sweethomey | WEEK ONE

Welcome to your new home!

"...Sweet Home: Strangers Strike Back. Airing this Sunday on Lulu."

That's how the video ends. That's how the entire presentation ends, the one that you've been given with a breakdown of what you're doing here, how to earn your wishes, and most importantly, how to use your phone. They promise you that you will go home in four weeks, and hopefully, you won't go home empty-handed, and that your hard work will pay off. Either way, your actions will undoubtedly make for a satisfying finale, and wonderful ratings week after week!

The price in exchange is, well, your privacy. Cameras will not be monitoring you 24/7 (they can't air super inappropriate content, after all!!!), but enough to capture what could potentially be your best and worst moments on the show. Maybe if you plead hard enough, the producers will be merciful and edit out some of your shame, but for the most part, it's best to be ready for anything.

Which includes your introductory day! How exciting. You arrive at the house on a bright and beautiful Sunday morning, and your arrival happens by waking up in a twin-sized bed. Those phones that you were told about are either right next to you or in your pocket; it buzzes with a very interesting song that's certainly telling you to wake up. It will not stop playing until you are awake.

With the alarm, though, is a notification on the screen: "TOUCH TO OPEN!" Tapping the screen as instructed will give you a set of instructions - though, if you don't open it yourself, it will do it for you after a minute. Those instructions are:

HELLO! WELCOME TO SWEET HOME DAY ONE! :)
PLEASE PROCEED TO THE KITCHEN! FUN REFRESHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES ARE WAITING FOR YOU ALL! YOUR WEEKLY CHALLENGE WILL COME TOMORROW. FOR TODAY, HAVE FUN AND GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER! <3333

The kitchen is filled with various snacks. Chips, cookies, cake, blood for vampires – you name it. It's there. It's entirely possible they went a little overboard…but there's something interesting about the snacks. Everything is in a locked transparent case, enticing you to unlock it by how tasty it all looks. How do you unlock it? It's simple, according to the little notes left on the cases. "TO OPEN, INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO SOMEONE IN FRONT OF ME!" The cases are indestructible and will not open until you do this simple task.

Board games are present with some classics like Never Have I Ever prompts, Monopoly, Candyland, you name it!

There's also some music playing in the background on a set of speakers. This is free for you to mess with and shuffle through the modern-day playlist. In fact, pretty much everything in the house is free to tamper with.

Anyone who partakes in at least 2 joint activities with different people (board games, snacking, fighting, dancing, getting up to no good...anything, really) will be rewarded with a complimentary bath bomb on their bed on Monday morning!

Take a look around the house, get to know your housemates (and roommates), and relax on this fine and wonderful Sunday!

OOC Note: The bath bomb reward is not going to be mod-sanctioned, go ahead and just assume your character received one if they interacted with 2 or more people on Sunday ICly.

Also, characters will receive a weekly stipend with enough money for groceries and a few luxury items. You can choose to do whatever you want with this cash, though.

Weekly Challenge

Come Sunday evening, though…that's when the Challenge is issued.

A notification appears on your phone that says "CHALLENGE!! OPEN ME." Doing so will reveal the following instructions:

Did we mention that we forgot to get commercials? Oops! For those who don't know, commercials are advertisements for viewers to try and scam people into buying things they don't need. This time, however, you're going to scam people into buying things that they probably need, for the entirely wrong reason!

Your task this week is to film a commercial with at least one other person. You are to take one of the household objects in this house and give it new meaning. That hairbrush over there? Use it, and it'll turn your hair any color, style, and texture that you want it to! Ooh, how about that washcloth? Wiping your face with it will apply makeup to perfectly suit the occasion! Y'know, stuff like that. It's not actually real, but we think it'd be funny, so work with someone and get it done! Remember, your wishes are your rewards, along with some other fun little prizes! :)

Commercials will all be played on everyone's phones AND the big screen TV next week Sunday! Get excited!

You can film your commercials using your phones, as they are state-of-the-art technology. There are phone stands/tripods/etc. that can be found in your bedroom closets for you to use. Go wild, go ham, be entertaining and have fun!

OOC NOTES: The challenge thread must have a minimum of three comments per character, though I encourage threading beyond that for the sake of cr. I will accept in-progress threads as a completed challenge turn-in. There will be a top level next week for reactions to all the commercials as they play on screen for the characters, but you're free to also thread out reactions if characters stumble into the filming in-person, etc.

The Rest of the Week

The rest of the week will have a fun little treat for the guests: Cats! That's right, cats will show up to the home periodically every day, asking for food. Feed the cats on demand and they will be satisfied. If you don't and they sense that you are walking away, you will have one unlucky event happen to you at some point during the week. What that is can be something as mundane as spilling coffee on your shirt, to having an accident so bad that you need to go to the clinic. The choice is yours.

...

Throughout the week, the following individuals will experience strange phenomena…

– On Monday, Luocha will have the misfortune of encountering a cat that really has decided it doesn't like him. It will try to bother him in various ways, whether it be attempting to scratch him, pee on him, nibble on his shoes…it will do this every hour for 4 hours today, starting at any given time of the day. It will leave Luocha alone afterwards, though it may still stare him from time to time…like a normal cat would. Maybe he can even try to befriend it…

– On Tuesday, Sakura will have a very specific struggle. The first electric or battery-powered appliance she tries to use simply will not work no matter how hard she tries. Even if she charges the appliance, it will not work. The one way to get it to power on is to ask it nicely. Insulting it will get it to actually move and smack her. Whoops! Time to throw down with some electronics?!

– On Wednesday, Jeanne will wake up to something very strange. There will be vines, leaves, and flowers that have grown all around her bed. It's rather unruly, actually, and inhaling the pollen for too long will make her a little loopy. Drunk, essentially, minus the alcohol. It is possible to get a hangover from this and nursing it will be done the same way it normally would be if alcohol were involved. The greenery will go away by Thursday midnight, but she can also make it go away earlier if she rips them out of the roots. (Which are in the floor. Don't worry about it)

– On Thursday, Avery will find a book on his bed when he wakes up. The book says My Diary. He can write whatever he wants in it, but if he writes something about any of the other residents, the book will drag him to wherever said resident is – in the house OR the town – and read his writings about them outloud, right where the resident can hear it all! Sadly, there is no way to test this out beforehand, as any thoughts that are unrelated to the other residents will be kept confidential. The diary will disappear on Friday at midnight.

– On Friday, Hakuya will gain a voucher, good for one day, for free candy at Sweet-E's! He can get a max of two full bags of whatever candy he wants. The bags are freezer bag-sized. The candy itself looks normal, but eating it will cause something interesting to happen. Hakuya will 1) gain a pair of shades that, if removed, will make another pair of shades to go on his face; 2) his top will turn into the equivalent of a disco ball shirt; and 3) party music will follow him around wherever he goes for the next 2 hours. Congrats, you're the coolest kid on the block!!!

OOC Notes

Welcome to the Week One log of Sweet Home Round 2! I had a lot of fun with this and hope you guys enjoy the game. Some important notes:

Please do not literally burn down any buildings or property in this game. ICly, if a character tries, the house will immediately put it out via temperature regulation and built-in sprinkler systems. If your character has fire-based powers, they can affect people and objects but will not cause great damage to the overall building. Do not mess with the built-in safety precautions, please. There is an OOC reason for this that I will not disclose and please do not ask me for it; I am serious about shutting down anything that involves this at any point in the game. You will only get a slap on the wrist if it happens after being warned.
Challenges are due at the end of the week, along with AC! See the AC + Rewards page for more information.
Gossip Board submissions are essentially a way for your characters to get exposed ICly on any shenanigans they've gotten up to. This is purely on a voluntary basis OOCly. A link to submissions can be found below.
OOC Plotting for Week One can be. found here! Feel free to reply to that top level with anything you're looking for.
Feel free to ask any questions in the #mod-questions Discord channel! And please don't hesitate to ping me too so I don't miss it. Thanks!

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[Yes, yes she can. That's what makes her so wonderful and amazing and beautiful and-- Yeah, okay, he'll stop there before he goes on and on even more. But yes! Scrambling out of her arms!

Whew, potential crisis averted! Dignity intact and nobody the wiser!

He can't help laughing at her incredulous look, hands planted on his hips and legs apart as he poses dramatically. Thankfully he is NOT planning to jump off the roof. Even if he can survive a fall from an airship. It would still hurt and suck.]

Weren't we going to have a battle to see who could get the upper hand? Or are you chickening out, Jeanne?

[Teasing her? You betcha.]

[ why does he laugh like an obnoxious baffoon? she prefers those airy puffs he lets loose when he's actually amused. his eyes get all soft, and he almost hides behind his hair. maybe it's to try and hide his smile, how the corners of his mouth tug higher, and -

WHY IS HE POSING LIKE THAT?? seeing he's not jumping eases the tension in her face and jaw. though it does not stop her deadpan gaze. ]

The emotional upper hand. As I could easily best you physically.

[ no, she is not chickening out. nor is she rising to his bait. his teasing! at least, not in the way he wants. sh-she thinks. whatever, she strides forward. toward him.

what? he's probably expecting her to dash, so walking it is. measured, full steps. her boots clicking on the roof tiles. her hair fluttering in the wind, so high up. her gaze locked on him and unmoving.

with the distance between them, he can't hear how her heart sprints. good. ]

[Because he is a buffoon? A genuine idiot? Though one that if very much an actor through and through, unable to let even a hint of genuine emotion show without wanting to hide it from people. From those he's closest to.

That stare seems to only fuel his fevered laugh, maniacal and unhinged. As she strides forward, so too does he, to meet her in the middle.]

Good, good! That's the spirit! You need that kind of attitude to win against me!

[Once they hit the absolute center of the roof, he snatches her by the hands, spinning her around until they're.... dancing?

Yes, yes indeed he's leading them into a waltz. On the rooftop. All the while sweetly humming a tune for them to move to. It's not too fast, nor too slow, but a gentle yet steady motion across the tiles, much like he did with Noé that one night.]

[ oh. right. he is one. her theatrical, sometimes adorable and shy, annoying, vampire doctor idiot princess.

that's a mouthful. she'll stick to calling him vanitas.

with this mouthy doctor, she still doesn't know what to expect at times. he's acting, that much is certain, but what is he hiding by doing so? not one step of hers falters as they approach one another.

they only stagger as the world around her spins. ]

I - huE-eh...?!

[ where did her attitude go? must've jumped off the roof after vanitas didn't. in an instant, by his whim, he changes the atmosphere around them. from this electric pressure to a warm loss of equilibrium. she doesn't know what to do but clumsily follow his steps as her face goes red in a hurry. of all the things she thought he might do?

it wasn't this. humming and gliding them back and forth, just as she danced with lady dominique. very similarly to that, too, she agonizes about stepping on his feet. quick to look down, trying to dodge his toes. ]

W - wait, I'm... I-I really can't dance! Vanitas...!

[ at this rate, he's won. ]

[A wise decision really. Having to call him all that would spell trouble if she needed to get his attention in a hurry.

Thankfully Vanitas is practiced in the ways of dance, and knows how to compensate for Jeanne's stumbling. It's not as smooth as he'd like, but what can you do? Gotta go with the flow.]

Hehe...! C'mon, Jeanne, keep up!

[Even though he interrupts his humming to encourage her, he's back at it right after, never missing a beat or step. The whole sky whirls as they spin, clouds circling them and the sun's rays hitting on them, ensuring that no part of them gets too warm. Thankfully there's also a gentle breeze rustling their hair, cooling them down as they move.

He wishes they had proper music, but needs must. His voice will have to do. Even as she glances down and hurries to avoid his feet, he seems to anticipate her steps and smoothly moves out of the way of each one, still getting them to match the rhythm of the tune he's chosen.]

Sure you can. You need only follow me, alright?

[His voice is smooth and sweet, like honey, his touch gentle despite being firm and able to lead.]

[ she's!! TRYING!!

only vanitas would sweep jeanne into some impromptu ballroom dance on the rooftop under the pretense of getting the upper hand. she makes a flustered noise at his encouragement. for being a nimble athlete, dancing may still be beyond her.

it's not just their surroundings that make the moment, either. vanitas did mention he could sing and jeanne listens, rapt with attention by another piece of the vanitas puzzle being solved.

at last, jeanne appears to stop worrying so much about hurting his toes and lets herself be led back and forth. back and forth, to and fro. though she's still unsure of her feet, her steps obey his. defeat doesn't taste as bitter this time around. not when her opponent is so...

currently, so. ]

... Y-you have a lovely singing voice.

WEEK ONE

B SIDE TRACK

D SIDE............

P SIDE............

p......PICKLE SIDE

that's the idea! PICKLES ALL THE WAY DOWN

itt: sol and mj LOSE THEIR MINDS ABOUT PICKLES