Week Five

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, you had your very first minor body pileup! Granted, the Balladeer's death was entirely unrelated to anything, but at least he died as he lived - getting completely fucked up in some kind of carnival-themed hellscape. Only two days later, another terrible accident took Rina and Varian both from you. It's just been one of those weeks, huh? At least you got to add both of their corpses to your weird growing collection!

Again, you'll wake up this morning with another new snippet of memory. You'll also find that the stairs in the lobby are no longer blocked. You can only access one part of the second floor, but it seems like there's some neat stuff up there!

Outside, a few things seem to have changed. For one, the weather has turned - it'll be overcast this week, with periodic rain and even scattered thunderstorms. For another, the bushes around that rock out by the football field have bloomed. That's nice.

Get to it, friends! I'm sure everything will be fine this week!]


Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Be sure to submit your memory regain and your AC for this week! As always, Hester's office hours and the merch booth remain available. ))

Comments

THURSDAY

[stagemanagers]

[Around breakfast time on Thursday, the power starts flickering again. This isn't super unusual, it's been happening on and off all week.

However about an hour after breakfast concludes the sky splits open and the downpour starts, complete with booming rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning across the massive windows. The storm is running all of fifteen minutes when the power goes out completely and doesn't come back on. Within ten minutes of the power going out someone (probably Hester) has laid out a few dozen candles, matches and extra maglite flashlights on one of the tables in the cafeteria. With these, you might notice another small change in the decor around here.

The blackout will last through the day and into the night.]

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice's reaction to the blackout is a mix of this was bound to happen sooner or later and I should've known.

She doesn't spend too much time thinking about it, though. Luckily, the machine already gave her a candle, and she uses that as a light. She pockets a few books of matches, and then, after making sure Orpheus is okay, wanders around the school to make sure everyone else is accounted for. Between the dim light of her candle and the large costume room coat she likes to wear, she looks a little like a ghost. She's pretty quiet, too, so hopefully she doesn't startle you!

Around lunchtime, she'll gather some of her rations from the girl's locker room and bring them down to the cafeteria. ]

What kind of beans? I've got kidney, I've got black, I've got great northern...just don't eat them all at once. We don't know how long this is gonna last.

[mayavericks]

[After finishing her scolding of.... anyone who will listen, Maya sits down to sort of... scowl into the middle distance. She spots Eurydice, though, and heads over to take a look at what all she's got going on.

She sort of... makes a face when she sees the offering, even if she tries to play it off.]

I... really did not think the food hoarding would be necessary.

cafeteria

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine's got her big ol' backpack for the emergency supplies with her. ]

I shouldn't be surprised... Thanks, Eurydice. This'll take our emergency rations from three days to...at least a week.

[mayavericks]

[Maya is in the midst of a routine in the dance studio when the lights go out. Considering how dark it is, and how long it takes for one's eyes to adjust, the startled scream could easily be attributed to anyone, and certainly not her.

Look, after the week she's had, she's allowed one (1) minor freakout.

And freak out she does. After picking her way along dimly lit halls, Maya finds her way into the cafeteria and starts pointing fingers.]

Did someone try to summon something again? At least do it outside where I can pretend not to see it! No ghosts in the school!

[Yeah... someone's not having a great day. So not great that she ends up taking a candle and a flashlight and retreating to Broadhurst. If she cuddles up under a blanket, she can pretend she's back home. She even has her script in her lap, though she barely processes the words.]

Cafeteria

[sugarlumps]

No Maya, I didn't try another lumping ghost call on my own. I'm not stupid okay.

[That was directed solely at her, right.]

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah isn’t afraid of the dark. Or storms. But she’s seen enough horror films to be skittish.

So when the power doesn’t return, within a minute—- Farrah screams from the hall by the dorms.

When the rain doesn’t let up after an hour, Farrah might be found near the doors to outside, checking to make sure she doesn’t have any adults around to stop her. And before anyone can stop her— she yeets outside.

She shows back up 30 minutes later, drenched, but with a goat, who she leaves in the gym very responsibly, with lots of comfy towels and a sheet.]

Shhh, it’s okay, Farrah Jr.

[Finally, she can be found in Broadhurst, making shadow puppets against the wall and looking bored. But maybe you’ll hear her complaining—]

Banning the occult… That’s like— I founded Songs For Satan. I cant believe the wizard is discriminating against my religion.

Broadhurst

[mcfife]

[Angus just comes to this dorm every so often now, and he's just lying in bed, watching Farrah's shadow puppets.]

I doubt he's targeting your religion specifically. He hates us having any sort of happiness. [People in his world can communicate with the deceased of they set up the ritual properly. No religious ceremony required.] Unless Satan is all about ghosts?

Gym

[whatyouwant]

[Oh hey, Elle is also soaking wet from taking her dog out in the storm!]

Farrah are you okay?

[A beat.]

Is that the goat from the animal club?

[stagemanagers]

[Hey, Farrah, is it safe to assume the chasing of the mischief goat might bring you near the football field in that 30 minute span?]

Broadhurst

[sugarlumps]

What's a sa-tine?

[She was passing by and overheard, that's a plausible excuse for a tag-in right.]

Investigation

[mcfife]

[When the blackout hits, Angus runs to the Ambassador Dorm to check in the lizards. He finds them vibing in their terrarium, all four of them, and their corner of their room remains illuminated by the battery-powered heat lamp]

You behave, Roosevelt. Stay safe, Tad Cooper. [He kneels over them, poking at a lizard climbing a glass wall.] don't try to eat the lamp again, Zargothrax. Look after the others, Abraham Lincoln.

[Afterwards, he heads over to the Cafeteria to pull out a few perishable foods from the fridge and, not knowing what else to make, prepares some sandwiches. He's getting good at this. They'll be resting on the cafeteria with a note "Please have one! Don't go hungry - Prince Angus."

With a quick stop to the concessions stand he receives a bunch of trinkets and food that he sets aside to munch on later. He's keeping the hair pin and roses for later, though he leaves the tap shows on Mumble's ofrenda.

Once he has a new candle and the Hammer of Glory strapped onto his back, he descends into the darkness of the photo dungeons with Elle. He walks the perimeter of the dark rooms, feeling the walls with his hands and shoulder height and by the floor, seeking any strange cracks or hidden objects from the light.]

Investigation

[stagemanagers]

[You feel the walls in the darkness.

There are carvings all over them.]

[whatyouwant]

[Elle is in the Lobby trying to convince Bruiser to go outside in the storm when the power goes out. She yelps and Bruiser jumps into her arms, trembling. After taking a moment to calm herself down she sighs.]

Okay, buddy, lets get this over with.

[The both of them come back 5 minutes later absolutely drenched.]

Maybe we'll get the puppy pads out again. Just until the rain stops.

[Eventually Elle, with Bruiser now carried in her arms, is able to make her way to the Cafeteria in hopes of finding someone else. She grabs a flashlight while she's there and finally sets Bruiser back down.

The two walk all over the school, trying to locate everyone else to make sure they're okay. Anyone she meets she will suggest head back to the dorms.]

Safety in numbers, you know?

Puppy

[sugarlumps]

[LSP is standing by the doors, sullenly watching the rain as Elle returns.]

Ugh, this is so lame. At least it's not a knife storm, I guess.

[fourbutts]

[ In the morning, Janis wakes up with a healthy number of coins! So the first thing she does, as the sky threatens to start with the rain, is put those in at the vending machine! But that's... a generally unremarkable experience.

Except for the uh. Horse gift certificate? ]

Oh, fun. New weird vending machine thing dropped.

[ She said, before heading out to the courtyard and uh. ]

... Horse. Jesus. Uh... hi?

[ And as she says that, the sky opens up. ]

Okay! Time to learn how to move a horse very quickly!

[ So that's... that's how her morning is going, before the blackout.

Once that's been resolved, Janis changes into the convenient dry and warm flannel thoughtfully provided by the vending machine and actually... heads to the library with a candle to do some reading. She starts with this one, which she... seems to have very quickly gotten bored of and traded in for just doing some doodling. ...In its margins, like a criminal. Come say hi? ]

library

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah's come back to the library for some more entertainment, though she's not sure what exactly she's going to be getting into, yet. Her hair's still wet from her own adventure outside, and it's hanging down loose and free, but she's at least changed into dry clothes-- most noticeably, a too-big jacket that definitely had been seen on the Balladeer before.

She almost regrets wearing it when she sees Janis. But if she shrugs it off or darts out of the library at this point, it'll be weird. And the jacket makes her feel safe, and taken care of, like B did, and it still smells like him a little-- so she doesn't really want to take it off. So, she goes with the only option-- act super chill and like nothing weird is going on here, whatsoever. Armed with her flashlight, she strides into the library, and sits down on the table that Janis is reading at.]

Oooh. Queen Bees and Wannabes-- a scary story to read in the dark.

courtyard

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Hey, here comes Cassandra, coming out from the woods, Owl at her side. No sign of... anything, really. And now the sky was cracking open like some great door, and rain was starting to fall.

Oh hey, there's Janis. And... a horse?

Wait, that horse is real.

WAIT, SHE KNOWS THAT HORSE.]

Fidella?

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Hm, well, he doesn't like that. A rainstorm is better than a catastrophic, months-long blizzard or weeks of blistering heat, at least, but it does sort of serve as a reminder that maybe this place isn't as idyllic compared to home as it seemed. It's probably nothing to worry about, but he's wary all the same, sticking close to Eurydice throughout the day.

He can be found wandering the school, same as her, checking in on the others with the little penlight he got out of the vending machine. He hums quietly as he goes, the song stuck in his head as the rain pounds against the roof. If it keeps on rainin', levee's gonna break.

Later on, he'll join Eurydice in the cafeteria, laying out a selection of preserved fruit and dried meat. ]

How are you holding up? [ he asks whoever happens by. A little round figure perches on his shoulder, obscured by the shadows. ] Do you think this'll last long? When the power goes out back home it usually stays that way until someone can fix it, and I don't know if any of us know how to do that.

[brokeforgood]

Probably until someone dies. [Farrah says it completely dryly, then...]

Oh my God. I can't believe I just said that.

cafeteria

[feudalladyshandmaid]

Doing as well as I can when the power doesn't come on and I can't see.

[Cassandra's tired, so. Sarcasm is running a little low in the relative danger of this darkness. Who knows when it will end.

...She squints in the dark. At first, he might think Cass is looking intently at him, but rather... she seems to be checking out his shoulder.]

...Oh, hey. [Blanketed by the shadows is a smile.] You got one of Elsa's little friends, too.

peregrine is that a weed

[comeandfindme]

[ The power's out.

Well. There goes today's photo session.

Peregrine has her emergency supplies and a lot of coins, and what better way to get more supplies than check out the vending machine, where—

Where, well.

It's around lunchtime that Peregrine bangs on pots and pans in the cafeteria. ]

Hey!! Anyone wanna hotbox those little rooms off the photo studio for a few hours?

[ Just like that huh.

As promised, in the photo dungeons Peregrine's just. Well, she's never done this before? But you know, it can't be that hard, right? There's a smaller bag inside the ziploc with some paper, so...she just gets that all situated, lights it up with one of her matches and kind of stares at the awkward joint.

How hard can this be?

Anyway you're free to find Peregrine at the start of all this when she's hacking and coughing because she doesn't know at all how to inhale, or a little later, when she's got the photo dungeon almost closed, the entrance barely kept up by Peregrine's shoe. How utterly amazing it is, because here she is, hypervigilant Peregrine Wells, just...relaxed. ]

SLAMS IN HERE

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob doesn't really know what "hotboxing" is, but like hell is he gonna pass out hanging out with his friends!!!

When he gets there, he first seems a little dubious about this situation. He loves his friends, and he's sure they wouldn't want to harm him, but...]

I dunno, you guys, this feels like some after school schedules I've watched before.

[Eventually, however, he does give in and Spongebob just... starts giggling. He just alternates from staring into space with a blank smile and giggling at absolutely nothing.

Occasionally he will speak up to say something like]

Y'know what's funny...?

[And he just... trails off without finishing it.]

[violentenvies]

[PEREGRINE THAT IS SO LOUD--Salieri is definitely flinching, covering an ear with a hand]

I don't know what hotboxing is, but does it really require that much noise?

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah's here. If anyone tried to keep her out because she's too young, or whatever, she would have definitely pulled the dead girl card. Also, alcoholism was her vice that she gave up, not weed!

Anyway, she's trying to snuggle with any victim she comes across. And she's so chatty, but she can't keep a conversation. The most popular topic, of course, is...]

Oh my God. I love you. I love you so much.

[Eventually, she might even pass out. Someone may need to take her to bed, because if you wake her up, she just groans and announces--]

My mouff isn' real.