Virtually Reality

Virtually Reality is a forum game set in the Fear Mythos that was run by RedRockingHood. It can be read in it's entirety here. It also has an ongoing sequel called VR2: New Game Plus which is run by RedRockingHood and GraciousVictory, with the two of them alternating between responding to the players commands.

Plot
An MMO has been released exclusively in your city. It’s an unofficial release, but boasts incredible technology – virtual reality. It’s swept the city, and everyone is addicted. However, the game itself is leeching off the players, adapting to their psychology to create a more immersive game, and things are quickly turning to terror. To make matters worse, it’s difficult to tell which reality is virtual, and what isn’t.

You are Alexander Heron, twenty-two years old, part-time cashier while you try to reapply for school. You’re part of the gaming craze. You live on your own in a shitty little apartment, and the only way you’re going to get out of this alive is to shut down the source of this game. In game, you go by Wingspan (chosen: Mage, Healer). You play a female character… because, hey, everyone knows people are nicer to girls in-game.

Characters
Whiteflower: Your healer. Lower level than the rest of the group and a hindrance, in-game, in that she gives away quest items that she needs and doesn’t tend to level as obsessively as the rest. Out of game, she is fifteen-year-old Adelaide ‘Addi’ White, a girl who is heavily bullied and uses games as an escape, and is oversensitive to the idea of being an in-game bully.

Hellblazer: Your berserker knight. You think he might have a thing for Whiteflower. He’s ‘better when he’s angry’ – he games with more focus then, and as the game progresses (though you think it’s your imagination) he seems to get faster, the angrier he is. Out of game, he is Mackenzie St. Clair, a twenty-five year old FtM who works at a call center and uses the game to vent his frustration.

Gunmetal: Your tank. He doesn’t tend to communicate as much in-game, and is the main reason people put up with Whiteflower; he is fiercely protective of her, and you’re not sure if he’s got a thing for her, or they’re brother and sister out-of-game, like they insist they are. Out of game, he is nineteen year old Kenneth White; both he and his sister are adopted, and he’s still in high school out of reluctance to leave her on her own. He is also badly bullied for being the openly gay kid in school, and ‘obviously so’; he’s slender and weak-looking, almost effeminate. *Possible love interest for Heron.

Knifebaby: Your assassin. You suspect she may be a guy, out of game – that, or just a very bitchy girl. The two of you don’t tend to get along very well and butt heads when it comes to group decisions, but she is otherwise very nice to you…but only because she thinks you’re a girl. She likes to dress up her character and kill other players; she is also very anti-male, you find. Out of game, he is Daniel Lake, a fourteen year old living with his neglectful father.

Newts: Your dark mage. He is apparently notoriously bad for starting sex chats, but he’s never done it with you, so you like him just fine. He commonly communicates through emoticons. Out of game, she is Penelope Newton, a thirty-two year old high school teacher in a miserable marriage, unable to have children. She whiles away her time playing games and indulging in slash fanfiction and roleplay. *Possible love interest for Heron.

Novel
Red wrote a novel adaptation of Virtually Reality with some major changes, including an additional character never seen in the forum game. The Fears are absent in the book and are replaced by The Master, an antagonist from another forum game by Red: Black Winding Road.