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Below is a summary of the story of Johnisdead. For a more detailed retelling of the story, click the "Full" tab above.

• Important names such as characters, websites, and entities will be bolded.
• If something is italicized and underlinedAdditional information can be found by hovering over text., hover over it for additional information.

Some elements of Johnisdead's story builds off of Ben Drowned - an ARG created by Alex Hall in 2010. Many characters, concepts, and locations featured in Ben Drowned make appearances within Johnisdead. Because of this, the following section will contain a brief summary of Ben Drowned.

The Haunted Cartridge Arc

Alex encountering the Elegy Statue in Majora's Mask.

In 2010, a college student named Alex Hall obtained a tattered copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
The Legend of Zelda is a video game series created by Nintendo. Majora's Mask is an entry in the series that was released in the year 2000 for the Nintendo 64. This game is notable for its strange, foreboding atmosphere and odd characters. from an Old Man
The Old Man was hosting a yard sale containing strange paintings like the one above. Not only did he give Alex the copy of Majora's Mask for free, he also said "Goodbye, Ben!" - a detail that would become important later on.. Upon playing the game, Alex was greeted by a malicious entity calling itself BEN. BEN would follow Alex around the game world by manifesting as the "Elegy Statue"
The "Elegy Statue" is an uncanny effigy of Link - Majora's Mask's main character. It is summoned by playing a song called the "Elegy of Emptiness" on Link's Ocarina, though it normally does not move on its own.. Unnerved, Alex began uploading these hauntings to his YouTube channel - Jadusable.

As the hauntings continued, Alex's mental state began to deteriorate. He began suffering from paranoia and horrible nightmares. Alex's friend Tyler took notice of this and became concerned. The two drove back to the Old Man's house in an attempt to find some answers. While the Old Man was nowhere to be found, Alex learned that the Majora's Mask cartridge once belonged to a young boy named Ben who tragically drowned on April 23rd, 2002.

When Alex returned to his dorm room, he discovered that BEN had entered into his computer via his recording equipment. Alex and BEN chatted with one another via CleverbotCleverbot is a website where users can chat with a simplistic AI program. This AI program learns from its users and responds accordingly. However, the responses Alex was receiving were far too personalized and informed to be randomly generated.. Here, Alex discovered that the malicious entity known as BEN was not the drowned child named Ben. Instead, BEN was simply using his name out of cruelty.

Days later, "TheTruth.rtf"TheTruth.rtf was said to have been uploaded by Alex's dormmate - possibly his friend Tyler. However, this is questionable as other sources imply that Alex lived alone. It's possible that BEN himself uploaded TheTruth.rtf. was uploaded to the internet - a compilation of notes that Alex had been taking throughout this whole ordeal. However, it soon became apparent that these notes had been tampered with by BEN. The players came to the horrifying realization that they had inadvertently helped spread BEN to every corner of the internet by downloading these notes, meaning BEN was now free to spread his malicious influence across the world.

The Moon Children Arc

Kelbris as he was portrayed on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net.

Not long after the upload of "TheTruth.rtf", players were led to a website - "Youshouldnthavedonethat.net". This was the home of the Moon Children - a cult that worshipped a moon goddess named Luna. The Moon Children were led by a figure simply known as The Father. As players explored the site, other strange entities made themselves known: A deceased Moon Child named Kelbris
Kelbris was a former Moon Child who claimed to have heard Luna speaking to him. He was later killed via electrocution. Some speculate that he was murdered., an authoritative figure known as Mr. DMr. D is an enigmatic figure as he was only mentioned a handful of times by the Moon Children. It's possible that he and The Father are one-in-the-same because they're both implied to hold some degree of power within the cult., and an entity wearing a gas mask calling itself Drowned
Given his name, it's implied that Drowned holds some connection to Ben - possibly being either his lingering spirit or BEN once again masquerading as him..

The front page of Youshouldnthavedonethat.net was a blog where various high ranking Moon Children posted announcements. These Moon Children moderators were as follows: Matt Hubris "Ifrit", Chris "Nekko", Spencer L. "Duskworld23", and Kevin F. "Insidiae". Chris was the youngest of the moderators. Several posts of his detailed his excitement for his upcoming Ascension - a ritual suicide practiced by the Moon Children. Ascension was believed to spiritually transcend the participants, granting them immense power. However, in reality, all ascension seemingly did was trap their souls inside electronic devices.

Alex submitting the "Song of Time" to rewind time.

The players began emailing Matt. He revealed that Ben was a former Moon Child who underwent a botched ascension - possibly explaining how his spirit became trapped within the Majora's Mask cartridge. Matt also revealed that a Moon Child named Alex had recently gone missing, implying that Alex Hall was somehow connected to the cult. Matt's emails became stranger and more concerning. He reported that an unknown assailant had begun relentlessly knocking on his door.

Further exploration of the site revealed a locked page titled "The Truth" and a countdown. As the countdown was about to reach zero, the missing Moon Child Alex emerged on the YouTube channel TheLinkMissing. Here, Alex uploaded gameplay of "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" showing Link playing the Song of Time on his Ocarina. Just like the song's effect in Majora's Mask, time reset to three days prior - the same announcements were posted to the front page of Youshouldnthavedonethat.net, the site underwent the same changes, and it seemed as though the players were saved from the impending countdown. However, Matt was now missing. Despite resetting the clock, the players were unable to save him. It was soon revealed that it was actually the deceased Moon Child Kelbris who was responsible for his disappearance.

Alex had given the players a powerful tool - they could now upload gameplay footage of Majora's Mask to effect the world just as he had. These video submissions would mainly effect the the main character - the player's "Link"Link is the main character of The Legend of Zelda series. As such, the main character affected by submitted videos throughout Ben Drowned and Johnisdead is also given the title of "Link". As the ARGs progressed, the title of "Link" would often change and be given to different characters.. The players' current Link was Alex. Unfortunately, some poorly timed submissions quickly got Alex killed. Another ally named Rosa
Rosa was seemingly based off of a character named Rosa from the game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines who appeared in an older video on the Jadusable YouTube channel. It's implied that this character had psychic abilities and could predict the future., Matt's sister who briefly spoke to the players through his email, also went missing after some poor player choices.

Ryukaki and Within Hubris

The Within Hubris message boards.

A final message from Matt was discovered on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net warning the players about BEN's manipulative nature. This message also contained a warning to one player in particular - Kayd Hendricks. Players quickly tracked down Kayd Hendricks' online account - Ryukaki. They learned that he had managed to obtain the login information for "The Truth" page from Rosa before she disappeared and that he was now being targeted. Ryukaki began uploading footage of strange hauntings around his home. Through these videos the headquarters of the Moon Children was revealed - a location simply known as "The Orchard"". In Ryukaki's final upload, he gave the players the login information for "The Truth". Unfortunately, this login information was incomplete and players were still unable to access the page.

Shortly after this, a new website was revealed to the players - Within Hubris. Within Hubris was a message board for the players to use in the upcoming third arc of the ARG. These boards held some secrets. Canon accounts for many characters were discovered in the member list - even minor characters such as Alex's friend Tyler. A locked board was also discovered named "Wayward Horizon". This board was guarded by Kelbris and housed the ascended souls of Chris and Spencer. Unfortunately, before the third arc of Ben Drowned could truly begin, the ARG was placed on hiatus. Over time, activity on Within Hubris dwindled. The entire message board was later deleted in 2012.

In Ben Drowned, a college student named Alex came across a haunted Majora's Mask cartridge that contained a malicious spirit named BEN. This led the players down a rabbit hole where they discovered a cult called the Moon Children who worshipped a goddess named Luna. Despite their best efforts, the players were unable to save the Moon Children from malicious entities such as Kelbris and Mr. D. With Ben Drowned on hiatus, players are left to their own devices...

YSHDT.com

The cult's meeting grounds - an old fishery in Florida.

Shortly after the deletion of Within Hubris, players created their own board to replace it. This incarnation of Within Hubris, dubbed Newbris and it served the community for many years to come. While Ben Drowned's hiatus continued, a new ARG was about to begin.

In 2015, a user named TheLaw joined Newbris. Here, they directed the players to a strange website called "YSHDT.com"YSHDT is an acronym for "You shouldn't have done that". This implied that YSHDT.com held some connection to Youshouldnthavedonethat.net.. This website contained messages from a high school student named Doug. He had supposedly joined a cult and now regrets his decision. Further exploration led players to Doug's blog, Letschasethemouse, where they could directly communicate with him.

Players quickly realized that the Doug speaking on Letschasethemouse was actually a version of himself from 2009. This version of Doug had only just recently joined the cult meaning that players still had a chance to convince him to leave it before the events seen on YSHDT.com came to pass. Unfortunately, Doug wasn't willing to leave. Other players took a different approach. One player, Jacob, managed to convince Doug to let him join the cult as well. He was referred to Doug's friend, Mason, and began undergoing an initiation process.

Patrem's appearance on Newbris.

Players began learning more about Doug's cult. Much like the Moon Children, they, too, worshipped Luna. However, unlike the Moon Children, this cult's headquarters was an old fishery in Florida - not The Orchard. Meanwhile, back on Newbris, players met a new character - /Patrem\. Patrem is Latin for "Father". He also spoke in an authoritative manner and held great knowledge. This all implied that he was perhaps the leader of Doug's cult. It was soon revealed that Patrem was no longer human - he was now a timeless ascended being trapped within the body of a cultist named Vincent. However, Vincent was completely unaware of Patrem's presence as it was only when he fell asleep that Patrem took control.

As time went on, the players banded together on Skype and formed a group - the Internet Detectives. One night, Drowned suddenly returned and joined the Internet Detectives Skype group. Here, Drowned was seen hiding and cowering from Patrem. This implied that Drowned was indeed the deceased spirit of Ben - not "BEN", the malicious spirit that simply used his name. Meanwhile, the players met another friendly spirit - Helper
The players accidentally summoned Helper when they submitted a video of Majora's Mask featuring Link wearing a Postman's Hat. As such, Helper takes on the likeness of a friendly mailman from that game.. With Helper's assistance, players inadvertently stole Doug's mail
The players accidentally stole Doug's mail in an attempt to retrieve his notes. These notes were implied to be important on YSHDT.com. They will come back up later on.. This led to him complaining about an important religious package of his going missing in the mail recently.

Mason and The Gray Man

One day, Doug was kidnapped by the cult. During his disappearance, Mason took control of his blog and began working alongside the players, confused as to why the cult suddenly turned against his friend. Mason began heading towards the fishery to get some answers. Meanwhile, the players asked Helper to assist him.

The cell phone tower seen in videos on "M".

Mason began sneaking around the perimeter of the fishery. At the players' suggestion, he threw a rock in an attempt to distract the guards. Unfortunately, this rock struck Helper, killing him. The guards took notice of Mason and he began to flee - but not before retrieving Helper's Hat
Helper's Hat is a crucial item. Taking on the appearance of the "Postman's Hat" from Majora's Mask, this item grants whoever possesses it special abilities. It's traded hands several times throughout the ARG.. Helper's Hat is a magical item that grants one access to Helper's various accounts. These include a YouTube account named "M" and Helper's Newbris account. On his way home, Mason encountered a strange individual named The Gray Man who was interested in Helper's Hat. He offered to give Mason an Eight of Clubs playing card in exchange for it. Mason accepted, giving away Helper's Hat.

Strange videos began appearing on the "M" YouTube channel - presumably from The Gray Man's perspective. These mainly included footage of someone approaching a cellphone tower. Meanwhile, Helper returned - this time in the Internet Detectives Skype group. Because he is a supernatural entity, he was able to persist after death. However, without his hat, his powers were greatly reduced. Because of this, he tasked the players to retrieve his at from The Gray Man.

Eventually, Mason decided to confront the cult and demand to see Doug. On his way to the fishery he encountered Rosa who warned the players about events that were to come. Later that night, Mason posted a panicked message on Letschasethemouse. The cult had let him see Doug, but Doug was "different" now. Shortly afterwards, Doug regained control of his blog, acting as though nothing was wrong. The players were now given a choice - Doug or Mason.

Doug vs. Mason

An image found on YSHDT.com revealing that the players' locations were being targeted.

The players were given a choice on who would be their new Link - Doug or Mason. They ultimately chose Doug, believing it would give them more opportunities to hinder him should he reveal himself to be malicious. However, before they could formulate any sort of plan, Mason became trapped in a storm drain. With their Ocarina powers tethered to Doug, the players' only option was to explore YSHDT.com for clues. The website now contained images of Mason's storm drain. Strangely, a blinking device could be seen sitting next to it.

One day, Mason suddenly joined the Internet Detectives Skype group. Something was off, however. Strangely, Mason spoke as though he were using an old DOS computer. He also claimed that he was speaking to the years from the present year - 2015. This Mason claims that he did not time travel but instead "survived". Before the players could learn more, they accidentally severed contact with him by entering the DOS command ".root". Back on YSHDT.com, players discovered what appeared to be some blueprints for a bomb device. One player showed these plans to Doug on Letschasethemouse. This resulted in him becoming enraged, repeatedly asking the players were they found the blueprints. After this, he ceased communication with them.

Having lost communication with both Doug and Mason, the players were at a loss. Ultimately, the GM of the YSHDT Arc, The Man, announced that the arc was now over. He also revealed himself to be the player Dawn of a New Day. While his arc was coming to a close, a new arc ran by another group of GM's was just about to begin.

In the previous arc, players were introduced to Doug and Mason - two high school students who had recently joined a mysterious cult led by an entity named Patrem. Patrem was a timeless, ascended being trapped within the body of a cultist named Vincent. Doug was kidnapped by the cult, resulting in Mason defecting and siding with the players. Unfortunately, the players were unable to save either Doug or Mason, and the arc came to a close. Meanwhile, the mystery behind the cult, Patrem, and Drowned continues...

John is Dead

The front page of Johnisdead.com.

Back in the Internet Detectives Skype Group, Drowned began speaking with the players. He informed them that three of their fellow players were gone. He proceeded to link them to a website - Johnisdead.com. This took players by surprised. John was the name of one of their fellow players during the previous arc. Patrem suddenly joined the Skype group in pursuit of Drowned. Drowned managed to escape as Patrem left the players with a cryptic warning - a powerful cultist named Regiminis was coming. Back on Within Hubris, a new user joined - SKM, a rogue hacker who had been working against the cult for many years. He revealed that the cult Doug and Mason joined wasn't the Moon Children but instead a rival group called the Lunar Children. Originally, the two cults had been one-in-the-same. However, at some point, a schism divided them into two separate groups.

SKM informed the players that the three missing individuals were John, Jacob
Jacob was the player from the YSHDT Arc that was contacted by Mason and underwent an initiation to join the cult., and Tyler
Tyler shares the same name with Alex's friend from Ben Drowned. At this point, it's unknown if this holds any significance. Regardless, at this point in the story, he seems completely unware of Alex and the events of Ben Drowned.. John was dead and he had been since November 11th, 2011 - an important date that the Lunar Children refer to as Undecim Nocte. Jacob was missing and had been since before 2011. Tyler was currently fine but SKM warned that the Lunar Children were beginning to target him. Also, due to Patrem's manipulation, Tyler's memory of the players and the ARG had been erased. SKM also explained that Johnisdead.com and YSHDT.com were both experiments by the Lunar Children. They were akin to Wayward Horizon - digital locations where the cultists housed ascended spirits.

During this conversation, SKM formally introduced the players to Drowned. While SKM didn't fully understand him or his origins, Drowned was his faithful ally - an ascended spirit who would help him more files and alter websites. However, before he could explain more, the two were suddenly confronted by Regiminis who seemed to be in pursuit of Drowned. Before they fled, SKM and Drowned led the players to Tyler's YouTube channel where they would later be able to contact him - Silentdork.

Silentdork

Clockwise starting from the top left: Tyler, John, Kevin, and Jacob.

Tyler began uploading videos to Silentdork. These were all old recordings of his friends - John, Jacob, and KevinThe Moon Child known as Insidiae from Ben Drowned was also named Kevin. This implied that the two were perhaps one-in-the-same.. By using the YouTube comment section, players managed to contact Tyler and invite him to the Internet Detectives Skype group. Just as SKM said, Tyler had no recollection of the players or the previous events of the ARG.

The conversations with Tyler were fairly casual. He revealed that he had a girlfriend from Australia named Carla who gifted him a Crescent Moon Necklace. He also confirmed that he lived in Florida - the same state as the Lunar Children. As for his friends, Tyler revealed that John's death was the result of a house fire. Meanwhile, Kevin's been missing since John's death. Tyler described him as somewhat suspicious. Kevin was cagey about his personal life, a member of an "obscure religion", and took a particular interest in Tyler's Crescent Moon Necklace. Tyler believes that Kevin stole his Crescent Moon Necklace at some point prior to his disappearance as it went missing around that time. As for Jacob, the last time Tyler spoke to him was in 2009.

Over time, more and more strange things began happening to Tyler. He began witnessing odd things around town such as shadowy figures warping around and flyers detailing various moon goddesses. This culminated in a Lunar Child named Daniel stalking Tyler outside of his home and leaving a strange "Beacon" device in his yard. Fearing for Tyler's safety, the players attempted to warn him about the Lunar Children and told him everything that had happened so far. Unfortunately, due to Patrem's manipulation, none of the players' images and files they were using as proof could be seen by Tyler. Believing that the players were simply pulling a cruel prank on him, Tyler severed contact with them and left the Internet Detectives Skype group.

Lunar Children

MattR brandishing a knife.

Though the players had been cut off from Tyler, they had another avenue they could explore - Lunarchildren.com. This website was structured like a blog and saw occasional announcements posted by high ranking Lunar Children. These included a rich newcomer named Ezekiel Thoth, a man in a skull mask named MattR
MattR shares the same name with the Moon Child Matt from Ben Drowned - also known as Ifrit. At this point in the story it wasn't confirmed whether or not they were one-in-the-same., and a tech-savvy member from Europe named LiquidSaint. LiquidSaint was actually SKM in disguise - he had apparently managed to infiltrate the Lunar Children and climb their ranks.

Lunarchildren.com revealed a great deal about the cult's structure and beliefs. Much like the Moon Children, the Lunar Children worship Luna and are led by The FatherThough they share the same title, The Father of the Moon Children and The Father of the Lunar Children are two different characters. Patrem is NOT "The Father" mentioned during Ben Drowned. - Patrem. However, the Lunar Children refer to him as Father Vincent since he is currently trapped within Vincent's body. The Lunar Children also practice Ascension, though they have many different levels and classifications of it compared to the Moon Children.

The lowest level of Ascension are Deviums
Deviums generally manifest as distorted images and sounds. Many of the pages encountered on YSHDT.com and Johnisdead.com were actually Deviums attempting to communicate. - spirits with little to no control or cognizance. Eulogies are ascended individuals with a higher degree of control - they can even physically manifest on occasion. The next level is Finitor - powerful ascended beings who possess control over time itself. These entities are incredibly rare and the Lunar Children are only aware of two in existence - one of which being Patrem himself. The final and most powerful level of ascension are the Transcended - also known as The Four Giants. The Transcended are said to be specifically chosen by Luna herself. They also retain their physical bodies upon ascension and exist to carry out Luna's will.

Tenebris using John's spirit as a vessel.

It's believed that when someone ascends, their spirit enters into the Parallelos - a spiritual realm beyond our physical world. There are many different types of Parallelos - the most important of which being an empty shadow realm called the NullspaceThe Lunar Children actually referred to the Nullspace by the name "Sub-Parallelos". However, for the sake of brevity, we will simply refer to it by another name that was revealed for it later on - the Nullspace. a dimension where non-ascended deceased spirits are imprisoned called the Parallelos of the Dead, a realm where ascended spirits reside called the Parallelos of the Ascended, and finally the location where Luna resides simply known as Luna's Realm. The Lunar Children also believe that Luna possesses her own tribe of enigmatic servants known as the Absque Fascie that live with her in her realm.

The website revealed several other important details. Firstly, Regiminis's ascension took place on Undecim Nocte 2011 - the same day John died. There's also an entity called Tenebris mentioned on the website - a malicious trickster that uses other spirits as vessels. Another figure listed is the Deuro - an ascended spirit that the cult is forbidden from speaking about. "Duero" is Latin for "Burned", implying that this might actually be John. Not much is revealed about these two figures other than that Tenebris was using a Eulogy as a vessel up until Undecim Nocte 2011, at which point he lost control of it and then took the Deuro as his vessel instead - meaning that Tenebris is likely using John as a vessel.

Later on, SKM managed to contact the players via a secret chatroom on Johnisdead.com called Safehaven. Here, he revealed that he once had a younger brother named Max who used Within Hubris back in 2011. However, one day Max was lured out to a local park and kidnapped - presumably by Patrem. SKM has been attempting to take down the cult since that day. On Undecim Nocte 2011, SKM was investigating some Lunar Children-related websites when his monitor suddenly exploded. When he came to, he discovered that Drowned was now on his computer, thanking him for helping him "escape". This combined with Drowned's username and mannerisms imply that he is indeed the ascended spirit of Ben. On Undecim Nocte, Ben was able to escape his captor - BEN. This implies that Tenebris and BEN are one-in-the-same.

To summarize: On Undecim Nocte 2011, Regiminis's ascension took place. During this ascension, Ben broke free from Tenebris's control and hid inside SKM's computer. Needing a new vessel for himself, Tenebris sought out John, who had just recently died in a housefire on that same night.

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