WINTER COMMON ROOM - WEEK 7

[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!

On Suite One's Door, a sign has been placed on the front. there's four options, however, and they're color coded - green with a 👍 thumbs up, yellow with a 👊 fist (for knock first, fools), and red with a 🚫 no entry sign. the fourth option is just black for now, probably to indicate that it's not in use.

A bunk bed with Fall Dorm bedding sits in the Common Room. The TO THE WINTERS GO THE SPOILS Star Chart hangs proudly.

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.

Comments

BEFORE THE STORM

[dormheads]

[All throughout the common room, it seems the bouquets are back! This time, they all come in woven flower crown form. They are lovingly labeled with everyone’s names. While there are different flowers in every arrangement, each one has a different centerpiece flower.

Adora - Hydrangea
Beau - Magnolia
Caleb - Lotus
Catra - Daisy
Crow - Morning Glory
Denji - Peony
Dimitri - White Anemone
Ichiro - Sunflower
Kaine - Lunar Tear & White Rose
Kaoruko - Dahlia
Kon - White Camellia
Leo - Zinnia
Mollymauk - Violet
Rupert - Pink Rose

And there is also a bouquet of irises.]

THIRD FLOOR

[dormheads]

[On the third floor door, Winter residents might see a… decoration change. From head to toe, scrawled out in red writing:]



[Will you look inside?]

[steelo]

[ well

guess who is running up the stairs to go check on iris after that video??? ]

Iris!

[ bye lets go inside ]

[chevaliered]

[ crow doesn't even say anything, he just starts moving immediately. he'll be right behind ichiro, all the way to getting inside, his double saber clenched in one hand and a deeply dark frown on his face.

what's in here. ]

[katzepaw]

[Well. He will follow in, too, keeping in mind some things that have been said.]

[dormheads]

[wow you'd think there's an emergency or something based on your reactions!

her room is a mess. the same writing on the door is etched across every single wall, staining the blue with this deep, haunting red. it contrasts with all the mementos left on her shelves - a blue origami crane, a blue ballerina origami, a misshapen origami lump, a paper airplane, a sketch from a friend, and a few framed pressed flowers in the shapes of flower crowns and daisy chains. pictures of winter dorm line on her walls, their faces smiling whether it be at winter formals or picnics.

on the ground by her desk there is a letter opener, sharp and discarded. on her desk there are a few papers.

also, because flurry said so and i'm not a coward, there's still glitter lying around.]

[steelo]

[ haha

fucking hate this! he's just going for the desk immediately, taking a sharp breath. what's up with the papers. ]

[chevaliered]

[ his hand clenches on the saber for a moment, before crow just sighs -- sharp and heavy, and moves further into the room. he frowns at the writing on the wall for a moment, before walking over to the letter opener and picking it up off the floor. ]

... Prepared as ever.

[ alright then. he's gonna have a little peek under the desk and see if there's anything there. sorry about your privacy, iris. ]

[katzepaw]

[He will go take a look at the writing on the wall. Anything new, or just villainess?]

[dormheads]

[it's just for dudes poking around a lady's room and that's funny.

nothing under the desk! glitter, maybe? she's pretty cleanly. the writing on the wall is the same as the door: villainess, bad end, broken.

ichiro gets the main goal of the investigation: a 4-page letter i wish i was joking but i'm not, anyway your most important plot info is in the first half!]

[steelo]

[ ........ ]

...guys. [ he's very quiet, but, grabbing caleb and crow's attention so they can all crowd around the letter and read.

he's white knuckling the paper by the end of it, trying not to tear or crumple it - expression torn somewhere between misery and fury and... sheer determination, too. ]

...we have to get this back to everyone else. C'mon.

[chevaliered]

...

I can guess the gist of it. Let's go.

The sooner the better.

[ his grip on the saber is deceptively loose, but there's a clench to his jaw that is just angry. he closes his eyes for a moment, before pocketing the letter opening and heading to move out. ]

[katzepaw]

[Oh no, he has a feeling reading this.]

. . . Ja. Better share it around. But, you know, I think Iris overestimates herself sometimes. She is not so cold-hearted as she thinks.

[steelo]

[ as they're heading out, ichiro glances at the wall, one more time, and then - smacks the palm of his good hand, hard, into the villainess on the door. ]

...She's not a villainess. That's for fucking sure. [ he's been trying to tell her that all along. ]

[chevaliered]

[ ... that gets the tiniest smile out of him. ]

Yeah. She's not.

But she'll act like one, if she thinks it's a role she has to play.

[

stupid. so stupid. ]

... C'mon. Let's go see this through to the end.

[katzepaw]

[Caleb glances at Ichiro and then at Crow and then softly thinks to himself this is so awkward but it's not thoughtshare anymore so that goes unexpressed.]

w7; monday

[repress]

[ they buy their clue, and this appears. ominous! he's also judging principal bear a little. ]

The pen is mightier than the sword...? [ IOU? ] What are we meant to glean from this?

[commandertoolbelt]

Maybe we have to buy a red pen to write in our own edits.

[repress]

...It would be nice, if it was that simple.

[commandertoolbelt]

Right? But Caleb's right - "the pen is mightier than the sword." This whole time, it's been telling us to write our own ending. So either we'll have to talk Iris and the others out of whatever's screwing with them, or we really do just... write something different.

Assuming we're all left to deal with our dorm heads - Iris's notes mentioned a contract, right? Maybe we could draft our own. Call it a part of the story, or something.

[repress]

I worry she will use some sort of contract against us... But yes, we should be ready to come up with endings that allow us to keep what is precious.

I do not think this world can rail against us forever. This seems as though is it using its power to force our hands into ending things—as long as there is a satisfying conclusion, we will be free.

[commandertoolbelt]

A good conclusion that doesn't leave any sequel hooks. The question is how to do that if we're not supposed to just write something.

And for the contract and hostage stuff - we should be prepared for anything. After all those field trips, I'd believe they could use something or someone who isn't here with us against us, too. Anything that could get us on their side, you know?

[katzepaw]

I think it is warning us not to expect to win this by fighting; we will have to use other means.

Perhaps to write a better ending.

[repress]

[ a nod ]

...If our 'enemies' are the dorm heads, I hope there is an alternative to violence. But we should be cautious of Iris's warnings.

[katzepaw]

Well, she did warn us to take hostages.

[repress]

The people in her dorm are the most precious to her. So should we kidnap ourselves?

[ iris... ]

[katzepaw]

Honestly? Maybe.

[overshaded]

[ from kainé, who didn't choose an alternative to violence yesterday: ]

She did say we should get creative.

[repress]

[ it's fine sometimes you stab people ]

Mm. I do not think brute force is the solution with someone like Iris anyway.

Something creative that does not hinge solely on love...

[overshaded]

[ don't be so easygoing about it, dimitri.... ]

I understand what she means, but she's someone who loves so fiercely.

[chevaliered]

... I hope so too.

Iris already made me promise to kill her if she tried to hurt one of us, and I would really, really rather that didn't happen. [ hm! ]

If getting creative works, I'm all for it.

[repress]

...Hugo told me that death should not be permanent so long as we were careful. But still, I would rather avoid it.

[ even if that's how they solved the other assimilations, he's never enjoyed it. ]

[chevaliered]

If the wishes are a thing, and it comes to that, it's hers.

[ that's all he really has to say. ]

[chevaliered]

... if that's what we need to do, that'd be a lot better.

But what's the IOU for?

[sawboned]

Ugh, writing? For real??

[he scowls and crosses his arms, muttering:]

way easier to kill somethin' with a sword than a pen if ya ask me...

saturday

[refate]

[ at some point or another, there's activity in the dorm common room. some coming and going, but nothing too busy that requires much investigation? if you're out there as it's happening, then you'll see that it's just kon - he's making multiple trips, it seems, with obvious gaps between them that might imply the cafeteria if you've got that figured out?

but, eventually, there's a spread set up of quite a few different cuisines. whether you've told kon your favorite food or not, there was effort put into personalizing this spread to the best of his abilities. if you were publicly eating something during that culture fair, it's probably here. if you've said in passing what kind of food you like, it's probably here.

happy endgame feast, winter. your did it! ]

[sawboned]

Oh, hell yeah! You're the best, dude!

[he goes to pounce on it, but then looks at Kon to see if it's okay first—it's called character growth]

[refate]

[ denji gets an ok-hand gesture with the check. have at it, my dude. ]

Figure we have one last hoorah, before we get into the real swing of graduation frenzy. [ ... ] And, y'know, you were kind of a dinosaur? That expends energy, probably. Chow down, Denji.

[sawboned]

Sure did! The whole time I super wanted to chow down on some all-you-can-eat yakiniku, but thankfully I was able to remember I was just havin' fun and not eating anyone! [ha ha, what an ending that would've been]

Was wayyy different than when I transform into Chainsaw Man. Even my brain was different.