week three | mingle

[showhost]

So, uh.

Welcome to Week Three! We’ve officially passed the halfway point, and after a super, duper successful Match Ceremony, I’m sure the teens are feeling all hyped up and raring to go.

Right?

Regardless, there are a few changes this Monday morning to greet the teens:

• First off, there is a new bathroom! Oooh, aaaahhhh. Three whole bathrooms in the house for the teens now. Enjoy.
  
• There is also a set of video games in the living room to connect to the TV. They are pretty much all multiplayer party games like M*rio C*rt. Don’t kill each other.
  
• There are a few packs of dorayaki now scattered around the house.
  
• There is also a piano now in the living room!
  
• On the counter in the kitchen, there is also some paper and writing implements, like basic ballpoint pens. Wait, doesn’t that break the rules?

Tsukasa’s extremely loud and obnoxious voice is not here to greet you guys this morning, which means it seems there isn’t a Task for the week–

But something else seems to be going on.

Embrace Space | Property Damage, etc | Dates | Mini-Event
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Submissions

Comments

EMBRACE SPACE

[showhost]

Respond here if your teens are using the embrace space, and I will set up a room for you guys!

[counton]

One embrace space for Lessing and Ritsuka please

[willandaway]

Willanna. . . on Thursday, in the midst of the tb discussion. . . after it dies down a little tho

[hgeegh]

Sanji and Asa . . . on Wednesday or thereabouts.

[flaweddetective]

Akatchi, please. Quick, while everyone is distracted by whatever the hell Cassie is doing in the NSFW channel.

[gravkitty]

kat and mark at the end of boys and girls night (saturday) please!

(frozen comment) PROPERTY DAMAGE, ETC

[showhost]

This is a space for me to update for everyone to know if anything is totally wrecked in the house.

Pls ping me in the discord if your teen gets up to any house-wrecking mischief!

Damages:

• The banner is now gone. It’s been given to Wednesday. RIP, banner.
  
• There is now an old-timey firepit in the garden, a ring of stones around a small hole with some branches from trees in it
  
• We are now down to 12 beds. Ritsuka's bed has been split in half ~mysteriously~ (thank u Sanji and Minami)

DATES

[showhost]

This is the place to request dates! You can request specifically where the characters will go, a general vibe of what you want them to have, or just leave it up to the producers!

There is no limit on the number of dates you can go on, or the number of people you can bring on one date.

Have at it!

[willandaway]

sticks out leggy. send will and ritsuka to the mall with a cheap food court

ETA: AND ALSO WILL AND ANNA at the place we discussed, to take place like. wednesday night.

[hgeegh]

- Sanji and Yoru for her requested private date or whatever production chooses instead
- Sanji and Josuke for somewhere food-related

Thank you!

[ohwoe]

A bestie date for Wednesday and Ritsuka please! We want to request a haunted house--

[singurarity]

- Ritsuka and Lessing for what she and Tsukasa talked about!
- Ritsuka and Akechi for whatever!
- Ritsuka and Josuke forced on an Olive Garden-esque experience

[haircared]

my turn to go crazy mode with dates. TY AS ALWAYS SWEET CAL

josuke/mark - rng
josuke/dorothea - rng
josuke/akechi - rng
josuke/ritsuka/mark - rng but pet friendly 🥺

MINI-EVENT

[showhost]

So after the massive amounts of energy used to up security last match ceremony, it seems the magic that maintains this lil pocket dimension and the house is a bit… on the fritz.

IN PRACTICE, THIS MEANS… welcome to Weird Shenanigans week! Featuring:

• Dress-Up-Your-Blorbo Week: Characters being plopped into any clothing you want, whether they like it or not
  
• Animal Features Week: Join poor Lessing so he’s less alone and give your character some sort of animal features! Ears… tails… teeth…… you know the drill.
  
• Shoujo Tropes Week: when you’re having a sweet moment with someone, those shoujo bubbles might pop up around you. Maybe there are suddenly cherry blossoms fluttering through the air inside. How? Who knows! Don’t worry about it. Feel free to make up your own shoujo tropes that pop up throughout the week!

Everything that happens is harmless, of course–and it can all follow the characters out on dates. The theme of this week is JOY AND WHIMSY.

[willandaway]

[fritz, what fritz!1 Will seems deeply focused on some. . . thing. . . at the beginning of this week. most of the time, he isn't readily available, but it's not like he's trying to hide either. he has just tucked himself away in various corners of the house (curled up on a couch, seated at his makeshift campsite, at a desk underneath a reading lamp at night) with his travel journal propped open as he scribbles something on the pages. sometimes, there are a few crumbled up pieces of paper littered around him. he seems deep in thought, but it probably wouldn't hurt to bother him if you wanted to. . . probably!]

[otherwise, Will can also be found in the hot tub, submerged all the way up to his nose with eyes closed as he soaks in the hot water. r. . . relaxation. . .]

[there are no glitches in this top level but that does not mean they cannot occur mid-thread, so feel free to work those in if you'd like--]

[hgeegh]

[Sanji stays up fairly late every night, and so he catches Will at the desk once it's dark and quiet. Arching a swirled eyebrow at all the paper around him, he strolls over with a hand in his pocket.]

You're still up?

[rosethorns]

I. PIANO

[Wow, big shocker that Dorothea can’t help but make an immediate bee-line for the piano that’s shown up. She can be found standing beside it, letting the fingers of one hand lightly glide over the tops of the keys. Then after a moment she plays a few notes of a scale, humming along to them.

Whenever someone approaches, her gaze drifts from the keys to them.]

Do you know how to play?

II. TAILS??

[Thankfully, she’s already caught sight of some of the others dealing with the weird glitches afflicting the house this week, so when her turn comes around, at least it’s not that much of a terrible shock. Not that she’s entirely happy about it anyway.

Picture the fluffiest tail you’ve seen on a long-haired cat, and that’s what Dorothea’s currently dealing with. She’s looking thoroughly fed up with it after nearly getting it caught in a door. With a sigh, she pulls it to her side.]

I really thought I’d lucked out and avoided all this nonsense…

III. HOT TUB

[Come join her in the hot tub one evening. Warm water! Relaxation!

Except that Dorothea appears to look very thoughtful. What could be on her mind? Well, whether you’re just joining her or have been hanging out here for a while, she’ll let you know. She sinks down a little into the water, leaning her head back against the edge of the tub with a sigh.]

We got so many lights this weekend, and yet it still feels like we’re so far from figuring out all the matches.

[Come for some hot tub strategizing or just tell her to relax a little and steer things elsewhere. Follow your heart~]

IV. WILDCARD

[Nab her for whatever. Weird effects are also all on the table—you know this girl’s gotta get some shoujo sparkles in.]

[singurarity]

[ Ritsuka glances at the piano. Then at Dorothea.

Very ruefully-- ]

Like. Maybe "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", but pretty badly?

[newlugers]

1. vibeo games

Holy shit!

[ anyone would be forgiven for thinking that something truly alarming might have happened to Steve. That is not the case. He's in the living room, having managed to figure out how to turn on the N*ntendo after some trial-and-error (same goes for the fancy flat-screen TV mounted on the wall, which has no visible buttons and was quite perplexing), staring at the screen in awe. The fact that there were apparently 8 M*rio K*rt games out was shocking enough, but seeing it in motion... ]

They made him look like an actual guy!

2. dont turn me into a lizard again

[ everyone else popping up animal ears and stuff is all well and good. Stupid, but fine. He tells himself he doesn't actually care - it's not like it has anything to do with Umbrella, because when they make people transform, the results are enough to make you puke. Even so, he finds himself nervous. And itchy. It is, without a doubt, all in his head, but his head won't shut up long enough for him to ignore it.

Which is why Steve can be found in that fancy new bathroom! Not using it, but peering intently at the mirror with one hand in his mouth, getting an angle on his teeth and looking concerned. ]

2

[counton]

[ While Lessing isn't entirely sure what he walked in on, on his way to the bathroom, he does vaguely feel like it's something he shouldn't be seeing.

He freezes in the hallway, looking a little like a sheep deer caught in headlights as he watches with bemused wonder as Steve checks out his... teeth? What is happening there, buddy? ]

[makeine]

[ anna!!!! will be sporting sheep's ears and a bit of wool coming out around her neck from time to time this week, so. have fun with that. maybe she has a tail too who knows.

in any case, while she... is being cordial at best and avoidant at worst towards will until. wednesday. when he balls up to ask her on a date, that's not the only odd thing about her behavior:

she's also not scavenging the dorayaki like one might expect her to. no, if she sees it she might pick it up and then leave it someplace else if she doesn't end up eating it, but... her enormous, ever-grazing appetite has been reduced to a normal person's.

anyway, when anna isn't tucked into the couch watching movies or other people play video games (please, the CPU are so difficult for no reason in m*rio c*rt 8, some of them are bloodthirsty) she's usually just sitting in the bedroom writing with their new pen and paper additions... it sucks she'll have to type this all up after, but whatever. something something different drafts.

...

ritsuka is one of two people who's going to be on anna's hit list, a wrapped box in hand as she seeks the other girl out.

the other is josuke, with a covered bowl instead. at a different point of time of course.

anyway. anna's fine! totally okay. don't even worry about it, look at her be bubbly as ever. ]

[singurarity]

[ said other girl is not letting the joy of dorayaki go to waste, especially after the weekend she's had, so she is actually munching on one now when Anna approaches, shooting her an inquisitive look. ]

Hey, you.

[warhawks]

[ Later in the week — from Wednesday (not that one) onward — Asa can be found trying to navigate various situations thanks to her new, highly impractical arms. Maybe she's trying to make food, play M*rio K*rt, do her hair, or even put on pyjamas later at night. Whatever the case, she lifts up her taloned hands, stares for a few seconds, then slumps her shoulders with a tired sigh. ]

It's fine. I didn't want to anyway...

[counton]

[ They're in the kitchen, because this is probably a less horrific scenario for her than being caught by a boy as she tries to put on her pjs, and she is allowed the smallest amount of dignity as most of it is stripped away.

Either way, Lessing is quiet for a moment as he watches her struggle, before finally asking. ]

Did you want help?

Now the sheep does the herding [Forward dated to Thurs]

[counton]

[ As one of the few people in the house to not have a dramatic beef and/or makeup with anyone this week, Lessing figures he's as good a person as any to kick this off this time. So he'll wait until the maximum number of people are milling about within earshot to start talking, since he's not going to bother raising his voice. ]

We need to decide who goes to the Truth Booth soon. I've been thinking about it, and since Ritsuka and I seem likely, it makes more sense for us to just keep voting for each other in regular matching ceremonies to keep us from having a blackout.

[ He sounds confident at least. There aren't too many more to get through anyway. ]

And this way if there was anyone who wanted to confirm who their match is, then...

[ He trails off and shrugs, apparently having decided he doesn't need to. He made his choice already regardless. ]

[rosethorns]

[Here Dorothea stands, hands on her hips and looking determined.]

I think there's one obvious contender for sending to the Truth Booth this week. We're all thinking it, right?

[Right? If she says it maybe she can will it to be so.]

I'm talking about Mr. Whirlwind Romance himself, Will. [A beat, maybe a glance his way.] I've gotten my hands on a little hint about his match, and if we're all still running with the idea that Ritsuka and Lessing are our week one pair, then it just brings us down to two possibilities: it has to be either Annie or Goro.

CATHERDING THE SEQUEL

[singurarity]

[ later... Thursday. Which is basically Ritsuka just trying to get this to be a little less of a headache. ]

Okay, so let's try to narrow this down. The way I see it personally, if we want to take people's feelings into consideration, and we should, we shouldn't vote for Akechi-kun and Will this week. I'm also of the opinion we should give Sanji and Doro-chan a break, so that would also rule out testing Josuke and Doro-chan and Sanji and Asa. Some of you will vote for whoever you want anyway, due to your natures or some other reason, and we're not here to fight over that. Do whatever, but if you're veering this route, you don't really need to get involved in the rest of this.

For anyone else, I think it could fall between Will and Anna-chan, me and Lessing, or Kat and Mark. If we want to follow Akechi-kun's suggestion of intra-team pairings from the first week's group, that'd be Kat and Mark. If we want to try and verify whether we can confirm a light from the first and second week, that'd be me and Lessing. If we want to try and narrow down Will's matches, Will and Anna-chan.

We can bring up any other possible pairing if you guys really want to, but that's my opinion.

[boneface]

[ Ryuji is still of the opinion it should be Will and Akechi to confirm their match and get Akechi out of the game.

... But he doesn't think anyone's gonna listen to him or his warnings, so he's just going to watch everyone talk and keep his mouth shut. Ugh!! ]

[hgeegh]

[On this fine past Wednesday, Sanji emerges from the embrace space looking slightly worse for wear than when he entered it. While he's otherwise unmarred, his dress shirt is shredded in the front—and starting to develop dark red spots—as if it's been slashed. There's no urgency in his steps as he makes a beeline for the nearest bathroom, where he shrugs his shirt off to assess the gouges concentrated around the center of his chest in the mirror.

They're a bit deep, but not enough to be cause for alarm as far as Sanji's concerned. He supposes, since it was an accident, the anti-violence measures didn't kick in to stop them. Clicking his tongue, he looks down at the torn, stained shirt in his hand.]

Guess there's no saving this . . .

SHIRTLESS SANJI REVEAL???

[haircared]

[ Josuke here is about to start his lengthy nightly beauty routine, which includes taking down his hair, but he's startled by Sanji's presence, which quickly turns to alarm when he sees blood. ]

Sanji? The hell happened?!

[ He's already reaching out to grasp his shoulder, trying to turn him around so he can see the gashes for himself. ]

TRUTH BOOTH

[warhawks]

[ She's here in one of Anna's tank tops, because she still has the giant bird arms... hell. ]

Yeah, we're screwed.

[makeine]

Don't be such a downer. We thought we were out a chef last week too.

[ but anna's set on ritsuka and lessing being a match... she's staring so hard at the screen. chewing on a carrot. ]

1/2 - a Thing

[aspirings]

[There is the sound of shouting inside the house from one of the rooms that’s generally locked for production’s use. The words are too muffled to be heard, but the fact that people are yelling is definitely obvious.

And then the door slams open, and Tsukasa stalks out, for once not at all sunny and sparkly and instead looking all sorts of furious and/or despairing–

And then he just. Walks over to the wall, slides down next to it, and buries his head in his hands with a groan.]

2/2

[unamusical]

[ And there’s a short green-haired girl coming out of the door shortly after, looking over at Tsukasa with a tiredly exasperated but also semi-concerned air before turning to the Surely Gathering crowd. ]

… My name is Nene Kusanagi. Due to an unforeseen situation happening at her place of work, Maomao will be returning home. Because of this, Tsukasa will be replacing her as a contestant and I’ll be stepping in as your new host. Or, co-host, rather.

For your purposes, his inclusion and replacement doesn’t, um… change anything. All the things you’ve worked out and the results are still the same. It’s a direct swap.

So, um. [ She fidgets, a little uncomfortably. ] Please treat us well…

POST-TB AND ANNOUNCEMENT CATHERD

[willandaway]

[well. . . now that things have been shaken up a bit. . .!]

[Will raises his voice (a rarity for him) to get everyone's attention]

I hope we're all glad for Ritsuka and Lessing. And I hope we all welcome Tsukasa as a contestant with open arms.

But now we need to talk about who is choosing whom at tomorrow's ceremony. So team Wonder. . . what are your thoughts?

[makeine]

[ she's looking at minami like this

their deal!!!!! buddy!!!!!! remember!!!!!!! yeah? yeah? still on? buddy? ]