Dorm Log

[raw_angel_power]

Who: All of Smash.
What: Dorm log! Summertime special.
Where: Student and Teacher dorms, and quite possibly beyond campus.
When: Approximately the latter half of July to the earliest of Augusts (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.

And don't forget: things are getting pretty freaky! Shadow bugs are still rife around the school and city, causing all kinds of trouble, but most significantly capable of cloning people and even objects. For the remainder of July, the dimensional lines are a little blurred and causing alternate universe versions of characters to show up. But something ever curiouser has started to show up on campus... Bubbles?

Subspace bubbles? They look kinda like the ones dotting the sky... Dare ye enter?

If you do, you'll find that it... just ends up being a portal to another part of the school. Sometimes they may lead you into some part of town. Weird! Hopefully it doesn't lead you anywhere embarrassing, like in the middle of a stage play or in the bathroom of the opposite sex. That's mortifying.


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7/27: Shadow bugs go wild and clone a bunch of office supplies. Do shadow bugs get bored or something? Beware of that stapler you're about to pick up... It might be a shadow bug clone! They're animate office supplies all around the school. At least it's easy to tell the difference between the real things and the animate ones, because the clones are purple. Unless, of course, your supplies are all purple. Then you're in a bind...er.

Also, they cloned the Kraken fountain and now it's come to life. Hope you brought some slippers.

8/1: You know those hazy purple-black pockets of subspace that keep showing up across the sky? Today, a humongous one swallowed up the sun completely. For almost all of the daylight hours, there will be a full-on solar eclipse. Aww, were you working on that golden tan? Too bad, buddy. You're gonna have to wait until tomorrow.

8/5: A herd of Towtow show up at the school overnight and stop to rest. They'll be there, napping all day with that peaceful look adorned on their faces. How cute! But you wouldn't want to see them angry... Maybe that's why you should be careful not to wake them up.

For reference, here are the rooming arrangements.

Comments

[for_truth]

Don't. Please don't have an aneurysm.

With the sun blacked out Hilda really didn't want to go outside if she could help it. Who knew what was lurking in the shadows, man? But despite that she hated being cooped up in her room, so early in the afternoon she made plans to venture outside.

She... Didn't get far. Someone was doing some intense shouting, and she heard it far enough away that she hung back and watched for a moment. Just to make sure he wasn't going to melt into a puddle of shadow bugs or anything. Once she determined that he probably wasn't going to chase her or try to chew on her C-Gear, she came closer.

To someone who has never witnessed The Power of Cheer before this just looks really absurd. Not to mention dangerous, this guy looks like he's about to pass out, or worse. "Uh... Hey, you okay, dude? You need a glass of water or something...?"

[inspirethefire]

"RRRRUAH! OF COURSE I'M NOT ALL RIGHT!" He wasn't yelling at her--that just was his default volume for the moment. The rasp of wear was already tinting his voice.

"So long as--HYAH!!--the sun is dimmed, all life--OORAHH!!--is dampened! Until its fire can--HUP--be relit, as much willpower and passion as possible needs to be sent back to it! I can't spare a moment's rest! OSU!!"

He glanced her way, for just a moment.

"The offer is appreciated though, you're very kind."

[for_truth]

Oh geez, oh man... So, what, if you yell a lot and dance then the sun will come back? That sounded simple enough, but... One person accomplishing that alone sounded like a daunting task. "You're welcome...?"

Hilda frowned and scratched her head. "Uh... There somethin' I can do to help out, maybe?" Take a break, guy. You can't turn the sun back on if you blow up.

[inspirethefire]

What if him blowing up is what relights the sun, though? It's not impossible, you don't know.

"I don't wish--UURAH--to burden you, but..."

His highly controlled and methodical flailing paused for a moment, though his tension decreased none. He wheezed for breath, holding his stance as he looked to Hilda.

"Any willpower you can spare, focus it upon relighting the sun and I'll direct it! I know it may seem daunting, but every bit counts!"

Just give him some of your soul. Do it. I mean it's just a little piece of your soul, all right, this is really important.

[for_truth]

A good point. Maybe something to consider next time.

"Yeah, uh, it sounds like a lot for just one person. To do..." How did this even work? "You got it, bro."

Hilda thought very hard about a bright and sunny day. She was daydreaming hardcore about the sun coming back and, like, lighting up a beach or something. Good times with the sun. Come back, sun.

Well, all right, just a little piece. It's for a good cause.

[inspirethefire]

"Right! The more people who aid in this, the better! I thank you for your help, and the sun thanks youuarrgh--"

He had tried to launch back into motion with renewed vigor, encouraged by her aid, but his moment's rest, even tense and poised as it was, only allowed time for his exhaustion to catch up to him. A knee buckled under him, and he went down hard on the ground.

A particularly strong, chilly gust of wind punctuated the fall, all the built energies and will he'd summoned up dispersing in the crash.

[for_truth]

Hilda was thinking so hard that she closed her eyes, but as soon as she heard Hajime collapse she opened them. oh my frickin god he really did have an aneurysm

The surrounding area felt strangely empty, like they were in a black void and a spotlight was shining on Hajime to further shame him, or something but she didn't really pay much attention to it. There were more important things to worry about! She knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder, "I think it's time to take a break, man. Like, half an hour, at least."

Hilda took her hand off his shoulder and held it up, "5 minutes? Something? The sun'll prolly understand if you take a minute to recharge."

[inspirethefire]

The emptiness weighed on him, practically pinning him to the ground with the vastness of his failure. They were going to freeze to death and die and all the pain would be over and it would be terrible and all because he couldn't relight one stupid star.

"The sun... can't just take five minutes off... why... should I..."

Everything in his mind told him he needed to get up, get back into action, but his body would have none of it. Attempts to rise up accomplished little more than rolling onto his back. It was futile.

"F-forgive me... you tried to lend me your strength, and... I squandered it..."

[for_truth]

"Dude." Oh, man, he was taking this failure way too hard. Was there anything she could do to make him feel better? Uh... "If you're a Pokemon I think I got a Full Restore or something somewhere, but like, all those potions and stuff don't work if you ain't one. And they don't taste very good." Don't ask how she knows that.

"Anyways, uh, man you're only squandering my strength if you keep pushin' yourself too hard. You gotta rest or you're gonna really hurt yourself and then who's gonna fix the sun?" Maybe the sun's taking a break RIGHT NOW, she didn't know, anything could be possible.

She gave him a pat on the shoulder and tried her hardest to be good at pep talks, "You got this, you just gotta get back up and try again. ...After you take a break."

[inspirethefire]

For a few, long seconds, he lay on the ground, silent. Finally, he made, a small, whuff-ing noise. Hajime managed to prop himself up on his elbows, and gave Hilda a weak grin as he huffed out another laugh.

"Do you actually think I look like a Pokemon?"

[for_truth]

"Well, uh... No." At least she was being honest. "But, I mean, I meet Pokemon that don't look like Pokemon all the time here."

She opened up her bag and dug around in it, "I think I got a lemonade or a water bottle or something in here somewhere..."

[inspirethefire]

While she rummaged around for supplies, Hajime finally got around to sitting up properly. Once he stopped being so dramatic, it got a bit easier.

"Don't worry on my account, I'll be fine." He absolutely would have worked himself to a heart attack if she hadn't come along. "Ah--forgive me for my rudeness. I'm Hajime Tanaka."

[for_truth]

Aww, man, and just after she finally found a tiny bottle of water... "You sure?" She asked and placed the bottle on the ground, then closed up her bag.

"Anyways, nice to meet ya, Hajime!" She held out her hand so that they could shake on this new friendship (everything is a new friendship to her), "My name's Hilda."

[inspirethefire]

"Hilda. A pleasure." Hajime was a lot less ready to categorize new acquaintances as friends, mostly because having friends was still a little hard for him to wrap his head around. Still, he returned the handshake as firmly as he could manage with his exhaustion. His gloves even protected her from some of his clammy palms!

Even though he'd insisted he was fine, now that he was wasting time relaxing, his body was getting all sorts of uppity, thirsting for the refreshing beverage. Would it be fickle for him to take it, at this point? He'd already made such a poor first impression, anyway...

[for_truth]

So dramatic... She's experienced worst first impressions, for sure. The way he was eyeing up that water was kind of concerning, though...

"Hey," She said, adjusting her hat, "If you change your mind, it's cool. I got, like, at least 3 more."

[inspirethefire]

There was a momentary pause, where he thought for a moment longer of how foolish he must look, before finally sucking it up and taking the bottle with a weary smile.

"Thanks... I appreciate it." Finally releasing some of his modesty, he chugged down half the bottle before coming up for air, and then downing a remaining third.

"Haha... I suppose I ought to listen to my body's needs, better... I'm glad you've got a good intuition, at least."

[for_truth]

Hilda was... Not the right person to worry about looking foolish in front of.

"Don't mention it, dude! It happens." Maybe not to the extent of screaming yourself half to death, but sure, people forget to take care of themselves sometimes. Besides, it was good to keep hydrated, kids, you can never have enough water.

[inspirethefire]

"All the same! Support in any task ensures victory." He finished the remainder of the water, and started getting his feet back under him.

"With your help, I'll be sure to work twice as hard to succeed this time!" No that's--that's the opposite of the point, Hajime.

[for_truth]

"Yeah, that's the spirit! Everything's better with frien-- Wait, what?"

Hold on, whoa, who said anything about going at it twice as hard? That, uh... Didn't sound like a very good idea. It sounded a little like a 'drag Hajime to the infirmary when he inevitably passes out' idea. "Already? Uh... You sure, dude?"

[inspirethefire]

"Of course! Bolstered by support and proper hydration, I'm rested and ready for another round!"

He still hadn't stopped breathing hard, and was a bit slow standing, but if it was better than a wheezing immobile lump on the ground that was like the same as being rested.

"I can't let myself get too comfortable while the sun is still cold. The longer I wait, the longer we all have to...!"

[for_truth]

He didn't... Look like he was rested or ready for another round of anything.

"I guess... As long as you're sure, man." She looked kind of worried, but if he was so certain that this was the right thing to do, then who was she to argue? He probably had a point, though -- no sun for too long sounded like it wouldn't be a good time.

[inspirethefire]

"Hh... HYAAAaghk ahhghkf"

Nope, screaming when still short on breath didn't quite pan out. He coughed for a couple seconds, groaned softly, and tried again.

"HYAAAHH! Hear me, sun, for the life you've given us, I'll dedicate mine for you! OORAAAAH!"

He wasn't moving as quickly as before, but he was keeping his feet, at least. Sort of kind of pacing himself.

Sorry, Hilda, he's dedicated to keeping this up until he straight up passes out. In approximately ten minutes, max.

[for_truth]

"Ohmigosh," Hilda said. Would it work if she thought about Hajime taking an 8-hour nap... Because, seriously, she was all about encouragement but this was pushing it a little bit. Or maybe he wouldn't pass out if she tried hard enough...?

She tried to direct all her thoughts toward relighting the sun, because she didn't know how else she could even help and this guy desperately needed some.

[inspirethefire]

He stumbled once, twice, but Hilda's will lending support let him catch himself. Just one more push, that's all they needed, before...

"HYOOOOOOOOOO--"

Something, in a distant, faraway void of space, popped, and their will lanced through the force wrapping up the sun's light.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAHH...aahh... "

He looked up to the sun. It was dark. He had felt the connection, distantly, barely, but it was dark... everything was getting... dark... Maybe the connection he'd felt was him connecting to the floor, but it was hard to tell, at that point.

In eight minutes' time, someone paying close attention could potentially notice a tiny flicker of light finally reaching Earth, lasting only a few seconds before the barrier closed up again.

Hajime wouldn't, though.

[for_truth]

SHE DIDN'T TRY HARD ENOUGH

By the time she realized what was going on and tried to bustle over in time to help out, Hajime was already on the ground. "Shhhhh--" No, no swears, "...Shoot. Dang it. Rats. H-hey, uh... Hajime? Dude? Can you hear me? ...Um..." Hilda inched closer and gave him a few light pats on his face. ...No, that didn't work, what about giving his shoulder a little shake? ...Was he even alive...

"That ain't good," She said to nobody, and tried to lift him up so that she could drag him to the nurse's office. And, uh, after one attempt it was obvious that it was a bad idea. Injuries for everyone: not good. Hilda let out one of her Pokemon (one with hands...) to help her drop him off and make sure he got some dang medical attention. "Uh, please don't be dead," She said while she was still having major difficulties trying to help carry him.

No, she didn't notice the fruits of Hajime's labor that afternoon either, but when she woke up the next morning and saw the sun back where it belonged she definitely thought he was responsible. Good on you, man.