Smile for the camera...
Five days from now, it'll be October 6th: exactly 20 months since Daisychain started. I've spent some time thinking about it tonight, and...well, it's been a long not-quite-two years.
Cloverfield premiered on January 18th, 2008. lynxgriffin and I went to see it the next day, the 19th. That, as I remember, was a very long and paranoia-filled night.
On the 20th, I worked an eight hour shift at the campus operator. That was when I saw makani's review, ending with a line about "the thing that fell in the water at the end." This prompted a metric ton of internet research and hours of delving into viral marketing, trying my hardest to find a cohesive backstory and creating theories.
On the 21st, I worked another eight hour shift. That was when lovediamond first IMed me with the idea for a Cloverfield-based RP. I whipped out all the research I'd done the day before and we went to town creating a plot. Most of it - Tagruato corporation, creating monsters out of people, interdimensional conquest - stayed the same, though a few aspects did change (for example, DC!Manhattan was originally an island in the south Pacific, on which a replica Manhattan was built. That idea lasted for a short while). We started setting up the RP that day. There was a small chat of people who had seen the movie in which we bounced RP ideas off them. This was also where the name "Project Daisychain" came from - that was all ggmoonycrisco.
We started advertising the game on the 25th. I remember our first few reservations. I remember our first encounter with Stormy, before either of us knew his name or reputation (though I did refer to him as Failstamp for a good while afterwards). I remember a certain someone asking permission to reserve Godzilla from the animated series. We turned that one down, though I still wonder how it would've worked out.
The game officially opened on February 6th, a Wednesday and a day I remember suggesting since 6 was a recurring number in Cloverfield marketing (for reasons still unbeknownst to the viewer). Week changes were later moved from Wednesday to Sunday for the sake of everyone's sanity.
This is the point where it stops being in perfect chronological order. It is, after all, a memoir as well as a timeline.
I remember the first few logs, the first few journal posts. I remember Flonne talking to Diegodot on Mia's behalf ("I will not talk to my hallucinations. Flonne's doing it for me. ._."). Hell, I remember the advent of the name Diegodot.
I remember Seto Kaiba, if only for a short while. True to his claim, he was gone within the week, though it wasn't for reasons he expected.
I remember having South Park characters. That in and of itself was interesting, though they didn't last long either.
I remember Harry Dresden's first journal entry. I remember Flonne being pinged on "love potions" and missing just about everything else.
I remember making first impressions, ditching those impressions completely, and forming new ones.
It didn't take long for fullarmoredgg to become a mod - we needed the help pretty quickly. DC!Manhattan being built in an empty dimension was her idea. I also remember watching her flail as we gave her the rundown on the story behind the story, all the information she'd need to be a mod.
I remember Marluxia, and Dilandau, and the Joker. I remember soulgazes and crab bites and hallucinogenic tea and age-changing cookies and a short fling with unintended side effects (what inhibitions?)
I remember apping Rosette when I realized I'd need the capability to snark and I didn't have it with Flonne.
I remember receiving an IM from Lynx in mid-February (I remember getting it on my old pink Razor phone that bit the dust not long after. I remember receiving it in the middle of an episode of Torchwood at the first house of fandom.) "I'm thinking about apping Sora at Daisychain."
I remember our first secret, back when rp_secrets still existed. I remember having it bookmarked for the longest time and glee-ing every time I saw the link.
I remember April 1st. I still love the chocolate.
I remember Laharl, and Etna once and again, and Mid-Boss, and Zetta, and Mao. I remember the fourth wall utterly decimated via strikeout.
I remember Stumpy, and long logs complete with illustrations. I remember text, upside down and backwards and all but unreadable in content and form. Migraine fuel.
I remember closing apps for the first time. I never expected to have to do that, but there it was.
I remember making lynxgriffin a mod. I remember absolutely breaking her brain with the story as well. That story does that a lot, I've discovered.
I remember Wolf and Giselle. I remember a wedding, despite barely seeing it myself.
I remember the Rai Rai Ken. I remember Hotel Pennsylvania. I remember Keyblader's Court.
I remember the BFA. I remember Madison Square Gardens, and rescue threads, and the realization that with Clover comes massive waves of crabs.
I remember Spin.
I remember fights with a fellow mod - locked, never to see the light of day, both of us stressed beyond belief and clashing and neither of us handling it as well as we could have. I remember resolving it and moving on.
I remember killing the monster. I remember lost days - "broke the damn calendar" - and the monster's return. I remember panicking as Harry used his Sight - what could we write without giving the game away? I remember Lynx's clever answer - credit where credit is due, after all.
I remember disappearances, and reappearances, and memory loss. I remember a note in a pocket: CV-108.
I remember Halloween, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I remember pool parties and masquerades and caroling.
I remember our first anniversary, and Daisychaindansen, and the celebration when we upped the character limit.
I remember a small earthquake and a crater. I remember Toph: "there's something big down there!" I remember Herbie.
I remember apping Silver. I remember Aerith, and Raiel, and Dr. Horrible, and Blaze.
I remember long drives to and from LAX with Lynx, and lunches and dinners at Jack in the Box and McDonalds, talking Daisychain the entire time. Endgame was planned in that car.
I remember CFP-TCI. I remember military orders, and Fawful speaking genius. I remember TRANSMISSION FAILURE.
I remember Lelouch. I remember ill-fated tunnel meetings and holding up the ceiling while people escaped. I remember public meetings - "Be careful what you say" - and a fight between Will Smith and Will Smith.
I remember my roommate discovering "Locking Up the Sun" and playing it for me the first time. I remember it becoming Daisychain's theme.
I remember Brandon's notebook being longer than Harry's.
I remember mentioning to universejuice that I might be interested in apping J and nearly getting smothered for it. The app was in four days later, despite the death of my laptop. I remember a tearful reunion and trying to figure out what the hell to do with a character with no canon.
I remember Roosevelt Island. I remember the Central Park invasion. I remember getting my flippy floppies under white sun, heading to rio in hammertime. I remember the rescue thread, distracting monsters until they fought each other.
I remember Clover on dear_mun. I don't think anyone could forget that.
I remember private threads and massive injuries. I remember Basil.
I remember peer pressure, and accusations, and anonmemes. I remember mod chats that were anything but happy.
I remember losing Dia.
I remember full casts that diminished to nothing, and I remember small casts that filled out, some of which weren't expected to at all.
I remember Daniel. Hell, I think everyone remembers Daniel.
I remember new crabs and faster venom. I remember characters finding out it was faster the hard way. I remember teleportation causing heart attacks.
I remember Silver becoming unplayable and picking up Foxx, and I learned just how much fun a hacker could be.
I remember Derek and crabs and things going Not As Planned, in many more ways than one.
I remember MHamel and miscommunication and many more things beginning with M. I remember retcon, for the first time ever, and simply trying to get back into the swing of things afterwards.
I remember a full-cast mission, and taking back the city for ourselves tonight.
I remember downed helicoptors and locked briefcases and too-detailed files. I remember some of the most interesting code I've ever seen on the network - everyone tried their hand at it, it seemed.
I remember planned executions and lynch mob justice. I remember inactive canonmates and sunk ships.
I remember a letter from Tagruato to its "assets." I remember the powers of irony being invoked. I remember ships and cells and cellmates. I remember team names - Team Sexy, Team WTF, and later on Team Technology. I remember singalongs and busting down doors and powerbombs and taking over kitchens and bridges and communication centers. I remember sending in the cavalry and watching them get smacked down. I remember more reunions and even more sheer asskicking. I remember Bruce and Henry and Kimiko and Margaret-Jim. I remember comparing comment counts. I remember HELL MODE.
I remember staying up until three and four and five in the morning, talking and laughing about everything and nothing. I remember purple and light blue Verdana and purple Times New Roman and blue Comic Sans and black Arial. I remember Clovercon (that never was). I remember photos of DC meetups, and a small DC meetup at a large con. I remember making friends. I remember creating something and being gobsmacked as I watched it become bigger than I ever thought it would be. I remember thoughts of quitting. I remember complete satisfaction that those thoughts never followed through. I remember having fun.
Tomorrow night is the last day change, which makes tomorrow night the beginning of the last IC day and the last OOC week-or-so of Daisychain. After that, it's over. It's the end of an era.
Am I ready to give it up? Probably not. Will I? I'm going to have to, huh. It isn't as though it hasn't had a great run and a great ending. While I will miss Daisychain, I know I can say this about the game in general and the last part of endgame specifically:
It's gonna be the best night ever.
Cloverfield premiered on January 18th, 2008. lynxgriffin and I went to see it the next day, the 19th. That, as I remember, was a very long and paranoia-filled night.
On the 20th, I worked an eight hour shift at the campus operator. That was when I saw makani's review, ending with a line about "the thing that fell in the water at the end." This prompted a metric ton of internet research and hours of delving into viral marketing, trying my hardest to find a cohesive backstory and creating theories.
On the 21st, I worked another eight hour shift. That was when lovediamond first IMed me with the idea for a Cloverfield-based RP. I whipped out all the research I'd done the day before and we went to town creating a plot. Most of it - Tagruato corporation, creating monsters out of people, interdimensional conquest - stayed the same, though a few aspects did change (for example, DC!Manhattan was originally an island in the south Pacific, on which a replica Manhattan was built. That idea lasted for a short while). We started setting up the RP that day. There was a small chat of people who had seen the movie in which we bounced RP ideas off them. This was also where the name "Project Daisychain" came from - that was all ggmoonycrisco.
We started advertising the game on the 25th. I remember our first few reservations. I remember our first encounter with Stormy, before either of us knew his name or reputation (though I did refer to him as Failstamp for a good while afterwards). I remember a certain someone asking permission to reserve Godzilla from the animated series. We turned that one down, though I still wonder how it would've worked out.
The game officially opened on February 6th, a Wednesday and a day I remember suggesting since 6 was a recurring number in Cloverfield marketing (for reasons still unbeknownst to the viewer). Week changes were later moved from Wednesday to Sunday for the sake of everyone's sanity.
This is the point where it stops being in perfect chronological order. It is, after all, a memoir as well as a timeline.
I remember the first few logs, the first few journal posts. I remember Flonne talking to Diegodot on Mia's behalf ("I will not talk to my hallucinations. Flonne's doing it for me. ._."). Hell, I remember the advent of the name Diegodot.
I remember Seto Kaiba, if only for a short while. True to his claim, he was gone within the week, though it wasn't for reasons he expected.
I remember having South Park characters. That in and of itself was interesting, though they didn't last long either.
I remember Harry Dresden's first journal entry. I remember Flonne being pinged on "love potions" and missing just about everything else.
I remember making first impressions, ditching those impressions completely, and forming new ones.
It didn't take long for fullarmoredgg to become a mod - we needed the help pretty quickly. DC!Manhattan being built in an empty dimension was her idea. I also remember watching her flail as we gave her the rundown on the story behind the story, all the information she'd need to be a mod.
I remember Marluxia, and Dilandau, and the Joker. I remember soulgazes and crab bites and hallucinogenic tea and age-changing cookies and a short fling with unintended side effects (what inhibitions?)
I remember apping Rosette when I realized I'd need the capability to snark and I didn't have it with Flonne.
I remember receiving an IM from Lynx in mid-February (I remember getting it on my old pink Razor phone that bit the dust not long after. I remember receiving it in the middle of an episode of Torchwood at the first house of fandom.) "I'm thinking about apping Sora at Daisychain."
I remember our first secret, back when rp_secrets still existed. I remember having it bookmarked for the longest time and glee-ing every time I saw the link.
I remember April 1st. I still love the chocolate.
I remember Laharl, and Etna once and again, and Mid-Boss, and Zetta, and Mao. I remember the fourth wall utterly decimated via strikeout.
I remember Stumpy, and long logs complete with illustrations. I remember text, upside down and backwards and all but unreadable in content and form. Migraine fuel.
I remember closing apps for the first time. I never expected to have to do that, but there it was.
I remember making lynxgriffin a mod. I remember absolutely breaking her brain with the story as well. That story does that a lot, I've discovered.
I remember Wolf and Giselle. I remember a wedding, despite barely seeing it myself.
I remember the Rai Rai Ken. I remember Hotel Pennsylvania. I remember Keyblader's Court.
I remember the BFA. I remember Madison Square Gardens, and rescue threads, and the realization that with Clover comes massive waves of crabs.
I remember Spin.
I remember fights with a fellow mod - locked, never to see the light of day, both of us stressed beyond belief and clashing and neither of us handling it as well as we could have. I remember resolving it and moving on.
I remember killing the monster. I remember lost days - "broke the damn calendar" - and the monster's return. I remember panicking as Harry used his Sight - what could we write without giving the game away? I remember Lynx's clever answer - credit where credit is due, after all.
I remember disappearances, and reappearances, and memory loss. I remember a note in a pocket: CV-108.
I remember Halloween, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I remember pool parties and masquerades and caroling.
I remember our first anniversary, and Daisychaindansen, and the celebration when we upped the character limit.
I remember a small earthquake and a crater. I remember Toph: "there's something big down there!" I remember Herbie.
I remember apping Silver. I remember Aerith, and Raiel, and Dr. Horrible, and Blaze.
I remember long drives to and from LAX with Lynx, and lunches and dinners at Jack in the Box and McDonalds, talking Daisychain the entire time. Endgame was planned in that car.
I remember CFP-TCI. I remember military orders, and Fawful speaking genius. I remember TRANSMISSION FAILURE.
I remember Lelouch. I remember ill-fated tunnel meetings and holding up the ceiling while people escaped. I remember public meetings - "Be careful what you say" - and a fight between Will Smith and Will Smith.
I remember my roommate discovering "Locking Up the Sun" and playing it for me the first time. I remember it becoming Daisychain's theme.
I remember Brandon's notebook being longer than Harry's.
I remember mentioning to universejuice that I might be interested in apping J and nearly getting smothered for it. The app was in four days later, despite the death of my laptop. I remember a tearful reunion and trying to figure out what the hell to do with a character with no canon.
I remember Roosevelt Island. I remember the Central Park invasion. I remember getting my flippy floppies under white sun, heading to rio in hammertime. I remember the rescue thread, distracting monsters until they fought each other.
I remember Clover on dear_mun. I don't think anyone could forget that.
I remember private threads and massive injuries. I remember Basil.
I remember peer pressure, and accusations, and anonmemes. I remember mod chats that were anything but happy.
I remember losing Dia.
I remember full casts that diminished to nothing, and I remember small casts that filled out, some of which weren't expected to at all.
I remember Daniel. Hell, I think everyone remembers Daniel.
I remember new crabs and faster venom. I remember characters finding out it was faster the hard way. I remember teleportation causing heart attacks.
I remember Silver becoming unplayable and picking up Foxx, and I learned just how much fun a hacker could be.
I remember Derek and crabs and things going Not As Planned, in many more ways than one.
I remember MHamel and miscommunication and many more things beginning with M. I remember retcon, for the first time ever, and simply trying to get back into the swing of things afterwards.
I remember a full-cast mission, and taking back the city for ourselves tonight.
I remember downed helicoptors and locked briefcases and too-detailed files. I remember some of the most interesting code I've ever seen on the network - everyone tried their hand at it, it seemed.
I remember planned executions and lynch mob justice. I remember inactive canonmates and sunk ships.
I remember a letter from Tagruato to its "assets." I remember the powers of irony being invoked. I remember ships and cells and cellmates. I remember team names - Team Sexy, Team WTF, and later on Team Technology. I remember singalongs and busting down doors and powerbombs and taking over kitchens and bridges and communication centers. I remember sending in the cavalry and watching them get smacked down. I remember more reunions and even more sheer asskicking. I remember Bruce and Henry and Kimiko and Margaret-Jim. I remember comparing comment counts. I remember HELL MODE.
I remember staying up until three and four and five in the morning, talking and laughing about everything and nothing. I remember purple and light blue Verdana and purple Times New Roman and blue Comic Sans and black Arial. I remember Clovercon (that never was). I remember photos of DC meetups, and a small DC meetup at a large con. I remember making friends. I remember creating something and being gobsmacked as I watched it become bigger than I ever thought it would be. I remember thoughts of quitting. I remember complete satisfaction that those thoughts never followed through. I remember having fun.
Tomorrow night is the last day change, which makes tomorrow night the beginning of the last IC day and the last OOC week-or-so of Daisychain. After that, it's over. It's the end of an era.
Am I ready to give it up? Probably not. Will I? I'm going to have to, huh. It isn't as though it hasn't had a great run and a great ending. While I will miss Daisychain, I know I can say this about the game in general and the last part of endgame specifically:
It's gonna be the best night ever.