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

[comeandfindme]

[ She nods and stands, following him to retrieve the plates and silverware.

As she does, she...quietly asks: ] What do you think'll happen, once we leave this place? Like...if...something bad happened, back home... Do you think we'll just...go right back to that?

[violentenvies]

[Salieri pauses at that, briefly, considering before he sets the pie down on the countertop and moves to get some of that herbal tea] I am...uncertain, truth be told. My own memories are still so fractured and dissonant, with such a time gap in between...I can't help but think that, perhaps, it'll depend more on whenever the last part of our missing memories are. I don't know what else I'm missing, after all. Or what else might come.

[comeandfindme]

[ She listens, like usual, and she takes all that in, as she stares at the plates in her hands. ]

Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. If it’s all jumbled and…longterm. How do you think we’ll know…when the last ones come?

[violentenvies]

I...haven't the foggiest clue, to be honest. I wish I could tell you different.

[he pauses, just as the tea kettle whistles, and he moves to retrieve it, preparing the pot of tea]

...why do you ask?

[comeandfindme]

'Cause... I wanna figure out if mine are...like Farrah's or not.

[violentenvies]

Ah. [he's quiet for a moment as he pours the tea to steep]

I...have no idea how we are receiving our memories, but I imagine it's as much controlled by the Wizard as those pictures are.

[comeandfindme]

So...it could just be...deceptive. Trying to trick us.

[ But it was so cold. The longer she sits with it, the longer the hope she had in the dream fades. ]

[violentenvies]

I would bet on it, even. [he sighs, a little] The Wizard has already shown that he's willing to stoop to any lows...why not use whatever he has to his advantage, including our memories?

[comeandfindme]

It might not be what it looks like. So...we shouldn't be afraid of it. [ It sounds like she's trying to convince herself. ]

[violentenvies]

No, no we shouldn't. [he sounds very certain. Surely he absolutely believes what he's saying??]

The Wizard cares only about achieving his ends, and unfortunately he doesn't care much for how it affects us personally.

[he pauses a moment, finishing off that tea]

Shall we sit?

[comeandfindme]

[ She completely forgot what they were doing, oops. ]

—Right- yes, okay. Let's- let's do that. What kinda tea'd you make?

[violentenvies]

Just some black tea. I thought it would be a nice contrast to the pie. [he'll help bring that tea over to one of the tables, then]

[comeandfindme]

They taste different? [ ...Wait- ] Of course they taste different, I mean— like...does the tea make the pie better, or...?

[ Right now, she just kind of wants to listen to someone tell her about something she doesn't know about. Let it try and cover all the pain. And, Salieri seems very good at that. ]

[violentenvies]

It can, depending on the tea. Different teas can affect how you taste everything else that you're eating, especially depending on the quality of the tea itself.

[comeandfindme]

Huh. Never knew. ...It may shock you, but rural Minnesota isn't exactly a...bastion of tea-drinking culture.

[violentenvies]

Oh? [girl he knows NOTHING about Minnesota]

What's it like, then?

[comeandfindme]

Uhhh. Woodsy?

[ Wait. No— ]

Oh, you mean like. Drinks. It's... [ She grimaces. ] Cheap beer? Like...PBR and Schlitz? I don't drink, like...at all. But. That's what the culture's like.

[violentenvies]

[it is very difficult not to wrinkle his nose when she says the words "cheap beer," but somehow he manages it]

...I see.

Well, unfortunately we are bereft of true tea variety here, but...the more high quality of tea you have, the better it tastes. The leaves have more time to mature and dry, so when they're packaged, they're more fragrant, therefore you have a more depth of flavor.

[comeandfindme]

[ SORRY SALIERI... Peregrine at least has the decency to shrug apologetically. ]

Oh, so it's like...aging? People do something like that for drying foods, usually to make 'em last longer.

[ Even somewhat subdued, she can't help but spit out some fun survivalist facts. ]

[violentenvies]

That's it exactly. Young tea does have a distinctive flavor to be sure, but it's so mild that there aren't many that enjoy it, much less have access to it.

Once the tea is aged, it very much starts to take on its own distinctive flavor.

[comeandfindme]

That's how it's s'pposed to be with alcohol too, right? Huh... Weird that some food and drink need time to really develop and some you have to take care of fast.