Fantasy ; 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐓 𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐘.

[birth of venus]

OUR LADY WOLLSTONECRAFT ACADEMY.

gm'ed by
venus & erzulie

 

[birth of venus]

WSC

CH. 1: SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE.

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Dreary skies open their tears to a newly reopened campus, and in the distance, professors at each cardinal point of campus collect the first autumn rain of their fall semester in order to cleanse and renew. It seems more protective measures have begun in earnest - doorways lay with freshly painted seals above their thresholds, lines of salt found further out towards the campus boundaries, and newly reinforced gates as well. A new semester at Our Lady Wollstonecraft Academy has begun, and to those with a keen eye something is amiss.

The typical motions of a new school year had gone underway, curious to those unused to the strange happenings at the university and routinely normal for others. Though the gates were obviously much newer and freshly painted, they creaked all the same as they opened to allow students back for their next year. Students from all corners of the world were chewed up and spat out through wormholes after following the increasingly confusing instructions of the brochure sent to them, and dropped into a deep fog that emerged at the very entrance of the school. The cobblestone path was well worn from the trek each year, returning and new folks making their way across campus to the dormitories for move in week. Around campus, banners painted with the words 'WELCOME BACK DELICIOUS STUDENTS!' and streamers decorated the entrances of buildings.

Though the campus remains as intangible as ever, with no physical location to bind it to the world, a strange new air has surrounded the grounds. Upon their first day students received explicit instructions from both faculty and their dorm RAs of the new school boundaries, now forbidding access to the southern portion of the forest and beyond the lake. It seems to have carved a bit into the large sports fields around the eastern front as well, forcing campus to be just a bit more trim, reducing space for students to wander. Around campus as the semester commences, students are warned that they may see peculiar happenings, such as the constant movement of classroom locations, doors unable to be opened, wailing from the spires and watchtowers. The magic holding everything up isn't failing per se, but something seems. . . off. Even now, a month into the school year, some of the homecoming decorations remain as a reminder.

As October rolls in with autumn equinox and a promised Harvest Festival after their first exams of the school year, a curious invitation will arrive to some students in the form of a small tied scroll. Though the school enjoys its usage of flighty, elusive brochures, it seems this invitation is from another student, singed at the edges. Upon opening, a puff of smoke is let off, and the invitation reads as follows: DEVIL'S NIGHT DUNGEON PARTY AND COSTUME CONTEST. BYOB, 11PM, DM @BICHOTAJUDE TO RSVP.

And in the distance,

A head of dark curls rushes through the dense forests outside of Wollstonecraft. Hands touch a barrier that does not appear to be there, and with little resistance, a scarred hand pushes through into the beyond.

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[birth of venus]

jude rivera-carvajal.

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The new semester was a fucking sham if you asked Jude.

The incident had happened exactly a year ago. That's what the administration had called it - "the incident" - sanitized, purposefully vague. Jude had warned them, tried to tell them what to expect. A wild animal thrown into polite society after years of isolation would be a recipe for disaster. They were so insistent that she would do just fine, so ready to put faith into them when they knew she was undeserving of it. Something unexplainable had happened, something they had never experienced before, had made them snap. One moment, she had been sitting alone and eating lunch, the next, a group of friends approached and cornered them. Jude wasn't sure if it was a survival instinct triggered at the wrong moment, or if he really did smell as good as he tasted.

Jude was out of their seat, canines digging into the flesh of a classmate's shoulder, relishing in a taste they had deprived themself of for a decade.

The memory following that moment was of them sitting in the Dean's office, deciding her fate with the school before the beginning of this year's fall semester.

The Dean let out a tense breath.

"Ms-"

"Not that,"

Jude cut in.

"Mr.?"

She offered, but received a shake of the head.

"Not that either,"

The Dean sighed once again to strengthen her patience.

"Juandalynn,"

She began again, despite the disgusted curl of Jude's nose at their full name, yuck.

"If you're going to continue living on campus with us, I would appreciate if you would tone down your arson just a bit."

Vivetta Montgomery's words were laced with only a bit of amusement, but her furrowed brow and thin lipped smile left Jude feeling a bit unsettled. Looking at Dean Montgomery evoked the same feeling as viewing a painting — when you looked away, their eyes would follow. Jude shifted in the uncomfortable seat before the Dean's desk, the scratchy upholstery and stiff back only adding onto their growing anxiety.

"I'm not sure what you mean ma'am, I've been good like, all summer."

That was a big fat lie. Jude was restless and hated being cooped up with little to do and with such mounting anxiety and upset at what she had done. Though, the small fire in the gardening club's prissy flower patch was actually an accident. They had been out behind the school to have a secret smoke, and their joint flame when they flicked it away.

"You and I both know that's not true,"

The dean sat up straighter, laced her fingers together on the desk's surface.

"You live life on the offensive more often than naught, and I don't mean this as a threat, Mx. Carvajal. But, I have eyes around my school to ensure the safety of my students. Incidents like this only pile up in your ever-growing disciplinary file. If that continues, then we will be having a much more serious discussion about your future here at Wollstonecraft."

Jude's eyebrow twitched, but they tried their damned hardest to keep a straight face. That disciplinary file was becoming the bane of their existence - only god knew how many they had accumulated over the years of 5 or 6 different high school expulsions - but the thought was stuck in their head, a nagging worry that persisted for the rest of that week. Jude wanted to read its contents, wanted to get rid of whatever they had.

The following Monday, an exact week before classes started, Jude found themself standing outside the Dean's office with bobby pins in hand, a bookbag over her shoulder, and a nervous kick in their chest. One of the teacher's assistants had let it slip that there was a faculty meeting that morning. The timing would be close. The dark shadows of the faculty building bore down on their fear as Jude rushed to complete their task, a task that could easily result in their expulsion. But a life on the edge was better than no life at all, in their opinion. Her warm hands bent the thin metal of the bobby pins easily, making a pick and lever to slowly but surely pick the lock of the dean's office door.

Shaking hands nearly ruined the entire gambit, but a soft click was all they needed to open the heavy wooden door. The only sounds in the space were Jude's heavy, stuttering breaths as the gravity of what they were doing continued to mount. The door quietly clicked open and Jude let out a long, smoky sigh, tiptoed inside, and closed the door as quietly as they could.

The dean's office was as one would expect; all dark wood furniture, the herringbone floor decorated with tacky old carpet, the curtains dusty, the lighting dim. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves made the space feel smaller, an enclosure that pressed further and further into the stale air. They peered through the shelves and tried the handles of the filing cabinets behind the dean's desk. Almost nothing was labeled, which, what the hell, Jude thought, even I label my school notebooks, what a freak. The filing cabinets were locked, and Jude wasn't sure they wanted to waste time just yet trying to jimmy those locks, so they turned their attention to the drawers of Ms. Montgomery's large desk.

The contents of each drawer were meticulously organized, which didn't surprise Jude in the least. They knew Cecilia, the Dean's daughter, was an absolute neat freak. They had been lab partners once. Of course she must've gotten it from her mother. A couple minutes of carefully looking through each folder and file and the redhead was slowly becoming more and more frustrated. It must've been in the filing cabinet, but they were running out of time. Should've just went for that first, dumbass. Jude pulled open the next drawer a bit too roughly, and the contents inside jumbled and spilled from the force of it. In a moment, their worldview was shifted violently.

A familiar face caught their eye from a Polaroid picture on the floor, and the cherufe felt dread drop heavy like lead in her chest. They were staring down at the image of their feeble father, a photo of Jude at his bedside spoonfeeding him his medicine. Jude didn't think in that moment, only tore through the drawer, finding more and more photos, some Polaroids, some crisp prints in high quality, some weathered and older than imaginable. Familiar faces of students, moments of their lives captured, of their worst times, of their best times, collected and conveniently filed away. Jude found all four of their photos and almost burned them with the touch of their hands, pure anger and fear boiling in her. In that moment, whatever safety and security she had felt in Wollstonecraft, in a place they had considered a new home, was gone. There wasn't much time left, and so they shoved as many pictures as they could into their backpack, grabbing the most familiar ones, the ones that they knew she'd have to tell. The faces of their fellow peers stared up at them from the bottom of their old bookbag, and Jude choked back a sudden sob. What the fuck even is this? Why would she have this?

The photos sat in the back of their hidden drawer for the next month. Like the Telltale Heart, it called to her at night and ate away at their thoughts throughout the day. Each day, Jude locked the door of their dorm, sat on the floor, and spread the photos out. It seemed there was four photographs to a student, and so they went through each one meticulously, organizing them into little piles. Each student's pictures were paperclipped together and hidden away, until they finally organized everything they had. And there it stayed, well into the first month of school. Jude had no idea how to tell anybody, how to breach the subject of something so odd and awful. And, there was the fact that Ms. Montgomery did have eyes everywhere. It was something they couldn't just talk about in the middle of study hall, or in the dining area, or in the dorms. Jude needed privacy, away from prying eyes. Something to alleviate this newfound madness that was beginning to haunt behind their eyelids, a severe secret that they had no idea who to tell about.

What hurt deeply was that it didn't take long for Jude to fall in love with the place, before the incident and before their discoveries. It was hard not to - on campus, and in Blackcreek, the need to hide was gone. As long as they kept their abilities in check, Jude could live freely without fear, and it was like the warmth of sun on their skin after a long bitter winter.

That newfound freedom and trust was the first of many building blocks that helped convince Jude to continue school into their second year. Sure, she wasn't the shining example of perfect behavior, but it was clear that the cherufe needed direction in life that wasn't a path to self destruction. If it didn't work out, hey, at least they could say they gave it the good ol' college try. Thinking back on it now makes Jude's stomach turn.

But the semester now was going well, by the cherufe's standards. So far, they had only gotten in two fights and hadn't even started either of them! Exemplary behavior if you asked her. The videos were already viral, mainly because their fights were just a damn sight to behold. Fuck could she fight, and both times, their opponent was left laid out on the school's front lawn. Since they had been defending themself (and Jude happily "defended themself" with a bloody smile and an adrenaline rush), the disciplinary actions weren't serious. The semester went off without a hitch after spending a few months in Blackcreek and acclimating, and now the punk was crazy with some kind of cabin fever. The burning of knowledge, the need for distraction. Their fingers itched to do something fun.

Party planning had gone much smoother with the help of Silas, who had begrudgingly joined them for an escapade in Blackcreek only last weekend in search of a proper hidden spot. Jude dragged the witchboy through the streets of their strange sister town, and it was only as the sun went down did they find their perfect venue. A ways off from the main town square were abandoned buildings, possibly old factories or some kind of manufacturer, who had repurposed the expansive basements into something far more sinister. It could only be described as a dungeon, rusty chains hanging from musty brick, choked with cobwebs and old rotted wooden boards, contraptions that had been used long before they were born. Jude had clapped Silas on the shoulder and smiled with teeth, canines at the ready.

"It's fuckin' perfect, we'll send out the invites this week!"

And now, days later, the cherufe sat at the outskirts of their outdoor dining area of the cafeteria. A bone splinter bobbed between their teeth, picking out their day's lunch and second helpings.

"What the hell do you not understand about 'byob', read the fuckin' post..."

They grumbled at their phone, answering texts inquiring about the party with a leisurely pace. With each day growing closer their anxiety came in waves, waning and then crashing in all at once. Should they reveal the photos at their party? After the party, get everyone all buttered up first, soften the punch? Should she burn them? As the thoughts circled, Jude bit into another leftover bone and cracked it with their teeth easily, their mounting frustration evident with each exhale of smoke.

come here

dominic fike

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[noxrequiem]

silas bishop.

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  Jude ( birth of venus ) // open to all.
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

Wollstonecraft Academy was a strange place; the strangest place Silas Bishop had been, at least.

The previous year had been Silas’ first at the university, and at the time his greatest foray into the true world of the supernatural. He had adapted quickly, unfazed by the strange, new reality he had found himself in. In fact, one could say he even thrived; It took little effort before he made it to the top in every single one of his classes. But academics aren’t the number one important thing here, no not really; not when Wollstonecraft herself is right there. The school was filled with secrets and mysteries, esoteric and otherwise. Someone with Silas’ unending appetite for knowledge would never go hungry in such a place.

Much of his freshman year had been spent poking around campus, uncovering long-forgotten hidden places dotted across the expansive architecture and diving into hours of research into the school’s history. Anything considered “forbidden” or “off-limits” was of particular interest, and he knew how to tread the line in just a way that he never truly got into trouble. The warlock had become the bane of Wollstonecraft Academy’s staff in record speed. And this year, he had every intention of continuing his investigations, regardless of potential consequence. He would simply not be stopped.

But something was undeniably off. It was obvious from the very start of the semester.

Silas hadn’t needed the warnings of the faculty to take notice of the strange–well, stranger–happenings on campus. He could feel it in the air, brittle as glass. Lightning on the verge of striking. The sensation excited him, and set him on edge. A spinechill. Something was amiss. Something was interfering with the school’s magics. It was a primal need to know what.

That’s what had brought the warlock here. Deep in the thick of the forest, on the furthest southeast reaches that students were permitted to wander.

The crunch of dead leaves under his boots had been nearly inaudible; he seemed to move with an inhuman capability for stealth. In the young man’s hands was a leatherbound journal, in which he scrawled furiously with a pen. Silas was mapping out the forest in meticulous detail, taking special note of the placement of the salt lines and other protective measurements at this year’s newly-defined barrier. He stared deeper into the woods, almost longingly. He was far away from any trails (also plotted onto his map with care), so the risk of running into another living creature was low. All the same, he didn’t dare to step over the barrier. Not yet. He was certain there was more to it than salts and wards, probably something that would notify staff if something crossed over it, and until he uncovered what else was hidden here and how to counteract it, he wouldn’t try.

With a loud, resigned sigh he shut the book with a loud snap before tucking it away in his inner coat pocket. He had done what he had come here to do. For now. That, and…

Not too far from here, there was an ancient oak tree nestled in amongst the rest of the trees. Tangled beneath its roots was an old fox den, now long-since abandoned. Silas’ latest ‘project’ was hidden inside: a magic sigil carved into the earth with immense care and precision. A new spell he had been working on for a while now, this was only one of a few hidden throughout Wollstonecraft’s sprawling campus. It was a portal of sorts; Silas could channel his energy into it, and travel between the various locations marked by its symbol.

It had been exhausting and painstaking to set up, but hopefully it would eventually pay off quite nicely. A new tool in his arsenal of investigation, it was meant to get him around without notice; circumventing a few of the risks and challenges that came with getting out here. He checked it one last time, satisfied that it was up-to-code and hidden away from prying eyes.

It was time to get heading back to campus now. Best to make an appearance before anyone got too suspicious.

✦✦✦
​

"Someone looks like they're thinking hard. That's always dangerous." A dark, velvet voice teased from behind Jude. Silas took a seat without invitation, sliding easily into the spot next to the cherufe.

A moment later, Nyx descended from the skies in a fluttering of ink-blank feathers. She let out the softest of caws, tapping her beak against the table and puffing out her feathers, demanding tribute in the form of scritches. Silas absentmindedly scratched the top of the bird's head as he turned to Jude. "Your party is in a few days. How goes the planning? I assume people are being predictably obnoxious." He said, more of a statement and less of a question as he tilted his head towards her buzzing phone with a raised brow.

Slender fingers on his free hand anxiously tapped against the smooth table top, his mind inevitably straying back to the off energy at the forest's barrier, despite the present conversation.

come here

dominic fike

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[harmonic_melody]

location?
idk.
interactions?
jude (birth of venus), silas (https://www.rpnation.com/members/noxrequiem.74590/), open
mood?
bored & curious.

monroe gray versie

This semester was going smoothly, almost too smoothly. Not that he'd complain too much.

Monroe spent most of his previous semesters at Wollstonecraft Academy observing. Students mostly, sometimes faculty if he got the chance. He absorbed every piece of information he could gleam without a conversation: body language, mysterious habits, etc. Anything to give him a leg up in a future interaction. He knew his presence, even when watching others, came off as intimidating or perhaps infuriating depending on the creature.

Which was exactly what he found himself doing now. His pen glided across a piece of paper in his leather-bound journal as he stole a glance or two at Jude and Silas. If it was by the cover of night, he might've eavesdropped on the conversation, but alas, most creatures lived by the daylight. There was only so much time he could spend leaning against a wall in the distance before the glances became suspicious.

He closed the journal in his hand and slipped it into his messenger bag before he walked over to the table. "Well, well, if it isn't my two favorites." He punctuated his sentence with the click of his pen. An opening line he used with most he came to annoy as he leaned over Silas. Barely outside of his personal space. He made a mental note of his anxious tapping; Monroe watched him well enough to know it wasn't about anything academic.

"Can't wait for the party," his voice dripped with mischief and he moved to sit across from Jude. "I wonder which of the new kids will make fools of themselves this time." He winked at the cherufe, a purposeful jab at their somewhat explosive nature. It'd be a miracle if no fights took place, but there was something in the air. He could almost taste it. Monroe was attracted to drama like a moth to the flame. Any chance for him to either create some or witness some wasn't something he planned to miss.

yes, to err is human, so don't be one

coded by incandescent

 

[azuris]

Neilina

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AURORA

Runaway

“Everything is going to be okay."

If she said it enough times Neilina thought she might actually start to believe it. Classes had been in full swing for about a month, but this was Neilina’s first proper day in classes. There would be no recordings of lectures or sneaking into dining halls when no one was around. Neilina was now required to attend classes, eat meals in the dining hall, and try to socialize with people outside of the Druantia dorms. It was not really like she had a choice of course, the professors and the dean had made it clear that while they understood that Neilina had been processing a traumatic event in her freshmen year, they could not support her developing unhealthy patterns of behavior.

The anniversary of the accident that killed her parents had been a bit of a setback in the spring semester and Neilina had been allowed to depart from the school on a leave of absence for the summer to sort out the remaining details since their passing. As she smoothed out her skirt for the hundredth time in front of the mirror, she reflected on how she had barely made it out of the gates of Wollstonecraft before she was standing back on the Shetlands.
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At first, Neilina maintained her routine from the spring semester. She barely ate, mostly slept, and occasionally showered. Being in the house only heightened her devastation, every corner of it held a memory of her parents. She continued to ignore the calls from the estate lawyer, distant family members, and even from her friends; what few she had left anyway.
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Neilina wondered now as she remembered that summer if she would ever understand what got her out of bed.
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Whatever the cause may be, one night in the middle of July when the full moon was shining into her bedroom, Neilina tossed and turned and finally gave up on sleeping. She peered out the window for a while, watching the waves ebb and flow, reaching out to grasp the sandy shores before retreating. It was not like she was lulled into a trance, but she felt a pull she had almost forgotten. The last time she had been in the sea she had swam through it so violently twisting and turning and screaming though no sound came. She missed feeling at peace in it.

Neilina turned away from the window and went to her suitcase, she tossed all of her clothes out making her way to the bottom of the case. There she found her furs. She clutched them to her face, burrowing her head into them. That night she swam with the other selkies that lived on the various islands off the mainland. During that evening as they stayed together and watched the sunrise Neilina realized through this community and her heritage she would always be close to her parents.

“Now Ms. Fairbairn, it would seem that there are no other living relatives that could challenge the last will,"

Mr. MacIntyre drawled as he scanned the document. A month later things had improved somewhat. Neilina was doing her best to pay attention but her mind felt miles away. In her hands was a small golden necklace, a lone pearl dangling from the end. It had been her mother's, a gift from Neilina’s grandparents when Ina graduated high school. It felt like a lead weight in her hands as she silently stroked the pearl with her thumb. Every time she tried to comprehend the level of detail and formality that had gone into managing her parents' estate she got so overwhelmed it was almost as if by force she began to daydream about swimming in the sea again.

They do not teach you in high school how to manage an estate at the ripe old age of nineteen.

“Therefore I am inclined to consider this matter closed. You will inherit your parent's house and land alongside the financial inheritance."

That was it. Neilina heaved a deep sigh and nodded, managing a small smile to convey that she was not bored and was indeed grateful to her parents and Mr. MacIntyre for explaining the details of the will so thoroughly. She signed the documents that had been waiting for her since last spring. Afterward, Mr. MacIntyre walked Neilina through the process of arranging for her parents' funeral as well as payment for his services and other innumerable adults that had come in and out of her life just as quickly all while she had frantically worked to figure out how exactly one transfers a deed and estate taxes.

For once Neilina had realized how lucky she was, growing up on such a remote island. The tight-knit community had joined together to help out. She had been sure to mail letters to her parent’s closest friends, Maeve and Will, letting them know she was okay and away at school. They had handled cremating her parents and reached out to others to help with keeping the house in order and tending to the sheep. When the funeral arrived Maeve and Will were by Neilina’s side helping her get through the line of people wishing her condolences. They were the ones who cooked her meals to get by until she mustered up the courage to start doing things herself.

By mid-August Neilina finally called them up and met them at the age of the island, they sat and talked for hours about her parents. When the sun began to set, the sky morphed into a beautiful mix of reds, oranges, and purples and this was the moment they brought her parent's ashes to the water. They each took turns throwing handfuls into the water before gently pouring the rest out, watching as the water carried them out to the horizon. A small tear slid down Neilina’s cheek when she noticed the heads of seals poking out of the water, the others had not forgotten her or her mother.

At the end of September Neilina had started all of her coursework at the house and was back on track to finish her studies alongside her classmates. She signed a lease for a storage unit closer to Aberdeen and began shipping items she wanted to keep there. Everything else was sold or donated. She tried to give the house to her parent’s friends but they refused, instead buying it from her at a fair price. They planned to let their son and his girlfriend rent it from them when they graduated from college, it was bittersweet knowing that she would never return but the house would be filled with love again.

It had been so different the morning that she returned to Our Lady Wollstonecraft. It was early on a Sunday morning, the first week of October and Neilina’s first week back on campus. She had felt almost excited. The way she anticipated she should have felt entering her first semester. It had been a perfect day to return, the crisp air and morning fogs rolled over the lake and through the cobbled streets of Black Creek. Neilina had returned to campus with multiple suitcases and smaller bags in both arms. Neilina spent the day decorating her room and settling in. She promised herself she would go to parties, make friends, and return to a sense of normalcy she had been missing for over a year.
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Neilina studied her face in the mirror one last time, her lashes were lightly curled and darkened with mascara. Her cheekbones were slightly flushed after an application of blush. She straightened her white collar for the last time and twirled the loose curls framing her face. Enough primping, she thought to herself, you are going to be late. She turned away from the mirror. Her books were piled on top of her bedspread and she gently placed the ones she needed for the day in her backpack before putting away the others. Neilina took a final look around the room as she stood by the door. A little flutter of anxiety in the pit of her stomach told her to ditch and stay but she knew that she was going to have to get over this fear of the outside world eventually. Best to do it now while she was still young.

The first half of the day had gone mostly smoothly no major stares or whispers. Neilina had even managed to see Brinn in passing though it was too brief for a proper catch-up. Lunch went well too, Neilina had sat with some loose acquaintances and it was promising enough that she thought about following up to see if they wanted to spend a day in Black Creek together over the weekend.

Suffice it to say Neilina was in high spirits as she left the cafeteria and walked towards the outside patio where tables and chairs sat for meals to be taken al fresco. Neilina clutched her books to her chest and admittedly was not paying as much attention as she normally would while walking, too proud of herself for her efforts at socializing.

Therefore it was understandable that she missed two students careening towards her. The student closest to her knocked into her at full force, his shoulder landing against her throat. She spun around almost cartoonishly, dropping her book, before catching herself on the closest table to where she stood.

“I’m so sorry!"

she exclaimed breathlessly before looking up.

Oh shit. Neilina thought as her eyes registered Jude, Silas, and Monroe.

So much for successful socializing.

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[faeriehollow]

matthew manning.

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  mood

  
  
  
  

  curious & distracted.
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  outfit

  
  
  
  

  plaid shirt, jeans, & black docs.
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
• 
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  location

  
  
  
  

  outside patio; cafeteria.
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
• 
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  interactions

  
  
  
  

  open to all!
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

Wollstonecraft Academy was an interesting place, to say the least. Matthew felt his perspective had widened in a very very short time. As much as he had dealt with his moth problem for the majority of his life, that didn’t mean he was exactly familiar with all of this supernatural stuff. He did some of his own research on the supernatural, but those were mainly theories or folklore. Even if the details were close, it wasn’t the same as actually meeting others. However, he was doing his best to learn.

So far, his adjustment has been decent. The rooms were as comfortable as they could be, he thinks his roommate might not hate him, and his classes have never been more interesting. Now he wouldn’t say that he has any close friends yet, but hey, there was still the rest of the year for that. He was still talking to people and even an extrovert adopted him, so overall pretty solid. Another perk is hopefully his parents would be proud that he decided to pursue post-secondary school.

He sat in the cafeteria at a table with his nose in a book. This tended to be a familiar way to find the boy around campus. Instead of reading, however, Matthew ended up getting distracted by the conversation happening a few tables away from him. From what he heard, it seemed there was a party going on. He’d have to mention it to Maeve if she didn’t already know. He glanced up as he heard a bit of commotion, seeing Neilina had bumped into one of the others. As much as Matthew tended to stay out of conflict, he would be ready to step in if needed.

roddy

djo

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Lycanious]

brinn.

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  mood

  
  
  
  

  apprehensive, alert
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  outfit

  
  
  
  

  grey jacket with black shirt & pants
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  location

  
  
  
  

  outside seating of cafeteria
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
• 
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  interactions

  
  
  
  

  open to all
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

Brinn's first year at the academy had been, in his opinion, a rather uneventful one. He preferred to keep his head down in the studies that had been offered to him and did his best to avoid the hustle and bustle of fellow students around him. Granted, he'd still been dragged into one or two small, unnoteworthy conflicts for one reason or another. But in Brinn's defense, he hadn't been the one to start it, merely to bring it to a swift end when someone decided it had been a good idea to yank on the tail of a kelpie minding its business. He could have done a lot worse. Would have, perhaps, if not for the quick intervention by another student to convince Brinn to let the matter go.

Otherwise, though, Brinn couldn't really recall much in the way of other incidences or interesting events. Those tended to happen at social gatherings and parties after all, neither of which the kelpie was generally privy to. Those seemed to require a 'phone', after all, some odd little piece of modern technology that Brinn had been gifted but was still too embarrassed to admit he didn't know how to use yet.

This lack of thrilling tales however was by no means a disappointment to the kelpie. Indeed, it was something of a relief, as novel as the concept had been to Brinn at the time. It was hard to describe to others how the feeling of a sleeping in a soft, warm bed for once had been one of his yearly highlights, after all. Alongside of simply just having food available to him wherever, and whenever, he felt like eating it. Gone were the days of begging for scraps or waiting around at the bottom of a lake for multiple days on end, hoping that at some point a meal-worthy stag would make the mistake of drinking from the surface edge.

Nonetheless Brinn still preferred to eat with their back to the wall, pointed ears pricked forward for any signs of concern as he picked apart his meal. He still wasn't quite used to crowds of people, especially when it involved a more vulnerable, distracting sort of task as eating. But he found if he nestled himself into a corner, where no one could sneak up unexpectedly on him, that he could keep the prickle of anxiety aside long enough to get some enjoyment out of his meal.

It was this logic that saw Brinn taking a seat in what was slowly becoming his usual haunt in the cafeteria, a quiet table sat upon the edge of the patio. Up above he found that it was currently overlooked by the imposing presence of a large, stone statue that Brinn didn't recall seeing at all last year. Though he'd never met a gargoyle before, he'd heard tales of them in the past. Briefly his eyes flickered over to it, contemplating the stern expression and the faint snarl tugging at it's lips. Yep. Most likely a gargoyle. He concluded, and briefly he mused over what that would mean for if anyone attempted to start a fight of some kind beneath the creature's watchful eye before he returned his focus to his meal.

Though far from the only carnivorous being to ever grace the halls of the academy Brinn had to admit he was probably one of the messier ones. His preference for huge, raw chunks of venison did not make for a particularly delicate meal, after all, especially when this example was still fresh off the bone. Serrated fangs tore another mouthful from the joint clenched tightly in his hands, his eyes still darting upwards every few seconds to continue to survey his surroundings. Brinn always ate like he thought it would be his last meal, and was known to have snapped at people in the past for touching or trying to move said food away from him in some way. It was perhaps for this reason that he often found himself lingering in or by the cafeteria on his lonesome, save for perhaps the occasional appearance from one or two individuals that had slowly been earning his trust over the past year.

One such individual was Neilina, a selkie who had joined the academy in the same year that Brinn had been admitted. Brinn recalled that her first year within its walls had been a...rough year, to say the least of the matter. It wasn't as if Brinn couldn't empathise at all with her situation. In some ways, the kelpie found them to be quite similar. But Brinn's memories of his parents were fuzzy at best nowadays. He'd forgotten their faces long ago, alongside of that of his sibling. Brinn shared the same loss with Neilina, technically, but it had always felt wrong to claim as such when he hadn't had to take time out of a semester just to heal back to some semblance of functionality again from it.

He'd been sat on a chair in a too-bright office once and been told that he'd never been given the chance to mourn. That at some point the fear that he'd fall asleep one night and end up back there bereft of half of his soul would subside, and it would give him time to actually think about all that he'd been through and react accordingly. But Brinn had scoffed at the notion back then, and still found it to be an implausible one right now. There were others within the walls of the academy who had gone through far worse, surely, judging from just the nature of their creation alone. And they continued on. They thrived. So Brinn had vowed to likewise push it all behind him this year and start anew.

Still, that wasn't to say that he held Neilina to the same calloused expectations he held for himself. He was not so devoid nor embarrassed by a display of emotions to admit that he had been relieved to briefly spot her in passing, and happy to see her return to the academy. He planned to ask her how she was doing, eventually, once he figured out the best way to ask such a question without dredging up everything back to the surface immediately.

It was her sudden voice that he recognised, flustered with a startled apology, that prompted his head to snap up from his meal.

Green eyes honed in on a cluster of fellow students by the cafeteria entrance, the horizontal slits for pupils narrowing slightly as he contemplated the less familiar identities that Neilina had presumably just bumped into. Brinn for the most-part tended to be avoidant of those he didn't know well, so he didn't hold a long, extensive list of interactions to lament over with anyone he could see within the cluster. He'd heard a few rumours and stories, though, mainly about the warlock. Silas was his name, if Brinn recalled correctly. Likewise, he knew the other two to be Monroe and Jude. Brinn however had never regarded anyone of the trio to be quite of the same ilk as himself. Certainly not, if they were throwing wild late-night parties instead of enjoying a quiet evening by the shore of a lake. Brinn as of now had no plans to attend, but he half-suspected he wasn't really invited to the event anyway. He probably needed to have one of those 'phones', after all.

Brinn's head tilted to the side, a plume of mist escaping from his nostrils as he contemplated the group across from him. From the angle he sat he was currently situated behind the gossiping trio, but with a faint twirl of his hand he hoped to briefly catch the attention of Neilina if she could break eye contact with them for a moment. Brinn then started to gesture towards the group, silently questioning her over whether she wanted him to make his way over or not to even out the numbers a little.

cry for love

백현

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[KingofAesir]

cirila voronin.

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  mood

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  out of place, unendingly curious.
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
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  outfit

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  linen, more linen and oh, where are this girl's shoes?
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
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  location

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  outdoor seating.
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
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  interactions

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  neilina azuris .
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

It was almost irreconcilably strange being in this place. At least, being so close to anything that was not an animal or the trees. The forest itself wasn’t so different. Cirila had decided that most of her time that was not taken up by the various classes or whatever else a school would have for her—she was still not entirely certain she understood everything about this place—would be spent here. The buildings, the people, the hum of activity were all so foreign, like she had stepped into a world made of different air. As much as she liked having an actual bedroom with an actual bed and even a roommate to boot, she could only stand the distance so long. Also, she was quite certain her roommate would be a challenge, so it felt like a reprieve for the both of them if she was often gone. She still needed practice in the vein of socializing, after all. The trees were not great conversationalists, but they were excellent listeners, and that counted for something.

Cirila had become familiar with the lands surrounding the school quite quickly. She was proud and perhaps a little relieved that she could still feel the veins of the land spreading out under her feet. The myriad sounds of animals thrumming in her ears were a comfort. What was not a comfort were the sounds of people that often accompanied them not. Every awkward, clumsy, or otherwise uncaring step someone took felt like boiled water rising her throat. The way they moved, so loud and oblivious to the world beneath their feet, made her wonder if she would ever grow used to this. She would need to get over this; she knew the school forest was not hers, and she had nothing to protect her. There were those, of course, that did not draw that overprotective fire out of her. She found that the nymphs and sirens and other such associated creatures of the land felt just as familiar as any animal, which was fortunate, she supposed. Otherwise, she might be quite miserable.

But, as comfortable as she was with what was allowed, Cirila had never been very good at following rules. They had burned her for that very reason, after all. So the rules would have to forgive her for treading so close to that which was forbidden, and tread she did. The tension between her curiosity and her wariness had become almost constant. She was at the very edge of the southern part of the forest, toeing the protective salt line with every sense she had turned out beyond it. Cirila would admit to being curious about the why of it all. She could gather that this was a recent development, and heaven curse her she wanted to know what the reason was. There was something different there, a niggling on the edge of her mind, like the tugging of a memory that you can’t quite recall, or the feeling that tells an animal of prey to run. If she could just get closer, she pitched forward, and—leaves crunching softly and the snap of a book closing somewhere behind her startled her away from the salt. She’s gone with the beat of a bird’s wings.

Cirila sees the boy with a journal clutched in his hands just as she crests the treeline. She does not stay to watch him any further. There was still so much about this place, these people, that she did not know—yet a part of her wanted to. Hunger calls.

Eating with other people present is also a new thing. Cirila does not even remember the last time she sat around a table with a fork and knife and conversation. It felt odd, almost performative, like a ritual she had forgotten but was expected to know by heart. Perhaps this is why she struggles mightily with the decision of where to sit at all. She sees the wild red curls of Jude’s hair but does not think her intrusion would be wanted. Besides, she is mostly certain that one of the dark-headed boys sitting with her is the one who had unknowingly startled her earlier, and she does not—

A girl goes tumbling into the table before Cirila can finish that thought, and she finds that her feet move without any sort of permission from her.

What possessed her, she will never know.

“Are you quite alright?” The strange two-tone of her voice still, even after twenty years of getting used to it, gives her pause.

“That almost resembled a dance.” Cirila laughs at herself; one must think themselves humorous if one has had nothing but themselves for centuries. The sound feels foreign in the air, but not unwelcome.

there beneath

the oh hellos

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Grimm]

solteria osorio.

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  mood

  
  
  
  

  laid-back, fed & a little playful.
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  outfit

  
  
  
  

  casual & comfortable; cream cargo pants with a grey hoodie, white sneakers, gold jewelry & brown headphones.
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  location

  
  
  
  

  outdoor seating @ cafeteria.
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  interactions

  
  
  
  

  open to all! neilina (azuris), cirila (KingofAesir), jude (birth of venus), silas (noxrequiem), monroe (harmonic_melody),
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

Black waves bounced with precision while deep brown eyes stayed intensely focused on the target before her, beads of sweat forming across her forehead. Solteria stood in a wide stance, hands up, and headphones being fully put to good use, fueling the adrenaline buzz in her head and drowning out everything else. She loved getting lost in her music, it was hard to explain but it grounded her bringing her a sense of peace whenever she could block out the world. Between soft measured breaths, tattooed hands hit the bag in front of her at a rhythmic pace as she bobbed and weaved effortlessly against her invisible opponent. The surrounding air had changed since she was last at Wollstonecraft. The energy around her was affecting her body. She could feel it. It was as if her restlessness had almost full control over her. She didn’t know how to feel about that, but the extra energy expelled every morning kept her sane so far.

The bag recoiled slightly from a quick right jab, scraping the ground as the plastic base dragged. Undeterred, the demigoddess followed up with a devastating left cross. The bag flung back, balancing on the edge of its base before landing with a heavy thud onto what Sol would consider the back patio area of RA dorm. Jesus, pull it in Sol. Might’ve just torn the new bag, idiot. After a short moment of hopping up and down, she headed towards the punching bag on the ground. Heaving it up with ease, she set it back in place. Fortunately, there was no damage. Otherwise, it would have been her fifth addition to the graveyard. “I have to get Silas to enchant this one.” She thought aloud, brushing dirt off the side. The usual two-hour morning workout routine was her way of waking up in the morning. Helped her get her mind in check before the day.

A sudden ringing broke the silence around her once again, her phone buzzing like crazy. There was a sigh that escaped her lips. The sudden disruption of her music followed by the loud and obnoxious sound of her alarm managed to pick at a nerve. Sol quickly took care of it with a quick tap of the finger. It was time for her to get ready for her first class soon, so that meant showering, eating a snack because who needs breakfast, and a quick sprint across campus. Ugh. She truly wasn’t feeling classes today. Solteria shot Maeve a quick text. “Mornin Ariel, meet me at the cafeteria later?”



……………………………..



Solteria walked out of the cafeteria towards the outside eating area, twirling a lollipop in her mouth in a slow contemplating motion with her water bottle in hand. After inhaling her food, the taste of lemon served as a much-needed pallet cleanser. She deserved a little dessert. Now the demigoddess had to kill some time until Maeve came around so she could bug her favorite person. Her eyes soften at the very edges as the ghost of a smile turns the corners of her mouth at the thought. Though they had hung out on the weekend, Sol was finding herself too busy to catch up with her this week and she was having withdrawal. Just lovely. Wandering eyes spotted Jude, Silas, and… Monroe in the distance sitting at a table, but despite her hesitance seeing the vampire, her feet began to move in their direction. Fuck it.



As she approached, Sol witnessed Neilina lose her book and balance when some guys bumped into her. Her legs were about to move when luckily Cirila swooped in to her aid, leaving Solteria to burn a hole into the back of the students’ heads as they walked on. "Rude." The demigod mumbled, pulling her headphones down so they sat on her neck. She bent down and grabbed the discarded book with her free hand, brushing it off against her pants as she walked back toward the girls. “I think this belongs to you,” she spoke with the lollipop between her teeth, her voice coming out rather warm and with a little smile. Solti couldn’t help but let her eyes wander over Neilina’s frame, checking for any harm done before brown met blue briefly. “I think it was a rather graceful landing,” Sol joined in, letting out her own brief chuckle at Cirila’s comment. With the book returned, Solti asked genuinely as made her way around them to sit across from Silas. “But seriously, you okay there, Neilina?” she gave her lollipop another slow twirl.

by any means

백현

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[harmonic_melody]

location?
outdoor cafeteria.
interactions?
Matthew (faeriehollow), open
mood?
tired, yet excitable.

maeve boatwright

As per usual Maeve started her mornings well before dawn. It gave her just enough time to slip into the lake and swim before the sun rose. Some thought it strange she'd take swims even as the air gained a chill when the fall settled in, but the coolness ignited something in her. The cold water woke her up perfectly and prepared her to take on the long day ahead. She needed to keep this time to herself, as she knew she wouldn't get any once the dat started.

When she got back on shore she went through all of the stuff she needed to accomplish today. A couple of classes, a homework assignment or two, and finding a time for the next nature clean-up. Of course, she knew her mind skipped over a couple of things. But if they were important they'd come to her after some breakfast.

Back in her dorm room, she double-checked her schoolbag to ensure she had everything. With how busy her schedule was today, she wouldn't have time to come back if she forgot anything. That was when her phone buzzed with a message from Sol. Maeve snorted at the nickname, slightly amused by the Disney reference. But her tropical fish friend wasn't named Flounder. "Good morning sunshine. I'll see you there." She texted back.

-

God this day was going far too long, only lunch time and she already felt her exhaustion as it crept up her back. Still, she managed to keep a pleasant smile as other students in the cafeteria made small talk with her. The idle chatter was enough to slow her thoughts down just a bit to ground herself. She always went at full speed. The other student had to go and as she waved goodbye she noticed Solteria bothering Jude.

Her eyes narrowed as she saw the core group at that table. Jude, Silas, and Monroe. Jude wasn't someone she enjoyed being around much, their firey aura often turned her away. Silas was more of a friend, but the two had a rather spirited debate last week in class that she still hadn't fully recovered from. As for Monroe, he was weird. So for the moment, she glanced around the open space to see if there was anyone else she could bother. . .

"Oh! Matty!" She exclaimed as she noticed her bookworm buddy avoiding social contact. Maeve went over to his empty table and sat down beside him. "Whatcha reading?" She fired out to the first question and without any room to respond shot a second. "And how's the semester been? Classes treating you alright?" Admittedly, she let go of social obligations in the past couple of weeks. Something she'd remedy by showing up to Jude's party. The two might not see eye to eye on a lot, but damn they knew how to have a good time. "We need to find a time to hang out when my schedule clears up."

they say piranhas are among us

coded by incandescent

 

[SP3CT3R]

The five-or-so-minute bike ride from the school cafeteria to the lake felt like an eternity while Eddie was weighed down by the lunch he was carrying. It was nothing special, just a couple premade sandwiches and a bag of chips, but having to find somewhere secluded to eat was Eddie's personal walk of shame. The curse he'd been put under had warped his face into something horrific, to the point that Eddie couldn't look at his reflection in the mirror. The effect was supposedly most concentrated around his eyes, so lifting the mask up enough to eat wouldn't turn anyone's hair white. There was something wrong, though, about the way the burns on his face looked that wasn't there before, and it wasn't hard to tell by the looks that other students picked up on it, too.

Eddie could see handfuls of students on the far side of the lake, near the Druantia building, as well as some more under the surface. If he squinted, he could see what looked like buildings down at the bottom. It was probably the one part of the campus that was visibly out of the ordinary, at least from the outside. From what he'd seen, the place was more active during the evenings after classes. Since there was no one nearby to be unsettled, Eddie parked his bike and leaned it against the nearest picnic table, and slid his mask up just enough to be able to eat.

While he ate, (the tuna sandwich was life-changing and easily one of the best he'd ever had) Eddie fished the letter from his bag and reread it. It must've been Silas' doing that got him the invitation, since the sorcerous upperclassman was the only person on campus he knew and was also on good terms with. Eddie had RSVP'd yes immediately after opening the invitation, but was now feeling like he'd been a little overenthusiastic in his response. Partially because it made him seem desparate, partially because attending a costume party was the reason Eddie was here at Wollstonecraft and not somewhere like MIT.

A trio of students walked past while Eddie was absentmindedly wallowing in self-pity, and he quickly adjusted his mask before any of them noticed he was there. He made a peace sign as a greeting and waited until their backs were to him to pop open the chips.