It's Curtains Act 3 Test Drive

[stagemanagers]

1) CURTAINS UP

You’ve just woken up in some kind of dorm 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 worse still - there's other people waking up in the same room with you, in the same state.

Talk to your roommates! Go out and meet everyone from the other rooms! 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 even a band 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) I LOVE PLAY REHEARSAL

It's Club Day! What's Club Day, you ask? Come to the classroom on the poster to find out! It looks like this week's club is Bread Club. Be wary, when you enter the classroom you'll face a shower of various bread slices but be rewarded with a surprisingly fancy layout of spreads and jams to go with them. Don't mind the oddly threatening poster on the far wall. He's just here to supervise.

5) 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.

6) CUE MUSIC

Feelings in a murder-school 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 3 FAQ can also be found here!

Comments

Spongebob Squarepants | Spongebob the Musical

[employeeoftheyear]

Curtains Up

[Spongebob doesn't hear his alarm go off, but never the less he is one of the first to wake up, practically bolding upright.]

Good Morning Bikini-

[And then it hits him that what he's looking at is certainly not his own bedroom.]

Bottom?

[He rubs his eyes, as if his scenery would suddenly change if he just rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. When he looks again, however, he notices that he's not alone.]

Oooh is this a sleepover? If I had known I would have brought Eels and Escalators! Or figure out who you are and who invited us, at least.

[He seems pretty chipper, but with a hint of confusion in his voice.]

This Petty Place

[Spongebob? Bored? If you thought for a second that Spongebob would ever be bored in any place, you'd be dead wrong! Every waking moment Spongebob spent blowing bubbles, or making up games, or walking down the hall loudly counting the ceiling tiles. And right now? Right now he's in the kitchen.

Or, what seems to be the kitchen, but with how many burgers are swarming the kitchen it feels more like fast food hell than anything else.

At the center of it all is Spongebob at the stove, flipping patties at a freakishly fast speed.]

C'mon, Spongebob, only 100 more of these guys and you'll beat the world record!

Cue Music

[When Spongebob found the body, he screamed at the top of his lungs before promptly passing out. He didn't wake up again until he's been dragged to the trial proper (snoring very loudly by then).

When he regain his bearings, he is notably shaken up.]

I-I can't believe anyone would kill here, there's gotta be some kinda mistake! I even gave everyone lists of things they could do that aren't killing to try to distract them.

Wildcard

[Let me know if there's anything else you want to do!]

Cue Music

[wanderlusttitania]

...Oh, thank goodness.

[She's definitely pale herself, but she does look relieved he's woken up.]

I...no, there's no mistake. I wish there was.

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob awkwardly stumbles to keep himself upright.]

There's gotta be another way... maybe Mr. Slim was playing a prank on us by pretending to be dead?

[Alameda Slim, who was very much decapitated, was probably not playing a prank.]

[wanderlusttitania]

[She shudders at the thought.]

...I don't think a man like that can play a prank in such a way.

[She had steadfastly refused to look at the body, to even go into the room to investigate. But even she knows a man separated from their head is dead. Her grandparents had lived through that time of fear, certainly.

She does go to try to hold his shoulder to keep him up. Maybe it's a comfort. She has to try.]

Spongebob, we can only help stop his killer now.

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob leans a little into the shoulder touch.]

Thanks.

[He rubs his eyes and he deeply inhales. He's gotta be an adult for this, he can't let his other friends get hurt.

When he opens his eyes again, his pulls his face in a grimace and puffs out his chest.]

Now if whoever did this just confesses now I promise that my punishment will be less severe.

[It sounds like he's trying to be cool and level headed, but between his voice and his appearance, the effect doesn't work as much.

And it works even less when no one response.]

...Barnacles, I thought for sure that would work.

[wanderlusttitania]

It was as good a thought as any.

[A reassuring smile.]

You tried, at least.

[employeeoftheyear]

[He beams back at her.]

You really think so, Sissi?

[He jumps up.]

Oooh maybe we could see if anyone got any blood stains on their clothes to narrow down who the culprit is!

[Even though that would technically include him sine he found the body.

It's fine he probably didn't do it.]

[wanderlusttitania]

Well, that would include you, I'm afraid, but...you found the body, so that would make sense.

[Yeah, she...right now at least, she's pretty sure there's no way Spongebob did it.]

We should also ask what everyone was doing last night, as well.

Cue Music

[kootwo]

Some people is bad burgers, Mister Pants.

[BMO is perhaps a bit uncharacteristically hardboiled today, since the body discovery. It's serious time, or as much as they're capable of such.]

Unmoral sons of mothers with backbones like wilty lettuce. That is why the grills of justice must cook slow and efficiently until we figure out which greasy onion ignored your beautiful lists.

Re: Cue Music

[employeeoftheyear]

[He sniffles as he looks over at BMO. Spongebob seems to pick up on how his friend seems hardened today, maybe he should too. He can't act like a kid in a situation like this!]

Right... [He clears his throat and, in a corny western accent.] This school ain't big enough for the nineteen of us.

[He looks at BMO for approval.]

[kootwo]

[They nod, detective to sheriff.]

Darned tooting, cowpoke.

[They're mixing genres now, but maybe that's exactly what this case needs.]

[employeeoftheyear]

[That gets a giggle out of him. He continues his western accident as he talks.]

Now, lesse, I got an alibi to my whereabouts last night. I was playin' tea party with my stuffed animals. My best roommate can attest to this

this petty pace

[allhisfault]

[ What the fuck is a burger. Jafar is here, gripping his staff in horror as he picks up one of this meat patties and just...stares. ]

What do you call this... greasy thing? [ Dear Allah, it smells as if it could kill me with a single bite. ]

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob barely looks up from his work to joyfully wave at Jafar.]

Why, it's only the most delicious, scrumptious, mouthwatering treat in the deep, blue sea: the Krabby Patty!

[He slides a freshly made Krabby Patty over to Jafar.]

Here you go; fresh off the grill!

[allhisfault]

... A Krabby Patty.

[ Jafar is eyeing the thing like it's poison. His eyes are roughly the size of dinner plates when they settle back in on Spongebob as he slowly raises the thing to his lips. ]

Alright, but I can't possibly imagine anything being mouthwatering about smelly food describing as Krab- [ bite. ] - oh sweet Jesus, I was wrong. I was so wrong.

This Petty Place SUPER LATE BUT-

[defyingfrigidity]

[In the years since her coronation and the castle gates opening, Elsa's experienced a lot. New fashions, new art... new food. The people here, too, have cooked up such interesting food, so whenever some new smell wafts out from the kitchen, Elsa can't help but follow her curiosity and poke her head in.]

Oh! Hello Spongebob. [She smiles, hands behind her back as she approaches the, uh... rather ridiculous pile of burgers slowly consuming the kitchen.] What do you have there?

IT'S ALL GOOD

[employeeoftheyear]

[He perks up hearing Elsa's voice and waves at her.]

Hi Elsa! I'm surprised how many people have never seen a Krabby Patty before! It's the pride of Bikini Bottom after all!

[Is he saying that he thinks everyone is from there or he just thinks that everyone would naturally know about Bikini Bottom? He's certainly not going to clarify that.]

You can have as many as you want! I know we can only sell these at the Krusty Krab but I'm sure Mr. Krabs doesn't mind some free publicity!

[Somewhere, Mr. Krabs is having a heart attack.]

[defyingfrigidity]

[It's been a couple of weeks since they all woke up in this strange place, so Elsa's... kind of gotten used to all these names and places going right over her head. Sure, she knows a lot about the world, through her studies and through her meetings with ambassadors and emissaries of the kingdoms allied with Arendelle, but there's still much she doesn't know. Maybe this is just... outside her sphere of knowledge, that's all.]

The pride of Bikini Bottom, huh...

[She walks over to one of the counters, picking up one of the burgers and examining it; lifting the top bun off, head tilting to the side in curiosity. It's... certainly greasier than anything she's ever eaten before, but that doesn't seem to be putting her off.]

It's some kind of hot sandwich? Is that just meat, or meat mixed with something else?

[employeeoftheyear]

[Honestly after meeting a guy named "Spongebob" it's hard to be phased by any other name Elsa might come across.]

Well there's lettuce tomato, pickles, ketchup and mustard on it! But I can't tell you all that's in it; it's top secret!

[He is not going to explain what's actually in the patty because I do not want to think about what kind of meat they use for it.]

Try it! I'm sure you'll just love it.

[defyingfrigidity]

[Precisely.]

Ah, understandable. Every chef has to have their secrets, right?

[Gerda was like that all the time, back in Arendelle. From the time she was a kid even up until recently, Elsa had always tried to ask her why the food she made was so good; the fish soup was heartier than any restaurant in town could make, the krumkake sweeter and crispier than the best bakeries. But every time she asked, Gerda would simply laugh and shake off her questions.

... It hurts, how much she misses Gerda. Kai. The rest of the staff of the castle, and her new friends in the Northuldra. And it scares her, that there's a chance she might never see them again. But she can't - she won't give in to that fear and paranoia. She has to believe that they'll get out of here, that people like Spongebob will be able to keep their spirits up until they can find a way out of this cage.

Shaking her head, as if to chase those thoughts away, she takes a bit of the Krabby Patty... and something in her eyes light up.]

Oh wow. You made something like this just with vegetables and condiments? This is amazing!

[Elsa is a royal, so she has enough manners to, you know. Chew before she speaks. But the moment she finishes talking, she takes another bite. Delicious!]

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob beams with pride.]

What did I tell ya? Of course you can thank Mr. Krabs for making the recipe in the first place!

[His smile fades a bit, thinking back at Bikini Bottom and the Krusty Krab. He liked meeting the people here but he really missed home. He missed his friends and he missed the Krusty Krab and as hopeful as he is there is the seed of doubt that he won't ever be able to see his home again.

But he knows everyone else is in the same boat that he's in, and it doesn't feel fair to them to mope about it when everyone else must be just as worried as he is, if not more.

He perks up again when a thought enters his mind.]

Oh! You should tell me kinda food your home has too! I've never been to Arendelle before and I would just love to know more about it!

[After all what better way to cheer him up than hearing about the happy things going on at his new friend's homes?]

[defyingfrigidity]

[Focus on the happy things. It's still something Elsa has to remind herself of. She's in a much better place emotionally than she was three years ago, but some days... some days she forgets to focus on the good.

Now, more than ever, she can't keep forgetting.]

Have you ever had krumkake? It's delicious. One of the best desserts I've ever had. [Pity they don't have the right iron to make any. Elsa could... try to make it. With very heavy emphasis on try.] It's... sort of like a tiny, crispy waffle wafer, rolled into a cone. Some people fill them with cream and fruit, but the best kinds are the ones filled with chocolate. They're absolutely amazing.

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob's eyes widen in awe

You mean like an ice cream cone? I never realized you could put things in them besides ice cream!

[He leans in closer, in a hushed voice of someone who realized something of immense importance.]

We should make some right now.

[defyingfrigidity]

[Ice cream cones are very new in her early 19th century time, but she gets what he's going for there.]

Yes, exactly! Anything that pairs well with sweets can usually be used as filling for krumkake. Some of the bakers in town used different jams, too.

[Ahhh, man, it's really hard to kill his excitement, but...]

As much as I'd love to help make some, it might be a little difficult. You need a special two-sided griddle to make them, and I don't think this kitchen has one...

The Petty Place

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Cass has seen many things in her time. Strange things. Greasy things. Terms that perfectly described Shorty, the weird little pub thug, who she almost expects to find here as she's walking into the kitchen... But the truth is only slightly less strange.]

What- What are you doing?