AlteredTundra

World Beyond the Lexicon

Hyyypeeee!

Project Untamed

_{A @metanoia & @BitchTheFuck Collaboration
Featuring The Salvador Twins}

Still caught up in the details of last night's dream, Billie had hardly touched her food. The memes weren’t doing their job. Nothing anyone had shared this morning had been funny. Did everyone in this place lack a sense of humor? School mandated phones had to be one of the dumbest things she had ever heard.

Hearing her brother's voice, Billie looked up to see his overly familiar face. While she was bitchy and rude to just about anyone who breathed, Nick had always been the exception. A small half-smile forming on her face, Billie sighed and sat her phone down on the table.

”I… know that we’ve both been having those weird dreams, but… last night…. Mine got even weirder. And I don’t know how to feel about it.”

The Salvador twins had always been lucid dreamers for as long as they could remember. Like most of the kids their age and especially most with a bond as close as the one they had, their dreams were often connected to each other. Maybe it played into the whole twin thing. If that’s all it was, Nicholas wouldn’t feel as disturbed about it as he was feeling right now. Seeing how bothered Billie was by it, he had to wonder just how detailed was it this time? Was there a name? Or was it just the same as it always was.

“Same dream, huh?” He sighed, turning to face Billie, his back to everyone else. “So what was weird about it?” He asked.

Leaning forward and crossing her arms to prop herself up on the table, Billie lowered her voice to make sure that no one close but Nicholas could hear her.

”So… the same girl was there, but I wasn’t in that house anymore? You know usually I have a dream where she and I are making breakfast or whatever, right? Anyway. I was with her again, but you were there too, and instead of a kitchen we were at this weird workout dance thingy and --” Realizing how fast she was talking and that she had said all of that in nearly one breath, Billie took a brief moment to calm herself so that she could hopefully talk in a pace where Nick could understand better. ”But it wasn’t just me, you and her in that setting either,” she said, knitting her eyebrows as she concentrated. ”There was this man and woman there. The guy… He had our jawline, for sure. His skin tone was like mine and when he smiled, it felt… familiar. Just like the original girl. Then the other lady…. She was pale, like you. The way she held herself sort of reminded me of how you do that kind of cocky stance with your arms crossed. It was just weird. In the dream, you acted as though you knew them, and they obviously all knew each other, and I felt like I had been there before. I just… I dunno.”

Most who knew Billie probably couldn’t follow her usual tangents, but Nicholas wasn’t most people. He not only followed and understood what she said, but as she was trying to find the point of it all, he curiously hummed, the telltale sign that he was trying to piece it together. “That’s not exactly the same,” he noted, mirroring Billie’s position as he leaned forward. “Do you think it might’ve been from one of those shows you watch? I mean, it sounds like a scene from something you’d watch.” As much as he wanted to remain serious, there was that part of Nicholas’ personality that couldn’t stop but make an unprompted, comical remark.

Her face shaping into more of a pout as she realized that her brother could be right, Billie huffed. ”No one on Grey’s has gone to Zumba,” she said, shaking her head quickly. ”That’s all I’ve been watching for weeks… I just…. I don’t get it. Why do we both keep dreaming about the same people?”

“I wish I could tell you, sis.” He breathed out another sigh, this time it was one that showcased his own disappointment about the dreams they’ve been having. He was frustrated that he couldn’t remember her either, or the others that popped into his head. Every so often, one of them would say his name, but that’s the furthest it ever went. It was the mystery he didn’t know the answers nor the questions to. It’s been like this for a few weeks and he has more or less given up on it.

Turning halfway around, though his head was still partially facing his sister, he looked around and saw some familiar faces. “Let’s not think about it right now, yeah?” He smiled at Billie, placing a comforting hand on hers. As he squeezed it, he said, “If we sit around dwelling on this mystery of our elusive dreamfolks, it’ll drive both of us up a wall. Instead, we could focus on...other things.”

Halfway into that, Nicholas’ eyes had wandered away from his sister’s face and those steel blue eyes found themselves locked with TJ’s, who sat across the cafeteria with Savannah, the pink hair-clad spitfire and Erica, the beauty who knew a few rivals but was up there. Nicholas had locked eyes with the redhead a few times since making himself home at the table with his sister. He caught her staring at him earlier. He didn’t say anything or turn around but now that he was, he couldn’t resist. There had always been something about her that drew him to her. She was always the reverse of what Frankie was: when he was even remotely close to her, he felt her warmth.

Reluctantly nodding, Billie uncrossed her arms to slide her tray off food to proper eating distance. ”Yeah… you got a point….”

Picking up the spoon and beginning to eat her oatmeal, the young woman took a bite before trying to talk again. Instead, when she looked up and saw her brother staring off into what seemed like outer space, Billie turned around to look at what had caught his attention - or rather who.

”Tyler Jane again? Seriously?” she scoffed. Scowling as she looked back at her brother, she huffed. ”Why?”

”Why you ask?” Nicholas gently laughed, gesturing his outside arm over to the table with those three objectively attractive girls and the one that, to him, stood out of the bunch. “Just look at her: that hair, her smile, and don’t even get me started on those freckles.” He glanced back at his sister. “She’s not like most girls. She can be as sweet as a red velvet cupcake but get on her bad side and you’ll find yourself at the opposite end of a kick so fierce you’d think she was secretly a kickboxer.” As he spoke, his eyes yet again fell on TJ, gazing at her with as much interest in her that he had in himself. “She isn’t anything like that other one.”

Instead of responding right away, Billie grunted, clearly unamused and displeased with her brother's answer. While the twins had always compared each others current and potential partners, they didn’t always agree. Now was one of those times. Tyler Jane had been an annoyingly perky thorn in Billie’s side ever since the start of the school year, and nothing had changed that fact so far. ”She’s obnoxious and only ever acts tough when she wants to make a scene. Come talk to me when she actually kicks someone’s ass.” Waving her hand dismissively, Billie began to eat one of the pieces of toast from her tray.

“Perhaps.”

Nicholas knew his twin didn’t exactly like Tyler Jane. It wasn’t a surprise when you really thought about it. The two couldn’t be further from being alike even if they tried. Billie, while sweet when she wanted to be, had the terrible habit of acting nasty to certain people. And while he knew Billie tried to do the right thing, sometimes she didn’t always portray that clearly. So it wasn’t a surprise that she never took a liking to TJ. Nicholas could even agree about everything Billie said while describing the cheery redhead.

“You might be right, sis. She’s everything you said and more, but there’s something you’re forgetting.” He took a final glance at TJ before turning back around, smiling at Billie. “That’s what interests me the most. The fact she is so different from all of the others. I mean, take Soleil for example.” His eyes glanced over where he saw Sol and Leo. “Is she pretty? Of course but she is a case of ‘what you see is what you’ll mostly get’.” His eyes fixated on Sol for a moment longer before returning them to his sister once again. “Don’t misunderstand me. Sol is an amazing person and she is a dear friend of mine, but as far as being interesting enough in that way, she doesn’t make the cut for me. But Tyler Jane?” He smiled, leaning his head on his raised palm. “There’s just something about her that I can’t put to words, but out of everyone here, she’s easily at the top of my list.”

Wrinkling her nose in disgust as she took another bite of her toast, Billie glared at her brother. ”Different my ass,” she grumbled. Standing up from the table, and picking up her tray, Billie allowed herself to give her brother one last small smile. ”I love you, but this TJ fest is getting on my nerves and is about to make me late for class. I gotta run. Talk to you later?”

Nicholas could only laugh at how easily bothered his sister always gets when he started talking about TJ. He didn’t talk about the redhead to piss her off. The last thing he wanted to do was anger the beast that dwelled inside her. She might appear cute and seem like she won’t hurt a fly, but the last person who incurred her wrath ended up losing three of their front teeth. “Yeah see ya later. Try not to punch out anyone’s teeth on your way.” Nicholas joked, of course, but what was truly scary about his sister is she would do just that to spite him.

As Billie had walked away, leaving most of her breakfast behind, Nicholas shook his head. He joked and teased her a lot for being so rowdy and quick to annoy, but seeing how some of her favorite breakfast foods were still left untouched filled him with a certain feeling of dread. He should have expected it in all honesty. The way she talked about that dream and how he noticed a rare tension in her limbs and her voice was less confident than it normally was, that alerted Nicholas to just how dire the matter was for her. He just hoped that she didn’t do anything foolish in her state, especially since he knows how the tiniest thing would set her off.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He had to reassure himself of that because nobody else was going to worry about Billie as much as her twin brother did.

Standing up, he took the time to snag a piece of her buttered toast. It was cold but it was still food. After the night he had, he worked up quite the appetite and Nicholas would need some energy as he found himself once again lovingly focusing on Tyler Jane. This time around he wouldn’t just stand from afar, gaze at her with peak interest. Instead, as he took a bite of the piece of toast in his hand and tossed it aside, not knowing where it landed, he eventually made his way across the cafeteria and boldly stood near the table where the girls were at.

He didn’t pay much attention to the others, though he gave them all friendly waves. “Morning girls,” he said, shooting them a friendly smile. “Lovely morning isn’t it?” He said, fixating his gaze solely on Tyler Jane. “Hey Red. You’re looking as radiant as always.”

Let's Gush!

_{@spooner @BitchTheFuck @Otterpop @Rosalia @TootsiePop @Icy Hot @Ejected @Aewin @Inertia @Plank Sinatra @GhostMami @NeoAJ @fledermaus @Melissa}

Figured I would take a moment to gush about the amazing writers in my roleplay, Meadow University and how we have reached our first milestone of 100 posts.

The climb was slower than we thought and, at times, difficult. We weren't sure if we would make it there or not. I know there was some bits of doubt that crept into my head, but we persevered! And here we are! Not only is the server lively sometimes but the roleplay also is alive and well!

To everyone, those who joined at the beginning and also those who joined after the roleplay started, thank you for everything and I look forward to more milestones and more amazing posts!

Meadow University

_{A @metanoia & @GhostMami Collaboration Post
Featuring Teddybear & Gamer Girl}

On his way to The Bean, Theo’s mind was plagued with several thoughts, some of which seemed to be fixated on The Bash. He went over it in his mind far too many times for his own personal comfort. He promised himself that he wouldn’t entertain them, but when he was alone, he couldn’t help it. Despite how reassuring Fiona was for his own mental state and despite how knowing one person that didn’t hate him for all of this existed, the amount of guilt he felt for putting so many people in that situation was something that weighed on Theo’s mind more than the people he actually hurt at the bash.

Well, one person.

Several minutes later as he would walk through the doors of The Bean, a bell that sat at the top of the hinges ringing as soon as he pushed it gently open, he pushed those thoughts out. Being hit by the wave of the cool breeze from the high-powered air conditioning that loudly blew above was the cleansing that he didn’t know he needed. It reset his thoughts as he became weirdly relaxed.

The Bean, like most college coffee shops (especially those on larger campuses like Meadow) was everything one should expect. In regards to the sheer size of it, The Bean was quite large. It held enough space for spacious bathrooms, a bakery and kitchen, a couple rows of tables with 2-4 chairs each, and about ten couches spread throughout with a table set between every two couches. There were also recliners spread throughout and ceiling fans five blades and bright yellow lights hung above, spinning gently to produce a breeze that counteracted the heat from the bakery.

As he scanned the area, it wasn’t long until Theo found who he was looking for. Shi didn’t make it difficult to find her. She had a specific shade that made her stick out and especially when everything around her was so earthy in color. Her bright pink hair was the sore thumb of this brown land.

“Sup Gamer Girl!” Theo greeted her with a smile, taking the chair opposite of her. He noticed a mug piled high with whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. He took a quick sip of it, sacrificing all forms of dignity as the whipped topping and chocolate syrup found its way onto his nose, but it was worth it. The triple mocha frap was always worth it. He grabbed a napkin from the centerpiece on the table and wiped his face clean. “Appreciate this by the way. Morning’s been mostly crap, but only you would know this right here makes it less crappy,” he laughed, taking another sip of his drink.

“Nice whipped cream, dork.” Shiloh teased before he grabbed a napkin to wipe it away. Her voice cracked and she realized that aside from ordering their drinks just now, she hadn’t really spoken aloud to a human in like... two whole days. Shi cleared her throat, which was still sore, and soothed it with a sip of tea. “Can’t imagine why your morning’s been crap.” She said sarcastically with a smirk that said she was joking. “Hey, what the hell is academic probation anyway? Isn’t that some sports shit?”

“Yeah, usually it is.” Theo raised his cup to his lips, taking another sip. He exhaled a slow sigh, brown eyes finding their way back to Shi. “Usually, only those who are involved in the university’s sports teams are slapped with academic probation, but you know this school: mess up once and they throw out that rulebook they cherish above everything else.” Theo found that ironic. How could the same people who held the students to their rules not abide by the same standards? How could they pick and choose when and how they decided to follow their own rules? If you asked him, Theo thought it was absolutely bullshit, but maybe it was what he got for being an idiot meathead. “Long story short: we’re all paying the piper for a pretty stupid mistake I made at the Bash.”

“Yeah… about that...” Shiloh raised a judging eyebrow at her friend. “I liked the part of the video where Cassie got all alpha — ‘didn’t that make you tingly?’ — verrryyy homoerotic. But, that’s beside the point. What on earth made you go full fucking caveman, bruh?” Shiloh asked, but she probably already knew the answer. She was just going to make him admit it, so she could roast him for it.

All of the questions and comments directed at him had mostly been focused on the act itself and the punishment that followed, which made Shi the first one to actually ask the why of it all. Part of Theo’s mind was relieved but he recognized that look in her eye. It had the all-too-familiar gleam she usually had when she was getting ready to roast some poor unlucky sap. He normally enjoyed watching her work. She had a certain cruel genius in how she tore apart a person, but knowing he was going to be in that seat made him nervous about telling her.

As he sat on that thought for a few moments and how he was going to phrase it, Theo knew the best way was the direct way. “You know how Cassian can be. He is one of the few people at this place that knows what to say to get under my skin and how to say it so he gets the reaction he wanted.” Theo felt like the disappointment he often saw himself as whenever he thought about his parents. By letting Cass get to him, the result was just karma working her magic.

“Oh my god, I fucking knew it. It was for a girl. THE GIRL. It’s Mac, isn’t it? I knew it!” Shiloh announced proudly. She had been sleuthing out who Theo’s mad love crush was for a while now, but he kept her name under wraps for the most part. That video was all the confirmation she needed though. Her triumphant smile was quickly replaced with a slightly disappointed look. “But I thought you were better than those troglodyte meatheads, Theo. No, I know you are. This isn’t the fucking African savanna! You aren’t a couple of lions that have to fight each other as a show of strength to woo the lioness into mating. Jesus, I know I’m gay but I can guarantee that het girls don’t want to see that.” Shi cleared her throat again and sipped her tea to soothe her throat after all that talking. “You big dork.” Shiloh said with a small smile that showed the roast was all in good fun.

“That’s me! The big red-haired dork!” He laughed through the pain his injuries caused him. He couldn’t deny that Shi was on-point, though. A lot of what she said not only made a lot of sense, it also forced him to think back about how things could’ve gone differently. If not for his sake because he rarely gave a damn about what happened to him, but if he would’ve shown some self-control, he wouldn’t be the reason why a lot of people who didn’t deserve any of this attention be at the center just like he was. “Not much I can do about it now. Most of the third year class probably wants to add onto these bruises. And that’s not even including how royally I screwed up any chances with Mac.” That was probably the harshest blow dealt to him since the video became public.

“Heyyy, you may be drinking a bitch drink right now, but don’t go totally weenie hut on me.” Shiloh said with a teasing eye roll. “You didn’t ruin anything yet. You actually have a great opportunity here — an opportunity for total honesty. You’re a big ginger Teddybear and you need to show her that. Apologize for what happened… and why it happened… and then you go right into telling her how you really feel.” Shiloh punctuated her statement with a sensual shoulder shake and eyebrow wiggle.

“Okay, you had me right up until that last part,” Theo said, laughing out somewhat nervously. He leaned back in his chair. “I mean, it’s not like I don’t think Mac would be willing to hear my side of it all and I’m sure an apology would go a long way, but confessing my feelings for her to her?” The thought played back and it sounded as ridiculous as it did when Shi had said it. “How will I do that when I’m not even sure what the hell I feel for her?” He asked her. What he wanted to do was to shrug it off as Shi just joking around but he knew her long enough to know when she was playing around in a teasing way and when she was playing around in an attempt to get him to do what he normally wouldn’t.

“Wow, you really got your head whacked real good, didn’t you?” Shiloh asked with a laugh that led to a cough. “Shit, man. If you think people are mad about what you did now, imagine how mad they’ll be if you don’t get the girl after all this. It’s not like anyone’s mad that you decked Cassian, hell, half the school probably wishes that they could do that. I’ve definitely comforted some real sad girls that he hit and quit that wish they could do what you did. And also, the fact that you did do what you did proves what you feel for her, because it’s very unlike you. You wouldn’t do that for just any girl. I’m afraid you just have to nut up and tell her, my friend. You have no choice, this has been a Shiloh PSA.”

“You should write Hallmark cards because you paint with words.” As he laughed, he knew she was right not only about Mac but everything else. Theo might've been stuck in sulking ginger mode the entire morning, but there was something about how Shi operated. She always knew exactly what to say to lift his spirits up. Between her and Connor, Theo considered himself blessed and they were most definitely the reason he didn’t drown himself in the lake the moment shit became anything less than slightly uncomfortable. “Well, until then, I gotta bounce. Class in an hour and I have to run by the manor in town.” The amount of wear and tear his truck will go through in the next hour alone was enough to force a visible grimace on Theo’s face.

“I think if I did, all of my greeting cards would just end up on a rack at Spencers.” Shiloh shrugged as she mused on that fate. “Which doesn’t sound like the end of the world really, kind of fitting for me. Anyway, catch you later, Teddybear. Try not to get mauled by an angry mob before your class.”

World Beyond the Lexicon

Caelum to Eris: "Wow your eyes are so golden! Have they always been like that?"

World Beyond the Lexicon

So if we're doing roommates (3 was it?), you guys want to choose your roommates or else I'm going to do random dice rolling to set it up.

@Blu

Randomized setups are always fun. So that would be my vote simply for the unpredictable nature of it all.

World Beyond the Lexicon

Yes let's toss these kids into the wilderness. Caelum will guide them home or lead them to their death

Topic of the Day/Week/Whatever

Yeah, I'll have to hop on the lack of communication bandwagon. It's a killer on all sides.

World Beyond the Lexicon

I have a feeling Caelum will be the Natsu of the roleplay. He'll be the guinea pig for all the traps and whatnot so the group knows it's not dangerous to proceed.

World Beyond the Lexicon

Caelum seems the type to sneak off and go explore that part of the library which is forbidden for students, or you know pocket that magic key from the professor that gives access to the artifact chamber… and so forth. My character would approve of such behaviour.

@Dezuel

You would be correct. The higher the risk, the more satisfying the adventure will be for my dearest Caelum.

On an added note: Caelum would also be the type to press the big red button despite a sign above it saying "Danger! Don't press red button".