WEEK FIVE

[whimsicalism]

WEEK FIVE

There's one thing that belongs in Closetland: Monsters.

It was a monster that brought the students here to begin with, and it's a monster who controls their lives now. By now, some have even accused their classmates of turning into--or always being--monsters themselves.

The academy is just as cold as it was last week, autumn air seeping in through the unfriendly architecture and the artificial light seeming darker than before. The occasionally cloud of purple fog snakes through the hallways at ground level, a constant reminder of the new presence haunting the school and her role in the past five weeks of torment. Now that Kakuya is back in a body of her own making, the music room is silent, though the rooms and halls of the Academy themselves occasionally fill with a low, haunting flute melody. With the school's new overlord already wishing her ill, Nanami's already deflating power and free roam capabilities are more or less completely limited as well: She's just one more toy in the box.

The stairwell has opened into another new floor. Upon closer inspection, it seems to be the uppermost one. This is the top of Ira Academy, and while it likely bears some new answers and some new locations to try and find a solution to your plight, is there anything that can heal some of the rifts that formed from the accusations thrown at the last trial? Still, if you don't find answers, then you'll be here playing this eternal deadly game.

Is the devil you know better than the devil you don't?

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday
Regains | AC | IC Profiles | Locations | Mystery Information | Sheep Contact | Nanami Contact | Kakuya Contact

OOC NOTES

Welcome to Week 4! Nanami has joined the party! She no longer has office hours but still be contacted privately, as can Kakuya, who is no longer stuck in the music room. New locations are now open, and some minor adjustments have been made to the IC profiles and rules. Please hit the mods with a ping in Discord and put INVESTIGATE in your subject line if you're interested in exploring a new location. The SHEEP are still taggable, though you may find them in a...different mood.

You now have a week to make sure your AC in for last week and to start collecting AC for this week. Remember to submit your regains, and sign up for a spot exploring this week's mystery if you want to!

Comments

[hashtagwoof]

What?!

[ Okay, THIS sure is a thing! ]

Anya, can you put them on speaker?!

[spychic]

...Do you know how to do that with this kind of phone, Hunter...?

[Anya glances at him. She's not sure what to press, but she holds the phone like a lifeline.]

MODS HALP

[hashtagwoof]

Uh... Lemme see.

[ He is trying even though he has only used a smartphone before. How recent is this phone's model? ]

[whimsicalism]

[As Hunter is poking around trying to put this old touch tone phone on speaker, he seems to jostle whatever part of it makes the switch. A lot of garbled, excitable speech comes through, overlapping slightly.]

This is Edward, Anya. Do you know me? Are... are you in Ir -

A ghost phone! -

Oh, thank goodness! It's very important that you bring Yasu if at all possible! And paper so that when Emma comes, this can be written -

- A what?!

[spychic]

....

Why should we bring Yasu? She's....she's being weird right now. The paper Anya can bring, but...

[She glances back.]

Never mind. She's here.

What was that, Edward?

[violence_ensues]

[Adorabat lands and gets out her notebook and a permanent marker.]

I got my notebook. And big bro, are you okay...?

[whimsicalism]

[Then this. Enjoy the eardrum busting.]

DO NOT TRUST THE DOLL! THE DOLL IS THE ONE THAT WROTE THE MURDER FANFICTION! SHE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED! FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS GOOD, PLEASE SOMEONE LOCK HER UP IN A CLOSET SOMEWHERE!

[canreallymove]

[W I N C E]

Uh-way past late with the warning, but thanks?

[spychic]

........

Yeah, we know.

Anya would love to.

But, uh. People LOVE dolls!

CW: implied past abuse.

[hashtagwoof]

GAH!

[ Oh, joy. It's the return of getting yelled at over the phone. At least this voice doesn't sound pissed off at his alleged uselessness. ]

D-Dude! We're like, way ahead of you there! Stop screaming, for the love of god!

[whimsicalism]

This is Yuta! Is Kakuya- I mean, is A on that side?! She stopped possessing Ao recently.

[The next two come through more or less simultaneously, difficult to discern:]

Yes, we're all here. How... how did you manage this...?

Yes, all of us are--what? Yasu-chan, is that you?

[Trailing off until the second half of this one comes through all alone. Poor thing.]

N-no, no she doesn't! It's okay... I know it's one-sided! You don't have to rub it iiin! Why is my love life so important to everyone?!

[spychic]

....There's a phone in the dance studio.

[Then, in an imitation of her father.]

ONE AT A TIME. [She clears her throat.]

The love life doesn't matter.

Yasu, like Dewey said, is in love with Kakuya. She's running the murder game now. We're still trapped in this. Is there anything you can tell us to help? One. At. A Time. Tell us what is happening on your end. Let's start with Reika. What can you tell Anya?

[whimsicalism]

[Here Reika's voice comes through clearly. It starts out very authoritative:]

Yasu-chan, we'll discuss this later.

[And is now back to cheerful and friendly!]

We're in Kakuya's "hometown," so to speak, or a recreation of it. We've learned of two people who seem to be important figures from her past. One is an author named Yakumo Miroku, who wrote a horror version of the story of Princess Kaguya, but for children. She's described as doll-like. Someone seems to have read the story over and over, but also scratched out another story he wrote, and removed his picture from the cover.

The other is an idol named Momo Kuruse, whom she seems to have a grudge against. We don't know why.

There's more, but I'll let the others explain.

[hashtagwoof]

... Yeeeah, Yasu's simping for Kakuya now. It's a thing. But apparently she insists she's still on our side somehow?

Oh! And did anyone mention Kakuya took out Father for us? I think he's in one of those prison boxes with all the other monsters outside the trial room.

[imprefect]

Ao Hoshizaki!

[Absolutely she is leaning straight over someone who is shorter than her to yell.]

What business do you have getting possessed by a monster?! Do you wanna die?!

[whimsicalism]

I'm just going to die now. Thank you.

[violence_ensues]

[-writes down "kukooya stopped pusesing ow recentlee".]

Yeah, Kakuya's here, she threw the prissipull into a cell and we found the washing machine monster and Slimy! They- they said that they were really hungry, but then weren't anymore!

[hashtagwoof]

... Hold on a sec.

[ Letting the others yell at the phone for a bit to talk to Adorabat. ]

"Slimy?" Those things can talk?

[canreallymove]

Wait wait wait. Hold up. She was possessed by Kakuya over there?

[hashtagwoof]

. . . Are you telling me Kakuya possessed a ghost?

How?

[keyringwitness]

Wait, she was possessing

[There's a pause as Yasu loses all of her easy confidence and turns red to the tips of her ears.]

H- H- H- how much of everything d-did you, um, hear,

not here

[lets_dewey_it]

Hopefully everything.

[keyringwitness]

Oh, if this is about Kakuya, I figured her out some time before Jeanne's trial. If anything our relationship has only grown stronger since since then; don't worry, I'm still firmly on the players' side, I'm just more than capable of handling both her and myself.

Not sure about everyone else, though. Speaking of... how is Kakuriyo?

[spychic]

[...yeah. Weird.]

[lets_dewey_it]

...Yasu kind of sort of fell in love with the fox doll ghost that was pretending to be Ao and now thinks she's a monster herself. If you need elaboration on what Anya means by "acting weird".