the theatre

[productions]

the theatre



You awaken in a darkened theatre.

In front of you is an enormous cinema screen. On it plays everything that's currently happening in the mansion, accompanied by appropriate sound effects and background instrumentals when fitting. The seat you're sitting on is large and plush, and while there's many of them, there's enough room in the theatre for you to fully recline the seat into a comfortable bed if you wish. Under each seat is a sleeping mask and noise-cancelling headphones, in case you'd like to take a break from watching the show.

Follow the stairs up and you'll reach what should be the projection room. There are no projectors in here, however; it is simply a large and well-lit room above the main seating area, and a good place to hang out with your fellow eliminated contestants if shouting at each other across the aisles proves too much to handle.

If you leave the theatre through the door in the back, you'll find yourself in a hall. On one end is a concession stand. It's stocked with standard movie snacks - popcorn, candy and the like - but if you're feeling the urge for something else, you'll be able to find it stocked somewhere in the back. On the other end is a table with thirty wrapped bags and a placard reading 'A star for our stars! Please accept these lovely giftbags as a token of appreciation for your hard work, sponsored by [illegible smudge]'. Each bag has a tag bearing the name of someone in the mansion; you will only be able to open the bag with your name on it. As soon as you open it, any memories that have been taken from you, including those of the other people in the mansion that you may have forgotten, will be returned in their entirety. Within the bag are also objects from your home that you may want for your stay here, though you will find no weapons.

There are no other doors in the hall save for the one leading back into the theatre room. There are also no windows; it is impossible to tell where you are and what is going on in the outside world. Any attempts to break out will fail. So in the meantime, why not sit back and enjoy the show?

Oh, and one more thing. At midnight following each execution, once all those who've died that week have woken up, a video will begin to play on screen.

Comments

[balzams]

[Oh thank goodness he wasn't too late. Latvia had been waiting for this moment and he wasn't going to let Poland take it away from him. He had to act fast though, and he looked Poland dead in the eye as he blurted it out]

You've been cheating on your husband with your husband the whole time.

1/2

[notyetlost]

[If there was ever a statement to pull Poland out of his melancholy-- that might be it.]

...

2/2

[notyetlost]

What?

[How much of this vodka have you been drinking Latvia?]

[balzams]

Lithuania was the person you were married to, at least for a little while.

Pretty sure you're not married anymore though...

[A lot but not too much, boredom drinking is surprisingly not fun here]

[notyetlost]

...you're crazy. That's like. Not even possible.

I'd never met him before eight weeks ago.

[Oh god did his husband watch this and file divorce papers already-- HOW PETTY.]

W-what?!

[balzams]

No, it's true! In fact Lithuania, Ukraine and I have all known you much much longer than we remembered.

You're not politically married anymore at least. I'm pretty sure you're not regular married either because you would have been bragging about it to us.

1/?

[notyetlost]

[He'd heard something similar from Stiles once but--]

2/?

[notyetlost]

That's--!

3/?

[notyetlost]

No.

4/?

[notyetlost]

That can't possibly--!

5/?

[notyetlost]

... [How had he known Lithuanian then?]

6/6

[notyetlost]

[Poland suddenly fumbles with the bag in his hands and abruptly tears it open.]

[balzams]

[Despite how eager he was the tease him about it, Latvia couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him in that moment. Poland had just 'died' after all, maybe it was a bit much to suddenly drop the bridge on him]

Poland...?

Do you need another cup of vodka?

1/4

[notyetlost]

[The memories rush back and it takes Poland a long time to process them all.

The most jarring was the missing gap of 123 years suddenly being filled in. The disillusion of his marriage, the destruction of his house, the displacement of his people-- as his country was divided and ultimately vanished from the world during the Partitions of Poland.

More than a century of fighting and death and despair from the struggle of trying to regain his foothold on the world for his people and his people for him.

And then after it all, he'd succeeded.]

2/4

[notyetlost]

[Only to be torn apart again.

Waiting for help that would never come. His people dying and suffering through horrendous atrocities the world had never known and should never see again. His people barely clawing their way back from the brink for him.

And after it all... surviving.]

3/4

[notyetlost]

[Only to get sold out by his allies for their efforts. Abandoned on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain.

His people were further stripped of their freedom and even the most basic of human rights under the thumb of an oppressive communist regime that took decades more to finally over throw.

And yet.]

4/4

[notyetlost]

[He'd lasted through it all.]



...

[Eventually other memories filter through and Poland can recognize Latvia and Ukraine more clearly than ever.]

[balzams]

[Latvia waits patiently, watching the twitches in Poland's expression as everything comes flooding back. For him, having his memories returned had been a relief. Everything he'd ever wanted he's already had, he didn't stop to consider that the memories for other people might be a little more painful.

Without a word he quickly gets up and runs to the back of the theatre. Latvia is gone for less than a minute before he comes back with a bottle of water, rather than vodka, which he offers to Poland]

Hey... It's going to be alright. If everything goes well we should all get to go home.

... And sorry about that, I probably shouldn't tease you about that kind of stuff. You've been though a lot.

[notyetlost]

Mmm... [Poland accepts the water and takes a sip, vaguely noting this is the first thing he's actually kept down in a week.]

I've been through worse.

[balzams]

Yeah!

In fact, now that you're here we're pretty much guaranteed to go back home. Every time we think you're gone you just spring back up again, I'm sure this time won't be any different.

[It's one of the rare instances that he's glad that Poland is Poland. Latvia really doesn't have the same handle on comforting people that Lithuania and Ukraine have]

[notyetlost]

Yeah well, I guess Liet couldn't hog me the whole time. I'm like a hot commodity.

[balzams]

Well...

...

It's good to see you again at least. It's a little boring here but you don't have to live in constant paranoia.

[notyetlost]

Yeah... [Poland casts a sidelong glance to Kanaya... but doesn't elaborate. He looks at the screen instead.]

Liet's not that lucky though.

[balzams]

...

He'll make it though. I bet he'll be really happy to see us again!

[Or something like that. He really doesn't know what to say but he does wish that Lithuania was here with them, Spain too, and they could all watch this bizarre show full of strangers and convince themselves it's fiction]

We should do something nice for him when we all get back...

[notyetlost]

Given the state of his liquor cabinet before I left... he's like totally suffering.

[Poland hadn't been able to appreciate the signs properly when he was alive since he had no recollection of Lithuania, but... now it's painfully obvious how much Lithuania was crumbling as the game dragged on.]