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oddsandends2023-08-08 09:41 pm
phaiinein) wrote in oddsandends2023-08-08 09:41 pm
117th ♫ | aren't i filthy? why won't you kill me?
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!
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[ Miyako. Saying her name out loud makes her heart hurt in her chest a little bit. Aqua and Ruby are never far from her thoughts – how could they be, especially this week? – but the ache there is different. She's almost gotten used to it. Remembering everyone else she's missing while she's stuck here...
The sting isn't worse. But it's just different enough that she hasn't hardened herself to it yet. ]
If you have a bunch of followers, they must be wondering what you're up to now you're not posting.
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[...Brook has one hundred followers after blogging regularly for... ten years...?]
Anyway, they probably assume I'm dead.
[...]
Which, I mean, yeah, but obviously I'm not public about that stuff. That's what it usually means when you suddenly stop hearing from someone like that, though. You figure that disease got them, or they were murdered or something. Happens all the time these days.
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[ It's a little out of her usual scope of operations in the wrong direction but... she does remember the first time she heard one of their CDs sold over a hundred copies and what an unimaginably huge number that'd seen at the time. She's a little numb to numbers now, but she could recall a spark of that baffled excitement at least. ]
Maybe with any luck, they'll just be waiting for you to get back. I mean, if they thought you were worth following in the first place and all.
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[Maybe... one or two of them have actually interacted with him in any meaningful way? Even if it was just to hate on something he'd said or make fun of his looks. There are usernames he recognizes as liking more than one of his posts. He'd. Miss them, he guesses, if he never saw them again.
That's how it is, though. Humans die. One sinner a day is unlucky enough to find themselves killed by him. Has he ever killed one of his followers? Statistically unlikely, but it's possible. Huh.
He glances at Ai, tapping the fingers of his free hand idly against the table. As an actual pop idol, if she were a Reaper, the likelihood she'd end up killing one of her fans would be a hell of a lot higher, wouldn't it? He wonders how she'd handle it.]
Is that what you're hoping for? That they're waiting for you to get back?
[He means her fans, but...]
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[ Her tiniest, most enthusiastic, most unspeakably precious fans, of course. ]
I know they'd wait for me to come back no matter how long it took. I just don't want them to have to wait.
[ She doesn't know how her being brought here worked but she lets herself daydream sometimes that her return will be something absurdly inconvenient – she'll be dropped into her body back home just as she hears the doorbell and this time she'll lock and bolt the door and call the police and nobody will get hurt.
It's such a convenient little fantasy. But she keeps wishing for it, anyway. ]
Maybe you could come along and see one of our concerts someday. I've done my best here but I really shine when I'm on stage with everybody else.
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[Too bad there's definitely no horrible sinner in her star-studded life she could ask him to kill for her!]
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Why would I invite you if I didn't want you there? Having friends in the crowd makes performing a show even more fun.
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Scarlet had decided they were friends, too. Even though she had no reason to trust him. Even though she had things she cared about more. He hadn't been in her way, not anymore; she could rely on him to understand what she was going through.]
...Friends. You think?
[Is that all it takes? Undergoing the same awful shit, day after day, week after week, and... not blocking people from what they want just by existing?
But they all are, aren't they? They're all in each other's way, as long as they survive...]
But you want to go home.
[...As long as killing is the only way out.]
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Sure I do. Just as much as anybody else. But I'm not stupid enough to think I could be the one person who actually gets one over on everyone.
[ Or rather, she's too stupid. There's no way someone as clueless as her could ever pull off a crime like the ones they're expected to pull here. ]
I just have to live until we escape and then figure things out from there. That's all.
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…Okay. Then I’ll help.
[Help her survive, help her escape. It isn’t really in a Reaper’s wheelhouse to keep someone alive, but at the very least, he can fight. If someone goes after her, they’ll have five feet two inches of demon-infused flesh puppet to deal with.
That’s worth something, right? If he’s here, it might as well be of use to someone.
"Well, it does take a certain kind of person to walk all the way to Hell just because they're facing existential boredom."]
Since we’re friends.
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[ She says that with a thin, self deprecating little grin but then her expression blooms into a brighter, nicer smile - not the full wattage she often clicks into when she needs to make sure she's especially dazzling.
Instead of blinding sunlight, it's the distant twinkle of a tiny, stalwart star. ]
Heehee. Really, though. That does make me feel a little better. I think if we keep an eye out for each other then maybe we'll be able to manage.
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'...if we keep an eye out for each other then maybe we'll be able to manage.'
If Ai had been there instead of the maid... if he'd offered to share his birthright with his sister instead of carrying out his father's will on his own, as instructed... would Brook not have died so damned awfully? So alone?
He swallows, looks down at the table, tries to make wiping at his eyes with the back of wrist surreptitious.]
S-sure.
[What Ai could do to help him if he needed it, he has no idea. Like she said, she's just an idol. But it's more than anyone but Scarlet has offered him in over one hundred empty, bloody years.]
And I'll come. To your concert. And blog about it.
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Heehee. If you're going to blog about it, I'll make sure you get the VIP treatment. Reporters are supposed to get special passes or something when they cover concerts, right?
[ Or so she's heard. ]
I'm sure if I told the Prez about your blog he'd hand one right over.
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A laugh. Sort of. Maybe.
He lifts his face back up towards her.]
Dunno if word of mouth in another world is good press or not.
[The group's already established that Brook is definitely not from the same Earth as Ai; his inability to name languages or countries beyond "what everybody speaks" and "the north side of the world" proved that as well as anything.]
You could come sing in mine. People would go nuts for you.
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It couldn't hurt, could it? Maybe after I get back home, Strawberry Productions will decide to take over more than one world. Softening everyone up for our landing is a suuuuuper important part of building pre-release hype, you know.
[ Not that she knows. But it sounds like the sort of thing Miyako would say when they were planning some tour or album release or other, so she lets it roll out of her mouth. ]
What sorts of songs do people like back where you're from? I'll dig into our back catalogue and come up with a fun setlist.
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[Chin in his palm, he taps his fingers against his cheek.]
I think I've heard of... Avril Lavigne? Something like that. But I don't really remember if that was recent or not.
[Claire I cannot tell you how many questions I have about 1) the fact that Avril Lavigne was actually referenced in I'm the Grim Reaper and 2) the fact that she is the only musical reference in I'm the Grim Reaper, not even in-world made-up entities or anything. Claire this webtoon is set I don't know how many years in the future. CLAIRE.]
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[ Though realistically she knows that even if she had, it's not like the name would've stuck in her head regardless. It sounds like a solo act, so it's not like B-Komachi would've been competing with them in any real way... ]
What kind of music was it?
[ yes i AM going to make you make brook describe avril lavigne's discography. suffer. ]
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[Most of the time, Brook's aggressively teenage mien makes it hard to remember he was born over a hundred years ago. The other participants here could be his great- or even great-great grandchildren.]
If I had to guess, probably something edgy and angry? To go with the spirit of the times. What do they call it... punk?
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[ Ai mulls over that for a moment... then promptly puts on her most dire, grave and serious face and narrows her eyes, doing her best to give Brook something approximating a stony glare.
All while totally not about to crack up laughing, of course. ]
What do you think? Have I got the chops for it?
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I've seen hairless cats edgier than you.
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[ Said in the most exaggeratedly dismayed tone imaginable. ]
I could totally pull it off! I've got edges you've never even heard of before!
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Take it from me. You're a hundred years too early to pull off "edgy" when you're that tiny and pink.
[Yeah, Brook, you'd know, huh.]
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[ right for the throat. jesus. ]
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And I've been at it for a hundred years, give or take.
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[ Whether this is something she sincerely means or she's just saying it to get a bit of a rise out of him... well, uh, this is Ai so it's literally impossible to tell! ]
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