i'm getting a good grade in yogen lore, which is something normal people definitely try to get

[crystallomancy]

Who: Whoever's in the dormitories
When: Friday, October 1st
What: It's time for a little lecture. And a genuine information meeting. But mostly a lecture.
Warnings: N/A please don't make me change this.

( Early in the morning, a curious text gets posted. )

N.Sakasaki

DRM-STDYHLL
1800HRS

( ...In less coded news, the dormitory's study hall will have a note taped to it:

Yogen and You: A Quick Summary
Held by Natsume Sakasaki

For those who need a summary of events, whether because our meetings rarely get anything done in terms of information sharing or because you're freshly awakened. Come around dinner time for food, enlightenment, and the opportunity to share your troubles with those going through the same thing.

The room will be locked all day until about half an hour before six, at which point it will become unlocked... this is primarily for Natsume to set up a table of food, but people can come sit in early if they like. There's an overhead projector that's been wheeled into the study hall all the way from school, and the curtains are drawn over the windows. It isn't dark though, since he still has the lights turned on...

Several tables have been pushed together to make at least three groups, chairs around them like they've been readied for a dinner party, while a few more are pushed a little further back and have absolutely no chairs whatsoever; those are for the food. There's also a chair by the overhead projector.

Your food and drink for tonight: lemon and rosemary roasted shrimp, white rice, rosemary and thyme chicken, a make-your-own-salad area with all kinds of salad-making ingredients, three types of eggrolls (seafood, vegetable, and pork), and various drinks from the vending machine because some of us can afford to spend a bunch of merit points on things like that.

When a sufficient amount of people have come in, or the clock hits 6:05, Natsume shuts the door, turns off the lights, and moves to the overhead projector. To stand on the chair, so he's the tallest person in here, and claps his hands to get people's attention. )

Save all questions and outbursts until the END, ( he says, and then kneels down on the chair and flicks the projector on.

All of the slides are pre-written on some transparent sheets that project onto a wall without windows, which he reads one by one without rushing! But for ease of reading OOCly, you can find the entire thing here. There's also photocopied handouts for people on all of the tables, stapled of course, so people who aren't blind (sorry Helena) can follow along at home!

He lets the last sheet stay up, his face half-illuminated by the overhead projector, then sits down in the chair and leans forward the back of it like some kind of delinquent. )

Alright, you can speak NOW.


( ooc notes: go ahead and treat this like one of our meetings, aka mingle, jump around, actually get a chance to share information that hasn't been talked about yet, etc. thank you plenty to enh and peace too for reviewing and suggesting things for the presentation \o/ )

Comments

[subtract]

That's a "what", not a "how".

[sighing loudly, like he's just been letting everyone else talk again but c'mon people...]

If you have a real plan, then elaborate and explain yourself properly. But I doubt that you do, so stop wasting everyone's time with your childish whining.

[closewithnewintown]

... Do I look like I have a plan?

[which is obviously a rhetorical question, because she doesn't, and in fact mostly just looks like she wishes she could just burst into tears and get it over with.]

It'd be so much easier to do this if I had a plan! But, I don't! I don't know how to fix any of this! That's why I need somebody to just listen to me!

[subtract]

So you're asking for someone else to come up with a plan for you? Kekekeke... how pathetic.

If you want something done, do it yourself. Relying on others... why are you even surprised they have different methods and goals than your own? That's what people are like. If you don't like the solutions others have suggested, stop expecting them to solve your problems for you.

[closewithnewintown]

It's called being a team, dick. You can't win by yourself. It's stupid to try.

[mermaidcursed]

( WHOMST DID THIS )

[closewithnewintown]

[IT WAS SUBARU FUCK HIM UP FOR IT]

[mermaidcursed]

( SUBARU-KUN HER BABY SISTER!!!! )

[subtract]

Only the weak need to rely on others... but even weaklings have more sense than you do.

A team needs leadership. You can't just yell at everyone and expect them to do all the work, come up with a plan, and then complain when it's not to your liking. If you can't win by yourself, then start by coming up with a plan where you can win. That, or accept that you'll have to rely on the plans of others.

[closewithnewintown]

We're not even at the "forming a team" part yet! We're at the "getting people to stop being stupid and not believe everything they're being told" part! And I would really, really like that part to not come when it usually does, because here, it's gonna mean people dying for good!

[subtract]

And how long has everyone had to process this new information? Twenty minutes, give or take? [how long has this IC debate been going on, idk, too long but also nowhere near long enough for everyone to reach a satisfying resolution to their inner turmoil]

You're no better yourself... denying evidence presented to you, it's just as foolish as accepting it without question.

[closewithnewintown]

"The person you think is a liar told me they're not a liar" is not evidence!

[subtract]

Neither is "I think this person is a liar".

[closewithnewintown]

My evidence is everything that has happened here since we "woke up." If that can't convince you to not trust what this place tells you...

[subtract]

You seem to have already forgotten who you're talking to... how disappointing. [he's been saying since day 1 he's just gonna fuck off into the void if he gets bored of this place, so y'know. definitely not one of the people taking everything this place claims at face value. if Steph is so certain this place is run by fey bullshit, how is that any different from Add being certain it's void bullshit?]

You're acting like death and escape are mutually exclusive. That's not true at all. Does it really matter if you died to get here or not? There's no evidence that definitively confirms or denies either possibility. You're arguing over the meaningless details and that's why everyone is so irritated with you.

[closewithnewintown]

... I know we're dead. Of all the things they've lied about, I don't think that's one of them. [a sigh] They're lying about what we're here for. About what will happen to us, if we let it.

[mermaidcursed]

... Stephanie, could you come here for a moment, please?

( hey hi guess what, big sister is here now. )

[closewithnewintown]

[for a second, she looks like she's not going to, or is, at least, going to complain about it. she crosses her arms and follows her, sullen.]

[mermaidcursed]

( nene smooths out stephanie's hair before sitting down, and gently putting a hand on stephanie's shoulder. )

... I know that a lot is happening. And there's a lot to be upset about. But no one is saying graduation is the only option- just that it is an option. There's a lot we still don't know, and lashing out isn't going to make things easier, or make people listen to what you have to say.

... I- I'm not done being Nene Yashiro, no more than you are being Stephanie Meanswell. But hurting others when we're already hurting isn't going to help anyone. It's just going to make people feel worse. Including you.

[closewithnewintown]

[she takes in the speech in silence.

then, she stands, and leaves for a second. when she returns and sits down again, she has the photocopied handouts. she flips through them, tears out the print of the final slide, and places it in front of Nene.]

If he's the real Natsume, he's been duped harder than anyone else here. If he's not... I've been taught to speak up when I think something is wrong. And something is wrong.

[mermaidcursed]

( oof. nene winces internally. this is kinda why she needed to steel herself before calling out to stephanie to begin with... but she wants to be a good big sister. )

Something is wrong. This entire place is... hurting, and twisted. And we were given a lot to process. We need time. And then, when we're a little calmer, when things aren't so tense, and we've had time to think things through, we'll try again. We're still missing pieces, Stephanie. So we need to share what we know, and accept other possibilities- but that includes you. It's possible N- Sakasaki-senpai is wrong. It's possible that you're wrong about the specifics too. Everyone could be.

[closewithnewintown]

He's not accepting other possibilities! When Ishimaru was upset, was he nice? Was he accepting? No! He told him and Sara to "open their eyes," like they say! Everything he said was exactly what they say!

[her face scrunches up slightly, but it's almost like she's fighting against it, against showing the emotion.]

... Do you believe me?

[mermaidcursed]

He worked hard and for a long time to get this information- and he had to try and process it for longer than we have. No, he wasn't kind about it. But denial would have harmed them more. There's a lot of conflicting feelings, for everyone. ... Just because you don't like his answers doesn't mean you get to lash out, even if on behalf of others.

... I trust that if evidence to anything else is given, he will accept it. But right now, he's working with what he has.

( .......................... provided that it doesn't come from komaeada.

at the question, nene pauses, before sighing. )

I don't know what I believe... I still don't know how to feel, or what to think. But I'm willing to accept all possibilities, and I know you just want to help everyone. I just want to find a happy ending. And if I can't find it, I'll make it. A truly happy end, for all of us.

[closewithnewintown]

Nobody in there would even listen. They already have their neat little story. They don't care that it's all a trick; they're gonna follow Natsume's piping into the monster's mouth.

[grimaces] There's not gonna be any happy endings if we listen to what this place tells us. Whatever they say, we have to do the exact opposite. That's the only way we can survive.

[mermaidcursed]

... You're not open to listening either, Stephanie. This isn't a one way track. We don't know everything. You can't be upset about no one giving you a chance when you've decided one thing and won't consider what they're thinking either.

( but this is such a heavy conversation. nene wraps her arms around stephanie, holding her close. this is a horrible reality. but it's theirs. )

I'm sorry. I know this is the worst. But please, Stephanie... allow people time to heal and process. If there's more to this- and there is- we'll find it together, and our way out.

( and stephanie is included in that list of people who need this, of course. she's ten, she's just learned she's died, and everything is terrifying. people are lecturing her- her included. it's... there's no good side to any of this. )

[closewithnewintown]

[she's silent.

it starts as a trembling in her hands, gripping the hem of her skirt, moving up her arms until it settles in her shoulders. her hair is longer, now; if she holds her head down, her bangs can cover her face, hiding eyes shut tight, but the tears come through anyway, dripping onto her sleeves.

it's when she tries to take a breath and instead lets out a wracking sob that she breaks down completely.]