APRIL EVENT LOG/TDM

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04/05 08:00 Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony starts at 8, with students and staff moving to the auditorium to sit with their homeroom class, calling characters out by name and dragging them over to their seat— physically if need be, and they're much stronger than they look. Much like the graduation ceremony, characters are not forced to come to the entrance ceremony, but the moment they take a seat, they find that they can neither speak nor get up again until the ceremony is over.

A teacher stands behind the podium on stage. Characters may recognize pieces of the speech from the previous year. He takes the time to welcome Yogen High's new students first, followed by acknowledging the transfer, returning, and repeat students. As he goes on, the teacher encourages students to instead focus on their own personal growth, and developing strong bonds that will allow them to reach their goals. He sighs as he explains that the Principal and Vice Principal are currently not available before he reminds students that violence is strictly prohibited and that there will be strict consequences for anyone who is caught engaging in misconduct.

The teacher concludes by noting that teachers will inform them of any important announcements. He wishes everybody a fulfilling school year, and reminds them that they have the power to shape the future. The ceremony concludes in a little under an hour, and the spell binding the students to their seats is broken, allowing everybody to rise and leave.

School lets out for the rest of the day with classes starting the next morning, and while many students take the opportunity to leave, some linger around the school.

08:00 04/06-04/09

Classes resume as usual, and it's the same old routine, with gossip and rumors spreading about, and students growing excited over new club advertisements, and fortune telling ads in addition to upcoming events. In an effort to encourage students to form lasting relationships, the school has set up events for the first week with plans for smaller events throughout the month. The PDA logs have been wiped clean with the start of the year, and all messages from before 04/05 are gone.

✽ Tuesday, 04/06 will be a simple Welcome Back. The day will be dedicated to giving important announcements, including the events for the rest of the week, introducing students to clubs, etc. There will be a potluck with various sweets and snack items, along with time dedicated to getting-to-know you style games and other such activities.
✽ Wednesday, 04/07 will feature the beginning of a Team Building Scavenger Hunt! There are no items to be found, but instead students are given a list of tasks to complete and turn into their homeroom teacher. Examples include introducing yourself to a new student, doing something nice for another student, being asked to identify a specific student who fits a certain criteria, anything that can be used to encourage interactions.
✽ Thursday, 04/08 will feature karaoke night in the music room. There is a karaoke machine set up along with a screen set up, along with some CDs with all the greatest hits of the 90ws. There is a decorative backdrop set up along with party decorations. There are inflatable music notes, cut out notes, microphones, record albums, and instruments taped along the wall, and a box full of props for students to use if they so choose.
✽ Friday, 04/09 will feature a game night held in class 1-B. Desks have been pushed together to form tables and covered in cloths, and various board and card games have been set out for students. There is a TV with an N64 and Playstation set out along with various games.

Outside of classes, the days wear on, and students come in with bruises and scraped knees and elbows and bloody noses. They smear blood on the walls and drip it onto the floor, splatter it onto the mirror without meaning to, bringing along with it a sense of vertigo. Characters looking in the mirror may find that they catch sight of something. It's there reflected in the mirror, a shadowy and dark figure in the edge of their vision, but it the moment they look away it disappears, leaving behind only a chill in the air. The mirror room is almost unbearably cold.

04/10-04/30

Characters who look in mirrors will see the shadowy figure reflected in it growing closer to them. It's an odd sight to be sure, and the cold air it brings with clings to the skin, but even as they draw close they seem to do no harm. It's only once they're right behind a character that they'll begin to notice it - the cold that clings to them no matter how warm the room, the faint tingling of their skin, the sleepiness that settles in, and the whispers in their ear.

It's faint at first, barely noticeable if not for its persistence, but over time those whispers will grow louder; the coolness on their skin will turn into a cold that chills them down to the bone, and the unrested feeling becomes a constant fatigue and lethargy. The words and tone vary, as do the voices, but each and every one eats into the character. They might speak of a character's insecurities or guilt, or they might leave them with a sinking loneliness, or perhaps they promise the warmth and companionship that a character desires, or any other number of matters that so often tug at the mind.

The figures can be viewed through mirrors. Those with supernatural sight or an adderstone will similarly be able to see them following characters, latching onto them. Items that ward off the supernatural may help, but the only way to truly ward them off is with bonds formed in the school. The figures seem to be warded off by the presence of another person. The cold disappears with the slightest touch, the whispering stops during conversation, and for that time they're given a brief reprieve. But they often seem to come back the moment a person passes by a mirror once more.

OOC

✽ The school will be hosting various smaller team building exercise throughout the month which can range from exercises to group projects. There are examples here, so feel free to pick what works best for your goals.
✽ The shadowy figures will appear more frequently where there is blood, fresh or otherwise.
✽ Characters who are isolated will find that they are more susceptible to being followed by the figures, and it may take longer interactions to dispel them completely.
✽ Items from the student shop that ward off supernatural creatures will aide in keeping the shadows from getting too close at first, but their effectiveness will wear off the longer a character is followed. They seem to be most effective when used in conjunction with interactions with others, and especially others who have similar items (i.e. a character with a silver cross and a character with a gold chain.)

Comments

[rearranger]

[ There's that thoughtful sound again as he considers that statement. There are other options. One could remain trapped here forever, or one could simply be killed every time they had an attempt on their life. Even so, it's the same as asking a person to roll over and die. The idea doesn't settle well with him. Rio has never had a problem with death nor murder, but a setting that encourages it seems counterproductive.

It seems completely arbitrary. The Death Game had a clear purpose and methods, but this almost seems as though it's somebody haphazardously moving around pieces on the chessboard to see what might happen. ]

... Me? Well, when I asked about it before, I got told that it's like a report card. It's supposed to be a reflection of change. There's some sort of transfer, but we're not supposed to lose anything, and it's just like touching a lit candle to the wick of an unlit one to light both... It's something like that.

[ It's showing how much a person has changed through their bonds, he thinks. That seems to be the most likely option. That doesn't offer any answer as to what the colors mean though, or how he would judge his own soul. It's not something he's ever thought much on, not believing himself to be in possession of a proper soul. ]

I've never thought about it... I dunno how you're supposed to judge something like that.

[commences]

...That's fine, I like that answer.

( it's better that way knowing he hasn't thought about it, it's hearing that he believes himself to have a soul makes komaeda happy enough. he would have thought rio to say something differently, but that answers allows them a whole different avenue to take with the conversation. being here means that he has a soul, there's no ifs, ands or buts about it, but for a doll that shouldn't have had that in the first place how would someone gauge his soul? he's manmade, an artificial entity made by the dreams and desires of a certain group of people... could it be that he holds a piece of their soul now? if that was the case, then he'd have so many colors attached to his name; particularly a rainbow. )

Have we ever saw those colors before? It'd be easier... if that was the case. What were we like when we entered compared to that list?

( he tries to think, eyes closing as they slowly part in realization, but he doubts they could connect. )

During Tanabata... we had wishes that were color coded, but I believe there were too many.

( he believes there was a green and something else, and the names were hidden with only the classroom IDs left behind. that makes it even harder to try and make sense of who wrote what. )

If it's kindness, I think you've grown. ...Being someone too, but I doubt it's about having an identity.

[rearranger]

[ If a doll is an unlit wick, then perhaps it could be said that it was lit using the flames of three candles. There's little pieces of each of them put into him, and it shows in his demeanor and preferences, in the skills that he carries and the way he speaks. He was molded by skilled hands and brought to like by skilled hands, just as as Pinocchio had life breathed into by the carpenter who shaped his body.

The colors seem to have much relation to flames though. No matter how hot a flame grows, it will never turn that color, but he supposes it could be the grass and leaves used to fuel the it. ]

Hmm... Have I? I think a lot of the kids here are nicer than I am, so I'd think they should be higher on the list. I dunno what a person like Hajime and I have in common.

[ There's others on the list too, but he can at least start to see a connection there. Hinata is a completely different person though, somebody soft and emotional, the kind of person who looks out for others and treats them with care. However much he changes, he can never truly connect with a person like that.

Then again, he's changed too, but Rio doesn't think it has anything to do with being here. It was too sudden for that ]

[commences]

...Maybe needing someone.

( it comes back to bonds and relationships, how much another person grows due to the flames offered to them that burns as long as they allow it to do so. it's a glow that's catered to one person that no one can ever replicate, and it makes that flame all the more special and why hands are placed in front to keep it from flickering away. that could be the desire to protect that bond since it's made with the fuel that's not leaves and greenery, but warmth and happiness.

those flames shouldn't burn that the candle melts and the flame engulfs the world around them, it should never match rokkun's intensity, but he doubts rio ever would. )

Hinata-kun seeks validation, for someone to understand... he used to be really pessimistic! Can you believe that...?

( then he became a worrywart and a crybaby all in one, but he cared so much about the people, and also what made them them. he tried to understand what he couldn't, and if he didn't like it he'd find a way for it to make sense so he wouldn't have to blame others.

he trusted so easily, but rio can't with his life on the line always. )

Or it could be because you two always look up.

( to the sky, and then to the stars as they speak their thoughts and sorrows to each other. it's such a vast sea of lights that twinkle above them, and so maybe they find peace as allow their counciousness to dip and fade into the ocean, drowning in it until they doze under their watchful gaze.

hah, it's probably nothing that poetic. )

[rearranger]

Really? Hmm, well, he seems like a pretty emotional kid.

[ His ideas all seem plausible though. If it were a measure of change, then it would be due to the bonds formed around them. If that's the case, then both him would qualify. Ranger only had a scarce few people, and no one who would fix or push him, and so he remained the same for all those years. The only change that occurred was his increasing bitterness.

When he looks at the person next to him, he almost dares to say that they needed each other. But even if he does, he knows that they're interchangeable. It would only require the right circumstances, the right understanding, and his grip tightens just briefly as he considers. It might not be as poetic as looking to stars dotted in the sky, but it might not be bad to think of it as collecting little pieces of others, filling up the jar in one's heart until it's completely full.

It's a transfer, a trade, just a little piece collected that can remain with them for the rest of their life. Memories that fade, emotions that come and go, small habits and words the direct one's life. ]

Well, in the end I guess it's all the same. The only way you change is by meeting new people and experiencing new things... [ Speaking of - ] Ah, I never saw the stars before I came here, you know? I didn't have anything to look up to.

[commences]

( a candle wick held to another that emboldens the flames to burn even stronger and brighter, when komaeda thinks of it he can only look towards rio with a confused expression before a smile settles in place. soft, not too different from what he normally gives in that dead expression of his that stays the same, frozen in time unlike the passing countenance he see that change every day. people smile for the ones they have by their side, others laugh together, or even throw fits in small or large debates— watching certain people break free from their shell to become a stronger person, that's all because of hope too. without it, they'd remain trapped in place, neither going forward or backward, and given the squeeze to his hand that wasn't there moments ago... komaeda is still making his way forward, on the move, and rio reminds him.

...

there's a sheepish laugh after.

hinata is a weird kid due to his circumstances, but back home that person is someone to be revered. )

Hinata-kun is... very emotional, but you are too. I wouldn't say at a drop of a hat, but you're starting to think more that than the other.

( the other being logically, but he'd judge it as 40/60. rio has shown himself in ways too, or that could be only to komaeda who sees the best parts of him and even the worst. he could be likened to a globe that a person spins daily, and the world always lands on a different spot with adventures and new experiences to give. it's after one turn, that komaeda spins again for another, and again and again... these life-changing events never grow tiring, and rio is plenty enough of the world that he wants to see with him. there's always need for another eye to truly see what's around them, and if komaeda wasn't so persistent on not living life then maybe...

what would it be like to visit these other places with him.

while rio is a destination in his own to komaeda, for others, he's difficult, frustrating to understand, yet he's so easy that he gives what you give him that seems reasonable.

then he comes to a conclusion: )

Even the Lady of Shalott tired of the same four grey walls and four grey towers, but imagine the reader's surprise that in her web she still delights to weave the mirror's magic sights. Funerals, marriages, plumes with lights all over Camelot.

( a story of isolation, a story about a young girl who wanted to see more of the world. the facility was the tower rio was locked up inside of passing his days by looking through magic glass. no knight or horse, and the only carriage that drove him anywhere was bitterness mixed with pent-up frustration.


were the real stars his gallant knight? )

It must have been nice to decide they were your favorite. ( it's data compiled inside of him if he had to guess, and it could have been the idea of them too that weighed has decision. ) Were they just as you imagined them to be when you looked up for the first time?

( he speaks as if he has no preference for them, though komaeda wants to hear from rio all the same. )

[rearranger]

[ The Lady of Shalott who would weave her web at all hours of day, knowing no happiness nor sadness, but simply existing while watching the world passing by. It's hardly a life as described, and it's only in her dying moments that she can take in the sights and sounds as they are. The world trapped in a mirror is far smaller than that of the one outside - it has no texture that one can feel under their touch, no life that one can sense, all those faint nuances that are difficult to properly replicate no matter how infinitely close one may come.

There's so many stories like that, stories of those who are trapped without contact to the world, because there's nothing more tragic than to only have a screen to look at. It's no different than Rio, who lived life on a screen, who watched walls that could show everything from the busy city to the tropics. He could watch fake scenes on the walls, he could watch the lives of real people passing by, but his fingers would always stop upon pressing up against the glass. ]

All the beautiful sights in the world, and never the time or ability to reach out and touch it... It's not surprising that she let her curse take her in the end.

[ It wasn't her hope, but perhaps it was a consequence she was willing to face. Her voice is mournful as she dies, and so she must have died with regrets. It would have been better for her to stay locked up in her tower if that were the case, but humans are funny in that they can prioritize their concept of living over their survival - even if that survival might later lead to a better option.

Then again, it seems he had made the stupid and emotional decision to kill recklessly. Its difficult for him to parse how it could be considered to be against the rules, but he supposes they were always up to interpretation. Rio is silent for a little too long as he focuses on that, repeating the question of how and why countless times despite already knowing the correct answer.

The question snaps him out of his thoughts. ]

Hmm... Kind of.

[ The image was already in his head, and so he had an approximate idea of what to expect. It wasn't quite the same either though. It was something close and closer, but just a little bit off, just a little bit artificial. ]

It was more vast than I thought it was... But the whole world is kind of like that. It was a lot to take in.

[commences]

( the lady of shalott isn't the happiest story, not one where a person can read it and think there's hope for the protagonist because her fate is known the very moment she exits her prison. now all she has left is the sights, the smells, and the ringing in her ears of an environment never exposed to her before on a physical level.

when rio talks about these things, in a way he could be compared to the lady of shalott. the only difference is that komaeda will watch him, make sure that growing curse and hatred inside of him doesn't devour his entire body, and ensuring he doesn't walk into the wading water so have his corpse float long the surface. )

Mhm... people give up a lot to experience the world, to have something they've never had before. It's how I feel, if any despair tried to eat you whole... I'll stop it so you can continue to enjoy the hope of the world.

( he's satisfied with rio's answer on the stars, and the world being so vast. it's different when a person is exposed to it all, and they can see what makes the real thing all the more cherished. just as he would have expected, it's never the real thing, but just what they can make up so a person feels satisfied with the end results.

no wonder rio speaks so highly on whether komaeda's happy with the outcome. )

You haven't seen the whole world yet! It'll blow your mind, just you wait!

( and how will he show him that? if amami was here then he could talk about his talent, and how it offers his perspective of the the lands, the breeze, and even the cries of the animals met. that probably won't do for rio who has heard it and seen it all before, but it feels special if amami tells them— well, to komaeda. )

When Amami-kun arrives and tells us all that he saw... then we can make that our next trip?

( through death? don't ask. )

[rearranger]

[ Is despair the curse that would take him? It's difficult for him to conceptualize either the subject, just as it would be difficult for him to understand a true curse, but he supposes that it might be akin to what he had felt before. It was a bubbling frustration, something that ate him away from the inside while trying to claw its way out of him. But perhaps it's something a little different, as once he had eliminated those pains that kept sticking knives into his heart were gone, he could have found peace.

It's hard to say what he wants now, harder to say what he had wanted then, but peace would be enough. But he supposes it's moot. Komaeda is sensitive to such things, and so he can trust him to prevent it from coming to that... It should be fine as long as they can watch each other.

Nothing will happen.

Rio wonders how much more there might be to the world. There was plenty on Earth, but this place at once seems to be a tiny slice of it carved off and set aside, and far more vast than anything they know. It's a place in which school trips can go anywhere, where graduates are hidden away, a forest that seems to never end... ]

Ah... I wonder if it's possible to find the rest of the world here.

[ There must be much, much more to it. Maybe it's a wide, vast place too. Rio averts his eyes just briefly at the mention of Amami, before shaking off any misgivings that might try to sneak in with the familiar name. ]

Our next trip?

[ To death? That doesn't seem right. He's a little puzzled, after a moment he acquiescences, ]

Sure, we can plan on that.

[commences]

When we graduate we have to choose where to go.

( that male's plenty of sense when they're no longer staying here, and they've seen graduation with their own eyes. all of the third years should have graduated then, but rio's still here. he must still have things to do in the afterlife, and then once those are done can he move on. )

If we both choose the same place, maybe we'll appear there.

( they know that's not how that works, and if it did it'd be a once in a life time chance to take. that's normally how all vacations go, the thought overwhelming when exposed to an unfamiliar place they've never seen.

asking rio for a location he's heard of but never taken part in sounds exciting, he thinks he'd take that gamble. )

Something to think about even if it doesn't come true.

[rearranger]

[ It would be nice if they could both go to the same place, wouldn't it? Ranger doesn't have the capacity to reincarnate, anything that would remove his identity is something he can't conceptualize or agree to. He would spend an eternity here before so much as entertaining the idea, and to remove that restriction would to be take away a major parts of what makes Ranger himself. ]

That would be nice, wouldn't it? It'd probably be impossible for us to live a normal life, but I think we could get close.

[ He hums thoughtfully. ]

Where do you suppose the kiddos who graduate without moving on or whatever go? They can send gifts and messages, and we were able to meet up with that kid on the school trip, so it's not like they're somewhere completely separate.

[ It's not like they really went to Tokyo Disney. In reality, there are no people with gold eyes. There are no mascots that try to kill you, no horror show that comes out at night, it's a perfectly normal place. It's more likely that it's a result of the nature of this place. It's not unlike how the other school can exist. ]

[commences]

...I don't know, it doesn't make sense. Why graduate and remain here?

( but that last person used their perk to help them, so they risked a newfound life to help a couple of people who couldn't solve the simplest mysteries.

then there was the girl they met during tokyo disney who relayed to them their final moments. he can't be for sure, but he thinks depending on a person's desire that they can follow up on where they wish to go. rokkun desired to go back home with his family, so did he get that chance? no one learned much of akki and sara must have learned of narumi's past, so what world would they want for them?

his nails lightly dig into rio's skin gently, scratching. if they graduate and stay does this mean they exist in a pocket dimension? or are they placed in a distance future with better opportunities than the one here? )

But if it's moving on, sometimes the soul isn't ready... so maybe they're placed in a better place so help them grow. A soul won't grow in a hopeless place, you know?

[rearranger]

Why not?

[ There's no reason not to remain here so long as they're aware from the bigger problem of being limited to a school, a dormitory, and a forest that goes on endlessly. It's an empty world, devoid of life, but outside of this enclosed space it could be anything.

It gets stranger when he considers their mysterious coordinates. There's a part of him that's still certain that it was intended to be somewhere in this place. They can use a gentle touch, they can send gifts and messages, but they can never reenter once they've left. But they can move freely enough otherwise.

It's like this place is a bubble, and the whole wide world is just outside. That kid had said the reasons vary. Some want to help those left behind, others simply aren't.

He squeezes Komaeda's hand again as his nails start to dig into skin. Is it just that they're still not ready? Questions beget questions, and the more he thinks on it the more he wonders. ]

Maybe. I can't imagine anyone wanna stay here. It sounds like some of them wanna help others, but those kids that we talked with seem happy enough... It could be that they just don't have anywhere they wanna go.

[ He glances around the hallway once more. ]

Maybe this place is just a slice of the ocean cut off and dropped in a tank.

[ If one were to capture just a tiny sliver of the ocean, then the fish within it might begin to believe it was a complete world. The only way to prove otherwise would be to return them to the sea. ]

[commences]

..."Why not?" You're happy with the group here that you can grow with it. That's good, then.

( as for why would anyone give up everything to stay, well, komaeda doesn't think that he could. it wouldn't be giving up, rather just him moving on to see what other options are provided for him in the long run. reincarnation into who, or what, maybe another world, or would he remain in an empty world where he exists without knowing he does.

the latter sounds like a proper death. his hand remains around rio's, thumb brushing against his gloved hand idly as they walk still. )

That's a pretty was of looking at it, is there an owner of the tank that drops our rocks and seaweed to give everyone things to do... or is that on us?

( a rhetorical question, and that's just him trying to see what the answer must be from rio's perspective. they can build their own habitat if they wish, they're self-efficient too, but when he hears a tank means someone looks over it, and komaeda's not the type to be tamed.

he even told hinata that at one point. )

We need sea anemone.

[rearranger]

[ Up the stairs, and Ranger always forgets how many flights there are. His partner seems to have forgotten where they'd started, but he sees no reason not to head that way. The other instruments are locked up, but it should still be fine for him to use the piano if so. It's where their first meeting had ended, and he had spent time with others there on a few occasions.

If someone is responsible for decoration their fish tank, then he supposes that would be part of it too. This entire school is just like a miniature castle hidden at the bottom. But it can't just be that. There's too many things that have been changed or damaged, items that could only have been dreamed up by those who knew of them (though just how those arrive is a mystery.) ]

Hm... Maybe both... But if this is just a slice off it dropped into a tank, then you'd just need to tip it back into the sea, and then you'll have the entire ocean

[ He frowns a little. It's difficult to call the school a positive force now, but the suggestion seems to be that it once lived up to its role of nurturing souls. He supposes that there are those such as Kant who would suggest that a good deed is one done when resisting temptation, so maybe the idea is strictly to force anyone here to either comply and be trapped here, or to resist that temptation and find a way out.

That argument breaks down when those who comply are rewarded, such as allowing a single person in a group to graduate. The person who survives the longer, who kills the most, will inevitably be freed while the rest are trapped.

Maybe it's just fun to watch. ]

Why sea anemone?

[commences]

...That would be nice. Do you think this group deserves the entire ocean?

( as beloved sea creatures within a tank cut off from the rest of the unknown civilization, this place in a way can deem them as humans. they thrive on their own planet, in their own habitat where they live off in their very own solar system. everything outside is foreign, unknown, and unbelievable unless seen with their eyes. they could make theories about aliens being out there, ghosts and horrors real where they are, but if this is just a fraction of their lives... if they're given the entire ocean filled with unknown creatures could they all survive?

so they need sea anemone. )

It's for housing and protection, well... if you're a clownfish, but it stings every other fish!

( are they clownfish or are they the other fish that comes through in search for a meal— that's probably the unknown creatures out in the forest waiting for them to drop their guard. it only takes one blink, one unprotected back and it's over unless one person is a pistol shrimp and the other a watcherman goby. )

I said you were an octopus... aha, you can stay cute and adorable.

( he stops, bringing rio to a halt too until komaeda can walk in front of him, leaning forward just slightly so he can give him a small kiss in the middle of the hallway.

leaning back up, he smiles. )

You can sting back.

[rearranger]

[ Do they deserve it? Not really. There's few here that he would save deserve something as vast as the ocean, while the rest simply ride their coattails. Even so, those few people are enough to warrant a nod from him. ]

There's people here who do. The rest should be able to earn it.

[ Those who don't will perish, or otherwise they can hide away in the sea anemone. Isn't that what this place exists for? From the counselor's perspective, that seems to be the case. The forest was sealed first for the belief that students were too fragile to handle it, the outside second for fear that the gardener would do harm. Rio wasn't here when the latter, he's aware enough of both the ways it helped and harmed.

It's always more complicated than simply being one or the other. Then he supposes that this place could, too, become more than simply a decorative castle.

His steps come to a halt, and he seems briefly puzzled before the reason becomes apparent, and a shy smile follows their kiss. It's hard to believe that he can have such a thing even now, and his stomach does a little flip as he leans up to offer a kiss in return. ]

Hm... I think you should be a glaucus atlanticus, though I guess that neither of us would be welcome.

[ He doesn't mind that though. ]