Realistic or Modern ❀ 𝕌𝕣𝕓𝕒𝕟 𝐵𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓈𝑜𝓂𝓈 ❀

[Emmie]

This is a private RolePlay between myself and Wilder28. Feel free to read along but please do not post! All images used in this thread are AI generated.​

Originally from a tranquil rural town, a short, blonde dynamo named Olivia - known affectionately as Ollie by her friends - decided to swap the simplicity of country living for the chaos of Catondale University and the city it shared its name with. Determined to put the farms of her hometown back on the map, she aimed to study plant science to the Nth degree from the most reputable school she qualified for. Stepping into the urban jungle’s breezy spring morning, she faced a skyline of towering buildings and the onslaught of the constant hum of traffic, distant machinery, and chatter of pedestrians. The cacophony was in stark contrast to the open fields and quiet streams she'd left behind in Foxwood, but she was determined that this would be the day she would overcome the fear of change, refusing to allow it to chase her back into the safety of her dorm.

Ollie's attempt to navigate the city streets was like watching a sitcom in the making. Armed with a map she clung to like a safety blanket, she strolled through the unfamiliar town near her university, blissfully unaware that the paper was upside down. She offered a friendly wave to any who met her gaze, her outgoing nature garnering the attention and raised eyebrows of passersby. Still, her ditziness overshadowed any embarrassment as she took in the towering structures and bustling sidewalks. Though the city’s clamor threaded her heart with anxiety, the naturally extroverted country girl found excitement in the sea of new faces; a bespectacled girl clutching a book and avoiding eye contact, an elderly lady with pretty pink lipstick and a cute velvet hat that matched her blouse, a black and purple haired teen with impressively thick winged eyeliner sat on a step playing on her phone, and a middle-aged man clad in a suit and talking loudly into an earpiece as he swung his briefcase with every step - each one a potential new friend under the right circumstances! …Maybe.

The rumbling protest of her empty stomach jolted Ollie back to reality, momentarily turning her sunny smile into a playful pout. A gentle rub of her belly served as a reminder of the mission at hand, and with newfound determination, she lowered her map and let her arms hang by her sides. No time for being picky now! Equipped with positive vibes and an upbeat attitude, she abandoned the quest for “perfect” and instead dipped into the nearest café for breakfast, a tiny cut-out in the wall of shops called BeanieBrew Co. with - you guessed it - beanies with their logo displayed for sale in the window.

Finally, a hot meal! Since settling into the dorm a week prior, her only sustenance was snacks from a care package lovingly prepared by her parents. Now, on the second day of classes, her stash of tasty morsels was already fully depleted. Crunchy snacks did not a filling meal make, after all. After a brief wait in line and a scour of the menu, Olivia settled on a tofu scramble burrito and a cinnamon oat milk latte, happily skipping away with her loot after thanking the workers and giving a sincere compliment on one of the barista’s adorable butterfly earrings.

Once again, the upside-down map had led her on an unintended detour, complicating the delicate balance between breakfast and navigation. As she retraced her steps, she couldn't help but continue to marvel at the urban tapestry around her, even as the fear of being late quickened her pace. She briskly walked through Catondale’s many busy streets, making a mental note to remember to check for traffic before charging into a crosswalk, lest she earn any more angry shouts and honks from impatient drivers. A wave of relief washed over her when the familiar landmarks of the campus came into view. She made it, and with time to spare; her watch revealed that she had an hour before her next class. Plopping down on a bench, she let her tension release in a sigh, her food long since finished and the warm paper cup clutched to her chest so the delicious-smelling steam kept her nostrils constant company.

A brief respite to de-stress was exactly what her overstimulated brain needed.

Her right ring finger tapped against her drink, the wooden ring she wore making a pleasant sound against the cup. Absently, Olivia lightly pressed the edge of the ring into the material, enjoying the sensation of it shifting against the base of her finger. It struck her how both objects were fundamentally the same substance, just vastly different forms; the analogy felt as though it reflected the dichotomy between herself and the otherworldly guise enabled by the small adornment. In her magical form, akin to the wood, she felt powerful, sturdy, and ready to fend off any threat. But her normal self, in this place? Finding her way to and from her dorm was a daily struggle, and the incessant noise of Catondale made her yearn for a warm blanket cocoon before she, too, became a soggy paper cup.

Her green eyes focused on the wide band, its root-like pattern and delicate flowers yet another reminder of the comforts of home. Moreover, the responsibilities she’d left behind also emanated from it; would there even be enemies to battle here? Was the magic and transformation routine on pause, or would she still have to face monsters in this place? Would she even be able to fight when this place was so exhausting?

Wait a minute - of course she could handle it! Scrunching her face, she gave her cheek a few firm pats to shake off the negativity. She softly muttered, “Anything I put my mind to…!” With that, her beaming smile returned to full force. The phrase, an adage her mother repeated at every opportunity, was Olivia’s superpower! With enough time, effort, determination - and maybe a handful or six of stubbornness - anything at all was possible, and Olivia truly believed this. It only takes a single seed to one day bloom into a beautiful field of flowers. Regardless of whether battles were on the agenda, she was up for anything!

Restlessly, she hopped to her feet. Enough of this rest nonsense, she had a class to be at in forty-ish minutes and there was always a chance of getting lost! Adjusting her backpack on her shoulder, she switched out her town map for her campus map. Spotting a bench marked on the map along a walkway with a familiar shape, she assumed it was her current location and started following the path toward the building for her Bio101 class.

...It was the wrong path.

 

[Wilder28]

Rowan Laminack​

​

"Rowan."

Soft and sage and slow and soothing, a single, isolated voice began to resonate throughout Rowan's mind, a gentle disruption to the quiet state of repose in which he'd been suspended. It was kind and dignified and unmistakably feminine, and it spoke to him with all the love and care of a mother to her child, or a benevolent queen to her subject. He'd have been lying if he'd said that he appreciated the disturbance, but he'd been lying even more if he ever claimed to hold it against her.

"Awaken, child," she urged. "Your day has begun."

And awaken he did, if with a bit of a delay. Just her speaking was enough to rouse him from his slumber, more effectively than any alarm he'd ever had. But that didn't mean he'd be quick about it.

A moment passed before he allowed his eyes to flutter open, exhaling lightly as he finally set his gaze upon the ceiling. As expected, he found it painted with stripes of a light orange-ish yellow, courtesy of the early morning sunlight that filtered in through the blinds of his dorm's window. It was something of a pretty sight, but not the most energizing; he found himself just kind of lying there for a moment more while he mentally tried to get himself together.

"... What time is it?" he asked eventually, before promptly clearing his throat. His voice was hoarse from hours of disuse.

"Eight-thirty. I have left you with half an hour."

Rowan nodded, almost imperceptibly, before finally raising his arms and stretching them out right there over his body as he let out a long, quiet yawn. Then, once that was all out of his system, he sat up.

In doing so, he spared a brief look around at his dorm. It wasn't the most prestigious before, nor was it the most glamorous. But it did the trick; there were two beds, two desks, two dressers, a mini-fridge, a closet, and even a microwave - basically all the essentials one might need for your average pair of students. And while some of that was shared, most of it had already been divided neatly between the room's occupants, with Rowan's stuff on the right side, and his roommate's on the left.

For a second, he cast a quick little glance toward the young man in question. What he saw was about as expected: Tre was there, wrapped up in what might've been several blankets, dozing peacefully just as Rowan had just been. He couldn't help but feel a little envious at the sight, but the feeling passed quickly. It was his own fault for scheduling an early class. Now he had to deal with the consequences.

With that in mind, he turned and set his eyes upon the window sill just beside his bed, where an ornate blue-and-silver watch sat gleaming in the daylight. The watch's face, cast in a shining blue and surrounded by small, round gemstones of a similar color, was adorned by a circle of Roman numerals that surrounded a trio of different subdials. And sure enough, it read just past 8:30.

"... Thanks, Sapphire," he murmured, allowing himself a slight, grateful smile.

"Of course."

Now feeling well and truly awake - or about as awake as he was bound to feel, at any rate - Rowan pushed away his blankets and set about getting ready for the day. Moving about as quietly as possible, he went and brushed his teeth, washed his face, brushed and combed his hair - really just the usual stuff, which he finally rounded out by getting dressed in his usual semi-formal attire. For some people, dressing in business casual was reserved only for special occasions, those that called for it. But for him, it was the norm. A tendency he'd inherited from one of his uncles, it pretty much always had been. Always paid to look presentable, after all.

Then, and only then, when he was all suited up and ready to go, did he make his way back over and pick up his watch from the windowsill, clasping it right there around his right wrist, as he always did.

"Alright. Let's head out," he said with a cheery grin, picking up his backpack as he made his way by and slipping it onto his shoulders. "Do you remember the way to class?"

"I do," Sapphire confirmed. "But was it not your intent to memorize it on your own?"

"Oh, of course," Rowan answered with a light chuckle, opening up his room door. "But, you know, it pays to have a Plan B. Just in case."

"Mm."

Casting one last look into his room, Rowan shut the door as silently as he could manage, locked it, and went right on his merry way.


The Biology building wasn't far. It was only a few minutes away from his dorm - close enough, in fact, that he had no qualms dropping by a nearby local cafe to grab a breakfast biscuit to serve as a brief little meal before class. He'd get something more filling later, but for now, he was more satisfied with what he had.

In the meantime, while he munched away at that, Rowan made his way down a winding concrete path that cut through the middle of campus. As he went, he alternated between scrolling through his phone, checking the news and catching up on the Jewels' group chat, and taking in some of the scenery around him. In the latter case, he could appreciate it; there was a clear distinction to be made between the cultivated college grounds and the rising skyscrapers of the city around it, but he thought it was pretty neat; Catondale wasn't his city, the city he grew up in, and he wasn't sure he could ever warm up to it the same way, but so far? It was proving to be pretty decent!

Though he was sure it helped that he was keeping an open mindset about it.

That didn't mean he didn't miss his friends or his family or his life back at home, of course, but he wouldn't have been here if it weren't for the best. The others knew it, Sapphire knew it, and he knew it too. So why agonize over it? Sometimes, change was for the best. He learned that much himself just a few years back.

Of course, this was a change of a very different nature, and one he wasn't entirely sure how to approach beyond a day-to-day basis. He'd come here because Catondale University was the college of his dreams, and he had a fairly certain idea of how to handle that - it was pretty much just like high school on steroids, right? That wasn't what he was worried about.

He was more so concerned about what this meant for his other life. The one he shared with Sapphire. The one he didn't talk about. The things he faced back at home wouldn't be here, she had assured him of it.

So was that it, then? Was he really just... free? Ish? No giants, no dragons, no dangers, just... college. It sounded exciting, honestly. But even so... he wasn't really sure how to feel about it.

But he supposed he'd work through that soon enough.

A few minutes passed while his mind ran on, during which he mentally engaged in some light conversation with his Jewel, while outwardly messaging a few of the others with greetings and responses to those who'd greeted him first. All in all, it was shaping up to be a pretty decent run-of-the-mill morning.

Albeit one that became slightly less run-of-the-mill the moment he saw someone new up ahead. With not many people being out this early, he was curious enough to raise his eyes from his phone, just in time to set them on a diminutive blonde who was actually heading his way, in the opposite direction he was going. He didn't know her - he'd never seen her in his life, in fact - but he was feeling pretty friendly at the moment, so as the distance between them closed, he offered a jaunty little wave with his free hand.

"Morning!" He called out to her with a grin.