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

[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.

[tellthestory]

Really? That's odd...

[He doesn't know from constellations himself. So - heck, maybe it makes sense, actually?]

Maybe it just didn't seem like the most important thing to research.

[mayavericks]

There's some research done, at least.

[She points to a constellation.]

Orion is there, just in the wrong place. Almost as if someone took the constellations they could remember and just. Splattered them over the sky.

[tellthestory]

Oh...

[He follows where he's pointing, scrutinizing the sky there for a moment.]

Those three in a row?