hi weâve been having a lot of really dark times so i just want to bring this back. world heritage post.
i cant fucking stand quinine. "gluten free"? grow up
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corny on main || anastasia || re: bams, Orwell's Big Brain Idea
Weeks ago, she collapsed against her couch a shuddering mess and sobbed incomprehensibly into Scourgeâs shoulder twice in the same fucking day. And she hadnât wanted to, but she hadnât know what else to do. Stress, she could handle. Judgement, she could handle. But the overwhelming feeling of being trapped, the pathetic, endlessly frustrating helplessness of knowing that no matter what she does, itâs never going to be enough?Â
It broke something that she didnât think could be broken. And if the way the tears spill over the instant she hears those words from Bams, that she doesnât know, are any indication? The way sheâd tried to tie it all back together afterwards wasnât going to hold up anymore.
Maybe Orwell is right. Maybe itâs as easy Runa and Ivan wishing them out of harmâs way with the reward issued by Gambit. Maybe thereâs a third option, maybe thereâs not, maybe Ivey isnât the Grand Don at all and theyâre all being strung along by something much bigger and none of this even matters. Anastasia doesnât know either.
But â here are the things she does know: That three seats down, one of the most important people sheâs ever known is in some kind of pain. Ana told her once that she was probably the most incredible person sheâd ever met, and that was the truth. Sheâd also told her that nothing was ever going to change that, and that was the truth. That person spent countless months lying to her, withholding the knowledge that she thought they were looking for together, playing on the other side of a game that neither of them wanted to be a part of. Itâs the same person. Bams, Clover, Crisis, every other name including the only one that matters. Itâs a difficult thing to reconcile, but it doesnât make the things that Anastasia told her any less true.
She knows that there are other people who are just as important. That Scourge, Runa, Orwell, Masaki, Seattle, she couldnât just knowingly sacrifice them all no matter who she was doing it for. Anastasia doesnât like voting because she doesnât like deciding, but today that isnât an option.
She knows that there is a card on the table in front of her and a decision she needs to make. She knows that itâs very, very likely there will be no happy ending to this story. She knows that everyone sitting in this room has experienced unspeakable tragedies, even if they donât remember them all, and that thereâs a very good chance this wonât be the last.
(But Duck said something once, what was itâ?
âThat is the appeal of uncertainty, Anastasia. Knowing that it could be something other than that, even if youâd have to work towards something unknown and a little bit blindly.â)
Through her tears, she gives Bams a smile. Thereâs a familiar kind of nervousness to it, but it isnât forced. She hopes it looks comforting.
ââŚI really hope this works, [Bams]. I wasnât kidding when I told you that I could make a much better Valentine outside of here.â
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pogcorn || Grand Don Power Hour 2.8 (jesus christ) || anastasia || @ ivey/bams
Her cards have been long since set down, hands retreating to her lap to fidget nervously with her pen, eyes flickering uneasily in every direction. Ivey to Bams to Scourge to Quinine to Duck, standing up on the tableâ
(And to think sheâd commented so many times that it was Duck and Scourge who had too many similarities sometimes, when apparently it was her and Duck who had a little too much in common.Â
Still not enough, though, because as much as Anastasia would stand in front of Bams in an attempt to shield her from the scrutiny of their peers, she knows that isnât who she is. She knows she doesnât have that presence, sheâs not the kind of person who climbs up on the table, sheâs staying frozen in her seat still trying to work out whoâs winning and whoâs losing. What any of that even means anymore.)
And sheâs surprised, but maybe not surprised enough, because sheâs been blindsided quite enough today and this at least is something thatâs come up in conversation enough times before. Itâs not like she hadnât considered it, gone back and forth a hundred times because she knew how consistently people were on Iveyâs ass about everything, and she didnât want to make that any worse because she really did kind of like her, but if the shoe fitâŚ
And it fit. And thatâs all there really is to say about that right now. Sheâs put a full stop on really processing anything here, she just needs to keep her brain moving. Move from one big question to the next, worry about how to unpack it later.
âWhat do we do, then?â
Itâs all she can think to say in response to all that Ivey has to say. The next major thing she can think of.
âWhat do you mean itâs pointless? What happens? To yâŚâ she trails off there, and when she finds her voice again itâs somehow even smaller. âTo both of you? We canât just not vote. Right?â
A wide-eyed look over at Scourge, like sheâs not even sure how confident she can be in a statement like that. And then back, looking from Bams to Ivey like sheâs not even sure who she should be asking.
âWhat happens if we donât? What happens if we do? [Bams], you said before that we donâtâŚwe donât know that itâll count as a win for all of us, was thatâŚdid you mean that? Or was it just toâŚI donât know, throw us off?â Oh, the way her voice pitches there makes it obvious that she really doesnât like doubting something that Bams said. âHow are we supposed toâŚmake a decision like that when we donât even knowâŚwhatâs going to happen? To everyone? Does it even matter? I mean, isnât everythingâŚitâs all broken now! There has to be something we can take advantage of here, a way toâŚâ
(A way to what? She doesnât know. It probably goes without saying here, but she looks at Bams again.)
âWe canât just not vote, but I canâtâŚhow do we help you? How do we make this work, for all of us?â
It sounds more like a plea than a question, really.
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corn wallet || Grand Don Power Hour 2.7(??) || anastasia || re: bams, orwell('s accusation) / attn: ivey
All Anastasia can do in response to the apology is shake her head. And maybe it looks a little frantic, a little desperate, a little like sheâs in denial that thereâs anything to apologize for. But the longer she spends trying to truly commit herself to acting like nothing has really changed, like the sudden confession was little more than a bump in the road on the way to learning something much more important, the easier it is to believe. The longer she spends thinking, keeping her head down and trying to come up with anything, anything she can salvage from the day old, week old, month old conversations left filed away. Preferably, focusing on the things that donât make her want to cry.
(Itâs hard enough, seeing Bams break down the way she is. But she can think about that later, she can find a way to help, but right nowâ)
And at almost the same moment Orwell begins to speak, itâs like a light bulb over her head pops on. Admittedly, sheâs only half listening â once the gears start turning in her head, itâs like sheâs somewhere else entirely. Her expression freezes, starts to look a little vacant again. She gets the gist, at least. Hears the accusation, gentle as it is. And thatâs what prompts her to speak up at the first chance that she gets, the first silence left open, because if there was ever a time to voice her own ideaâŚit might as well be as the spotlight fell on Ivey anyways.
ââŚ[Bams] had this idea, a little while ago. That your survival when [Valerio] threw the ferris wheel wasnât just dumb luck, it was some kind ofâŚI donât know, safeguard? Because as the Don, you couldnât risk letting yourself die. Something like that.It wasnâtâŚit was just an idea, weâd all sort of tossed around the possibility of the Don keeping themself safe like that. But she brought up you. And I thoughtâŚat first, that it meant we could rule you out for the same reasons as [Rookie]. Because if you were working together, why would she go out of her way to suggest you like that? She brought us to the broken ferris wheel. Not even just me, the wholeâŚgang. She wantedâŚanother pair of eyes on it. To see what we all thought. To make sure we wereâŚthinking about it, even?â
Because enough of them had exposed each other already, she might as well tie it all together. Itâs not like she thought thereâd been any real secrets coming in. And when she looks back up, itâs not even at Ivey â itâs at Bams again. A familiar kind of wide-eyed curiosity on her face, the kind thatâs just a little too close to excitement when itâs definitely not appropriate.
(She tries to catch her eye and itâs almost, for a moment, like sheâs looking for approval. To be told that she got something right after all.)
âBut is that what you meant? Getting rebellious, trying toâŚlet us come to our own conclusions? You never really pushed for it, but it was always there. You never tried too hard to convince us to rule her out, either. I donât know. Maybe it could have gone either way.â
And with that, she finally looks at IveyâŚand then to OrwellâŚand then between the two of them a couple of times. Blinking a little as she comes fully back to reality, realizes she might be caught in the middle of something much more personal here, shrinking back just a bit in her seat as she throws another somewhat desperate look in Bamsâs direction. Like sheâs still searching for something.Â
ââŚBut I donât see many other options. Which I think, umâŚleaves the floor to you, [Ivey].â
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flights from ny to england || don 2.6 || anastasia || re: moss, bams, seattle, duckcusations
Somehow, over everything else, she hears Moss. And thatâs what sets her off.
âDonât talk to her like that!â
It might be the loudest sheâs spoken in months, that she can remember anyways, something almost like a shriek that comes tearing out before she knows how to stop it. It feels like days ago, dropping everything she was holding and walking out of her suite to find Duck in a desperate attempt to convince her not to reveal Scourgeâs abilities, like hours ago when she found herself glaring instinctively at anyone who even so much as tried implicating them in Akiâs murder. Blind, impulsive defense.
(Something about Bams has always made her a little more impulsive.)
At least throwing the most intense look she can muster in Mossâs direction is enough to get her eyes off Bams. Itâs easier, not seeing her, because otherwise itâs hard to think about anything other than climbing over the table to make sure sheâs okay before letting the conversation continue. It makes it easier to ignore everything she still wants to ask-
(Were we close, before? Were we even friends? Is this the first time you decided that you liked me? Was I one of the people you killed? Would you do it again, if you had to? When we lose, when they hit reset again, will you still be here? Will you watch? Will youâ)
and focus on the questions that she knows need to be answered. So she listens, but she doesnât let herself process. She breathes, tries to pull back some of her composure. And she keeps her feelings pressed down as far as she can, looks back up in Bamsâs direction without really looking at her, and trying to keep her tone as even as possible:
ââŚI believe you. I always believed you.â The slightest tilt of her head, a smile that feels more desperate than encouraging. âItâs not over yet. Right now, I can keep being optimistic for the both of us.â
(And thatâs what matters, that it isnât over. Thatâs what keeps her in one piece. That thereâs more to be discovered. Because when Anastasia doesnât think she could possibly be more lost, when sheâs overwhelmed with hurt, with fear, with anger that she doesnât know where to point, all she knows how to do is tell herself that she doesnât have all the pieces yet and keep looking for further understanding.)
ââŚ[Duck] is right. Badgering her isnât going to get us anywhere. How can we expect getting information from her to go any easier than trying to get it from [Mothman], or Gambit himself? I imagine sheâs subject to many of the same rules and restrictions as them with the things sheâs allowed to say. Weâre on our own. With one less suspect.â
Thereâs no need to remove Bamsâs card from her deck, of course â a few had been quietly set aside along with her own when the trial began, a small selection that she came in having already ruled out. Clumsy hands shuffle all but the obvious two back in, and then start reorganizing: removing Seattle, Orwell, Quinine, names and faces that have been cleared by evidence alone.Â
âSpeaking of [Duck]. As long as weâre talking about the portrait, clues in aspects of their appearanceâŚI suppose thereâs a chance things were different last time, but Iâve certainly never known these outfits to come with a weapon built in. The person standing up in that portrait made the conscious decision to keep a sheath and sword on them, which is something worth, uhâŚconsidering. When we know of at least two people who like to carry swords around.â
ââŚThat said, before you startâŚgetting defensive on me too, Iâm not â [Ivey] has spent enough time defending herself already, and I donât think itâs [Duck] either. [Claire] already cleared her, if weâre continuing to assume that the eight chairs on the island with the coins left on them correlate to the eight past winners. The codenames weâre left to wonder about are Francisco, Cherry, Hope, and Daisy. [Duck] was Cleopatra. Iâm only saying itâs another part of the portrait to keep in mind. As aâŚsidenote, though, I would like to know if anyone else went to the island and can corroborate what [Duck] claims she saw â I donât personally doubt her, but I hope you can all understand a desire forâŚconfirmation. Just to be safe.â
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corn on the sob || Grand Don Power Hour 2.5 || anastasia || re: bams
âIâve been thinking about who might be different. Or who might beâŚyou know. Suspicious, at least. I know itâs not you, obviously. OrâŚ[Scourge], Runa, MasakiâŚâ
(Thereâd been a pause, a level of emotion on Bamsâs face that Anastasia didnât think sheâd ever seen before, something about the way she looked at the ground, and she saidâŚwhat did she say?)
âYou⌠trust me that much already..?â
(Right, and then it was gone â like a switch flipping off, and at the time Ana had chalked it up to the cordyceps trying to stop her from feeling too much but the surprise caught her off guard almost as much as her words had apparently done to Bams, becauseâ)
âYeah? Of course I trust you. Youâre pretty much, likeâŚmy best friend, I think. If I couldnât trust you, IâdâŚbe pretty screwed. So. Itâs. A good thing that I know I can! Thereâs, uh. Thereâs notâŚa lot of other things that Iâm willing to say I know.â
At no point while Bams is speaking does Anastasia look away, but from the way her expression starts to look a little blank itâs clear that her mind is wandering. That sheâs running through every conversation she can remember, start to finish and then back again. About every time sheâd just run on, and on, and on with her theories, and Bamsâ
ââŚSheâs lying.â
(It doesnât come out sounding half as confident as she meant for it to â her voice shakes, it barely sounds like a statement. She sounds like a little girl trying to defend herself from a childish rumor on the fucking playground, about ten seconds from bursting into tears from the stress. She blinks, tries to keep her expression from betraying any of that hurt, tries to keep herself on track.)
âThe Grand Don is setting her up to take the fall. Sheâs barely even hiding itâŚ! Canât help letting people be used? All these convenient, obvious things? You said it yourself, earlier â everything here points to the Don wanting to hide behind other people. AndâŚno prize for finding the sidekick, so we might as well get it over with?â She forces a strained little smile in Bamsâs direction. âYou couldnât beâŚmore obviously trying to rush us into voting for the wrong person. Thatâs, umâŚa pretty textbook fake confession! But itâs okay â you probably have to be subtle, donât you? Canât come right out and give us the answers. What fun would that be?â
The easiest course of action is, of course, to stop thinking about it. To push those conversations to the back of her mind, to focus on the here and now. To lean as heavily as she can on the part of her brain that she knows can shut these feelings down when it needs to, to focus on the mystery. To remove her idol, her closest confidant, her best friend, etc etc from the equation and think about: Bams. Clover. Whatever else sheâs going to have to be called that isnât her name. The person only a few seats away claiming to be the person that theyâve all been convinced is their enemy.
âThere are still questions Iâd like answered, of course. Things that Iâm sure you canât tell us. Everything [Scourge] asked, and then some. How long have we been here? Why did you stay? What are you getting out of this? Itâs to help us, right? How much do you actually know about whatâs happening here? How much have your time here has been playing the game, and how much has been real? Of course itâsâŚbeen real, right? All ofâŚâ again, her voice is shaking, but she just keeps going. âYou can tell us why you did it, at least. You can tell us that itâsâŚyour intentions were good, at least. I know they are. You have to give us that much, at least!â
 And thatâs where it all spills out, the sheer desperation of needing to be told that her trust hasnât been misplaced, that if she was wrong about everything else, every other word thatâs ever come out of her mouth, she wasnât wrong about her.
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clorn off the clob || Grand Don Power Hour 2.4 || anastasia || re: maverick, bams accusations
Itâs not like the same thought hadnât occurred to Anastasia when the name Crisis first entered the conversation, but the accusation being laid out so bluntly doesnât make it any easier to hear. Something about hearing Scourge say the two of us thought, being caught off guard by an accusation from two of the people who sheâs been used to sharing everything with this whole timeâ
(And it makes sense, because when would they have had time to tell her? Still, the thought that theyâve had an idea this important that she didnât know about feels like more of a betrayal than the potential of Bams being involved in the game.)
She tries to catch Bamsâs eye when she notices her crying, wishes she could do something more than just look from a couple seats away, and tries not to sound too defensive when she says:
âWell, what is she supposed to do? Tell us that she is?â
It doesnât work. It still comes out a little sharper than she means for it to, she tries to soften it. But itâs not so much the accusation thatâs keeping frustration close to the surface as it is the implication that Bams might be anything but good, regardless of what role she may have played.
âDonât call it a betrayal. The longer the discussion goes on, the less convinced I am that thatâs what it is. I refuse to believe that any of this was ever about playing us, especially if weâre going to start pointing fingers at [Ba-]ââ A frown as the start of whatâs meant to be her real name doesnât come out anywhere close. ââŚAt easily one of the kindest people here. Which Iâm not saying as a rebuttal, because I know itâs a weak one. Iâm only saying that Iâm with [Seattle], in that if sheâŚâ (oh this is hard to say) âIf she isâŚinvolved, somehow. I haveâŚfull faith that sheâs doing the right thing. For everyone.â
And maybe itâs unfair â that nothing before seeing a couple of tears from Bams elicited any kind of real emotional response from Anastasia, but to her it feels like a repeat of the accusations against Scourge. A waste of time. Because surely, if all this time the answer had been the person right in front of her, she would have noticed. Staying on this topic too long is a waste of time. Obviously.
She keeps her eyes on Bams, wishing she could just be a little bit closerâ
(What a shitty time to change up the seating arrangements on them, when she doesnât just have to count on Rookie leaving his chair empty to pass a note, offer a hand across the empty space.)
ââŚThat said. Itâs not enough for me. It feels too convenient, like theyâre just handing us an answer in a way thatâŚisnât like them. If itâs something youâd like to keep on the back burner, thatâs fine. But I donât know how solid of an accusation it is coming from something thatâs soâŚeasy.â
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blue corn tortilla chip || Grand Don Power Hour 2.3 || anastasia || re: seattle, duck
Anastasia looks between Runa and Ivan with confusion as the details of what happened unfold, eyes widening just slightly as she starts to understand. Sheâs starting to look a little worried, but itâs not for Runa. Itâs for the fact that things are falling so far off track, that the Grand Don discussion seems to have been tabled. The strange excitement she was feeling before is fading, she doesnât connect with Quinineâs anger, Maverickâs relief. All sheâs starting to feel is the familiar stress that comes with a situation thatâs slipping rapidly out of her control. All she can think is that now simply isnât the time for emotions to be running high, not about this.
(It feels sometimes like empathy is a switch in her head that flips off without her consent, like the feelings of others matter less than the answers she wants even though she knows that she shouldnât. She thinks, perhaps, that she should feel a certain way about learning whatâs happened, but all she feels is a quiet frustration that neither of them fucking said anything. That Runa watched them all run around that investigation, clueless and looking for answers, and didnât say anything even with the knowledge that nothing was really at stakeâ
It doesnât occur to her what Runa might be feeling, simple as that, and even as she listens to her tearful explanationâŚ
Much like when Ivey was dying at the table and people couldnât believe that all Anastasia wanted was to know how she pulled off a murder, like every time sheâs observed peopleâs visible discomfort with her questions and showed no signs of stopping â in the moment, she doesnât particularly care.)
Sheâs still staring dead at Runa when she speaks, and while she certainly looks shakenâŚ
ââŚThank you, [Seattle]. I donât think this conversation is going to be very productive. There will be plenty of time to discuss these things when weâre done with all this.â
Finally, she manages to look away. Seek out those same three faces in the crowd, Scourge, Bams, finally landing on Seattle.
âIâm going to have to disagree with you on one point, though. While we may not be required to figure out why the Don and the mole took these positionsâŚIâm not sure how well weâre going to be able to narrow down suspects without at least having an idea of their motivations. AndâŚyes, Iâm choosing to stay optimistic about what those motivations might be.â A glance back towards Bams with that. âIf we donât find them, we lose. Doesnât it only make sense that if we do find them, we win? Thatâs the simplest answer, isnât it? Maybe there is more to it. Maybe there were other things that they were trying to do behind the scenes, maybe all of this â crashing down around us was part of it! But at the very core of it all, I believe that this was intended to help us. Thatâs why [Mothman] said they stayed, and they seemed insistent that the Don didnât have any malicious intent in staying behind either. Thatâs what I would have done, if I had the opportunity.â
âWith regards to the environmentâŚthis is a setting thatâs been in use for quite some time now, before the Don was ever a part of it â at least, as the Don. Things may have been added for this most recent cycle, but thatâs what we would need to look for. Things that are new. Those are the only things that could reasonably be actual hints towards their identity, yes?â
Sheâs still looking a little tense, throwing much more uneasy glances towards some of the people more wrapped up in the previous drama. And even so, she keeps going. Looks down at the list of codenames from the island passed to her by Duck.
ââŚ[Brandi] and [Mamoru]âs codenames didnât change after this cycle. Or perhaps â for this cycle? Fishhook and Nixon are both still listed with the names [Duck] found on the island. Theyâre the only two that stayed the same. And you saidâŚâ she blinks. Tilts her head a little. âYou said there were eight chairs with coins on them, didnât you? Including Fishhook and Nixon? Twenty four minus eight, that leaves the sixteen of us who havenât won yet. Our group, without the Don and the mole. Maybe those eightâŚwhat were they? UhâŚâ she checks her notes. âFishhook, Nixon, Francisco, Cherry, Hope, Daisy, Kennedy, and NickelâŚthose are the codenamesâŚfrom that cycle, at leastâŚof the eight total winners?âÂ
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Corn. (sorry im in class) || Grand Don Power Hour 2.2 || anastasia || re: orwell, duck, seattle, maverick
And this, somehow, is how Anastasia works best. Four different conversation threads to follow, a mystery to solve. People finally, finally, finally sharing information, discussing right out in the open everything thatâs been taking up space in her head for weeks. If not for how objectively horrifying everything theyâre learning was, she might even be enjoying herself.Â
(And while she certainly wouldnât say that she is enjoying herself, itâs hard to deny the kind of thrill that runs through her at the thought of finally achieving some kind of understanding of their situation, a morbid kind of excitement that she hasnât felt this strongly since the first time she stood at one of these trialsâ)
The emotional response from Runa catches her a little off guard, but her one track mind keeps barrelling forward. People better suited than her have it handled, and she knows that if she lets herself get stuck on the kinds of questions that Runa is askingâ
(How far has she come only to be put right back where she started? How many mistakes has she made? How many friends has she made, only to lose?)
Itâs not acceptance. That can come later. She lets her train of thought be guided by the conversation, refuses to let it stall.Â
âThe Grand Donâs goal here seems clear to me. Itâs just as [Scourge] said â an alternative win condition. People are escaping slowly as they win, but there always has to be a loser. A single win like [Claire]âs means that everyone else is sent back. A gang win, like [Moth] â ah. Calamity, Audi, and Valentine achieved still leaves three gangs behind to repeat the cycle. But the Grand Don provides us with a third option, one that allows the entire class to âwinâ all together.
âPerhaps asking [Amita] and I to run interference was more about them trying to keep that win fair. Itâs not like they could just come right out and confess â we need to find them ourselves, and we have to put on enough of a show first, otherwise Gambit wouldnât let it count. Find a way to make us lose on a technicality. I thinkâŚfailing to identify them might be the opposite of what they want. We need to figure out who they are, because itâs the only way for all of us to win together.â
Thatâs awfully optimistic.
â[Mothman] has made their intentions clear. To me, at least. Theyâre here because they want to help us. I would wager that [Claire] and [Aki] are here for the same reasons â they could get that paycheck anywhere. In their position, knowing what we know now, Iâd have stayed too.â
With that, she looks to Maverick.
â[Brandi] and [Mamoru]âs game was earlier, actually. [Mothman] couldnât tell me much, but they could at least tell me that. The cycle immediately before the one weâre in now was won by the Clubs gang, [Mamoru], [Brandi], and [Claire] all won or wereâŚum. OtherwiseâŚremoved before that. I would agree however [Mav-] â sorry,â banana âThat this is the first time a winner has returned to the group, even if theyâre only posing as normal players. SoâŚâ
âLimit and Crisis! Thatâs who we need to find. Perhaps we should be looking for some kind of pattern in the sets of codenames that we already have available to usâŚâ
 Of course you would think that, Ana. Great. Now sheâs staring at all the codenames.
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talking corn || Grand Don Power Hour 2.1 || anastasia || attn: seattle, ALSO EVERYONE ELSE IG LETS GO
The votes are a mess, Anastasia expects no less. Itâs fine, though â sheâs not really paying attention. She doesnât have time to try and decipher what Gambit means by confessing to the wrong crime, she doesnât have time to cast any more doubt on Ivanâs claims about his true nature or who might have done what the mysterious people sitting at the table with them. Anastasia has decided that sheâs focusing on one thing at a time, and right now she has a much more important thing to focus on than just murder.
ââŚ[Mothman], [Brandi], [Masaki], [Maverick], Flat Tire, [Amita]. Hearts.â
She points to each person as she says their name, then glances back down at her notebook.
â[Ivan], [Rita], [Rookie], [Scourge], [Mamoru], [Claire], spadesâŚ[Duck], [Runa], [Aki], [Orwell], [Valerio], [Ivey], diamonds, which leavesâŚ[Bams], [Seattle], [Moss], [Nisha], [Quinine], and myself in clubs.â
What the fuck does that mean, Ana. She gives her notebook one more look before nodding to make sure she has it all right and looking back up.
âThere were four sets of chairs in the opera house in Anduin, color coded â red, pink, black, and grey. These were the codenames written on them, and thatâs how they were organized. Our old gangs, Iâm assuming, from an earlyâŚiteration of the game. Maybe even the first, if the number of participants is anything to go by. All twenty four of us, together. That would probably have been the correct number of students for our original Summit class, right? Which leaves a lot of questions, but still tells usâŚquite a bit.â
âŚSheâs strangely calm as she delivers this information. Instinctively, there are a few people who she seeks out at the table over others, putting a particular focus on Scourge, Bams, and Seattle as she speaks â people who have no doubt heard her endless theorizing for months, who itâs much easier to imagine sheâs speaking to.
âOne, that the reset theory wasnât far off. The part that a lot of people were hung up on was the idea that Gambit could bring people back to life, whichâŚwe know now that he can. And has, more than once. Itâs hard to say how many times, but I think we can all be pretty certain that this is more than just our second go at it.â A pause, to let that sink in. Seems sheâs having some trouble reconciling with it herself, despite the fact that sheâs been thinking about it for as long as she has. âTwo, that gang affiliation seems to switch up every round, as do codenames. [Ivan] mentioned something that [Mothman] told him about a previous codename of theirs, Calamity? And [Mothman] told me that [Aki]âs was Valentine, once. ThreeâŚâ
ââŚThat those games ended. And some of us went back in, and some of usâŚâ she looks at the empty seats, at Mothman, Claire, and Aki. ââŚDidnât. Or some stayed, butâŚin different roles. More than just players. We know that this is the first time that a Don has been present, and if this is the number of people that we started with, and that hasnât changedâŚthen it doesnât seem to unreasonable to say that the Grand Don and their mole started out as players on the same level as the rest of us too. As for what that meansâŚâ
A sigh, as she stares back down at her notes. Sheâs starting to look a little self conscious about talking so much, and busies herself with mindless scribbling at the corner of a page.
ââŚOh. And one more thing. We theorized during the last trial that the Grand Don may have contacted one person from each of the gangs that they arenât in, and that might help us find them. Unfortunately, it wonât â because the second person contacted by the Don was Amita, and sheâs in my gang. Seattle should, umâŚstill have the note, I thinkâŚ? So. That isnât going to help us much in terms of narrowing it down, except to clear Amita of suspicion.â
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doubtful corn || 5.5 || anastasia || re: ivan
ââŚYouâre lying.â
Anastasia doesnât look back up at Ivan until after she says it, still more confused than anything else. Gives him a curious little head tilt, glancing back down at her notes. Sheâs still clearly a little shaken, but at least this has given her something new to focus on. Even if itâs only for a moment.
âYou say you wonât gamble with our lives on purpose, and then in the next breath that you love killing people and you never cared about any of us? If you actually have a different form, Iâd like to see it. Everyone else, they canâŚclose their eyes if they donât want to risk it, or something. Apparently it wouldnât be the first time Iâve died here, and if you really donât care what happens to any of usâŚâÂ
(âŚShe says with such confidence that she doesnât believe him, and yetâŚ
Oh, she definitely looks a little excited. Just a little.)
âItâs true that you donât have much reason to cover for anyone, considering that they wouldnât be in any danger. Lying only serves to throw us further off course and risks derailing not just this discussion, but the extremely important one that will follow â because without a clear picture of these murders, itâs going to be even harder to unravel the whole mystery. And stillâŚhaving experienced plenty of other fake confessionsâŚâ
She shrugs.
âI think weâre all going to need a little more than just your word, [Ivan].â
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midnight corn || 5.4 || anastasia || re: ivan, rita
Anastasiaâs head goes down when she finishes speaking and it doesnât come back up, especially not as the backlash to her defense of Scourge comes in. They were grateful â thatâs what matters. Not the instinctive panic that shoots through her at the first sign that anyone might not agree, not the fact that sheâs biting her lip so hard she tastes blood, one part nerves one part frustration. She clutches her pen tighter, keeps her eyes on the paper, decides if everyone is so hellbent on pinning this one on Scourge against all logic that they somehow canât see, fine, sheâll just have to solve it herselfâ
And then Ivan takes out his glock and Anastasia nearly jumps out of her seat at the noise. (And itâs a good thing she doesnât, considering the drop!) She clutches her journal to her chest and watches with wide eyes as Gambit goes down. Sheâs almost more frightened after itâs done than she was when it was happening, because she knows it canât be that easy âÂ
And sure enough. Another comes to take his place just as fast, and she relaxes. (Almost every time, he said, which means - not yet, not now, take it one mystery at a time - but of course, itâs not like it can be avoided much longerâ)
ââŚGood effort, at least.â
Her voice is shaking. She canât even bring herself to smile at Ivan before returning to her work, and his allusion to supernatural powers only serves to confuse her. She looks up at him, then her notebookâŚthen at Rita, then atâŚBams? Obviously. Go-to gossip buddy. Then back at her notebook. Flipping through. She even pulls a second, smaller notebook out from inside her jacket and starts looking through that too.
âInfluencing others, could thatâŚ? I suppose that is something the cordyceps could have repressed, but I donât know that itâs anything heâs ever used on people, and if heâŚâ she trails off for a second. ââŚwould it need to be something more physicalâŚ?â and then again, staring at her notes. Thinking very hard.
She looks back up. From Ivan to Rita a couple times. Confusion increases.
ââŚBut you neverâŚnow isnât the time to be vague about things like this! If you can help us, justâŚsay something.â
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evening corn || 5.3 || anastasia || re: mostly duck sorry
Anastasia is staring rather intensely at Duck from the moment she mentions beating around the bush, a look thatâs not quite a glare, but notâŚparticularly friendly. Itâs only after Scourge has finished speaking that she looks back to her notebook, shooting the same kind of intense and unreadable look to anyone who starts speaking afterwards as though sheâs just lying in wait to get defensive on their behalf.
(Save for Bams, who gets a worried glance at the burn on her arm when she pulls it out. Naturally.)
Itâs not until hearing Duck so confidently refute Scourgeâs defense that she taps her pen against the page and looks up, unable to keep herself from jumping in. God help us.
âIf [Scourge] killed [Aki], we would know. Not because of the cause of death, but because there would be no reason to hide it. Itâs as you said, the culprits have already won. Ultimately, our votes arenât going to matter. We may as well consider this discussion a warm-up â the killers have nothing to lose by revealing themselves, but we have a lot that we need to unpack and need as much time as we can possibly be allowed to do that.
Itâs unfortunate that your perception of [Scourge] is so unfairly warped. Luckily I, and Iâm pretty sure just about anyone else who actually knows them can assure you that theyâre probably the last person who would want to waste everyoneâs time making us talk about a murder when we have much more important issues to discuss. They would have told us by now â out of frustration, if nothing else, so that we could move on.â
She tilts her head a little. Gives Duck the same tense looking smile that sheâs been on the receiving end of since earlier in the investigation.
âThis is a pointless line of questioning based on a petty grudge that you seem obsessed with dragging everyone else into. [Scourge] didnât kill [Aki]. Drop it. We have more important things to do!â
âŚJesus. Okay. That was a lot of words to essentially say âscourge is my bestie so obviously if they killed someone they would have told meâ but go off I guess.
ââŚFor example. Iâm much more interested in what [Aki] was doing to make herself a target. The black book is almost certainly hers, whether sheâs able to confirm that for us or not. Itâs obvious that she, at one point, had rather strong negative feelings towards our group and decided that she was going to do something to get herself out of here. I know one solution. Those sound like the words of someone about to do something drastic to me, and that doesnât necessarily mean hurting someone. Perhaps she intended to find a loophole in the game, the same as some of us have, and it backfired?â
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morning corn || 5.2 || anastasia || re: bams, orwell, maverick
âOh â didnât you see the stables, [Bams]? It, um. It looks like the horses were allâŚemployees. People, like [Aki], exceptâŚIâm not sure who the others were. There was a photograph in the breakroom under the stables, but [Aki] and Benny were the only people in it I could recognize. No sign of the, uh. Other three.â Quick glances at the three empty seats. âWhat Benny said implied that they were jumping ship to avoid getting caught up in the game breaking down, though as for where they could have goneâŚI donât know. But Iâm not sure their disappearances had anything to do with not wanting to be discovered. Itâs not like we would have thought anything strange about them, would we? The only reason we found out about this in the first place is because of the journal [Aki] left behind, and the fact that the stables being empty allowed us to get into the breakroom underneath. Whichââ
Nope. Not yet. Not the time for theories about that, not the time for discussion of anything other than murder. One mystery at a time. Stay focused.
ââŚAnyways. It makes me wonderâŚif [Aki] would have needed to get a vehicle working in order to escape. Benny said something about, um, lifeboats? WhichâŚshe said she didnât mean literally, but still implies the existence of some kind of emergency exit for Gambitâs employees.â As she says it though, she does another sweep of the room. ââŚOh. But [Aki] isnât like the rest of them, sheâsâŚone of us. Might they have left her behindâŚ?â
Thereâs a pause. It looks for a second like she might have something else to say on that, but she decides against it. Moves on, looks backs towards Bams.
âItâs not like they were always phasing through things over there, though. Up until, um, a couple hours ago when all this started thatâs where they lived. [Runa] â uh.â She takes a second to sigh, just so Gambit knows how disappointed she is in these Goofy Ass Names. ââŚSeemed surprised she was suddenly going through things over there. We couldnât touch anything there because we arenâtâŚof Summit. To borrow, umâŚâ She gestures towards Maverick. She will not say Banana. ââŚYour way of phrasing it. Nor are the âdeadâ anymore, for lack of a better word. Weâre all back on the same side of that coin now, and I donât know that itâs ever been as simple as dead and alive.â
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clorn on the cob || 5.1 || anastasia || re: scourge, valerio, runa
Thereâs too much happening in Anastasiaâs head right now.
(The sketches. The flier on the desk. Something about a higher purpose. This isnât where we usually are, this isnât how we usually sit, where are Bams and Seattle? Are they okay? What about the others? It canât be this easy, bringing the dead back to life, but theyâre here and itâs all out of order now, and the fact that we were able to get over there, what does any of it mean, and how did Aki and Mothman and Claire get here and why are there still empty seats, it canât be as simple as the people who are meant to be there being dead anymore, and what aboutâ)
Reset. Reorganize. Focus on one thing at a time. Donât start shouting out theories (I knew there had to be something to the reset idea, but I didnât think it would beâ), donât take things too far off track (Because someone still killed Aki and someone still killed Mothman and that probably shouldnât have even been possible, butâ), just focus.
Bams is right. (She usually is.) The murders are a good place to start.
ââŚ[Aki] being the black horse makes the most sense to me, but it doesnât seem like sheâs able to confirm or deny that for us. There was salt on her arms too, um. Whatever thatâŚtells us. Further confirming that she was messing around with the car, I guess? But I think we should, uhâŚas long as weâre assuming that the notebook belonged to her, I think itâs important we take what it said into consideration, even though some of it was prettyâŚumâŚâ
Mean. It was mean. Sheâs pulling out her own notebook while she talks, laying things out in front of her in the usual Anastasia fashion. Seems sheâs taking the codename thing in stride, though she does eye the one in front of her with a certain disdain. Corn. Jesus Christ.
âI really canât stand this anymore. Itâll all just go again, huh! Well. I know one solution.â She pauses after reading it, looks around the table again. âNow, Iâm not saying she planning on killing someone herself to trigger a trial, orâŚif that even would have done anything, considering that sheâs not, um. Wasnât, at least, officially part of our group. At the time. But it seems, um â strange, doesnât it? That one of us would have planned to kill her when weâŚonly just found out she was here to begin with.â
She looks at Valerio. Clicks her pen, starts writing something without paying much attention to the page.
ââŚCould she have been killed during the investigation, thoughâŚ? If it wasâŚelectrocution that killed her and not the fall from the roof, someone would have needed to be up there toâŚget her off the roof. And their group would have noticed if they were missing. She was definitely killed after [Mothman], and most likelyâŚnot long before the investigation started, but I donât know if it could have been duringâŚâ
She frowns, bites her lip. Staying focused is hard right now. Harder than it usually is. Her attention is quickly drawn up towards Runa on the other side of the table, eyes widening slightly with concern as she realizes that sheâs clearly upset â she does her best to offer a smile.
ââŚIâd say itâs nice to have you here, but. These things usually kind of suck. So. Sorry feels a little more appropriate.â
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