It's Curtains Act 2 Test Drive

[stagemanagers]

1) CURTAINS UP

You’ve just woken up in a small dressing room, which is certainly not where you went to bed last night. Actually, do you even remember going to sleep…? Regardless, this isn't where you last were, and if you leave your room you’re going to find a lot of other people in the same state.

Go out and socialize! Most of these people may be strangers, but you’re gonna all have to get used to one another. And who knows? There may actually be a familiar face in the crowd.

2) THIS PETTY PACE

By now, you're acquainted with everybody here and you're slowly growing bored. Bored enough to kill? Hopefully not. You'd better try to find something else to do. You can always go hang out with your castmates, or maybe try and whip something up in the kitchen! There’s also a music room to keep you busy! I sure hope you like music.

3) BREAK A LEG

Comedies are fun and all, but that’s not quite what we’re about here. You’ve all just been handed this week’s motive. What do you make of it? Is it one that might actually tempt you to kill, or did you get off lightly this time? Either way, maybe you’d better look around the room and see who else is having a rough time.

4) CURTAIN

It was bound to happen eventually. Someone is dead, and now it's time to go off and investigate. Were they close to you? Are you, perhaps, feeling guilty? Either way, it's probably best not to leave anyone alone right now.

5) CUE MUSIC

Feelings in a murder-opera can get pretty gosh darn intense. Sometimes you’ve just got to let it out. And hey, if you sing a song about whatever’s going on in your head, maybe someone will hear and come help you? Either way, this is a musical – there’s not really any reason not to sing.

[Mod Note: The song mechanic is meant to be fluid and simple. You do not have to produce your own song lyrics, nor are you required to use show tunes (although we do encourage it!). If you want to rewrite existing lyrics to fit the situation, go for it! Anything goes - if Mumford and Sons expresses your character’s current emotions, then break out the banjos. We want to keep the musical mechanic as fun and simple as we can to encourage our players to use it as much as they like.]

6) WILDCARD

Make up your own prompt!

--

Questions, comments, concerned? Reach the mods on plurk at slothbless (Lynny) and lluosogrwydd (Lu) and at our public mod plurk stagemanagers. Our official Act 2 FAQ can also be found here!

Comments

Shilo Wallace | Repo! The Genetic Opera

[recessives]

1 - I must be brave...

[ So there are a number of remarkable things about the way Shilo wakes up! The first one is that she isn't where she's supposed to be, which on its own would be enough to create a need for immediate panic, but she's also in a very different outfit than she last remembers, and... oh god, is there blood on her? Whose blood is on her?

This is where you come in, scene partner! Shilo sort of stumbles out of her dressing room, and looks over at you, clearly distressed! ]

What- who are you? Where are we? I don't... what's going on?

3. Come, God, what may...

[ "If you kill this week, we'll bring someone back from the dead." is a... strange motive, to be sure. Her mother, maybe? But she wouldn't kill for her, surely neither her or her father would want that.

And yet, when she opens her motive envelope, Shilo is just sort of. Frozen in place. Staring, not quite comprehending. ]

I... I'm sorry, there must be some kind of mistake.

4. Can I be saved?

[ Oh. That's... sure a dead body. Poor Will Schuester surely didn't hurt anyone, did he? Shilo Wallace, perfect judge of character, sure doesn't think so! But she's also, like... for all the things this girl gets weirdly stressed about, somehow this dead body isn't one of them? ]

Uh... anybody? I think I found, uh... I think we're going to go to the courtroom again!

6. Is there a way?

[ Wildcard! Don't like any of these prompts? Planned something with future me? Pitch me one here or by PM! ]

1

[justmeheere]

Hey, whoa! Uh. You - you are covered in blood.

[Yes, very observant. Thank you Jeremy.]

Are, are you hurt?

[recessives]

[ ... you know, it being her blood is an option she hadn't actually considered. ]

I don't... think so?

[ She looks at as much of herself as she can. ]

I mean... I have a blood condition, but I'm pretty sure this isn't how it going wrong works.

[justmeheere]

Okay. Okay, good! [Jeremy laughs a little nervously and then abruptly stops.] Um, well. We've all been kidnapped?

[His voice breaks on the word "kidnapped" and he clears his throat.]

That's what the note made it sound like, anyway.

[recessives]

Kidnapped? I... but that doesn't make sense, none of this...

[ Wow, okay, she's getting stressed! Why isn't her monitor going off? Hang on, where is her monitor? Okay, this is all a lot, deep breaths, Shilo! Which just sort of lets a bunch of words fall out of her mouth, but that's better than what she's been doing. ]

I shouldn't even be outside, let alone kidnapped! Or covered in- dad's gonna kill [ Someone. ] - have you seen him, is he here too? His name is Nathan, he's a doctor. He takes care of me.

[justmeheere]

Hey, calm down okay? We're - [He cuts himself off then tries again:] I haven't seen your dad, but we can go look for him, if that would make you feel better.

[Pause.]

Do you want to [vague gesture] clean up first?

[recessives]

[ Okay, that at least gets her to like. Chill for a second. She nods. ]

Right. I... wherever we are, I probably shouldn't go around covered in blood.

[ Like it's probably less weird in the wild-ass Playstation 2 cutscene she lives in, but. ]

I'll... there's a bathroom in there, I think, I'll go shower up. Wait here?

[justmeheere]

Yeah. Yeah, I'll be right here when you're done.

[like six people in the bg, probably: SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILOOOOOOO]

[recessives]

[ Oh that's just constant at this point, probably.

After a bit she emerges in... well, she just has the one dress, so it's that, but like. At least it's the only thing with bloodstains. ]

Okay. Did I get everything?

[justmeheere]

Y-yup! All clean now, except for - [Jeremy, shut up. Stop babbling.] Anyway, let's go look for you dad, huh? I think I saw people going this way.

[He points in a direction. Presumably the place everyone is going to meet at.]

[recessives]

[ Shilo nods, sort of pulling her own arm tight against herself with the opposite hand. ]

Right. Seems like a good place to start.

[ People! What a normal day! ]

[justmeheere]

[At least Jeremy is respectfully leaving space for the holy spirit between them.]

Oh! I'm Jeremy, by the way. If, um. If we're really stuck here, we're at least here together, right?

[We're All In This Together.]

4

[nobodysbismuth]

Oh - ohhhh, geez. Not another one.

[That guy. He was...fine, Bismuth guesses, but she was hardly close enough to him to get too upset about it. Humans...humans die; it's a truth she accepted well before coming here.]

You okay, Shilo? [She seems okay, but usually they aren't, she's pretty sure.]

[recessives]

[ That's just humans, babey. Shilo nods, but still at least averts her eyes from the deadman. ]

I think so, I just... I don't know, I haven't been the first one to find anyone before.

[ That's not an "I've never found a body before," Shilo! ]

[nobodysbismuth]

[Well, haven't we all seen a dead body or two? Surely since we've been here, at least!

She lays a big hand on Shilo's shoulder, giving her a light pat. Poor kid. Bismuth knows humans better than most gems, well enough to understand what a child is and that Shilo pretty much still is one.]

Hey, it's okay. Why don't you go and check out the rest of the room? I can deal with him.

[recessives]

[ For sure for sure!

Shilo nods. ]

Yeah, I can take the rest of the room. If you have any questions about... human body things, just ask. My dad's a doctor, so I'm not an expert, but I know things.

[ ... she's a tiny goth, what was she going to do, not read a bunch of medical textbooks? ]

[nobodysbismuth]

That's good.

[Bismuth nods; she's not that bothered by all the human juices, being a gem, but she is also possibly not the best choice for body toucher!

She flips Will over easily with one hand. As it turns out, at least this is something she's reasonably familiar with!]

Looks like somebody stabbed him. Coupla times.

[recessives]

[ She looks over and winces a little. ]

Yeah, that... that would do it. Any idea with what?

[nobodysbismuth]

[She knows blades, at least. Checking out the wound involves a little more...up-close-and-personal with a human wound than she's used to, and she winces at the blood running over her fingers, but:]

Not a big blade. Sharp, narrow point...it's probably one of the kitchen ones.

[Even when you don't eat, you get to know about the kitchen knives in any murdergame pretty quick.]

See one of those lyin' around?

[recessives]

Hmm...

[ She looks around, and then, stabbed into the dirt of one of the potted plants??? ]

Oh, I think this might be it.

[nobodysbismuth]

Didn't try too hard to hide it.

[They could've at LEAST tried to flush the thing!]

Got him in the front, too. [So...she lifts one of Will's hands, carefully holding his tiny fingers between hers. A case or two ago she wouldn't have known to look for signs of a fight - not like a Gem's body would show many - but we've been through this. There's none of that purple-black coloring. Squinting, she peers at his fingernails for any lingering traces of anything.] Not sure he did much fighting back...I guess he would've been an easy target.

[Possibly not the easiest - Shilo herself comes to mind - but the guy wasn't a fighter. He didn't even look very strong.]

[recessives]

[ Her sole self-defense mechanism is just looking too sad and confused to murder, it's true. ]

Yeah... I guess he was.

[ Big Yike! ]

Hm... there's some paint on the knife? Is there any paint on him?

[nobodysbismuth]

Paint, huh...?

[She sets down that hand and leans over to grab the other.]

Yeah, there's a little on his hand here. Didn't strike me as the artsy type.

3. Come, God, what may...

[arieltritonsdaughter]

[Ariel sees Shilo's face. Shilo looks like she feels.]

Yes, there must be a mistake with my envelope as well. Are you okay, Shilo?

[Ariel is not sure what is going on here, but there is definitely something wrong.]

3

[reassuranceandrevolution]

[Sigyn hasn't opened her envelope yet. There are so many people it could be, and somehow only one. If she didn't look at the picture inside then it wouldn't be real.]

Who is it?