WEEK 1

[bathymetric]

Happy New Year! ... You're still here. Looks like The Captain wasn't lying when he said the murdering is now up to you. That, or you can all live here on your own. Regardless, it's time to settle in. The days start passing much less eventfully after that first one, and, well... on it goes, huh?

There might not be a whole cruise ship to explore just yet, but there are a variety of amenities available to all of you! Who ever heard of a boring cruise ship, anyway? As the week goes on, you might even start to see some of those strange coins appear for you!

Better buckle down and get to know your fellow passengers, though, if you want to stand a chance of weathering this storm.



MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to peace week! Feel free to mingle (and investigate, if you like) to your hearts' content! Please ensure all investigation toplevels are marked accordingly, and otherwise enjoy! If you wish to talk to The Captain or Davy Jones, look here for the former and here for the latter! ]

Comments

[ahelpingpaw]

Oh, it's great! It's really fulfilling, and it feels like I'm making a difference. It's like I finally achieved something worthwhile, too.

[Filbo sounds enthusiastic, but even though it seems he truly means it, there's a very faint, almost imperceptible hollowness faaaaar behind it all]

But it's not really anything too impressive. I'm still inexperienced, and now I'm here, so it's not like I'm doing my job right now, am I?

[He smiles wryly. Frankly, being here and not doing his job at home is what hurts him the most, but hey, it's a matter of returning before too much time passes, no?]

[scouserer]

[Hmmm. Constantine makes a note of that! He raises an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side.]

Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about it. There's always back-up plans when it comes to bureaucracy--s'why people've got vice presidents and vice ministers and all that shit. I'm sure they'll manage fine on their own.

[Of course, there's the chance that that's not what Filbo wants to hear...but it's fine.]

If you really wanted, I'd imagine you could become mayor of the ship. Nobody's bothering to step up as a leader right now--'sides the Captain, but I think it's safe to say most people aren't a fan of him.

[ahelpingpaw]

I hope so!

[He keeps smiling. Looks like whatever's bothering him is something he doesn't feel comfortable discussing. Oh well. Perhaps in the future.

Filbo's eyes widen, but he shakes his head emphatically]

No, I couldn't! I mean, you heard what the Captain wants. He wants us dead. I don't think I'd be ready for the responsibility of keeping everyone alive.

[He 100% wants everyone to be okay, that's for certain! But...he's pretty sure if he stepped forward as a leader and someone died, he'd be incredibly disheartened]

There's got to be someone better prepared than me.

[scouserer]

[A raised eyebrow. At least Filbo knows the limits of what kind of responsibilities he wants to take on.]

Well, I'm certainly not taking on the responsibility of babysitting twenty-something odd people on this horrible cruise ship. That's a sure way to make everyone die.

[He crosses his arms, pretending to look thoughtful for a moment.]

I vote we overthrow the Captain and elect ol' squid-face. He seems to have a solid head on his shoulders, eh?

[ahelpingpaw]

Well it's true Davy Jones would be great to have on your side when it's about being out there in the sea, but...wouldn't it be dangerous, anyway?

The legends don't say he's too much of a nice person to be of help.

[Not that he knows all about Davy Jones' mythos, though]

[scouserer]

Oh, of course it's dangerous. Doing anything on that level's gotta have a cost to it, and I wager ol' Jonesy don't come cheap.

[He exhales sharply, leaning against the shelves.]

But we'll just have to see how things pan out. I know I've got questions. [A pause.] But the Captain doesn't like giving answers freely--reckon we've gotta squeeze it out of him.

[ahelpingpaw]

I suppose you're right. I don't like the thought of having to talk to the Captain, but if it has to be done, well...I'm going to try too.

[Filbo was going to try to talk to the Captain anyway in matter of days, just because he's waaaaay too soft to just completely ignore somebody even if they're as awful as the Captain, but at least now he has a more focused purpose: to try to get some answers]

I don't think the right answers will come, but even getting him to talk about anything could be useful -- maybe he'll say something important and I just won't notice at the time.

[scouserer]

He might lower his guard if you talk to him. You strike me as a proper, respectable man.

[Whereas John immediately comes off as a bastard who's looking for a fight, so...you know. He frowns lightly.]

Though, if I'm being honest--I don't know what to expect from the Captain. He seems far too competent to bother setting all this up only to flub at the last minute with a couple of shoddy flamethrowers.

[ahelpingpaw]

You're right about that -- it's not like that's the easiest way to kill us all, anyway. He has time to do something, but so far nothing happens! Either he's planning something worse, or he's serious about making us...do all of it.

[Well, not that it has been long. Not even a full 24 hours yet. There's still plenty of time for something to go completely and utterly wrong]

At least you all can take care of yourselves. You should all be fine.

[And despite everything, Filbo isn't worried about his own life. Why'd someone want to kill him? He's well aware there's a possibility he'll be targeted, but he doesn't think it's that likely]

[scouserer]

[Exactly a week, if murdergame schedules are accurate! But neither Filbo nor Constantine know that.]

S'long as everyone keeps their heads about them, we can figure out what to do.

[He's not going to say that it's fine, because clearly things are not fine. But a plan is something tangible, concrete. Reassuring.]

In the meantime, I say we enjoy ourselves while it lasts. Everyone else seems focused on gettin' out.

[Constantine seems to hesitate ever so slightly when he says that, but the moment passes. There's the thought that someone might not in fact might be one of their number--working with the Captain, maybe--but Filbo doesn't need to hear that.]

[ahelpingpaw]

Y-Yeah, let's have fun! If we're supposed to die, then staying alive and looking like we don't care probably is the best way to show we won't bend to them!

[And as far as he knows, that's got to be the best way to be defiant to the Captain, aside from actually escaping the ship and going back home. Going to have to settle for second best!]

[scouserer]

[Constantine clasps a hand on Filbo's shoulder--or, uh, the part where his head connects with his arm, at least--and offers him a reassuring grin.]

That's th' spirit. Stick it to the man, and all that.

[He then leans back, clasping his hands together and turning back to the shelves.]

Now! The books. Which ones d'you reckon are worth reading and which ones are worth dumping overboard?

[ahelpingpaw]

[Filbo rummages through the books]

That depends. Are you into bad romance? I mean, I'm not fond of the genre, but from what little I could read it's...not very well written. A lot of it is as purple as a grape.

[scouserer]

Not really. When I set out to read a trashy novel, my main goal is entertainment and entertainment alone. S'not like I'm settin' out to read fucking Shakespeare.

[He shrugs.]

Badly written? Fine, I'll have fun laughing my ass off at it. But if it drags on? Eh.

[ahelpingpaw]

...that's going to narrow things down.

[By 95%. Filbo actually has to stop rummaging in his piles of books, sighing, and takes two, just...holding them as if he feared at any moment they'd jump and try to bite his arms off]

I...didn't really read them for long because something about reading about you feels...off? But they were really bad. Maybe you'll like them because they're that bad.

[Here you go, buddy: a pair of books that's bound to give you literary hives if you're into good reading.

That said, while Filbo is holding them, he finally asks:]

John, do humans tend to...hook up with other intelligent species so often? There are way too many books like these around here.

[scouserer]

[Constantine accepts the books, inspecting the covers and shoving them under his arm to take with him out of the library. At least this'll probably be mildly entertaining at a later time.]

Cheers, mate.

[He pauses when Filbo asks the question, taking a moment to mull it over.]

Nah, not really. Most people don't even know half of these things exist. But I suppose that's why everyone and their mum wants to write about it, eh? Half of the fun for them is the fantasy.

[Constantine leans forward and addresses Filbo in a mock-whisper.]

Between you and me, humans are a buncha freaks.

[Of course, he's included in that, but Filbo doesn't know......]

[ahelpingpaw]

[My, that's some interesting information to be delivered in a mock-whisper!]

I-I see. Thanks for telling me?

[........]

I dunno how I feel about that.

[It's a bit of a conflicting feeling here -- here he is trapped between some respect for outright admitting 'humans are a buncha freaks' and some cautious wariness due to that same confession.]