#swynamity

[clio-of-hesiod]

"I was thinking that too!" Kleo said with a smile, feeling eager. The creative energy crackled through the air. It felt almost tangible, like Kleo could touch it. As if it guided her pen across the page as she continued to scribble notes.

"Hm...well, if we focus on raw magic, does that make the sorcerers much different from Gifteds?" She wrinkled her nose, but then tried to smooth her expression out. "I suppose that's not a bad thing. It allows us more freedom than sticking within the bounds of sorcery."

@blight-magic

Building Blocks || Klamity

[king-magnifico]

Open the Book || [Magnifico + The Magnifiques]

In which Magnifico's spell worked...[takes place: May 1]

@enchantedtomeet-giselle, @blight-magic, @devyn-morey, @clio-of-hesiod, @ariel-the-undiscovered

[cw -- none? some manipulation]

|| || ||

MAGNIFICO: It had worked!

Ah, Rosas. How he had missed it. His fine clothes, his jewels, his wife. All these pretty, familiar things were back with him and he was so glad. While there was certainly things in that other world that he appreciated (social media, hello?!) -- now that he had brought the town into the story, they could create it. Surely someone in that stupid town understood how the internet worked! Could get them cell phones. And if not, Magnifico would discover a different, more magical way of doing things.

Maybe that was the way to go anyway…

What was he talking about?

“Ah, my Magnifiques,” Magnifico purred as his students filed into the classroom. He had found their choice of nickname hilarious, considering. They hadn’t even known. But oh, they were smart. There had, probably, been some part of them that realized it. 

“Please, sit. I am sure you have many questions but let me answer a few from the start: yes, Salvador was just a facade.” No point getting into the whole “murdered and stole his identity thing.” That was a messy business, Magnifico did not want to talk about it. “You can refer to me as King Magnifico, or Your Majesty. Unfortunately, we can no longer go by an affectionate nickname. It would undermine me to my subjects, you see. But don’t fret, you five still hold a special place in my heart.”

He put both his hands over his chest and smiled softly at them. “After all, you helped make all of this happen.” He spread his arms out to gesture, abstractly, at all of Rosas. 

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[link here]

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[king-magnifico]

Someone Praise Me for my Benevolence {{ [Magnifico and the Magnifiques]

In which Magnifico checks in with the Magnifiques about their research project...[takes place: first day of classes]

@blight-magic, @ariel-the-undiscovered, @devyn-morey, @clio-of-hesiod, @enchantedtomeet-giselle

[cw -- teachers being disappointed in you lmaooo]

{{ {{ {{

MAGNIFICO: Things were not going as planned, which was making Magnifico impatient.

There was a reason he had come to a specifically magical town, with a specifically magical college. Yale had had brilliant scholars, but they were almost too smart. They got hung up on hypotheticals. They weren’t creative enough. They weren’t magic enough. So, Magnifico had changed tactics. 

Magical problems needed magical solutions. 

So, as the Magnifiques (it was very cute they were calling themselves that, they didn’t even realize! Sweet things), filed in for their first day back at school after the winter holidays, Magnifico sat in one of the chairs in their small classroom, his lips pursed. A magical fire was crackling in the hearth, the room full of a few plush chairs and a small round table. There was a window with frost clinging to the edges. 

“Sit down,” Magnifico gestured, waiting for the kids to get settled before he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “I hope you all had a good, restful holiday. We are going to need to have rested up for this semester. We are coming up on our deadline with little progress.” 

{{ {{ {{

[link here]

{{ {{ {{

[labellerose-acheron]

Amity deflated a little.

Had Belle finally said something that got through to her? She wasn't sure, but at least she wasn't yelling at Belle anymore. Even if what she said made Amity reconsider, just a little, Belle was going to take that as a win. Even if Amity pushed back again.

Belle didn't understand why Amity was so insistent to clinging to something that clearly made her so unhappy. Even if it was her magic. Belle was stubborn too, of course, it had taken her a while to go back to school...but that had mostly been money and self-doubt.

"If you're sure," Belle said, in a voice that made it very clear she didn't believe her. "Just remember, Amity: you are still young. It is okay to be figuring it out. I am sure you will succeed at whatever you put your mind to."

@blight-magic

The Perfection of Champions *** [Bellamity]

[clio-of-hesiod]

@blight-magic

The clock on the wall of the old library kept ticking.

Kleo was trying to concentrate. It was revision time and she was stressed! She had papers to write and projects to do, but the clock on the wall kept ticking. It wouldn't stop. It kept reminding her about time. How it was passing, no matter how much she tried to keep her head in her books and her thoughts on her research. It kept pulling her out and guiding her thoughts to other things. The summer. What she was going to do.

The weirdness that had happened with Pip.

With a growl, Kleo leaned back in her chair, pulling her headphones off and glancing over at Amity, on the other side of the table. "Are you hearing this clock? It's so freaking loud, it's giving me a migraine." Kleo rubbed at her forehead.

[outfit]

Narratively Speaking... () [Klamity]

[clio-of-hesiod]

Kleo smiled. She almost asked Amity to stay, even if it would be better for her migraine if Amity took the clacking of her computer keys somewhere else. She just...didn't really want to be alone.

But! She wasn't alone! If anything, that's what this conversation told her. Maybe her family had so easily turned their backs on her. (And how easy it was felt worse than anything else. To be perfectly honest. Maybe if it had been slower...not a plaster ripped off, taking skin with it, the wound wouldn't be so bad.)

She still had her friends, though. Real friends. Who didn't care she'd made a deal with a sorcerer. As long as they all stayed together.

"Thanks," she snuggled down into her bed. "I'm gonna set my alarm for a few hours from now and I'll let you know how I am feeling." Hopefully, better.

@blight-magic

School Nights () [Klamity]

[clio-of-hesiod]

"Oh." Kleo blinked a little.

She wasn't sure--

Immediately, she felt her cheeks heat. She hadn't expected Amity to ask that. They were...friends, of course. Well, not even of course. She wasn't sure if they were friends. Acquaintances, certainly. They liked each other well enough. But, well, she supposed she hadn't realized Amity liked her enough to invite her to her exclusive writing club?

There were several seconds while Kleo processed this new information, while simultaneously trying to decide if she wanted others to read her work. No one ever really had. Except for that one time Ramavo had found her journal and teased her mercilessly...

Not that she thought Amity would do that.

"Oh, uhm, okay! I mean...if that's okay with Maddy."

Also: who the heck was Maddy?

@blight-magic

Summer Schedule () [Klamity]

[labellerose-acheron]

Belle knew how hard it was. To build yourself back up after something devastating that had turned your entire life inside out. The last few years had been a series of devastations just like that for her. The demon summoning had just been the most recent one. One that she was still recovering from. (The guilt was probably something she'd carry for the rest of her life. Any time she went in the Moon Market, any time she saw Tibbs' limp.)

There had been plenty of others. The mess with the Order. (Another chain of guilt she would carry the rest of her life.) And her post-partum depression. That had, surprisingly or not, been the hardest to claw her way back from.

So, she knew. She understood. And she was better equipped to help than she ever had been before. Before: when she had had to drag Hades out of his depression after losing Persephone, when she had to drag Merida back into the light after being bitten.

Belle was very well practiced in sitting with someone in the dark. She was good at pulling them out.

As long as Amity gave, just a little, Belle could help with the rest.

So, she smiled and she smoothed some of Amity's hair back from her face. "Good." She left it at that for now, knowing that this was a step, hopefully, forward. Or, at least, Amity knew that there was a hand there, outstretched, ready to help pull when she was ready.

"Let's get you cleaned up and some food in you," Belle nodded to the toast. "We can meet again after the holidays to see how things are? Do you have plans? You're welcome at ours, if you'd like, though we don't do much besides presents for the children."

@blight-magic

A Long Time Coming *** [Bellamity]

[clio-of-hesiod]

Kleo raised her eyebrows a little bit. "Oh! I didn't realize you had already Emerged!"

Of course, sorcerers continued learning their whole lives. At least, that was what her mother always told her. That was what made a good sorceress. Someone who was always learning. She figured Amity probably meant like...all the basics! The kind of thing you'd learn before you Emerged.

She couldn't possibly mean everything.

"Anyway, I do think I remember you mentioning the Magick Grand Prix. Do you know Cruz then? I know she does stuff with that!"

@blight-magic

Ostara Awakening *O* [Klamity]

[clio-of-hesiod]

Kleo was...a little disappointed that Amity hadn't taken her up on her offer to just...hang out without magic. She supposed she understood, because this was a magic-magic exchange but...Kleo was desperately trying to make some friends. And she was already friends with Emira and...friendly enough with Edric!

But, if Amity didn't want to be friends outside of their sorcery...that was fine. Kleo just immediately felt silly, now, for floating that as a possibility.

"Yeah, okay," she said with a little smile, tucking some of her braids behind her ear. "That sounds good."

@blight-magic

Midnight Magic || Klamity

[labellerose-acheron]

Belle's eyebrows raised and she sat back a bit. She was trying to be calm and understanding about this situation. Relate to Amity's impatience. Her want for independence. She understood that this wasn't an ideal situation from Amity's perspective.

But she also didn't take very kindly to being told what to do herself. And she didn't care for Amity's tone. (It reminded her, somewhere in the back of her mind, of Opal--bratty, snappy Opal. Who demanded instead of talked.)

"Have you proved you've learned?" Belle snapped back at once. "From what I've seen this is the first step you've taken towards moving forwards from what happened. You have shown that you can follow instructions, but that's not the point of your probation. We can reassess your status after you've begun attending university. Perhaps after your first semester," Belle said with finality.

"The reassessment is an agreement between your agent--" Belle hated the word 'handler' "--and yourself. From where I am sitting, we are not in agreement."

@blight-magic

Handle Me || Bellamity

[clio-of-hesiod]

"I mean--I am not going to say no to that," Kleo smirked, feeling pleased with herself and her magic.

Her lessons had been put on pause, more or less, for the time being. Not only was she far too busy with Magnifico's class, but her mother wasn't breathing down her neck anymore. Not to mention: Senora Madrigal's family was having some struggles of their own at the moment. She wasn't heartbroken about it.

But she did still love her magic. She was a proud water witch. (And it was good that she didn't have time to think about what else might be going on.)

"We could add some complexities to it, with subspecialities and things like that too--like mud or...lava? Combinations. Would we want to corporate iron sorcerers?"

@blight-magic

Building Blocks || Klamity

[clio-of-hesiod]

Well, Kleo had thought maybe the gods could be the protaganists and antagonists and deuteragonists could be gods themselves. There were very few stories, these days, about gods. It was always about the mortals. Even when gods were featured, they were often caricatures, there to impart a lesson.

Maybe it was because people needed something to believe in.

It had always appealed to Kleo to think of gods as fallible as mortals.

She huffed a little breath. "You're probably right. I think we're getting a good start, though. I am excited to share it with everyone else!"

@blight-magic

Building Blocks || Klamity

[clio-of-hesiod]

"Oh, yeah. Like gets one of the other gods to listen to them? Because maybe the other gods kind of agreed with water throwing a temper tantrum or something...and now they have to make a choice between actively helping the mortals against Water or not.

I like it. Lots of good political and environmental themes, I think. What genre are we going to aim for? I think YA might be easiest to marry everyone's styles together."

After all, Giselle tended towards the romantic; Devyn, the superhero; Amity, the humanity; Ariel, the hero's journey; and Kleo, the story, itself.

@blight-magic

Building Blocks || Klamity

[clio-of-hesiod]

"Yes, we will have to decide that and then the catalyst for the story. Maybe the gods are the main characters? The mortals are just pawns in whatever mechanisms...

I am going to be partial to water, of course," she added with smile.

There was nothing wrong with being proud of her specialty. And she was proud of it. To her, it was the most important element. You needed water to survive. Everyone and everything did.

(You could make an argument like that for all elements...)

"Maybe we can ground it in some real world issues. Water being polluted by greedy mortals but the other elements haven't really done much to help them...so they want to flood the whole world...

Or is that too Biblical?" She tilted her head.

"To be fair, it is also a plot in Gilgamesh..."

@blight-magic

Building Blocks || Klamity

[clio-of-hesiod]

"Hm," Kleo hummed at this new angle. She tilted her head.

"I don't think it is more complicated. Just different. Life and Death as the supreme gods does make sense. Everything would come from them. But--what does that make the tension? Do the elemental gods think the Life and Death gods have too much control? Are Life and Death fond of mortals, but the elemental gods pick and choose or find them boring?

Are Life and Death worshipped equally? Is Life more favored? How do people decide what elemental god to worship? Or does everyone worship all of them?"

These questions all had Kleo's mind buzzing with possibilities. She itched to just start writing already, but the process of creation was just as fun as the rest.

@blight-magic

Building Blocks || Klamity