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

TUESDAY

[stagemanagers]

MOTIVE: I Could Really Use a Wish Right Now

[tailor_made]

[All things considered, the first two days of this week haven’t been too shabby! You know, despite the crushing depression of four people being dead, the weird cravings people have been finding around the school, the way the grounds are Like That, whatever Farrah and Maya found on the football field...but that slumber party sure was fun! Even Hester made it there to spend some quality time with you guys. Maybe, in all his Wizard wisdom, your captor has decided to forgo a motive this week. Maybe something good will happen!

 

But why would something good ever happen?

Like clockwork, the doors to the cafeteria click and lock at 11:30 am. There’s silence behind the doors for that full 30 minutes until, precisely at 12 pm, Hester’s voice comes from the PA. If you listen closely you might hear her heave a tired sigh before she speaks.]

Hello, everyone. Please come to the cafeteria for a special announcement. 

[When everyone has meandered into the cafeteria Hester is waiting in her usual place above them. Today’s dress is a deep navy, with a gauzy grey skirt dotted with small crystals that sparkle like stars in the sunlight streaming in from the huge windows. Her hair has been styles into a side braid, with the sides held back a pair of adorable hairclips. She looks less than enthused to be up here but, like last week, carries herself with determination. The music starts.]

Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now
Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now

The Wizard has decided your next motive. [She takes a breath, her hands bracing on the metal railing in front of her. There are no mannequins this time. No envelopes or threatening photos. Just Hester.

And yes, this is a rap. Yes, she is doing her best. No, it's not great to listen to.]

Yeah, I could use a dream or a genie or a wish
To go back to a place much simpler than this
'Cause after all the partyin' and smashin' and crashin'
There comes a time where you fade to the blackness

[She pushes away from the rail and pacing across the floor to the other side of the "stage", her hands moving like she's having a conversation with herself as she sings before abruptly turning back to the group.]

But that's just how the story unfolds
You get another hand soon after you fold
And when your plans unravel in the sand
What would you wish for, if you had one chance?

Your motive is a simple one: kill one of your classmates by Friday and he’ll grant you one wish. He's glad to grant you anything you might want with one restriction: you cannot wish to go back to any time within your time at the school.

Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now
Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now

[She chews her lower lip for a moment as the music continues behind her, her right hand moving to grip her necklace. Without another word she turns on her sparkly red heels and leaves the cafeteria.]

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine instantly sours. Instantly. She thinks about how many times she's said she wished since she got here. Just since Friday alone— ]

A meeting. [ For the first time since then, some kind of fire sparks in her. Just a little one. ] Who's running one? We need one, ASAP.

[mcfife]

[Angus clings onto his sleeves. There is so much, too much that anyone can ask for. The Wizard could do anything, what if-

No. Peregrine is right.]

In one of the locker rooms. Elle thinks it might be safer.

[violentenvies]

I'll take care of it. The Boy's Bathroom, half an hour, start telling the others.

[mayavericks]

[One wish.

Before Monday, she wouldn't have even considered it. Whatever she wanted, she would take from the Giraffe, after all. She could go to any stage. Stardom could be hers.

But there's one thing that a stage wouldn't help. She wouldn't know which to pick. Or if it could prevent anything in the first place.]

What if it was to bring someone back? Someone that even you and the Wizard could not locate?

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine turns to her. ]

Maya. No.

[tailor_made]

[For once Hester pauses at the Groundhogs tapestry before she slips behind it.]

...I believe he could make it happen. He's a wonderful wizard after all. [And then she's gone.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus's first thought is that this isn't actually all that bad? The Wizard isn't threatening to make him vanish or giving him visions of his wife's death, this time.

Well, no, his first thought is wondering what is going on with Hester's singing, because he's from the Dustbowl and doesn't know what the fuck rap is, but after that, he can't help but feel immensely relieved. It could be much worse than this.

But then he looks around the room at the thoughtful looks on some of the others' faces, and he starts to worry. ]

[employeeoftheyear]

[Before she leaves Spongebob calls out.]

Can we wish that none of this ever happened and that we were all at home and not dying?

[alchemistake]

[The words of the song Hester sang still ring in Varian's ears long after she's stepped away.

What would you wish for, if you had one chance...

His brows furrow as he glances down at the linoleum beneath his boots, listening to the bustle of murmuring that's already started up all around- Maya directly questioning Hester about the specifics- and it already feels like...

He doesn't say anything, but he doesn't turn to leave, either.]

[disharmonizes]

My, the ability to make anything I want happen? I can't possibly imagine what that would be like.

[yaaaaawn.]

[whatyouwant]

[Are there things she wants? Sure. Is it anything worth killing for? Hell no.]

If he has that kind of power, why are we even here?

[barberic]

[One wish...

Benjamin doesn't have the confidence that he used to have, in those first two weeks. But now he knows - the trial that he saw in the first motive came to pass. And his barbershop stands empty, or let out, in London.

He says nothing. He hasn't said a whole lot this week at all, so far.]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

["kill one of your classmates by Friday and he’ll grant you one wish"

Cassandra was a hard worker, anyone could see that. She wasn't one to cut corners or wish for an easy way out, no, it had to be earned.

A week ago, a wish for anything she could want wouldn't have phased her. Now, with Hester's question about the specifics, there's... something there. It knits her brow, and draws her lips into a frown.

Wordlessly, she turns on her heel and marches out of the cafeteria.]

[defyingfrigidity]

[This one... this one really shakes Elsa. This is something she's wanted for a long time; a wish, a chance to undo the one thing that made her entire life go wrong. The chance to go back to that night in the ballroom, to stop herself from hitting Anna...

It almost makes her take a step forward. But she bites down hard on her bottom lip, hands clasping together and fingers tangling over themselves, like she's trying to tie them into knots. It's an old habit, a gesture she often used to push down her own nerves. It's failing, though, and she can feel that uncomfortable weight twisting in her stomach.

God, and the others...

She can see how much it's shaking up some of the others. This week... she wants to believe with all her heart that things will go well. That they'll fight this temptation. But this week feels like one continuing chain of bad omens....]

[comeandfindme]

[ The morning is alright, somehow. Not...alright, but it could be worse. Peregrine's out near the woods with just...just a lot of bins filled with water and— yep. Deer skins. They're all in varying stages of tanning. She has the pure white one — stain gone — folded on a box as she picks through the wilderness. ]

No... No, not this either... Why do all the trees have to be so weird...?

[ The day, naturally, gets worse. The motive is...bad. The motive is always bad. Everything's always bad, of course—

But this is bad in a new way. She hates it.

After the meeting, she stops by the library, where she can be found looking through How-To books on...crafting? Jewelry making? Leatherwork? Huh.

That's what she does for most of the day, fluttering between the library and her previous work place before the motive. She's sitting out there with a bunch of close-pins and a little fire she's built, and a hole she's dug into the ground with a shovel. She's quietly working with some rope from her deer-skinning kit, some rope and some rather large sticks she's managed to find. Without a word, she whittles them down and starts tying them together, so they look— like a little teepee. Or she could be gluing the edges of her deerskin together. There's a lot of things Peregrine could be doing in this process, because she's got a lot of deer skins to tan and smoke.

Maybe join her?

She'll take a single break, for a vending machine haul. Hilarious that she finally has a pet, and now two more deer skins. Well, just that much more work to do, right?

It's around dinner that she actually goes to Broadhurst dorm, trying to pick a time when...well, when most people would probably be out. She'd seen it, during the sleepover, a kind of...it's not a shrine. She thinks she heard Connor say something about an ofrenda. That's something she doesn't have much of a baseline for but...she understands the basic idea.

She kneels by it, and for a few minutes she's just quiet. Then— ]

So...this might be totally stupid, but— I don't know. Apparently there's nature spirits and magic and Spongebob, so. Maybe ghosts are real too. I didn't...bring anything? I'm still— I'm working on it, I've never...made gifts for people, before. [ Very quickly: ] I— I'm...real sorry, Connor. ...I wasn't...there for you, and— I'm sorry. And I'm sorry, if— if you can hear this, I gotta... I gotta confess something.

[ She swallows down a lump in her throat. ]

I just... I think... I think I really screwed up. Before all this. I think...all this time I thought I was doing something...big and important but... I think I was just...really selfish? And it... [ She rubs her eyes real quick, as her sight starts to blur. She starts again, softer. ] I found your letter. And I did everything you said, but... I might've...already let you down. Before we even met.

[ i'd like if life went on for you. ]

I let...a lot of people down. [ Her throat's so dry. Like she's choking on sawdust. ] And I just wish—

[ She breaks off, remembering this morning, biting down into her lower lip so, so tightly. ]

...I wanted to talk to you about it. I'm scared. I'm really...really scared.

[ And she stays there. Just kneeling in front of this little alter. ]

Broadhurst

[alchemistake]

[Varian happens to be passing by when Peregrine is already talking. He can hear her voice, soft through the wall, and ends up stopping just shy out in the hallway. He can't quite hear what she's saying...which is a relief, because the last thing he wants is to be evesdropping on something so personal. He knows exactly where she is without looking in through the door, so he'll wait until her voice goes silent before he tries to enter.

Without saying anything, he'll move to kneel beside Peregrine, looking up at the alter. It's been added to, since it was first built...little objects representing the person who had the idea for it in the first place.]

This ofrenda...it was Connor's idea.

[He starts, quietly.]

He said that it would help guide the others to their spirit home.

deer skins......

[tellthestory]

Oh, is this the...smoking...thing?

[For his part, the Balladeer didn't seem too moved by the motive. He's still a little subdued, but...he'll be okay. What could he even wish for, that wouldn't undo a piece of him?]

[mayavericks]

[Today was business as usual. Workout, eat food, despair at their circumstances. Really, this shouldn't come as a surprise to Maya anymore. She'd been strong for three weeks, had promised to keep their friends united in the face of these motives. They were looking to her for support.

But then, so was Nana, wasn't she?

As it is, Maya only stops in to the meeting briefly, or as brief as she can depending on who tries to stop her. She has information to pass along, important for everyone else. And then she's gone.

It shouldn't be hard to find her, of course. Maya's always in the dance studio, after all. This time, there's a new mannequin to be found, while the other is shredded in the corner. The new mannequin looks like it's on the verge of meeting the same fate, slashed and damaged as it is.

Eventually she does leave. She ducks into the concession stand, digging around until she has a bottle of water. She seems to consider eating for a moment, before deciding against it.

For the rest of the night, she'll be outside. Maybe she's tucked onto the gayseball field, or maybe she's settled on Mumble's bench in the Garden. Either way, she's staring up at the stars.

Maybe you'll even catch her singing]

Oh, bird that signals the break of dawn,
Please stop the clock in this moment
Shooting star that gently goes through the morning, please fall down here
oh, fly me to the star

Hey Mods

[mayavericks]

[Since we're here and looking at the stars, though... uh.

Are they as nonsensical as the Opera House, or...]

The Garden

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus wanders out late in the night, carrying what looks like a plate of ashes and burnt fish bones along with a pair of tap shoes. He makes a beeline for the garden, but stops at the entrance when he hears Maya singing. For a moment he considers turning back, but what was it he said to Peregrine? They needed to be there for each other. No matter what.

He steps in, raising the hand holding the shoes in greeting. He'll wait until she's done with her song, before saying, ]

Evening, Maya. Are you, um. Are you doing all right?

dance studio

[disharmonizes]

[Discord glances at the shredded mannequin in the corner as he walks in, before looking at the one currently being assaulted. He sort of figured this is where she'd be.]

If you're hoping to bend the rules by killing a mannequin, I don't think that'll fly.

garden

[howtheworldwas]

[ Lately, Eurydice's been trying to spend as much time outside as she can. Usually, people don't come this far out here this late, and she's surprised Maya has beat her to it.

She'll sit across from her, on Connor's bench. ]

Beautiful, aren't they?

gayseball field

[tellthestory]

Isn't it pretty?

[Head empty, no experience with having seen stars before! The Balladeer was honestly just kinda wandering, but he approaches Maya when he sees her. Company is always good, isn't it?]