May Event and Intro Log

[magicademymods]

May Event and Intro Log DAWN OF THE FIRST DAY May I Have This Dance? Though Diatu Magicademy has its share of social events, few capture the attention of the student body quite like the Twilight Ball -- that magical once-a-year dance that crosses the change of day into night and is given over entirely to the dance itself. The focus is not on political visitors, rival schools, local government, or hitting up alumni for money; it is entirely about the pleasure that comes from accompanying a charming and attractive person onto the dance floor and cutting the proverbial rug. It is entirely possible the Twilight Ball is beloved because the general student body is aggressively amorous, but no one admits that out loud. With the dance on the horizon, the mission of the day becomes finding a partner -- or asking the prettiest or nicest or most tsundere to the ball before anyone else does. The Sundered are particularly popular by virtue of being new, so students may find themselves fending off invitations or even crowds of people interested in being seen on their arms. Even the younger Sundered have a few people in their age group who'd like to pretend they're just as adult as the older students. To avoid the mob, one strategy is to find someone else in dire straits and agree to be their date, thus giving both of you protection now and then. Another, stranger, vastly more unorthodox strategy is to actually ask someone out legitimately... if you've got the guts. (The third strategy is to go with Headmaster Birony, who has been occasionally heard to bemoan loudly and publicly that she has nobody, HINT HINT. But who could possibly be THAT desperate?) Love Is In The Water Love potions are absolutely, positively, one hundred percent forbidden, on the grounds they tread far too close to the supremely black Curriculum of Dictation. This ultimate and unforgiving ban is every bit as effective as Anastara's rules limiting the speed of carts in the street to a horse's walk. So, yes, there's love potion in the water. Someone spilled an entire bucket in the river. These things happen. Luckily, as diluted as it is, the potion doesn't reach the levels of obsessive compulsion that the worst of them can; a person drinking a unfortunate draught instead simply finds themselves attracted in a weird and sharp sort of way to the first person they lay their eyes on, for a period of about thirty minutes. Diatu Magicademy is an inclusive and progressive institution, and consequently these potions affect and can target all manner of beings, from ducks and wolf-shifters to robots and dragons. They are pretty convenient about failing to bring about really skeevy pairings, though, so don't worry about being Hot For Professor. Special Delivery (aka the Least Embarrassing Prompt, which is a sad state of affairs) A quick, easy, profitable way to make some money this time of year is by delivering messages, packages, parcels, and treats to students who've caught the eye of another. Whether anonymous or gloriously identified, small token of esteem or bristling bundles of roses and chocolates, the population of the Magicademy takes particular delight in letting others know their feelings. Not always positive feelings, either -- glitter-bomb rejections have only recently begun to diminish in popularity, being replaced by Pie-To-The-Face spells. An enterprising student who adds their own spin to this hallowed ceremony of delivery can make bank; singing and performance are popular ways to enhance a message among Valhudor students, and a recent trend finds quartets delivering acapella harmonies to the recipients of love notes. But simple note hauling can still be worth your while... so long as you don't find yourself delivering a creepy confession from a weirdo to one of your dear friends. What are the odds of that happening, though? Research On the Sundered With the arrival of the Sundered come those wizards engaged in research on their presence here, now set to investigate what brought them here and how to get them home. All newly-arrived Sundered students are asked to meet with representatives of the research team, to introduce themselves and relate what they will of their homes. In addition, the team requests samples of blood, hair, and skin -- carefully magically collected, and the researchers will sign in the presence of the Sundered a Glyphed contract that forbids them from using the samples for a purpose they know will be harmful. (They quite understand your reasons to be suspicious of this collection! And they will not compel anyone who refuses even given these conditions.) This month, however, the research team informs its applicants that there is no magic being performed. Instead, they ask you to participate in partnered interviews, in which two Sundered compare their worlds and ask each other questions while the researchers take notes. They explain that they wish to find commonalities and differences between worlds, in the hopes that this will help them identify a larger pattern in how the Sundered were brought here. How is this bad enough to merit earning a reward this month? As it happens, the researchers who sit with the pair have an Intimation Crystal, which shines red every time someone speaks to deceive in its presence. Lie or omit information or cover with half-truths and the interviewer will ask you to go back and try again -- and they encourage you to speak on everything you can. You might end up venturing into dark or unpleasant territory in these interviews... DAWN OF THE SECOND DAY Welp, This Happened A quiet weekend morning is abruptly quiet no longer. With a tumultuous shuddering and an eerie, whistling roar, the first tendril of a far mightier being surges out of a wall on campus, venturing into the cloud-shadowed outdoors for the first time in its existence in this plane. Then, like a cloak shrugged off, the outbuilding it emerged from rises up only to crash to the ground as the Sundered creature rises up to claim it glory. It is a nightmare, a horror. A terrible, indescribable thing as large as a small building —a shapeless agglutination of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of light. For some inexplicable reason, it is colored in bands of purple, black, and gold, and several parts of it sprout white feathers. That's the bad news. The bad news is that this existential threat to reality does not go unnoticed, nor unchallenged. Mere moment after the Sundered creature makes it presence known, a cold wind begins to blow. The temperature abruptly drops thirty degrees, leaving those around in a clammy and miserable chill that feels like they've passed their whole body through one of the ghosts of Makerion Keep. This estimation is not too far wrong, for the pale off-white dragon that emerges from the clouds above is translucent and ethereal, save for the shining eyes of coldest blue that fix on the beast like pinpoints of fire. What a ghost dragon is doing here is anyone's guess, but when it opens its jaw to unleash a withering cone of necrotic energy at the Sundered creature, it demonstrates plainly that it will not brook this interloper on its domain. In other words, Diatu Magicademy is now home to a kaiju fight. That's the bad news. The BAD news is that both these creatures are, by their very nature, incredibly resistant to magic. So even as the professors spill out and split duties of getting students to safety and fending them off, the two beasts barely notice the arcane energy flashing through the air as they begin vigorously brawling. Thank goodness this is a weekend, or else you'd all have some serious trouble getting to class on time. Wonders Await? Diatu Magicademy is open to you in all its glory. But maybe you should deal with that mess first? We're just saying.

Comments

[king_of_egypt]

[Yes, Atem is sure it will be too]

[His words did little to alleviate Yugi's misgivings. Why hadn't he just responded with his usual level of resolve and confidence? Well- he knew why, but it was best left unsaid.] -I'm not really all that familiar with modern dances. [Atem blurted out a little too quickly. If anything he was just grasping on to the first excuse he could muster. It was at least rooted in reality] Outside of some of the movies of your era, and the few times I observed Téa there hasn't been much occasion to familiarize myself with the subject. [If this at least served to divert whatever Yugi must be thinking then it would be sufficient. That choice had already been made]

[It wasn't really like them to have this sort of awkward aura lingering about them. Yugi still wasn't ready to let the subject drop just yet] Of course. [There was really no alternative answer available after the proverbial corner he'd backed himself into.] We'll see. [If he attended. If anything this conversation was having him second guess making an appearance. Other than perpetuating an uneasy tension between himself and Yugi, he didn't really see the merit in it. He could socialize with the other students on other occasions, and it wasn't as if he had never attended a similar social function in his own timeline]

[puzzlers]

[ the longer they talked the worse yugi felt. he could tell atem was uncomfortable and he wasn’t exactly helping the situation any by rambling on about the dance. he swallowed, looking aside and biting his lip to shut himself up. we’ll see. that sounded like a no, but could he really blame atem? there was something else at work here and though yugi had an inkling as to what it could be he didn’t want to make any assumptions. ]

We should... we should talk about this. Not the dance. About... us... [ he looked to his other self and offered an encouraging smile, a hand held out between them, because this wasn’t the place to donit. they needed to go somewhere more private. ] Other me? Please?

[king_of_egypt]

[Apparently his entire spiel about dancing was unconvincing. It was immediately evident from Yugi's body language but the words that followed only served to solidify that assumption. So much for smoothing things over and retreating as swiftly as possible.]

.............. [There was an extended pause that seemed like hours to Atem, but it was only a few seconds in reality. Again, he couldn't really say no] Sure, Yugi. [Us. The word carried more weight than it should have. Tentatively, he reached out and took the others hand letting himself be led off to wherever Yugi selected to have this talk. There wasn't much to be said, was there? The only us that existed, the only us there had ever been was their friendship. Yugi made it abundantly clear that is all it would ever be. Maybe Atem had been a little too complacent in the past, so he could only blame himself for someone else stepping into that gap. He hadn't even really thought it an option until it was too late, so yes- the only one to be blamed for anything was himself. He'd just have to get over it.

Now how could he navigate this talk gracefully?]

[puzzlers]

[ he takes his hand and leads him away to somewhere far away from the immediate school grounds. he doesn't want anybody eavesdropping, since this is their business and their business along. and the word does have a lot of weight. does, as in it still does. yugi had been heartbroken when atem left, but that was what was supposed to happen, right, it's what they worked toward, and he couldn't ask his other self to stay. he never thought he would see him again, and though they shared a brief conversation when he had returned to help him fight the possessed diva. he didn't really think atem was... interested... but he also hadn't said anything. ]

I can tell something's wrong, Other me, so let's talk, please. I don't like having this weird tension in between us.

[king_of_egypt]

[Cough. Well, expect more of the not saying anything. Admitting to it now would only make things more complicated or so Atem assumed. Besides, there wasn't any reason why they should expect this time to really last. They talked about delaying the inevitable but it wouldn't be fair to tread a hopeless path. He couldn't ask Yugi to risk that. So things turned out as they should have, Atem just needed to accept it and move on in some fashion.]

It's nothing I can't handle, Yugi. [He said once they were alone. It likely wasn't as in depth as the slighter smaller boy was hoping for]

[puzzlers]

... [ he looks down at his feet. ] We might not share the same direct connection we had before, but... [ he knows what atem is trying to do, but he's not going to force him to talk about something he clearly doesn't want to talk about. he breathes deeply, letting out a shuddering breath. ] Ok.

[ because what else was he going to say? he'd talk himself in circles before atem felt compelled to tell him anything. wasn't this the problem they had the first time around? some things never change. ] Sorry I dragged you out here. [ his jaw tightens, teeth clenched behind the thin line he wears on his lips. ] I'll see you back at the dorm, ok? Maybe we can do something fun, just us, to... break the mood... [ because this certainly didn't do anything to dispel it. ]

[king_of_egypt]

[If only he had been prepared for that simple little question about the dance, Atem could have spared them this awkward exchange. He thought he'd been managing alright up until this point.] ... but we'll always have a bond between us. [Trying to ensure that to Yugi just as much as to himself] If it was anything- [serious, I'd let you know but he's not able to voice the rest of it] There's no need to be concerned.

[Yugi didn't push it and for that Atem was grateful] There's nothing you need to apologize for. [I'm the one that made things bizarre. He can't bear to see that taut expression on the others features.]

[Maybe he almost stated before he stopped himself. The ambiguity didn't help matters before and it wouldn't now] I'll see you there. [Trying for a warm smile.] Sure. [When Yugi calls attention to the mood, Atem stiffens for a moment] Just- uh.... let's just forget this ever happened. [Then to clarify] You asked me if I would save a dance for you at the ball and I said yes. [More or less. He didn't know how to explain the rest.] I just didn't expect anyone to ask. [Sure. Partially true]

[puzzlers]

I know. [ he says quietly and more to himself than to atem. he should have told atem how he felt before the ceremonial duel and before he had a chance to go. maybe things would have been different. maybe. ]

[ he shakes his head. he has plenty to apologize for. ]

[ when atem tells him to forget this ever happened his stone facade cracks a little bit more, but he's quick to force it back into place. he swallows the negative feelings welling up inside him to give him a tight lipped smile. ] It'll be fun. [ "fun". he doesn't even want to think about the dance now. his smile drops, but his teeth remain clenched as he swallows, giving atem a robotic wave as he turns to leave. ]

[king_of_egypt]

[Perhaps, but it wouldn't do either of them any good trying to run through everything they could have done differently. Things, tended to happen for a reason even if it might not feel like it currently]

[It's only for a moment, but the expression was there highlighting yet another misstep on the pharaoh's part. Neither one of them was likely to forget this conversation anytime soon and by making a request to do just that it was going to have the reverse effect.] Mm, of course it will be. [Feeling some additional pressure to make these words into reality. The tension was still thick and every motion from Yugi seemed to take more effort than it should.]

............... [Atem wanted to say something more, but what? Defeated, he cast his eyes downward and to the side. How could he have been so stupid? He'd made it through the last outing with the three of them hadn't he without arousing any suspicion at that? After Yugi had retreated, and he was alone, Atem moved to the nearest window. He vented his frustration with an audible groan and struck his fists against the window ledge.]