week 5

[stagemanagers]

[That was...an absolute shitshow. More beloved friends are dead in a mess of a trial that's left Angus half the man he was, Riley in a free fall and the Phantom...somehow still standing despite taking two stabs to the torso.

When you wake on Sunday, you'll find that you've recovered another one of those memories - or had another dream, if you still wanna be in denial about it. The door blocking the stairwell on the second floor has been unsealed. You can now venture up to the third floor! You have so much space now, it's just a shame it's all come at the cost of eight lives.

But despite the tragedy you have made progress! The trip into the Phantom's lair yielded some hints to the past of the Opera House, your house manager's apparently grim hobby and the possibility of an ally outside the Opera House. Who knows what this week will bring?]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday


(( Welcome to Week 5! Please remember to submit your AC and your memory regains, as well as your coins! You can also still contact the Phantom. ))

Comments

TUESDAY

[stagemanagers]

MOTIVE: A Simple Prescription [cw: talk of illness, hallucinations]

[inside_yourmind]

CW: talk of illness

[The motive today is hardly so atmospheric as the last. The Phantom does deliver an announcement, at least, that you are all to meet him in the lobby. It’s hardly a surprise at this point, is it? So, when you get there, there’s to be no fanfare today - he’s just gonna get right into it.]

Are you starting to feel it?
Your insides starting to roil
Your bodies are rebelling, and the fate
That they are spelling - is:

You are all about to be very sick!

[Spoken, he adds:] And aren't we all sick of this?

You might feel a little hoarse
Overheat
See something strange
Or feel a change
It can have quite the range - you'll see

A simple murder
Is the prescription
A simple murder
Basically the norm
I'm sure you know this now
I say it every week here
That a simple murder
Is what you must perform
Right?

I’m sure you all feel well now, but that is not going to last. A death is required to cure what is about to ail you. Please address any complaints to my box.

[And he’s...leaving? He sounds like he sort of wants to get out of here, and he turns on his heel and leaves as soon as he’s finished, heading in the direction of the kitchen. If you follow, you will not be able to find him.]


(( OOC: Welcome to Sickness Motive! The symptoms of this illness include a persistent cough, a fever, hallucinations, and compulsion to be truthful and/or an inability to lie. Of course, everyone is free to pick and choose what symptoms you want your character to experience, as well as to what severity. You can entirely ignore any you don’t want to deal with; it presents differently in everyone. Please content warn threads appropriately! ))

1/2

[holyspit]

Oh please. I've never been sick a day in my life and with my powers gone I'm really scared about how bad this could get for everyone including myself.

2/2

[holyspit]

...

Oh no.

[37773972]

[So Stephen's definitely one of the ones who follows, even with a] Wait, hold on-!

[...but of course, there's nobody once he reaches the kitchen. He stands in the doorframe for a second before grimacing and finally turning away]

potential audio warning in link

[heathencall]

Illness? Really?

[The driest, deadpan of tones. Mephisto's never been sick in his life before. He's pretty sure it won't start now.]

[likemypicture]

The plague!

[recessives]

[ stares into the camera like she's on the office

Shilo frowns. ]

So you're going to poison us?

[ IT'S ALWAYS LIKE THIS FOR SHILO WALLACE- which is to say wow she sounds uncharacteristically bitter for some reason. ]

cw; allusion to auditory hallucinations, sickness symptoms

[37773972]

[Early in the morning, Stephen is working with Santana, continuing his training-slash-physical-therapy. A quick stay in the sauna afterwards and he's just about recovered enough to hear that motive, and boy, what a fun thing that is. While he lingers in the kitchen for a few minutes (mostly to unwrap as much of his bandages as he can and just sort of. Be certain. That nothing looks wrong), he'll leave soon enough.

For a few hours he's in the Computer Room, trying to follow up with his promise to Claudine on finding anything about 'Evan'. Hard to do when he's literally pecking keys one at a time, and changing computers every so often as if that'll change what he finds, but. He's trying, okay??

...even if he does pause every so often and glance over his shoulder, as if he's heard something.

At the end of the day, he's briefly out in the grounds, but trying to stargaze is just giving him a headache. The garden makes him dizzy. He goes back to his room before long, and while he keeps it unlocked, he's more-or-less trying to rest.]

computer room

[justmeheere]

What're you doing? [Jeremy's got his hands in the pocket of Michael's hoodie.] 'cause whatever it is, I'm not convinced you're gonna manage it if you keep typing like that.

[You son is here to help while gently roasting you.]

[37773972]

[hello, son. Stephen looks up and-]

Good, I could use your hands. See if you can help me find something on that 'Evan' guy.

[He said he'd look!!!]

cw for illness talk and auditory, visual hallucinations

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Well then. That motive was... well, it's not something Christine is going to worry about right now. She's going to keep pressing on, past her headache and cough. She has a duty to fulfill! Actually several, after last night.

She starts her regular patrols, but there's a bit more enthusiasm to them, even though they take her a little longer, what with her exhaustion. She makes sure to spend some extra time in the library, checking to see if there's any information somewhere on this Evan person. Her current strategy is just... pulling out books, glancing at the title and the first couple of pages, and replacing it, but hey, it's something.

She also can be found in the kitchen, as she has a couple merch booth items to deal with, which will be seen when she sets a carton of ice cream on an empty burner and just... starts the gas. It's fine, she'll clean up the mess later. She keeps an eye on that, while looking at the beaker she retrieved from Riley's room.]

Hm... maybe blend it? Or I could- shut up, we're not keeping it, I'm not going to do that to everyone!

[Well, that's... not concerning at all.

In the evening, she again makes her way to the cemetery, where she leaves further letters on each gravestone. Not only that, but she leaves a small saucer with an almond cookie on each marker. She looks proud of herself when she's done.]

There we are... Don't worry, everyone. I'll keep coming by, everyday. This stupid illness doesn't scare me one bit! If it gets really bad, I'm sure I can just... do something to stop it. And...

[Her shoulders hunch, and she mumbles under her breath.]

I'm not going to let everyone die for me. That's stupid. Stop being... and stop looking at me like that!

cemetery

[37773972]

[Stephen isn't planning on hanging out here long, but when he sees Christine...]

More letters?

[He's actually smiling, a little. But it's more-or-less clear that he's feeling under the weather.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine jumps a little at the voice, and spins around quick enough to make her hold her head for a moment, but when she looks back at the source of the voice, it's Stephen. It's just Stephen. She's fine, she's safe, and it's a good chance for just the two of them to talk, so she smiles back.]

Yeah, of course. I promised them I'd keep writing. I... don't know if they can answer, but at least it gives them all something to talk about.

... Are you feeling okay?

kitchen

[holyspit]

[Why does he keep walking in on kitchen fires?]

Are you okay? This is- deliberate, right?

[He's pretty sure this is too weird to not be. But he's gonna look around for a fire extinguisher just in case it gets out of hand.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

Oh, Steven!

[She looks quite pleased to see him, even as the cardboard catches fire and the ice cream inside the carton sizzles angrily.]

It's fine. I'm just getting rid of this ice cream so no one can eat it. I don't know if it's the same as other Mountain Dew, but I'm not going to take any chances, you know? Just in case it's not just the two of us with SQUIPs...

investigation! cw: fever, visual hallucinations

[garbageface]

[ After exercise with Stephen and suffering through another one of the Phantom's stupid monologues, Santana starts to feel...pretty warm? She's able to ignore it for a few hours and just go back and forth from the kitchen to her room, drinking a ton of water.

By the late afternoon, however, she's beginning to feel pretty gross, and decides to hang out in cold storage for a while. For the first bit, she's just sitting in a corner with an ice pack on her forehead, but after she starts to get bored, she figures, why not have a look around? Those weird flashes of light she sees in the corner of her eyes whenever she moves too fast are probably nothing to be concerned about. Once she gets herself occupied, Santana's sure she'll be just fine. ]

investigation!

[stagemanagers]

[Welcome to cold storage! Try not to get locked in!

While we're here, though, you can poke around the shelves?]

[garbageface]

[ Santana would never!

She will, however, inspect the shelves farthest from the door. ]

cw: sickness mention, vague truthing

[heathencall]

[Mephisto is fully confident that whatever the Phantom is threatening, it won't break him. Sure, he feels a little colder than usual, but that's just the Phantom playing games. Whatever fires are keeping the Opera House warm on the back end are just... running a little smaller than usual.

Or maybe he's just feeling off from the frequent possessions yesterday? Not that he's ever going to talk about any of that. Ever. His face still hurts from smiling.

In any case, he starts the day on the highest floor he can reach. He's... kind of curious about the noise and sound coming from the arcade. He doesn't understand most of it, and loses most of the time but... he's pretty interested in this guy's aesthetic, so he keeps at it for awhile.

Something about all of that reminds him that the merchandise booth. is still a thing he should look at. Who knows why! But he does that means there are new things to fetch. Including...

Right. Including that uniform.

After putting most of his new belongings in a pile outside his room (including the portrait of... Well, it's odd, but it kind of looks like Anne? He's sure it's supposed to be her, even if it looks off for some reason) retreats to the costume shop after that. Octokitten is rolling around at Mephisto's feet while he fusses with the uniform shirt, carefully cutting a slit in the back to ease his mangled wing through. The skirt is nowhere in sight, so don't get your hopes up.

It doesn't do much for keeping him warm, though.

That evening, Mephisto settles inside the chapel. He'd started off simply wanting to look for some sort of altar of human sacrifice but... now he's just looking up at the stained glass Angel.]

You were a horrible father, really. And not just to myself. You bargained your favorite's soul away, too.

costume shop

[37773972]

[time to see if there's anything else in here he can get in to easily and


oh.]

That's...

[Riley's.]

[heathencall]

[He looks up at Stephen, then back down at his work.]

It is.

hallway bash

[likemypicture]

Oh! Em! Gee! [She catches him setting up that portrait outside his room-- Oh, and her fur, how long has that been there? She'll tug that on, then does this weird tense-smile face that I can't link you to or make an icon out of because youtube took the bootleg down, but she's trying to mimic her expression in the portrait.]

Do you know what that is?

[likemypicture]

[Anne spends most of Tuesday, after the announcement, perched in the main lobby under what used to be the rules. Instead, it's been replaced by a portrait that--- wow, is that Anne in the painting? It's so weird, because there's something a little different, but it's hard to place your finger on. Anne doesn't seem to notice though, as she's eager to sit directly below it and ham up all of the attention-- anytime anyone seems to notice her, she sits up a little straighter and tries to put on the weird flat smile the portrait has. Her ego. It's amazingly large.

Towards the evening though, Anne and Tad Cooper can be found jamming invitations under people's doors. Plague or no plague, they're gonna party like it's 1539. the invitations are beautiful, just like her pic

Later still, well past her bedtime, Anne can be found outside at the cemetery, in front of Richard's grave with...]

Alright, cuz. I'm doing what you said. I'm

Burning the letters you wrote them--- [She lights a match--- and shrieks and jerks back from the burning letter that she's now dropped onto the ground. Someone stop her from burning down the opera house.]

lobby

[holyspit]

Oh, wow-

[Much improved over the rules, honestly.]

That's- you, right? ....I think maybe the perspective is off or something, sorry, is that rude? It feels like that might be rude to say.