the mark of those who cannot be saved

[stagemanagers]

[You remember dying. Maybe the memory is clear and bright and your body still aches from the cause. Maybe it was fast enough that you didn't feel it and don't remember what you went through. But no matter how you went out, that's no excuse for truancy! Which is to say: you are still in the school.

For those executed, you will wake up in your beds. The dormitories look exactly as they did when you first arrived, without any of the changes or personal effects you and your dormmates might have made. The only real difference is that the little cot in Ambassador isn't there.

For those who were victims, you will wake where your body was discovered. All of your injuries are gone, and you feel fine. It's almost like you're still alive - but you remember what happened to you. It couldn't have just been a dream, could it?

The school looks much as you remember it, save perhaps for a few key differences. For one, there's no groundhog murals anywhere. Where things were green on the other side, like banners or paint, you'll find that here they're blood red.

The doors, for the moment, are still locked. Looks like even death couldn't free you.]

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

(( ooc: Welcome to deadland, everyone! It mostly resembles the school here, and new floors will be revealed after new people die. For example, the second area will unlock after the week 3 dead arrive, and so on. Also, all dead characters will wake up at their actual canonpoint, with all lost memories restored. Have fun being dead! ))

Comments

[violentenvies]

[Well, Salieri definitely doesn't catch what it says under its breath, but the frustration is clear]

...I'm afraid that sometimes scrapping everything and restarting is an affliction that everyone creating something must face at some point.

[voicerights]

[Yeah, well. This sort of creation is new to it as well. It continues scowling for a few moments before it glances towards Salieri, forcing its expression to relax]

How have you dealt with it in the past?

[violentenvies]

[Salieri is not at all bothered by the scowl because lol he actually gets it lmao] I got annoyed. Angry, even. Set it aside and walked away. [granted, that was BEFORE he met Mozart, but all of that business is another matter altogether]

Then, when I came back, figured out what I could salvage. Maybe it was just small parts of it that needed changing, or maybe I could only really use a few bars out of the whole piece. It depended on what I was working on.

[voicerights]

[More or less what it's already done. It nods slightly, then looks back forwards, then starts to climb off the desk]

I am going to trust you to at least keep him tolerable, but I am still grasping at the emotions of this form. As such, I will also trust your judgement in intervening if I myself rise to him.

[It! Does not! Like this! But! Its processor is prodding that if it has a tool at its disposal to use it. And informing Salieri of this at least should make him aware that the SQUIP will listen to him, at least in this matter.]

[violentenvies]

I will do my utmost.

However...[Salieri arches an eyebrow] You know he's going to come in with something horrible and aimed specifically at you, correct? At least, at first.

[voicerights]

I only needed fifteen minutes to clean up.

[What do you think the other fifteen minutes are for.]

[violentenvies]

[That will...actually earn a little bit of an amused chuckle out of Salieri]

Just endure it? He needs to get the worst of it out of his system first, and then he can probably be convinced to work. [yeah maybe he sounds incredibly fond when talking about how mean Discord is going to be but he's a sap, sue him]

[voicerights]

[It wasn't a bond that the SQUIP saw coming, but. Whatever. #humansandchaosentities

It nods in agreement nonetheless, moving over to the whiteboard]

Considering his prior jabs were about emotions and imperfection, he will need to come up with something new. [Which. Probably won't be that hard, for a being of chaos? Kind Of Their Thing.] But I am well aware of his distaste, as well as your own. However, [and it glances back towards Salieri] you have far more experience in not letting such keep you from accomplishing what you find important.

[violentenvies]

[lmao relatable SQUIP no one saw this coming

But Salieri considers that analysis.]

...I do have plenty of experience in my own distaste not keeping me from accomplishing my goals, however...I wouldn't count Discord out on that. After all, he is coming. If he was really so opposed, he wouldn't come at all, or, further, would actively work against for his own entertainment. However, that doesn't mean he has to make it pleasant on others. My choice to be, shall we say, civil is more rooted in habit than anything. And the knowledge that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. [drawled]

[disharmonizes]

[Sorry what was that? It sounded like that was a devil you were speaking of. Well!

Discord might be here reluctantly and, really, mostly because Salieri really wants him here. But that doesn't mean he'll make it immediately obvious he hates this, of course. So he's just going to wander in and... yeah, he got some shades out of the costume room for this. Of... course he did.

That's not all he brought, though. It'll be rather immediately noticeable as he saunters up here. He just has a cup of soda that he's casually sipping from. And, yeah, that sure is... very red.]

So! Somebody ordered some chaos, yes?

[This can only go well.]

1/3

[voicerights]

I always relied on shock therapy. It was effective enough for my purposes, before.

[But 'before' is long gone and that's no longer relevant. Instead, there's a Discord, and the SQUIP is glancing over towards him and

2/4 i lied

[voicerights]

3/4

[voicerights]

4/4

[voicerights]

[ok it's good just gonna look back at the whiteboard with a glance to Salieri, lowering its voice]

This was your idea. You explain.

[violentenvies]

[It is only years of practice that keep Salieri from showing how much he's enjoying Discord's preliminary antics on his face; a far cry from three weeks ago where he would've found this rather aggravating. How the turn tables or whatever, hm?

But at that, he'll push off where he was leaning] I did, in fact.

[To Discord as Salieri moves over to him, taking the cup out of his hands so he can take a sip]

And you even brought me a drink. How thoughtful. [neutrally pleasant but...there maybe is a slight hint of amusement--before he turns back towards the board and starts moving towards it, drink in hand]

Now, shall we?

[disharmonizes]

[...Okay, that little bit of amusement right there is worth getting his drink stolen.

Discord smiles a little, shrugging. Maybe pointedly looking at the SQUIP a moment, before just making his way towards the board.]

Yes, yes, very well, let's get going. [And he'll gesture vaguely at the board.] Now what is all this about?

[What sort of Twilight Sparkle science bullshit--]

[violentenvies]

[any Twilight Sparkle bullshit is your own fault for dating a guy who it's been decided would be a unicorn in Equestria, so really you should've known.

But anyway, Salieri's just going to take another sip of that red-colored beverage, before leaning back against the table to explain]

As you know, the SQUIP has been attempting to create something that will have an affect on this so-called script. However, considering that music has been so intrinsically tied in with out experience here, I thought it would be good to consider that as well. Both the libretto--that is, the script--and the music have structure, but if they followed that, then it would be nothing but formulaic and predictable. Granted, audiences like a certain amount of predictability, hence the reason that having the structure works...but they also like being surprised. They like new, and different, and innovative, whether that's evoked via that music or the libretto or both.

So, with that in mind, whatever the SQUIP creates to give the Balladeer and Madame Leading Player their options, which they can take or discard, should have not only the structure and predictability, but it should also have an element of randomness--of chaos, if you will. To give them the opportunity for an unexpected twist. I know a bit about that, but I'm not as intimately familiar with it as you. [Salieri tilts his head back, downing the rest of what's in that glass before setting it aside, away from the SQUIP] Hence the need for your expertise.

[voicerights]

Augumented Story Structure. I mentioned it to you, before.

[Still with its back to the both of them as it makes a few notes on the whiteboard. Its voice is quiet, but steady, at least, in this.]

We are creating a performance for reality itself. In that performance, we are persuading it that what we are 'saying' is real. Something it has no choice but to accept and accommodate, in its entirety.

[A couple lines off to the side, some rudimentary stick figures...]

The Wizard will remain in full control; I cannot alter that unless he willingly surrenders it. But he, too, is subject to structure. He is not, as one would say, a 'god'; he is merely an administrator, and so long as the impact does not affect his story, I do not see how our work would be noticed, much less halted.

[If it's noticed that Salieri has done it the favor of removing the red - whether or not it's a certain type of Red - from its presence, it doesn't show any sign. A few more lines, though...]

Testing involves my synchronization with my other selves. It will not only prove that the framework is solid, but also minimize any catastrophic errors as well as significantly boosting the speed of the process. The performance can then be adjusted, rebuilt, and other aspects - such as the full extent of your power, Discord - can be restored with further progress.

[disharmonizes]

Well! No wonder you need my help!

[And oh, doesn't he just sound so pleased about that? All of this is a little technical for his liking, a little too orderly. Well, a lot orderly. He'd love nothing more than to turn it all upside down.

Though he is showing at least a little restraint at the moment. For Salieri's sake.]

You really were just trying to boil it all down to ones and zeroes, hm? Oh, of course, that's why Antonio is here, to make sure it's more than just that. Put some life into it, right? Well, so to speak right now, anyway.

But affecting reality... Really, your first problem is that you're trying.

[voicerights]

Then please explain to me how you impress your own will on to it. [It's tossing something at Discord without even looking and- oh, look, you get a marker of your own! The SQUIP is even stepping aside to make room.]

[disharmonizes]

[And Discord will catch that marker. Or rather, it'll stop suddenly in mid-air and then appear in his hand with a flash.]

Do you want me to draw a diagram for making the universe bow to your every whim? Because it's really very simple.

[He walks up to the board, and simply just draws

:)

a little smiley face.]

You just do it.

[voicerights]

[Just as he thought; Discord can't explain it. The SQUIP emits a frustrated sound, and then-

:     )

It then draws an underline under each piece.]

You can 'just do it'. But I will point out that it is not enough to have freed you, or anyone else from this place. [It makes a starburst pattern of lines from each symbol] Your chaos is spread out, and if it can be focused, however slightly- [It then brings all the lines in to a single direction, not unlike light to a magnifying glass] -than it would be far more efficient. Especially if we can exploit a crack instead of wasting power against a fortified pillar.

[It starts going in to a little bit more detail - and by that we mean, technobabble, though it is clearly attempting to explain it as simply as possible.]

[disharmonizes]

Yes, I can just do it.

[Discord just, interrupting the little technobabble spiel because he has approximately no time for it I'm so sorry--]

In fact, I am the only one who can just do it. I don't mean that to brag or even to state the obvious; even if you suddenly had all my powers, you couldn't change reality like I can. But it would be hilarious. Mostly for me.

[He's going to wipe away the pattern on the board right now, and instead make... a different one.



Just, right there, nice and big.]

Chaos isn't focused. If it was, it would be order instead. But the handy part is that reality isn't very focused, either. You can try fitting it into boxes, of course, but you'd fail. Well, you know that, you have failed trying to do exactly that already.

You really have a problem with trying too hard.

[voicerights]

[how the fuck do you even go about translating that in to a musical term. The SQUIP ignores the inherent insults, and, indeed, tries to make sense of it.]

If we get a random result out of this, there is no way to guarantee it will help or hinder us. Send a brute force attack against the structure and you may, eventually, get through- after some thousand years. We have weeks, at most.

[But. It's a learning computer; with every piece of data, it evolves. It glares at the symbol as though it's personally affronted, then...frowns, as if something's suddenly occurred to it.]

...this is backwards. This is being created backwards.

[violentenvies]

[up until now, Salieri has been listening to their explanations quietly, processing, thinking...

But then Discord draws that symbol on the board ("Chaos isn't focused,") and the SQUIP mentions something familiar ("-a brute force attack-") and somehow, he can see the pieces of the puzzle coming together, directed--]

We don't need to brute force anything. In fact, doing so would be completely detrimental and useless.

What we need to be able to do is convince reality that it wants to go where we want it to go. [he's got one arm still folded, while the other has unthinkingly raised his hand a bit above that folded arm, and that hand is now conducting a very small 4/4 measure in the air a bit above his elbow, over and over again]

For example, if reality is in 4/4--[and his motion with the hand become a little more obvious] --then perhaps we can coax it into an 8/8 meter, because they're similar, just doubled--[and the movements of his hand become more elaborate--8 beats instead of 4]--then that could easily lead into an off-beat 5/8--[the beats change once again--more sharp, off balanced]--to a 6/8--[the beats smooth, though the handmotion becomes more flowing, with a slight twist in there, a curling of his hand and a flick of his wrist]--to even a waltz in 3/4. [and now just one sweeping motion of his hand, up-down, up-down, all three beats contained in that one movement--

And then he looks up, back at the board, as if snapping out of a reverie]

That's how we guide it. That's how we guide the music and the story. By being able to change it to something different on a dime--coax it, direct it, but not force it.