Scioly Assassination 160: A Puppet's Strings

[Banexet]

(Put this on Discord, but this is decently important so yeah)
I'd also like to note that JoeyC and CPSD have not been active for a while and as far as I know aren't Discord active. Since they're mentioned, the sassy is probably an older forums user that was active in 2020ish since that's when both JoeyC and CPSD were fairly prominent on the forums. I was originally suspecting Two as a sassy, but seeing these guys be mentioned rules them out. Not too sure who else would be into this stuff, though...

This narrows down the possible candidates for sassy to:
You
Umaroth
SilverBreeze
sciolyperson1
Bernard
RiverWalker88
pikachu4919
It's probably not RiverWalker88 or pikachu4919 because they have been pretty inactive lately, which narrows it further to 5 people

[Piplup7575]

PALAIS GARNIER - BOX FIVE

Mid-performance, everything has gone wrong. Carlotta's soprano has become a toad-like croak, and the garroted body of Joseph Buquet has just fallen to the stage. Chaos reigns.

MONSIEUR ANDRE (JoeyC)
(addressing the audience) Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats! Do not panic. It was an accident, simply an accident.

CARLOTTA
(sobbing) Non, non posso più!

CHRISTINE
(fearful) Raoul! Raoul!

Raoul runs on stage, and the two hurry off.

MONSIEUR FIRMIN (CPScienceDude)
Not again!

MONSIEUR ANDRE (JoeyC)
(to the audience) Miss Daae will return. Please remain in your seats.

Fleeing to the wings, Carlotta can be still heard desperately trying to reassure herself by finishing her part.

CARLOTTA
(from off) I feel without—co-ack! Without... without alarm—co-ack!

MONSIEUR FIRMIN (CPScienceDude)
(to Andre) It's a conspiracy, I tell you! When will it end?

The panic slowly subsides as the stage is prepared for the next act. Firmin points out a lady sitting in the middle of the auditorium, Madame Skythee.

MONSIEUR FIRMIN (CPScienceDude)
But at least our concierge-to-be seems to be taking all this in stride. That attitude will serve her well.

MONSIEUR ANDRE (JoeyC)
Her? I thought you were set on the tall one?

CARLOTTA
(from off) With its melody enwi—co-ack!

MONSIEUR FIRMIN (CPScienceDude)
She never showed up, remember? Such a shame, would have been a perfect fit...

CARLOTTA
(from off) And all my heart sub—co-a-ckk!

MONSIEUR ANDRE (JoeyC)
Carlotta! What's gotten into you— !

The audience breaks out into a fresh tumult, for the chandelier has begun ominously flickering and swaying. From behind the managers booms the fiendish laughter of the Phantom, reveling in their dismay. If one listened closely, they could distinguish a second, stranger timbre, as if two voices were speaking as one.

PHANTOM
SHE IS SINGING TO-NIGHT TO BRING THE CHANDELIER DOWN!

The audience rushes madly for the doors. Panicked opera-goers block any escape route for poor Madame Skythee, seated directly beneath the plunging chandelier. She screams in terror.

Darkness. A terrific crash, echoing away into silence.

[Piplup7575]

THEATRICAL STAGE - BACKSTAGE

The cloaked figure perches upon the rafters, twirling a knife between their fingers. The wall opposite is decked with several more protruding knives, all crowded around the center of a crudely-drawn target.

?????
How disappointing. Not even a single protect? Even a wild guess would have been more satisfying than this.

They catch the knife with a firm grip.

?????
Not that I’m complaining about arranging a chandelier drop...

They wind back and launch the knife at the target. It thunks neatly into the center.

?????
Quite an intriguing man, that Phantom. He gets to live. You all, maybe not so much.

Another knife is procured from within the cloak. The figure resumes absentmindedly twirling it around their fingers.

?????
Oh, but I’m not one to talk. My next clue fell though, and I suppose I could use another day to polish its replacement. More time for you all to speculate, hmm?

A pause. Light flashes off the twirling blade.

?????
I might be the one setting the scene, but ultimately you are the ones telling this tale. I’d hate for such a promising production to be abandoned. Maybe if I opened the last two officer slots again...

They catch the knife.

?????
It’s all up to you. Choose wisely.

The figure winds back and launches the knife at the viewers. Darkness.

[Piplup7575]

[misspost, please ignore]

[Piplup7575]

LittleMissNyan has been confirmed as an officer. As of current, Banexet has 2 accusations, and jaspattack and Fyren have 1 each. LittleMissNyan has 0 accusations due to her late arrival.

[Piplup7575]

MANHATTAN - THE STREETS

Tiger, a young delinquent and Jets member, slinks down an alleyway. The lights of a shopping mart flash in the direction he leaves from.
He reaches the end of the alley and darts out, only to trip on a conspicuously placed leg. Its owner, Lieutenant Schrank, drags Tiger back into the alley by the back of his shirt.

LIEUTENANT SCHRANK
My, my. Look who we have here.

Tiger’s struggles earn him a kick to the back of his leg, the force of which drives him to the ground.

LIEUTENANT SCHRANK
Nothing better to do, eh? Don’t ya have someplace to be? Like hooping it up on your lovely little street? Or skulking around Doc’s? Or wait: don’t tell me, lemme say it... headed to a rumble?

Tiger shakily rises to his feet. He glares venomously at Lt. Schrank, but says nothing.

LIEUTENANT SCHRANK
Pockets. Now.

A pause. Tiger reluctantly reaches into the pockets of his jeans and pulls out a few sticks of gum and a razor blade. Lt. Schrank takes them.

LIEUTENANT SCHRANK
All of it.

Tiger doesn’t move. Lt. Schrank kicks him again, and he crashes against the wall. A pack of cigarettes and a scrap of newspaper fall out of his pockets.

LIEUTENANT SCHRANK
That wasn’t so hard now, was it?

He stoops down to retrieve the contraband, and the paper scrap catches his eye. A closer inspection reveals some writing scratched crosswise in a messy hand.

Rotule Pkwy
W 23rd St
Olympus Blvd
WnWrhetot Overpass

LIEUTENANT SCHRANK
Ah... and this wouldn’t have anything to do with the rumble now, would it?

TIGER (Pebble)
You think we’d be dumb enough to carry around something you guys could figure out?

LIEUTENANT SCHRANK
Oh, I’m sure my buddies at the station house will have plenty of time to take a look, once-

Tiger flings a sudden spray of gravel at Lt. Schrank and makes a break for it. Lt. Schrank gives an angry shout and pursues.

[LittleMissNyan]

West Side Story? A rotule is either some sort of swivel fitting or french for 'kneecap', Olympus brings to mind Greek gods, and the closest coherent thing I can find for whatever WnWrhetot is ROT13 to "JaJeurgbg", which also looks french

EDIT: dump of discord ID speculation I missed

(Put this on Discord, but this is decently important so yeah)
I'd also like to note that JoeyC and CPSD have not been active for a while and as far as I know aren't Discord active. Since they're mentioned, the sassy is probably an older forums user that was active in 2020ish since that's when both JoeyC and CPSD were fairly prominent on the forums. I was originally suspecting Two as a sassy, but seeing these guys be mentioned rules them out. Not too sure who else would be into this stuff, though...

This narrows down the possible candidates for sassy to:
You
Umaroth
SilverBreeze
sciolyperson1
Bernard
RiverWalker88
pikachu4919
It's probably not RiverWalker88 or pikachu4919 because they have been pretty inactive lately, which narrows it further to 5 people

- don't rule out Pika, she's a mod and is probably doing stuff behind the scenes
- LMN was active then along with quite a few others (but sassy's on Discord during school my chromebook can't do thatt-)
- Umaroth and SilverBreeze have been asked to be sassy many times in the past and said no because they were too busy, doubtful that they would do it now
- RiverWalker hasn't been inactive, but not super active either
- I'd say the amount of effort put into this writing seems like MorningCoffee or Fyren but we all know my ID skills are notoriously bad so take that with a grain of salt
- Fyren doesn't have the time to put into a game like this + "humanities are the bane of [her] existence"

[Fyren]

(Put this on Discord, but this is decently important so yeah)
I'd also like to note that JoeyC and CPSD have not been active for a while and as far as I know aren't Discord active. Since they're mentioned, the sassy is probably an older forums user that was active in 2020ish since that's when both JoeyC and CPSD were fairly prominent on the forums. I was originally suspecting Two as a sassy, but seeing these guys be mentioned rules them out. Not too sure who else would be into this stuff, though...

hi i still lurk and post occasionally

[LittleMissNyan]

Don't know what solving's been on the Discord but there's a thing in sassy's sig! "V2hhdCBpcyBhIHNjaGVtYnVsb2NrLCBldmVuPw==" translates in Base64 to "What is a schembulock, even?"
Quick google returns results for Gravity Falls, scioly.org search results are having a stoke and only return the first result once I click off the initial results page but didn't raytay post about Bill Cipher recently? And "Olympus" would fit with their Percy Jackson interest so I'll protect them for now

EDIT: I protect raytay because of above reasoning
I clearly remember how to syntax yay me

[Fyren]

7. When protecting someone from an Assassinator’s kill clue you must use the following template: "I protect [place name here] because [give reason here]." If you don't use this template when protecting, the protection won't count. Post this message in the appropriate Scioly.org forums thread only; protects given on Discord will be disregarded.

Give the accusation to LMN if it's correct, but I'm just doing this just in case...

I protect raytay because of the reasoning given by LMN above.

Also, would this mean that the sassy is a Gravity Falls fan? This may also help us out.