03.50 - week three, saturday

[afflictionmods]

W3 SATURDAY

Another Saturday rolls around. Some of you had an… interesting night, perhaps, but that’s still no excuse to sit out on your lessons. There’s another announcement, another time to meet before your lessons start today. This time is just a bit different, though. This time you’re not meeting up at campus. You’re told to meet up at the park in the Museum District - and, as always, you’re expected to show up. How you get there is irrelevant, but you better try to be on time.

Florence is waiting at the park, and behind them is another dark, ominous orb. Even as far away as you are, you can hear its whispers. It’s calling to you with promises it can show you a new life, a better life, it can make you someone better… But then Florence is speaking, as if they cannot feel the hear the whispers.

“I will be accompanying you on this lesson, as I said in the brochure I handed out on Thursday. I will do my best to assist you.” There is a pause, though their face voice remains emotionless. “It is hard to say what it will be like inside - however, your goal for this lesson is to close this place for good. I may be unable to assist with that personally, so we are relying on you.”

They take a step back, turning towards the orb.

“I would advise you to do what is asked of you while you are in there - and a word of warning. Through our observations, we have noticed something strange. This seems capable of creating replications of those who enter it.” They let that information hang for a moment, before continuing. “We are unsure what these replications are truly capable of, but please be careful.”

Then Florence gestures for you to follow, and they’re stepping into the orb.

THE RINGMASTER

The inside is still the same park, but it has been transformed into a carnival. There are booths with games and food set up everywhere, a large ferris wheel, a tent. It will be a familiar carnival, to some of you, but all the lights are off and there are no people there. There’s a tug, a pull, that draws you towards the main tent - to center stage. Stepping inside you will be greeted by someone dressed as a ringmaster, whose voice is lively and energetic despite how hollow they seem on the outside:

“Hello and welcome! It’s time for your performance! And every good performer wants to do what the people want, don’t they? There’s a list on those little tablets of yours, and you need to do whatever’s asked of you!”

The ringmaster laughs brightly, and it echoes throughout the tent. “The more you do, the more we’ll all enjoy it, and the better chance you will get to stay you! But if you refuse… Well, that won’t be any good, right?”

The ringmaster makes a wide, sweeping gesture with their cane.

“We’re very generous here, though, and realize some things are easier to do with others! That’s why one refusal won’t be an instant loss. We’re assigning task cards, you see. Kinda like bingo cards! Each time you do a task for someone or someone does one for you, you get 50 points! The more you do, the higher the score, and once you reach 200 points, you're capped! But every time you refuse to do something people ask you to do, even if you're at 200 points… you lose 100 points ! And if you don’t do anything, well, you get no points and you lose automatically! You also can’t just sit around doing the same thing with the same person over and over again! Gotta spice it up! The same thing over and over again is just boring.”

There’s a click, and noise starts up outside of the tent. It sounds like the carnival’s come alive.

“Your little tablets will track your points. I really do recommend playing along, because if you fail… You’ll lose something. Something that makes you you! A memory, a precious item, something that makes you who you are and can’t be replaced so easily… Who knows what’s at risk, here! Though who am I kidding, it might be more fun to see what you'll lose. Don't ya think? Maybe you should just give up now and we can all laugh about it!

Anyways, all you gotta do is live until the timer runs out. The timer, by the way, is gonna be at the top of your tablet thingamajigs.”

There’s a tip of the ringmaster’s hat. The timer reads 90 minutes.

“That’s all for now! Go find that pesky little robot who’s been snooping around if you want more answers, because I am very busy.”

THE AUDIENCE

Once the ringmaster’s done with their speech, you’re free to travel around the carnival and explore it. It’s an eerie, quiet place, but… you’re not alone, and it won’t take you long to realize that. Those of you who had seen this carnival before - Miach, Shinei, Herlock, and Xingqiu - probably won’t be surprised when the doubles show up. They’re near perfect recreations of you - but near perfect doesn’t mean perfect. Their mannerisms might be odd, or their movements might be jerky and uncanny… but at a glance, it’s impossible to tell who is the real one and who isn’t.

And this is something that makes these doubles very, very angry.

They want you to fail, and they’ll do anything they can to ensure that happens. They’ll sabotage you - or your partner - all in an effort to make you lose points. They'll taunt you if it seems like you're ready to open up, they'll tell you about all the reasons why being honest is a bad idea. For physical prompts, they'll taunt you, call you a monster... They also seem to believe that if you fail, they’ll get to replace you. They will get a chance to get out of here and be the real one. They’re not always convincing, but they are dangerous, and there’s just as many of them as there are of you.

OOC NOTES

OOC: Here are some important things to note for today’s event:

- A simple breakdown of the rules is as follows:

You cap at 200 points, but you must maintain those 200 points until the timer runs out.
Mutual agreement on completing a task nets each person 50 points.
Getting turned down or refusing to do one makes you lose 100 points.
You cannot use the same person to complete all your tasks. You must have only one prompt per character that you cooperate with.

- The cards know, meaning that they'll know if something is not answered earnestly. Prompts that are answered falsely will not go away on your tablets. They will only go away if they are answered truthfully.

- Failure is NOT a bad end! In fact, we have some plans in the instance where not enough people pass the exercise. If 5 or more people fail the exercise, that is considered a group failure. Those who failed individually will face the consequences of losing the important memory/item/etc.

- We are asking people to make their own task cards. Here is a list of prompts:
break someone's bone, make someone bleed, get someone to cry, cause someone an injury that leaves a long-lasting mark, tell your partner what you hate about your relationship, tell your partner/someone in general your deepest secret, get someone to reveal a time in which they were emotionally very vulnerable, tell someone what you like about them, make someone angry, fight someone and win, kill someone's doppelganger, have someone kill your doppelganger, tell someone what you think is their worst attribute, tell someone what you think is your worst attribute You may also add one custom prompt tailored to your character, if you wish.

Please toss the prompts into the textbox at the top of this site. Under "Configuration Options", the card size should be 3x3 and the center space should have Normal selected. All characters will get a total of 9 prompts on their cards. It is okay to have prompts that your character would not do; it would just increase their chances of failure.

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

Mutsu's Card

[tosa]

(He looks down at his card and if he's bothered, he doesn't show it. At least, not too obviously. He looks around at the others, lets out a loud laugh, and smiles. He's not the only one with a rough set.)

Alright then! The sooner we get this over with the better!

(It's not his first time doing difficult jobs. He's fine.)

We can start off easy or go all in.

taken prompts:

[tosa]

* sabo: tell someone your deepest secret
* ryouma: tell your partner what you hate about their relationship
* cater: tell someone what you like about them
* ace: tell someone what you think is your worst attribute
* rideaux: tell someone the worst thing you've done

( closed ) sabo

[tosa]

(Aesthetically, carnival reminds him of the festivals back home. So this is what a western festival is like? He sees. Well, he supposes they're probably a lot friendlier and less traumatic but he's never had a problem using his imagination to create a kinder vision of the world.

Mutsu doesn't seem too bothered. If anything, he seems to be handling this rather well. He keeps his head up high and smiles easily. It's because he's That Type of Person in a crisis that he has to be like this. He spots Sabo and waves him over,)

Some festival, right?

[vivens]

[ bless this good dog because while sabo can't exactly deliver the same kind of message or see things the same way, he'll be more than fine to embrace the energy that mutsu is emitting here.

mainly because, timeline wise, i have no idea what sabo's been through yet and so he's starting off at zero things currently wrong with him. ]

I would hate to call this a festival, honestly.

[tosa]

A rotten festival's still a festival.

(But he nods, adjusting some of his energy a bit. Hes' still trying to keep his head up but well... no point in really committing to the entire act when people aren't totally buying it.)

Can't think of many festivals that make me wanna think "lets get this over with" though.

[vivens]

[ sadly nods along with. ]

I can probably think of a few but I don't think that's anything to be proud of.

[ pets the pupper for trying his best but sabo is also going to keep doing his best to support mutsu in keeping his spirits high despite everything that has been falling for them this week. first they stumbled upon the Knowledge of the museum and now this? it's a very good thing to keep themselves in check, honestly. ]

Should we try to get some of this out of the way then?

[ sneaks a peek at his tasks to see which would be best to address for the two of them here. ]

[tosa]

(Ah, a headpat...)

Yeah, let's get it over with. I'll show ya what I got.

(And he shows his card on his table! He's got a couple filled out but his middle row needs one more filled out. Yeah, this isn't how they're really supposed to play it but checking it off would give a nice little "bingo.")

How about a secret?

( closed ) ryouma

[tosa]

(Ryouma can probably feel it. Despite the easy smile and the laidback demeanor, Mutsu hates this. The moment he saw his own card and realized what this meant for everyone else, he'd felt a sharp pang of anger and sadness on everyone's behalf followed by a strong sense of determination.

He's always been an empathic spirit and when he sees people in miserable situations, he feels for them and wants to make things easier if not better. He isn't the only one like that here. He turns to Ryouma, wondering what's going through his head, )

Ryouma. What d'ya got?

[kaientai]

[ ryouma did feel it but it's one of those things that's difficult to differentiate from his own feelings. they are very much the same in that way. he shows mutsu what's on his tablet. ]

I suppose we oughta just make it easier on ourselves and pick something to get it out of the way, right?

[ it's taken him a little bit to feel like himself again after the way things went the following week, but he's eager to get a fresh start now. this isn't ideal, but they can make the most of it! ]

'Cause I'm sure you're gonna do what I do after this!

[ which is help everyone else out as much as possible. ]

[tosa]

(He looks over at Ryouma's set of prompts. One definitely stands out to him and... there's a feeling. There's a sharp, twisting feeling as Mutsu feels guilt and he quickly tries to shove it all away.)

Yeah...

(He doesn't voice the one that affected him the way it did. Instead, he shows his own tablet to Ryouma,)

... Been thinking. It ain't really fair for me to know more about you than ya know about me.

[kaientai]

[ he looks over mutsu's prompts, although he can't ignore that feeling of guilt that springs up. but since mutsu is offering... ]

Well, I never really thought about it like that, but I don't mind listenin'. Seein' as I've been puttin' ya out an' makin' trouble, ya oughta pick what ya like. I'll go along with it!

[tosa]

Iya, iya... ya haven't been any trouble! (He means it! He hasn't been troubled at all.) Other folks might think ya but not me!

(Because he truly loves everything about Ryouma.)

But well... If ya look, there's one thing here only for us.

(The one that clearly says he needs to tell his partner something.)

( closed ) cater

[tosa]

(Looking over the chart, some of these are definitely easier than others and yet, there isn't a single row that doesn't come with some sort of weight. Out of all of his options, only one really seems good and he wonders who could use it. There are people here that he can burden in some ways and take care of but there are others here he'd rather spare.

He thinks about the challenge in particular when he finds Cater.)

Hey, neighbor. (He's smiling,) How're ya doing?

[magicam]

[These classes sure are rough. Yeah, it seems like some people are having an easier time than others, and even some prompts on this card are much easier than others, but...

Yeah, straight up not having a good time, fam.

Cater's busy thinking about how to accomplish at least a few of his when Mutsu calls out to him and breaks him from his concentration, though.]

Oh, hi, Mukkun~ Cay's totes been way better, but... how are you?

[tosa]

Ah, same here.

(And yet, he doesn't look too bothered. That's just the way Mutsu is.)

Anything stand out for ya? Or would ya say it's all bad?

[magicam]

Hmm... There's one that's not the worst, but, like, doesn't that make all the rest of them even more awful?

[Because that's sure what it feels like!!]

[tosa]

If that's how ya wanna think about it but... I'd rather think about how it just isn't bad, y'know?

(But he gets it,)

.... D'ya think you can help me out with one?

( closed ) ace

[tosa]

Y'know, of all the festivals I've seen... this one's probably the lousiest.

(That's how he decides to open his conversation with Ace. He keeps his tone light and casual. There's no reason to get down and serious right away. In fact, it's best to gauge how Ace is doing before jumping right into their task.)

How about you? I bet ya've seen a bunch.

(Mr. Sailor.)

[iubar]

I've seen a few in my time.

[ And he's gazing out across their surroundings. ]

It's pretty bad. But that just means we've got to make the best of it, right? Make our own party.

[ Yeah, there's emotional things being shared and physical damage being let out, but that doesn't mean that between all that and afterward they have to keep the mood gloomy. ]

[tosa]

(Ah, that's the spirit. Or rather, it's a spirit Mutsu recognizes because he's the same way.)

Exactly. I'm thinking we get it all over with it but I've always been pretty impatient.

[iubar]

The longer you wait, the worse it gets.

[ Yeah, it's a mood. ]

Who knows, maybe we can find something interesting to do after all the dirty work is done.

( closed ) rideaux

[tosa]

(All of this is stressful and the other Mutsunokami running around sure isn't helping. He's been trying to chase him down and keep him from causing trouble but in the true spirit of Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki... even a copy is hard to track down.)

Lost 'em again!

(He whines and lets out a loud sigh,)

Where'd he run off to this time... (He sees Rideaux and falgs him down,) Hey. Ya see another one of me go by here?

[pr159]

[ looking up from his tablet ]

Wasn't really paying attention, but I don't think so. Trying to catch one so someone else can kill it or what?

[tosa]

Just trying to keep an eye on that guy. He's a real pain in the ass.

(Running his mouth and saying some real obnoxioius things!!!)

Guess he's a better runner than me, though. (And he shrugs,) He'll show up again.

[pr159]

Right. Good luck with that.

[ well. as long as they're talking. ]

What's on your list, then? Want to exchange a couple of quick insults or something?