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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

dfgadf

[englisch]

[ Diona had been nearly crying, and discomforted by the memories clashing with memories of home. When the man who resembled the annoying drunkards that constantly would try to pet her head or grab her tail. She instinctively went to bite - as if a old habit from her REAL?? world came about her again. However, what was real? What wasn't?

His calmness was a welcome response, she is the one that flinches as if he did yell though. Retracting her mouth the small feral child backs away, giving him a discomforting look. ]

Don't touch me!!

[ The girls tail wiggles, and her ears flatten. However her eyes are wide and large, like a cat ready to pounce or on the prowl. ]

CRIES....

[wolfetracks]

I won't, promise.

( he even draws his hands back, keeping them both where the girl can see them. that response though... it's worrying. )

... Do you get harassed often?

NEW DAD ACQUIRED

[englisch]

... So what? Youre just like them too I bet.

They're always trying to pull my tail and touch my ears... I think... I don't know... I don't ... Know which memories are real? [ She had started off angry, but slowly her voice soften and she was very confused and sad over not knowing what to believe. ]

dads gonna commit some violence against other adults it seems.

[wolfetracks]

( ... okay, so, he might have to go track down some people and break their noses, because what the fuck. )

That's awful of them. You deserve better. ( oh, this poor kid. no one deserves having to deal with the gorinto memories, but especially not someone this young. slowly, his face softens. ) Take it one step at a time. There's a lot going on right now. Focus on making sure you, yourself, are okay right now. ( quietly, sidney is watching for signs of a possible panic attack. that's the last thing this poor girl needs. but he also wants to make one thing clear, just in case it might help. )

... I promise you, I was not coming over here for your ears or tail. I saw that you looked unwell, and I was coming to check on you. I will not touch you without your permission.

SDBFHDJSf

[englisch]

Oh... [ Diona says, looking over the area. Eyes flutter to the Shrine itself, that she had touched. Annoyed with a tiny little hiss, she crosses her arms promptly afterwards. Looking away from it and the man before her - she did not know him! So she wasn't about to be soft for a man who simply was here at the right place and time. ]

W-Well I don't need any help!

[ Yes she does, do not let that little young one fool you. She however, does not like that the other wanted to come off as kind or caring. It made her feel weird, or rather that she just did not trust him immediately. ]

I'm all better now, look!

[ Diona shuffles and clutches her hands into little fists. ]

baby girl....

[wolfetracks]

( for the first time since 'waking up', sidney actually smiles, soft and fondly- a look he reserves for his students, secretly. )

You're doing great.

My name is Sidney Wolfe. Before we got brought here, I was a teacher. If you need anything at all, just let me know, okay?

( she looks like a smart kid- prideful, maybe, but not enough to damn herself. though, he gets the feeling that she might raise a fuss if he crouches beside her like that for too long, so he stands up. )

[englisch]

Oh? Youre a teacher?

[ Diona tries to consider all he says, ' before we got brought here.' While also remembering that teachers exist within this school as well. It's a strange thought to have, but she keeps it in mind for the future. She presumes, he was brought here like her... Brought here, being something that sticks to her. ]

So are you a teacher for this school too?

[wolfetracks]

No. They've been treating me as if I'm a student. ( which is weird enough, frankly. ) Considering that you are much, much younger than the average high school student, and I am over twice their age, something hinky's up.

[englisch]

Oh that is because I am smart for my age, so they let me join the older classes. [ This was a truth from her memories. The one bestowed to her by the Shrine. She of course speaks it plainly as if it were, the coolest fact ever. ] Maybe you just needed to go back to school and refresh?

[wolfetracks]

( he can't help but chuckle. ) When teachers need to refresh on things, there's a special class for them. ... But it's not like this.

[englisch]

Hmm... Then why? [ The ever popular question for a child to ask. Her mind moving away - but also wondering the answer to what he says. If somehow he says something that makes sense, it would help her understand the situation more as well. Or so Diona thought within that sense of mind of hers. ]

[wolfetracks]

Well... I don't know. I don't remember coming here voluntarily. And a lot of others are here and afraid too. It's one thing we're going to have to find out.

[englisch]

Mrow? [ She doesnt know she made that noise. ] Theres more people who have other memories?

[wolfetracks]

( ... adorable. )

Yes. I have some, and people all over are becoming more... aware of their two sets of memories. I don't know what's triggering it. But something makes us... different.

( aside from being a grown-ass man and a catgirl, respectively. )

... Do you know the last time you've eaten? If not, I can get you something from the vending machine. It won't be a real meal, unfortunately, but you might find something you like.

[englisch]

I ate my bento earlier, but I can go for a snack!! I like milk! [ Diona nods her head retaining that information. It makes her glad knowing that she wasn't alone, so she supposes after all was said and done she could try being familiar with the other for now. Especially since he was being nice to her. ] Is there anything else weird?