r/whowouldwin • u/LetterSequence • Jan 15 '22
Event Character Scramble 15 Round 2: Remember Me
Link to the voting form. Voting closes on February 3rd. Voting is required for all participants.
Click here to join the email list.
Click here to join the Character Scramble discord.
This round is for matches 25 to 32 on the bracket. Make sure to double check to see if you’re in this one!
After escaping some crazy dangerous circumstances, you can truly begin your quest unimpeded by ill fate. It's time to take this quest seriously. In fact, you've even gotten a hot tip from someone as you explore the various worlds.
Legends speak of an individual who, using incredible strength, will, and ideals, managed to summon Kingdom Hearts, and with its blessings, they were given the power to make all of their desires come true.
This person has been dead for a few decades now.
Your lead, immediately snatched away. But what if it wasn't? What if there was a way to speak to this figure, and gain their knowledge? There is. You only need to visit...
Tierre de la Muerte
The Land of the Dead. The resting place of all spirits, for people to remember until they can't any longer. The living aren't supposed to be here, and yet you venture onwards anyway. Your goal is simple. Find this legend, learn anything you can about Kingdom Hearts, and leave well rewarded.
Unfortunately, things aren't that simple. For this land holds a special rule. All those who remain in this land when the sun rises become permanent residents. What does this mean for your team? Instant death.
It may be midnight now, but with no clue where to start looking, another team lurking somewhere else in this world (potentially looking to get that same information before you, potentially looking to entrap you in this world), and the dead around you quite uneased by your presence, you fear the dawn will arrive faster than you anticipate. Better get a move on!
Scramble Rules
That’s Sora, Donald, and Goofy Too!: Every participant this season received three characters on their team, but many of them might not be a household name. To aid with readability, please give a brief summary of your characters, with enough information so the average reader can get excited for your team before starting.
Let Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key: Your write up will depict a scenario where your team is the victor. Even if your team has a one in a million chance of overcoming the odds, show what they’d need to do to come out on top against the challenge in front of them!
Unlocking Limit Form: Writers are allowed to make changes to their characters in their narrative to fit their story, such as allowing power stealers to gain more powers, teaching martial artists new techniques, or having characters gradually grow in strength between rounds. However, you are not beholden to following what your opponent is doing. When facing another team, you are only required to write their characters as they were submitted. This is to help with ease of research, and make things more fun for both sides.
Round Rules
Guest Starring: The Living Dead! The guest is a denizen of this underworld, which means they've been dead for a while now. How does that look? Are they a vengeful spirit destined to keep you here past sunrise for intruding on their world? A spirit animal that helps guide you where you need to go? In fact, is the legend, the person you're looking for, the guest themselves? There's a decent variety of options here, so go with what fits your run best!
Setting: Preparing for the Day of the Dead, this world is a sight to behold. Skeletons walk around as people would on cobblestone roads, the houses begin decrepit, but as you venture deeper, grow more rich, more ordained, into grand mansions for the famous, the elite, the remembered. The colors of the various plazas, vibrant neon greens and pinks. Stands placed on every corner to sell some trinket or another. Music blares as you walk, festive Spanish songs played by the residents that celebrate life, and of course, death. In a land this big, it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack. May as well enjoy the sights while you're looking around.
Key Points: The key points of the round are the following. Your team is looking for a "dead" person to gain information from them on how to attain their overall goal, while the other team is trying to stop you, or gain that information before you. This quest for information has a time limit. The guest must figure into this in some way.
Post Limit: For this round, writers will be limited to 8 posts, or 80k characters. While it is fine to go a little bit over, anything that far surpasses this limit will be automatically disqualified. This limit does not include intro posts, or analysis of the matchup. Use your best judgement, if you think your story is too long for the round, it probably is.
Due Date: Write ups will be due at 10PM EST on January 30th. That’s slightly over two weeks, so manage your time well!
Flavor Suggestions
People Die When They Are Killed: Perhaps your story isn't fantastical in nature, and speaking to a long dead person is out of the cards. As some suggested alternatives, the death could be metaphorical. Perhaps the person you're looking for is only presumed dead and changed their identity, or they're a hero who has long since retired, their other identity being "dead" in a sense. There’s plenty of ways to weave the theme of death into the story without getting literal, so get creative!
Chain of Memories: In the actual film, "Coco," the spirits exist in this world as long as someone remembers them. Is there anyone your team members lost in their past that they cared for? How would they react to the possibility of seeing them again? Would they even want to see them again?
3
u/FreestyleKneepad Jan 30 '22
Baiken woke up to the scent of fresh midnight air. She rubbed her eye with her hand, struggling to her feet as she got her bearings. A rock must have hit her in the back, because it stung like shit. But, far as she could tell, they'd survived. Somehow.
"Incredible!" Baiken heard the Director cheering. "A climax for the ages, what a spectacle! I knew you'd make it out, of course!"
The Director kept talking, but Baiken didn't listen. There, at the mouth of the mine entrance, Carolina sat with her back against a wall, recovering. "How'd we-" Baiken started, but stopped when she saw Fall, face down in the dirt nearby.
The girl looked like a mutant- her clothes hung off her upper body in tatters, and the exposed muscle pulsed and trembled and glowed slightly green in the veins. She shrank as Baiken watched, hands… big enough to wrap around her waist… shrinking to their original size. Fall deflated slowly, painfully, and then finally stirred, rolling onto her side and hacking up dust and blood. She wasn't dead, thankfully. Thanks to her, they all survived.
"THEY ALL SURVIVED!?" the Director screamed, words aimed at nobody yet heard by the two security guards posted in their office. "I sent three of my BEST and that fucking doped-up dickhead Bane on a LEASH, and they fucking SURVIVE!?"
The taller, older security guard knew better than to speak up. Sure enough, the Director kept going. "I am not about to sit here and let these three fuckheads undo everything I've worked so hard for! If they make contact… no. No, that shit ain't fucking happening. Next shoot, they're done. Dusted. Good as fucking gone."
"Director," offered the shorter, younger security guard. "They're stuck here. Why don't we just… y'know, off them in their sleep? When they don't see it coming?"
The Director froze. After a moment's contemplation, they pulled a revolver from their desk and shot the security guard square in the forehead. The taller, older security guard didn't move.
"Didn't see that coming, right? Tell me- how dramatic was that? How gripping, how exciting? It WASN'T! You just FUCKING DIED, you STUPID ASSHOLE! Death should be powerful, meaningful- fuck, at least it should be exciting to look at! Not a boring fucking hole in the head!" The gun went back in the drawer, and the Director's mind went back to spinning.
"No, no, their deaths… If I'm gonna kill them, I want them to be remembered. For trying everything they could and still falling short. They're gonna be my message to every other little revolutionary thinking they can come into my set and run me out. They're all better off standing in line or lying six feet fucking under. It's time they learned that. Starting… with these three."