week 1

[stagemanagers]

[Well, all escape attempts have failed thus far. None of you have seen the Phantom since his brief appearance on Sunday, or heard from him at all. It looks like, for the time being, you’re all going to be stuck here.

You're free to continue exploring your surroundings to your hearts' content. The only real restriction on your movements is that the kitchen is closed between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am. Better make sure to grab any midnight snacks you may want ahead of time. Also, remember to label any investigation toplevels!

The Merchandise Booth is now open for business as well! The Phantom hasn't deigned to explain how it works, but...well, some of you will start to find mysterious coins in your rooms, and the Booth's got a place to put coins. You'll figure it out.

Should you wish to engage more with your host, you're welcome to drop letters in the box office slot. There's no set way to converse verbally with him, and he's certainly not guaranteed to respond if you just yell at the walls - but that doesn't necessarily mean he isn't listening. Just something to keep in mind.

Enjoy your first week, everyone.]

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday

(( OOC: This will be the last mod post for this week! Feel free to start submitting regains for any threads that aren't with the Phantom. Remember, song threads mean an extra coin! This is a peace week, so get all that CR while you can! ))

Comments

[justmeheere]

[Alright. Okay. He can do this. He can be a goddamn functional human being who doesn't hide in his room all day because he's afraid of being murdered.

First stop: kitchen. Has Jeremy ever cooked in his life? Unclear! The eggs seem to be going okay, though. The coffee is going less well, if only because of the mug he's being forced to drink out of. It seems weirdly grim and the drama queen in him is loving that but the Gen Z teenager in him hates that he's drinking out of a soccer mom Facebook mug. Also he's eating his omelet, like. Straight out of the pan. Because plates are a WHOLE thing and he's a gremlin teenager.

Anyway after breakfast, Jeremy heads over to the costume shop because he feels, uh. Weird? About this terrible Eminem shirt he's wearing? It's not, like. Bad or anything, he just. Feels really uncomfortable in it. Unfortunately? Fortunately? For him it does seem to be mostly......... costumes. So now he's. Well. It looks like he's about to go to a Ren Faire but that's. Fine. He's okay with this.

(Jeremy is not okay with this, but Jeremy has also never been okay in his entire life.)

Then he goes back to his room because actually? He is not a functional human being and he needs to like. Be alone and scream. It's fine. He's fine. Everything's fine.]

Costume Shop

[revelfree]

[ Oh! Someone who has similar fashion sense to him. Perhaps he's not entirely doomed to being the "faire" guy as Stephen had referred to him. Or at least not the only one.]

Hail, stranger. We were not introduced yesterday.

[justmeheere]

[Jeremy is in the middle of trying to decide whether or not the terrible hat he picked out is too much, but then he hears Angus and it would be weird if he put it on probably so he's just. Holding it now.]

Oh! You're right, we. We totally skipped over that yesterday, because of all the. You know. Um. [He fidgets with the hat in his hands before holding out his left hand.] I'm Jeremy!

[revelfree]

Jeremy. [He repeats it with a charming smile. His hand wraps around Jeremy's, shaking it deftly.]

Ariel. Rest assured, my friend, no one can hold it against you for being so unnerved by these circumstances. I'm only happy to see that tragedy has not befallen you.

[justmeheere]

Haha, nope! I'm, uh. I'm still here and, uh. In one piece.

[The dark circles under his eyes? Maybe not great! But he's alive and that has to count for something.]

Ariel, huh? That's kind of an unusual name. At least, um. At least where I'm from.

[revelfree]

I'm led to believe that many things about me are quite unusual to others. [If nothing else, he seems to take this in good humor.]

You look as if you've slept poorly. Did something keep you awake? Trouble your mind?

[He knows a thing or two about weird dreams!]

[justmeheere]

No, that's the weird part - I don't remember going to sleep? But I woke up in my bed.

[Which, like. Not unusual, necessarily? He's definitely done "played too many video games and forgot to write an essay" kind of "I don't remember going to sleep," but this seems different.]

So I don't even really know how I slept last night.

Costume Shop

[holyspit]

Hey! Nice outfit!

[Looks like they're gonna be here a while, so if Steven's going to keep wearing his One Outfit he at least needs something to put on while he's washing it.]

[Too bad Jeremy's found what's clearly the best thing here already.]

[justmeheere]

T-thanks? [That was genuine, right? This person's not making fun of him for being a nerd?] There's a lot of, um. Choices! Here. For what to wear. Some of them are really flashy, but I just wanted. Understated?

[This is why Jeremy wanted to put a supercomputer in his brain: so he wouldn't be so fucking awkward.]

[holyspit]

It definitely works for you!

[Very high fantasy casual, if there is such a thing.]

You look kind of like someone out of the Spirit Morph books, it's great.

[What's awkward, does that have to do with falconry?]

[justmeheere]

Spirit Morph? [pause.] Like Animorphs?

[It's actually more Golden Compass. Not that Jeremy knows that from the title alone.]

[holyspit]

...Does Annie-morphs involve witches and their familiars and fighting a corrupt empire?

[justmeheere]

Kind of? Or, well, like. The kids can turn into animals and they're fighting a war.

[So not at all, really.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

[While Jeremy is eating, Christine slides into a chair directly across from him. She was going to get her own food, but Jeremy looks... rough. Rough enough to attract her concern.]

Hey... you sleep okay? You look pretty beat.

[justmeheere]

What? Huh? Me? I'm f-fine! Why wouldn't I be fine?

[He laughs nervously, because do you know what's probably a bad idea? Drinking caffeine when you're like two steps away from a nervous breakdown. Jeremy makes GREAT choices constantly.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

I don't know, Jeremy. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that you're shaking like a baby deer? And you kinda look like you're gonna spill that coffee. Plus those shadows under your eyes...

[Don't mind her just getting way up into your personal space, Jeremy. She even places one hand on Jeremy's cheek as she studies his face.]

Yeah. In my professional medical opinion? You're beat, son.

[Christine, you are not a doctor, and you don't even play one on TV.]

[justmeheere]

[His shoulders slump, but at least he didn't flinch right out of the physical affection this time? Improvement! He's improving.]

Yeah, you're right. I-I didn't sleep well for, uh. Well. I was going to say "whatever reason," but I'm pretty sure the reason is.

[He gestures at their surroundings. They're! All! Gonna! Die! He is so paranoid right now. The coffee was a bad idea.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

Yeah... it's kind of a lot.

[Wait, is Christine actually admitting that something is very off?]

I mean, you know, kidnapping really isn't the way to cast your new play, even if we do have the talent for it.

[She offers a very wry smile, and it's hard to tell if she's joking or being genuine. Still, she gently takes the coffee away.]

Would it help to ramble about it?

[justmeheere]

I don't know, maybe?

[He looks sadly at the coffee cup as Christine takes it, but makes no effort to stop her. It's a bad idea to drink more coffee and he knows it but also...... bean juice good.]

I - did you write a letter to the Phantom last night?

costume shop

[recessives]

[ Oh hey, guess who else is in here sort of... picking out a good number of clothes, or at least what her skinny arms can fuckin hold. And clearly has one of the few wigs in here on. ]

Is that... supposed to be a hat?

[ It's an honest question!!! Also she doesn't care about the fashion part of the Genetic Opera or she'd know this. ]

[justmeheere]

Does it look stupid? It looks stupid, huh.

[He takes it off and fidgets with it in his hands.]

[recessives]

No! It just looks like... maybe it's on wrong?

[ oh no here we are in anxiety central ]

[justmeheere]

Like it's backwards, or? [He lifts the hat again, turning it so it's the opposite way it was before.] Better? Worse?

[Worse. It's just a bad hat, Jeremy.]

[recessives]

I... Better...?

[ She frowns. ]

Maybe it's just that I haven't seen anything like it before.

[justmeheere]

I think it's just, um. I think it might just be ugly. It's okay if it's ugly.

[He's not fashionable or anything.]