Fandom 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 || 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 || IC - Applicants Allowed

[CrimsonDawn]

An ordinary college that now comes with not-so-ordinary people.

Burgess College wasn't the top university or college in the world. It didn't house all that many geniuses, have the best departments, or the best technology. But it was a good college, where you could get a genuine degree, and were taught by people knowledgeable in their field. It wasn't exactly international, appealing most to the locals.

Lately, however, more applications have been coming in from people that shouldn't have even existed.

People from far outside the reality of Burgess College were applying for the courses and staying in the co-ed on-campus accommodation. Strange names and stranger personalities were starting to occupy class lists, and societies and participate in events.

For some, this was a second chance.

For others, this was making the best of a confusing situation.

And for Burgess? Everything they thought they knew was about to change.


Taken Canon Roles:
(Click info link below for more info on allowed verses, and available characters)

Spoiler

Disney:
Prince Charming - Played by cyberzkull
Hercules - Played by cyberzkull

Rise of the Guardians:
Jack Frost - Played by CrimsonDawn
Pitch Black - Played by CrimsonDawn

---

How to Train Your Dragon:
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III - Played by CrimsonDawn

Penguins of Madagascar:
Kowalski - Played by CrimsonDawn

---

Attack on Titan:
Levi Ackerman - Played by CrimsonDawn

Black Clover:
William Vangeance - Played by CrimsonDawn

---

Dr Stone:
Ukyo Saoinji - Played by CrimsonDawn

---

My Little Pony:
Adagio Dazzle - Played by AlwaysCrashing

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Criminal Minds:
Spencer Reid - Played by CrimsonDawn

Original Characters:

Spoiler

Anka Nowakowa Played by CrimsonDawn
Maria Dawn - Played by homintales
Mi-Cha Joon- Played by Blxebxll

More will be added to the list as the roles fill up and characters are accepted.

We are still open to new characters and applicants.

Also, for the sake of all that's sacred and holy, please check the interest check (click on the Information, Auditions & Sign Ups link in blue) before coming on here.


Information, Auditions & Sign Ups | OOC Chat​

 

[CrimsonDawn]

• Setting
• Anka Nowakowa
• William Vangeance
• Ukyo Saoinji
• Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
• Jack Frost

• 
  
  The sun having risen up only a few hours ago, was obscured by pale giants of evaporated percipitation. The repetitive cries of gulls resound through the heavens, while chirps and whistles trill from the branches of shrubs and trees. Once more, buses were going in and out of campus grounds, and small groups of students gathered on sidewalks surrounding the multistorey structures of the buildings in which classes would be held.
  
  Automatic doors welcomed students inside to a reception that stretched out in two directions, one towards the libraries, cafes, and computer labs, the other towards the different lecture rooms and laboratories. Disconnected from this were the dorm rooms, the various flats, and apartments where undergraduate and postgraduate students resided. Harpy Hall and Sirenia Settlement were both undergraduate buildings, each with three floors - ground, first, and second - which stood furthest from the teaching rooms. Meanwhile, the postgraduate residence of five floors stood with proud modernity in its design, under the title of Mermaid Mansion (though it was more of a studio apartment type building than a mansion... the rooms were just... roomier).
  
  9 a.m. was perhaps half an hour away, and the first lectures would commence briefly. Such lectures might have had, on an average day, accommodated some 20 to 150 students in a single lecture hall, or split them between several laboratories - or several laboratory sessions -, chatter bouncing off the walls while the lecturers would attempt to gather everyone's attention before they ran out of time.​
• 
  
  Tappa tap tap tap.
  
  Fingers danced across the screen, as Anka typed out a response to one of her classmates.
  
  "Be there in ~10."
  
  Two ticks appeared shortly thereafter, just as she found herself losing her balance. Gripping the hand grip a little tighter, she shifted a bit to regain her balance, narrowly avoiding stepping on someone else's foot in the process. Stable once more, she blinked and noted a thumbs-up emoji appearing on the screen. At that point, the bus was slowing down to a halt.
  
  Impatience writhed within her body. It was tempting to push through to the very front of the bus so that she could get a headstart, but she was very aware that this might get her more than a few reproachful looks from the older passengers. So, she stuck it out, instead slipping the phone inside her pocket. She had recently made sure to copy her timetable out into the notes app on her phone, but it wouldn't be needed now that she had someone to go to Advanced French 1 with. Soon enough, she was able to leave, and with a quick "thanks" to the driver, she hopped off the bus, tempted to skip through the school building.
  
  Then again, it was only the first day of being back in school.
  
  Meandering past the gathered crowds of students - some chattering about subjects, some about hobbies, some about socials -, she headed for one of the common rooms sandwiched between the lecture and laboratory classes. A wide grin crossed her face, wide enough even for her to be aware of, pulling at the corners of her mouth. Excitement and trepidation brought a slight rush to her heart, even with the small, doubtful voice in her mind, wondering whether or not her classmate was equally as excited to see her again after such a long while.​
• 
  
  He could practically feel his skin crawl at the concept of showing his face to the public. Since before dawn he'd sat curled up by the door, not quite able to open that door and step outside - not even into the common areas of the building he now had to reside in -, nor wanting to go back to bed and sleep the day away. Someone had been merciful enough to give him yet another chance at life - one he wasn't sure he'd deserved -, and he'd be a fool to waste it. However...
  
  ... there was just no way he could step out there without a mask.
  
  Even after all that, even having revealed his face before, he wasn't sure, couldn't be sure how the people of this world would take it. (He already knew how they took his mask -- they thought it ridiculous... not that he could blame them.)
  
  'This is sad. I'm pathetic.'
  
  Yami would not have cared what people thought of any part of his appearance. Mereoleona would not have cared what people thought of any part of her appearance. It wasn't as though his squad had cared when he finally revealed his face to them.
  
  He really shouldn't be making such a big deal out of it.
  
  "There you go being dramatic again. Doesn't it get exhausting?"
  
  Even though there was no clock hanging off his wall, he could still hear a sound ticking away in his mind. The same clock from the shared kitchen seemed to be on replay, having invited itself into his brain. Time was slowly ebbing away, seconds turning into minutes and -
  
  What time was it?
  
  He reached out to search for something he wouldn't find in his pocket. He hadn't arrived in this world with a time-keeping device and was quickly reminded that the closest one he had access to hung off the kitchen wall. A little nausea rose to the back of his throat. That would mean going out between people, unless... unless his dorm mates were already outside.
  
  "You are ridiculous."
  
  He sighed, and after some time, he finally stood up. He was ridiculous. And he'd probably be ridiculously late for class, which would make public opinion of him worse than what it would be if he showed up on time. Scarred or not. Reaching out for the bag that had been prepared hours in advance, stuffed with all he would likely need - and a few extras that could come in handy too - he pulled it over his shoulder. He reached out for the door and-
  
  ... let go of the handle just as soon as his hand was practically wrapped around it, reaching back to grab mask.
  
  Sure, it was a little tacky.
  
  But it was a mask made by the Wizard King himself. And he'd been comfortable enough wearing it for a large enough chunk of his life. Surely he couldn't possibly be that unusual for showing up in a mask. Back in his world, he'd hardly been the only one, he tried to reason with himself.
  
  With that, he finally left the room. Sleep deprived, not having eaten or drank, but at least he was finally attempting something.​
• 
  
  This world was not so different from the way his world had been before the petrification event.
  
  And in that sense, he found himself fairly confident in making his way around. The signs were in English - a language familiar enough to him -, the people seemed friendly enough (though he doubted they would understand his current situation), and none of the technology spooked or shocked him. Everything seemed to function in a familiar way, with some minor updates.
  
  A part of him might have even been quite happy to have been given this opportunity to go back into education, to learn, and possibly even make friends. A small part of him had wondered previously what it would be to work in a different field from his last. To that end, he'd picked up some language classes for the semester.
  
  Yet... there was a feeling of dissatisfaction within his chest. A sort of hollowness.
  
  He wasn't sure how he'd gotten here. All he knew was that he was now in a different world, with another voice occasionally invading his mind with unhelpful suggestions to just "sit back and enjoy the ride". He didn't mean to sound ungrateful or rude, but how exactly was he supposed to enjoy himself separated from pretty much every person he had known in the world he'd come from?
  
  The voice hadn't yet thought it important enough to so much as introduce themselves to him - their voice seemed young and feminine though, almost like he was speaking to a kid who had just pulled the world's most insane prank on him (though he couldn't help but think this wasn't a kid, if only because he wouldn't normally expect this sort of deviousness from a child... Suika certainly wasn't like this) -, only welcoming him into the world and occasionally dropping some useful information. None of said information included how he was supposed to get back to his own universe. A universe, he had come to decide, was (for all the struggles) one he'd grown fond of over the years and that he had a place in.
  
  Looking around the campus, feeling woefully underprepared for the day and unfamiliar with the new and very... English... slang, he wasn't sure he'd be able to find a place here. Still, as he passed by the other people, he smiled. They didn't necessarily deserve to have him be angry with them for something they might not have had anything to do with, after all.
  
  'Maybe They'll see fit to explain this to me later. I should probably figure this place out in the meantime so that I have a better chance at returning successfully.' Or maybe he was being a little too optimistic there. Feeling his heart get a little achy with homesickness, he hoped he wasn't. He quite missed his friends, Senku, Ryuusi, Gen...​
• 
  
  Well this was...
  
  Different.
  
  Different and confusing. Different and weirdly dragon-less. Granted, he'd recently had Toothless guide the dragons of Berk and the surrounding islands to the hidden world, but even so...
  
  ... This wasn't that world. This wasn't his world.
  
  He knew this primarily because the writing was weird, the people dressed strangely, and while the language was beginning to settle inside his brain after months of cramming a whole other vocabulary list of words... it all felt so incredibly alien. He was sure he wasn't even in the same time. There was just no way with the resources and materials available on Berk or any lands he knew of, even with the assistance of dragons, technology would be so optimised and bizarre and the transport would be this fast if it existed in the same time as he had originally done.
  
  It was certainly no horse-drawn carriages, longships, or dog-pulled sleighs. The monstrous hunks of metal and other parts that drove around making noise and stinking up the place weren't something he could have even thought possible. In fairness though, before he'd befriended Toothless, he hadn't truly thought it possible for humans and dragons to be on peaceful terms.
  
  As confusing and frightening as this world could be - all the unique sounds, smells, sights -, a small part of him couldn't help but feel awe lifting his heart and drawing his eyes to the world around him, as he took it all in. Granted, some part of him definitely wanted whatever God or Goddess to stop screwing with him and let him return to his world... but some part of him was excited.
  
  He reached out for the front entrance to the main reception, planning on heading to his first class. Only to stumble forward a few steps, almost falling, as he found his balance again.
  
  "Great job, genius," he muttered to himself when the memories of previous failures finally returned to him. In his defense, Berk didn't have self-opening doors. He would need to figure out how those were made -- he was sure it would be a handy invention... although, in the twins' hands, it would be most likely used to mess with people, rather than contributing anything useful. Yeah... he was going to need to make sure they didn't get their hands on the future blueprints.
  
  If it weren't for the fact that the new part-time resident inside his brain had informed him otherwise, he would have honestly thought Loki was behind this.
  
  'Alright, now where...' Looking ahead, past all the other students and staff, he searched for his next class. He had no idea whether or not whoever had dragged him into this world had the capability to kill him, and he wasn't about to risk it. Not if he had any chance of reuniting with Toothless and the gang back home. If it meant getting back to his village, he'd humour whatever deity was behind his fate for as long as need be. However reluctantly. 'Since you brought me here, mind at least telling me where this "class" I'm supposed to be attending is held?'
  
  "Hmm... I think I'll pass on that one."
  
  'Great. Thanks for nothing.'
  
  "You're welcome."​
• 
  
  Seriously? Like seriously? He'd fallen through the ice, drowned, died, reincarnated, lived 300 years in almost complete social isolation as a partially-invisible immortal, and just when he'd made friends and found family...
  
  ... he got transported into a whole new frickin' world.
  
  Well, he supposed on the plus side - as he high-fived some random stranger on campus -, that mortal folks could see him now. So, that was cool.
  
  He also had to wear shoes now. Not so cool. And, according to the really annoying voice inside his head that kept nagging at him, he needed to attend school now. Even less cool. He'd never particularly liked what schooling he had access to in his mortal life, not from what little he could remember of it. Therefore, he was pretty doubtful of the idea that he might enjoy learning now.
  
  Having ignored most of what the voice had said, he'd randomly agreed to take a history course, and then nodded along at the suggestion that he should join a society or club, but did absolutely nothing to further the application process. Honestly, he couldn't bothered.
  
  Having his head stuck in books, spending hours writing and reading just wasn't his thing. Keeping organised, and following schedules and rules wasn't his thing. Wearing shoes and stuffy clothing wasn't. his. thing. Although, admittedly, it wasn't that bad. Nobody seemed to be wearing suits -- the clothing selection seemed largely casual with a hint of dressy or sporty - from what he'd seen thus far, so maybe it was more relaxed than say, some of the schools in some parts of the world that he'd flown over during his time as a spirit. But they were throwing around all these confusing words - what the hell was an allegory? or did they say 'anecdote'? -, and talking about stuff he had no idea about.
  
  Occasionally they'd mention something vaguely familiar - Jamie had familiarised him with video games and since then he'd been trying to persuade North to add some to his production line at the workshop - but for the most part, even the young people around him seemed to share nothing in common with here.
  
  'What? But what's so bad about the cold?' He wanted to protest as he heard someone complaining about how the weather was already cooling down again. 'Cold weather is the best kind of weather -- and the perfect weather for a snow day!'
  
  And boy, did he wish it was a snow day that day.
  
  He was not excited about the upcoming introductory lecture on History.​

 

[AlwaysCrashing]

As the shriek of the alarm faded, the dorm room was enveloped in a silence that was rather unfamiliar to Adagio; over the long span of her existence, it seemed that she had become so accustomed to the eccentricities of the two other sirens’ routines that the absence of them was even more glaring. Aria’s choleric nature rubbing against Sonata’s blissful naiveté certainly made for some interesting mornings to say the least. This current unnerving stillness was only broken by Adagio begrudgingly tossing her covers aside. Adagio groaned as she was not particularly excited to commence with the rigorous academic work that no doubt awaited her. Durning her brief stint at Canterlot High, her subtle machinations rendered class work practically nonexistent as the whole school was swept up in the Battle of the Bands. However, without the help of her magic, avoiding pointless busy work was no longer an option. It certainly vexed her to no end that in the scant few days she had spent in this world, she was no closer to discerning the true intentions or the identity of the mysterious voice inside her head. Enrolling her in community college classes in this Podunk town and pestering her to participate in campus life could not seriously be the extent of this entity’s plan. Could it? It simply made no sense for one to extend all this effort just for that outcome.

“Tsk Tsk. Are you always this distrustful of those merely trying to extend a helping hand? Is this deep-seeded paranoia the reason why over the course of your life you only managed to find two friends? The fact that they also happen to be your siblings is pretty sad. If you are to uphold your end of our bargain, I would suggest that you spend this upcoming semester on more productive endeavors than attempting to subvert me. Use this time wisely.”

Adagio did not humor the disembodied voice inside her head with a response lest it launch into another one of its trademark inane monologues, instead she continued with her morning routine unabated.

The early morning wind blew her puffy orange hair toward one shoulder while she purposely strode towards the main reception area; she did not care to suffer through the prattle that would undoubtedly ensue if she missed her first class. Her gaze drifted to her assigned textbook poking out from her bag, the front cover depicted what could only be described as a disheveled vagrant with a particularly stupid look on his face eagerly pointing to a portrait of a dour looking gentleman that hung in a cluttered gallery; the title read Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Hegelian Dialectics (But Were Conditioned Not to Ask) and indicated the author as one Professor Krešimir Sablin. Her face scrunched up in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. What in Tartarus did she get herself into? Perhaps she should have taken a more active role in the creation of her schedule, but in her defense at the time she was under the impression that her stint in this universe would not be spent attending lectures given by windbags who assign their own unsellable books as required reading. Otherwise, she would have never willingly taken Introduction to Philosophy.

After entering through the automatic doors Adagio found that the main reception area was brimming with activity with frazzled students hurrying to class. Ugh, the thought of spending who knows how long amongst humans was gag inducing. Watching the various groups of students mill on past, Adagio saw little that distinguished them from those that occupied her prior plane of existence, droll sad little creatures. She turned to deliver a snide remark about the pitiful state of humanity to Aria, but at the last second realized she was not there. Oh, right.
Without her cohorts she needed to find something to alleviate her growing boredom, so she decides on a whim to engage in one of her favorite hobbies to pass the time before class. Nothing wrong with causing a little mayhem from time to time. She scans the assembled student body for someone (or a group of someones) to coax into a confrontation with another party. Even without her siren magic, there were still those that were malleable and prone to influence. She just loved to watch the results of her social engineering unfold before her very eyes as human drama was always entertaining. She fixated on a couple across the room engaged in a gratuitous display of public affection. Hmm, with a few well-placed words she could have them at each other’s throats.

As she begins to make her way over the couple, she feels her head begin to throb, this sensation is accompanied by a familiar annoying voice rattling in the recesses of her mind.

“While. I cannot stop you from pursuing this course of action, I can still strongly urge you not to do this. I feel like I must reiterate your primary purpose here is not to cause undue derision amongst your peers. I once again stress that there are better uses of your time.”

Adagio scowls as she feels her hands begin to bawl up into fists. “Does it seem like I asked for your opinion on the situation. If I wanted to be bombarded with moral platitudes, I would have sought out Sunset and her little friendship brigade; they absolutely love that redemption crap. Perhaps it is you that is forgetting what my primary purpose here is? I only participate in this little charade to see to the restoration of what was unjustly taken from my sisters and me… the eventual fulfillment of your promise. If I desire your commentary, I will be sure to ask. Do I make myself clear!?”

She clenches her jaw as she continues walking, clearly now more focused on the argument raging on inside her head than her surroundings. Unaware of where she was treading she collides right into Hiccup. Adagio barely had time to register what was happening before she was knocked prone.

 

[CrimsonDawn]

• Kowalski
• Levi Ackerman
• Pitch Black
• Spencer Reid
• Anka
• Hiccup
• Jack Frost
• Ukyo Saoinji
• William Vangeance

• '... Lichtenstein, Paine, Friedman-' A blue gaze skimmed through the names of the buildings on the plaque on the wall.
  
  "Ah, yes, Edison! Of course, it would be that!" the former penguin exclaimed, eyes widening in realisation and slapping his face. It oughtn't have surprised him in the least that a building dedicated to scientists would be named after one of the most well-known ones. Following the arrow, he headed where the School of Sciences was supposed to be, trying to recall the number of the building his class was in.
  
  It was a lot to wrap his head around, but, he found that it was almost comforting to have a routine. It distracted his mind from the dread and the discomfort that came with being separated from the rest of his penguin squad, in a completely different form that simply did not come to him naturally. He wasn't used to having fingers, or longer limbs, or hair going from his scalp. It felt almost unnatural to be wrapped up in all those layers of clothes, but sans them, there was something inherently awkward about showing off his otherwise uncovered skin. Buildings seemed smaller now that he was taller. And he seemed weirdly more aware of certain sounds and sights than others - at completely different ends of the spectrum than previously.
  
  He'd also come to find, that, in many ways, his senses were greatly restricted by his new form. How he could move was altered, and he found his inability to hold is breath underwater for long was deeply distressing.
  
  Yet, he maintained a largely neutral expression and forged on, intending not to give in. Skipper hadn't trained him, or any of his fellow penguins to be quitters. He was a soldier. He'd simply have to adapt to this new environment and form, and calmly, rationally make his way back to the rest of his men, regroup, and plan out their next steps. Or, if he was the only one transported here...
  
  ... well...
  
  He swallowed. He wasn't actually sure. There'd always been Skipper's guidance, Rico's explosives, and Private's... morale support... to count on.
  
  But, NOPE! He wasn't going to dwell on that. Head held high, he strutted through the building, searching for room 305. 'Room 305... 305... dammit... where can this room possibly be hiding...?' Impatience and nerves slowly ate away at him. This place seemed to be full of 100s... not a 300-something in sight. All sorts of scientific posters were plastered across the walls, but not a map in sight. Passing a stairwell, he still couldn't find any increments in the hundreds column...
  
  Just where was he going wrong?
• Just where the hell-?
  
  It wasn't even a week ago when he'd wound up in this world - completely against his will, but then, things happening against his will was more or less a typical Monday fighting Titans for him -, and now he was supposed to attend this university thing. They had tutoring - by way of governor or governess, generally reserved for the snobby upper classes that could actually afford it -, back in his world, but from his memory, Paradis didn't have institutions quite like the extensive and irregular building before him.
  
  He'd been trying to ask the prick of a voice inside his head for some kind of instruction manual on how to handle this crap. No answers.
  
  He'd tried to figure out what the heck this thing wanted from him; how he was supposed to get back. Silence was all he received. He'd kicked the desk inside his room in annoyance at the fact, before settling on the bed, attempting to think this through. Normally, it'd be Erwin, and possibly Hanji to come up with plans and solutions. It wasn't normally all left to him.
  
  But lately, nothing had been normal. Not even back in his world.
  
  Now, as he glared at the entrance - self-opening, fancy, but he wasn't sure he understood the point until someone wheeled in -, he had no idea of how he was supposed to deal with this. Lectures? Labs? He'd come to understand a thing or two about them, thanks to handy, brand new, and confusing things like "the internet" - no thanks to his Benefactor -, but that didn't make this any less of a mindf-ck.
  
  Not to mention, he'd been put down as a student of medicine. Since when? Last he'd spent any time playing nurse was... never - at least, he couldn't remember such a time -, and he'd never been the best with people. Even he could admit that. Was he seriously going to be doomed to look after and do medical check-ups on careless brats until this Benefactor got bored and either permanently disposed of him, or - if they for some reason felt merciful - sent him back to his life as a titan slayer?
  
  On the plus side, here was hoping that this world's medical industry could appreciate cleanliness and hygiene.
  
  Heck... far as the learning aspect of university was concerned, he figured Hange would've quite enjoyed that. 'Four Eyes would probably be out of control in a place like this. Even though I doubt anyone's studying Titans here.'
  
  That was the other peculiar thing.
  
  This world, it was so... safe. So unbothered by giant, vaguely human-looking monstrosities that fed on human flesh and destroyed human settlements. Well... human-looking. They were human. But as titans, they were, undoubtedly quite monstrous. Fortunately, the humans of this world were not doomed to such threats, nor to the curse of being a titan. It was all so peaceful, and bloodless -- well, for the most part. He was much too cynical to believe mankind was fully capable of peace.
  
  'Now where the hell is LT3?'
• Pitch, who had never much cared for the sun, was unbothered by the clouds, and in fact, rather welcomed them. His abilities tended to weaken in intense sunlight - not that it particularly mattered anymore, thanks to the anklet he was now forced to wear - and so he preferred to keep to the shadows or in dimmer-lit areas. On the bright side, the was no pesky moon to contend with during the daytime. In so much as this was no longer his old world - he realised this gradually, upon noting that this world was pretty much devoid of magic -, it still wouldn't surprise him if somehow the Man in the Moon was behind him ending up here, and if somehow his enemy had managed to keep tabs on him through the moon here. He didn't know the full extent of MiM's power, much as he loathed to admit it.
  
  Pulling in his black coat, he then moved his arms back behind him, as he walked through the campus grounds. He figured it would be fast taking the outdoors route, since the hallways here could get somewhat convoluted... and besides, he wasn't used to people. Or, rather, he wasn't used to being around people. Being seen by people, being heard by people, being able to crash into people, thus provoking them to snap and tell him to "watch it". He was used to watching the world from the outside, occasionally crafting chaos and reaping the benefits.
  
  He certainly wasn't used to someone referring to him as "Kozmotis". That was a name that made him doubletake. That was a name he hadn't heard in a very long time.
  
  It was also the name that he apparently went by now, he was reminded with a huff. His "Benefactor" had chosen the name out for him, without any real input from him. Far as he was concerned - glowering at his surroundings - Kozmotis was dead and gone. That man no longer existed. No longer would be allowed to exist. To hear him get dragged out of his grave time and time again by the careless and self-righteous filled him with indignation. Why couldn't people finally accept reality?!
  
  A black silhouette darted across the campus grounds.
  
  He blinked, briefly distracted. The quadruped was most likely either someone's pet that strayed, or a street cat that found its way here. For a moment, it halted in its steps, looking towards him, ears flicking, tail swishing. Then, it turned around and rushed off to wherever it had been headed. Curiously, his frustrations had seemed to momentarily vanish, brain resetting to fixate on the original goal.
  
  Since he was stuck here - and he had yet to figure out how powerful his Benefactor was and whether it'd ever be a good idea to square up against them - he was now left with finding his first Introduction to Psychology class of the semester, and all the joys of academia that brought with it. Joys including endless stress -- he'd been around enough young people in education to know just how nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing it could be --, which he intended to capitalise on. Granted, he'd come to realise he couldn't actually feed off fear anymore, but there was still something entertaining about watching humans freak out about every last assignment.
  
  A small smirk made its way on his face, as he looked ahead for where the Skinner building was supposed to be.
• Gideon had once quoted Nietzche to him, saying "the irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather a condition of it." Now he was forced to remember this quote from a man who seemed to vanish from the BAU's life so suddenly, despite getting on so seemingly well with all of them. Indeed, over the past few days he had come to realise that this panic-inducing nightmare that was finding himself in a world that knew of no genius detective Spencer Reid, that had no understanding of who he was and what he did, and no recognition of his documentation as real... was no bad dream. No, this was his new reality. And all of his achievements, and all of his goals... they had been completely wiped.
  
  In this world, for better or for worse, he was nobody, with no credentials, no qualifications, and no way to show his experience unless someone blindly trusted him enough to let him show the skills he had spent so many years honing. There was - at least, seemingly - no Hotchner, no Gideon, Rossi, Derek, Penelope, Emily, or JJ. He wasn't even sure if there was a BAU. If it at all operated in any approximation of how it operated back whence he came from.
  
  ... And honestly...?
  
  That had been a terrifying thing to wake up to.
  
  More terrifying still was the new voice that occupied his head. "Greetings, mortal, welcome to your new reality," she had spoken, with the amusement of someone watching ants crawl and dig complex tunnel systems from behind a glass screen, completely above it all. Or, well, he assumed it was a she, as the person who had later introduced themselves as his "Benefactor" never clarified their pronouns. Scratch that. They never clarified anything. He had no idea why he was here -- was this person asking for his help, sans knowing how a normal person went about such things? Was this some sort of sadistic game to her?
  
  Or worse, had he gone... mad? Were these auditory hallucinations? Paranoid thoughts?
  
  With his only frame of reference being his mother, he doubted, yet couldn't really prove to himself, that he hadn't spiraled into Schizophrenia. After that first time hearing the voice of a person he couldn't see anywhere near him, he'd freaked out. Heart pumping rapidly in his chest, mind disoriented, throat clamping up tight, making breathing difficult, and not helped by his inability to breathe properly, you could say his first experience was unpleasant, and it would've been an understatement. Eventually, it went so far as to cause physical discomfort... and he had no idea how he'd managed to break out of that moment. He had no idea how he would deal with these "moments" without his team. Without anyone, he felt he could turn to.
  
  'Okay, okay, focus on the goal, Spencer', he reminded himself when he headed for the science department. In perhaps a stroke of unexpected respect, the Benefactor had seen fit to provide him with an undergraduate psychology diploma, so as to not necessitate him having to restudy a whole field he already had some idea about. Hence he was now headed for the postgraduate building that towered against the buildings it was attached to, looking shiny, modern... and honestly, the complete opposite of his preferred, older timey aesthetic. (He'd never been much of a modern person.)
  
  He would need to figure out what this Benefactor wanted and how to get out of here. In the meantime, however, he needed to fulfill his basic needs. And as such, he would need to play along with this.
• Pushing the door open softly, the brunette peaked her head through the doorway, hazel eyes landing on the couch at the other side of the room, by a window. Curled up on top of it, sneakered feet hanging just off the edge and clutching her phone, was her classmate, Cara, with her ginger hair, amicable, freckled face, and blue-grey eyes. Anka waved at her fellow French learner.
  
  "Salut!" she exclaimed, excitement apparent in her eyes and twinkling her smile broad and dazzling white. She walked over to the couch, plopping onto the armrest - as one does, because that is exactly how you're supposed to sit on a couch, yes - feet dangling ever so slightly off the ground. Sliding the bag off her back, she let it to drop to the carpeted floor, leaning it against the side of the seat.
  
  A fainter grin pulled at Cara's face. "Bonjour, Anka," she responded, not quite putting her phone away, but looking up from the screen to face the other woman. "Ça va?" she then asked.
  
  "Ça va bien, et toi?"
  
  As much as she wasn't exactly the brightest brain on campus in the mornings, she had Cara had settled into a rhythm of starting out their conversations in one of the foreign languages they knew to keep their cogs turning even before the lecture. Besides, she'd take any excuse to talk to her classmates about anything, having been wanting to speak to someone the whole morning.
  
  Wrapped up in their little conversation - talking about states of being, what they had for breakfast, what they had on for today, as much en français as possible, if someone were to walk into the common room, the language student would likely not catch onto their presence immediately. Once a conversation began, her attention tended to revolve around the person she was speaking to. It might take until a kettle was heard bubbling and boiling, or until someone slammed a door, or there was a loud crash for her to halt in her conversation and turn around.
  
  Eventually, the conversation faded into English. "Hmm... what did you think of the exercise we got for today?"
  
  "Aside from how annoying it is that she gave us an assignment before the semester even started?" her classmate asked. Judging by the faint rings around her eyes, Anka could only assume that she hadn't even realised they'd been given an exercise until the night before.
• The Viking fought the urge to roll his eyes at the voice's sass.
  
  He'd been enrolled into a "zoology programme" (with no idea what that even was), and now was searching for the teaching room in which his introduction to Biology was supposed to be held. And, naturally, his Benefactor had made it an absolute must to be as unhelpful in all of this as possible. He was sure that it wasn't far off - already he'd seen a few rooms that ought to have been nearby -, but...
  
  Thud!
  
  Distracted, he found himself walking right into a ginger-haired girl with a blond streak going through it, stumbling back a little when he realised this. "A-ah- sorry- my bad," he rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly at the girl, dreading the idea that she might think him the scum of the Earth or something. Generally speaking, such carelessness didn't come without glare from Astrid, even very recently before he'd ended up here, so he wasn't counting on the young woman to take particularly kindly to his blundering self.
  
  "I didn't hurt you or anything? Sorry if I did," flustered, and stammering some, he realised his own awkwardness was probably not helping him in this situation -- especially since, judging by the way she dressed, she seemed like a confident person. The shiny belt, and the attire which appeared to be relatively in fashion around here (he questioned it, especially with the cooling weather, but then, he'd never been the most popular of people... not until Toothless came into his life, at least), led him to assume that she was confident, anyway (who else would dress quite so conspicuously, unless they had no qualms about having eyes on them)? In some ways, even just by a first glance, she made him think of Astrid.
  
  'Well, except for the hair. The hair's definitely different... so much volume too.' Noticing he was staring at her hair for a little too long, he blinked and then averted his green gaze briefly, before it settled back on her. It was a bit hard to ignore how curly it was though -- he'd never really come across any other texture but straight among the Vikings, so seeing all these different complexions (that weren't all just his pasty white one), eye colours, and hair textures (and styles, those certainly got way more creative than he'd imagined they could be) --, and not in a bad way.
  
  If he weren't so eager to get back, there would be a lot to appreciate and even be awed by with this strange world of automatic doors and confusing names for things that probably didn't even exist in his world.
• Slouching, the very unenthusiastic Jack made his way toward his elective -- with his main course consisting of Sports Sciences - occasionally kicking up some loose rocks and dirt in frustration as he walked. The buildings themselves looked rather unappealing, and there were very few kids on campus. That childhood spirit that he adored when dealing with kids had all but disappeared with many of the people around him. Really, most of them looked half-dead or stuck inside their own head, thinking of one boring thing or another. Having gotten past the outgoing jocks from earlier, most of the rest of the campus was full of nerds. Tech nerds, science nerds, art nerds, you name it. None of which he understood.
  
  Walking past the buildings, he spotted random buildings that looked like cafes - no mention of the word "cafe" itself though, rather unhelpfully -, where the occasional groups of people gathered at the benches, as well as indoors -, as well as whole rooms dedicated to computers (sadly, he doubted they'd be used for anything, particularly exciting). The names didn't ring any bells to him and he had no idea what the sense behind how they were named was.
  
  'If Jamie were here...' But he wasn't. And hence, he couldn't ask him.
  
  He'd tried walking over to a dog walker and asking her, but she just shook her head and said that she was only visiting and had no idea where the different buildings were. Since then, his usual confidence had slipped a bit.
  
  "Hey, guys, you know where the Ambrose building is?" he popped up randomly beside two girls who looked at him, at first seeming taken aback. Then one of them shrugged, while the other nodded, gesturing in one direction.
  
  "If you head behind that building over there, you should see another one attached to it, with "Stephen E. Ambrose" written on the door," she explained, with a slight accent, though he couldn't pinpoint the origin of it, "from that side, the first two floors should belong to that same building." With that, she gave him a polite smile and then resumed talking with her friend.
  
  The moment he was a few meters away from them, already heading in the direction he'd been pointed in, he could hear excited whispers from behind. He frowned, wondering if maybe he was missing out on something, even as he entered the building, following another person who seemed roughly about his age.
• The Richard Hartshorne building seemed squished between the others, and it had taken a considerable amount of time trying to figure out where it was in this chaotic layout of a university. It certainly seemed as though his former one had been a little more... organised. Nevertheless, trying to distract himself from the reality of things, he did his best to find it on his own -- and to his, credit, he succeeded. Eventually.
  
  Now just to find the correct room. 201 was it? Was that the second floor? He looked up to the stairwell, then looked back. The sign certainly suggested that this floor hosted the building along with several others... but would the next one? Hesitating for a moment, he finally decided to make the trek up the stairs, noticing several men around his age - possibly slightly younger - headed downstairs, likely for some other class. The amount of students that went to this university - which was in the thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands -, certainly kept this place... lively, he decided, overhearing their excitable conversations surrounding socials.
  
  "You think our course group is planning some nice events?"
  
  He couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Ryuusi would've enjoyed such events himself.
  
  "I dunno about nice. Heard something about a games night -- but to be honest, it sounds pretty lame."
  
  The other person went silent, possibly thinking otherwise but not willing to say a thing. If any other words were exchanged between them, he wouldn't know, as they'd disappeared from view, and he'd made it to the second floor. Thankfully, he seemed to be more or less in the right place, judging by the signs. 'It should be somewhere here...' Green eyes scanned the hall for the different room numbers.
  
  Almost instantly they landed on 201, which prompted him to head towards that side of the hallway. He reached out for the door handle, only to find the room was locked, so pulled away and leaned against the white wall behind him. Folding his arms against his chest, he waited there, figuring that he wouldn't need to wait much longer for Geography to begin, anyway.
  
  Then again... there was always the possibility that the lecturer could be late.
  
  He looked around. Was there any point trying to step outside for a little bit of fresh air before the lecture began?
• He felt somewhat nauseous as he made the trek to the main reception. While the environment was nice enough - green lawns, tall trees, well-kept shrubs, and birds chittering from the branches, the combination of not having eaten and the trepidation of being around people (in a world where he stood out even more than even his old one) impacted his physical straight right along with his emotional one.
  
  He shifted the mask on his face a little, fixing the feather at the back, his eyes fixated on the ground. Under the mask, his cheeks burned in embarrassment, though his expression looked neutral, if a little unenthused. His focus darted from side to side and person to person - or shoe to shoe, because he struggled to keep his gaze at eye-level right now. This hadn't been so hard in his last world -- at least, not after he became an adult. He still remembered how awkward he had been when he was younger, distrustful of other's intentions and fully expecting nothing but disgust. Slowly though, Julius had broken him out of that mentality. Only for him to fall right back into it.
  
  'Sorry for wasting your efforts, Julius,' he found himself apologising to someone who most likely didn't even exist in this world.
  
  Noting he was by the entrance to the school - and curiously narrowing his eyes at the lack of door knobs or handles -, he looked up, trying to look less awkward. Perhaps if he wore this with confidence, people would start gradually seeing it as normal. OR they would think he was this "furry" he heard people speak of in the halls of residence. To his surprise, the door seemed to slide apart on its own. He blinked, and at first stepped back, before taking a hesitant step forward.
  
  It didn't appear to be done by magic.
  
  He couldn't sense any radiating from the automated item, nor did it seem affected by his own. Then again, his own magic was currently unavailable to him, restrained by some sort of magical binds. The limitation on his abilities was unnerving, especially as it left him vulnerable, but also disheartening, as it essentially rendered him useless. After all... even Julius was more intrigued by his magic.
  
  Had he never expressed the ability to use World Tree Magic, would the man have ever paid him any heed?
  
  The door behind him slid shut, as he entered the reception. Seats stood on one side, where a few of the students gathered, tapping at rectangular, relatively flat devices -- phones, were they? - just beneath square windows surrounded by a brick wall. The other side had a desk, currently empty, above which stood a sign with the name of the uni, as well as "reception" on it. There were other signs too, pointing towards libraries, cafes, various other buildings. It was daunting really, and prompted him to stand by for a bit, uncertain as to where to go.
  
  He knew he was supposed to be somewhere -- Introductory Biology? -- but his mind blanked and he wasn't sure where to head.

 

[homintales]

Maria Dawn​

Maria was on a whole new level of sleepy. Not only was she given, at most, 47 minutes of sleep last night, she also went without ANY SORT OF BREAKFAST. The microwave in Maria's apartment was apparently needing immediate repairs. Which also meant there was no time to cook in the morning, not unless Maria was willing to use the natural sunlight to warm something. Obviously, she wasn't.

So yeah, this morning she went without the classic eggs & sausage meal. Combine that with the overwhelming lack of sleep, she was almost ready to call it quits on life right then & there.

Luckily, there were multiple cafes & several vending machines inside. Maria, a genius, was always one to carry at least $20 at all times, so she was able to purchase enough snacks to where making it through lectures/classes was now, at least, a possibility in this specific timeline. Still, she was a little sluggish, even now. Though, when you're wearing an elite soldier's equipment, that's natural.

And when you play through all of the Halo games in a single night, plus a good portion of the early morning, can you really expect to make it through multiple lectures without passing out? "Mmh, okay, now I gotta make my way to room-" She saw a few fellow students staring. "WHAT, NEVER SEEN A STUDENT WEAR COMBAT ARMOUR?!" They ran away.

Maria took a new glance at the papers she was carrying. "All right, room 23-" Damn, there was a stain on the last number's spot. Well, the general location was at least a little obvious now. Still, all the stress was getting to Maria, causing the new student's scars to turn increasingly more red. This visual change only made some of the fellow students try to avoid Maria even more.