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]

Oh, it usually depends on the color. [ She points out the darker outside of the hide she's smoking. ] If you want a lighter one, you smoke it for less time...but darker tends to be better because it means it's more durable. I was working on that side for...um...I think about forty minutes? That's what I've found that tends to work well.

[tellthestory]

The lighter ones are pretty, though.

[But yeah, he gets it.]

[comeandfindme]

They're pretty but they gotta be waterproof, Bal!

[ ...She's almost something like...happy. Almost. ]

[tellthestory]

[The Balladeer laughs.]

Hey, don't blame me! I'm practically from a desert!

[How many stage plays involve rain?]

[comeandfindme]

Jeez... [ She keeps herself from smiling. She realizes that, now. If you let yourself feel happy, then—

She gives him a humorless little smirk. ]

It's okay, I'll get you used to the good ol' Midwest eventually.

[tellthestory]

I think I might be modeled after a Midwesterner.

[He smiles - look at his whole thing, his all-American folk singer thing.]

Maybe it'd do me some good.

[comeandfindme]

Hmm. That'd make sense. The flannel... Yeah.

[tellthestory]

I've always been costumed kinda like this. Oh, you should've seen me the first time, when we were off-Broadway - I had these overalls, and a hat. Really looked like I walked out of the Dust Bowl.

[comeandfindme]

It's...weird, you know. To think of like...a different version of you. Did you look the same? ...Do you...think of yourself as the same?

[tellthestory]

No, I didn't. [He runs a hand over his jaw contemplatively, then rubs at the back of his head.] I had longer hair...a different face. Different voice. I don't think I was so skinny.

[He remembers feeling like...well, not like he could win a fight with them, really. He's never really felt like that? But like he could hold his own, if no one brought guns into the equation.]

I remember it - obviously. But I think I was a little different then, not just my face. It's not too uncommon for some things to change, between off-Broadway and Broadway...can't put my finger on it, though. [...] I guess it was still me. It just feels like a really long time ago.

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine doesn't know how to really conceptualize it. It'd be easy if it was just...he was younger. But that's not how it works with him. That's not...the way he works. She listens, but it's clear she doesn't exactly understand.

Maybe she's a little afraid to understand. ]

It's...your version of growing up?

[tellthestory]

...sure, I guess so. Close enough, anyway.

[He suspects it's actually not that similar. But he's no more capable of coming up with a better comparison than Peregrine. Instead of lingering on that, he glances up and down the hall, and then says in a bit of a jokingly conspiratorial tone:]

Hey, you want to know a secret?

[comeandfindme]

[ Huh? Oh, that's a surprise question. A little flabbergasted, Peregrine nods. ]

Uh. Sure, shoot.

[tellthestory]

Don't worry, it's not really that much of a secret.

[He grins; he was just having fun.]

When I saw Spongebob, I realized - I think I might end up looking like him one of these days. Must be a new production on somewhere.

[comeandfindme]

[ Misunderstanding, Peregrine stammers: ]

You- you're gonna look like a sponge?! [ ... ] Wait— wait, you mean. Like. Like he looks...now, here. Oh.

[tellthestory]

[The Balladeer laughs, surprised. Imagine - him, an ocean-based cartoon for kids!]

That would be a really weird adaptation! So inappropriate for children!

[comeandfindme]

I still think of him as the sponge! He's Spongebob, I grew up watching him on TV!

[tellthestory]

I didn't!

[He's still laughing a little.]

...did you though, really? Is he popular?

[comeandfindme]

[ She nods pretty insistently. ]

He's so popular! He's like... I think his show's been running since I was born.

[tellthestory]

Oh, wow.

[His mirth shifts, turns to something gentler. He's happy for Spongebob - being important to people is the most one could ask from an existence like theirs, isn't it?]

That's really nice.

[comeandfindme]

...It is, isn't it? I kinda...stopped watching it when I got older. Thought it was more for kids. But... He's still kind of an icon. You know?

[tellthestory]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Generally, I guess.

[What was someone thinking, bringing a character like that into a thing like this?]

You should tell him that. I think it'd make him happy.

[comeandfindme]

[ don't shame kat, bal ]

Me? Oh, jeez, I think it'd probably come better from, like...Farrah, or something. ...I made him cry like our first week here.

[tellthestory]

[shaaaaaaaaaame!]

All the more reason to tell him then, right? I'm sure he knows you thought we were both...Internet people? The first week?

[That was his one and only takeaway from kinniegate]

[comeandfindme]

[ Completely straight-faced, Peregrine replies: ]

Yes. Yes, that is exactly what I thought.