Been a while

So I went to ScareLA early August and man it was incredibly fun.  The Tension Experience panel was suffice to say...tense.

Rather than going into a bunch of details I'll refer to you to my friends podcast, they do an excellent job summarizing.  To make a long story short, a bunch of Tension Participants were invited to an exclusive panel at ScareLA where we were primed with the idea that we were all going to meet Ellis Gordon.  "Ellis" told us all that the Tension Experience is based off some old documents he found in a hidden compartment of  a desk.  At that point people from the audience that were not participants told us all that the OOA is not a game, it's very real.  Others warned us all that it's a cult.  So, kinda neat that this out of game panel became in game very quickly.  Near the end the panel was hijacked once again by the rival faction Brothers of Seraph and then we were kicked out.  I got to talk to a person who ran out of the room screaming "I didn't sign up for this, what the fuck is wrong with you guys" after she got a taste of Ascension.  She was obviously an actress (she said so) and claimed she was taken to a Red Room where she saw a bunch of photographs of herself in her own apartment.  I gave her my contact information hoping something story-wise would sprout from it but  it didn't.  I tried.

Lately story-wise things have been rather dull in my opinion.  Gatekeeper 2 or "Two" or "Addison" (all the same person) has been basically on the run from people that want to shut her down.  Occasionally there's been Periscopes (it's an app) of Two reading from the sacred Book of Anoch from various locations.  A participant that lives somewhere not in California even got a message from a man from the Oracles Security and Data Management (OSDM) that 'time is running out'.  Get this though, this man showed up at the participant's DOOR STEP.  I would have shit my pants if Tension showed up at my house and I'll have to say, VERY COOL for her.

Unfortunately shortly there after Tension took advantage of an out of game situation and turned it to in-game play that really, really rubbed me the wrong way.  I'll talk about this once Indoctrination is over (which is most likely Sept 7th, the day before Ascension starts) but suffice to say it really wrecked my experience to the point where I had no issues calling out The Creator on forum.  Many personal friends chirped back that trust hasn't been lost, which is fine, their opinion.  However I will not resort to lying about how I personally feel at this point, even if it means not having anymore creepy phone calls/promises made by Tension/OOA that will be broken.  

Back to the OSDM, basically they want to stop Gatekeeper 2 from bringing in Gatekeeper ONE (personally theory of mine is that Gatekeeper 1 is also the very first Gatekeeper from long ago, also known as Gatekeeper 242, possibly the Vessel of Anoch.  She also mentioned not too long ago that we have met One before....so who is One? 

It's the final countdown!!!

Now why is OSDM trying to stop this from happening?  Well, Gatekeeper Two also mentioned not long ago that the OOA is corrupt.  Worse than BoS.  A working theory that many of us on forum have is that when One shows up, this Gatekeeper is going to wipe out all the corruption, probably the OSDM.  On the flip side of the same coin, some people believe that this is all a ruse and that everybody is One.  Too hokey in my opinion to go down that route IMHO.  Others believe that Addison has a God complex and is going to destroy us all.  Who knows what will happen.

Meanwhile the LA Times, LAist, and other media have been advertising Ascension (just google it) and while I'm very excited about going through Ascension I'll have to say that it's taking the winds out my sails a bit.  It's been long rumored due to an information leak that Darren Bousman is behind all of this and these articles confirm that.  However, in game, characters are basically telling participants not to buy into it and that it's all smoke and mirrors.  While it's an interesting attempt, I just can't buy into it at all.  It's like me seeing who is Santa the night before Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad) and then trying to tell me Santa is really, really REAL and those present came from a jolly fat man who actually made it down the chimney.  

Riiiiiight.  I'm sure Santa ate those cookies too.

I am the TRUTH. I am THE LIGHT. I am......probably fucked.

So who do I support now? (warning: depiction of violence)

So ~four is (very likely) dead. :-/

On July 22nd, Kim (@electrichippo) from the Brothers of Seraph was invited to a meeting with an unknown agenda. Later on Instagram the Community sees this:

That's definitely Kim.

Later that evening the Community gets a youtube video of Kim telling all viewers that she was present to witness something.  The camera operator then pans over to the opening of a warehouse and the viewers finally see ~four's face as well as Addison.  III however, is not present.  Mind you a few days back another person on forum was basically begging III to meet with ~four and III actually agreed.  So the viewers were presuming that Kim/III and ~four/Addison were going to meet up.  Back to the video, ~four asks Kim the whereabouts of III, Addison is looking around kinda confused.  Addison then goes on about how she has to be sure about being the one (?).  ~four shuts her up, hears a car pull up and gives Addison a very large knife.  Addison walks away with the knife while the camera operator goes back to Kim and ~four.  ~four goes on a tirade about everything being filmed, how We should  really be living the moment and embracing everything we experience.  We see Addison coming closer to ~four, knife in hand and then BAM.  Addison cuts ~four's THROAT.  

Aw, fuck.

Addison then screams at ~four "I AM TWO! I'M IN FUCKING CONTROL!"  (pft, Addison, that was ~four's line and you know it).  While ~four bleeds out.  The last shot is Addison yelling at the camera operator to turn off the camera while ~four is presumptively on her final breath.  

III later on forum said he was late but more or less applauds Addison for killing ~four but alludes to that she is delusional that she is Gatekeeper 2.  Since then people have been jumping ship from the O.O.A. even more, declaring that they can not support Addison's actions.  To be honest, I'm now in the same boat.  Right now I consider myself hopeful that at some point Gatekeeper 2 will be out of the picture.  I actually have two theories how that will happen:

1.)  III will come back, furious, still proclaiming that he is the Last and Final Gatekeeper.  Him and 2 will throw down, Gatekeeper 1 will come in and get rid of them both.

2.)  Russell Eaton of My Haunt Life will have to kill Addison.  Right now in the plot Russell is basically the only person who is standing by Addison.  Russell has been warned countless times that things will get dark for him and what better way to make stuff REAL dark than forcing his hand into killing Addison/Gatekeeper 2.  Who knows, he may have that opportunity to give the bear and Addison may completely lose her mind, asking Russell to just end her suffering.

This blog is a bit all over the place but there is a few other items I want to address for my specific game-play.

I was probably the last person to hear from ~four.  She told me to rally up the troops and I feel like I failed.  Had I been a louder advocate for ~four, could things have gone differently?  Probably not.  I tried but also felt "rally for what?" and more importantly "when?"

Also, was ~four's death all by design?  ~four did a lot of talking like "we are locking and loading" and "I'll send you my fucking best" when it came to ending III.  So maybe ~four was just pushing Addison to come out of her shell, kill ~four, become Gatekeeper 2, and finally end III.  Or maybe this is just Addison snapping and killing ~four in a horrific way.  I'm honestly leaning towards the latter but on the flip side I'm HOPING that this was all by design so that I can support Addison rather than being in this weird "on the fence" position.  Being on the fence and observing is in-game a lame place to be.  Unfortunately Tension is not here to give you answers, you just kinda have to jump in blind faith.  Something I'm not ready to do at the moment.

Also, is ~four REALLY dead?  In the video we see ~four struggling but she's still moving as the camera turns off.  The gasping for breath indicates that Addison managed to do damage to ~four's larynx and/or trachea but the amount of blood wasn't enough to be fatal IMHO.  This is the Criminalist part in me taking over but I've seen neck wounds and this one didn't have the classic arterial spurt.  True, deaths don't require classics but something seems odd here.  I guess she could have died from suffocating?  When I worked at the emergency room just as a ward clerk I would see people surviving all sorts of injuries, neck wounds included.  I dunno, I just don't see ~four going down that easily.

Yes, Addison has additional blood stains on her face (seen in a Periscope video) which is a giant indicator something else occurred (either ~four with her bloody hands started to fend off Addison additional attacks or Addison "finished the job").  No matter how you slice it (zing) something else happened that we didn't see.  Since we don't have confirmation of ~four being really dead I actually hold out this bizarre conspiracy theory that ~four is alive, recovering, and fucking fuming at Addison for doing this.

Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est
Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-

But since I have no idea what really happened and face value Addison murdered ~four and looney-tunes III is in alliance with the shadowy BoS, I'm kinda forced into a "I can't support either" stance.

And so I sit.....and wait for what's to come next.

Oh and late edit BUT quick plug here:  Ascension tickets are on sale and yours truly is going.  Eep.  You can absolutely have no involvement with the forum matters right now and still take part of Ascension.

So about that whole "~four being quiet thing"

Scratch that. She called me like at 10pm. She inquired about my job as Sentry of the Council and basically asked if I will stand for her. I affirmed by stance with ~four with a very confident yes. To which then she said when the time comes, I need to rally those that stand with her as well. Shit. No pressure.... :x *again I know this is all fictional but....ya my hands were actually shaking from excitement from that call. ~four is intimidating but she fondly reminds me of an organic chemistry TA that made my o-chem life hell for 10 weeks but I learned SO MUCH from her.

Choices, choices.

So several weeks have passed and quite a bit has happened.  Probably the biggest plot development is that Gatekeeper3 (who goes by "III") had quite the personality change.  He was once almost childish and unable to even use complete sentences.  Now, he's basically a ruthless murder machine who has allegedly killed several people that were in his path.  As III put it before, "III no longer destroys for pleasure I have now seen this world… III destroys for mercy".  Not someone I'd personally want to hang out with.

Meanwhile, Gatekeeper 4 and Addison went completely off the radar....until one day they pop up on Periscope.  Addison is seen in the video putting some sort of powdery substance into a pill capsule.  Four then takes the pill (now in a bottle) and shoves it into an envelope marked "four my very best".  Days later at a social gathering, Addison shows up at the gathering and asks the crowd who will go with her.  The Community chose Daela, who winded up going with Addison into a dark SUV.  During the several minute ride Daela got the package as well as a backstory about III murdering innocent people.  She had to swear to Addison repeatedly that she will not open the package.  Daela was also given the task to change the mind of a well known OOA detractor, Kim.  Kim (not present at the party) was suppose to meet III in person several days after the gathering.  When Daela came back many people debated whether the package should be opened by someone else at the party or just go directly to Kim.  She decided not to open it and was still trying to figure out whether Kim should receive it or not.   

Days later Kim did receive the package and as we all found out later there was a note inside that said "give this to his chosen one" (meaning had Daela opened it, she would have been giving this package to Kim anyhow).   Kim live streams her meeting with III and instead of giving him the pill ~four and Addison made, she slips some sort of other pill in his drink.  III is unaffected and announces to all viewers that Kim's faction, the Brothers of Seraph (BOS), have joined forces with III.

So now we have anti-OOA faction being semi-led by the Chaotic and Unhinged III.  On the flip side there is ~four and Addison who are still supposedly around (somewhere) but are completely off the radar with no indicators to their supporters that something, anything, will be done.

People are being asked what sides to take.  While I haven't been officially asked by any Tension Experience character I'm inclined to stick with OOA.  As much as ~four and Addison have been collectively ineffective against III there is always promise of another gatekeeper like II.  Whereas if I went to BOS, the leadership appears to be liable for just bumping off people for the hell of it.

And so now I sit and wait for the story to develop.....pretty much hoping that in-game I've made an okay decision.  What am I kidding, there is never an okay decision, you're going to be hosed regardless of the path you take!

Also tickets have gone on sale for Ascension!  If you have not been super involved with The Tension Experience, you don't need to have all this back-story information to understand what is going on while you experience Ascension.  I mean, this is Tension, you're going to be confused* regardless of your experience level.*pssst--that's pretty much the point of Tension IMHO

Even more things happened!

For months now all OOA Apostles have been under the impression that something was going to happen on Saturday June 25th.

Exhibit A & B:

March Newsletter

May Newsletter

Both newsletters indicate an event, however, Gatekeeper 3 (III) alluded to the calendar being ignored.  So I honestly figured that whatever was going to happen on June 25th, wasn't (okay I was kinda hoping).  So I went on forum I think like a week and a half ago basically saying "screw it let's just hang out" on June 26th.  I nailed in a location at Wurstkusch a few days before hand, time set for 7-10p.

Quite a bit of people showed up!  I think in total 16 Apostles including me plus 3 non-participants were present.  Everybody was chatting away and about 7:30p I got a private number call on my phone.  I picked it up and it was a male with a heavy accent.  Here's what I got the first time:

"Melissa, you have a message waiting for you, go to the *garble garble, brain can't process* oh and congratulations from the institute, do you understand"

...

Me:  "....Can you repeat that?" (cranks up hearing aids even higher)

"Melissa, you have a message waiting for you, go to the back bar.  Oh and congratulations from the Institute, do you understand"

Me:  "Yes, thank you" 

*caller hang up*

I think I immediately threw down my phone on the table was like *mind blown*.  I possibly made a noise and waved my arms around like one of these things:

It doesn't take much to impress me and cause arms to flail around.

So I proceed to tell everybody what's going on and people were like "GO".  So more arm flailing and off I went.  

I went to the back bar and told a bartender literately said this "hi I'm Melissa....I'm here for a message?"  The bartender immediately gets to work while I sit tight for whatever is happening.  There weren't too many people at the bar and I quickly pieced together that the bartender was pouring not one but TWO big flights (10 flight glasses per tray) of beer.  She hands them over to me and Russell who was right next to me and hands me a napkin.  Went back to the table with beers  in hand, drinking commenced.  I proceeded to show the message to all, I think a lot of people got a kick out who exactly sent the message.

Thank you Tom! :)

This was an incredibly nice gesture by The Tension Experience and let me say, executed in such a Tension way.  :)   Oh man, there was a table next to us full of people that were incredibly confused when we made cheers to The Institute while shouting "GLORY BE!"  for all of the Arts District to hear.  Someone though actually passed on a flyer to the strangers so hey, we might have recruited a few people last night!

LOL Mike

After that nothing much happened except good times.  Yours truly got quite drunk and did a magic trick, discussed very important topics like fetishes (oh god).  There were a few moments where people just took off out of nowhere but I think they were false Tension alarms or people leaving for VesCorp.   Good job Tension, paranoia instilled because I am still speculating why people were up in a corner talking in shadows.  I won't name your names, I'll just channel Sean R. here "Take that shit to the forum".

Glory Beer!

Anyways thanks to all for coming to last night's little meet up and I hope to see you all again soon at the July 10th meet-up (location and time TBA).

And Tension, thanks again!

Having good times!

Oh some were asking "why the congratulations"?  I suspect it's because of this.

Stuff Happened!

I'm not the most prolific writer at all but I think it's time to actually give Tension a shout out.  This requires a bit of backstory though.

(cracks knuckles)
Okay, here we go.

First off as a reminder I'm doing this...arg (??) called The Tension Experience.  There are two factions I know of:  the Oraculus Order of Anoch (OOA) and the Brothers of Seraph (BOS).  I'm currently with the OOA and I'm actually one of two people that are Sentry of the Council (moderators on the forum).  

Rewinding a bit: back in mid or late March I created a chat room via Slack.  I invited I think 16 people to the room, people that I trusted OR were referred by people I trusted.  Tension Experience made it very clear that they were not happy about Slack's existence, citing that it was dragging away activity from their forum.  Personally I thought that was a load of crap because all we did was basically talk about our personal life with like a bit of theorizing here and there.  After note:  those theories would be posted on the forum, if they made any sense.

One day, I think it was in April, I got an e-mail from a user on The Tension Experience forum from an individual with the handle of Mr. Ohio.  He briefly explained to me that he's new and fairly good at puzzles and just needed to have an avenue with like-minded people to hive mind about what is going on with The Tension Experience.  Initially I ignored him but he persisted and honestly I thought "if he's that genuine about joining, sure, he seems nice".

That was a big ol' effing mistake.

As soon as I let Mr. Ohio (his name was Tom Donovan) in he immediately started shit and was not listening to people that were trying to come up with team strategy.  He apologized but he just didn't seem to get it.  After a few weeks we basically had enough and I kicked his ass out after he was being a dick to another player.  Of course all that banishment stuff was happening on my brother’s birthday WHILE at dinner (thanks Mr. Ohio for impeccable timing).

Oh and my last words to Ohio was YOU SHALL NOT PASS.  lol I am a DORK.

So I think a week or so later, on forum, a Tension Experience character called Gatekeeper4 pretty much let the cat out of the bag that she was Mr. Ohio.  Gatekeeper4 mind you is a character that prides herself on her chaotic and angry persona.  Personally she actually intimidated me on the forum.  And so all the Slackers in my group were like "holy crap we were infiltrated, wow".  And then silently I did my groaning over the fact that I private messaged Mr. Ohio with more brute force style questions (long story but I was playing investigator for a task that was fucking impossible). 

Gatekeeper4 (or ~four as she called herself) left Tension June 3rd and since then we've gotten hints that she is still hanging around....somewhere.  As of late Gatekeeper3 (III), who took over ~four's job, has been a terrible person.  Basically III has been inferring that he has killed several OOA staff on the grounds that he didn't "like them" and besides that just sleeps or eats mac and cheese.  When I think of III, I think of this:

Poo lantah, oh. Manama tohtah.

Ya I'd honestly have crazy train ~four than asshole III.  Two days ago III was cranked up to asshole level 11 and more or less making most of the Tension community unhappy.  He fired Mike Fontaine of My Haunt Life, OOA's only Scribe and probably OOA's biggest asset.  AND III was hitting on another player which was just creepy.  Many people on the forum were PISSED including me.  Of course I can't do much so I started a hashtag campaign #IstandwithFontaine, several people followed suit in quick succession. That's when ~four PERISCOPED a threat against III but the title of the Periscope was #IstandwithFontaine.  

I was so fucking pumped and kinda flattered that ~four would acknowledge the campaign.  :)

But then III fucking deleted the periscope as soon as it was posted. :(   III is such a dick!  But this did not stop ~four.  This is where it got even cooler for me.

I got an e-mail from Tom Donnovan (yes last name was spelled a little different but whatever).  The same e-mail address that I used to invite Mr. Ohio in.  The title of that e-mail?

~four you from an old friend.  

!!!

THEN as I was trying to figure out how tactful I should be with this message and which file share program to use I got a PHONE CALL from Tension.  The caller said "we, I mean SHE wants to confirm that you got the message".  

The e-mail contained the audio file of ~four's message on the periscope video that was just posted.  She specifically said in the e-mail to spread her message and so I did on the forum, with some stealth as not to blow her cover wide open.

And so ya, Tension, I was so incredibly pumped when you did that.  THANK YOU!!! <3

*note here:  yes I talk in this blog as if these characters are real but this is an arg so....I totally get ~four, III, Mr. Ohio are just characters.  So no, I haven't lost my mind, yet?