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

[fourbutts]

[ "No, it's fine! Really fine! Go be fine!"

"And I want my pink shirt."

Janis wakes up in the Nurse's Office in a... testy mood. To say the least. She's honestly kind of glad Maya left earlier because the first thing she does after getting dressed again is kick over a trash can and then, immediately, yell in pain because that was metal and she was barefoot.

Hope that doesn't sound bad to anyone!

Still kind of fuming, she moves on to explore the new area! And she can be found... grumpily swimming some really angry laps at the pool? Fun fact if you haven't seen her without her usual baggy clothes on, but Janis is in way better physical shape than one would expect!

Then she heads to the photo studio, mostly to look at the uh. Photo dungeons. ]

Did... did we really just get three locked rooms? Are you fucking kidding me?

[ At least there's been the pretense of rooms that aren't for murder to this point!! ]

Pool

[mayavericks]

[Maybe it's a testament to her own solemn mood that Maya doesn't enjoy this unfettered glimpse at Janis's form. Truly tragic, almost more than the fact that at first, Maya doesn't seem to notice her at all. She's perched at the side of the pool, deep in thought for now.

Deep in thought until she stands up at least. Then, she becomes abruptly aware of the woman in swimming back and forth in front of her, and...]

Janis?

[fourbutts]

[ It's probably a testament to Janis's anger-driven tunnel vision that she managed to swim this much without noticing Maya is there. But when she hears Maya, she sort of. Does the swimming equivalent of screeching to a halt, which because this is water involves more flailing, but.

Okay, time to push down some feelings - What if she lea- Push! Down the feelings! ]

Oh, uh... hey, Maya.

[mayavericks]

[Well that... isn't a good sign, now is it? Not that anything in this godforsaken place has been a good sign but... Really.]

Bad night?

cw forced outing mention

[fourbutts]

[ Well, she's not in the business of lying to Maya, so. ]

Oh, you know. Got stabbed in the fucking back again. [ A beat, and because this is her gf and she doesn't want to like. Unduly scare her. ] Not literally. I've never been stabbed, I don't think. But I got fucking Regina'd again! At least I can't get fucking outed to the whole school twice, but... I thought Cady was cool. I thought we were friends.

[mayavericks]

Oh.

[Really, it takes her a moment to process all of that. Has she heard the name Cady before? And really, does it matter if she has? Janis is clearly devastated by whatever it is that Cady has done.

... Maybe she can relate. Not that she particularly wants to think about that particular memory. No, she would rather slip into the pool and paddle over to Janis. It's a bit harder to offer comfort, seeing as how she still needs to tread water but... She does brush her hand over Janis's arm as best as she can.]

Perhaps we should talk elsewhere? You can tell me more about what happened.

[fourbutts]

I...

[ She wants to be angry - there's so much anger in her - and maybe earlier in knowing Maya, some of it might have come out here. She would have done something stupid and self-destructive.

But instead, her body still tense enough that Maya can absolutely tell just from touching her, Janis takes a breath and nods. ]

Sure, yeah.

[mayavericks]

[The hand against Janis's arm slides down, taking her by the hand as Maya begins to swim back toward the nearest ladder. She holds her hand out to help Janis up and, provided she actually gets out of the pool, immediately pulls her into an embrace.]

Would you like for me to add Cady to the list of people I will threaten with my sword? I have not forgotten about my promise to do the same for Regina George.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis will absolutely take that embrace, holding her just a little too tight, but... again, her whole body is still tense. ]

Ehhh, she's mostly an idiot. I'm mostly disappointed in her. Mostly.

[ hey then where's all the anger directed janis ]

[mayavericks]

You're certain of that?

[Janis doesn't quite have the energy of an angry, shaking chihuahua, but she's close. And that, especially in this place, worries Maya.]

It's okay if you are angry. Or hurt. Or any combination.

[fourbutts]

...

[ Janis chews on her lip for a moment. ]

I'm not that angry at her.

[mayavericks]

[She tilts her head.]

Who, then?

[fourbutts]

[ She's quiet for a moment. It's stupid, she knows it's stupid. And she is angry at Cady. But. ]

The one who should have fucking known better.

[mayavericks]

My starlight, I want to help you. [She cups Janis's cheek, pushing some wet hair aside as she does.]

I cannot do that with you being so vague.

[fourbutts]

[ Oh, that... that gets her eyes to water. ]

I just feel so fucking stupid.

[mayavericks]

It is only right, to want to trust those you call your friends. And it's only fair to hurt when they act against you. Especially after you have been hurt so badly before.

[Maya thumbs beneath Janis's eye.]

It is okay to be hurt, Janis.

[fourbutts]

I... I just...

[ She sets her jaw, teeth clenched tight. ]

I thought this time was different
Why did I think she'd be different?
But it's never, ever different

[ And the anger breaks, and she just. Collapses forward onto Maya, crying. ]

[mayavericks]

[Maya isn't sure what she expected but it... certainly isn't this. It's mostly out of instinct that she manages to grab hold of Janis, holding her as close as she can. She doesn't understand the full context, but she can make a few connections. She can draw the important conclusions. Like how Janis had been hurt, and that Maya needed to make it right.]

That isn't true, Janis. [She kisses the top of Janis's head, wet hair be damned.] It can be different. It is different. We are different.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis sniffs, gripping Maya... well, as tight as she can, considering she was recently in a pool. ]

I know, I know, I... I'm doing my best to remember that. I just...

[ She wonders if this wouldn't hit so hard if the last few days hadn't been... what they were. ]

... I'm scared what happens if it isn't a fucking choice.

Photo Studio

[whatyouwant]

[Elle peers in and scrunches her nose.]

Well this is ominous.

[fourbutts]

They're just so unnecessary when we have a darkroom right down the hall? There's making an attempt to replicate a high school, and then there's... this.

[whatyouwant]

What is this room even for? I get that you use dark rooms to develop film but shouldn't there be, like, equipment for that?

[fourbutts]

I'm not super into photography, but... I have no idea.

[whatyouwant]

So do you think the Wizard found an abandoned school with a creepy room like this, or is he enough of a weirdo to think this is good design?

[fourbutts]

I am zero percent above assigning him the blame for the ugly and poorly-designed murder closets even if for some reason they were here before.