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

i'm sad how dare you

[mayavericks]

It is, yes.

[She holds her hand up, mirroring an attempt at catching one.]

If you gather a small star,
You will seize a small amount of happiness.
If you gather a large star,
You will seize a large amount of wealth.

If you gather them both,
You will seize an eternal wish.

[She scoffs.]

What a cruel joke.

[tellthestory]

...yeah.

[He hadn't been thinking of the motive, but...yeah. That's a pretty common metaphor. The Balladeer sits down on the grass nearby, watching Maya now.]

At least it wasn't a threat, this time? I'm not sure which one is worse.

[mayavericks]

I don't know. [Her eyes narrow.]

A wish is a chance to grab for power. To change us from this helpless state. On the other hand... Most people will be more inspired to act when something they care about is on the line.

[tellthestory]

There's nothing to be afraid of, if you let something like this pass. Right? It's just a missed opportunity, if anything.

[But then, what does he know? He's seized at opportunity when it was presented to him, but he also felt like it was the only possible thing to do at the time. And it's happened so rarely.]

I don't think the Wizard would accept a wish like..."I wish none of this had ever happened." [...] I wish all of us were still alive. It's almost the same as...traveling back in time to the start of this.

[Which we evidently aren't allowed to do for some reason.]

[mayavericks]

I am sure Woods-san could always tell you that there are loopholes. For example --

[She holds up a finger.]

'I wish that I could win the revues.' Selfish enough, don't you think? But it's within his bounds. And if I win the revue, I can stand on any stage I want.

Perhaps I can stand on his stage. Strike him down before any of this ever happened.

[tellthestory]

[The Balladeer turns to look sidelong at her.]

Do you really think you could? He's got the power to set all of this up - to grant that wish in the first place, hypothetically.

[You know. Hypothetically.]

[mayavericks]

Who can say. But he had the power to bring us all here, right?

[tellthestory]

Yeah. So maybe he's not that easy to kill, either.

[mayavericks]

We have to try, right?

[tellthestory]

We'd all just end up dead, if it didn't work.

[And by "all", he still does mean Maya. She'd just be the last of them to die at the Wizard's hands.]

If we...do have to kill him - [which he seems a bit uneasy about] - there has to be a safer way.

[mayavericks]

I suppose... back to the drawing board, then?

[tellthestory]

I guess.

[...that sure was an interesting thing to bring up out of nowhere, though.]

Maybe this sounds selfish. And - obviously I don't want anyone dead. But I think I'd be sorry to never have met anyone here at all.

[Erasing the death that came with it would be one thing, but stopping it from ever happening at all? That's probably the correct solution, if you had that power, but it still feels like some form of loss.]

[mayavericks]

[She swallows a little harder.]

Peregrine said the same. And I... want to agree. But I think, more than anything, I want to see everyone alive.

And if we played our cards right, we would never know what we lost. Most of us, at least.

[tellthestory]

[He can't entirely disagree. Certainly, seeing everyone alive again would be the better option. If he could know, with certainty, that sacrificing his memories of this would erase everything that happened...]

That seems like a lot for one person to carry.

[mayavericks]

It is... No worse than anything else I have borne over my life.

[tellthestory]

...that doesn't make it better, Maya. Probably makes it kinda worse, actually. You shouldn't have to deal with things like that.

["Like what" yeah he'd love to know what time-travel-type things she's been dealing with too!]

[mayavericks]

Maybe not. But it is the hand I have been dealt. And I will continue to perform as those around me expect me to. I cannot let them down, after all.

[tellthestory]

...Maya.

[The Balladeer straightens to look at her properly, his enjoyment of the stars well and truly faded.]

What are you saying?

[mayavericks]

I have always stood at the top. Until my feet bled. Until I wept. There is no such thing as taking a break. There is no such thing as a day off.

The stage may be different, but the rules here are the same. And so I will bear every punishment this place brings if it means keeping us alive.

[tellthestory]

Hey - you're not living my life. Don't put that on yourself.

[Because he does understand. He's from a show and nothing else, and unlike some others, he knows that full well. Narrators don't get days off or time away. But other people should.]

This whole thing's not just up to you.

[mayavericks]

Someone need to remain strong. The rest of us have been crumbling. And I -- Do not have that luxury. Not even with Nana being gone.

Besides, if I do not remain strong I... fear what I may try to do otherwise.

[tellthestory]

[Frowning, the Balladeer sort of...awkwardly scoots across the grass until he's nearer to Maya.]

...I trust you, Maya. I know you just want to look out for everyone here. You're not...

[.....]

I just think you should look out for yourself, too.

[mayavericks]

[Maya tilts her head upward, studying the man for a quiet moment before tipping her head back down.]

I will... Do what I can.

[tellthestory]

...okay.

[He won't push anymore. Not right now, at least. After a moment longer of watching her, he turns his attention back to the sky.]

Is this anything like the real night sky?

[mayavericks]

Not even close. [Maya laughs faintly.]

Stars, yes, but... There's no rhyme or reason to it. Certainly not something you could navigate by.