week 1

[stagemanagers]

[Well, all escape attempts have failed thus far. None of you have seen the Phantom since his brief appearance on Sunday, or heard from him at all. It looks like, for the time being, you’re all going to be stuck here.

You're free to continue exploring your surroundings to your hearts' content. The only real restriction on your movements is that the kitchen is closed between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am. Better make sure to grab any midnight snacks you may want ahead of time. Also, remember to label any investigation toplevels!

The Merchandise Booth is now open for business as well! The Phantom hasn't deigned to explain how it works, but...well, some of you will start to find mysterious coins in your rooms, and the Booth's got a place to put coins. You'll figure it out.

Should you wish to engage more with your host, you're welcome to drop letters in the box office slot. There's no set way to converse verbally with him, and he's certainly not guaranteed to respond if you just yell at the walls - but that doesn't necessarily mean he isn't listening. Just something to keep in mind.

Enjoy your first week, everyone.]

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday

(( OOC: This will be the last mod post for this week! Feel free to start submitting regains for any threads that aren't with the Phantom. Remember, song threads mean an extra coin! This is a peace week, so get all that CR while you can! ))

Comments

[madgiganticfeelings]

Rehearsal? Are you an actor as well? That's amazing! We have more than just something in common!

[Oh, she's so pumped! Finally, someone will know what she's talking about!]

[musacal]

Yep! I'm a student at Seisho Music Academy and part of their acting division. We specialize in all girls theatre productions, usually with singing and dancing.

[ a.k.a. Takarazuka like but without explicitly calling it Takarazuka like ]

[madgiganticfeelings]

Oh! Oh, that's amazing! You must have amazing roles! I find there's such a lack of diverse and challenging roles for women in theatre. Oh, I would have done anything to be part of something like that...

[musacal]

[ She giggles softly ] Well, we have done some pretty good ones-- we've even done a play similar to the Phantom of the Opera. [ And Nana herself eventually will get to play the Phantom but she's not from that canon point oops. ] Sometimes we get to star in original plays that the backstage division writes for us.

Though for most of the year our focus is on our yearly performance of Starlight.

[madgiganticfeelings]

Oh! Oh, that's so cool... What's Starlight, though? I don't know if I've heard of that play.

[She's racking her brain, though!]

[musacal]

[ Oh boy Christine you have just opened up a floodgate. Nana's love of Starlight as a story may not run as deep as say, Karen's, but her love for that first performance her and her friends did of it? Oh boy. ]

Really? I thought it was kind of famous.. hmm, maybe it only is in Japan? [ no just in your own world it is ]

Well, it's a story from long ago, set in the distant future of a faraway star. A pair of girls named Flora and Claire meet during a traditional summer Star Festival and promise to meet again at the same festival next year. But on the way home Claire got into an accident and lost her memory... so when she meets Flora again she doesn't know who she was and is left with only the feeling that she was important to her.

Resolved to try and get Claire's memory back, they decide to climb the Tower to the Star, believing that if they could grasp the star they would be able to wish for Claire's memories to return. But within the tower they have to overcome the six sinful goddesses confined there: Fury, Curse, Escape, Jealousy, Despair and Arrogance.

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Oh thank god, for once, she's not the one rambling. Which means that she's going to listen, absolutely rapt by the story, hand to her chin and nodding seriously at proper points. This is how she'd want people to listen to her, after all.]

It sounds like a more famous Japanese tale. From what I know, Star Festivals aren't super common in the US. My dad's only taken me to thinks like Chinese New Year.

[At least that gives her some sort of basis on how big the celebration could be, right?]

It sounds so lovely, though! Fate bringing two girls together. It's almost, um, kind of romantic.

[Maybe weird to say, but heck, she'd want someone to work so hard to get her memories back to her!]

Which roles have you gotten to play from the story in the past? The goddesses sound like a lot of fun.

[musacal]

Me? Oh, I always play the Goddess of Despair. [ nothing... worrisome about that casting nope, don't think too hard on it, stories within stories definitely never mean anything ] Although, we've only done our first year performance so far, we still have the next two years... I think our cast is pretty much perfect already though.

[ She pauses though. She could gush about the rest of their cast, especially since Claudine is also here and was one of the leads but... she's stuck on one thing Christine said. ]

...I don't know if I would call it romantic though. I mean, the premise is but... the ending...

[ Uh oh. ]

[madgiganticfeelings]

[What's wrong this casting? Christine won't say a thing. Sometimes, you just happen to play a role that's opposite who you truely are.

She does frown, though, when Nana mentions the problem of the ending.]

What happens after their quest?

[musacal]

[ Whatever Nana was doing while talking- mixing, measuring, whatever.... she stops in her tracks completely, her face downcast. ]

They manage to make it to the top of the tower and grasp the stars but...

[ And then a rather ominous set of notes starts to play. ]

It’s an old song,
It’s an old tale,
From way back when...
It’s an old song...
...And that is how it ends.
That’s how it goes,
Don’t ask me why,
Oh, don’t ask me how
They could have come so close...

It’s a sad song...
It’s a sad tale...

[ And then she abruptly stops singing completely. ]

It’s a tragedy.

[ She pauses for a second before continuing, the music gone. ]

...The star did what they wanted, but the light from it caused Flora to go blind. In pain she stumbled and fell from the top of the tower, leaving Claire alone. Claire, now with all her memories returned, was then imprisoned with the other goddesses within the tower, for all eternity.

They would never meet again. Their dream... would never come true.

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine freezes up beside her, sensing some sort of disturbance even before she starts singing. Whatever happens in the play, it certainly cannot be good, not with words such as that.

Her breath briefly disappears at the conclusion of the tale, as if she was the one falling. Poor Flora, poor Claire...]

That's... they didn't deserve that. Especially after fighting back all the goddesses... to be trapped with them for good? Why does it end like that?

[musacal]

[ She looks back up then, trying to get her normal smile back on. ]

Right? That's how I felt when I first read it; a story about close people being separated from each other is just too sad...

But... a lot of famous plays in our field are like that. [ Takarazuka love that melodrama. ] I guess people are just drawn to these sorts of tragic stories... like Romeo and Juliet or Orpheus and Eurydice. They know how it ends but still begin to sing it again...

[ As if it might turn out this time. ]

Still... sometimes I wish I could just freeze the story before it gets to the ending and let them be happy forever.

[madgiganticfeelings]

I suppose people do enjoy catharsis... tragedies are very good for that kind of thing.

S-Still! [Christine looks determined then, hands curling up into fists.] You should be allowed to freeze it! Or change the ending! Let there be more than one ending! And you can perform whichever one you want, depending on how you feel, or what the audience wants!

[musacal]

Oh, I never considered changing the ending before... [ Only Karen can have that galaxy brain idea apparently... benefits of being the protag. ] That's not a bad idea... though I admit I'm still pretty fond of the version we did in our first year, just because we all did it together...

[ And there's no way it could ever be topped, nope. ]

But maybe when we get out of here you can come see us put it on again and we'll do something different with it. We actually do it every year... sort of like a final project thing?

[madgiganticfeelings]

There's nothing wrong with being sentimental for a past performance! I'm sure it was amazing... but I think all of the productions would be.

[She brightens more (if that's even possible) at the invitation.] Oh, gosh, really? I mean, I would certainly love to, but the chances of me getting to Japan are pretty slim. I'd have to convince my parents, and it'd be a whole thing with them...

[musacal]

[ Nana's not sure about the "all productions will be amazing" thing but she keeps that to herself. She is maybe... a little too sentimental at times. ]

Oh yeah, I guess you would huh... maybe they'd be a little more lenient after all this? Or... actually, maybe that'll make it harder...

[ She wouldn't know what convincing parents is like after all. ]

[madgiganticfeelings]

Hah, they're not really that bad, but they're a little uptight, you know? I think they might panic a little with me being gone this long...

[But hey, at least they're probably looking for her!]