thelockedplace | MINGLE

MINGLE LOG | WEEK 2
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Greetings, house guests. Surely you're getting into the swing of things, by now? Though, a friendly reminder: there is no escape.

Sunday is, once again, a quiet and likely somber day. At least, until there's one hopefully welcome surprise: belongings from back home that you may have missed will be delivered to your rooms today, if you did not come in with them. (Note: these should be the personal items from your applications, if your characters don't already have them on hand. The dead's personal items WILL NOT be appearing.)

Iris, Shauna, and anyone else in the house who might be considered a mother will also find a red carnation in a small vase by their bedsides. Enjoy these small creature comforts. You have earned them.

(Don't forget to check out the post-trial afterparty!)

Come Monday, everyone will once again wake up to a most unpleasant surprise: their motive for the week. This one is more immediately apparent than the last; the house's hunger has not been sated.

Pratibha is, once again, nowhere to be found, but this time, she's absent every day this week. What's up with that? (Should you feel strongly about this, you may attempt to find her.)

Bucking tradition, this week's first puzzle also arrives on Monday; it unlocks, of all things, a huge wardrobe full of fancy clothes. What could all this be for?

On Tuesday, the second puzzle appears; and it unlocks, this time, a grand ballroom.

On Wednesday, it will become clear what this week's locations are for. Because the ballroom doors open by themselves at 6 PM sharp, and reveal:

A ball. Splendid and scintillating, this gracefully lit space is warmed by the sound of distant music that has no apparent source. There are tables for food and drink, and more tables besides at which to sit. The star, however, is the dance floor; are you feeling brave enough to step out there? More importantly: with whom as your partner?

The windows display only endless green forest before night falls. Twilight and rising darkness paint the ballroom in shadows and shades of gold. All of it is enchanting and lovely to behold. The ballroom even sports numerous little nooks for ... privacy.

Remember, above all, rule 5: Get to know each other. Become friends. Become more. Who cares. Just do it.

Thursday brings calm after the busy storm of the ball. Rest, recuperate, and reflect; you all know what tomorrow brings.

Friday is investigation time once again. The investigation post will go live at 3 PM EST, 5/16.

Saturday is the day of your second real ritual. You may find the ritual post here at 12 PM EST, 5/17.

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday

code bases by tricklet

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Smart move. And yeah, I noticed a few people walking around with old familiar toys. You think maybe someone or something's trying to - I don't know. Reward us? Make things up to us? Bribe us? I'm getting mixed messages.

...Make us homesick, maybe. Remind us what's left to get back to.

Ah. Motivation. [ He grimaces, wrinkling his nose. ] Not that we even know for sure if the house lets culprits who make it through their ritual walk, but it feels like an assumption someone might gamble on if they were desperate.

I'm sure most of us are pretty desperate at this point.

[He nods at the ballroom, at everyone all decked out.]

That's probably why Lortel wanted to do this. To release some of that pressure.

Yeah. Well, hopefully this helps everyone blow off some steam. [ Most people do seem to be having a pretty okay time, at least. It’s not all misery in here.

A thought occurs to Leon, suddenly, as he considers Aqua’s comment about the desperation. ]

…You think time is passing back where we came from? Or could this be some Narnia thing? Ten years inside, ten seconds out?

...I don't know. I... guess I assumed it would pass at the same rate, but maybe it doesn't have to?

[He's a doctor, man, not a theoretical physicist.]

...That could be... problematic, for some of us.

[Luis. Himself. If they somehow manage to escape this place, but no time has passed, would they be put right back where they were? What would happen to them?]

[ Leon shakes his head, as if trying to physically dislodge the thought. ]

Yeah. Forget I said anything, there's no point in guessing at it right now anyway, not without any proof either way.

[ It's going to keep him up at night now, but that's whatever. He has so much keeping him up every night all the time, what's one more existential crisis? ]

Mm...

[Yeah, this is a deeply uncomfortable thought that he won't be able to put out of mind.]

...Maybe Pratibha would know more.

[Maybe not, either. But she's the most likely person to ask, right?]

Maybe.

[ Probably not, seeing as 'how do we leave' isn't exactly in her wheelhouse, much less 'what happens when we definitely leave for sure', but if anyone could possibly know the answer she has the highest chance. ]

What do you make of her, by the way? Not to be a gossip, but y'know.

[ Gotta collect all the information you can about your fellow kidnapping victims when you're locked in a mansion together for an indefinite period of time. ]

[Aqua's eyebrows rise, then settle.]

Now there's a girl who's been badly miscast for her role.

[Not everything is acting and performance with him, but in this case? It's otherwise hard to describe the feeling he gets from interacting with her.]

Have you talked to her much?

Couple of times. She keeps trying to talk like we have it so much worse than she does, but I'm not so sure.

[ Maybe that's just his overabundance of sympathy for teenagers in shitty situations talking, but if that were the case she'd have a lot of stiff competition for 'having the worst time'. ]

Especially with how surprised she acts when people are decent to her. That's not really how people who are having a good time respond to kindness.

Hmmm. She did tell me she had a horrible, hopeless past... out of guilt, I think. I haven't gone out of my way to be kind to her, so it can't have been gratitude.

[She's been baffled by his behavior, sure, but he wouldn't call how he's acted towards her nice.]

She strikes me as someone with no idea what she's doing. Like she's a normal person someone shoved on set with no prep, and all she can do is wing it. She keeps forgetting the role she's supposed to play and ducks out of sight as soon as possible.

Yeah, she said something like that to me, too. That the place she came from made our murder mansion here look almost alright by comparison. Not good, but better.

[ He frowns, crossing his arms and leaning against one of the ballroom's pillars. ]

That'd make sense. Doesn't sound like she's had a lot of practice being the maitre d'. Like she just got thrown into it and told to sink or swim.

She doesn't know how to act the villain, either. We're too interesting to her. The only way she can stop herself from looking into us is by literally closing her eyes.

[This is how Aqua chooses to interpret how she disappears during the week and literally goes to sleep during the crypt rituals.]

Hm. You think that's why she started out so standoffish and kept disappearing all the time? Trying to keep from getting too invested in us?

[ That would also make sense, though if anything it just kind of makes him feel worse for her. What to do about it, he doesn't know, but still. ]

...You learn to look for that behavior with injured kids and teenagers. Those who often don't have the power to literally escape harmful situations.

[Aqua knows a thing or two about dissociation station.]

[ Leon just nods, frowning. He knows all about that, too. Sherry and Manuela were both a lot more shrinking violet than Pratibha, but there's enough similarities that it's obvious even to him that there's a reason he's been thinking of them so much more recently than usual. ]

Right. I think I know what you mean. [ He drums his fingers on the crook of his arm, considering the circumstances. ] ...You think there's anything we can do for her? Short of getting us all out of here. Still working on that one.

I don't know. I didn't make any formal study of psychology, and I don't know her that well. I can't guess what would make her feel safe and stable.

[Those were a couple of the things his grief counselor was concerned with, after he witnessed Ai's murder. He understands better how to fake the right answers than determine what they'd be for someone else.]

Being consistent, I guess? Consistently showing that you're trustworthy and nonjudgmental, if that's what you're going for. With a suspicious teenager, it's probably better just to stick to a pattern than try to convince her of your kindness, as genuine as it is.

Yeah. Hard for anyone to feel safe in a place like this, I guess. But that makes sense. I think teenagers can sense when you're trying too hard to get them to like you.

[ He pauses, scanning the crowd and the room's exits as is his habit, before shaking his head and huffing softly as a thought occurs to him. ]

Sorry. Just realized this is a hell of a conversation to be having when we're supposed to be at a party.

MINGLE | WEEK TWO

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cw: allusions to child abuse

cw: allusions to child abuse, cont'd

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