Dorm Log

[butterbelieveamanspromise]

Who: All of Smash.
What: Dorm log! April-May edition.
Where: Student and Teacher dorms, and quite possibly beyond campus.
When: Approximately the latter half of April to the earlier half of May (25th - 15th)
Warnings: YOU KNOW YOURSELVES

We all know our characters experience downtime after classes and their busy schedules, and this is a good venue for those kinds of miscellaneous dorm-shenanigans to take place. Not only does it give your characters the easy chance to meet new people in a laid-back environment, but it's a good mechanism for strengthening CR. It's easy!

Feel free to begin in any way you please! Plan with (a) fellow player(s) if you'd like! Or, set up a thread and wait for characters to bite! Just add a thread with the room number (and date/time, if it matters) and the characters that reside there (just for reference!). You do not have to use one character's thread as a dual-purpose for both characters if you do not want to. Doesn't have to be a dorm room, either, if you have something else in mind. It could be the common room or the student science lab or wherever.

And keep in mind! There are shadow bugs afoot! They be crawlin' in your crannies!

Since it was well-received last time, we will continue the events. On certain days, there will be an event going on that might help if you can't think of a good scenario to kick off a thread with. In addition to the prevalence of shadow bugs, the list and dates are below.

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April 28th; Apple Pie Golems: Apple Kid's 17th-dimensional ball of yarn (this is an invention from 4 years ago) gets tangled up and, regrettably, opens a portal to the Elemental Plane of Apple Cobbler. Apple pie golems come streaming in from the rift before it can be closed properly, and they are hungry for a slice of your character. It's fight or... die?! Or maybe fight and pie, depending on whether you win or not.

May 2nd; No-Pants Day: Someone must have funked up a spell in Magic Class, because now everyone's pants have become... sentient! And they're escaping! They're scrambling around without their owners, from shorts to trousers to even skirts! Skirts probably don't know how to run, so they float. Big difference. Even if you manage to nab them back, they'll just try and slip right off again. They're pretty violent. Even the pants in your drawers and closets aren't safe from this magical misdemeanor. Skivvies are strangely unaffected.

May 9th; Meteos Mayhem: Meteos blocks start to gradually descend upon the school grounds. It doesn't seem like a huge deal at first, but after a while, it gets to be a nuisance. Get it off my car! Why are there so many of them? When will they end?! If you're keen, you'll realize that if you line up blocks of like colors in a vertical or horizontal row of three or more, they'll... blast off into space? Weird, but kind of cool. And hey, it cleaned them up. Better not let them stack up too high! It's Trash Day for the whole school!

Also, if you want easy access to the dorm living arrangements, here is the link.

Comments

Otherwise

[inspirethefire]

A private message was sent to Jock over the network:

"Jock, do you know of any good places on campus that will not catch fire easily?"

Followed by another:

"In fact the more information you can give me about flame-retardant substances and areas the better."

Very shortly after:

"I do not mean to rush you but I need this information as quickly as possible so please respond ASAP."

Re: Otherwise

[flamejock]

Hi, Hajime! Wow, you like to send lots of messages, huh. But you picked a good guy to ask, because I know a lot about fire. Probably more than anybody else.

The volcano! It's near campus and it's all made of fire on the inside! And the weight lifting teacher is a blacksmith and he makes things there and sometimes I watch because he's good with using fire for a human! Not as good as an Arcanine, but pretty good! He has a forge with all sorts of metal things.

On campus, uh, I dunno. I guess the stadium, cause if I try to burn things there the walls never catch on fire when I'm practicing.

What's a flame-retardant substance? Stuff that catches on fire?

[inspirethefire]

That's good. I've developed a condition, and I didn't know who else to ask about physical fire issues.

Flame-retardant substances don't catch fire. I need to find some. Can you meet me at the stadium?

[flamejock]

Wow, like BRN? You should use a Full Heal! I'll bring a Full Heal for you. I can't get BRN because I'm a fire type, and I can't catch on fire.

Water, Rock and Ice can't catch on fire. You should find some of those. I'll meet you at the stadium!

[inspirethefire]

Thank you. Hopefully that shilkkop

[And then his keyboard started melting. Everything he owns is rapidly becoming a smoldering ruin. This particular problem likely could have been avoided if he'd used audio or video, but those didn't allow him to pretend he was being calm and in control of the whole thing.

In reality he was trying his best not to hyperventilate, in part because he'd started huffing out smoke when he breathed too quickly. His voice gurgled if he spoke too quickly, and his skin was rapidly drying out and starting to crack at the joints.

With the intent to keep the small remainder of his clothes intact, he'd gotten to the stadium wrapped in the weird, pink-stained blue tarp Hagakure had. It had at least kept in one piece, but the acrid smell of burning plastic followed him all the way there.]

[flamejock]

::Jock, meanwhile, jogged to the the stadium with a Full Heal because he was a good friend who liked to help::

::So, imagine his surprise to find the smell of something burning, and a figure wrapped in a smoldering blue tarp::

Wow, who are you? You look weird.

::The scent of burning plastic is so strong he can't smell the Hajime on Hajime, not that there's much Hajime left on Hajime to smell::

[inspirethefire]

[On top of everything else, being unrecognizable was the last thing Hajime needed.]

Jock... Jock, it's me. Hajime.

[Gritting his teeth against the frustration and shoving his humiliation down deep, he forced himself to make eye contact with Jock.]

Something's... happened, I don't know what.

[flamejock]

::Jock stares in shock::

WOW! That's the worst case of BURN I ever saw! Did you get into a fight with a legendary fire type or something? How did you do that? You look all... glowy. And smoky. Wow. I didn't think that could happen to people. Don't worry, I have a Full Heal. I'll get you fixed real quick.

::Jock walks up to you with his little yellow spray bottle and spritzes you from head to toe with the Full Heal.::

Do you feel better now?

[inspirethefire]

Or something, I have to assume.

[Much as Hajime would have liked to know the source of his torment, by now all he cared for was handling the symptoms as much as physically possible.

Hajime took a deep breath as the Full Heal sank in to his weary body, a tingle of relief against the ever-present burn that had taken over his every move. Almost as soon as it set in, though, he could feel the pain working its way back in, his reprieve a temporary state. He tried to pull out a weak smile for Jock.]

A little. It might not work as well for non-pokemon, but thank you. I hope...

[Hajime cleared his throat, and spat a glob of magma off to the side, where it sizzled. He caught his breath and tried to steady his voice again.]

I h-hope I just need to... let off some steam... ha. I just wanted to find a place were I wouldn't... burn everything down, or, hurt anybody, or... or whatever.

[flamejock]

::Jock walked over to where the magama was sizzling on the floor. He pokes it with his finger.::

That's lava! Are you turning into a Slugma? Or a Magcargo? You're spitting up lava! That's a thing that fire-types do!

::Jock stares in disbelief::

Can people turn into pokemon?

[inspirethefire]

I don't know... maybe...? If Pokemon can turn into people, then... anything's... possible, I guess...

[Hajime finds himself sitting on the floor, head in his hands and shaking. He can't remember the last time he felt this useless, this uncertain. Nothing makes sense, there's not even a hint of an answer for what to do, and he just... can't do anything about it. Not a single thing.]

I don't want to be a Slugma, Jock. I don't--I want things to be normal, I want it to stop! I want to take showers and wear clothes and not hurt people, and I can't!

[He can't even cry. He doesn't know what will come out of him if he does.]

[flamejock]

::Jock goes up to hug Hajime. His tank top starts to smolder.::

It's okay! Fire types are the best types! It would be better if you were an Arcanine because we're the best, but at least you're turning into the best kind of pokemon there is! I mean, Slugmas sort of look like blobs, but they're fire types! They live in volcanos! Maybe you can move to the volcano and I can visit you there!

::There's a pause::

Maybe you can get Blue to be your trainer! She's the best trainer ever!

[inspirethefire]

[He flinches at Jock's touch, at first, before sinking into the hug. He hasn't had a good hug for a long while.]

I thought fire was great. Warm, and bright, and strong. I thought I wanted to be like fire.

[His knees tuck up under his chin.]

But I don't. I don't want to hurt people. I don't want to be a blob that lives in a volcano. Can Blue figure out how to train that out of me?

[flamejock]

Being like fire's great! It's the best! Uh... she can help you become a Magcargo, and then you get a shell made out of rock. That's not just a blob.

::Jock's tank top has now caught on fire. He doesn't seem to care.::

It's fun! You can learn the humanization TM and maybe get a less-on-fire body.

[inspirethefire]

[This hug has been doing an insufficient job making him feel better, it's time to abort. He squirms out of it.]

I'm not a Pokemon, Jock! I shouldn't need to learn from a machine just to look like myself! I shouldn't need a technique to keep from--your shirt is on fire! I'm lighting other peoples' clothes on fire now, why can't I stop this?!

[Now he's just pressing his head against the wall while moaning.]

[flamejock]

::OH NO, FRIEND IS SAD.::

No, it's okay! You'll be fine! I'm here! I don't need my shirt! I'm happy without my shirt! Look, I'm a real good fire type and now you can be a real good fire type, too! I'll teach you all about how to be a fire type! I can show you what the inside of a volcano looks like! Wow!

::Such enthusiasm. Much helping. Very fuzz.::

[inspirethefire]

[He sniffs back some firesnot and lifts his head to look back at Jock.]

A fire type... you can teach me...?

[He wipes his nose on his arm and leaves a searing trail of ooze behind. He doesn't really notice.]

I... if I can't stop this, then... then learning how to be good at it is... the next best option, right...?

[He doesn't really sound that excited by the idea.

[flamejock]

Yeah! Yeah! You can do it! I'll help you do it! I know all about being a fire type!

::Jock is excited now.::

I'll teach you all the important things about being the best type there is! Like how to shoot fire well and be cool.