Places to Chat
Ski Lodge!
Chatterbox: Pudding's Place
Ski Lodge!
Ski Lodge!
For a second, there is static.
Endless nothingness, with only a strange, scratchy sound to keep you company.
And then you hear a voice. A grumpy one.
"I don’t think this is going to work, Rose. I hate to break it to you, but your plan’s dumb. Even if we can get this camera, which, might I add, is ANCIENT, to work, what do we do then?"
A figure comes into focus. Two of them, actually. A teenage girl with brown hair, a black and white headband, and an olive green jacket fixes the camera, while a person with short, curly auburn hair and a blue sweater looks angrily at her.
"What did I tell you, Atom?” The girl grins at the camera. “I told you, with a little perseverance, we’d get this thing working. Now we can carry out my AMAZING plan!" She claps her hands and the curly-haired person scowls. The girl turns to the camera and stares—at you.
"Hello there!" She says, and you jump back. "I’m Rose, and this is Atom! We’re talking to you from the Somewhere Hotel!"
"Some hotel this turned out to be,” says the person named Atom. “I truly do not think this is a very good idea. Maybe you’ll convince some people to come, but that will not change the fact that you can’t get Echo to come out of her room—"
"—What Atom means is that we’re inviting you to stay at our wonderful hotel, and the owner, Madam Echo Lunation herself, will be here to greet you!"
"Will she?” Snaps Atom. "Or will one of her colorful personalities be here instead?”
"ENOUGH!” You jump again as Rose yells at Atom. "Everything’s going to be okay, okay, Atom? Now I know you don’t want to believe it, but it is going to get better. These people will help us, as we will help them. So there.”
Rose turns back to you and gives what seems very much like a forced smile. "As Atom has mentioned, our hotel has fallen on some… Tough times. Perhaps you have, too? Maybe you just do not know it. We need a helping hand here, and we’re willing to offer you one in exchange: an exciting adventure here at our extraordinary hotel! What do you think?"
What do you think? Should you go on this adventure and help Rose and Atom and this… Echo character? Do you even have a choice?
You’re thinking when an envelope slips out of your CD player. In it is a strange letter.
"Gotta go—good luck!" Rose’s voice grows staticky and harder to understand. "W-w-w-we’re counting o-on Y—Y—YOU…" the TV shuts off.
You read the letter:
Welcome! To enjoy a completely free 13-Day stay at the Somewhere Hotel, please fill out the following form:
Name:
Pronouns:
Appearance:
Packing list (please note that any silver watches will be confiscated if found):
Personality:
Lucky number:
Is the glass half full or half empty?:
What do you say at the end of a story?:
Is it going to be okay?:
What’s in the mirror?:
Favorite beverage:
*starts singing Broadway Musical songs*:
You wake up and realize that someone has dyed your hair purple. What’s your reaction?:
Aren’t I so good at writing questions?:
Last, and most important of all… What is your greatest weakness? Something you want to fix about yourself?:
Anything else?:
Hmm. This is quite the puzzler, you think. But what else were you going to do—watch reruns on your TV all night? No. Perhaps this 13-Day stay will do you some good. Besides, it’s a hotel. A weird one, but weird is cool. What could possibly go wrong? You fill out the form and lean back on your couch, ready to start this strange adventure.
~~~
We hope to see you soon!
submitted by Echo, Rose, and Atom, The Somewhere Hotel!
(May 1, 2022 - 8:50 pm)
(May 1, 2022 - 8:50 pm)
(March 20, 2023 - 4:36 pm)
Day 10, Part 20
“So,” Tsuki said. “We’re in a maze.”
“Well, yes,” Avara said. “But something gives me the feeling it’s something… More.”
“Yeah, me too,” Darkling agreed. “Almost like it’s supposed to bring about some huge revelation.”
“And character development,” Tsuki added.
“Maybe an exploration of the trauma we all know Echo and the rest of the system have been facing that will lead us all to a better understanding of why we’re here?” Avara suggested.
They all paused their walking to look at each other a second, then burst out laughing.
“I watch too many TV shows!” Tsuki chuckled.
“Yeah, like this is just some story,” Avara said.
“If it was a story, though,” Tsuki said once she’d calmed down, “It’d be coming to an end soon. You realize that, right? We’ve been here ten days. We go home in three.”
“Why can’t we go home now? I mean, there’s literally a murderer on the loose,” Avara said.
“Um, guys?”
Darkling had been walking a bit ahead of them, but listening to the conversation, and looked unnaturally nervous, running a hand through their hair.
“What’s wrong?” Avara asked.
“What exactly do you mean by home?”
“You know… The place where we came from. The place we were before we were here, and…” Tsuki stopped as she began to realize she didn’t know where exactly that was.
“I can’t remember who I was eleven days ago,” Darkling said. “It’s all… Fuzzy.”
“Last thing I remember is filling out a form,” Avara said slowly. “Something about purple hair…”
Darkling gave a cold, empty laugh and looked up at Avara and Tsuki. “I remember the form too,” they said.
“I packed a silver wristwatch.”
***
“AAAAHHHHHHHHH!”
“EEK!”
“NOOO-”
“Are ya done screaming yet?”
Rose, Silver Crystal, and Writing all blinked and looked up from the ground, which was divided by three large cracks. They saw a girl of about ten who looked to be a smaller version of Rose staring up at them with a grin.
“Ciao,” she said. “You must be Rose. I’m Also Rose. Call me AR.”
“Wait, what?”
“Oh, right,” AR said. “I guess you don’t really know what’s going on, do you? Well, this is a maze of memories. The only way out is to face your past.”
“Oh, I kinda don’t need to do that.” Rose gave an awkward laugh. “I like, just went over my past a few days ago, so…”
“Did you?” AR paused. “Oh, yeah, looks like you did. Aww, what a sweet moment with Atom. For someone who’s usually so grumpy, he’s grown into such a supportive and kind person.”
“I think we all know why that is,” Rose said with a grin.
Writing paused. “Yeah, yeah,” he said with a nervous laugh. “But tell us anyway, I forgot.”
“Sonder,” AR and Rose said at the same time.
“I can hardly believe it,” AR said. “Our best friend’s in love.”
“With someone he just met a week ago?” Silver Crystal raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.”
“Are they a couple?” Writing asked. “Do they have a ship name?”
“Not that I know of, and yeah, Satom.”
“I mean, it makes sense they wouldn’t be a couple,” Silver Crystal pointed out. “Like I said, they met a week ago.”
“True,” Writing said. “I still ship them.”
“I’ve been shipping them since they day they met,” Rose said. “Like, literally since their first conversation.”
“Yes, they’re very cute, but it’s unfortunately not about Satom right now,” AR sighed. “Right now, we’re focusing on you three. OS and Underscore were supposed to be here…”
“Who?”
“Other Silver and Underscore. They’re supposed to help me guide you all through your memories, but neither of them have showed up.”
“Underscore?” Writing asked. “Is that seriously what other me chose to call themself?”
“Well, because you have underscores in your name,” AR said. “Writing_in_the_dark. It was either that or Other Writing, abbreviated as OW, which I pointed out looks like ‘ow.’”
“I guess Underscore is better than OW.”
“I only have access to our memories.” AR gestured to Rose. “Without Underscore and OS, I can’t properly guide you all.”
“Well, we might as well start going through mine,” Rose said. “Maybe Underscore and OS will come later.”
“Yeah. Hopefully…”
***
“A silver wristwatch,” Tsuki repeated. “Yes, that’s right! Atom was so mad at you.”
More odd laughter from Darkling. Something was quite wrong with them - they were jumpy, and kept glancing around nervously. Tsuki also seemed off, Avara noticed.
“We need to find a way out of here,” Avara said. “This maze is messing with our minds.”
“I agree,” said Darkling. “Also, the walls are purple.”
“They look blue to me.” Tsuki studied a wall that was definitely white. “Or maybe… Yellow…”
And with that, Tsuki fainted.
“Tsuki’s dead! Which one of us killed her?” Darkling asked. “Oh, look, she’s disappeared, too.”
Darkling was right -well, about the fact that Tsuki had disappeared, not that she'd died. Tsuki had fainted, and right after, it was as if the maze pulled her into it - she was gone.
“What on - ” Avara didn’t have time to finish her sentence, because Darkling chose that exact moment to faint as well.
“No,” Avara said, watching helplessly as Darkling, too, was pulled into the maze and disappeared. “Nononono!”
Avara was alone.
~~~
Uhh yeah I don't really have anything to say about that :b but I hope you enjoyed this part and the next one should be out soon! And thank you all for reading, your support means the world :D
(March 26, 2023 - 8:01 am)
(March 26, 2023 - 9:35 am)
MY OTHER ME IS NAMED UNDERSCORE I ACTUALLY LOVE THAT-
Great part as always btw :]
(March 26, 2023 - 11:54 am)
I actually thought I died for a second; don't scare me like that lol. Brilliant job (per the usual)!
(March 26, 2023 - 5:02 pm)
Love how I'm channeling Elsa from Frozen by being like '...you're in love with someone you met a week ago??'. Can't wait to see it Other Me will show up and what that'll be like... I hope the poor hosts don't have to relive any more trauma. Love it as always :))))
(March 28, 2023 - 3:54 pm)
Oh. My. Goodness.
I'm not a participant (obviously) but I try to keep up with all the ski lodges on PP, but this is one of the best I've ever read! It is magnificent! I love it!
I love Satom and learning about DID and also Satom and I love all the alternate versions of the CBers (especially Underscore!) and Satom and Ink and oh did I mention how much love Satom? I wanna make fanart of them (although I'll prolly never get around to it)!
(March 30, 2023 - 5:03 pm)
Day 10, Part 21
“I’m Atom. What’re your names?”
The boy appeared to be a much smaller Atom, and when he said his name, that confirmed it. He was wearing what they all assumed was a school uniform - well, Atom didn’t have to assume.
Smaller Atom shook hands politely with Atom and Sonder. He seemed to already know Dusk.
“Am I too late?” He asked. “Did I miss it?”
“No, no, of course not.” Dusk softened a bit. “You’re doing great. I’m so proud of you.” He held his hand up for Smaller Atom to high-five.
“You look so sleepy, Dusk. Did you have a bad dream last night?”
Dusk smiled sadly for a moment, but forced a grin. “Uh-huh. I had a dream about a big, ferocious monster.” He put his hands above his head like claws. “Roar!”
Smaller Atom giggled. “You’re so silly.” Then he turned to Atom. “Hi there!”
Atom fumbled. “Uh, hi.”
“My name is Atom. Is your name Atom too?”
“Yeah.”
Another giggle. “Well, that’ll be confusing. How about you call me… Umm… Oh, oh, I got it! Call me Iron Man!!”
Sonder laughed. “Aw, younger you is so cute.”
“No, call me The Hulk. No, no, Thor. No, um, Captain America. Oh, all these memories make them look SO COOL!!”
“How about we call you Journalist? We’ve kept journals since we were young.” Atom shrugged.
Younger Atom thought about that for a while, but then nodded their approval. “Journalist it is. Now we have some memories to sift through…”
“Yeah, so do we,” Dusk sighed. “But there’s one we can’t seem to manage.”
“Is it essential?” Journalist asked.
Dusk nodded.
“Darn. If we aren’t careful, we could lose control and…”
“Yeah, I know. But that’s not going to happen. We’ll figure it out.”
“Let’s start with something happy!” Journalist threw up his arms, and suddenly they were all riding a blue dragon along with Memory Atom and Memory Sonder.
“WOOHOO!” Memory Sonder screamed. “WE ARE THE KINGS OF THE WORLD!”
Riding behind him, Memory Atom laughed and tried not to look down into the endless abyss below them. “Y-yeah! Kings of the world!”
“And Artichoke!”
“Wait, what?”
“Oh, that’s the dragon’s name. Artichoke, Arti for short though. Isn’t that cute?” Sonder smiled and ran his hands along the creature’s scales affectionately.
Atom blushed a bit. “Yeah. Love you- I mean, I love it! I love Artichoke. That’s a great name.”
Sonder looked back at them. “Y’know what? I like you. I’m glad we met.”
More blushing on Atom’s end. “Yeah.”
The memory faded.
“So it seems like both our favorite memories are about each other…” Sonder’s face had a look that could only be described as “really happy.”
“Yeah…” Atom looked embarrassed, but they were still smiling a bit, in spite of himself. Sonder just seemed to do that to them.
***
“Guys? Helloooo? Guys?”
Avara searched desperately for Darkling and Tsuki, but they were gone. Dead? No. No, they couldn’t be dead.
“Where did you go? Come back!”
“Who’re you looking for?” Two small beings, one who looked like a younger version of Writing, the other, a younger version of Silver, appeared in front of Avara. Younger-Writing smiled. “I’m Underscore, and this is OS. Hey, have you seen our friend AR anywhere? We’re supposed to be helping her, but we got lost. We think the maze is losing power…”
“Losing power? What does that mean?”
“Oh, it’s not a big deal,” OS said. “It just means the maze might need a new power source.”
“Such as?”
“Well, that’s where our knowledge stops,” Underscore admitted. “We don’t know what the maze uses to draw its power. But we can take you to the maze’s control room if you’d like.“
“Control room?” Avara was getting annoyed with how many questions she had to ask - they didn’t seem to be getting her anywhere, either.
“It’s - well, maybe we should just show you.” OS looked over at Underscore. “Can you carry two people?”
“Sure,” Underscore shrugged. “Here, each of you grab my hands.”
Avara didn’t particularly want to go with these random strangers, let alone hold hands with them, but she took Underscore’s hand anyway.
***
Darkling and Tsuki were drifting in and out of consciousness for a while, but finally, they both managed to wake up and stay awake.
It was as they woke up they realized, alarmed, they were both trapped in small, cylinder-shaped cages made of some unbreakable (Tsuki tried breaking it and came to this conclusion) glass.
“Darkling!”
“Tsuki!”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see clearly… Or think clearly… Or remember much from the last two days.”
“Me neither…”
The world around them was white, except there were 1s and 0s everywhere. Blank except for the numbers, and so bright they could hardly see each other. There was a humming coming from somewhere that continued to get louder and louder until they couldn’t hear or see or remember or speak or do anything but fall to the ground and hold on to sanity.
Darkling and Tsuki were together, but they might as well have been alone.
***
Underscore was wrong.
Well, not that wrong. Just a little off.
Rat said “the power source.”
But there’s not just one power source.
Not anymore.
There’s two.
***
Hmm - lil' shorter than usual, y'all have been waiting for a month and I'm like "800 words" XD but uh… There is a special event coming up soon!
Check the date I made this thread… May 1st! My ski-lodge's anniversary is coming up soon :D The fact that it's almost been a year and I'm still going is amazing, I never thought I'd make it this far, and I definitely wouldn't have without all of your support, so thank you so much! I might make a little mini special or something for the anniversary, idk yet though but I'll definitely try and get something out!
(April 15, 2023 - 8:22 pm)
(April 16, 2023 - 6:30 am)
Woahhh we have some real Matrix-y stuff happening here now- creepyyy! I apologize for the actions of my Other self. Where is regular me? I hope she's ok...
(April 17, 2023 - 9:59 am)
:0 magnificent part! But... are Tsuki and Darkling the new power sources? That's not good! I wonder how they'll get out of the maze... and how many people will die while they're in there.
(April 28, 2023 - 9:38 am)
Posting this one day early because I might not have time tomorrow…
The One-Year Anniversary Special!
Including…
- Learning About DID: Where You Can Go
- Q&A With Satom
- A Special Message From Ink
Learning About DID: Where You Can Go
As you might’ve picked up by now, this is a… Less than accurate depiction of DID. Let’s break down what’s real and what’s not, and where you can learn more about this complex and fascinating disorder.
Dissociative identity disorder is a disorder (you probably picked up on that), where there are at least two identities. Like Echo, Aesthete, Layla, Syne, Metanoia, and Sonder, each of these identities can have their own names, ages (or lack of an age), and personalities. And just like Sunflower Hill, there is an “internal world” where members who aren’t fronting live.
However, at least from what I’ve picked up, Sonder being able to hear the others talking to him when he’s in the body is not accurate, and the way I’ve written members’ ability to watch through whoever is in the body’s eyes on and off isn’t, either. The good news is, there are ways available to learn about DID more accurately, and if you’re enjoying this ski-lodge, I definitely recommend that you do take even a few moments to do some research on it.
I’d recommend watching videos about it - there are videos available to watch online for free created by people with DID talking about their lives and experiences. You can also read articles about it if that’s what you prefer. See what you can find - and if you find something interesting, share it! There needs to be more awareness and understanding of DID.
Q&A With Satom
Hello everyone, this is Sonder and Atom!
We’re going to be doing a Q&A: answering questions nobody asked in the first place! In our non-canon forms, who know everything that’s going on in the story.
Woohoo!
Q: Why does Atom speak in italics?
A: I speak in italics because in an original draft for the finale, Rose and I spoke the way AEs on the Chatterbox speak in posts. The italics were used to differentiate between me and Rose, and they never went away. Also - It gives me character.
Just like those enchanting green eyes and adorable smile gives you character *dreamy sigh*
Huh?
nOTHING-
Q: How did Satom happen?
A: When writing our first interactions quite early in the story, Periwinkle realized there were two directions she could go with our relationship: enemies or lovers. She chose lovers.
*blushing* wait we’re lovers?
*also blushing, and giggling too much to answer*
Q: So does that mean Satom is officially dating?
A: Wait we’re officially dATING??
No
Oh right bc we’re oblivious dorks and also we’ve only technically known each other for a week
Yes
Q: Do the alters have appearances at sunflower hill?
A: Yes! We all have our own appearances in the internal world.
Really? What’s yours look like?
*mysterious smile* you’ll find out soon…
What does that mean??
Oh looks like we’re out of time, this has been Sonder and Atom, see you in the next part! Byeeee!! :D
WHAT YOU CAN’T JUST SAY SOMETHING SO MYSTERIOUS AND LEAVE-
A Special Message From Ink
Three days left. Less than that, actually, as we are at least halfway through Day 10 by now. Hmm…
That’s not much time for you all. You still haven’t found my little friend, nor have you even noticed… Well, you haven’t noticed quite a lot of things, it seems. You’re as oblivious as that boy was about the other boy’s crush on him for like seven parts. So *raises an eyebrow and smiles mysteriously (technically not possible, as you have neither eyebrows nor a mouth- BE QUIET)* I thought I’d help you a bit. Read my rhyme and hurry, for you are running out of time…
The night cherry blossoms decorated our world
Rules were broken by one little girl
Too young to know what monstrosities were on their way
And so outside by a pond she lay
Wind blew into the room of who you’ll least expect
And a hero will be made of a recent guess
In our colorful cast hides another traitor
She wants freedom and may go as far as…
Murder
What the heck is that supposed to mean?
Idk
You’re not a very good poet, my dude.
Yeah what was that last rhyme
Ikr
you won’t be talking like that when we get to the finale~
What does that mean?!
Nothing, dear boy. Nothing at all.
***
We did it! As of tomorrow, this ski lodge will have been going for one entire year. This part wasn't a big deal so feel free to skip it, but I thought it'd be fun to have some fan favorites talk to the cast - Atom, Sonder, and Ink seem pretty popular. Hopefully the italics and bold went through though, or this part might be a bit confusing…
Anyway, I owe all of you a very big "thank you." Whether you're in this ski lodge or have just been reading along, you're all the reason I've gotten this far. I'm much more confident in my writing now, which is a result of your support. Thank you for sticking with me. It means a lot to me - more than you could know.
I've gotta go, but I hope you enjoyed this fun little special :D
(April 30, 2023 - 7:12 am)
(April 30, 2023 - 9:29 am)
Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's been a year already! It feels like I joined this lodge a few weeks ago. It's seriously one of my favorites of all time (and I have read a LOT of lodges), so thank you so much for sharing this story with us <333
(April 30, 2023 - 9:48 am)
Oh my gosh they're so adorable
I wanted to add a thing about DID! I think you already said this in a past post but the world of mental health fascinates me so i wanted to say it anyway
No one is born with DID. DID occurs when a child of a young age endured severe trauma and effectively "splits apart" into different sectors of their personality and self-- this is the brain's way of trying to cope with the trauma. If anyone's ever seen Moonknight (as it's a fiction adventure story it exaggerates and kind of makes its own definition of DID to fit the story as well in some parts, but this was pretty accurate) the being that was once just Mark became two as a way of trying to cope with his mother's repeated abuse.
(April 30, 2023 - 10:42 am)