TIME TO MEET AGAIN

[disharmonizes]

[So, for a change of things, it's not Salieri gathering people together in the cafeteria this time, but... Discord? Discord, organizing? Willingly? Oh, we are having a time here. There's enough tea and cucumber sandwiches for everyone, everything all set up.

Some of the sandwiches are floating. Don't worry about it.

There's whiteboards set up, as well, though right now they're mostly filled with a lot of random doodles of people here and in the land of the living. Some of them are nicer than others. There's more than a few rude ones of the SQUIP, because we're all super mature adults here. At least one of the boards is just a mess of abstract colors.

Everyone will be greeted by Discord and also the dulcet tones of Dancing Queen playing on the boombox he dragged over here. You're welcome.]

Ladies, gentlemen, others... Welcome to the meeting. We have a lot to go over, so! Let's get started.

( NAVIGATION )
BETA TEST RESULTS ✹ OPERATION A.S.S. ✹ OPERATION GLITTER BOMB ✹ INVESTIGATION SHARING ✹ MAYA...? ✹ CHATTER

Comments

OPERATION A.S.S.

[disharmonizes]

Oh, yes, and we should probably explain what it is exactly that we're doing. Especially for our new arrivals. What better time for a little Q and A session?

[Saying that, he definitely intends to leave most of the A to the SQUIP, infodumping is not Discord's favorite pastime.]

[voicerights]

[oh boy. The SQUIP is...not coherent enough for this. But...it closes its eyes, eats another peanut, chews and swallows, and...]

...I will give a summary of Augmented Story Structure to start. We are creating on a performance that will impact the story. Last night was proving that it is possible to change such on a small scale; however, the end result will be designed with wresting some level of control from the Wizard himself.

[...a slow glance towards Elle.]

It's based on mixture of quantum principles applied to the Leading Player and the Balladeer's natural abilities, as well as exploiting the fact that we ourselves utilize performance, in a sense. And...no small amount of simple belief.

[violentenvies]

[heyooo Salieri is here, too, and he wasn't allowed to do anything today but say in bed and rest, so he doesn't look as hellish as he could lmao. But anyway:]

Indeed. Reality seems to be composed of both order and chaos, and the best vehicle of such seems to be music: the structure within it that also allows for improvisation and growth that can change on a whim.

Therefore, if we all work together and provide our own unique music and utilizing the abilities of both the Balladeer and Madame Leading Player, we should be able to have enough varied options of both structure and chaos to allow for any sort of improvisation necessary.

My duty within this is to do my utmost to coax this combined order-chaos into the direction we wish it to go.

[disharmonizes]

[Muttered:] I still say chaos is better, but...

[violentenvies]

[asldfhs he can't help but look a bit amused at that] I'm aware, believe me. [maybe there's definitely some fondness in that amusement]

[themuseabandonsyou]

I, um. I might be able to help. I may not be, um. A real composer, still, but I remembered some things.

[ He glances at Eurydice, still looking exhausted and full of grief, but he raises his head and looks back at Antonio and the group. ]

I brought back the spring with the song I wrote, like I said I would. And I... almost convinced the Lord of the Underworld to let someone go. [ He did, really, but he couldn't keep up his end of the bargain. ] So if you need - someone else. More help. Maybe I can be useful, this time.

[disharmonizes]

Oh, you most definitely can be.

[immediately weighing in. hi.]

What we need, more than anything, is heart. We could have all the stuffy composers in the world [love you babe] but without heart and friendship, it won't matter. That's what we need.

And I'm sure you can provide.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus looks a little surprised to hear Discord say that, out of everyone, but he nods. He still doesn't smile, but he holds Eurydice's hand and thinks about how love brought them both so far (and tries not to think about how they still fell short). ]

I can. If it'll help free the others - if it might free us.

[ Maybe it will turn out this time. ]

[wanderlusttitania]

I think you would be an excellent addition myself!

[voicerights]

We will be needing as many people as we can. Even those of you who think you are unable to contribute...

[It shakes its head, and grimaces]

There is a flaw in the current code. Without the help of others, I would have been performing indefinitely. After reviewing the troubleshooting, I have come to the determination that the more people able to carry the performance, the less likely a catastrophic failure. Not only can one pick up if another begins to falter, but it will further...[a glance towards Salieri] Please explain what you brought up before, of alternating measures.

[It could quote him. But this, too, is important; to share the burden.]

[violentenvies]

[As indicated, Salieri will explain:]

The main flaw was that the structure was too rigid. Our reality is made up of structure and chaos both--order and emotion. Music is created much the same way: there are familiar structures and patterns that any piece needs in order for it to be pleasurable to listen to but there must be an element of surprise, of emotion, of chaos, too. The trick is going to be not to force that chaotic part of reality into compliance, but rather to coax to where we want it to go; to convince it that it wants to move and change and grow in the direction we desire. Therefore, the more options we have of different ways for that chaos, that emotion to be directed, the higher our chance of success.

[disharmonizes]

Trying to make reality ordered and structured is possible, in theory, but it tends to work out... poorly.

And that's very much not what we want to have happen here.

[voicerights]

Agreed.

[holy shit what the hell happened during that sync]

[wanderlusttitania]

So next time, all of us must be involved.

[She had seen what happened, after all. It only made sense. Vary the song, and have a symphony. The music is richer. Louder. More.

That and no one explodes with nosebleeds. Hopefully.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus nods, slowly. ]

Maybe... leave room for a little improvisation. See where it carries us, instead of trying to structure everything. We'll still have to practice, and make preparations, but...

[ He takes a deep breath. He doesn't really want to talk about this, but. ]

When I sang to Lord Hades, it wasn't with any of the words I wrote with the rest of you. I only realized how I needed to connect with him as it was happening. After I saw him for who he was. [ A man in love with a woman. A man so terrified of losing his wife he'd do anything to make her stay, and in the process only pushed her further away. A man like himself. ] Depending on how things go, we may not have time to plan everything perfectly. So maybe we should embrace that. Write what we can ahead of time, but leave things open to change depending on what happens.

[whatyouwant]

Okay, but I'm not super musically inclined. I can sing along with top 40, no one's ever really complained, but I don't know if it's really reality warping.

[violentenvies]

[there's something that pangs in Salieri's chest to see Orpheus looking like that, as understandable or expected as it may be. He doesn't deserve that.]

Of course, we'd be more than happy for your assistance, Orpheus. I'm sure it would be invaluable.

[howtheworldwas]

[ that someone takes Orpheus's hand and whispers, gently: ]

You did. The terms weren't fair.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus squeezes her hand gently. He doesn't say anything, doesn't agree but doesn't argue either, just leans against her shoulder silently. ]

[tellthestory]

Hey, you're way more of a composer than I am! You'll do great!

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus tries to force a smile for the Balladeer, but is... not super successful at looking like he isn't incredibly miserable. ]

Thanks. I'm sure you've been doing great, too, though.

[whatyouwant]

[Her eyebrow quirks at the glance.]

[voicerights]

Was quantum theory in any of your fields of study...?

[whatyouwant]

[Elle shakes her head.]

I think I'm following, though? We're using B and the Leading Player's narrator abilities combined with music to change the 'story', or reality the Wizard made that's trapping our friends.

i'm not sorry

[voicerights]

[A nod]

If you've even heard of the observer effect, the simple observation of a system causes disruption. Combined with various psychosomatic concepts, the compiled theory can be boiled down to this;

[beat]

"Believe it."