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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
He knew the moment he saw her at the door- that panic was too personal to just be finding a corpse. For a kid, she was too comfortable with death unless it was someone she liked. He knew- it was why he put his team away.
The question was: what was he going to do?
Arceus damn him, but she was the same age as Marnie. He couldn't do anything that he wouldn't do if it was her. Standing here with that look on her face. For a Dark type trainer he was too bloody soft.
He squats slightly so they are closer to eye level, face set]
'Tea, listen here. You're gonna go back to your room, you hear me? You go back, close the door, and don' come out until someone comes to 'wake you up'.
Far as you know, this never happened.
no subject
This, though, she can do. He's telling her what to do and where to go and what to say clearly and concisely and Protea can handle that.
She likes to be ordered around, after all. ]
Yes. I... didn't see a thing. I didn't hear anything. I don't know anything that happened to Ayaka-san.
[ Her voice is trembling but steadily becoming more resolute. ]
Until someone comes to "wake me up"... it's just a normal Friday morning.
no subject
[He pats her head]
Same thing tomorrow. 'Tea doesn' know shit.
no subject
... it's going to happen again, isn't it? The trial. They're going to find Ayaka-san and know somebody did it, but...
[ She's not stupid. Puppy-like in her enthusiasm and energy she might be, but she's still an A.I. from the Moon Cell. Even then... it doesn't take a genius to figure out what's about to happen here. ]
Will we vote for you... Piers-san...?
no subject
He's not that kind of guy]
We'll vote for whoever the evidence points to, just like we always do. Something like this. An accident. Welp, just about anyone could do it. Even a weak bloke like me can push a girl at the wrong time. Unlucky is all it is.
no subject
Piers will be gone. That will be one more person leaving Protea behind.
They don't have time to say a proper goodbye, not when anyone could come into the kitchen and see them right now. Protea surges forward and throws her arms around him in a tight, frantic hug.
Don't leave me behind. she wants to say. Don't go. ]
Piers-san... Piers-san! I'm sorry... this wasn't supposed to happen... I didn't want to hurt Ayaka-san... I didn't want to hurt anyone...!
no subject
I know, kid. I know... But you gotta tip your chin up and face it best you can. Things're gonna get rougher before they get better. Now come on, you gotta run before they start showin' up- we'll both be under the knife if they see you out here.
no subject
I know... I know...! I won't let you down.
[ She turns and runs for the door in a flurry of trailing bandages and white skirt, but she stops for a moment – just a moment – to look back at him. ]
... Thank you, Piers-san. ... bye-bye.
[ And then, scrunching up her face to deny herself tears, she hikes up her skirt and goes running as fast as her feet will take her back to her room. She didn't see anything. She didn't hear anything. She doesn't know what happened to Ayaka.
All she has to do is follow orders. ]
no subject
[He doesn't say anything else as she goes- if he does his resolve will break. But as she runs she might just be able to hear:]
Maybe my songs don't make anyone happy. Maybe I can't help. ♪ But still the only thing I can do is sing—sing my humble song. ♪
[Followed by something squishy and wet.]
no subject
She doesn't cry, even though she feels like she might. She's too shell-shocked. If her reaction is strange, nobody pays it any mind because they're all too preoccupied with Piers. Which is understandable, given the mess they found him trying to clean up. It seems so open and shut, but they're still granted the time to investigate and frogmarched down to the trial room, as if there's any other way to make sense of all this.
Protea decides not to say anything.
Not that she needs to, though. There's a palpable tension in the air, even as everyone eyes Piers but no one speaks until Camellia, the Champion Heroine finally speaks up. ]
"I really don't think there's much point to us being here. But the very least we can do is give you an opportunity to explain yourself, Piers. What happened?"
no subject
Yeah... no point hidin' it now.
It went down not long before you all showed up- I was heading to the kitchen to get a drink. Since it was mornin' I wasn't worried about anyone trying for the motive- doubt the damned thing is even still valid this late. But I guess I was still jumpy. I stumbled into Ayaka in there, and we tangled up. She hit the counter and... welp, you saw it. I lost it. I've... before comin' here I never saw a body before. Not really.
[He tugs on his choker charm, squinting in clear distress]
no subject
"I see... That's understandable. I think it's a first for a lot of us." [ She sighs and starts fiddling with a lock of her hair, looking upset. ] "Why was she out so early, though?"
"It sounds like Ayaka to me." [ That's Anika Quinn, Champion of Earth, who has her brow furrowed. She and Ayaka weren't... friends exactly, because it was hard to consider Ayaka friends with anyone but they'd gotten along reasonably well. ] "She was always one of those types who acted like she was untouchable. I bet she woke up, realized it was Friday morning and figured she didn't have anything to worry about."
[ It definitely sounds like Ayaka. Protea keeps her eyes fixed on her podium and says nothing, because she didn't see or hear a thing until someone came to wake her up. She feels like she's about to be sick, but she chokes it down and tries very, very hard not to draw any attention to herself.
It's an open and shut case. ]
"Well... it's a shame, but it really looks as though we don't have a choice." [ Camellia turns to Piers tries to force a smile, but it doesn't come out quite right. She just looks tired and sorrowful. ] "Is there anything else you want to say before we vote?"