Difference between revisions of "Story (Full) 3"
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<div class="storyscriptyshdt"><poem><p>Writing/story-telling has always been a hobby of mine - I actually have a TV show that I'm currently finding an agent for - and being a closet dork, videogames have always interested me as a kid with Majora's Mask ranking among my favorite. I've never attempted writing anything remotely scary before, but MM aways had that "creepy" vibe to it and so on a whim I decided to try my hand at it. I wanted to make the story creepy not because of severed heads or morbid descriptions, but on a more psychological level with a fair amount of mindfuckery, for both the poor bastard protagonist and the reader.</p></poem></div> | <div class="storyscriptyshdt"><poem><p>Writing/story-telling has always been a hobby of mine - I actually have a TV show that I'm currently finding an agent for - and being a closet dork, videogames have always interested me as a kid with Majora's Mask ranking among my favorite. I've never attempted writing anything remotely scary before, but MM aways had that "creepy" vibe to it and so on a whim I decided to try my hand at it. I wanted to make the story creepy not because of severed heads or morbid descriptions, but on a more psychological level with a fair amount of mindfuckery, for both the poor bastard protagonist and the reader.</p></poem></div> | ||
| + | <p>Alex describes himself as a "closet dork", going into his interest regarding videogames and films. He claims that he wanted the horror of his ARG to stem mostly from psychological games rather than morbid gore.</p> | ||
| + | <div class="storyscriptyshdt"><poem><p>Being new at this genre, I wanted to try and bring a new kind of feel to the standard "creepy" stories; one that had to do with shattering the fourth wall and that sense of security. I attempted to shatter that "fourth wall" with BEN. I wanted to write a story that involved the reader so they would feel more connected to the story. The biggest example of this is the big reveal at the end of TheTruth.rtf where the reader suddenly realizes that BEN has not only tricked the protagonist, but the reader as well, making them personally feel betrayed and uneasy at the same time. Maybe he just wants you to think this was all fake so you stop worrying about it and continue on with your normal lives. Probably not.</p></poem></div> | ||
| + | <p>Alex explains his interest in toying with the "fourth wall" and involving the players with the story more directly, believing it to be a creepy idea in general. He also claims that it's possible that this entire out-of-character post was actually written by BEN in an attempt to trick the players into not caring anymore, though he quickly brushes this off with "<span class="canquote">Probably not</span>".</p> | ||
| + | <div class="storyscriptyshdt"><poem><p>I expect that some of you are pissed now, and I can completely understand why - I can't tell you how much it kills me to have to cut it short like this because I know I'm letting you guys down, but hopefully you can see it from my perspective. I would also like to extend an apology to a certain message board who has literally been taken over by people analyzing, exchanging theories, and discussing all aspects of what all this could mean or what the next move is. Haha, I'm sure there are quite a few people who can't wait until this is all over so things can go back to their regularly scheduled programming. Not too much longer.</p></poem></div> | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>Alex apologizes to the fans for having to place the ARG on hiatus, noting how much it "<span class="canquote">kills him</span>" to have to do it. He also apologizes to /x/ for their board being taken over by posts relating to the ARG, claiming that it will all go back to normal "<span class="canquote">Not too much longer</span>".</p> | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class="storyscriptyshdt"><poem><p>I am going to leave the website up, but modify it so that it now serves as an archive of the story, and include a timeline of events (I know a few members have been keeping a record, if you could forward that to me at the address below when it's done that'd be much appreciated). Unfortunately being as broke as I am, I don't have the funds to maintain the website for very long, and donations would be appreciated just for the sake of keeping the website up as an archive for future viewers, otherwise the website will probably have to be taken down by the end of the month. As I said before, this has been an experiment, and I've learned a lot of lessons from this for the future, and this is something that I would very much love to do again if given the resources. But, just know that this isn't the end. | ||
| + | </p></poem></div> | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>Alex says that YSHDT.net will be transformed into an archive of the story, though it will likely go offline near the end of the month due to a lack of funds. However, he is now accepting donations. He also claims he'd like to continue the ARG at some point, noting that "<span class="canquote">This isn't the end</span>".</p> | ||
Revision as of 11:05, 15 October 2024
Johnisdead shares many elements with Ben Drowned - an ARG created by Alex Hall in 2010. The first few sections of this story recap will be dedicated to covering the story of Ben Drowned so that readers will have full context required for Johnisdead.
The story so far...
In the previous section, players discovered the Moon Children - a cult that worshipped a moon goddess named Luna. The cult was supposedly led by an individual named "Mr. D" - also known as "The Father". Its various members included Matt, Chris, Spencer, and Kevin. As players explored the website, they learned of Ascension - a ritualistic suicide that's believed to connect one with Luna and grant them spiritual powers.
Players eventually managed to contact Matt, who revealed that not only was Ben somehow connected to the cult, but that he was also Matt's brother. He also implied that Alex was a member of the Moon Children as well. Shortly after this, Matt was confronted by Kelbris - a deceased Moon Child who supposedly died in 1998. Around this time, Alex reemerged and uploaded a video of the "Song of Time". Much like its effect in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the song caused the Moon Children's website, YSHDT.net, to revert back to how it was three days prior - rewinding time back into another three day cycle.
Unfortunately, Matt was absent during this new cycle. Thankfully, players managed to contact his sister, Rosa. During this time, players discovered that the possessed the power known as "The Ocarina" - the ability to submit various songs, items, and images from The Legend of Zelda series to effect the world of the ARG. Unfortunately, some poorly timed submissions led to both Rosa and Alex disappearing. As the website entered its third cycle, something unexpected occurred...
On September 20th, 2010, YSHDT.net entered into its third cycle. However, before much could be explored, the website changed once again. It now contained an out-of-character update from Alex Hall - the creator of the ARG.
Hey, Jadusable here. Consider this the 'real' TheTruth.txt. A lot of you may hate me for this, but I've decided that I can no longer continue the Majora's Mask story the way I originally wanted to. Even as I'm typing this I can feel the disappointment and the "OH MY GOD YOU ASSHOLE" cries as you guys read this, and really, it kills me. Perhaps too ambitious, I purchased the cheapest webhosting service I could find given my budget (aka nonexistant), and with all of the people attempting to access the site (since the website opened two days ago, I've gotten over 300,000 visits and I've spent probably half that time in maintence) - it was almost consistently down. Unfortunately this was something I simply could not afford being a broke college student.
Alex claims that the ARG is now on hiatus. The main reason for this is the lack of funds to keep YSHDT.net online.
Writing/story-telling has always been a hobby of mine - I actually have a TV show that I'm currently finding an agent for - and being a closet dork, videogames have always interested me as a kid with Majora's Mask ranking among my favorite. I've never attempted writing anything remotely scary before, but MM aways had that "creepy" vibe to it and so on a whim I decided to try my hand at it. I wanted to make the story creepy not because of severed heads or morbid descriptions, but on a more psychological level with a fair amount of mindfuckery, for both the poor bastard protagonist and the reader.
Alex describes himself as a "closet dork", going into his interest regarding videogames and films. He claims that he wanted the horror of his ARG to stem mostly from psychological games rather than morbid gore.
Being new at this genre, I wanted to try and bring a new kind of feel to the standard "creepy" stories; one that had to do with shattering the fourth wall and that sense of security. I attempted to shatter that "fourth wall" with BEN. I wanted to write a story that involved the reader so they would feel more connected to the story. The biggest example of this is the big reveal at the end of TheTruth.rtf where the reader suddenly realizes that BEN has not only tricked the protagonist, but the reader as well, making them personally feel betrayed and uneasy at the same time. Maybe he just wants you to think this was all fake so you stop worrying about it and continue on with your normal lives. Probably not.
Alex explains his interest in toying with the "fourth wall" and involving the players with the story more directly, believing it to be a creepy idea in general. He also claims that it's possible that this entire out-of-character post was actually written by BEN in an attempt to trick the players into not caring anymore, though he quickly brushes this off with "Probably not".
I expect that some of you are pissed now, and I can completely understand why - I can't tell you how much it kills me to have to cut it short like this because I know I'm letting you guys down, but hopefully you can see it from my perspective. I would also like to extend an apology to a certain message board who has literally been taken over by people analyzing, exchanging theories, and discussing all aspects of what all this could mean or what the next move is. Haha, I'm sure there are quite a few people who can't wait until this is all over so things can go back to their regularly scheduled programming. Not too much longer.
Alex apologizes to the fans for having to place the ARG on hiatus, noting how much it "kills him" to have to do it. He also apologizes to /x/ for their board being taken over by posts relating to the ARG, claiming that it will all go back to normal "Not too much longer".
I am going to leave the website up, but modify it so that it now serves as an archive of the story, and include a timeline of events (I know a few members have been keeping a record, if you could forward that to me at the address below when it's done that'd be much appreciated). Unfortunately being as broke as I am, I don't have the funds to maintain the website for very long, and donations would be appreciated just for the sake of keeping the website up as an archive for future viewers, otherwise the website will probably have to be taken down by the end of the month. As I said before, this has been an experiment, and I've learned a lot of lessons from this for the future, and this is something that I would very much love to do again if given the resources. But, just know that this isn't the end.
Alex says that YSHDT.net will be transformed into an archive of the story, though it will likely go offline near the end of the month due to a lack of funds. However, he is now accepting donations. He also claims he'd like to continue the ARG at some point, noting that "This isn't the end".
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