in as much or as little as you want. I.e. This is not a two month commitment!]




Phase 1: As soon as app comes through.
Jack discovers the existence of Milliways, which he realises he can use to help with his current goal. He will be around asking a lot of questions about Christmas and holidays in general. There will also be a new tree in the forest, with a door with a pumpkin on, but only Jack can open this.

Phase 2: Provisional date 14/11/14
Following the suggestions of the monsters in Halloween Town, Jack comes into possession of several 'gifts' of a pox in a box, which will find their way into the bar for 'experimental' purposes.
Audience participation #1 - we will need at least one person foolish enough to open the box with the pox and become the source of the infection (SIGN UP BELOW).
The pox is transmitted by touching a carrier and not washing your hands. It has an incubation period of 1-2 days and is contagious within 6 hours of contact with the carrier until the spots are gone.
Symptoms include: green spots, sneezing, a really really bad hair day, and an urge to rhyme (NB: rhyming NOT compulsory). It should last a couple of days and does not cause serious illness.

Phase 3: Provisional date 1/12/14
Father Christmas is kidnapped by Oogie Boogie (we're not planning on having Lock, Shock and Barrel, but if their mun is still around feel free to get in touch). A ransom note demanding 'Christmas' to be given in exchange for his return will appear on the board.
Audience Participation #2 - The investigation will be lead by Gene Hunt, if anyone else would like to investigate the kidnap of Santa and the mysterious skeleton man, please SIGN UP BELOW. (If anyone would enjoy being an alternate suspect we could work that in too).

Phase 4: Provisional date - Millitimed to Christmas Eve, we will likely get you set off prethreading from 12/12/14.
Search for Father Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Jack will pitch up in the bar with all his gory presents, and promptly get himself nicked. Before going off to serve his time, he will help the Milliteams find Father Christmas.
Audience Participation #3 In teams of 1-3, each group selects a square from the map we will provide to search. You will all find a tree with a door somewhere in your square, but what is inside the door will be randomised to the square you pick. We will be getting monster/cracky ideas from you guys.
One team will find Oogie Boogie with Father Christmas which will bring us onto Phase 5. We will try and collate the search threads by Christmas eve.
The tree doors apart from Jack's will disappear after phase 4.

Phase 5: Provisional date Millitimed to Christmas Eve, we will likely set you off from 19/12/14 and wrap up by New Year.
Audience Participation #4 - Anyone who wants to gets to fight Oogie Boogie (SIGN UP BELOW). Individual or team separate threads. The threads end either if your character gets knocked out, or knocks Oogie back far enough to get his thread pulled by Jack, causing his big bug eruption of defeat.

Phase 6: Everyone gets their Christmas presents!
Audience Participation #5 - if your pup wants a present/missed childhood present/hypothetical universe present from father_chris, please sign up below. Same rules apply as last year, ping if queries.

Okay. Questions?!

Comments

Audience Participation #1 - Pox in a Box

[skeleton_king]

If your pup is foolish enough to open up a box full of pox they found lying around, we need at least one person to start it off, and the more the merrier.

If you just wish to catch the pox, there is no need to sign up, just touch an infected person.

A reminder - The pox is transmitted by touching a carrier and not washing your hands. It has an incubation period of 1-2 days and is contagious within 6 hours of contact with the carrier until the spots are gone.
Symptoms include: green spots, sneezing, a really really bad hair day, and an urge to rhyme (NB: rhyming NOT compulsory). It should last a couple of days and does not cause serious illness.

[mindofathief]

A random gift box lying around? This clearly means there's a useful item in it!

Duster's usually around other people in the afternoon and nights, so if your pup is an early bird, they most likely won't catch it from his.

Re: Audience Participation #1 - Pox in a Box

[fairy_fixit]

Need someone to carry the plague through the air?
I offer this diminutive maiden fair.
This Halloween she received something nice in a decorated box.
What a surprise if her next gift is pox?

Audience Participation #2 - Investigators and Suspects

[skeleton_king]

If you wish to help Gene investigate please sign up here.

If anyone's pup wants to act suspiciously and be an alternate suspect, we can work that in too!

Re: Audience Participation #2 - Investigators and Suspects

[the_gene_genie]

And lets face it, Gene's going to need someone to kick him in the arse to take this seriously at first.

On the other hand, he's also basically a child so NO ONE GETS TO STEAL SANTA. But there will be many jokes along the way, trust me.

Re: Audience Participation #2 - Investigators and Suspects

[ladysingsthe]

Aheh, so, I'm apparently aliiiiiiive and have Ava back in bar for plot already.

She doesn't like Gene AT ALL, so I'll volunteer her to either investigate (:D?) OR to be a suspect. I feel like she does enough sneaking around the Milliways grounds at night with weaponry/to summon demons that she's probably a suspicious kinda girl ...

Hopefully this isn't biting off more than I can chew. Hi guys!

Re: Audience Participation #2 - Investigators and Suspects

[a1enzo]

Enzo is up for investigating! Dani might be as well, but it's still tentative.

Re: Audience Participation #2 - Investigators and Suspects

[clayforthedevil]

Officially volunteering this pup for Alternate Suspecthood. Why not, he and Gene are getting along so fantastically this far. :P

(and signing up for investigating too, because obviously, you can't leave these things to the police, right? *facepalms*)

Audience Participation #3 - Search for Santa

[skeleton_king]

Everyone who searches will get a door with either a monster or cracky thing. Second post to follow where you choose your square from the map. Teams of 1-3 people preferred.

Please include:

1. Please state either [name of teammate/s] or Looking for teammate or OOM by myself. If you can arrange teammates among yourself please do; anyone still searching for teammates by the second post we can try and group up.

2. Whether you are looking for a battle with a monster, or a cracky surprise.

3. If there is any particular type of monster you definitely do not want to encounter for your/your pup's trigger reasons.

4. Whether you are happy to be the team that first finds Oogie Boogie - the team that finds Oogie Boogie will be responsible for fetching everyone else and will lead into the final battle (Phase 5). You will not be defeating Oogie Boogie on your own. If you state 'yes' to this question we will need you to complete your thread between 12-19th December. We will also assume you are signed up to Audience Participation #4

If you wish to be in the final battle, please also sign up under Audience Participation #4.

Re: Audience Participation #3 - Search for Santa

[is_the_motion]

Okay I'll help get this started

Bonnie Murdock
1. Looking for teammate
2. Monster or cracky thing is fine
3. No
4. Yes (but this team won't get Oogie Boogie unless the team that does drop out)

Re: Audience Participation #3 - Search for Santa

[mindofathief]

Duster

1) Looking for teammate
2) Duster's good at battling, but cracky surprises are also great
3) None
4) I'm fine with that. I tend to reply to tags pretty quickly.

Re: Audience Participation #3 - Search for Santa

[1nv1nc1ble]

Totally up for this:

Mark Grayson/Invincible

1. Looking for a teammate or possibly off on his own. See below.

2. A few people in the Bar know Invincible's secret identity, but if he's not teamed up with one of them, he won't pull a bad version of Clark Kent's schtick (i.e., run off and change into uniform, fly back and beat up monster, and then show back up with a not-to-convincing "Hey that was Superman Invincible! Where'd he come from?") unless a monster shows up. So cracky would be better for Mark, monsters would be better for Invincible. Either's good for me.

3. Mark's unlikely to take any monsters/hauntings that bring up his father with anything but some serious violence. It's likely to take all the fun out of the thing.

4. Sure.

Re: Audience Participation #3 - Search for Santa

[a1enzo]

Signing up here on behalf of both myself and ami_imperfect:

Enzo Matrix and Dani Phantom
1. Teaming together
2. Either is good
3. None
4. Okay

Monsters and Cracky Things!

[skeleton_king]

If you have a suggestion for a monster or a cracky thing to leap out of a tree, please tag in here. The more bizarre the better! When we put up the second post with the map, we'll allocate each square a monster or a thing for the team to find.

Suggestions from canon include, for example, 'the clown with the tearaway face (here in a flash, and gone in a trace)'

Re: Monsters and Cracky Things!

[cameoflage]

How about a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater?

Re: Monsters and Cracky Things!

[mindofathief]

Mother 3 has a bunch of chimera enemies, two unrelated animals combined together by terrible science.

Two of which would be neat at the Slitherhen because of how ridiculous it is, and for something that may be a threat, I suggest the Kangashark.

There's tons of other enemies to choose from, but chimeras are the best way to scare Duster.

Re: Monsters and Cracky Things!

[1nv1nc1ble]

Is the Purple Snorklewacker from "Bloom County" still tromping about? He strikes me as suitably monstrous and/or cracky.

Re: Monsters and Cracky Things!

[not_my_sandbox]

Amascut's canon has pretty cracky chimeras in the Tower of Life. I especially like the jubster (something called a jubbly bird and a lobster), the super creepy spidine (a sardine/spider combo, uugh), and the newtroost (a newt and a rooster because birds with arms will never stop being funny to me)

Re: Monsters and Cracky Things!

[visible_sariel]

What about a venomous tentacula plant from the Harry Potter verse? Sariel and Demeter encountered, and Demeter dealt with, one seed in the greenhouse, but who says there wasn't another seed pod rattling about someplace?

Audience Participation #4 - The final battle

[skeleton_king]

If you wish to battle Oogie Boogie until Jack can get in and finish him off, please sign up here!

You do not necessarily have to be signed up to #3 to be in the final battle, you just need your pup in earshot.

This part does not have to be in teams.

Re: Audience Participation #4 - The final battle

[mindofathief]

Duster's going to want to battle Oogie Boogie kind of as an apology for getting everyone sick. He's actually pretty nimble, so he'll be able to dodge most of the traps Oogie Boogie lays out.

Audience Participation #5

[father_chris]

If you want to eventually get your present from Santa (non magical, under £30 equivalent) please sign up here! We're not doing naughty gifts this year, the bloke's got enough on.

Re: Audience Participation #5

[mindofathief]

Not sure what exactly he'd like, but something music-related would be great.

Any other Questions

[guppy_sandhu]

Fire away!

What is Oogie Boogie and what is this thread being pulled?

[father_chris]

Posting this because someone pinged me to ask:

Oogie Boogie is the 'bogeyman' who will be played by Maru. He is essentially a giant sack full of bugs and snakes, who lives in a den which resembles a gambling table, and enjoys cooking and eating his victims! The last battle will take place in his lair (finer details to follow).

The thread to be pulled is the bottom of his sack, which will unravel him when Jack pulls it, release the bugs, and end the battle.

Comments/discussion/evil cackling

[guppy_sandhu]

:-D?

Re: Comments/discussion/evil cackling

[herr_bookman]

Ahaha. This is hilarious. Too bad Autor hasn't seen the movie.

[happy_kender]

Death, Tass, and Daniel all need presents. Daniel does have a picture, but the Kender and Death don't have any. Tass cause they just don't think of pictures in Kendermore, and Death, because he's Death.

[happy_kender]

And to be honest, anything map related for Tass, or just adventure related, or really anything at all.

Death, is a hard guy to shop for. He likes food, and drink. Clothing would just be weird because the clothing he wears, is really just a projection of his shape.