isleofavalon | it started out as a feeling; [open & closed]

Entry tags:

it started out as a feeling; [open & closed]

🧙 WHO: Machi Kuragi (

imperfectwish) & others
⚔️️ WHAT: Catchall for August w/ TDM & quest prompts
🕒 WHEN: All of August
🗺️ WHERE: All over Camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: None for now.

I. FRESH WATERS;

[This was what Machi got for her determination to explore, to help and to change for the better while here. When she had thought about change she had meant becoming more open, more honest, less abrasive perhaps. More confidence at the very least.

What she hadn't meant was a change like this -- tentacles and pointed ears. Not to mention the gills too! At first all she can do is look absolutely aghast at the very helpful nurse but she's shuffled off soon enough to find her own way back to the surface.

... Once she can figure out how to operate -- well, all of this. Did she have to have so many tentacles? They all seem to respond just fine but it's definitely a mental adjustment to go from two legs on land to eight or more tentacles underwater. She just seems so flustered by it all it's... kind of cute to watch in a way? Not her fumbling around but the stern frown and wrinkled brow that accompanies it all.

Help a girl out? Or at least don't get too offended when she outright bumps into you or one of her tentacles ends up grazing your tail / tentacles.]

II. OPEN HOUSE -- ROYAL BATHS;

[Though Machi hadn't quite expected water park levels of attractions going on here she had shown up in a bathing suit. Odd for a public bath? Maybe. But she had been more curious than wanting a bath to begin with so it seemed to make sense to her at the time.

She's sort of marveling at just how big the slide is though.]

... This doesn't seem suited for a bath.

III. OPEN HOUSE -- GLOWING COLORS & ROSE GARDENS;

[The library had been fascinating. Some of the books hadn't made much sense to Machi while others had been so dense she didn't think she could finish them anytime soon.
Could she check things out like a library back home? She wasn't sure and had ended up tucking all the books back after a glance over.

Then there was the forbidden section. Machi wasn't one to break rules typically but well... curiosity and all that. That was why she was out in the rose garden now, more or less hiding away among all the flowers -- at least until someone stumbles across her.]

Ah, pardon me.

[She's an entertaining shade of red. And not just her face either. The glow isn't blinding or deep but there's this subtle shade of red to her that can't help but be eye catching.]

IV. DON'T TREEP, MAN;

[When the call goes out for green mages Machi knows the right thing to do is go and offer her help. She's been trying her best in classes all month and succeeding rather admirably to be honest. She's a decent student back home and here she's become quite devoted to her new studies. Without the pressures of others to perform to a perfect standard she's found school is actually pretty fun, particularly the magic courses. Studying for them definitely isn't a chore for her.

She's still green with her green magic though and it definitely shows. On the first few days she's directed to the orchard given several people can work on the trees and such at one time. She's pouring herself into helping one of these trees alongside someone else when the tree just starts budding out fruit like mad on Machi's side. She flusters, quick to draw back her hands and stop herself, eyes wide as she glances upward.]

A little too much then...

[On some other days she's directed to the fields and there she's having a hard time getting anything to sprout. She looks rather frustrated too.]

V. WILDCARD;

[Feel free to leave other prompts under this. Plurk and PMs open for plotting!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Huh, would you look at that. Kadoc stares a moment too long at the shift; the truth is, he's been glum and irritated since he got put off from the library, so he hasn't actually witnessed the color change yet until now. His own hadn't gotten his attention, but hers does. That can happen? What does it mean . . . ?

Of course that just shifts his own color again, and this time he notices, looking down at his faintly glowing arm in surprise. Now he's the one glowing a sort of pale, electric lemon yellow. Whoa.]

It's—I had no idea this happened. What is this, a mood ring or something? Like I needed insult added to injury . . . I just wanted to see what they cared that much about hiding in there.

[Oh, a mood ring. Machi has no experience with those but she vaguely knows of them. She glances down to her hands that are now mellowing out into a sort of neutral blue-gray. An even temperament maybe?]

Mm. It's embarrassing, isn't it.

[At least for her. She barely knows her own emotions after all.]

That's probably the point.

[Now he's watching himself, observing how his own hands turn from just yellowish to a more orangey glow—so, mixed with red. Embarrassed. That tracks. There's something about having embarrassment pointed out that makes one more aware of it, and with that, more embarrassed . . . at least if you're the self-conscious type Kadoc is.

But he is also the type to take interest and be curious about things, so the yellowy base remains.]

When it first happened, I thought it was just so any security around could spot us more easily. But it's probably more like embarrassing us into thinking twice about pulling that again.

[Machi has thought as much. It made her stand out like a sore thumb inside... and out here too honestly. It was much easier to hide amongst greenery and red roses than it was shelves of books where other eyes were more apt to see you though.

...But. Well.]

The barrier is more effective. If you're tagged like this once you might as well walk through. Not everyone gets embarrassed.

[Or that made sense to her at least.]

No kidding.

[He lets out an amused little breath that isn't quite a laugh, but it's definitely smiling, even if it's with a lightly scoffing sort of undertone. Boy, are some people here ever not embarrassed by anything, apparently.]

I bet we'll see a network post within the hour. "Hey everyone, I tried to break into the forbidden section of the library, and now I'm glowing. How cool do I look right now?"

[Machi blinks a little at his reply, blending back to yellow again. He's dry and scoffing but it's interesting to hear a joke like that out of someone so... tired looking? He's got a look about him that's very familiar somehow.

Instantly though she thinks of Kakeru though. That network post sounds exactly like something he'd so and she looks tired at the thought.]

I'm very glad my brother isn't here.

. . . Lemme guess. Because he's that type? I know a few of them myself.

[By now, Kadoc's own glow has settled into that yellowy pink of curious amusement, and he halfway stops noticing it. You do get used to it once you know what's going on. He'll never manage to be someone who takes things entirely in stride, but being here has been an exercise in adapting in all kinds of ways.]

I'm a little jealous of them once in a while. Imagine being that shameless. I mean, I can't, though. Imagine it.

[Machi's expression abruptly flattens.]

I'm afraid I can't disassociate from my own personality that thoroughly.

[Her voice is so dry.]

[That surprises a real laugh out of him, which he automatically covers with his mouth when it's louder than he expected. Ha!]

Yeah, I respect that. . . . Anyway, you were trying to get outta the way of people, so you don't need me hassling you. But I feel a little less mortified about it now, so, thanks.

[Hassling her. Machi tilts her head a little.]

I didn't think you were hassling me.

[Indeed he hadn't poked fun at her even once. Not even to say something outlandish just to draw a myriad of colors from her. That's what someone ~~Kakeru~~ would have done in the name of "amusement".]

I just didn't wanna intrude.

[He shrugs lightly, awkward, in the way of someone who is often awkward in his body language; his arms are folded loosely over his middle now, and the glow about him is redder.]

[Ah, red.]

Are you embarrassed?

[She asks it so bluntly too.]

—There's no hiding it like this, huh? Yeah, a little.

[He is at least used to being called out bluntly on his feelings, even if it's been a while since he was back in his world where he got the worst of that. He barely even winces!]

But I'm just like this.

[Machi feels only mildly bad for bringing it up. After all she had come out here to avoid anyone teasing her so... but she wasn't exactly teasing, was she.

She thinks she gets what he means though, at least in a way.]

Socializing is awkward.

[She pauses there, tinged a little pink now as she looks away to brush her bangs out of her eyes. Or more likely just to look away really.]

I've never been very good at it. I've never been sure how to be good at it.

[How did one "get good" at socializing? She had seen Yuki do it, seen him go from standing on the outer rings of social circles and then enter them with a smile more real than ever before.

... She could too, couldn't she? Maybe hiding in the rose garden wasn't the best way to accomplish that though.]

I feel that. Some people are naturally talented in it, and then there's people like us. . . . Normally, I wouldn't let that stop me. Just giving up on things I've got a disadvantage in isn't my style. But socially? It's not as easy to just mimic what those people act like without coming off super fake.

[He has a moment, not for the first time, where he imagines himself trying to act like Pepe or something, and that's a terrifying mental image. The type of terrifying that brings another little smile to his face, but not because it's charming. More a smile of horror.]

I don't think I could keep it up for long.

It is exhausting.

[She wholeheartedly agrees with that. Trying to approximate what she thought she ought to do in socializing rather than simply being herself was too much mental strain. And when she didn't try at all it was... lonely to say the least.

After a moment of thought she offers:]

I don't mind company.

[No, honestly she enjoys it. And he had seemed concerned he was intruding so he must be worried about her not enjoying it, yes?

Or maybe he didn't like company? No, he seemed blunt enough so far to simply say that if that was how he felt, she thought.]

. . . Despite all my complaining, I don't either. So, thanks.

[He did need to hear it, and relaxes a little more once it's out there. Maybe someday he'll shake his hypervigilance regarding peers disliking him or wanting him gone, but today isn't that day; it's a relief she was nice about it. He notices some of the redder tinge ease out of his mood ring glow. Ha.]

I'm Kadoc Zemlupus, by the way. I should probably start there.

[A unique name indeed. She's slowly getting used to the variety of names here though.]

Machi Kuragi.

[Her 'mood ring' hue seems content, blue streaked with a curious yellow if anything. It's not so bad hiding out with company if the other person seems as bothered by their showing moods as she is. Misery loves company or something?

Though now she's considering why she's even here in the first place.]

What do you think they have in the forbidden section?

[Misery loves company, and booknerdery loves company, too. So this is just fine as a segue by him. Kadoc's been dwelling on the same question basically since he learned the forbidden section existed.]

It might be magic that's too dangerous to fall into just anyone's hands. I've been through a few of the group rituals here by now, and they can get intense. So it could be a matter of magecraft they don't want the audience at home to try, so to speak. . . . That's the answer that assumes they're being on the level with us, though.

Do you think they aren't?

[Machi doesn't exactly sound surprised by the idea. If he's been through some of the group rituals then he obviously knows far more about this place than she does.]

I've only been here for a month so far... give or take. After the Hall of Mirrors I'm not sure what to make of this place.

[Not that it was gentle before but seeing her double in those mirrors and feeling real fear at the sight only to have it explained as fae was...

Well her sensible side balked a bit. Yes the magic wasn't sensible either but literal fairy tales was a bit much for someone so knew and so critical in the ways they thought sometimes.

A frown rests sternly on her lips. She shimmers a sort of darker red. Not quite angry but certainly put off.]

If they're such dangerous books they should be kept separate from the main collection. They're inviting trouble otherwise.

. . . The Hall of Mirrors is a pretty rough first impression.

[He'd had his own traumatic enough experience with those mirrors, and at the memory of it, his expression goes tight—maybe more noticeably, his glowing aura takes on a darker, stormy blueish tinge. It's not unlike the initial color it'd been when he'd been sulking about his lot before running into her, but there's a darker cloudy grey threatening in there. It's not a good memory, and it's even worse thinking about everyone else who stumbled into that situation brand new and unaware.

But, thinking back, Kadoc could say the exact same thing about plenty of other things he's been through in his six months here. The trials from Celliwig? Rough first impression. The whole minotaur thing? Ugh. At least there's a certain consistency to it all, and it'd explain the too-obvious forbidden books, too:]

My impression so far is that they trust us with more than they should. It's not so much that they're looking to throw us into these situations, just that they trust us to handle them the way the locals would when we're not locals. I'm sure everyone here grows up hearing about the Forbidden Library and tries to get in at least once, when they're like, eight years old. Or knows how to deal with fae tricks, or how to navigate the political situation. But they're pretty happy to just let us do our own thing. They rely on us doing our own thing.

I'm still not sure how I feel about that.

There certainly isn't much instruction to any of it.

[Even the schools were sort of easygoing in Machi's opinion. Not that it wasn't effective, she certainly was learning by attending classes. There just wasn't near as much competition. Or perhaps her view on how competitive school was was simply warped. She was willing to believe that.]

... I'm not used to such laidback attitudes.

[In someone like Kakeru, yes. In someone with far more authority, no.]

[He nods a little, considering that. It's come up in his thoughts now and again here over time, but the world he came from feels distant sometimes already, with how immersive and bizarre this whole experience is. It's so strange that it's overwhelming to question sometimes.]

Yeah. Where I come from, everything about all this would be heavily locked down behind endless societal rules and red tape. You can't let just anyone touch secrets like this. They've gotta come from the right family, or get lucky, usually both.

[The right family, hm. Her expression evens out.]

Mm. Here everything is so ... free.

[Open and out there. No one pressed her in school to make top grades, recipes weren't hidden away 'for the worthy' -- well, besides the forbidden section. She'd gotten one when she arrived for drinking a margarita she didn't much enjoy, for goodness sake!]

I've been feeling directionless, I think.

[Then again she had been feeling that way since her mother and father turned her out. Things had begun to change at home since she decided she wanted to change like the President had but then she had come here and well...]

Or... if it's alright. To be this free.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

it started out as a feeling; [open & closed]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

dw loves to eat notifs right now

boy does it ever

no subject