WEEK TWO: MINGLE

[retellers]

WEEK TWO: MINGLE (37 remain) Rise and shine, gremlins. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's the start of a new week. To the participants, yesterday's events may seem distant now—albeit not as distant as their life before this. Whether or not they notice, they will have lost a memory upon waking up. The barrier to the north is down, and beyond the bridge lies new areas to explore. Strangely, what was there last week seems to have been replaced overnight. That's not the only thing that's different, either. The participants will find that their lodgings have changed, and new buildings within the town have been unlocked. Finally, should anyone check their PHS, Cater, Sharon, and Kano's profiles have been removed. Three Leaders can be found around the area, open (?) to approach. If participants want to speak to them more privately, or to an absent Leader, it looks like they'll have to go through another channel. Furthermore, it looks as though the rules have updated. If you break the current ninth rule, participants will get shocked. It will be a mild shock at first, but the longer they touch each other, the stronger it will get. On that note, if your character did not share a memory last week, please make sure to check your notifs! Participants may also find that their memories of the past few weeks are getting fuzzier... as though they can't recall some of the details without focusing. Finally, this week, every time a participant gets within one foot of someone, they will experience the emotions the other person is currently feeling and vice-versa. This will last for ten seconds even after they've stepped out of their personal bubble, after which the sharing itself might share, but the knowledge will not. Have fun!

NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

Comments

[showyourself]

[hm!]

Arendelle. [she picks up the pen, and writes it out.] A-r-e-n-d-e-l-l-e. [then, underneat of that, she writes "elsa" in a more cosmetic flourish script.]

There. Is that all you need from me?

[heartablaze]

[She shakes her head, tapping at her chin with her own pen.]

Favorite ice cream flavor.

[showyourself]

Chocolate. Or mint chocolate.

[heartablaze]

Why not both?

[Wait, wait no, better, she is so excited for a moment:]

Could they have a mint chocolate but still have the chocolate ice cream? Do you think that could exist? So you could eat both of them at once!!

[showyourself]

...I don't know, but it's worth a try. [teehee]

So, any other pressing questions?

[heartablaze]

[are hikaru's questions ever truly pressing, the world may never know]

Not if you don't want to! Just this is enough for right now... [She's gonna lean over that paper and write down "mint-chocolate-chocolate" in much more juvenile handwriting than Elsa's.]

I'm just trying something to help people remember each other, you know? But we can't remember a whole lot about each other if we can't put at least something down about ourselves, right? So... you can leave it like that, or you can put down other stuff you like, or names of people you want to remember, or whatever you want. And maybe, sometime, everybody can add things, to help you know what's important.

...

I... want to do it for the removed people, too. Like... maybe a way for us to remember good things about them, since their profiles are all gone now.

[showyourself]

[...]

That's a wonderful idea, Hikaru. I'd be more than happy to put down more about myself.

Should I write it myself, or dictate, and you can write what you feel is important?

[heartablaze]

You should write it yourself! If I have things to add, it's gonna be in my own words.

How I feel and you feel are always gonna be different, right? I don't want to misunderstand, or make you feel something you don't want to.

[And that statement alone comes with a sour wave of regret.]

Anna-chan is the only one I could think of right away if I had to guess for you, anyway.

[showyourself]

Hmm. Yes, my sister is a good place to start. Let's see...

["My name is Elsa. I was born as eldest princess to the Kingdom of Arendelle, to"

her hand stills. it wants to write, but she. it. nothing is coming out. there's a laugh, a little embarrassed, with a shadow of growing horror.]

I can't remember.

[heartablaze]

Can't remember what, Elsa-san?

[Peeking... oh. She's a princess??


///]

...There had to be a king or queen if you're a princess, right?

[showyourself]

[she taps the pen, then flattens her hand on the paper to stop herself. no. no. focus.]

I--I was the queen. Because my parents died. [it's like trying to sneak up on the truth. but when she jumps--]

But... I don't... remember how. I don't... I can't remember them at all.

[on top of the paper, her fingers curl into loose fists, and out again.]

This... when did I forget?

[heartablaze]

[A queen...

...

There's a wave of bitter empathy.]

This is why I wanted to do this... Elsa-sama. [The title feels strange on her tongue.] I know it's scary, but...

Write down what you can remember, okay? You know you're a queen, and you know why... even if you don't know how.

[showyourself]

[she shakes her head, but doesn't respond. instead, she pulls a journal out of her bag, and flips through, staring at the pages. all the calm and collect of her previous demeanor has evaporated, replaced with a pulsing buzz of anxious energy.]

...Gone. So it was pointless...?

[on each page is written line after line of neat, tidy script—but some of the pages seem to scramble, shift, and blank when not looked at out of the corner of your eye.]

I remember... I abdicated. Good. Anna's queen, now. And... [she frowns, shaking her head again.] No, nothing. [the nervous, panicked anxiety pours off of elsa in waves, splashing on to hikaru.] I'm up North. Yes. Elsa. Anna. Olaf... okay.

Okay.

[she takes a deep breath, and... it's an incredible transformation. all the fear, anxiety, and everything—it starts to minimize, as if it's being compressed, like a neutron star—until it's almost gone.

where'd it go?

meanwhile, elsa clasps her hands in front of herself, and exhales.]

I think... whatever I write down, it has to be while you watch me do it, Hikaru.

[what a. roller coaster of emotions.]

[heartablaze]

[That's. A lot.

Anxiety isn't new to her, but the intensity of it definitely is, as is how astronomically fast it seems to be shoved down to such a small point that it doesn't exist. Eh? Ehhhhh?

All that's left is confusion and concern, the girl looking a little frazzled at that wave of whatever the fuck that was.]

A-ah... mmn, right! I'll stay right here if you need me to, Elsa-sama.

...

Is... something wrong with your diary? I can try to read it...

[showyourself]

...You may. [she holds out the diary out to hikaru.

it's. literally the entire plot of frozen and frozen 2, plus supplementary content, so if she's looking for anything in particular, just let me know and i can tell you what she finds!! otherwise i can tell you what's there from a skim!]

I don't know how useful you'll find it, though.

[now, she's just radiating quiet sadness, a quiet, cold feeling.]

[heartablaze]

[She is 100% just looking for the names of her parents! So a King or Queen. She's not gonna pry too deeply other than that, that's not her goal here.]

It's okay, Elsa-sama, this... this is exactly why I want to do this.

Give me just a second, okay? You said Anna-chan was the queen now... Do you remember when you became queen before then?

[showyourself]

Of course. When I came of age—when I was twenty one. Both of my parents passed away before that.

[hikaru can easily find King Agnarr and Queen Iduna's names, very near to the beginning of the book. there's a story of how they met, but you'll have to tell me in a DM how much of it she reads.

she'll have to look a bit deeper to find out how they died, though! that'll take some more flipping.]

[heartablaze]

[Niji can be saved for DMs for right this second because Hikaru is pure and will only be looking for context clues, not the story itself. In one ear, out the other, right now it is not her business!]

Mmn...

Okay... Yeah, I think I might have found it! [She'll turn the journal over, capping her pen just so she can use it to point out where, exactly, the names are written. She's gonna watch Elsa very, very closely as she does this.]

Elsa-sama, what do you see when you try to read this right here?

[showyourself]

Nothing.

[that's an easy answer.]

It's all gone.

[heartablaze]

[Ah. So that explains why she was so panicked.

Hikaru nearly reaches for her hand, but thinks better of it before she accidentally shocks her. No touching, right... Still, there's a wave of sympathy, seeing how Elsa's face falls when the information is right in front of her.]

It's not gone for real, Elsa-sama... and if we work hard, it won't be gone forever. Don't worry. Even if you don't remember now... I can still see what you wrote just fine.

Do you trust me, if I put the names here on your paper?

[showyourself]

I know. I know. It's...

[she shakes her head. the anxiety is back, the background buzz, like a pounding migraine.]

Go ahead. You can write anything you see.

[heartablaze]

I'll just do their names first, okay? And if there's something else you forget, I'll help you try to find it. Promise.

[There's a confidence in it, a concern, one that just spurs her to action with Elsa's permission. She'll keep the journal open long enough to check the spelling while she writes her additions as neatly as possible:

--born as eldest princess to the Kingdom of Arendelle, to KING AGNARR (FATHER) & QUEEN IDUNA (MOTHER).]

Agnarr-sama... and Iduna... sama... there, there we go.

Mmm.... I'm gonna see if Rabbit-san can find me markers with brighter colors. Maybe if we could highlight the things that look funny to you, or things that just look like big blanks.

[showyourself]

[she. stares at the swimming blank. then at hikaru, like she just said something strange.]

...What?

[heartablaze]

It's your father, and your mother!

[oh, wait, hm. she remembers vesda-san pitching big baby bitch fits about his name like this...]

Did... it sound weird to you, Elsa-sama, when I said their names?

[showyourself]

[she blanks again, blinking.]

Huh?

I'm... sorry. I feel like I keep missing what you're saying...