Archive · 8 Aug 2026
How Reddit Built the Fictional Town of Lower Duck Pond
Imagine a pretend town where anyone can add a new story.
Lower Duck Pond is a made-up place on Reddit, where thousands of people write stories together.
One person might say their cat is missing, and another might say they saw it at a cat wedding.
Everyone plays along using a rule called 'yes, and,' which means they agree and add more to the story.
Over time, this builds the town's library, park, and even an optician's office.
People use the town to take a break from their real lives.
Sometimes scarier stories, like mysteries and crimes, show up too.
The rules say bad things can happen, but they ask people not to pull another person's story into dark topics.
Because it is all pretend, people can try out ideas without real-world consequences.
The town only exists because everyone agrees to believe in it together.
Lower Duck Pond (LDP) is a fictional community on Reddit's r/HaveWeMet, where thousands of people have collectively written a small town into existence.
In the example storyline, Greg's cat has been missing for a couple of days, last seen wobbling outside the park after getting 'super drunk' at a cat wedding.
The forum was created by Devuluh, also known as David, who wanted to see people 'be something for some time in a place somewhere else.'
The town grows through improv: one person adds something, another says 'yes, and,' and someone else makes it part of their own life.
Conspiracies, occult activities, and murders have become common in LDP, though the community FAQ asks users not to derail another user's thread into darker territory.
- Who
- Thousands of Reddit users, including storyline residents such as Greg, Tina, and Duncan, and forum creator Devuluh (also known as David).
- What
- The collective creation of Lower Duck Pond, a fictional town built through improvised, collaborative writing about mundane life on r/HaveWeMet.
- When
- No specific date is given; the article describes the town as an ever-growing, ongoing community, with Greg's cat missing 'for a couple of days' in the storyline.
- Where
- On Reddit, within the r/HaveWeMet community, which depicts the fictional town of Lower Duck Pond.
- Why
- To escape daily life and collaboratively test out possibilities, including uncomfortable ones, in a space where consequences remain fictional.
Keep LDP a Happy Escape
Let Darker Stories In
Community tone
Keep LDP a Happy Escape
Many residents treat Lower Duck Pond as an escape from daily life and lean toward happy, mundane storylines; some question whether everyone 'needs to be so happy all the time.'
Let Darker Stories In
The community explicitly permits darker topics, noting that conspiracies, occult activities, and murders have become common, and its FAQ states that 'bad things can happen in Lower Duck Pond.'
Meaning of participation
Keep LDP a Happy Escape
Residents may simply be mimicking the idea of normalcy they have internalised, recreating a peaceful, everyday town.
Let Darker Stories In
Residents may be exercising agency to repeat the same bad things happening in the real world, testing boundaries of behaviour without having to live with their permanence.
- Community name
- Lower Duck Pond (LDP)
- Platform
- Subreddit
- r/HaveWeMet
- Creator
- Devuluh (David)
- Community size
- Thousands of users
- Storytelling rule
- Improv-style 'yes, and' collaboration
- Featured storyline
- Greg's missing cat, last seen wobbling outside the park after a cat wedding
- Guiding FAQ answer
- 'Bad things can happen in Lower Duck Pond and its citizens'