week 2

[stagemanagers]

WEEK 2
[From the day you arrived on the planet, and blinking, stepped into the sun. There's more to see than can ever be seen, and more to do than can ever be done. Yet, still, the whole thing seems...monotonous. Surely there must be some excitement, some showmanship, some sort of plot twist that could keep this show moving onward?

Welcome to week 2, gents.]


[Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday]

Comments

MOTIVE: CAREFUL THE WISH YOU MAKE

[tellthestory]

[This morning starts off much as every morning has, here. Certain people may find gifts waiting for them: there is a box of white hair dye sitting outside Anna's door when she wakes, and one corner of the dining hall has been given over to a collection of potted ferns, a single Venus flytrap, and one dilapidated-looking sunlamp. In the kitchen, several boxes of playing cards have been left carelessly on the table.

An hour or so after show hours begin, something in the ceiling crackles to life. Apparently this place has an intercom system. Naturally, the Balladeer is the one using it. Perhaps it's the connection, but he sounds less enthusiastic than at his last public address.]

Hey, guys. Could you all do me a favor and meet in the lobby around noon? Got a quick announcement to make.

[From then until the meeting time, he won't answer the box office door. Maybe he wasn't even there, because once everyone is finally gathered together, the Balladeer enters from the east wing. You probably didn't see him down there if you came in that way, but he's there now. He’s balancing a thick, leather-bound tome in one hand, which he slams shut just as a bright peal of music starts from somewhere.]

Once upon a time!
In a lovely opera house
There was a little show
With a small cast of characters

[He is speaking, but the voice that sounds from...somewhere...in response to his words is definitely singing:] I wish…

And in this cast

More than anything… [That’s a second voice, from somewhere else. Maybe within the walls? The Balladeer isn't reacting to them.]

There was one actor - [The Balladeer gives Hans an extremely flat look as he brushes past.] - who thought that suggesting incentives for murder out loud was a brilliant idea!

More than life...
More than jewels…

Now, management heard this thought

I wish...
More than life…

And said to themselves

I wish…

"That's fantastic!"

More than anything...
More than the moon…

"This week, in addition to ending the show, we will grant one wish to anyone who successfully gets away with murder."

I wish...
More than life...
More than riches...
More than anything…

So, what’s your wildest dream? [He’s moved in front of the big double doors now, and they open as he steps backwards, still looking from one cast member to the next.] Because it could be yours this week, for a price.

I wish!

[All the voices cry out at once, just as the doors slam shut between the Balladeer and the cast, and then fall silent. The music goes with them.

Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.]

[irreprochable]

[what the hell HANS WHY

no but really javert turns to hans because THAT LOOK]

What was that look about?

[trettende]

[ This is really rude!! Hans is feeling so attacked right now. ]

I have no idea. [ Hans up! He's not involved here! ] I've only spoken to the Balladeer to ask for things like playing cards or champagne...

WISHES ARE FOR CHILDREN, SONDHEIM

[trettende]

[ Hans cuts in as soon as the Balladeer finishes!! ]

I said no such thing--!

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[Soft judgment.]

Hans-san... That's such an irresponsible thing to do.

[robitussin]

Dude, what the hell?

[rockthistown]

Incentives? Why would he blame you for that? Everyone knows you wouldn't!

[dontfeedplants]

H-Hans, why would you...?

[Not that Seymour completely distrusts Hans now, or is even entirely sure if he did actually said it, but they just had to wait for a month to get out. Gosh he didn't want to actually have to worry about people dying!]

[onthebusagain]

That's like, what someone who said something would say.

[dechagny]

I don't see why it matters. What sort of ridiculous promise would motivate anyone?

[Raoul is definitely still stuck on the "that's a stupid motive for a lot of reasons" train of thought.]

[sunshineprincess]

[That is a drop for both respect and trust points for you.]

Why would you suggest something like that?

[robitussin]

Oh, come on, you have to be fucking kidding me!

[an irritated noise, before she turns to everyone else.]

Please tell me none of you are going to be stupid enough to believe him.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[D-ne seems severe about this too, though for a different reason-]

Yes, things like wishes... They're not something to get involved in lightly. Ah, aside from what he says we have to do, there's always a catch, in the legends.

[dechagny]

[Raoul looks sincerely...unimpressed.]

A wish? Does this management think themselves some sort of - fanciful genie now? [He shakes his head, rolls his eyes slightly.] There is no way we can prove they could even make good on such a ludicrous claim. Do they really think we have faith enough in them to believe it?

[dieformymusic]

[Hans aside, Winslow is putting out in big letters WISHES ARENT REAL.

Like come on Balladeer.]

[dechagny]

[Raoul claps at that.] Here here! Wishes, phantoms, fairies - none of that can exist, even in a world with electric ice boxes!

[rockthistown]

Um, actually...

[bestof]

This is ridiculous. No wish is worth someone's life!

[Sure, she has a selfish wish or two she'd love to have granted but murder is completely absent from her list of ways to get them.]

[onthebusagain]

[Heather keeps looking back at the door. Then, quietly, after most of the chaos in the room has subsided--]

Did he seem almost sad to anyone?

[sunshineprincess]

[Anna feels almost selfish for feeling this would be a wonderful idea. Not the murder part, mind you, but being granted a wish. There's a moment of indecision as she weighs whether or not to be the voice of dissent. It wouldn't make her very popular. She doesn't want anyone to die, but the wish...

My wish would be to make everything right between Elsa and I.]

No one would kill for a wish. That doesn't seem right.

[She's rather subdued now due to the incentive. Way to go Not-Billy.]

[solomonjihad]

[Aside from interjections here and there, Astarte is...silent. She stands quietly, before slowly drifting away from the group. A wish. A wish. A...]

More than the moon...
I, Astarte...

[She looks at the group of her fellow prisoners, then up at the chandelier. Her place. Her destiny. To be what she is meant to be. Her wish is all those things, isn't it?]

How can he know?
The wish I have,
more than the moon,
that shining silver crystal,
Is one...

[Her eyes suddenly harden, and her fist thrusts towards the ceiling.]

...
Only I can grant.
It is not a wish.
That is for these children.
No!
It is my ambition!
Yes!
It is my destiny!
Ha!
By my own hands!
מוּת!

What need have I for--

[She breaks off, falling on a knee.]

A wish...my wish...

[allicareabout]

[...You know, Billy doesn't seem disbelieving of all this, just because everything here's a temporal trainwreck and he's not a superstitious man, but he's also not one to look for zebras where there are probably horses. (Or unicorns, in this case, because the answer staring him in the face right now is just "It's fucking magic.")]

If we could not all believe our captor is speaking the gospel truth so we can dogpile the kid with the sideburns, that'd be swell. If he said something, he did, but until then, it's all just hearsay. Innocent until proven guilty, if nobody minds.

[That said, though, he doesn't really have a lot to say regarding the actual...thing that's been thrown out there, regarding the wish and all; he's fine letting that go unaddressed.]

[catliketread]

[The Pirate King listens to all of that silently and he watches for a moment as everyone promptly loses their minds. This is a little above his paygrade but you know what—]

Everyone, listen!

[He raises his voice and it's uh. Really loud. He's a pretty loud person to begin with, but yikes.]

Panicking, blaming others, and bickering will not solve anything! Do you not see that this is precisely the sort of drama our captors want from us? They want an interesting show, do they not? To continue like this is to play directly into their hands, to do exactly as they want us to do! So, I ask you now: Will you continue like this or will you settle down a bit and try to discuss this rationally?

[aflatouttahell]

[Well THAT makes Jez look really quiet and serious all of a sudden.]

Temptation, huh?

[littlegirl_littlecurl]

[Darla is, frankly, insulted. Murder one of these Joes for a wish. Ha!

Anything she could possibly wish for, she doesn't need these kidnappers promises to make happen.

Everything she's got, she worked for. No wishes required.

There's really only one thing that has her curious.]


"... Anybody else think the ghost chorus is weird?"