week one

[slowpokey]

WELCOME

Welcome to the Sweet Home program, a brand new experience designed to help you meet and bond with total strangers! You will be living with thirteen others for two weeks in a shared home, and shortly after our debriefing, we will go over your individual careers which you will take on while you're part of the program. There may be some trials and tribulations that you will face while you are here, but they're nothing that you won't be able to overcome with the help of your fellow residents!

As compensation for your time here, we will grant you any material object of your choice, whether that be a huge sum of cash, a weapon, or an ancient artifact. We deeply appreciate your cooperation, after all!

Enjoy your stay, Sweeties!

WEEK ONE

The day after your debriefing, a staff member escorts you to your destination. All you have on you, other than the clothes on your back, is a cellphone, which you were also given a tutorial on during your introductory period. The Sweet Home staff even went through the trouble of setting up social media accounts for each of you! How nice. (Whether or not you retained any of that is up to you.)

A cobblestone path leads the way to the front door of a large, newly renovated home. You take your first steps onto the property, open the door. One by one, people start to enter the house – your new housemates, all of different ages, appearances, from entirely different worlds. This is the day of introductions, settling in.

On the kitchen counter are a few things: One of them is a paper with everyone's room assignments, though there's nothing that appears to be really enforcing this. All you get regarding this is that list, as well as separate room keys, one for each occupant. Speaking of keys, you also get a house key attached on the same keyring! And the last set of keys, of which there are only three, are…car keys, if you know what those are. One for each vehicle in the garage.

There are also some icebreaker questions provided to help you get to know your new housemates. Again, there's nothing enforcing this, but they are there if you feel like chatting it up with others.

Otherwise, there is no work on Sunday. This is the day you get to settle in and get to know your fellow participants!


🌼 🏠 🌼 🏠 🌼 🏠 🌼 🏠 🌼

Once Monday comes around, it's time to start working! Each character will start off with an allowance that will allow them to get some clothes and basic necessities, but will get paid at their jobs with the town's currency by the end of the week. Shifts are varied, but there will always be downtime before and after to hang around your housemates. That being said…there seems to be a rise in some strange things happening to everyone in the house at different times throughout the week. Some of these seem to be just pure happenstance, but other incidents seem to feel more impulsive. Some even seem to be caused by some sort of magic? How strange…

SCHEDULE

Here is the Schedule of Unfortunate Events for Week One. This will not be posted anywhere ICly.

MONDAY, SUNNY ☀️
– Gaku, you will gain a musical instrument – a recorder, to be exact. How you acquire it doesn't matter, but should you choose to start playing it? Oh god, it's so bad that one of your neighbors will come over and complain about it.
– Lia, you will be especially clumsy today. It seems like you can't stop bumping into things, knocking stuff over, etc. The clinic is here if you end up with any injuries.
– Caelus, an unknown number will send you a mysterious text message. If you end up forwarding this to at least three other people and get them to forward it themselves, you will be granted good luck for the rest of the day. Otherwise, you will have bad luck.

TUESDAY, SUNNY ☀️
– Demi, you are dissatisfied with how some parts of the house are decorated, so you will take matters into your own hands. Whatever that means is completely up to you. :)
– Émilienne, you will be chased by bees just before you start work. They will not sting you, unless they think you are hostile. However, they'll chill around you for the rest of your shift if you don't do anything to make them go away.
– Chuuya, you will be especially hungry today. Any meals that you purchase or make yourself don't seem to be doing it! What will, however, is eating food that your housemates have made (or purchased). Time for some food theft!

WEDNESDAY, CLOUDY ☁️
– Elysia, a kid will throw a basketball at you right as you step foot outside of the house, and it will hit you right in the face. (Whether or not this was done on purpose is up to you.) You can get it treated at the clinic, but a red mark will remain even if you get it healed. The mark will stay on your face for the rest of the week.
– Lacy, you are exceptionally cold today. You need to seek warmth, but it's that from others. Staying under a blanket by yourself won't do the job. Time to share!
– Wanderer, you feel the urge to order delivery for one of your meals. Should you do so, the ETA will keep getting more and more pushed back, and the company won't want to refund you. They're quite argumentative with you, actually.

THURSDAY, RAINY 🌧️
– Kratos, the first electric appliance/device you try to use in the house won't work. It will not work until you ask nicely. Every time you insult it, it will whack you with its cord.
– March 7th, you will play some music on a stereo inside the house, and somehow make the volume so loud that it nearly blows the speakers. The remote control is nowhere to be found...in your immediate vicinity, anyway.
– Dagr, you will feel compelled to watch a B-movie, with or without anyone else, and feel the urge to give your scathing (or glowing) review of it to anyone in your vicinity. If they disagree with you, you'll feel compelled to throw popcorn at their face.


FRIDAY, STORMING ⛈️
– Trahearne, the first thing you will drink today is laced with tons of energy, no matter what drink it is, and will make you extremely energetic for four hours.
– Zhongli, your phone glitches and won't stop calling random people in the house at random hours of the day. It also won't hang up until after you've talked to them for at least a few minutes.

⭐️ Surprise! The power at the house will go out at approximately 5:00pm due to the rain. Better prepare for a chilly night…or two, with how hard it's storming.

ICly, characters will be completely unaware of what's to come, other than perhaps upcoming weather changes, which can be found on their phones as well as the weather channel on TV. This schedule is for OOC purposes.

OOC NOTES

– Most prompts are pretty open-ended. There aren't really strict rules on things like outcomes, severity of injuries, etc. Feel free to get creative with how you'd like to play out the prompts given to you.

– Likewise, there are no rules such as "You can only post on Monday on Monday OOCly". If you want to start making forward-dated top levels, feel free to! The day headings are only there for the sake of keeping a nice timeline of events.
– Since day heading format may be unfamiliar for some of you, I'll give an example. March 7th wants to have a baking cookies prompt on Monday, and a silly prompt on Thursday. I can comment to Monday's header with a top level of her baking cookies, and then comment to Thursday's with a silly top level. Here is an example for your reference.

– The phones will function like modern day smartphones. Yes, there are apps similar to Twitter and Instagram, though you'll only really be able to follow each other.
– Network posts are allowed on this log.
– NSFW is allowed, but please tag it accordingly.

Do your gossip summaries!
The link to submit them is here.

(CODE)

Comments

FRIDAY

[slowpokey]

[pactmarshal]

> too much energy.

[ Trahearne often wakes up very early in the morning with the sunrise, so it's apt that his usual serving of black coffee comes at around 6 AM.

So perhaps it's a good thing that four hours of excessive energy only lasts him until about 10. Maybe not, for those who prefer to sleep in much later.

Excuse the racket as he spends the first couple of hours of his day frenetically rearranging and cleaning the kitchen, the living room, opening and closing doors as he ventures outside to tend to the yard and back again. At some point, he probably drops and breaks a mug. Shortly after the shatter, you may hear-- ]

Thorns!

[ For those who manage to sleep through the noise, they will probably wake up to a frantic series of tweets from the resident sylvari.

@ firstborn - 06:43
Though it rains, I feel the rays of the sun invigorate me through the dreary cover over the sky. Long has it been since I've felt so awake.
- -
@ firstborn - 06:44
I have not felt this way since first dawn of my own awakening. To unfurl in the brilliance of daybreak, to understand what it means to be alive. To stand on the brink of the unknown and believe it conquerable.
- -
@ firstborn - 06:47
Or perhaps it is the coffee.
- -
@ firstborn - 06:48
I believe it is the coffee.
- -
@ firstborn - 06:49
A warning to those who will have coffee today: It is much too strong. My apologies. I have no one but myself to blame.
- -
@ firstborn - 06:49
Pardon the noise while I do a bit of tidying.

When he arrives at work, he accidentally flings open the door so hard that it causes the nearby cases and shelves to shudder, and it shuts with an obnoxious rattle. If Zhongli's in, he'll look apologetically at his boss... Sorry!

Once the effect wears off, he decides to retreat to the back rooms of the store and not answer any of his messages. He's had enough embarrassing himself for the day. ]

> lights out.

[ The lights go off at 5... But never fear! The nightlight is here!

As the day wanes, Trahearne's glow grows stronger. Even if the house is stuck without light into the night, well...you'll at least be able to find Trahearne. ]

> wildcard.

(( COME AT ME ))

too much energy

[sidebraid]

( Ya gorl noticed that Trahearne wasn't in the room when she woke up, and after waking up, she idly scrolled the local Twitter. She's amused by the livetweeting she saw about his cleaning antics ... )

@xxlacylass2004xx

aww your a star for doing the tidying hun x

[pactmarshal]

[ Trahearne only notices he has a notification when he checks in during a brief break in his cleaning.

Oh, umm. ]

@ firstborn

I'm sorry, Lacy. Which mug was yours?

[sidebraid]

@xxlacylass2004xx

oh none of them! i've just been using what's there and everyone else's 😅

[pactmarshal]

@ firstborn

Oh, I see.

@ firstborn

I dropped one. It was the one you used on our first day, and I was worried I'd broken yours.

tweeter....

[versioned]

@ girlpower - 06:50
🤨 Uh...lol, are you okay?

[pactmarshal]

[ Not long after March sends this message, there comes the sound of the kitchen cabinets slamming shut. ]

@ firstborn - 06:53

Hello. Do you know where we stock the cleaning rags?

[versioned]

@ girlpower - 5:55
Sorry, no idea! Did you check the kitchen? Oooor maybe the laundry room?

[pactmarshal]

[ There comes another series of heavy, hurried footsteps, a series of doors opening and closing. This guy sure is loud for one being made of entirely sticks and leaves. ]

@ firstborn - 07:03

I found them. Thank you. They're all under the sink, for future reference.

🐲📳 SPAM CALLS

[lapides]

SPAM CALL @ 12:01AM 📳

[Zhongli thinks he's got a grasp on how to use this device. It's a rather practical thing, but he hasn't used it too much. He can see how useful it can be, but he can't help but prefer face to face conversation. After all, conversations are simple not voice and words, but body language and expression, too.

He's about ready for the night when he hears the device making a sound that's different from the ringing he's heard before.]

SPAM CALL @ 3:44AM 📳

[Zhongli's phone is calling someone yet again in the middle of the night. His phone is not close to him, so it might take him a while to get to it. So it'll take several minutes or some yelling for him to answer.]

SPAM CALL @ 6:09AM 📳

[He's an earlier riser usually, but the phone wakes him up. He's not sure what's wrong with his phone, but he's gotten the idea on how to at least temporarily deal with it.]

I apologize for the early call this morning. I am Zhongli of Jìyì Antiques and Bookstore. It seems my phone device is having an issue that needs to be fixed. I intend to do so when the stores open, but for now, the only way to end this call that I am aware of is to have a brief conversation.

SPAM CALL @ 10:30AM 📳

[His phone is calling yet again. He turned it off but it turned back on before it started calling. At least this time it's not so early in the morning.]

I apologize for the sudden call. I am Zhongli of Jìyì Antiques and Bookstore. My phone device keeps making calls on its own despite my best efforts to turn it off and trying to find someone to fix it. The only thing that seems to work is to have a brief conversation or you will be unable to end this call and use your phone.

SPAM CALL @ 2:50PM 📳

[At least he's gotten some respite from the calls, but the sound is already ringing in his head. He's exasperated by the calls, but he doesn't want to voice his annoyance towards the other person. He's the one being more intruding and pestering by his phone making these calls.]

...this is Zhongli of Jìyì Antiques and Bookstore. I apologize for the intrusion and did not intend to call you. My phone is having some sort of technical issues. Yes, I have tried restarting it, turning it off, and a few other recommendations that proved fruitless. The only thing that works so far is just having a short conversation so my phone will end this call.

SPAM CALL @ 5:22PM 📳

[By now, he's already got a prepared message when his phone starts to call people so he starts that right away.]

I am Zhongli of Jìyì Antiques and Bookstore. My phone has been calling people on its own without my discretion. This call will not end until we speak for about five minutes, so would you mind speaking with me? I apologize if you were in the middle of something, but it's best to get this out of the way so we can go back to what we both were doing.

SPAM CALL @ 8:15PM 📳

[At least the calls are not constant, but the sound of his phone ringing has firmly supplanted in his mind as something negative. Which is rather unfortunate, as for the beginning of the week, he found it useful up until today. His patience is getting rather thin, and maybe the suggestion of destroy his phone is becoming slightly more appealing, especially if it continues to happen the rest of the time he's here.

At least the conversations haven't been so bad, some even nice.]

This is Zhongli of Jìyì Antiques and Bookstore. An apology is in order foremost for the interruption and unintended call. This phone has been calling others on its own and nothing so far stopped this occurrence. Both of us will be unable to end this call until we have a conversation spanning around five minutes. You can pick a topic or question to discuss or I can pick something if you like.

SPAM CALL @ 11:53PM 📳

[He swears it's been almost a full twenty-four hours of this going on. After this call, he's going to destroy this phone and buy another. He knows he can manage perfectly fine without a phone. He can't be the only one that has this issue, right? It appears so as no on else has mentioned having this issue nor has he gotten any unintended calls.]

I apologize for the late call. I'm Zhongli of Jìyì Antiques and Bookstore and this phone continues to call people within the house we all share. It will keep pestering you until we have a five minute conversation. I can tell you a story that should take about five minutes of your time and then I will be able to end the call. Or if you wish to tell me how your day went or something about yourself, I wouldn't mind listening. It's the least I can do.

[ooc: feel free to assume zhongli has met your character earlier in the week if you want since this is friday! or they can meet this way i'm fine with either.]

2:50 pm

[pactmarshal]

[ Trahearne is minding his business, doing some sorting in the back room of the antiques shop when his phone suddenly rings...and he sees it's from Zhongli. His housemate who is, ostensibly, his boss?

He brings the phone to his ear and listens to Zhongli's shpeal as he gets to his feet and slowly makes his way to wherever Zhongli is, and just...waits for him to finish, incredulous look on his face, as he stands several feet away. There's probably some vocal feedback between them. ]

...Does this conversation need to be over the phone? Or can we leave them on whilst we converse face-to-face?

🧍‍♂️

[lapides]

[Zhongli is about done with what he's saying when he notices his employee is also on the phone and he a good feeling he's just called Trahearne. This makes things a little different than the previous calls obviously. He could find more about this strange affliction on his phone potentially, but he also rather not waste the other's time if he's not up for it.]

I'm not certain as this is the first time it called someone within a close distance. [He lowers his phone slightly because what if it needs to be through the phone.] I tried to limit the interruptions as to not disturb you, the customers, and the shop, but it appears my phone had other things in mind.

[At least he can make it either somewhat productive or somewhat pleasant.]

How familiar with you with these phone devices? I don't want to take up too much of your time, but it seems I will have to borrow it nevertheless.

[pactmarshal]

[ When Zhongli lowers his phone, Trahearne does the same, taking the moment to glance at the screen when it lights up. It says Zhongli all right...

He looks up. ]

Not familiar at all. We don't have anything like these where I'm from.

[ They have holograms but no phones or TV lmfao.

He glances around the empty shop before putting the phone back to his ear. ]

But you're in charge. If we have to take a few moments out of our day to make sure your phone behaves, then so be it.

6:09AM (nice)

[sidebraid]

( When Lacy's phone lights up with a call from Zhongli, she takes it into her hand before stumbling through the door in order to answer without disturbing her roommates. It's about half an hour before her alarm goes off - any normal person would probably be annoyed, but since she's somewhat familiar with Zhongli at this point, she's not mad in the least. She's aware he works at the bookstore not too far from the flower shop where she does. )

Oh...! No worries, Zhongli ... ( Yawn. ) If your phone wants us to have a little chat, we can have a little chat.

[lapides]

[It doesn't take too long for him to recognizes her voice, and while it's not awkward as the the call to a stranger, it's not the sort of impression he rather give in this new friendship.]

Did I wake you up, Miss Lacy? I know most don't start their day this early unless they must, so your patience and understanding of the situation is appreciated.

[What a nice young woman for being able to take this all in stride.]

Do you have any plans for today? Or perhaps the weekend.

[sidebraid]

Aww, no ... You're fine!

( He did wake her up, technically speaking, but it's only half an hour off her alarm so it's not too much of an ache. There's definitely a tired inflection in her tone, but after stretching and yawning again, she will sound a little bit more alert. )

I'll be off to work in an hour or two. Gotta get the new flower display sorted. How about you?

3:44am........

[meanspirited]

[He's at least awake when he gets the call, but that doesn't actually... answer why he's getting a call from Rex Lapis (or Morax, or Zhongli, or whatever) right now??]

What do you want?

[Silence.

Lots of silence.



...Lots of silence??? Hello?? Sir?]

Why did you call me if you're not going to say anything? I have better things to do, you know!

[He doesn't.]

he's calling ur mom next

[lapides]

[Unlike someone else, Zhongli does try to get some sleep. One the other voice on the call raises their voice, yelling, it's loud enough for Zhongli to stir awake. He has to walk over and get his phone, hoping that he did not disturb any of his roommates.]

Perhaps you are mistaken. I did not call you at such a late hour.

[He's most likely not the only one unfamiliar with this device initially. It's been a few days, but some could be struggling with it still.]

[meanspirited]

Oh? Then why am I on the phone right now, hm? I have no desire to speak with you otherwise.

[Which isn't just because of who (what) Zhongli is, really. He's not here to make friends - this experiment is a waste of his time.]

I haven't been able to end the call, either. What did you do?

[phone's haunted]

11:53PM

[trashlore]

[ By this point, he's heard about this mystery caller (from who? Don't worry about it. Just Someone) and has been waiting with bated breath for the exact moment his phone would ring. There have been a few misses—but he's been patient.

So very patient. Even though he's been tempted to just call the Jìyì Antiques and Bookstore himself, breathe into the receiver, and hang up. But he didn't do that because that would be weird and he's not weird.

He is decisively not weird.

The point is, when his phone does start screeching at him, he picks it up on the first ring and holds it up to his ear. He hears Zhongli's voice and knows at long last his wait is over. He quietly rejoices and even scrambles to his feet! He's done it! He's one of a distinguished list of callers!

...

But what does he do next? He didn't plan for this.

He stares blankly at the wall ahead of him, as if waiting for guidance. ]

[lapides]

[He's so very used to giving out his little 'message', but he has no idea how someone could be looking forward to this sort of thing. If he gets one more call, he'll have no choice to possibly destroy this device to stop the calling.

Zhongli waits a good ten seconds or so before speaking again.]

I must have awoken you. If so, I apologize. You might have heard by now of one of the guests here calling most of the people in the house. I can just speak for the allotted time or we can have a conversation, but I am old fashioned and like to know the name of the person I am speaking with.

12:01 AM

[lavieenrouge]

[Luckily(???) it's not like your resident Kindred is at all inclined to get her beauty sleep at night, so when the phone rings, it only takes the requisite amount of Old Character Fumbling to answer it.]

Good evening~ Is there something you need, my dear?

[lapides]

[After it stops ringing, he can briefly hear a voice coming from the phone. He goes to pick it up to answer as it could be something important about the shop or something else.]

Hello, this is Zhongli of Jìyì Antiques and Bookstore. It is rather late, but if it's important, I can make a note of it.

[lavieenrouge]

Eh?

[He's... assuming she called him? Hm. Odd.]

No, no, I believe you've rang me. But if it was a mistake, I understand, it's just a bit late for such things, no?