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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 by the players, served the community for many years to come. Unfortunately, Ben Drowned's hiatus continued. However, in 2015, a new ARG began.

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 Within Hubris.

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. With Helper's assistance, players inadvertently stole Doug's mail. This led to him complaining about an important religious package of his going missing in the mail recently.

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