117th ♫ | aren't i filthy? why won't you kill me?

[phaiinein]

The Murder Game Meme



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!

<center><b>Name:</b> NAME | <b>TITLE (Super High School Level, Ultimate, Champion, etc)</b> <b>Age:</b> AGE | <b>Species:</b> SPECIES | <b>Occupation:</b> OCCUPATION <b>Likes:</b> LIKES <b>Dislikes:</b> DISLIKES <b>Traits:</b> A HANDFUL OF NOTABLE TRAITS <b>Trivia:</b> A PIECE OF TRIVIA</ul></center>

Comments

Furina | Genshin Impact

[sombrer]

Name: Furina (Focalors) | Super High School Level Judge / Champion of Hydro / The Weeping God
Age: 500 | Species: God | Occupation: Hydro Archon, Ruler of Fontaine, God of Justice
Likes: Opera, theatre, spectacle, trials
Dislikes: Boredom, loneliness
Traits: Egostistical, Bombastic, Insecure
Trivia: Lady Furina created the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, a self-aware machine capable of issuing accurate verdicts on trials.

[Who is this... sassy lost child??? If it wasn't for the profiles coming with pictures, there's nothing that could tie this extravagently-dressed girl with the God of Justice described. But here she is! Amid all the people who are frustrated or horrified with their current situation, Furina almost seems excited; ah, the drama! The spectacle! The trials and courtroom in their prison have none of the elegance of the Opera Epiclese, but standing in the ring of her fellow captives, rather than sitting high above the stage as she usually does, gave her an interesting sort of perspective. Feeling the emotions so closely, seeing every twitch and twist of a culprit's face... it was addictive. Furina acts very much like a child watching their favorite television show as the others argue guilt and innocence around her.

... Though... her eyes tend to stray, once the verdicts are read. There's a wonderful air to the trials here, but the executions are a sour twist to the show. Unnecessary.

Outside of trials, she's often seen active around the areas in their prison that provide entertainment. She indulges in movies, books, video games - anything that can be seen as a distraction, Furina throws herself into for hours on end. It's like the girl can't sit still for more than a few minutes.

Occasionally she can be found at the pool. She doesn't bother dressing fittingly - all she'll do is remove her hat and submerge herself in the deep end, not even flinching as her clothes grow soaked and all the gems and baubles weigh her down. She stays down in the deep water for much, much longer than a normal human can hold her breath, and it's surrounded by her element that the mask of the hedonist slips off her face. Her smile disappears, her brows furrow, and the light in her two-toned eyes grows foggy.]

Pool

[reaperrabbit]

...

[Brook crouches at the side of the pool, watching the fully-dressed Furina just. Immerse there. Wholly underwater. For minutes.

Eventually, he swats a hand at the water's surface, making a couple small splashes, to see if he can get her attention without jumping in after her.]

[sombrer]

[Her eyes open at the disturbance on the surface - no squinting against the water at all, though her nose wrinkles a little at the burn of the chemicals. Terrible, truly terrible! The oceanids would wipe this place off the map if they knew how soured the water here was-

Ah, but he slaps the water again, and Furina huffs; with a swift kick of her legs, without even having to push off the bottom of the pool, she follows the stream of bubbles back up to the surface.]

Just what are you doing?

[reaperrabbit]

[He sits back more, arms draped over his knees like a stereotypical anime delinquent, one pink glove dripping with pool water.]

Just making sure you weren't dead down there. Being the one who discovers the body always seems like a huge hassle.

[No sympathy for the body discovered, apparently.]

What were you doing, anyway? Meditating? I've never seen you just... be still like that.

[sombrer]

Ridiculous. Don't you know dead bodies float unless weighed down?

[So... matter-of-factly.]

I... suppose you could call it meditating. Though I've been stripped of the godly power I've been blessed with, being submerged in the element I command with naught but a thought is quite soothing.

[reaperrabbit]

[Brook may be stupid

Bottom text.

He's taking in what she's saying, though, or seems to be. The slight tilt of his head make the long ends of that ribbon he wears look even more like rabbit ears standing to attention.]

...So it's like your safe space. You're literally in your element.

[sombrer]

Safe space? Ha! [A giggle.] I am an Archon, I need nothing to make me feel safe!

[Aaaaahh, he knows, he knows...!]

Think of it more as a battery recharging. If more of those trials are to happen as the people here fall to the manipulations of our captors, the mind needs to be sharp! I will make sure justice is done, as I have many times in Fontaine's long history!

[reaperrabbit]

"Justice."

[He repeats the word sourly, eyes narrowing. There's the disgusted, deeply teenage expression we've all come to love and expect from Brook.]

Huh. Is that really what's happening here?

[sombrer]

[There's a pause, an unusual moment of hesitation from one whose flair for the dramatic is always in high gear. For all her enthusiasm in the courtroom and how she views the trials they're put through, she's not totally blind.]

Yes, justice. Did you think I meant only what happens in the courtroom?

[A huff. She almost sounds insulted!]

What our captors have done to us requires justice. Their hands may not have guided the knives or the poison or the blunt objects that have felled our companions, but their words have. And that requires justice. And as the God of Justice, I will make sure anyone involved pays for their crimes.

[reaperrabbit]

Oh. I thought you meant...

[Obviously, yeah, he thought she meant only what happens in the courtroom. After trailing off for a few moments more, he sighs and puts his chin in the palm of his hand.]

I guess that makes more sense. If you believe in that shit, anyway. [A beat.] Are you counting yourself, though? I mean...

[He meets her mismatched eyes.]

We're "involved," too, right?

post-trial!

[reclassed]

[ For Marie, the trials are rough to watch, the executions even more so. And even though her heart would ache for those who were killed in such away, she'd sometimes feel that small flicker of herself that felt absolutely no remorse for the culprit. But she tries her best to bury that feeling down with a calm demeanor and soft smiles as necessary.

Truthfully, she didn't understand what kind of world this was, or how it was even remotely possible for her to physically be here, but that isn't important; not here. Even if she might not hold any responsibility in this place, being on equal footing with everyone else - which she was fine with, mind you! - that doesn't necessarily mean that she'll shirk being responsible.

Which, naturally, leads into her checking in with everyone after the dust settles and everyone is allowed to leave the trial rooms. She searches out for Furina and when she's finally able to see her out of the corner of her eye, Marie calls out-- ]

...Miss Furina! Might I have a word with you?

[sombrer]

[To her credit, when she wasn't clearly reveling in the drama of the trial, Furina did her best to participate. "Her best" being... not quite as good as some of the others, but she argued certain points well, and in the end she'd been on the side of those who revealed the culprit. That's truly what mattered - that the God of Justice had been correct once more, and justice had rightly been served! So she focuses on that feeling, the feeling of setting right what had gone wrong, and ignores the way her gut churned at the gory, gristly punishment of the damned.

Ah, and this was another thing she enjoyed; the chatter after a trial, the lingering buzz as one came down from such a high. She's all smiles as she turns towards Marie, hands on her hips and her head held high.]

Of course! I always make time for the public after a trial. [Most of the time. When Neuvilette doesn't let her scurry off into the shadows when she's said something wrong.] What's on your mind?

[reclassed]

You're really quite used to this, aren't you?

[ There's always a difference between those who can handle these types of things and those who cannot, and it's something that Marie is at least privy to telling the difference between the two, wanting to learn and figure out about others - after all, this place was meant to tear them all apart instead of uniting them together.

But she was asked another question: what's on her mind? and honestly?

There's a lot, perhaps too much. ]

I mostly wanted to check in with everyone. [ Still playing the role of a student body president; always concerned for others. ] But I suppose I also thought it'd be easier to hear everyone's thoughts on what has been going on individually.

[ Sometimes it's better to speak one on one versus a whole group. Meetings are rough. ]