WEEK 4

[whimsicalism]

Even as the castle--is it even right to consider as a 'castle'?--continues to grow more accessible more of the group is whittled away. Even your own memories fade as the Alices continue their 'game'. As the new nautically themed area opens new residents of the castle seem to have appeared. A family of living dolls has moved themselves into the dining hall while a lovesick apple tree familiar from Friday seems to have taken root in the garden. Along with the graveyard in floor three the Alices seem to want you to remember your fallen friends in some very... different ways.

Maybe the upcoming holiday will distract the Alices from moving their game along? Only time will tell.

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

[Welcome to Week 4! Don't forget to submit your memory losses and your weekly AC here. The Alices can be found in their audience hall. As always, don't forget to turn in threads forfabulous prizes.]

Comments

cw: child abuse/needles/drug use, here to ruin the party

[strictura]

...Yeah. Most of them, all those really small ones, are just from the needles from the IV drips I had to use when my HP got too low. But they'd use knives and things if I resisted, so. I didn't, usually.

[ Just a few times, but he's got the scars to show for them. ]

Re: cw: child abuse/needles/drug use, here to ruin the party

[xxxx_me]

HP-?

[Wh. What. He's not a gamer in the slightest, he has no idea what that's supposed to mean, but fortunately(???) everything else is scary enough that he's plenty alarmed as is.]

will just extend that warning through the rest of the thread probably...

[strictura]

[ Ah... yeah, he guesses maybe not everyone would get that. ]

Health points. It's gaming terminology, that's how they referred to things. Restoring HP, gaining EXP, using items.

In most games, when the player character is about to faint, you restore their HP with a potion or something. In this case it was just vitamins and stimulants.

[xxxx_me]

But... it's not a game?

[???

it sounds like something a child would do, not an adult.]

[strictura]

[ He shrugs. ]

If I could disassociate from what was happening enough to pretend it was, it would make things a little easier to deal with and result in higher productivity, at least when I was younger and pretending was easier. So it was probably a deliberate calculation.

[ Admittedly, the games he's involved in now operate on a similar premise. ]

[xxxx_me]

That's...

[Awful. He looks like he's about to cry at the thought.]

[strictura]

It was terrible, and I wasn't even the worst off.

[ He can see how upset Allen seems to be about this, though, so he's not going to go into further detail for the moment. ]

Anyway, that's why -- what I told you before about how hopeless we felt before Junko-neechan found us. And why it's so important that we use the hope she gave us to save other kids from going through what we did.

[xxxx_me]

...

Is that why... you don't really like adults?

[He's not as vocal about it as Nigel, but he seems to react to similar mentions...]

[strictura]

That's certainly a big part of it. But beyond their individual actions, our whole society was built on lies they told to ensure they kept holding all the power. We're expected to be grateful and obedient no matter how they treat us in return.

[xxxx_me]

Is it...?

[strictura]

Of course. They drill into us that we owe them something just because they brought us into the world. They tell us we're helpless without them, and that their dominance is just the natural order of things. But none of that is true.

[xxxx_me]

Do they?

[He... honestly can't remember if his parents were like that. He can't remember them at all, anymore.]

[strictura]

Your friend's stepmother was something like that too, right? No matter what world you're in, there are always children suffering at the hands of adults.

[xxxx_me]

Yeah... but it was adults who helped us afterwards, too.

[strictura]

Out of situations they put you in.

[xxxx_me]

[Fr....owning. But not replying.]

belatedly recalls that allen's in a fucking rabbit kigu throughout this whole conversation

[strictura]

...I don't fault you for not understanding, you know. Those beliefs are ingrained in us from the moment we're born, and they're not something most can just put away at will when they're asked to look at something differently.

It's cute and depressing at the same time!

[xxxx_me]

[Abruptly.]

My parents were nice.

The reason I went to the facility was because they got murdered, and someone who worked at the hospital was worried about me.

...That's also why I forgot everything.

[strictura]

[ He should probably sound more bothered by that, especially given how empathetic he's always been toward other traumatized children, but he... doesn't, really. ]

If that's true, they were an exception to the rule. And doesn't the fact that something like that happened in the first place just go to show what a sick and broken society the rest of them created?

[xxxx_me]

Hmm...

[He sounds unconvinced.]

Most of the other adults I met were nice, though. My parents, Mr. Cliff, Teacher, Teacher's Teacher, the Director... I think Teacher's Teacher was Chelsy's mom, and her grandmother was nice, too.

[Who are any of these people. A mystery. But:]

Is it a problem between worlds...?

[strictura]

...I don't know. Maybe.

[ He kind of doubts it, but... if that's the case, what did they all ever do to deserve being born into a world like that? ]

[xxxx_me]

...I think there's probably bad adults in all worlds. But if we can't even trust Teacher...

...

[Maybe the other kids from the facility could still be saved, against all odds. But his own fate...

...]