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

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.]

[fourbutts]

Babe.

[ Don't make deals with sketchy wizards! Janis isn't outraged, but definitely cautious. ]

[disharmonizes]

What a specific and not at all worrying question.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Cassandra doesn't speak. She is intensely trying to not say anything.

She only watches Maya.]

[sugarlumps]

Wish to bring everyone back, duh.

[STOP THINKING SMALL, MAYA]

[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. ]

[howtheworldwas]

[ when hester starts rapping, eurydice shoots a look over to orpheus and raises one eyebrow, very skeptical. ]

[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?

[tailor_made]

[She gives him a sad smile.]

Don't worry about that, Spongebob.

[Good byyyyye~]

[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.]

[samefacesyndrome]

[ The motive... doesn't affect Rina like the one before but she's watching the others and--

Of course she notices him. She's next to him after all.

She whispers quietly to him. ]

...Varian-kun...? Are you okay...?

[brokeforgood]

[He’s not the only one frozen in place. Farrah’s beside him— her arms wrapped around her torso. One hand rests on her shoulder, the other wrapped around her waist, protectively, like she’s hugging herself—- or trying to hold something in.]

[disharmonizes]

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

[yaaaaawn.]

[sugarlumps]

[Just. Kind of. Tosses a mostly-empty can of soda at Discord's head.]

Oh nooooo, Disco's deeeeead I WISH THE WIZARD NEVER EXISTED-!

[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?

[mcfife]

He doesn't grant wishes to just anyone.

He wants to see if any can meet his standards.

[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....]