itscurtains | week 5

[That was...an absolute shitshow. More beloved friends are dead in a mess of a trial that's left Angus half the man he was, Riley in a free fall and the Phantom...somehow still standing despite taking two stabs to the torso.

When you wake on Sunday, you'll find that you've recovered another one of those memories - or had another dream, if you still wanna be in denial about it. The door blocking the stairwell on the second floor has been unsealed. You can now venture up to the third floor! You have so much space now, it's just a shame it's all come at the cost of eight lives.

But despite the tragedy you have made progress! The trip into the Phantom's lair yielded some hints to the past of the Opera House, your house manager's apparently grim hobby and the possibility of an ally outside the Opera House. Who knows what this week will bring?]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Welcome to Week 5! Please remember to submit your AC and your memory regains, as well as your coins! You can also still contact the Phantom. ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, no kidding, it sounds like you threw up half your body mass in there.

[ And that’s worrying! Santana puts down the tweezers. After studying Christine for a few moments, Santana walks over to the other girl and sticks out her hand, offering to help Christine up, if she needs it. ]

Look, I’ve heard plenty of people throw up before meets, it doesn’t bother me.

[Christine stares at the offered hand for a moment, and then slowly takes it. She wobbles when she gets up to her feet, but she otherwise stays standing.]

Before...? Oh, no. I don't... I know I'm not the ideal shape and size but I'm not doing anything like that. I promise.

[But what she was doing... it's not worth talking about. Because it'll annoy Santana or make her sad or angry, and Christine doesn't want anyone having to feel that strongly over her and her stupid memories.]

What? No, I meant ‘cause they were nervous.

[ that other stuff happened too, of course, but she never really figured Christine was going through that ordeal, specifically. Especially not this early in the morning. ]

So are you nervous?

[ Santana still figures the culprit is either nerves or poison, and she doesn’t want Christine to freak out at the suggestion of poison. ]

I'm... upset. I'm just upset and scared. It's stupid boy stuff-

[Mostly. Does a supercomputer count as a boy?]

-so it's not like you'd think it was worth throwing up over anyways.

[Anyways, the important thing is it's probably not poison! And probably not worth Santana worrying about at this point in the morning!

Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t. Besides, I thought being yourself and not caring what other people think of you was like, your whole deal.

[ It’s something about Christine that Santana actually admires, even though Santana would never say that. ]

[...She has a point about that, enough that Christine looks a bit sheepish.]

I just remembered something. I don't know if you heard in the trial, what Jeremy said about the whole... brainwashing the school thing? I ended up remembering when it happened. What he, what he did to me.

Oh my god, did you let a guy brainwash you? Do you have that computer thing in your head?

[ Santana seems a little bit more upset that a guy did this to Christine than the actual brainwashing, although both are pretty bad. ]

I didn't let him! It was an accident. When he first offered me one, I turned him down, but I, I didn't know he'd already filled a prop beaker with them. So... yeah. My SQUIP got activated, and he synced it to his and-

[And this is when it gets really disturbing, and she just knows Santana might rip poor Jeremy a new one when she hears about it.]

...His goal was to get me to like him, so it forced me to tell him how I felt.

He was the person I was to be with every day
There wasn't anything else I could ever say
He's the guy I was so kind of into
A guy I could only be into
Was it really true...?

[ There are few things more frightening to Santana than opening up about love, feelings, and other unsafe things that should stay private. It reminds her of Finn, telling everyone about how she felt about Brittany. It pisses her off.

Santana’s expression darkens. She’s angry at Jeremy, angry at Finn, angry at every supposedly harmless teenage boy who thinks that other people’s business is their right to know.

Santana grabs Christine’s wrist, and tugs. ]

Come on. I’ve got something in my room that might help.

I-what? Okay...

[She lets herself stumble along after Santana, one arm still clutching her stomach. She hopes whatever it is, it isn't something they're going to use to hurt Jeremy. Even if he probably deserves it a little bit.]

[ Santana drags Christine into her room, slams the door, and shoved a now-melted red slushie into Christine’s arms. ]

Drink. Red stuff messes up that computer, right?

I mean, sort of? It's mainly Mountain Dew Red, I think...

[Still, a lukewarm slushie is probably not the worst thing to put in her body right now. She takes a sip of the sugary liquid and makes a face, but she still... feels a little better drinking it.]

Whatever, this is also red. Also, you're probably dehydrated.

[ Santana crosses her arms and watches. After Christine drinks some of the slushie: ]

Alright, do you feel -- different?

You have a point.

[It probably is just no longer having an empty stomach, or at least having some fluid in her so she doesn't get even more sick, but she does feel better.]

My, um, my head doesn't hurt as much. Which is a good sign, I mean, it's... it's up there, in my brain so...

[She sighs heavily.]

It just sucks. I can't even be mad at him for it, because he's sure he deserves it.

Is it on?

[ If it’s off, Christine will be fine, right?

Santana snorts. ]

Please. You can absolutely be mad at him, and if he’s gonna get all weird about it, then that’s his problem. You didn’t ask for this.

I don't think so. It's deactivated. I... If it was on, I'd be acting really weird. Like fawning over Jeremy and doing everything for him weird. It's actually really disturbing how much SQUIPs resort to typical gender roles...

[Ugh, not important. Christine drinks a little more to get the bad taste out of her mouth.]

I know I didn't. But it's... I mean, I still want to be friends with him! At least that, but it's like he doesn't even trust me. I know he's made mistakes, but... everyone does. He can't suffer alone because of it.

[ a man puts a supercomputer in your brain....against your will...and you still want to be friends with him? Christine, honey, please. ]

Nah, see, a mistake is like sleeping with the wrong dude or going too hard at a party or something. It’s like, super easy not to brainwash people. I mean, look at me: I’m an asshole, and I’ve literally never brainwashed anyone.

M-Maybe that's true, but... If I want to forgive him, isn't that my decision? Shouldn't he at least just accept that I would leave if he wasn't getting better, and just... try from then on?

[Maybe he shouldn't be forgiven for this, and maybe it's easy to not do such an awful thing, but... but considering how few friends she has to measure him against...]

Besides, isn't it possible his SQUIP manipulated him into doing it?

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