TRP is a post-Great War AU RWBY RP set in Mistral City and Haven Academy with no canons, no rank claims, no maidens, and no god interference. We offer a progression system and site-wide events that change the setting based on player actions.
Post by Lily Finnian on Sept 29, 2019 17:35:42 GMT -5
As Lily spent more time at the academy it became increasingly more clear that her personal studies had not been enough to catch her up to the rest of the class in terms of academia. While her natural talents gave her a strong tool to help her keep make up for lost time, she was working herself into a rut just to keep up in subjects she viewed as her strong suits. However, standing tall above the other subjects loomed history. She had never intentionally avoided the subject when perusing Xanthe's modest home library, but somehow without her notice she'd not read a single history text. As a result of that revelation, she did some hard thinking about where to start in her desperately needed catch up courses. Pretty much the only things she'd heard about were the names of the kingdoms, and the fall of haven. The latter of which was likely the reason for her being accepted so late into the semester, and the former being knowledge so common that even the reclusive faunus had not evaded it. She had tried to concoct a reading list on her own in the library, but anxiously found herself returning every book she picked up to it's place on the shelf. The longer she spent performing her exercise in futility, the more clear it became that not only was she afraid of starting too late in any given chapter of history to have proper insight into what she was reading, but that she was also worried about the contents of the histories. Each time she stumbled across some tome in the history section that mentioned faunus in the title, she'd found her hand hovering inches away from the spine of the book, as if touching it alone would be enough to impart some dark secret that she couldn't bear.
In the end, Lily left the library defeated. She had managed to convince herself through the powers of denial and procrastination to put off her history learning until she could get professional help. Afterall, that was the purpose of a school was it not? She resigned to check out the office hours of the resident history teacher, and revisit this study when she had someone to help her navigate the muddy waters of the past. It wasn't difficult to figure out which member of staff she needed to consult, nor how to get to her office in order to check the hours. What was difficult was being confronted with the hours posted outside of Long's office door which indicated her free time had only begun a few moments prior to her arrival. She nervously hovered outside of the door, anxious and a little upset that her pragmatism was trying to usurp her desire to procrastinate. With a hesitant and weak knock, she forced herself forward.
After the knock to announce her presence, she cracked the door taking a step inside.
"Uhm, Miss Long?" she choked out nervously stepping silently into the office. She had the appearance of someone ready to flee at the drop of the hat as she asked "I-If this isn't a bad time, could I beg your council?"
The words felt strange on her tongue, but she'd heard a man that wished to speak to her father phrase it like that once when asking his mother's permission. It seemed to fit what she needed, and she certainly felt as nervous as that man had looked.
Last Edit: Sept 29, 2019 17:36:26 GMT -5 by Lily Finnian
[attr="class","ilikeyouheadtext"] See what a fool I've been
[attr="class","ilikeyouheadsubtext"]And what I will help you rise above!
[attr="class","ilikeyoutext"]
As Lily walked into the office, she would have been greeted by the workplace of a tidy hoarder. The small office had all the essentials you would expect from a teacher's office: It had a central wooden desk that took up quite some space in the right center of the room. It seemed old with signs of wear and tear even from a distance, and certainly not the standard furniture that was made in bulk to fill the academy. On it was a selection of stacks of papers, though all seemed to have a proper place as it wasn't half as disorganized as some of her old peers. In front of it were two chairs most likely meant for students to take a seat. To the left of the room were placed cabinets to store files and such, and on the back of the room was a large whiteboard that had notes written on it that seemed to be for Long's personal use. It seemed to have been used a lot, but some phrases were still clearly visible in the corner of it and ranged from; 'Grade papers' to 'Buy more Tea' to 'It is Atlas now'. [break] [break]
That were all the essential things that someone might expect.[break] [break]
Then there were the numerous pieces of art that were placed everyone and nowhere.[break] [break]
Every place of the office that could have it seemed to have been carefully selected to have a specific art project.[break] [break]
The right wall was filled with a wide assortment of painting and other drawings. Some were majestic sceneries crafted from the imagination of a brilliant minds, mixing a myriad of colours with bold strokes on canvas. Others were more child-like drawings that a five year old could make with a single crayon. The cabinets were also both plastered with drawings, but on some of the planks were placed figurines and other creations. Some were clearly people, while others were the miniatures of weapons and Grimm. Some were just weird shapes, other clearly seemed to mean something even though it wasn't clear from the get go. One of the more central art pieces was a large chandelier made from what looked to be glass and silver that seemed way above the pay grade of any teacher, and certainly Long.[break] [break]
Speaking of her, Meng was seated behind her desk, looking at the holographic screen of a tablet. It was an oversized scroll that seemed to be easily used by the elderly. Because of the nature of the holographic device, Lily could see a reverse of the image through the back. It was, of all things, a toddler. A small pudgy red-headed child, wearing an adorable cow onesie, was clearly in view as it seemed to crawl around, seeming to not even be aware that someone was watching him. Long looked up as Lily approached, but as she seemed to recognize the girl she gave her a smile. Instead of shooing her away, the old woman beckoned her to come closer. A voice could be heard from over the device. A female voice. [break] [break] "Did you say anything, aunty?"[break] [break]
Long replied: "Just one of my students, Jin. Do you mind if we discuss Tanso's birthday another time?"[break] [break] "Of course, Aunty. We would love to have you, of course. Just...just think about it. Bye, Aunty!"[break] [break]
Rather abruptly the call was ended. Long placed the scroll down on her desk as she looked at Lily. The old teacher didn't seemed bothered even though Lily seemed to have walked into a rather private conversation right now. She almost emitted calm right about now. All that she said to the eager student, as Long gestured over towards the seat was; "Please sit down, Miss Finnian. Would you like something to drink, or is it simply a quick question?"[break] [break]
[attr="class","ilikeyoufoot"]
[attr="class","ilikeyoufoottext"]WORDS: 625 [break] Thread Total: 625 [break] NOTES: Grandma has a life outside of work!
Post by Lily Finnian on Oct 7, 2019 8:37:13 GMT -5
Lily felt bad intruding on the teacher's private phone call, and was dead silent as she entered the room and froze in the door frame. She angled her eyes to the ground and did her best to suddenly learn how to become transparent. However, as this angled her ears toward long she quickly grew self conscious that maybe the teacher thought she was trying harder to listen in. In order to remedy that, she lifted her arms over her head and pressed them over her ears. It wasn't a very effective way to shut the professor's voice out completely, as she could still hear Long's words, even if they were a bit muffled. It wasn't until Long asked if she'd like a drink that Lily looked up at Long again. The teacher's patient gaze and aura of calm that seemed to roll off her skin had an affect on Lily. Her breathing steadied, and she relaxed a bit. She took her hands away from her ears as she realized she still owed Long an answer
"O-Oh uhm, you don't have to get me anything," she shifted her weight from foot to foot. She couldn't keep her gaze on Long, her eyes darting around the room as she wilted under the mild gaze of the professor. "I don't mean to put you out." she murmured. However, the more her eyes flitted around the room, the more she came to understand just how many wonders it held. She finally began to take a few tenative steps into the room, if only to sate her curious side that demanded she look at more of the intrigues within. She continued to walk forward, her eyes everywhere but in front of her. It was hardly a surprise when she stumbled into the back of the proffered chair with an alarmed squeal, but she caught the chair before it could fall over and sheepishly took her place there. She kept her eyes glued to the desk as she prepared to speak.
"I am...I am new here." she started already feeling a nervous tension building in her stomach. She was atrocious at asking for anything, and hated the idea of inconveniencing the kind faced professor. "I had an, uhm, unconventional education before coming here, and my knowledge of histories is lacking." Was it fair to call what was nonexistant lacking? "I was hoping that maybe you could help me prepare a reading list, and work with me a little bit when you aren't terribly busy to help me catch up to my classmates."
She kept her head down as she asked for help, squirming nervously in her chair as she struggled with the internal guilt that needing such assistance instilled in her. She felt pathetic for being so far behind her contemporaties in so many ways. If she didn't work very hard, she wouldn't stand a chance of catching up.
[attr="class","ilikeyouheadtext"] See what a fool I've been
[attr="class","ilikeyouheadsubtext"]And what I will help you rise above!
[attr="class","ilikeyoutext"]
The fact that Lily seemed to not want anything to drink, didn't seem to stop Meng from taking a sip from her own cup as she looked at how one of the chair nearly tumbled to the floor. From her end, Meng did nothing to assist the girl, letting her recover on her own. While Meng was certain that Lily might want a cup of tea now that she saw herself drinking one, the teacher didn't want to pour a cup against the wishes of Lily unless she spoke out about it. Not only would a little lesson in assertiveness be helpful for her, Meng had the awful feeling that in her life other people had way too much decided what path Lily needed to take. One could not keep up such a mentality as Huntress. While Van Sange or Shadecloak would most likely try to help Lily overcome this flaw for her career, Mrs. Long wasn't going to indulge murmuring and sheepishness when it seriously seemed to be a problem this girl was dealing with.[break] [break]
"Anything helps?" Meng took another sip of her tea, before placing the cup down on her desk again. While her faces was still kind, there was a certain sternness in her voice that normally only came up when someone was in trouble. And usually nobody was in trouble in Mrs. Long's class. She resumed, still with kindness but also with that firm undertone. "Would you kindly look at me, when you repeat your request? Considering that it would indeed take some of my time and effort, I expect at least that, Ms. Finnian." Maybe it came off a bit too demanding than Mrs. Long had meant it...but she didn't truly know how Lily would respond to it. She didn't need to be, before now. She behaved perfectly in class. Well, no. She was no trouble in class, and therefore never needed to be talked to in a stern manner. [break] [break]
Keeping true to her word, Mrs. Long did nothing than take another small sip of her tea. Of course, she could have given the girl a list of books to read if she wanted a general overview of history, but that really wasn't the main thing that bothered Meng right now. Lily could easily have been halfway to the library by now if Meng truly wanted her out of this office. Still, all she would gain with that is knowledge. Not wisdom. Meng Long considered herself to be a provider of both in equal measure.
[attr="class","ilikeyoufoot"]
[attr="class","ilikeyoufoottext"]WORDS: 420 [break] Thread Total: 1045 [break] NOTES: Grandma will not ask kindly again!
Post by Lily Finnian on Oct 12, 2019 18:49:51 GMT -5
Easy for you to say Lily thought with a hint of frustration. Can't she see I'm trying really hard here? The young faunus had seen getting most of her question out without stuttering too much as a small personal victory, but it was not good enough apparently. Furthermore, being made to repeat the question was embarrassing, and her face went red while she tried grasped fistfuls of her school skirt while trying to steady her breathing.
Her eyes closed for a moment, she took another deep breath before opening them again. She wasn't exactly sure when she'd became then way she was. Nor why she had so much trouble to adjusting to the same life everyone else seemed to flourish in. It had been so much easier when she was young, when her whole world was just training and taking direction from her mother.
She thought her mother in the brief moments while her lids were still clamped down. The woman was cold and harsh as an instructor, but had a soft side that she'd occasionally show to Lily. She'd taught her much about what strength was, and cowering in a chair at the thought of a stranger's displeasure was not strength.
When she opened her eyes again, it was with resolve. Resolve that was quickly tested when she turned her eyes towards the teacher. She quivered as her eyes made contact with the expectant gaze Ms. Long, and quavered as she spoke.
"Please," she started slowly, pacing herself. She couldn't maintain eye contact well, but she managed to at least keep her gaze centered on her face. She studied the lines of her, unsure whether looking at her wrinkles and wondering whether or not this woman was the oldest person she's ever spoken to. These thoughts caused her pregnant pause to enter it's third trimester before she began speaking again. She'd been given a simple enough task to complete, and by thinking of this repeat request as a challenge with certain parameters to be met actually helped her to focus on her objective.
"I need your help."
Keep eyes up.
"I don't know where to start." She found her gaze starting to drift and caught herself just as she nearly gave into the reflexive urge to avert her gaze when asking something of another person.
Eye contact for bonus points she thought despite the concept of bonus points being a relatively new one for her.
"R-reading l-lists," she stuttered trying her best to maintain the eye contact she'd finally managed to reestablish. "And maybe, i-if it isn't asking too much, we can meet sometimes to help me catch up?"
As she finished she sagged visibly in her chair, finally allowing her eyes shift slightly down, looking unfocused. She was breathing heavily, and her heart was pounding as if she'd just been chased up a tree by an oversized grimm, but she had completed her goal and stayed within the bounds of the challenge set out for her, and so she felt some small semblance of pride in her miniscule accomplishment.
[attr="class","ilikeyouheadtext"] See what a fool I've been
[attr="class","ilikeyouheadsubtext"]And what I will help you rise above!
[attr="class","ilikeyoutext"]
Mrs. Long could of course see that it was hard for the girl. She saw it in the way she needed to steady herself to not even be skittish. If asking something so trivial as asking for a reading list made someone so nervous that they couldn't even sit straight in their seat, then how would they act when there was truly a life or death situation? Freezing up is a very basic reaction for most people, and it was the kind of reaction that this institution tried to destroy. Inaction was never the right action for a Huntress. Fight or flight can both be valid options in a situation. Fright isn't. [break] [break]
The teacher was almost about to interrupt Lily when she seemed to suspect that the skitish girl was busier looking at the old woman's face, than with forming her sentences. Mrs. Long was willing to give Lily the time that it took for her to take another sip of her tea, before she needed to give another lecture about assertiveness. Luckily enough, Lily seemed to have enough courage in her to complete the assignment she was tasked with. While it wasn't with flying colors, Mrs. Long found it an adequate enough improvement. [break] [break]
Adequate enough to get a reading list after another lecture. [break] [break]
Mrs. Long had given a task without the context of why the task was given. Hopefully Lily had understood why it was important to improve someone's social skills, but it was maybe better to really make sure that she understood the importance. The reading list would come, but it was the secondary objective at this point for Meng. The woman closed her eyes for a moment when Lily was done talking, and had recovered a little bit from the whole ordeal, before she began. From her body language it was clear that the teacher was starting story time, which was something she did often do in her classes. Still, the stories were not often about herself, like this one was. Mrs. Long had the almost perfect voice for telling stories. Her voice had aged like fine wine, giving it the right amount of smoke and croak to keep someone's attention with every syllable without lulling people to sleep.[break] [break]
"When I was around your age, I was a stage performer. It was expected of me to stand in front of crowds wearing either a great abundance of clothing, or barely enough. Dancing, singing, the whole act. If you froze up on stage, they could replace you with the next pretty face. Those were the days under Mantle's little project, as we called it. The Faunus had it the worst, for they were paid not even half the wage most others were paid. Too many artists for even Mistral's Capital to manage. Or well, to keep paying. I felt a responsibility to never falter, for I could not bear the thought that my brothers and sisters would need to go to bed without a meal, or without a roof over their head." [break] [break]
Meng let out a sigh, making it clear that the first part of the tale was over and the second was beginning. [break] [break]
"That need placed a terrible burden on me. I needed to perform with people who at times I barely knew, in front of people who decided if I was worth the price the paid to see the show, in the employment of people who could easily replace me if one of the two earlier aspects were any objection for me. I was at times so afraid of failure that I couldn't eat, speak, would throw up, or even exit my room. For me, the fear of disappointing others, and the consequences that all of that brought with, was enough to almost end my career without even setting a foot on stage."[break] [break]
Meng took a sip of her tea, getting to the end of her little anecdote and life lesson bundled into one.[break] [break]
"I never got over that shyness off-stage while I was still performing. That happened later in my life. Still, I never froze on stage when I needed to perform for others. My solution: For me it was by directing all of my thoughts and energy to a single purpose. To perform. All other thoughts, I could manage to put in a little box for that moment. I learned myself to keep to a singular focus. One thought, one goal, one place, one point in time. Everything else? In the box. Did these thoughts still exist? Of course they did. Did they still control my actions in other parts of my life? They did till the war happened. My box merely helped me to get to a point that I no longer needed it. A tool that eventually outlived its purpose, before I could discard it. I am telling you all of this, because this old woman sees a lot of herself in you. Do I say that this box works for you? I say that we don't know unless you have attempted it. Is the concept of this method known to you?"[break] [break]
It was an open question, one that Meng asked without sternness or judgment. She merely took another sip from her now almost empty cup of tea as she waited for a response, sitting back in her chair. If Lily was going to learn something today, it better be something about herself. Mrs. Long was shrewd enough to hide some historical knowledge in her little tale as well, so if Lily complaint that she did not learn anything about history today, that was a lie.