Mod Account for Diatu Magicademy ([personal profile] magicademymods) wrote in [community profile] diatuooc2019-05-15 07:30 pm
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Test Drive #5 Is Alive


Test Drive #5




Class Is In Session

The Metacurriculum of Glyphics contains within it the fine and honored art of potionmaking, in which glyphs scribed into a cauldron are distilled within a liquid especially prepared to hold the enchantment. The task is remarkably finicky, and thus not particularly utilized outside of the classroom; generations of teachers have been forced to deal with the question of "when will we ever use this in real life?!", to their inevitable despair.

A pinch of cilantro, a dash of goat hoof, stir carefully and apply liberal amounts of electricity -- and you foolishly used alternating current instead of direct. Rather than a Potion of Supreme Might, your mixture has turned a vile grey, and a dark spirit has arisen from it to tell you that your personal hygiene leaves much to be desired and that your soul is so black with sin no heaven will ever accept it. This is no good -- the syllabus explicitly states that profane manifestations of magic are only worth partial credit at best. Can you and your partner rectify your mistake before the professor pops by to see how you're doing?

Shady Business

"'Ey! You!" calls a voice from the Merchant District Alley, coming from the throat of a pop-eyed, scraggle-faced man that couldn't be a shadier character if he was real slim. On catching your attention, he motions you over. "Sees that you're wizard-likes," he says, rolling his words around in his mouth in a particularly rhythmic sort of way that doesn't disguise his inability to hold one accent for more than a phrase. "Well I've got summat'll knock your bonzer socks off. Behold!"

Sweeping one hand towards a ratty old table, he whips off a cloth to reveal a rack of weapons. Pointy swords, massive maces, warhammers that resemble the smaller historical version rather than the fantasy types one pictures dwarves with, a bow and arrows, a stiletto, any number of different implements of death. "Priced as marked," the shady guy says, "and sold as is. No refunds! Some of them are probably cursed, is what I'm hinting at. Full disclosure."

The price is so good, the risk of a curse might be worth it. Did you purchase the Sword of Flaming Death, or the Dagger of Wedgies-to-the-Wielder? Is the greataxe mighty and potent, or actually foil-covered chocolate? Choose your weapon wisely. We -- we recommend you don't pick up the one that causes you to attack the nearest person in a rage of bloodlust, but what do we know?

Etreia Day

Everyone looks forward to Etreia Day in the dining hall, that special day when the food delivered to students and staff comes from that landlocked nation deep in the Tier Mountains. Little cultural blending and spices unique to the deep peaks and valleys of the isolated country have lead to a unique and renowned cultural menu that everyone is eager to partake of.

The effect isn't magical, merely biochemical, but no one can deny that Etreian food affects human emotions significantly. Light sauces and dry-rubbed fowl are terrific for energy and mood, pushing the eater into a flurry of cheerful activity that their body will likely pay for later. Sour dishes and dark bastes produce solemn moods and inhibit playfulness. Spicy foods are something of a wildcard, pushing different people to different extremes, be they happy or sad, angry or joyous. To those who expect this, experiencing these different emotions is as much a part of the meal as the taste and texture of the food itself.

To those who don't expect this, well, it's a bit of a surprise.

Labwork

Not every magical disaster is caused by some wayward student you don't know. Many of them are caused by you instead. To wit: you're on the spot in one of the magical labs, being called on to demonstrate a technique more advanced than others you've mastered so far. Failure is expected, and the wards should prevent any injury to others from a miscast spell. But will the sparks of your magic just sputter out and die? Or will you inadvertently mispronounce, misform, misshape, or miscalculate in a way that brings chaos to you and your lab partner?

(You could also manage to succeed in casting the spell, but that isn't very fun.)
hard_talker: ((MH) liek ohmigawd)

Mark Hunter | Pump Up The Volume

[personal profile] hard_talker 2019-05-16 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
Flub Potion #9

Mark is new at all of this, but he's decent at math, so he's annoyed when the mix turns the wrong color, his nose wrinkling beneath his glasses. But he keeps it to himself - as his classmates may or may not have noticed he always does. The quiet brunette has barely spoken word one to anyone who wasn't a teacher ...

But when the spirit rises from the cauldron and proceeds to tear into him about the wrinkles in his uniform, the crookedness of his collar, and how his glasses need cleaning, something clearly sparks behind his eyes. Sure, this is a failing grade, absolutely, but he can probably fix it. Before he fixes it, though, he sees a rare opportunity: one to use this seemingly sentient thing as a punching bag of sorts. He sits up straight in his chair, and in a tone more pronounced than his usual mumble, he says, with a smirk: "Yeah? And you're ugly."

Mack the Knife

Mark hitches the straps of his backpack up a little higher as he eyes the peddlar's wares dubiously. "Yeeeeah, uh, no thanks," he says quickly, then notes you next to him looking them over, and his eyes widen in concern.

"Holy -- you're not seriously thinking about it, are you?"
bananaspeedrider: (Default)

Yugo | Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V

[personal profile] bananaspeedrider 2019-05-16 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
A - Class Clown

"There’s nothing wrong with my hygiene! Or my handwriting!"

.. Well maybe the spirit isn’t wrong on one of those categories, but it’s not like Yugo has any clue whatsoever on how to fix this mess. So he chooses to argue because it’s all too easy for him to get worked up over a bunch of insults.

You as his lab partner probably could’ve trusted only this idiot’s math at most anyway.


B - FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

So what happens when one shoves a skinny teenager in front of a buffet? They challenge the phrase “all-you-can-eat” of course! And the count begins on how many different plates one might see Yugo stack up.

Perhaps you catch him near the start of things, wholeheartedly filling his first plate with reckless abandon and joyously scarfing it all down while still appreciating the flavors at the same time. “Man this beats even Tops food…!” He’ll mention to anyone in passing. “Does everyone always eat like this here?”

Maybe a few plates later he finally seems a bit sobered up from his initial excitement. Not horking down his newest plate of food, but savoring it more slowly as a side effect of looking lost in thought about something. (Or about someone?)

..... Or after this point, Yugo’s finally decided which dishes he likes putting into his black hole of a stomach the most. Maybe with morbid fascination one could encourage him to make it all the way to 23rds? Either way he’s gonna pay for this, with nausea again, an energy crash from overindulging in specific light-flavored dishes, or both.

Wildcard!
[Got something else in mind such as the aftermath of food fest? Come at me!]
king_of_egypt: (Huh?)

B - FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

[personal profile] king_of_egypt 2019-05-16 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
Please excuse one mystified ancient pharaoh staring in disbelief at how such a skinny teenager could be consuming copious amounts of food. When he finally snaps out of it he decides two things. One, he's no longer hungry himself and two, "I didn't think there was anyone could could rival Joey's appetite." Not that he bothered explaining who the person was that he referenced.

"Oh... uh.. sorry. I shouldn't have been staring like that." Making a move to keep on walking by the table.

"Don't let me interrupt."
fatedsacrifice: (Hmmm)

Noctis Lucis Caelum | Final Fantasy XV

[personal profile] fatedsacrifice 2019-05-16 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
Etreia Day -

Noctis loves food and he always has, well except maybe not vegetables. So far those have been easy to spot, though there's no one else's plate to pile them onto. And besides, Ignis isn't here to admonish him to eat healthier.

Sitting by himself, blue orbs look the dry rubbed bird meat over and Noctis shakes his head. His words are spoken softly, but they can still be overheard.

"What I wouldn't give for your cooking again, Iggy."


Labwork -

Noctis is there working on creating this potion thing. It was so much easier back home when he didn't have to worry or even think about it. But he figures trying his hand at manually creating a healing potion couldn't hurt, right? It can't be as hard as he'd heard it was. Besides he'd always had trouble being normal and to create this was seen as a challenge to be normal.

However, just as he'd done on his journey, Noctis mispronounces a name and messes the whole potion up entirely.

A puff of smoke appears and on the chair where Noctis had been sitting is a cute green toad.
Edited (changed icon, fixed typo) 2019-05-16 07:30 (UTC)
advocateofgenderequality: (Closed Eyes)

Etreia Day

[personal profile] advocateofgenderequality 2019-05-16 07:32 am (UTC)(link)
"Iggy? What kind of funky name is that?"

Kazuma asks to himself as much as to the reminiscing man besides him. His remark is a bit muffled, as his mouth is quite full. One hand holds a fairly large drumstick, half eaten, while the other hand balances a plate with a piled mountain of various other foods.

"If an iggy can cook as good as this, then you musta been one lucky dude."
fatedsacrifice: (Side view)

[personal profile] fatedsacrifice 2019-05-16 09:18 am (UTC)(link)
Noctis hadn't realized someone was sitting next to him as he'd briefly been reminiscing about the last time he'd camped out with the guys. But someone was indeed there with him now and a question had been posed so he nodded.

"It's short for Ignis." This was said with a fond sad smile. Ignis was the man who'd been at his side for ages, and who was always there no matter what. There was Gladio and Promto that had been at his side too of course, but they weren't the current topic of conversation.

Upon hearing the comment about the cooking though, Noctis nodded with a small laugh in his voice. "Ya, it definitely would be better than this." And even if he didn't give a voice to the lucky bit, he knew he'd been lucky in more ways than one. Aranea had even tried to snag hIgnis away as her chef, and Noct wasn't having it.
Edited 2019-05-16 10:16 (UTC)
sevenyearsasleep: (sheepish)

Knives

[personal profile] sevenyearsasleep 2019-05-16 11:46 am (UTC)(link)
Link is an optimistic soul.

"Hm? Oh, I don't know. They can't all be cursed. That would just be bad business. If you curse all of your customers, you have like zero repeat business, and no word of mouth." He grinned cheerfully.

"And besides, it's always good to have a decent supply of weapons at hand."


treno_nobleman: (dark messenger)

Etreia Day

[personal profile] treno_nobleman 2019-05-16 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Still new to this world and its more popular culture, Kuja had done his best to look into this whole Etreia Day thing and at least know what he was getting himself into. From his understanding, the food prepared was brought in from another region, and there was the fun in it. So something of an exotic nature, he'd gathered, though he hadn't liked the giggles the students hid as they wandered away, whispering excitedly among themselves.

He didn't like it at all, but he couldn't exactly deprive himself of sustenance until the day was over. For lunch, he had selected what looked appealing and healthy. It smelled delicious, as food here always seemed to do, but still he eyed it warily. As he moves to find a place to settle, he notices another student with the same meal and decides to stop and ask.

"How is it?"
hard_talker: ((MH) not so sure about this)

[personal profile] hard_talker 2019-05-16 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"No word of mouth, huh?"

It's a valid, intelligent argument, Mark will give him that. It's why he actually thinks about it for a moment before speaking up again.

"... Have you heard of this guy? I sure as shit haven't."
hard_talker: ((MH) liek ohmigawd)

B

[personal profile] hard_talker 2019-05-17 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
At his question about the habitual availability of the food, Mark looks up from his plate, a daub of sauce still at the corner of his mouth from the dish he was sampling. It looked vaguely Indian, and he'd missed good Indian food since his family had left New York. While it hadn't been korma or masala after all, it was still damn good, and he smiled a little.

"I haven't been here more'n' a week," he replied. "So beats me. But it's better than the cafeterias from home, that's for sure."
hard_talker: ((MH) the fit hits the shan)

Labwork

[personal profile] hard_talker 2019-05-17 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Mark had his nose in his textbook for most of Noctis' work, and misses the actual transformation entirely.

"Hey," he says, not looking up, "do we actually have to disembowel the mouse for the practicum in chapter two, or can we just toss a whole mouse in there? Because I'm really not comfortable with -- holy shit."

His eyes widen, and his knee-jerk reaction seems to be torn between panic and hilarity. Because frog. "Okay. Are you the toad or did it just ... switch places with you and you're in a bog somewhere?"

He realizes frog!Noctis might not be able to speak, and makes a face. "Er. Hop once for yes, twice for no?"
Edited 2019-05-17 00:08 (UTC)
bananaspeedrider: (Casual Convo)

[personal profile] bananaspeedrider 2019-05-17 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
Yugo pauses in the middle of taking another mouthful of food at the comment for a moment out of curiosity but apparently thinks nothing much of it or the stranger because he immediately resumes long enough to finish chewing. Only because it's still hard for him like it is for most people to talk while their mouth is full.

"It's no problem for me." Which the teen says nonchalantly as if he has no clue whatsoever who the pharaoh is (of course) or who he should be mistaking him for (he really doesn't).

"Just been a while since I've seen so much food in one place...!"
sevenyearsasleep: (Default)

[personal profile] sevenyearsasleep 2019-05-17 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
Link's expression fell slightly. Good point.

"No," he said slowly. "but, that doesn't necessarily mean he's not on the up and up."

The Hylian examined that axe that smelled suspiciously like chocolate for a moment.

"Or course...that doesn't mean he is...."
bananaspeedrider: (YES FOOD)

[personal profile] bananaspeedrider 2019-05-17 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
"Heh! No wonder everyone got so excited about the food for today then!"

Though he entirely missed the conniving giggles and whispers about what else is so special about Etreian cuisine. All the better since so far there hasn't been anything that feels out of the ordinary to worry about.

Yugo's a few plates into the buffet at this point, so he's feeling much more conversational as his rate of consumption slows down to a normal pace. "And what's your home like?"
hard_talker: ((MH) it could be bunnies)

[personal profile] hard_talker 2019-05-17 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
The dish Mark had chosen hadn't seemed spicy until he'd had a few mouthfuls: it was the sort of heat that crept up on you. So it would likely be with his mood ... the effect had yet to hit him. Even so, he found himself a little more eager to talk to a total stranger than usual.

"Originally I'm from a big city - but a couple months ago, my parents packed us up and moved to Arizona, in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing to do, nothing to really care about. At least, I didn't think there was. Until they gave me the radio."

He realizes he's talking more than he'd care to, now, and shoves another forkful into his mouth. Maybe if he spends the rest of the time eating he won't have to talk. Of course, that's not how this works...
hard_talker: ((HHH) this icon has COCKS IN IT)

[personal profile] hard_talker 2019-05-17 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
"So what, you're just gonna buy something, sight unseen, and deal with whatever happens? Back home we called that 'buying a lemon'."

He made a face as he picked up a small dagger, weighing the pros and cons.

"I mean - I guess it wouldn't hurt to have something to defend myself with? But I'm not really a fighting kinda guy. I wouldn't even know where to start beyond 'this end up'."
bananaspeedrider: (Smiles)

[personal profile] bananaspeedrider 2019-05-17 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
"Sounds rough." Not that he has anything to compare it to for a proper mental image. This is his first time having to grasp the idea that there's a whole ton of other dimensions and/or entire worlds outside of the four he's familiar with.

"I'm from a big city too, from what everyone knows over there as the Commons." Not the nicest place, but it was home. "My name's Yugo. You?"
king_of_egypt: (Eye contact)

[personal profile] king_of_egypt 2019-05-17 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
It wasn't as if Atem would have expected the stranger to recognize him as they had never spoken before. The answer raises more questions but he wasn't sure that he should pry. It could be a sensitive subject.

"Ah- well they do provide well for us here." Giving kudos to the Diatu staff. ".. and they don't ask for anything in return."
Edited (Pronoun fix) 2019-05-17 03:21 (UTC)
hard_talker: ((MH) liek ohmigawd)

[personal profile] hard_talker 2019-05-17 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
He really had wanted to just keep to himself, but for some reason, he couldn't help it. Suddenly he really did want to talk to Yugo: and not just the usual small talk. He felt like he wanted to have the kind of long conversations he used to have with his New York friends, the ones that lasted for hours and covered everything. Was it just because he'd been displaced from a city, too? Maybe? He wasn't sure, but he was too comfortable in the present moment to fight it.

"Mark." He grinned. "You know, where I'm from, there's a car called a Yugo. I've never seen one, but I've heard of 'em. Wouldn't it be funny if they call something else a Mark where you're from? Especially since the cars are German, and Germans call their money marks..."

He was really going to be embarrassed with himself later...
fatedsacrifice: (Looking into oblivion)

[personal profile] fatedsacrifice 2019-05-17 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
All of a sudden the world became smaller and the floor somehow looked to be a long way down. Noctis blinked and looked over at the man who had been his lab partner.

As the other man spoke, if toad!Noctis could sigh, he would've done so. This was a lesson repeated from fighting the daemon Marilith in his youth. No the results weren't as disastrous this time per say, but he'd gone off charging into battle against the creature when his friends were with him and he hadn't listened.

This was humiliating and definitely not a kingly thing to do, but toad!Noctis hopped once. And he had to make sure he didn't take a leap off of the chair while trying to reply. Hopefully he'd return to normal in a bit just like he did back home.

Hopefully.
fatedsacrifice: (Wait what?)

/sliding NT canon into the background here because I can!

[personal profile] fatedsacrifice 2019-05-17 06:50 am (UTC)(link)
Obviously his friends are nowhere around him and so Noctis stays by himself as has been a habit when he was a little boy. Carrots are placed on a napkin away from him but there's a dessert or two that's not too far away.

He's managed to eat a few of the uneaten spicy things but hasn't quite decided as to when those will fit in with the steak looking dish covered in a dark sauce.

Looking up from his food ponderings, blue eyes meet a brighter pair of blue. Silver feathery hair frames the face and for a moment the king stares trying to remember something.

But then he remembers a reprimand from Ignis that it wasn't polite to stare, so Noctis lowers his gaze although it's only momentarily.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?"
treno_nobleman: (why would you)

8DDDDD

[personal profile] treno_nobleman 2019-05-17 07:02 am (UTC)(link)
He had asked the question, but with a more attentive look, he notices the vegetables set aside and the plate seems barely touched. One man's tastes were his own, but that didn't bode well for what he had on his own dish, as good as it smelled. There wasn't a concern that he would die if he ate what was in front of him, but he wondered if he might be repulsed.

And then he wondered what the man meant. The voice wasn't ringing a bell, and neither was the face. Maybe the eyes, but the man looked away and he still couldn't place it. The tail behind him swayed gently as he rolled the image around in his mind.

"I'm afraid you don't look familiar." Or did he?


(ooc: Taking this as if Kuja has only ever seen Noctis at the very end, when they fought in that mock battle, unless you had another thought.)
advocateofgenderequality: (Realization)

[personal profile] advocateofgenderequality 2019-05-17 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
"Wait, Ignis? Iggy? Is it a fire spell or a puppy dog?"

Kazuma only seems to be half listening to his neighbor's statement, while the other half of his attention focuses on breaking down the pile of food on his plate.

"So it's a cooking fire spell?" Suddenly, he stops mid-bite as his eyes widen. "Or a dog that can cook!? And it can cook gourmet level food better than this!?"
Edited (added an 'a') 2019-05-17 07:11 (UTC)
fatedsacrifice: (Side profile)

[personal profile] fatedsacrifice 2019-05-17 10:48 am (UTC)(link)
Noctis waited, looking at Kuja with a more puzzled look. Flashes of memories came into his head but shook his head again.

The prounouncement gave the king nothing to go on, so at this point he had to shrug. "My mistake." He would've said 'my bad' but that was something he said to the guys, not to a complete stranger if that was the case. Noctis still believed he'd seen the man though he couldn't place him.

Many things had happened to the king, so maybe he had it wrong, but he didn't think he was wrong here. So he wasn't going to argue it, but a few moments passed and a name came to him. This was the last attempt he would make at this.

"I don't suppose the name Materia means anything to you."

(ooc: Yup!^^)
fatedsacrifice: (Sad smile)

[personal profile] fatedsacrifice 2019-05-17 10:56 am (UTC)(link)
As the other tried to figure out what an Ignis was, Noctis held back a laugh and coughed into his sleeve. Thankfully when he'd arrived someone had taken pity on his lack of a right sleeve and tried their best to heal the burn marks on his right arm.

He was so thankful that he couldn't bring himself to tell them what else was physically hurting on him, like his chest. They'd helped him so much already, and he wasn't about to trouble them further.

So Noctis is amused as the other goes on, with his companion reminding him something of a cross between a young Talcott and Promto.

Finally though he decided to help the other out with a small laugh and a shake of his head. Ignis would be mortified and indignant if he could hear this, but Noctis was picturing Iggy as a cute puppy dog with glasses.

"Ignis is a person."

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