The impishly cute little devil kouhai, BB-chan! ☆ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sakurabeam) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
oddsandends2021-02-26 10:05 pm
sakurabeam) wrote in oddsandends2021-02-26 10:05 pm
88th ♫ | electric, a stun gun pulse surges through the crowd buzzing out the shadows
You know the script. You wake up in a place you've never seen before, with a whole bunch of complete strangers and there's a mysterious voice or a mascot or what have you ready to let you know how things are going to work around here.
The rules are simple: You're trapped here, with no hope of release or rescue. You've been provided with all the basic necessities you need to live comfortably, and all you have to do is settle down and live out the rest of your days here in peace. But if you can't do that -- if you're really so desperate to escape that you'll do anything -- then there's one teeny tiny thing you have to do first.
All you have to do is kill somebody.
But it's not quite that simple. Every death will be followed by a period of investigation, followed by a trial in which the survivors will attempt to solve the mystery and out the culprit. If the survivors guess correctly and out the culprit, the killer is executed and life goes on. But if the survivors guess wrong, then the culprit is free as a bird and everyone else is executed.
Even with the promise of freedom, can you really bring yourself to kill so many other people?
tl;dr: it's a murdergame meme. TIME TO HAVE A BIG OL' MURDERGAME BLAST.
Settings
- 1. High School A classic! Doesn't matter if you're too old or too young to be in high school -- you've been enrolled and the only way for you to graduate is to kill a fellow student. But hey, the faculties are nice!
2. Tropical Island Weren't you just hankering for a nice tropical vacation? No? Too bad! You're going to have a nice sunny vacation at the beach and if you don't like it, just kill someone and go home. Simple!
3. Prison It doesn't matter if you don't remember committing any crime; you've been tried and found guilty of something or other and now you can go ahead and rot away in jail. If you ever want to see the sunlight again, better put that criminal mind to good use and get rid of your inmates.
4. Mall A huge mall stuffed full of stores, places to eat and all the regular amenities like deadbolted doors and the threat of death. It's like Black Friday but even worse because you can't leave and all the rest of the shoppers might actually kill you for real this time.
5. City Holy shit, you've got the run of a whole city this time around! Maybe with all this room to keep out of each other's way, you'll be able to make sure no one starts killing people. But probably not.
6. Cruise Boat YOU'RE ON A BOAT, MOTHERFUCKER. The accommodation is all five star, even if there's no one around to act as wait staff. The only snag is that you still have this whole murder thing hanging over your head – but on the plus side, they have those little drinks with the umbrellas in, so...
7. Space Station THE FINAL FRONTIER... Maybe you're familiar with space stations like this or maybe all this future tech is fascinating to you. Not like it matters either way, of course, because you won't be getting out of here unless you lay down a murder on someone.
8. Wildcard! None of the above scratch your murder itch? Go wild and come up with your own setting!
Downtime
- 1. Excuse Me, Who Are You? You've just woken up in this weird place and you have no idea what's going on. But hey -- maybe this stranger's more informed than you. Or maybe you can put your heads together and investigate what's going on.
2. Social Link Go! Well, if you're going to be stuck in here for however long, you might as well get to know the people stuck in here with you. You've got plenty of rooms to explore together and there's enough to do to keep you occupied. How do you plan on passing time without killing each other?
3. Vending Machine Woes Somewhere in this place there's a mysterious vending machine that spits out all manner of bizarre items and occasionally dispenses items that belong to you and the other people trapped here. You've got a fat stack of tokens and nothing to lose.
4. The Corners of My Mind So as it turns out, your lovely hosts have been fiddling with your memories. Maybe you're just discovering this now or maybe you've had a particularly upsetting memory regain you're dealing with.
4. Wildcard! GO WILD AND BE FREE (or as free as you can be here, anyways)
PUTTING THE MURDER IN MURDER GAME
- 1. Motive Your mysterious overseer has decided there's not nearly enough murder going on and so they've ~helpfully~ given you a little push to do the deed. Maybe one of your loved ones is in danger, maybe they're offering more money than you could ever dream of or they're threatening to reveal your deepest darkest secrets. Whatever is it, would you kill for it?
2. Murder WELL APPARENTLY, YES. Are you a killer or are you being killed? Either way, someone's not walking away from this alive.
3. Body Discovery Rise and shine, murdergame! It's a brand new day and someone's dead. Better get investigating!
4. Trial You know how this one goes. Line up all your evidence and sniff out the killer -- or sit there and sweat and hope no one works out you're the murderer. Will they go down with a confession or put up a fight?
5. Afterparty You've survived another trial, but more of your friends have died. Even without the executions, trials are a stressful enough affair. It's time to destress and lick your wounds and support each other.
6. Mastermind It's the end. It's time to uncover all the mysteries behind this murder game -- and find out just who trapped you here. Are they really an unconnected party, or is the mastermind someone among you...?
7. Freedom Just as it says -- you're finally free, but at what cost? Have those you love been returned to you, or are you still reduced to just those who made it to the end? Are you on your own, or is anyone here to help you? And more importantly, how the hell are you going to get home?
8. Wildcard YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO
OPTIONAL FUN
- Lots of murdergames have in-universe public profiles for other characters to get the skinny on yours. If you'd like to fill one out to post with your toplevel, peep at the code below!
no subject
[Yeah, she actually gets a little startled. But fortunately there are zero shovels in attendance here.]
[Penny lets Erina catch up, hands still clasped in front of her.]
Salutations, Erina. Yes, I could not sleep.
[Is that an attempt at humor or a cover on her status? Maybe a little of both, even if the cramped living spaces here have probably made things even more obvious than her profile.]
You as well?
no subject
Guess you could say that. [ She lifts and drops one shoulder in an equally lopsided shrug. ] Something just kinda stunk, you know? I mean, I like me some ice cream as much as the next girl but...
[ She trails off for a moment and then shrugs again. ]
You know what I mean, right? Something's up.
no subject
[Did the mastermind just stop caring? That would be great, but they're probably not going to get that lucky.]
[She folds her arms, glancing up and down the hallway.]
You think if no one kills for this they'll just- give up?
no subject
[ She's been already been chewing on her lip enough today that her mouth tastes coppery but her nervous energy doesn't have anywhere else to go, so she nibbles on it for a moment as she thinks. ]
I mean... we all know this motive is baby shit. No one's gonna go for it. So why have it? Why escalate all this crap to this level then just drop the pressure out of nowhere? Must've taken a lot of set up to get us all here, so why just stop out of nowhere?
[ She lifts both her eyebrows and gives Penny a Meaningful Look. ]
Something's gone fucky on their end, I think.
no subject
[Something throwing the masterminds off their balance, giving them a chance to fight back in some meaningful way. This should be their best shot since arriving.]
[Should be. If they had a way of reaching the people behind everything. If things going wrong didn't mean just getting rid of them, or abandoning them to rot.]
[Penny blinked, forcing a tight smile.]
Well. I'm not worried. [hic] Do you want to finish patrolling together?
[She sticks out a hand for Erina.]
no subject
[ Erina doesn't hiccup, but it's not like she needs such an obvious tell. It couldn't be more obvious that she's lying. She puts on an ironic smile that suits her face just a little better than her forced grin from a moment before and takes Penny's hand in her own. ]
Let's keep everybody alive 'til Saturday morning, yeah?
no subject
[But Penny's own grin softens a little as Erina takes her hand. Maybe together they can actually believe it.]
Indeed. Until Friday and Saturday and then we can aim for Sunday.
[She gives Erina's hand a small squeeze. From somewhere inside a pocket, her ID chirps as the clock ticks over to midnight. It's Friday.]
[And Penny freezes.]
no subject
Jesus. That scared the shit out of me. Do they do that every fucking night? I don't–
[ She trails off as she takes in the look on Penny's face. Something's... not right. ]
Uh... Polendina? You with me?
no subject
Something's wrong, I don't- no, no, no! Erina-?
no subject
She drops the pipe she's been carrying. Doesn't even think about leaving herself defenseless to try and support Penny. ]
Holy shit, Penny! [ Her voice is more than a little panicked. ] The hell is going on?
1/2
Rule seven, rule seven, rule sev- no! This isn't-!
[She takes a step away from Erina, shaking her head and looking up, fear written across her face.]
Erina, you need to run RIGHT NOW-
[In the middle of her warning, Penny goes slack, eyes closing calmly.]
2/2
[Penny straightens up, standing stiffly, and turns her now-red eyes to Erina.]
Failsafe engaged. Enacting rule seven.
[And without fully turning, she swings an arm full-force to backhand at Erina.]
one day you will pay for your deeds and words
Right now, it's just enough for her to dive to the side and just barely dodge – and even then it's close enough that Erina feels it flutter her hair on the way past. She doesn't give herself time to process what's happening and instead she dives for the floor, scrabbling for her pipe and then takes off down the corridor as quick as she can. ]
Penny! I don't know what the hell's going on but you've gotta snap out of it!
strike me down and i shall become more feelsy than you can possibly imagine
[That's probably not an encouraging response. Nor is the way Penny immediately begins running after Erina. Her movements are- there's no way around the word, mechanical. The form is perfect and stiff as she closes the distance.]
no subject
[ She doesn't know what the hell is going on here – possession, hypnotism, whatever the fuck but she does know that she needs to get Penny the hell away from everyone else's cells. After all, rule seven just means a free-for-all so if anyone else hears the noise and comes out, they're a goner.
Right. Okay. Get the hell away from the cells, get to somewhere more wide open where she's less of a sitting duck and figure it out from there. Simple.
Gritting her teeth, Erina takes the corner at a skid and pelts her way down to the common room as fast as her legs will take her. ]
Fine then! Just keep following me if you want to crack my head open that bad!
no subject
[And technically, rule seven is also the one that includes a culprit needing to get away with it. And right now, Erina's the only witness to this- so lucky her, she's pretty successful at drawing Penny's attention.]
[Or, well, whatever's currently driving Penny's body. This can't have been the first time Erina's seen her in action, and the body language is totally different.]
[Though Erina will probably appreciate that less at the moment, given that Penny's using this weird new vibe to swiftly grab at one of the chairs in the common area and physically throw it towards Erina's retreating form.]
cw for breakages
But it's still Penny. Penny who probably hasn't even swatted a bug before in her life. That's still her voice and her body and anything Erina does to fight back runs the risk of doing irreversible damage to her.
So when Erina reaches the common room and spins to face Penny, with her pipe held aloft... she hesitates.
Just long enough that she can't quite dodge the chair when it comes flying her way. The impact rips the pipe out of her hand and, even more alarmingly, Erina feels something snap and fracture in her wrist and her vision briefly goes white. ]
Fuck– [ And then again, with a great deal more feeling; ] Fuck! Goddamnit – Penny, whatever the hell this is, you've got to fight it! Snap the hell out of it!
I don't know what kind of CW covers all this but it probably needs one
[There's a moment of growing pressure, and then Penny's hands spasm.]
I must- NO! Erina!
[One of Penny's hands has released Erina's throat, clutching at the other and trying to force it away. Her eyes squeezed shut in pain, or focus, or both.]
no subject
Some Synchronic she is. ]
Penny– whatever the hell's going on, explain it! Tell me how I can help you!
cw because this probably counts as suicidal ideation by implication
[Her hand spasms again, making another grab at Erina before Penny wrenches it away. Her eyes are flashing between red and green, it's honestly pretty disturbing.]
Erina, please, you need to stop me, I don't want- I don't want to-
[Her eyes squeeze shut again as she lets out a pained cry, hand moving on its own again to grab Erina.]
no subject
She just as to– ]
Penny...!
[ Erina doesn't bring the pipe down.
She's paralyzed.
Some Synchronic she is. ]
cw: violence, this was my idea and i still hate it
[Maybe the pipe wouldn't kill her, she's still pretty darn durable even depowered as she's been. But it would be enough to maybe get away, get some distance, get some kind of help.]
[But the hesitation is enough.]
[Penny shudders again, her hand grabbing onto Erina's collar.]
[Her eyes snap back open, back to the eerie glowing red.]
Enacting rule seven.
[The restraint, the fight against her own body, is gone - it's all unnaturally smooth precision as her free hand snatches the pipe from Erina, fingers denting the metal as she latches on.]
[The pipe rises. And it falls, swiftly and with precision.]
cw: phas paying for his deeds and words
Despite it all, she meets those searing red eyes without flinching. And she realizes – oh, right. She's not looking at Penny, huh? Whatever's in there, she might as well be eye to eye with the sick fuck that put them in here. ]
They're gonna hunt you down like a fucking dog. [ She talks past Penny, all the way down the connection to whoever's got her like a puppet on a string, whoever's really holding the pipe aloft and in the last few seconds she has, Erina smiles. ] I can't wait.
[ And then the pipe comes down.
It only takes one blow for her to go limp.
Erina Estival is dead. ]
cw: me paying for my deeds while looking at the camera and asking who could hurt me so and why
Please, don't- just vote for me! You have to!
[The people that believed her- in any other circumstances it would have been a blessing, that so many did- tried arguing that she wasn't at fault, that this wasn't even an accident, that by the rules of the game it was the Warden who was responsible, that they'd reduced Penny to just a weapon. Maybe they were right, ethically and in any sane court of law. But here? Well, the Warden could add and interpret rules as they saw fit.]
I can't let anyone else die because of me!
[Penny had voted for herself, with only an instant of hesitation. Doing otherwise meant a mass execution, she was sure. She couldn't let that happen. She'd raced against the others, slamming the button marked with her title on as many podiums as she could- how many had she gotten to before she'd been stopped? Grabbed, pulled into a hug by Mr. Burnsides, Champion of Raven's Roost... she could've broken away easily, but. Not without hurting him.]
[And if Penny was being honest with herself, she didn't want to die.]
[She felt like a coward.]
I'm- ...when you get out of here. Please. Ruby, my father- don't tell them what I did. Please.
[The execution didn't hurt. It couldn't, after all. You had to be real to feel pain.]
[And then her eyes snap back open. Penny sits up, abruptly. She registers gray, dust-laiden carpeting. An un-manned, mahogany desk covers most of one wall. Dim chandeliers overhead. And a tarnished brass sign-frame, holding a plain white sign with black lettering in Times New Roman Font.]
Hopeless Peak Hotel
Now Hosting
Ex-Con Con
The Convention for Ex-convicts
Enjoy being in attendance.
What?
[She was alive? Or functioning- she felt as alive as she ever had, at least. But the only way she could possibly be alive was if the others hadn't listened, hadn't voted for her. If they had died in her place.]
No, no no no- NO-!
[Penny doesn't get up. She pulls her knees up to her chest, burying her face into her arms, and wishes she could cry.]