Week Two

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, no murder happened! Instead, a lot of students started work on Salieri's school play, which sounds pretty cool even though it's gonna be short, several people destroyed Bigfoot and got a few mysterious clues, and Orpheus started a fire in the kitchen! All in all, not a bad first week!

Though some people might have gone to talk to Hester, she hasn't made any more public announcements. There's some new papers posted up around the cafeteria, but it looks like it's just your upcoming lunch schedule. Seems like nothing's driving you towards Rule Five except, perhaps, all of the kidnapping and how criminally boring some of you are finding the school. Maybe the Balladeer is right, and you really can just wait this out? Only time will tell!]


Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( No new locations this week, since y'all haven't paid in blood! Hester's office hours are still open, as are regains! Make sure to complete your first activity check by Tuesday! ))

Comments

[violentenvies]

[...huh]

It sounds similar to Singspiel or a lighter opera buffa.

[tellthestory]

I have no clue what either of those are.

[But he smiles and leans forward, clearly interested.]

In my day, people think of opera as really fancy. Just for really high-society people, you know? Musical theatre's also expensive to see, if you actually go to Broadway, but local theatres do it all the time - more common, I guess.

[violentenvies]

Really? That's...actually quite fascinating.

And what of normal, spoken plays?

[tellthestory]

They're still around too, of course! I think...people maybe see them as a little more dignified than musicals? No dancing and singing, you know - everyone takes Shakespeare very seriously.

[The fact that the Balladeer seems disinclined to is less because he has a lot of deep thoughts about Shakespeare and the cultural context thereof - honestly he's just sick of John Wilkes Booth talking about it.]

[violentenvies]

Shakespeare does have some rather good stories, though it's interesting that they're taken more seriously. I'm used to them being generally fairly available to most people.

[tellthestory]

Oh, they are. No copyright, so they're real easy for any theatre to do. It's just...people think it's cultured.

[He considers, before adding:]

This one guy I knew from my first show was an actor. He never shut up about the time he played Brutus. Quoted it all the time.

[violentenvies]

[that will give Salieri a small chuckle]

An actor? Never quieting about a famous previous role? How surprising.

[tellthestory]

[He chuckles as well.]

He literally murdered a guy in a theatre, jumped from the box to the stage, and yelled "sic semper tyrannis" in front of everyone. Like he thought he was so cool. Jackass broke his foot doing it, too.

[violentenvies]

[slkdhfs Salieri chokes on the sip of wine he was taking, but manages to keep it from getting anywhere, he lowers the glass, pressing the back of his other hand to his mouth, hiding a smile]

I'm certain he was a lot of things, but impressive was certainly not one of them.

[tellthestory]

[The Balladeer snickers.]

I'm glad I don't have to tell his story anymore. I like the part where I get to set it on fire at the end, but the rest...always him trying to paint himself as some tragic hero.

[violentenvies]

That sounds rather annoying. At least you are fortunate to have the joy of destroying such a narrative afterward.

[tellthestory]

Yeah, it's fun. Kinda pissed them all off...I always thought it was worth it, though.

[But maybe it wasn't? A few things have happened since.]

[violentenvies]

"Them all?" Not just the one man? [hm???]

[tellthestory]

Oh - well, he's one of them, right?

[And certainly, the Balladeer was not. Rudeness towards Booth was generally unappreciated.]

[violentenvies]

I...am not entirely sure who "them" are, so I'm not entirely certain.

[tellthestory]

The assassins! My show's called Assassins, it's basically just them and me. The ensemble, too, but they're...I mean, they're just ensemble, they're a different person every time.

[Even less of a Person than he is.]

[violentenvies]

That is certainly an interesting choice of subject matter.

[strange.]

How many are there, exactly?

[tellthestory]

Just the eight of them. The three who actually killed a President, and some...assorted attempts.

[He knows there were more attempts over the years, but not everybody can make that cut - that'd be so huge.]

The guy who wrote it is one of the best. I'm not just saying that because I'm - everyone thinks so! [Maya knows who Sondheim is!] I guess he...was just inspired, or something.

[violentenvies]

It is an interesting choice of subject matter, certainly...however he wouldn't be the first to choose a rather peculiar subject matter.

[tellthestory]

True. At least he didn't have any of them do a dream ballet or anything. It...my knowledge of some of this outside stuff's a little vague, but I know we aren't one of his more popular shows. It was kinda controversial.

[violentenvies]

A dream ballet? [Salieri arches an eyebrow, a hint of amusement playing at the corners of his eyes]

And how was it controversial?

[tellthestory]

Well, it was about real people who killed or tried to kill our head of state. I guess maybe people thought it was glorifying them, or that you shouldn't have plays about things like that.

[violentenvies]

[at that, he hums, considering, and it's time for garbage monarchy opinions]

I can imagine the current Head of State being particularly upset about it. Killing another person is unforgivable under normal circumstances, but someone with such a high status? Even more so.

[tellthestory]

Ah, well. He doesn't decide what plays get made.

[Who was that, Bush? Must've been. The Balladeer doesn't necessarily hold the presidency in any specially high regard - they just shed a little blood - but it's murder, which is bad enough.]

All the actual deaths were a long time ago, anyway. No one even remembers two of the three. I guess Reagan getting shot was fairly recent...

[violentenvies]

How...many times did someone attempt to assassinate your Heads of State? [he's a little unnerved to be honest] Do they have no fear in their souls?