THE MOCK WEEK

[grimgrinningghosts]

[You find yourself waking in a large dressing room, incredibly spacious, but in intense disarray. The bed is comfortable enough, and each room seems to be equipped with a working bathroom and shower, so it's at least livable. But aesthetically, the place has hit the floor.

The horrifying clock mounted on the wall reads 9 am. After enough searching, you'll find a large tourist-y map of the studio on one of the dressers. An ominous note attached to the map with a paperclip reads "12PM WAITING AREA". It's not like you have any choice in the matter, seeing as there doesn't seem to be any way out.

Upon exiting the dressing room, you note a crooked star attached to the door bearing your name. There are 24 others like this, bearing names that you may or may not recognize. A quick tour around the studio reveals it to be in a similar state of disrepair, but something doesn't sit...right with you. Though the place is certainly creepy, you get strange vibes as you explore the building. As you move about the dust-filled halls of the abandoned building, you may spot movement out of the corner of your eye, or hear strange noises from behind you. It's nothing to be worried about, though...right?

At the very least, you'll find some comfort. The projection room and attached theater still seem to be in working order, though you'll have to manually grab one of the reels off the wall and start the thing yourself. In addition, the waiting area and lounge are both filled with reading materials, and the later features a large stage and a microphone. The commissary seems to replenish itself with food whenever you take your eyes off of it, ensuring that we won't be going hungry anytime soon. There are also cabinets full of ingredients and a small kitchen should you not trust whatever your benefactor is placing out for you.

Fortunately for them, the smaller individuals amongst your party won't find a great deal of difficulty moving around. Though their beds remain oversized, there seem to be appropriately-sized staircases and escalators placed about in appropriate spots, so as to make their lives easier. After all, they can't just keep relying on the others to get up to the cabinets and such, can they?

While you're waiting to find out what the deal here is, you might as well come out and socialize.]

(ooc: Welcome to the Foolish Mortals Mock Week! Please follow us on Plurk at foolishmortals for updates, and if you're so inclined, please feel free to join your Discord-inept head moderator as he struggles to set up a Discord chat up for everyone.)

Comments

INVESTIGATING (+kitchen, lounge)

[exclamationpoint]

[After a good night's rest, Troy's come to the conclusion that if there's NO MUSIC and the threat of MURDER then obviously this is a MYSTERY. All he has to do is find clues and stuff in order to solve the mystery and then everyone can go home (which is not here? because he wasn't recast? maybe?) and it'll all be fine. Everything!!! Will!!! Be!!! Fine!!!!!!!

The obvious place to search first is his dressing room. After carefully checking all the drawers, he starts moving around the furniture to see if there's anything cool like a trap door or a secret room. That's the kind of stuff that happens in mysteries, right? Feel free to stick your head into his door and see what the heck he's doing because left his door open and he's making a lot of noise. He keeps dragging things out into the hall and back into his room as he rearranges it. There has to be something here. Right?

. . . After all that fuss, he's kind of grimy and tired so he makes a quick stop in the kitchen and then he flops down in the studio lounge. He's not a huge fan of reading - it's really more Taylor or Gabriella's thing - but it beats moving around more furniture. And hey! Maybe there'll be clues in something he reads.]

[grimgrinningghosts]

[Troy's search almost seems fruitless, but then, something behind the mirror will catch his eye. If the mirror gets taken down, there's a lot of writing under here. It's not a single message, and it seems to come from quite a bit of sources. It's almost comparable to graffiti.]

[exclamationpoint]

[Oh! Oh! He found something yessssssssssss. He takes down the mirror and sets it down on his bed before studying the writing. Is there anything that pops out?]

[grimgrinningghosts]

[There's a lot of different handwriting here, and a lot of different writing utensils appear to be used.

...This isn't creepy at all.]

[exclamationpoint]

Mi nombre es . . . I don't know who any of these people are.

[But he's sure gonna write down all the names. Is there anything else or can he put the mirror back and, uh. Put his furniture back where it came from.]

[grimgrinningghosts]

[Nope, that's all the writing behind here.]

lounge

[rollerscoater]

[There's a mouse reading a magazine here. You can tell because she's walking all over it to see the words.]

Oh, hello!

[exclamationpoint]

Hi! [He kind of tilts his head.] That looks like a lot of work. I'd probably like reading even less if I had to run laps while I was reading.

[rollerscoater]

Oh, it's all right! [wave wave] One does get used to it. Most of these are just old scripts. Have you seen them?

[exclamationpoint]

No, I've been reading these. [He holds up Tiger Beat.] Are they a particular genre or is it just stuff that was left lying around?

[rollerscoater]

They all seem very... silly, and a little dated. But everything here is disjointed, isn't it?

dressing room

[pinkflip]

[...Okay. Well, that's something. Kimberly stops and leans against a bedside table expectantly. Next time he brings something out, she'll be there.]

Sooo, you're redecorating?

[exclamationpoint]

Yes! I mean, no. I'm investigating. [He tries to sound gruffer and tougher when he says "investigating." Unfortunately, he still looks like a boyband member.] The guy yesterday said he's done this before, so I thought maybe someone dug a secret tunnel out of here.

[They did not, much to his disappointment.]

[pinkflip]

[She'll save his manly pride and not laugh- at least not much, she keeps herself from doing anything more than a small snort.] Hey, that's not such a bad idea. Find anything?

[...she imagines not, but.]

[exclamationpoint]

I found a bunch of weird writing behind my mirror. No secret passages yet, though.

[He gives a small shrug. Tomorrow is a new day and he can search a new room!]

lounge

[sevenvaginas]

[casually flops onto couch like a beached whale]

What are you reading! Is it any good?

[exclamationpoint]

It's some kind of magazine. [It's a Tiger Beat from the 60s. Who the fuck are these people.] I think it's old celebrity gossip.

[sevenvaginas]

[hm. hm. hmmm. ah yes she knows some of these words.]

That doesn't sound very fun... [huffs.] He's sure not making staying here forever easy, huh?

[exclamationpoint]

Nope. I guess he really wants us to . . . [awkwardly trails off because he's from a g-rated movie and he doesn't wanna say murder.] I think I saw a comic book earlier - that's probably more fun than this.

Re: INVESTIGATING (+kitchen, lounge)

[worldstiniestviolin]

[In the studio lounge, Troy will find a mouse. Just an ordinary mouse, albeit one dressed in tiny Victorian wear. He looks... ponderous. And is muttering to himself.]

What possible motive could there be for encouraging murder...?

[exclamationpoint]

Being evil, I guess? [The mouse is talking to him, right? It sounds like it's talking to him.] I don't think it's that complicated.

[worldstiniestviolin]

[Basil looks over] Yes, yes, yes, of course, but that doesn't seem to be perhaps too easy an answer?

[exclamationpoint]

I think if the answer was supposed to be complicated, he would have been less like [imitates Judge Doom] "I do this all the time, kidnapping people and putting them in creepy old Hollywood studios."

Dressing room

[tonewlengths]

[The noise grabs her attention, and Rapunzel peeks her head round Troy's dressing room curiously. She doesn't know what he's looking for, and even though she's calmed down some from yesterday she's wary of approaching a stranger to ask, maybe if she just cranes her neck at the right angle she can spot what he's after? Super stealthy spying go!]

[exclamationpoint]

[Right now he's just trying to move his bed back to where it's supposed to be, but the room kind of looks like something exploded. Some of the smaller furniture has been tipped over, some of it's at weird angles, and every single drawer is still open. Not to mention his nightstand is still outside in the hallway.]

Was it here? [He pauses.] I don't remember.