tdm

[adsum]

full navigation

wake up

You open your eyes. And then immediately squeeze them shut as a cloud of chalk dust gets clapped in your face, the student next to you looking surprised— but the sort of surprised as if they're faking it, barely suppressing a laugh. "What're you dozing off for, transfer student?" they ask, going back to wiping clean the chalkboard you two are standing in front of. "The sooner we get everything cleaned up, the sooner we can go home!" Another classmate tosses a wet rag at the side of your face, laughing as if a joke— if it weren't strangely warm to the touch, with dark red stains smelling strongly of iron.

All characters open their eyes and wake up in one of the classrooms around school. Whatever they remember last, it's lost in a thick, sleepy fog, the drowsiness still wearing off and making it difficult to reconcile the fact that they've never seen this classroom or these people in their lives, but somehow, it feels like they've been here forever. The other students all act familiar towards you, calling you by name and encouraging you to help clean the classrooms as part of observing the Vernal Equinox. Buckets of soapy water are set on the desks around the classrooms, light pink suds spilling over the sides, and both students and faculty can be seen hard of work scrubbing dark, stubborn stains out of the walls and floors. "It must be absolutely spotless," they murmur under their breaths. "All evidence must be erased."

You don't have to stay and clean. You could throw the rag back into a bucket and flip these strangers the bird and exit the classroom. But those who don't help clean even a little will find that they leave sticky red footprints wherever they walk, creating more work for everybody else and becoming very easy to track down and """accidentally""" knock over the backside of the head with a mop handle. Besides, it's not like you can walk out of the school and get back to whatever you were doing before. Your feet may bring you to the front door on autopilot, but the doors do not open for you, and neither do any of the windows no matter how hard you try to pry them open or kick them in.

Careful, though. On some windowsills, particularly on the third and fourth floors, rests a stack of five flat stones one on top of another: a gorinto to those who recognize such a thing, a pile of rocks to those who do not. The stones are all damp with water, topped with a scattering of wisteria flowers, and flanked by cheap packaged snacks. Whether on accident or on purpose, the moment you touch any of it—-

wake up

You open your eyes. The last thing you remember is touching a wet stone or trying to swipe the rice cracker beside it, and in the next moment, you're somewhere else inside the school. Characters who touch the gorinto or its offerings will find themselves pulled into a memory of high school life, one that feels like theirs, although they recognize that that's impossible. There's the feeling of being classmates with the other characters- perhaps two characters are seat partners, or best friends, or rivals, or club members- but despite the familiarity, do not know each other's names or recall ever seeing their faces before. Essentially, live your pre-established cr high school au dreams.

The memories fade in and out of different scenarios, but they all start off the same: You open your eyes.

You open your eyes and the inside of your left wrist is stinging; you stop scratching, pulling your other hand away before the angry red lines on your skin splits and bleeds. Somebody calls your name, just as you see a pan slide off the stovetop out of the corner of your eye, and the stinging on your wrist flares to a searing burn, hot oil splattering you and the person next to you.

You open your eyes. You're flat on your back in a room that smells of paint thinner, your chest is heavy, and it's so hard to breathe. Something is crushing your throat- a fluffy white cat with golden eyes, purring and kneading away, but then somebody calls your name and its fluff puffs twice its size in surprise, claws sinking into your throat, hooking and tearing as the cat scampers away.

You open your eyes. A kendo shinai comes down hard on your head, the one in your hand failing to come up quick enough to guard, your classmates groaning in sympathy all around you. Your head is spinning, you feel sick.

You open your eyes. You and a friend are seated side by side in the clock tower, back to the walls and feeling the resounding toll of the bell fill your entire being as the count reaches ten, eleven, twelve. The world turns to silence. Your friend opens their mouth to speak, but you cannot hear them. You cannot hear anything.

(tw: implied suicide) You open your eyes. Your classmate sits on the other side of your desk, a spread of sandwiches and juice boxes between you and the window to your side providing a clear view of the upper branches of the wisteria tree in full bloom. And the strangled look on an upperclassman's face as they fall headfirst from the sky on the other side of the glass, hurtling towards the pavement of the courtyard below.

You open your eyes—-

You're standing in front of a window, cold fingers wrapped around your wrist and pulling it away from the pile of stones. Perhaps another character has come to your rescue, or else one student in particular who shakes his head, whispers "don't," and walks away.

wake up

You open your eyes and wipe a bit of drool off the corner of your mouth. There's really no shame, when half the students sitting around you in the auditorium are half asleep as well. As if coming out of a dream, the characters don't remember getting here, just that they are now- sitting in uncomfortably hard plastic chairs in the back rows in the auditorium, the school principal's flat, droning voice reverberating oddly off the walls of the large room. No matter how hard you try, you cannot get up out of your seat.

"...and now, let us congratulate the graduating class," the principal says, stepping back from the podium. A single student rises to her feet and meets the principal at the center of the stage, her long dark hair falling across her face as she bows and receives her diploma. "Congratulations, graduate. May your life be full and prosperous. Please, if you would say a few words..."

The girl straightens and pushes her hair out of her face with one hand— she has no other hand, the entire sleeve of her right rolled all the way up to the shoulder and pinned flat. She forgoes the podium and the microphone, but somehow, her voice rings out clearly and reaches all the way to the back of the room: "Keep your eyes open."

With that parting message, she steps off the stage, disappearing into the mass of students who stand and fill the room with applause, drawing the graduation ceremony to a close. Characters find that they can now get up and move, which is a good thing because the other students are all pushing and shoving to get out of the auditorium and out the front doors, phasing right through the closed doors. Like a sieve, the school empties out, leaving behind the dregs.

wake up

Your eyes are open and the school is quiet. None of the students or faculty remain in the school, and all the staff— the principal, faculty, nurse, and counselor's— offices are locked. A skinny black cat flicks its tail from where it sits on top one of the lockers, where characters can find a copy of the school calendar showing the next two weeks to be spring vacation, with the school being closed for the holiday.

At least, with school vacated, it's clear from those left who's in the same boat and allows the chance for exploration away from prying eyes of the other students and staff. Introductions are probably in order, a discussion of what the fuck is going on, maybe also a plan of attack— or a plan for survival, at the very least, because there is no way out of this school. What ingredients are left in the home economics kitchen is going to have to last everybody the next two weeks. The student store is already empty. The water runs pink. The vending machines don't respond to jostling or being kicked over and brought to the ground, only the last dozen "merit points" on your PDA that you can't earn any more of, with class out of session. The snack you've been hiding in your locker should probably be saved as a last resort. The cats are starting to look tasty.

Hang in there. School will be starting again real soon.

OOC

✽ Characters experience the recurring feeling of drifting in (school life) and out (canon life) of sleep up until the graduation ceremony, after which they will have full awareness and come to their senses. Pre-established cr is possible to some extent, as a varying degree of familiarity may remain, but all characters will be strangers to one another unless they know each other in canon. All npcs will know the characters' names, but characters will not know each other's names until introduced.

✽ The second prompt occurs upon a character touching a gorinto or any of the offerings surrounding it. While touching it, characters fall into a trance and experience different scenes of high school life, with examples given in the prompt but players are free to play out any aspect of normal school life taking place at any time during the school year.

✽ stopit is an npc and will be available for threading in his toplevel during the vernal equinox and graduation day, but not during spring break. After the game opens, he will be available as a student for threading on the npc contact page. The graduating student will not be available for threading in this TDM.

✽ During spring break, all npc students and faculty will be absent from the school, with exception of one white cat and one black cat. For this TDM, in addition to the areas greyed out and inaccessible on the locations page, the faculty office and nurse's office are locked and unavailable, as there is no staff. The library and club rooms remain open, but supplies will not replenish themselves.

✽ As a reminder, all doors and windows leading outside are locked and cannot be broken. From midnight until 6AM, all sound disappears from the world. Characters are free to use their PDA as a network, but it is text (and shitty touchpad art) only and all threads are public.

✽ TDM threads may be used for bonus activity after April AC is submitted.

Comments

Zagreus | Hades | OTA

[bloodandlife]

A. Ominous Tidings

Zagreus has never really liked sitting down. Or lying down, as it happens. Resting in general, sort of a foreign pastime for him. So being forced to sit is pretty alarming, actually! After he finally gives up trying to escape the chair, he spends the rest of the ceremony, such as it is, fidgeting and making idle comments to whoever's seated nearby. Which may or may not annoy the hell out of them.

And then it's finally over, and the instant he sees other students standing he bounds out of the chair and stretches mightily. When he talks, it appears to be addressed to whoever's around and feels like responding. "Whew...I've never been through anything so mind-numbing in my life. Never thought I'd say this, but not even my father's lectures are quite that tedious. Keep your eyes open, eh? I can't tell if that was a threat or a warning. What do you make of all this, mate?"


B. Restless

Zagreus is a restless man by nature. Whatever part of the Underworld this place is, it's somehow worse even than Tartarus. Or perhaps it is a part of Tartarus he's stumbled into, somehow. Whatever the case, his attempts to escape have been absolutely stymied for the first time, because it isn't a Fury or a massive monster that he can defeat standing in his way. It's...nothing in particular. He just can't get out. It's infuriating.

It doesn't take long for his restlessness to catch up with him, and so once the shades all file out the door that somehow won't open, he begins to wander the school aimlessly. He's simply exploring with no particular goal other than to find a way out if it's at all possible, and to try to make sense of all the things he doesn't understand in this place. Which is, frankly, a lot of things, even if he has some hazy half-memories of a time when he did understand them. And wow does that ever make no sense at all!

When he eventually runs into you in a random place of your choice, his face lights up and he approaches quickly--you may notice that he's wandering around barefoot. "Oh, hi there! I was just starting to think I might be all alone here now that all the shades have gone. I...don't suppose you've happened upon a way out of here, have you?"


C. Network

[It takes Zagreus a while to figure out the PDA, as well as a lot of asking people questions (to which they tend to respond with skepticism or disbelief, for some reason) and a lot of trial and error. Eventually, he becomes adept enough to actually send a message. Hooray for small victories!]

[From: P. Zagreus]

Hello! I'm told this note will reach everyone in the area, I hope that's true. My name is Zagreus, and I think there's been some mistake in the paperwork somewhere, because unless my father has become truly incensed, I really shouldn't be here. Er, no offense to anyone who earned their place in Tartarus! I'm sure you're all very lovely people and I'd gladly have a chat and get to know you, it's just...well, I live in the House, you see. I'm not actually a shade. So if someone could get a message up there for me, I'd be grateful. And not to brag, but I do have ways of getting my hands on some pretty choice contraband, which I would gladly give to anyone who can help.


D. Wildcard!

I'm open to pretty much anything, feel free to just reply with a starter or catch me at thessjuli if you want to plot!

s. houjou

[miscasted]

I'm quite sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about. What is Tartarus? Is that where we are now? Moreover, I don't know what house it is you're talking about, or what you mean by shades...

[bloodandlife]

You've never heard of Tartarus? It's the lowest level of the Underworld. Filled with the nastiest and meanest of the dead, of course--shades, that is. And by House I mean my father's house: the House of Hades. You know, Lord of the Underworld, God of the Dead? Unnecessarily long beard, terrible attitude?

As for where we are, this IS Tartarus...I think. If it isn't, something may have gone very wrong.

[miscasted]

I haven't heard about anything like that... but did you say that this place is called Tartarus? Does that mean that you know something about what's happened to us?

[bloodandlife]

Well, I thought it was Tartarus, but if you've never even heard of the House of Hades, I'm beginning to suspect I'm wrong about that. So if this isn't part of the Underworld, where is it? It can't be on the surface, I'd have died again by now. And how did we get here?

Sorry, mate. Looks like I'm as clueless as you are, after all.

[miscasted]

[ It takes a while before Satoko responds to the message at all, as she simply sits there, trying to make sense of it all. But then... ]

I'm sorry, did you say died again? Who are you, exactly?

[bloodandlife]

I did say that, yes. Or wrote it, anyway. My name's Zagreus, my father is the God of the Dead, as I mentioned. Which makes me the prince of his Underworld realm, but really, it's no big deal. And I do have a habit of dying an awful lot, though usually it's because my father's set all the hordes of the dead against me out of petty spite. Don't worry, though, I just pop right back up every time!

Who are you?

B.;

[filialdeception]

The situation was rather strange, to put it very lightly. This went beyond just a simple plot, and he's almost not even sure where to start, but of course there's always a place. He remembered all the flashes of disjointed memories, though it'd be nice to recall how he had come here as well.

It'd have been too easy, it seemed.

When Zagreus stopped and spoke at him in the halls, he'd face him, torn away from his thoughts. Meng Yao took in the other man's appearance carefully before he replied, "No, I don't.

Though, I'm not sure what you mean by shades. Were there some creatures you saw in the building?"

[bloodandlife]

Zagreus' brows lift in surprise. "Creatures? No, just the usual spirits of the dead. Though I'll grant you, it is a bit odd that they'd be able to simply pass through the door while I can't. So you can't get out either, eh?" He sighs. "Figures. My name's Zagreus. Perhaps if we work together, we can devise a way to escape."

[filialdeception]

Well, calling spirits of the dead wasn't too out there, even if Meng Yao's frame of reference for that was different. It was what followed that struck him as odd. But first, introductions.

At Zagreus' last sentence, the dark-haired cultivator would bow and say, "It's a pleasure, Zagreus. My name is Meng Yao...I could only hope the same of our efforts.

Though, I do have a question. A moment ago you'd said that you'd consider it a little strange the spirits could pass through a locked door, but you couldn't. Why is that?"

[bloodandlife]

Zagreus looks surprised at the bow, but he smiles. "Likewise, mate. As for the door, I've never seen shades do such a thing anywhere in the Underworld. Doors are doors, whether you're a ghost or a god. Have you had a different experience?"

[filialdeception]

His eyebrows furrowed a bit. "Well, usually I'd be able to go through a door myself unless it was locked, so typically no in that we should be able to open them ourselves. Especially since we're inside the building and not outside.

That said, I've...never been in the Underworld before or a god. But, considering the circumstances where something supernatural is at play, I don't think it's too out there to assume things may be different here?"

[bloodandlife]

"They certainly do seem to be. Wherever 'here' is. All the more reason to keep wandering around aimlessly until we can make sense of them, wouldn't you say?"

k.ala

[parhellia]

!!!
I'll slide a note under the principal's door for you! I'll get you out of here! you can count on me!
what sort of contraband can you get? embarrassing photos? can it be on anyone?

[bloodandlife]

Er...no, afraid not. I'm talking about the usual. You know, nectar? If you haven't tried some, I highly recommend it. And if you really can get me out of here, I'll happily give you the opportunity! Perhaps we can share a bottle in the lounge.

What are these photos you mentioned?

[parhellia]

huh? isn't contraband like secret photos and stuff you take to embarrass the pants off someone? blackmail material! diaries! or am I thinking of something else...?
nectar doesn't sound as exciting......
you can get that stuff from flowers, right? though I guess it'd take lots and lots and lots of flowers to fill up a whole bottle

[bloodandlife]

Well, I grant you it may not be as exciting as digging up dirt to malign your enemies, but it's definitely worth the trouble. It's contraband because technically it's not allowed anywhere in the Underworld, although my father's uncharacteristically lax about it. Only because he wouldn't want to be seen as a hypocrite, no doubt.

As for where on Olympus it comes from--you know, I never asked? Huh. Maybe I should.

[parhellia]

huh
I can't imagine living somewhere where flowers aren't allowed! you'd better go ask- maybe he's just embarrassed about owning a garden somewhere. if he does, get him to grow lots and lots of honeysuckle!

[bloodandlife]

Oh, the flowers aren't the problem. He grumbles about them when I have them brought into the house, but that's as far as he'll go. Thing is, not much can grow in the Underworld, and definitely not whatever produces nectar. That stuff comes from Olympus and Olympus alone, I'm afraid.

r.fujimaru (shooting a friend rq on plurk since ritsuka knows some greek heroes and gods, plot?)

[tempingforatlas]

You know, it really wouldn't surprise me if I dropped dead sometime in the past few months and just didn't realize it, but if I did I'm pretty sure that a different underworld has a claim on my soul.

Or at least a polite offer of housing to my soul for when it finally gets permanently evicted. I don't think Eree has outright claimed it yet. That's more of a third date kind of thing.

[Granted, Ritsuka and Ereshkigal weren't actually dating, but her point still stands.]

Zagreus, Zagreus... I can't quite place that name, but you're some kind of Greek divinity from the sounds of it. Am I right?

[bloodandlife]

It's possible to die without noticing? News to me. Not that I'd ever complain about my countless painful, bloody deaths, of course. What's life without a little agony?

Er, that was sarcasm, by the way. I'm not sure these tiny little words get that across very well.

But yes, that's me. Prince of the Underworld, and all that. Surely you've heard Orpheus' song all about my many great deeds and everything?

Wait, a different Underworld? There's more than one?

[tempingforatlas]

Sorry, never heard of you. I only figured out you're Greek because Hektor likes to invoke Tartarus whenever he pretends to throw out his back.

I've really only been to Kur. It's...

...

...pretty terrible for living people, if I'm being honest. Super cold. Souls in cages. Makes you super weak. It's even worse for gods, so, you know. Keep that in mind if you ever decide to take a trip there.

It's nice during the Christmas season, though! And the queen deserves some visitors every once and a while; Eree's really sweet. If you manage to convince her to not immediately horribly torture you for trespassing on her domain while you're alive. Especially if you're a god.

[bloodandlife]

No? Ah, well. I guess it is a bit harder for mortals to hear Orpheus' new tunes nowadays or nights, isn't it? I'm afraid I don't know anyone called Hektor.

This Kur place sounds positively awful--er, no offense to your queenly friend. What has she got against gods, anyway?

[tempingforatlas]

You're familiar with Hades, right?

Well, imagine if Hades got even more shafted and was born in the Underworld with the expectation to rule it without any say in the matter or any contact with any living being let alone his family, while knowing full well his brother Zeus is partying it up to high heaven on Olympus.

Then Zeus gets the bright idea to try and take some of Hades' Authority and marches down there to go to war with him.

There's... a reason why Ereshkigal's relationship with Ishtar is complicated.

[ A TIME ]

[mermaidcursed]

Oh- me...?

[ ... Wait. This guy definitely does not look young enough to be a high school student. What the heck? But they're in the same boat, and... well, Nene will admit that having someone older is somewhat reassuring.

Still, he's got a point. After a moment of thought, Nene glances back up at him. ]

I think... it's both. But also advice. Something really wrong here is happening.