Week Four

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, Gershwin High School Academy University saw its very first intentional murder! What a milestone! And right after Spongebob's No Murder party, too - that doesn't seem like it bodes very well for anybody's future.

You all wake up this morning with yet another new memory returned to you. You'll also find that the school's external doors have now unlocked. Congratulations! You're free! Unfortunately, you also seem to be entirely in the middle of nowhere. So maybe it's more of a symbolic victory.

Still, you should look around and do some investigation! Maybe you'll find a fun surprise.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Be sure to submit your memory regains and your AC for this week! Hester's office hours and the merch booth also remain available! ))

Comments

[mcfife]

The hermit of Cowdenbeath, and the reason why Fife has managed to live for so long. I don't know where we would be if it weren't for his work as a messenger and leader of the resistance army.

[He deserves so many more songs.]

If anyone can find where we are, it's him.

[alchemistake]

[Connor...Varian tilts his head a little as they walk.]

That sounds like something he would have said...

[...]

Do you believe it?

[alchemistake]

It's okay. You don't have to apologize.

[Trust him, he gets it. AND HE'LL GET IT EVEN MORE IN A COUPLE DAYS FROM THIS THREAD I GUESS HAHA................]

I...hope you've been holding up okay.

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah spends most of thursday evening tucked away where she thinks no one will ever find her— in the library, sitting on the floor amongst the bookshelves. She’s got a book propped up on her lap, like she’s reading something— but the noise emitting from behind the book makes it clear that she’s up to something else. You can hear a group of girls chanting—- then shrieks, and the roar of the crowd laughing. Then she winds it back, and the sound cycles through again.

This is healthy.]

[whatyouwant]

I hope he does.

[She snuggles just a bit closer.]

Soon. Before anything else happens.

[alchemistake]

[Varian nods, stepping forward so he can get a better look at the materials she has laid out for this purpose.]

Well, leather's probably the best place to start...light, but thick enough that it's not going to go through without some real force behind it. Are you having trouble getting it sewn together from there?

[alchemistake]

Yeah...me neither.

[There's a pause after he says that, though.]

It just...feels too easy.

[comeandfindme]

...Wouldn't be so against that but then the Wizard would probably just make us sleep outside.

[mcfife]

[Sir, Angus thinks you might be a bit gay for this Mozart man.]

Mozart. I've seen his name before. [Another composer, one who probably wrote good music if he's mentioned in the yearbook.]

[alchemistake]

[Varian blinks, lifting his head because he genuinely hadn't realizd anyone came in. For a moment, he doesn't reply until he slowly looks back down at the lump in his hand, currently still pretty formless.]

I...dunno, yet.

[alchemistake]

[Yeah...fortunately for Cassandra, Varian isn't familiar with this particular bit of knowledge. To him, it just looks like the parts to a music box that have fallen apart. He'll hold his own palm out to accept the pieces carefully, gentle so as not to drop any.]

Hm...I think I should be able to fix this. It looks like all of the parts are here...

[And if they're not, he'll recreate them himself.]

I didn't know you owned anything like this, Cass.

[comeandfindme]

[ Even when they're disagreeing over something, Farrah never sounds this...heated. There's something different about it, and it means Peregrine doesn't even try to hold onto the phone. ]

I'm sorry! I didn't— I didn't even realize—

[alchemistake]

[Varian honestly wasn't planning on leaving the scene shop at all today, but...well. He just kindof recently showed his ass over his own unhealthy memory, and he ended up hurting the feelings of someone close to him over it. He doesn't plan on leaving things that way of course...but he needs to go cool off somewhere. He needs to not have to think about himselfand his own problems for a minute.

That's when he happens to pass the library, near enough to hear the distant sound of voices he doesn't recognize. Curiosity is enough to finally encourage him forward until he reaches where Farrah is sitting, one hand on one of the shelves.

He doesn't need to ask what she's watching. Oh no.

He'll wait until the sound restarts before he steps over, moving to kneel halfway beside her while also angled towards her. He's mostly trying to make it so he can't see the video directly.]

You shouldn't watch that, Farrah.

[No sense in hurting yourself even more, right?]

[comeandfindme]

[ She hates how she can feel the sad almost shy smile that curls onto her face. ]

I believe...if it's possible, he would do it. ...He said he wouldn't— [ ... ] We promised...we wouldn't leave each other alone.

[ And then she did, anyway. If she tried talking with him more that night, if she stayed with him, what if, what if. ]

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah tears the phone away from her—- she doesn’t apologize, or try and tell Peregrine it’s okay, she just stares at the phone herself. She rewinds it a bit, to watch Chess’ movements, to see exactly where the other girl fucked up— and then to watch herself fall. To listen to the crowd laughing again.

Her cheeks are scarlet when she locks the phone and jams it into her pocket.]

Congrats, now you’re one of several million people who have seen Epic Cheerleader Fail.

[comeandfindme]

[ threads that retroactively become A LOT WORSE: THIS ONE!!!

Peregrine doesn't say anything for a long moment. ]

I'm... [ Cold. Alone. Helpless. She did this, she's going to die, they're all going to die— ] ...Not really. But...there's not really much I can do.

[disharmonizes]

[There's absolutely no shame whatsoever involved when Discord just casually leans over Farrah's shoulder to take a look at what she's got there.]

Now, what've you got there?

[brokeforgood]

If anyone has a right to watch it, it’s me. [Farrah snaps at Varian, her voice much more hostile than it normally is. She’s never spoken with him that way— never spoken with anyone at the school this way. The closest she’d been was when she’d talked about the SQUIP, or the Wizard— but not to Varian.

She instantly regrets it.]

Sorry— fuck. It’s not you. It’s fucking Chess.

[brokeforgood]

[Surprisingly, it’s Discord that she expresses the least amount of hostility to. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t try and tell her to stop, or try and apologize, or stumble over his words— he’s just here, watching it with her. She turns the phone so he can see it.

It’s a group of cheerleaders on a football field. Depending on how much of a look he got at Farrah’s photograph the second week, some of the faces are familiar— a girl with a red ponytail, the sunny looking girl with long chestnut hair, and a slightly smaller, cheerful Freshman Farrah. It starts off okay, but chaos quickly descends— and when some of the girls are launched into the air, the girl below Farrah does not catch her.

Farrah falls, and the scene is chaos all at once—- the camera shakes and zooms in, as the girls shriek and scream “Ohmygod Farrah!” The sunny looking girl is leaned over her, and Farrah’s holding her head—- and the crowd is laughing, the people in the stands are laughing, and the real Farrah, in the library—- she rewinds the video back to the start.]

Epic Cheerleader Fail.

[alchemistake]

...it's okay.

[Being snapped at like that...of course it stings, a little. But he also feels like, hey, eye for an eye. It's not like he hasn't been doing his share of that today.

He settles down a little more, his hands pressed hard against his knees.]

I just...I know how much it hurts you, is all.

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah blatantly turns the phone so he can watch. She’s paused it, and is pointing at Chess.]

See? Right here. She completely misses me. [She clicks play.... And the tiny phone Farrah falls.]

[alchemistake]

Yeah...I see.

[Well...since he's not going to be able to convince her not to watch, he'll let this happen. He'll even settle to sit beside her more, so they can see it together.

Varian winces, seeing Farrah fall.]

I just...I don't understand why they would laugh. You could have gotten killed.

[Plain and simple. She's lucky she escaped with just a concussion.]

[disharmonizes]

[He watches, confused at first, until it clicks what he's seeing here. He tilts his head, just, leaning forwards a little.

And then, of course, the fall.]

Oooooh. [It's a sympathetic noise, at least, as that happens.] Not exactly the best home movie I've ever seen. The production values could use some work.

[Idly glancing her way, though, just to get a gauge of her mood during this.]

[brokeforgood]

[When he glances her way, he may notice that she’s playing the same game as him—- gazing at his face, trying to read his reactions. When she catches his eye, she jerks her gaze back to the screen, trying to keep things steady and unreadable—- but she’s definitely upset. The fact that she’s trying to keep cool just proves that she’s upset. And for a moment, when the other girl bends over Farrah, Farrah’s throat emits an awful sound.]

Yeah. It could use some work. Like, come on dude, tripods are so cheap now.

[employeeoftheyear]

[When Spongebob passes out backpacks, he barely looks at anyone to even acknowledge them, much less chat like normal.

He's... not even out of his pajamas, a rare occurrence for Spongebob outside his dorm or the occasion. His blue pajamas and sea bunny slippers would be cute if not for the fact that he looks like he hasn't slept in a solid week.

He is... sure doing.]