Play Your Cards Right

The King has invited you to a Christmas Party. Only those attending Hope's Peak are allowed to attend. Do you dare to wander into the house of cards? Status: Chapter Two

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Cancelling

Hello, Hope here. As a the main mod of this group, I have decided that we will be cancelling. This is not due to mods not having time - in fact I have plenty of time to do this group, but rather due to multiple problems with activity and other things in general. I have been made uncomfortable by a few players in this game, but due to drop outs (I shan't name who) I will have been unable to fix this issue. Although I could have continued, I also feel like I have been disrespected and taken for granted. I really wish this had worked out but I am not having a good time with any part of this game. This has been a frequent problem in almost all my games, so I am unsure if I am doing something wrong. If I am, I wish to be told, because this is something that seems inevitable. For the players who I've not been talking about above, I'm really sorry. This will be all, I will not be giving names nor telling who it was because I'd rather not be rude to anyone.

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

It's Over, Isn't It? | Body Reaction | Sabel

He'd warned Dom. He had warned him and Dom hadn't listened. His warnings had meant nothing, helped no one, just a waste of time, a ringing in his ears picking up. Repetition singing through his head, "You failed," "You can't change anything."

"Y'all are fuckin' cowards, whoever did this, 'ye.. 'yer just cowards,"

He continues to mutter to himself, scratching at his arm and staring pointedly at the blood. It hadn't congealed just yet, still fresh, and his eyes wouldn't tear away. The scratching persisted, as he began to gnaw on his lower lip.

"What is wrong with y'all--"

His voice was shaking, what was wrong with them, what's wrong with you? If you didn't know better you'd say he was almost salivating. Ew.

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

A Note-Worthy Death || Andy || Body Reaction

Andy was shaking. She didn't often have involuntary reactions like shivering, or hiccups, or anything like that, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking as she clung to Mitsu's arm. In her fist was a crumpled piece of paper that she regretted not having looked at closer.

Dom was dead.

Her roommate, Dom, who had spoken in broken metaphors and cried a lot, was dead.

Last time, Eka had just...looked like they were sleeping...but this didn't look like sleep. The shock on his face, the blood on the floor--there was nothing peaceful about this. Andy wanted to cry, but didn't.

She released Mitsu from her iron grasp and fell to her knees, scooting closer to the body. She needed to investigate. She needed to...she needed to. She wanted to reach out and hold Dom's hand, to reassure him that things were gonna be okay, but somehow it was finally starting to sink in that death was the end of the game for living things. He wasn't...there anymore. His body was there but he wasn't.

She uncrumpled the note in her hands and looked at it, long and hard. This was to be the first clue.

She wished she could cry, but didn't.

Dom needed her now more than ever. She'd failed him as a roommate, she'd failed to help Eka, she'd failed to keep him safe. So she was going to do the only thing she could.

Investigate.

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Victim: Domintianus Accursio

Card: Five of Hearts

Time of Death: 2:55AM

Time of Discovery: 3:10AM

Discovered by: Andy

Location of Body: Dining Room

Cause of Death: Blunt force trauma

Anything to Note: He appears to have a lot of bruises, though some don’t appear to be fresh.

Credit to Emi for the art!

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Second Time, Shame on Me | Body Discovery

It was the dead of night... Or rather early morning. There was not a sound in the mansion. It’s completely silent. Well, it was.

A female scream pierces the night. Everything seems so slow, and everyone hears others moving around in reaction to the scream. The scream starts a bit of chaos, but before long, everyone finds their way to the dining room, where the scream came from, only to find a panicked Andy with Mitsu.

As soon as others start arriving, the announcement goes off and anyone left behind also arrive...

Credit to Emi

Dom is lying on the ground, bloody and dead. It looks like Eka’s other half had now joined them in the after life...

“Got some blood this time, check it out! Everything is the same as last time, you should investigate and find out what happened! Ah, at least Ekko and Dummy are together again! Well, you hope. Get moving assholes!”

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Is This Supposed To Be Funny? | Hanako | Chapter 2 Reaction | Open

Hanako listened to the secrets and... oh my god... they were so.. they were just... way too funny! Hanako was laughing obnoxiously loudly at some of the secrets... Mitsu drooling... Ryoichi's haircut... Dom's name. Even Hanako knows how to tie her shoelaces!

"Nyahahaha... Nice secrets, dweebs. I honestly don't think I've seen a worse haircut in my life!" She mocked Ryoichi. Says the girl with the uneven cut bangs, one side of her hair longer than the other, wearing a clip on braid and dying her hair orange and red to match the braid.

"...and What kind of name is 'Domintianus Accursio' anyway?!" She shouts, once again laughing obnoxiously. It seems she's completely ignoring the fact there are multiple murderers amongst them.

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Bad Hair Day || Chapter 2 (Motive Reaction) || Ryoichi || Open

The first two secrets had been sad, but it seems as time had passed- well, things got expedited, huh? Looks like ALL the secrets are out, so of course he flits to his own out of curiosity.

"... O-Oh, geez. That's embarrassing."

Junior High was a good time. He sighs as the photo pops up, showing the whole world the baby faced Ryoichi with his own... unique style. [ Link to the photo here! ]

Reading through more, some of these were pretty average, no big deal, he figures that Sabel isn't actually a vampire- but.... Con-artists? A murderer? Or, not just a murderer, but THREE of them? He's...

... terrified! Understandably so.

"H-Holy shit, this isn't for real, right..? Gah! Jesus christ, I... t-the only thing I've ever killed is my good looks, but this is..!"

He looks around nervously, hoping no one saw his reaction (he's not really in a hidden place, anyone could have seen it).

"What kind of people are Hope's Peak accepting, oh my god... I-Is this normal among students, like, a bunch of teenage killers? H-Haha this doesn't even feel like it could be real.... I'm going to go sit down, holy fuck..."

He figures there's no reason not to believe these secrets- if Lady Black had wanted to bother, she probably would have lied about Ryoichi's to make something more exciting that picture. 

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Back Up Plan

The speakers had been quiet for a little while. It was unsure what had happened. Everyone’s secrets that hadn’t been revealed yet were just played and it made no sense.

“Alright! Get to the foyer right this second!”

It seems Lady Black was giving an announcement. You knew to head there straight away even if she hadn’t given you any display of punishment - Sri’s execution was probably a display enough.

“So I would hope you were all smart enough to figure out who actually did that. But because of this… well, unexpected turn of events, I’m organizing an alternative! I wasn’t stupid enough to reveal everyone’s secrets. Hidden around the mansion are more secrets. Find them! These ones aren’t named though.”

She turned on her heel and practically skipped off.

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

All Is Revealed

It was coming up for 3pm. You knew that the next secret was supposed to be coming out… Except it never came. For some reason, 3pm came… and went. No secret, no nothing. Maybe the motive was over…?

It was getting close to 3:30pm when there’s a sound from everyone’s IDs, and considering the lack of motive, it probably gave most of you a jump. It appeared you had all received a message from the Joker!

GET READY TO RUMBLE! Sorry, not sorry.

Hold on, what? What did that even mean? The response? The speakers came to life again.

“Akihito Matsumura is… Huh?”

There’s a pause.

“Oh! What a child! She can’t even tie her itty bitty shoes by herself. Even a 5 year old can do that! Some Super High School Level Student she is!”

Was Lady Black just busy? Apparently not because the speakers never turned off. Another recording played.

“HAHAHAHA! Get this! Dom thinks he’s so cool but hear this hilarious sounding name! Domintianus Accursio! It sounds so stupid, I can’t help but laugh!”

The recordings didn’t stop there.

“Oh my, I’m impressed with Louvel Sakagawa! Or should I say… Florence Maquette? What a brilliant child! They helped lure in victims for their dad to kill! Truly beautiful! What an amazing addition to this game of murder!”

“There’s so many interesting people in this game! Get this, Aika, or should I say Akari Himura, has already played a fun Game before! No, no, nothing like this one, but she was very naughty! Conning people out of money and… Wow, she even beat up other girls in the game! What a dreadful person!”

“You know that fabulous Mitsu Matsumura? They… Huh?”

There’s a pause.

“Ew!!! They drool in their sleep! What a child! Be careful not to get your gross icky drool on your creations.”

“Sabel Reyes, yes he looks fabulous and totally gorgeous but this poor guy almost died! Can you believe it? And it’s all his own fault! Lesson learnt everyone: don’t drink blood, it’s not good for you! But I guess he lives up to that whole vampire aesthetic.”

“Hey Ryoichi Ishikawa! Yeah you! I found your junior high photo from the yearbook and may I just say… I can’t believe you cut your own hair! And fucked it up! What a tool! This is just too funny! I have it right here! Quick, quick I should send it to your IDs!”

As if on cue, your IDs bleeped, and lo behold, bad haircut Ryoichi! It was beautiful. The recordings were still going though.

“This lovely sweet girl…”

Was that a swoon?

“Sayuri Nomura! You… have already got away with murder once! Oh, I can’t wait to see you murder here! I’m sure you’ll get away with it if you do! After all, you killed your own step father! Pushed him onto the tracks and oops, oh dear. He died. So brutal, I’m amazed.”

“We all like murderers right? Well Genichi Asuhara is one! Not the best of murders, but he killed his own bully! Gotta hand it to the bully, he was pretty brave pulling that gun out, but poor guy got killed by our one and only Paintball Sniper! He didn’t get away without injury! Got a couple of nails in the head. Is that ouch, or is ouch? What a messy murderer!”

“Miho Miura is scared of being useless, but guess what sweetie? You’re already useless! What kind of talent is being a delivery girl huh? I’d never be impressed with that! I bet your mom isn’t impressed either! Oh but she has to be so she won’t hate you right? Wow, I pity her for ending up with such a pathetic daughter!”

“You’d think Kiri Matsumoto would know better than to get involved with the actress she did stunts for, but nooooooo, instead she got involved! Can you believe she almost ruined everything? She could have ruined the trilogy they had to be in! What a selfish brat! Oh oops, now everyone knows you were involved with Kasumi, oops! Hehe.”

“What a pathetic loser! Hanako Shimizu is such a brat, can you believe she slapped her own bandmate? I fear not all is well with her band, I sense a break up happening! Oh dear, what a bummer, I can’t wait for your band to fall apart!”

“Whoa! Look at this creep! You know that girl, Madeline Inoue? Yeah, she’s such a weirdo! She’s wearing her dead sister’s clothes! Ew!!!”

Finally the speaker went quiet. Well that was a thing.

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Oh my, oh my!

[TW: NSFW, Underage Implication, Pedophilia]

The speaker never turned on again that night. There was silence. It had to be a relief honestly. As you all woke up, getting breakfast and what-not, it had to be like 9am.

“Oh my, Jun Yamada, what a sinful boy! Oh wait, I mean Shigeo Tomimoto! This cutie decided to give himself up. You know what I’m getting at! He got intimate with others just for a quick fortune!”

Who would be next?

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

This is what you wanted. Right? | Hikaru | Motive Reaction

With a motive like this starting Hikaru already had a bad feeling. Revealing something like that about that girl, Caroline… It seemed so heartless. He had nothing to say though, how do you really respond to something like that?

He didn’t even give his own secrets much mind, he made a point of shoving those as far down as he could reasonably do of course. Why would someone bring such things up about him?

Hikaru was startled when the speakers came on again, having little idea of when they would be happening.

But that wasn’t the only unexpected thing to hear.

“H-Huh…?”

The second that they said his name his eyes went wide, stopping dead where he stood.

All his work to distance himself from that… Would it matter? Would revealing it even matter.

All he knew was that he didn’t want to even be reminded of it. He let out an almost weak laugh, what was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t even tell. Snap decisions in situations like these aren’t something you can practice now are they?

He stands there until the message finished before he turns and dashes down the hall. Just get to your room Hikaru… Maybe this can go away if he just takes a bit to think?

Or maybe that’s a little to naive now isn’t it?

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

One Standing In The Night | Caroline | Motive Reaction 2

Caroline didn't know how long it would be until the servants got impatient. By the time that the fourth day was coming to a close, she began to dread the idea of going to sleep. The sinking, fearful feeling in her gut was like a warning. Something bad was going to happen tomorrow.

She woke up early. She walked around. She even cooked herself a good breakfast. Caroline wanted to ease her nerves, but the more and more she tried to avoid it, the more and more that uneasy feeling grew.

'Did you miss me?'

...Oh no. What was going to happen? Lady Black wasn't calling people to the foyer, though. Caroline's body froze up with tension, but also confusion. Was this nothing important?

...

'You know that pathetic Caroline Chambers? Well she’s just some useless accident who should have never existed!'

Everything froze. It was being broadcasted across the whole building. Everyone could hear it. Caroline wanted to shout. She wanted to scream, yell and beg, but her voice was nothing more than a silent gasp. Her whole body trembled with fear. There weren't tears, but the utter look of horror in her eyes said it all.

(I'm...an accident. A girl who shouldn't have even been born. But...no one else should know that. Only me, dad and Izumi. How...how...how could she know?)

'The world would have been a better place if this tomboy roboticist just hadn’t been born!'

'The world would have been a better place...'

'...better place...'

Those words continued to echo and echo and echo in her head. It crushed her. A moment after the speakers stopped, Caroline dropped everything and ran straight into her room.

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Weak As A Loser

Only 6 hours had passed, it had to be like 9pm, and you could hear the speakers spark up instantly. You knew what was coming. After all that was the motive right?

"So you know that loser? Hikaru Hanabashi, that's the one! Oh, it's okay if you forgot him, I almost did too! I'm apparently not the only one who wanted to punch his stupid face, because this pathetic boy got himself bullied! Oh, I bet he loved getting his arm broke too by the bullies! It got so bad, he had to switch schools. What a weakling!"

Well that was that.

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

One Can Keep A Secret

4 days had already passed. Lady Black seemed to have disappeared, but Master Red was still around. She’d been missing for a total of 48 hours now... Honestly you might have actually been happy, until you hear the speakers turn on, and her dreadful voice squeaks through.

“Alright assholes, I’m back!!! Did you miss me? Of course you did, I’m simply the best! Don’t you love me? I’m sure you’ll love this present!”

Nothing happened for a second, but you could hear her messing around with something. There was a clatter, followed by a loud cursing.

Then there’s a beep.

"You know that pathetic Caroline Chambers? Well she's just some useless accident who should have never existed! The world would have been a better place if this tomboy roboticist just hadn't been born! You know why she's such a tomboy? She's so pathetic that even her mother didn't want her! Her mother left her! Can you believe it? Well, I can!"

There’s another second of silence before you here the speaker boot up again.

“There you have it! That’s your motive! I have 18 recordings here and they have all your secrets! I’ll reveal more over time, love you all!”

Well... that was short and sweet.

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Circle of Influence || Sayuri || Closed for Mitsu

If I feel nothing, I don't need to be scared. I will logically treat this as a peaceful imprisonment... That's what this is, right? ... Right?

It had been a while after that trial, and Sayuri was blocking it all out from her line of vision. People would be affected, so she best be on her most polite behavior. It's what they deserve, for going through so much. It was silly, in her eyes, but for the benefit of the group as a whole it was what was needed... An... "empathetic" approach. She was going to end up being quite awkward with it, she knew it.

She told herself over and over again, that this was logically solvable, and that they shouldn't worry. They were in the grace period between heartbreak and escape. It was time to integrate herself back into the experiences of others. You'll die if no one likes you, surely. Sayuri finds herself going to the study, a comfortable place, with a fireplace, and a desk... It feels like home again! Time to relax, and gather one's thoughts for the inevitable change in atmosphere again.

When Sayuri came into the Study, she found there was someone there already. Mitsu Matsumura, sibling to the investigative Andy, and another roboticist! How interesting, for two talents so closely together to be at the school at the same time. Putting on her most friendly face, a slightly less bland smirk, she tilted her head and approached them.

"Hello. You're Matsumura-san! Well... Mitsu Matsumura-san, that is. I haven't heard you talk much. It's nice to meet you finally. What brings you here?"

Did that sound too rehearsed?

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Solitude / Execution Reaction & Ch. 2 Start / Open

The execution was hard to swallow. It felt wrong, having someone die before their eyes, but at the same time, Miho felt something rise within her- an emotion she shouldn't have been harboring at a time like this, and one she certainly wouldn't voice. It was... not quite happiness, but something close. More like relief. 

She sighed and went to pace in the foyer again. New areas had opened, and she had explored them thoroughly, but there was no way out. She'd have to focus on thinking. Now that she felt a little better, she could work hard on getting out, or thinking of a plan of action, for her own sake. Not really for anyone else. 

She tapped her finger to her cheek, thinking of everything her mind could muster. She was a smart girl, so surely she could think of something. If police wouldn't come to save them, then it was up to her and her alone. She wasn't going to settle for living here her whole life, and she surely wouldn't give up. Miho was too competitive for that.

"Goddamn it, Miho! Think, you idiot!" 

She mused aloud, and maybe she was being a bit hard on herself, but she deserved it, after all. She had to be the first one to come up with a conclusion for escape before anyone else; she had to prove she was just as smart, if not smarter, than even those with talents greater than her own. Failure was just not an option. 

[thecardsofdespair-blog]

Mask() | Mitsu | Chapter 2 | [Closed for Louvel]

Mitsu trudged their way back to their room after having poked around the newest areas in the house upon Andy's insistence. More space was all well and good, but it was hardly worth the exchange of two human lives, one of which they'd helped to end. The thought weighed heavily on their mind, making them more or less blind to their surroundings. Ironically, Mitsu was aware of how unaware they were allowing themself to be, but it hardly mattered to them in that moment.

After what seemed like a mile long walk, they reached their dorm. Home sweet home. Slipping inside quietly, they became aware of how gross they felt. Of course, being sick, not bathing for days, and then conducting an investigation and trial would do that to someone. They briefly entertained the thought of showering, but deemed it to be more trouble than it was worth. Instead, they grabbed whatever from their dresser and shuffled into the bathroom to change. They hadn't bothered to check whether or not their roommate (whose name escaped them) was actually in, so it was better safe than sorry.

Once in their fresh set of clothes, they looked at their reflection in the bathroom mirror for a moment. The face of a killer stared back at them. At least, that's how it felt. Perhaps they were being over-dramatic. No, they were definitely being over-dramatic, but whatever. Bad days will do that to ya, and this was as bad a day as it could get.

After another moment, Mitsu quietly exited the bathroom, and slipped into their bed, mind too active for sleep, body too tired for much else. Laying motionless in a dark room seemed like it'd be a good way to pass the time.