WINTER COMMON ROOM - WEEK 4

[dormheads]

common room.

Similar to the rest of the architecture, the common room in the Winter Dorm is almost more reminiscent of a tea room or parlor that you would find in a manor. A chandelier hangs above, everything in the room glistening in the light that is both welcoming and just a tinge cold. Seating is available for a number of people to gather, adjusting each week to seemingly accommodate a little bit over the number of people assigned to the dorm. A piano doesn't sit too far, and sometimes when the room isn't too full, it's almost like a beautiful classical melody will begin to play itself to make up for the empty space.

Or... is that a showtune...?

Who can say?

This week, something else has been provided!

specialty room.

However on the first floor, there's an oddity amidst the serene architecture. One of the rooms opens to a Gaming Lounge, complete with screens that stretch across the entirety of one wall length-wise. Incredible comfortable chairs and couches sit opposite the screen, comfortable enough to steal you away from the outside world for hours upon hours. A series of gaming systems are hooked up to the screens, and a small tower of handhelds sit on a bookcase nearby. Every game you can think of is downloaded and programmed onto each device, though every time you start one up it seems to immediately pull up an otome game or farming simulator. The lighting system changes between a rainbow of colors, and one wall is lined with snacks that are a little less decadent but still just as delicious. The room will adjust based on the needs of the game you play, a wall spinning out to roll out DDR dance pads, virtual reality goggles, or whatever you could need for the ultimate gaming experience.

No, it isn't incredibly reminiscent of Dude Perfect's Game Time Lounge. You're imagining it. (But really, click the link for a better idea of what the room looks like.)

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Please use this as an open post for members of Winter Dorm. You may post top-levels whenever you'd like and go wild. A new post will go up at the start of each week.

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THAT'S AMORE.....

[dormheads]

[ Garlands of flowers are now hung around the Dorm - Lunar Tears, Cherry Blossoms, and Asters in particular.

Outside, in the evenings, there will be blankets laid out, warm and cozy. The ladder leading to the top of Winter's Roof will also be back, and they'll find more blankets up there too! There's also a telescope! Oh wow. Seems like the suggestion is to get your stargazing and moon viewing on now that it's not freezing out.

A little placard on the piano reads:
It seems like I might be here to stay.
Let's make the most of it, shall we?
And do say hello to our new residents. Make them feel at home.

Yours,
Iris ♥

There's also a jello bar. Aka there's trays of jello shots (clearly marked as alcoholic and not), and other cute jello recipes. Now she's just showing off.

And despite the decor outside, there isn't a hint of Valentine's decor anywhere to be found. There is, however, a tower of homemade chocolates. They are delicious. Apparently that's as close as Iris is getting. Guess she's not feeling shippushy. ]

m-m-m-monday!!!

[refate]

[ BUM BUM BUM BUM, says the piano, although not like - deafeningly, as usual. hi guys! kon here! please assume that there is just a quiet, constant energy under his emotions and also a low key exhaustion that he's neatly putting under everything else if you're close enough to him for long enough. ]

So, uh. Low key stuff, first? [ ... ] Mazel tov to Adora and Catra, I guess? We would've thrown a party if we knew in advance.

[ he's obviously amused, even if he's. also bemused. meme wedding... ]

Anyways, welcome to Caleb and Frumpkin - pardon our efficient mess. [ us, we are the mess. ] And last, but definitely not least, if you didn't see the note that was left for us - looks like Iris is sticking around for more than just yesterday, so thank fuck for that. Let's keep going with the energy we had then.

If anybody has any updates they want to share, Monday forum is now open. We had some talk about coordinating with the other dorms, but I don't know how much of that actually happened on a personal level - so I'm gonna put this out there. [ he lifts up his notebook from on top of the piano, giving it a little wave, before he moves to deposit it on one of the tables. ] Whatever information we want to compile into a pamphlet, or just notes to share with other people, I think we should consider it seriously and get it dispersed. I've talked to some other dorms, and they don't convene or spread information around their dormmates the same way we do.

[ can't relate. ]

If there's anything I'm missing or something that's off, and we need to get it updated, let's get that taken care of.

[ notebook, tada! i will update it when i am not on the clock but have fun let's TALK ]

[katzepaw]

Guten Morgen. Thank you for having me, I know it is a little crowded.

[He is here now, and so is Frumpkin. Just radiating a lot of sadness and grief vibes, and also a lot of awkward vibes, but he's here.

Anyway, come pet Frumpkin.]

Uhm. Fall Dorm does share things like this with one another. Luxanna got the information for this week, the message about what they are doing in the daycare. But I will be happy to bring anything back to them that we learn here.

[supercatty]

[SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE WANTS TO MURDER HIM, TBH]

[deep breaths, Catra]

Annie and Hugo are back to normal, too. I talked with them today. I haven't yet talked to Luke-- Riku-- but I can't imagine it'd only be three out of four.

[steelo]

[ i'd like to put it out here that there are a couple of sticky notes of varying levels of artistic skill hanging out on various flat surfaces in the common room. is this important? not really.

anyway ichiro's emotions are generally low key at the moment, too - he's always got a sort of quiet determination around him at any time, but his warmth at catra and adora's whatever that was and also at caleb's welcome is very genuine. ]

I talked a little to the others. Got the word out to Spring, Summer and Fall so everybody should have their hands on the note from Sunday, at least. [ nod nod. ] I do think anything we put together about our "editor" or whoever, is gonna need to be public knowledge. We might have to be low key about it, but we all gotta work together on this big problem if we want it solved.

And then...it looks like we were right about the marquee being from the dead, too. That's where the bear is, too, it looks like? Uh, Beary Daycare. So. I guess that explains why we don't see him around now. According to what Iris said, the "keys" are especially for the dead - we've got our own fish to fry over here.

Which... [ here, his emotions flicker a little bit, here, serious resolve and a low, quiet anger. ] You guys saw the notes, too, right? In our lockers.

I think we can categorize our killings into two different ones, now. People who get fucked with like that - compelled, or possessed, or whatever the hell it is - and then what went down with Byleth and Rupert.

I need to check with more than one person on this - I'd like to ask her myself, too, cause Iris wants to make sure we check our sources twice no matter what - but I learned that Byleth didn't help Rupert with Lan Wangji. Apparently, she only helped with Bradley, and then did what happened to Crow. There were two sets of footprints at the SUB for Crow's kill, and the second set could have only belonged to someone from Fall Dorm - either Caleb-san [ a nod in his direction ] Lux-chan, Yamato, or Taichi.

So, I guess whoever else is involved in that might be from Spring, if there is anyone. It goes Winter, Summer, Fall. So... that makes sense.

[ eventually, he blows out a frustrated exhale and scrubs his face. emotionally, a little frustrated, but mostly tired. ] I dunno what to do with that information, but it's just stuff to keep in mind, especially with Kon's power. It doesn't really tell us how to make it stop, but it's there.

[superjock]

[just buries her face in her hands over here, looking deeply embarrassed.

it's fine, carry on with info share]

tuesday addendum

[steelo]

[ hi hello

ichiro's sitting on the floor in the common room with copies of the documents from thursday laid out for everybody's reference. happy tuesday.

there's also kon's notebook which is open to the pages with the documents from the trip the first week!!!

:thinking: ]

Iris said we were making good progress with these. I wonder if we missed something. Anybody else wanna look?

tuesday night

[steelo]

[ on tuesday there's a sign written in red marker in the common room and also on the door of the housé that says:

X:XX PM
game room! game night. come join us. bring snacks!

and popping into the game room of the dorm at the appropriate time will find that a couple of the tvs are set up to different games in particular! one is set to mario kart. one is set to mario party. there's also popcorn and soda! i don't know your life.

ichiro's got a switch up, and the screen is showing the colorful title screen of what is absolute an otome. or a dating sim? this is fiction so it's both, and it's called... Bi Bi Baby. not really on he's heard of but hey. we're learning. as a group. we are playing otomes.

teaching tone: ]

So, the whole point of these things is you pick a route, right? You know, whatever type of path to follow. It gets you a different story, but you end up dating someone - that's what the routes are based on. All of em have good stories, but... you wanna pick based on your preference, usually. Like... the really nice, motherly type, or the prince type, or the princess type... stuff like that, you know? If we're gonna play as a dorm, we gotta figure that out.

[superjock]

[WE'RE LEARNING... WE'RE PLAYING OTOMES...

Adora is seated, cross-legged, and staring at the game with clear interest.]

Well... what's everyone's favorite type of girl? [no boys allowed] Guess we should start there.

[katzepaw]

[He's squinting at this like he's completely out of his depth.]

So the types of women are motherly, prince, or princess. . . ?

[refate]

[ kon is laying on his stomach with his arms pooled under his head around a pillow, having arranged his righty bum one into a more comfortable laying spot. he's just vibing here, observing the discussion back and forth. ]

I don't think I've ever actually picked a preference. I just play through the roster from the first in line to the last, usually. [ thinking, cheek mushed on his bicep, staring at the game. ] Hardworking genki types and defrosting quiet types for top ones, maybe. Tsunderes also have a place in my heart.

[azuta]

[she brought food!! she's also dressed more comfortably than usual, oddly excited even as she makes herself at home on one of the big gaming chairs. she giggles at the discussion, endeared]

I used to spend so much time on these games in my first life... [iris?] So many late nights, just embroiled in a good story! It's so satisfying when you capture the Good End too, especially if there's a bunch of perilous bad ends on the way.

I can't say if I had a favorite type... I was more of a completionist...

[there are so many layers to what she's just said]

[sawboned]

[Denji, who cannot read and has spent all his time here sleeping and eating, wanders over to see what everyone's gathering about, and when he steps into the room his eyes go wide]

We have a room with video games now???

[disreguarded]

[she's curled up in molly's coat on one of the chairs with a soda, watching them play. she's absolute garbage at mario party because she gets so fucking mad at the mini-games that she loses, but she's a beast at mario kart. hand eye coordination rules.

there's a point in the game where beau just like squints, and then:]

So - like, wait, people pick other routes than the one with the buff girl who takes a while to warm up to you?

thursday; curfew post

[katzepaw]

[How are we spending curfew, fam? Caleb is curled up in the common room with his cat. Messing around on his phone a little bit even though it doesn't work; looking out the window occasionally.]

. . . Odd to be somewhere else this week. How do we usually spend it here?

[superjock]

[Adora's pacing, a frown on her face, but she looks up when he talks.]

Uhhh... mostly stressing about things.

Sharing whatever information we have... planning for trial. That's about it, I think. I miss when we were punching doors though.

[supercatty]

[Catra is seated atop the piano, tail flicking back and forth behind her]

Waiting, I guess. Talking to Iris. Going over the things we found this week in hopes that it'll help us.

[refate]

Well, we've had people come back from field trips every week since I came back from one... so usually with food, info sharing, and patching each other up. Doing any last minute voucher exchanges we might need to knock out.

[ he sets out a bunch of containers of... bao, it looks like! he's popping the lids off of them, and they're fresh and steaming still. each one has a sticky note of the filling on it at the front, so you have your choice of what you want your curfew snacky to be. enjoy fam.

will we have a peaceful curfew this time??? hopefully. ]

[steelo]

Usually taking care of injuries, yeah. Everybody else covered it. Or eating - me and Kon usually cook before shit goes down.

[ ichiro's

here with the first aid kit. i was writing an entirely different top level but he's probably just helping denji AND LEO with his injuries at the moment. i hate you all so much ]

This is everybody but Adora who's been on one of these now, I think. [ ugh ]

[disreguarded]

[okay, well. one ruined peaceful toplevel later

beau is here, and she is helping with denji and leo where she can but she also keeps, like. rubbing nervously at the back of her left hand.]

[commandertoolbelt]

[ leo is here to yeet a plushie into the common room! it's a communal plush now.

otherwise he is not moving from his place sprawled out on the floor. ]

thread specifically for yelling at denji (also thursday post-curfew)

[sawboned]

[since getting absolutely clocked by kainé, denji's been passed out—far longer, in fact, than people with weird knowledge about how long people get knocked out for would expect

in fact, it's not until curfew that he suddenly wakes up, wherever it is that he's been placed—he sits up with a start and looks around]

Huh?? A crappy dream...?

[!] Did I miss dinner??

[seems like normal denji! assuming he's been cleaned up and changed from the blood-and-dirt-covered mess he was, people can see that the healing that was paid for seems to have taken effect, but that still leaves...a troubling amount of bodily harm

including, but not limited to:
- a bunch of deeply set splinters, that were hopefully taken out
- obvious bite marks in several places, the ones on his left leg and foot mostly healed and scarred over, the ones in his torso and left shoulder, which had been...severe, now just moderately terrible
- scarring from small cuts and puncture wounds all over his forearms and chest
- his awful rattling, labored breathing smoothed out at some point, but the left side of torso is still bruised to all hell, as is his elbow on that side
- and, most troubling: 5 eyes that look at if they were carved in with a knife, located on his right shoulder, the side of his neck, the center of his chest, the back of his right hand, and his left palm]

[katzepaw]

[He's just frowning at him, watching him where he's sitting, and then abruptly he peels off the glove on his left hand, revealing an eye on his left palm as well.]

. . . Where did that come from?

[steelo]

[ well despite the fact that he was yeeted by denji earlier there doesn't seem to be any hard feelings. ichiro's next to him when he does finally wake up with a pair of tweezers, plucking out those nasty splinters.

consciousness gets like. a tick of annoyance, but mostly just utter exasperation, and ichiro mutters: ] Dude. [ as he pulls out a splinter and adds it to the pile of them that's slowly growing. sometimes the word dude just expresses all of your feelings at once.

(ichiro voice) if i had a nickel for every time one of my friends suddenly turned apeshit and started beating me up for no goddamn reason i'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice ]

SUNDAY

[disreguarded]

[beau's just gonna sit on the piano and hit the keys with her foot. don't get too close to her because her vibes are rancid as fuck - nauseated, guilty, grief-y goodness. but there's also a sort of angry determination there, too.]

Got a hint. [waves a piece of paper. nobody else can see it, as per usual!] It's a pilot script cover page. It has that same red writing all over it, the asshole note taker? Shit like "don't you want to stay forever?" all over it.

And then - the back is just. Finish the story.

So we need to look at all of this, and we need to compile what we know. Who have been all the sleepers we've seen so far, and - the one thing where people think they want to be part of the school? The thing --

[... pause. her jaw works.] The thing Catra went through. Sakyou too, I think.

[steelo]

[ rancid vibes are fine. they're all pretty rancid today, at least. ichiro sits up from where he's laying on the couch, texting, and starts scrolling through his phone... and then reads off from a list, in pairs. ]

Sleepers - Sieghart and Dimitri the first week. Catra, Mabel; Sakyou, Kon; Malik, Caiman; Ichinose, Alphinaud.

Taichi said he noticed Malik was hella cursed last week. I dunno about Ichinose or Alphinaud.