Upon having his mellow thoroughly harshed by the spooky state of his guest lecture hall at Amityville, Professor Van had spent the next twenty-four hours bringing it up to holly jolly holiday snuff. Lights and tinsel hung from every light fixture in the room, and although he lacked the ability to create snow that continuously fell from the sky, he had used his very own JOY to make stationary mounds of the stuff... almost too many. The snow sat in drifts and heaps and piles around the room, twinkling in shades of blue and white under the fluorescent lighting. No matter how long your average student touched the stuff, it wouldn't melt, but if some hot-headed little fire demon decided to mess with his snow today, Frosty help him...
Van unclenched his twiggy fists and reached for his iced coffee with a soft chuckle and a wide grin. Surely no one would do anything like that around here, Halloween or not. The snowman chuckled again and got to his feet, busying himself by tidying his stack of scrap paper and bundle of candy cane pencils while he waited for his first students to arrive.
Quote:
Signups!
Welcome to Come Buy My Nice Fresh Ivy, aka Christmas Carol Composition and Performance! Your instructor for this JOYous holiday class is Professor Van, who in addition to his position as a beloved Christmas Town teacher, is also a well-known (and mostly ignored) health guru and nutrition professional.
One of Van's favorite pastimes is singing and composing, and it is his sincere pleasure to share the joy of music with his temporary Halloween students!
If you would like to join him for some caroling, joy stamps, and minipets, come on in! Fill out the form below and post it in the thread when you enter the class. All characters are welcome, including quests!
We will begin in approximately 24 hours. Until then, mingle, chat, and build some snowmen! If you need to speak with Van, quote me, and if you have any OOC questions, don't hesitate to PM!
This class will last six days including this sign up period. It's mad libs and some die rolls. Nothing too taxing!
[size=14][b][color=red]SIGN ME UP![/color][/b][/size] [size=11][u]Characters:[/u] [/size]
Smerdle Crew
Scamp
Offline
Smerdle Crew
Scamp
Offline
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 7:24 am
"Oh! H...hello," Van said, awkwardly returning Ruth's hug for a second before stepping away. There was something far more pressing happening... over there.
"Yoo hoo! Excuse me! Um... stop!" He left the reaper's side, patting her shoulder as he crossed the room and shook a finger at Andrew. "That is not very nice!" Van waved a hand, releasing a fresh wave of fluffy snow to replace what the demon had melted. Thinking that matter settled, the snowman turned and waved enthusiastically at the rest of his temporary students.
"Hello! Good morning, class! I am Professor Vanilla Ice, Master of Healthy Post-Holiday Weight Loss and Guru of Fun! But today's not about any of that! Okay, maybe we'll have some of that last one, am I right?" He clasped his hands under his chin and seemed to sparkle for a second.
"Who likes to sing?" Van didn't wait for a response before barreling on. "Because, as you might have heard, that's what we're going to do today, snowflakes!" With another miniature tidal wave of powder, the snowman whipped a red and green elf's hat from behind his desk and held it out toward the flame demon.
"Pick a song!" His hand dropped. "Well, I guess they're not songs yet. I figured you guys should start off small, or there might be a disaster! Instead of writing entirely new songs, you'll be making up alternate lyrics to some established Christmas Town favorites!" He raised his hand again and shook the hat. "What I want you to do is pick a list out of this hat and fill in the words on it. You won't have the actual song in front of you yet, but try to make the words go together anyway... somehow." He slowly waved the hat through the air for a second, as if he was using it to conduct an invisible orchestra. "Channel your inner lyricist! When you're all done, I'll give you your song in its entirety, and then you'll sing! Isn't that exciting? It'll be great!"
He shook the bag at Andrew. "Okay! Pick!"
Quote:
The First Task: Composition
Van is making the rounds and handing out folded up slips of paper with lists of types of words on them. Roll 1d8 for each character you're playing and RP them filling out the list below that corresponds to their number. In addition, everyone who signed up before this point has a couple more words to fill in that are listed below the numbered lists! Be sure to include all your words in your post!
You have 48 hours for this part! If you have any questions, PM me! If your character wants to speak to Van, quote me!
If I missed any interaction or didn't quote someone, PM me. I am currently in a small room where The Princess and the Frog is playing very loudly, and my concentration is not at 100%. <3
Sign ups are still open until the end of this part!
Eventually, Van pulled himself away from the reaper girl's truly bizarre snow angel and turned to address the group again.
"All right! Pencils down! It's time to perform! But first you need the rest of your songs!" He tapped the untouched stack of papers on his desk with a wooden finger. "Now, Butterkin told me this would work, so if it doesn't, you can blame him... hm... let's see..."
The snowman waved his hand over the stack and the papers flew from it in a flurry, a single sheet gliding to a stop in front of each student with a completed list. The words on each list began to glow before floating off of the paper and into their corresponding spots.
"There you go! Now, you're going to practice performing against these little ones first, and if that goes well, I'll find you snowflakes a more discerning audience. Whenever you're ready!"
There was a pause, then a herd of knee-high snowman came hopping through the door. In a matter of minutes, each student had a new friend or two to share their carol with.
Quote:
The Second Task: Performance
Before you get to performing, you must first roll to determine the strength of your song. Since the effectiveness of your carol depends upon the magnitude of its JOY, your character's current progress at Amityville has little influence on how powerful your song is.
Please roll 1d4 first to determine your carol's JOY: 2d8 2d10 2d12 2d20 Now, sing.
Each student has been approached by a miniature snowman, two if your character does not speak. Don't ask how they know. They just do. This second snowman will sing in your mute character's stead.
Your audience-snowmen hear Christmas carols all the time, so they're quite hard to sway. To figure out their resistance, roll 2d20. To determine how strong your song is, roll the JOY dice you determined above. Obviously, if your character also rolled 2d20 for their JOY dice, you may roll 4d20 in one post, with the first two dice counting as the snowman's resistance and the last two as the strength of your character's song.
If your number is lower than your snowman's, you have failed to impress him, but it's up to you to decide what that means. Does the snowman infect you with JOY? Does it knock you out? If you win, do you and your thoroughly impressed snowman sing your new carol in two-part harmony? Have fun!
You have 48 hours! If you have any questions, PM me! (I know these instructions are a little wtf.) If your character wants to speak to Van, quote me!
Also, let me apologize for how these songs came out. XD A lot of them make no sense, which, while fitting, is also really awkward. If you didn't finish your word lists, quote me when you get them edited in and I'll post your song as soon as I can.
Smerdle Crew
Scamp
Offline
Smerdle Crew
Scamp
Offline
Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 7:36 am
It wasn't long before the cacophony of Halloween voices grew too loud to put off dealing with any longer. There was a change in the air as the students' FEARful songs began to warp the room ever so slightly. It was time to move on.
"Good! Goooood everyone!" Van lied, returning to the front of the room and holding his hands up to get everyone's attention. "I've got a little something for you for doing such a lovely job here today, so I'll just give those out... yes... there you go." The littler snowmen left their charges' sides and paraded back past Van, picking up several tiny hats and passing them out amongst the students.
"And now that you've had some practice, I'd like you snowflakes to meet that discerning audience I told you about!"
Snow began to swirl around the lecture hall's door. "Bernice? We're ready for you!" A low growl issued from the blizzard. "Bernice?" Van smiled and tipped his head to one side. "She's probably just feeling a little shy! Bernice is a Grinch, one of the most JOY-shielded I've ever met, and she's—"
The growl turned into a roar, and the snowman finally had the sense to look concerned. "O... oh. Maybe..." He trailed off as a hunched, green-skinned creature barreled through the door. It might have once been somewhat adorable and Christmassey, but now its shredded clothes hung off of it in tatters and it was very, very angry.
"Here here hereherehere!" Van shouted, passing out a new piece of paper to each student via his snowy messengers. "Show me what you've learned! BREAK HER."
Quote:
The Final Task: GRINCH!
Hello and welcome to the end of the class! Bernice, affected by the FEAR you couldn't help but inject into your songs, is on a rampage! You now have two options:
FIGHT: Roll your JOY dice from the previous section as many times as you'd like to help bring her down. This time, instead of singing your own song, you'll be belting out the class' version of The Twelve Days of Christmas, compiled from some extra words collected during the first task. Sing it loud and proud, and let's see if Halloween's newest song can knock some sense back into Bernice.
The Twelve Days of Christmas
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true doge gave to me Twelve Italys kissing Eleven strings dancing Ten fluffy dustbunnies swallowing Nine horsemen eradicating Eight Trick-or-Treaters flopping Seven deer running Six foxfires wilding Five dark earrings Four snowy birds Three silky bunnies Two slippery wolves And a lawn flamingo in a durian tree
After you roll and RP, your character may flee, but there will be one more mini update after this after which they can leave as well.
FLIGHT: Screw that. You're getting the hell out of here! RP your student vacating the premises.
Either path is valid, just be sure to post your minisite username if you'd like a Hattata Snow! Anyone who posted a signup is eligible to receive one. You have 24 hours to post.
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:53 am
CLASS IS COMPLETE! THANKS FOR COMING!
Smerdle Crew
Scamp
Offline
Dragain
Wealthy Lover
Offline
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:04 am
Victoria was not bothered by the cold stuff on the ground; she had seen it before! This cold, white stuff - someone had told her that it was called 'snow' - fell in Halloween last year too, near Christmastival! She played in it with Jove, and they even made a snowman together... The fond memories made her smile as she looked around, her attention captured by all the shiny decorations hanging in the room.
When she was done being fascinated by the guest lecturer's choice of decoration, she begun poking at a nearby mound of snow with her foot. She would make a snowman, but making a snowball required body heat she didn't have...
SIGN ME UP! Characters: Victoria
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:19 am
Hel had, luckily, built up a bit of a resistance to how damn cheerful and joyous all these ChristmasTown professors were by spending time with Jubilee as an ‘assistant’…and now that she wasn’t helping, she was rather curious to see what the other classes and other professors were like. It did feel odd to be in a class though despite graduating…but hey, they never had stuff like this when she was a student (she was sounding old now that wasn’t good), so she wanted to check it out.
The reaper entered the room, still in her cold weather gear, and raised a gloved hand in greeting. “Yo!” She slowed her pace as she entered the room, and looked around, taking in all the lights and colors and…joyous feeling.
She shuddered, and then stopped near a pile of snow, but also noticed there was another student here as well. She squinted. Wait…she knew that one…”PINT!” The ghoul pointed a gloved hand at Victoria, and then waved. “Been a while!” She then stared at the pile of snow she was near before she flopped back into it and started to make a snow angel.
The chipper, cheery attitude of the teachers weren't entirely off-putting for Ruth, not even as a denizen of Halloween Town. There was such a thing as fear smiling, certain minipets exhibited that sort behavior, grinning, smiling, fluttering multiple eyelids in an attempt to either disarm, confuse, or outright frighten predators or competition. She was beginning to think that this was how the teachers from the land of Joy showed their dominance.
Which made sense, given that they're in an unfamiliar environment and surrounded by potentially, generally hostile individuals known as students. She gave this particular teacher a grin of her own, though it occurred to her that her, ah, life choices may affect her performance in this particular class. She approached the Professor with a raised hand, and trying to make her lower lip tremble (not too difficult because of how jacking cold the school had become) while she used her other hand to point at her throat.
The blonde wanted to take part but she wasn't about to compromise her silence. She hoped the professors from the land of Joy had a little bit more consideration for students.
SIGN ME UP! Characters: B. Ruth
Smerdle
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:36 am
"YES, I'M AT LEAST A WHOLE PINT OF GHOST!" Victoria replied automatically, sounding almost indignant, before pausing, wondering why she said that. Turning around towards the source of the voice, her face lit up when she realized who had greeted her, "Hel!"
Looking at the reaper gave her a great idea on how she would be able to build a snowman; it involved putting some round objects on other round objects.
And she was soon pressing a small mound of small against Hel's chest, trying to use her body heat to melt the snow just enough for her to pack it together into a snowball.
Dragain
Wealthy Lover
Offline
Smerdle Crew
Scamp
Offline
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 1:10 pm
Van perked up when Victoria entered, his smile only growing larger and toothier as a second and third girl showed up to join the ghost. As the snowman watched Hel plop into his luxuriously powdery wintery goodness and begin to make a snow angel, he silently noted her sloppy technique, very nearly leaving his desk to... help... before Ruth approached, her darling lower lip shaking in despair. She looked like a perfect little tree topper from back home, and Van stopped himself before he reached out and pushed the hair away from her eyes to see if they glittered too. Knowing Halloween, instead of sparkles and endless happiness, all he'd see were gaping pits.
Finally paying attention to exactly what the girl was doing, Van frowned so deeply it was almost amusing. He stage-whispered, "Ohnooo! You can't speak! You poor dear." He patted her shoulder, his voice returning to its normal volume. "Well, just have a seat, have a seat. When the time comes to sing, we'll have to find someone to help, won't we!"
Huni Pi
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 1:38 pm
Miserable awful snow, the stuff was all over the room! Tavi scowled within the confines of his hood at it before promptly giving a free pile a kick. After dusting up a small flurry with his snow boot in a few kicks the kitsune seemed pleased with his punishment and went to take a seat. Unzipping his coat and emerging from what almost made him look like a giant marshmallow into proper view.
Sitting down now in his seat he looked over the other occupants of the room, a small smile flashed to the lot before his attention caught on the shiny tinsel. So sparkle, so sparkle. SIGN ME UP! Characters: Tavi
Cheekiebirdiee
Mysterious Kitten
Offline
Face your demons
Magnetic Detective
Offline
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 1:49 pm
"More snow, inside?!” Van yelped, before plowing through some of the stationary snow. On top of that, he was thoroughly pleased: "I've got the same name as the professor, Tavi!” he exclaimed, upon spotting the kitsune and bounding over to him.
At which point he remembered his previous apprehension regarding the indoor snow, and realized it was really made of ... was that paper? Van yelped as quietly as he could and perched on top of a desk next to Tavi's, trying not to touch any of the stuff.
"Everything becomes extra-flammable when I'm around,” Van lamented, ears against his head again. "Hey, Tavi, your coat looks so warm! Is it? Are snow boots good?” Van was hanging upside down off the desk, now, tail in the air whooshing back and forth. The charms and bits of metal braided and woven along chains in his tail clinked and shone like the tinsel.
He dove into one of the piles of snow to test it: nope, not paper?? What was this?
---
Amarus, ever the delinquent, was currently picking bits of tinsel off whatever surfaces she could find, and stuffing them inside a desk. Burying them, out of sight, and working against this rush of christmas cheer. Why did they have so many guest speakers? In the past, it seemed like Christmas was basically out to invade and conquer, not educate and extend a hand of friendship.
Besides, if she wanted to be part of christmas joy she wouldn't be her any more. She liked being something that bumped in the night. She was arming herself, internally, against this infestation of happiness.
But she may as well study these strange interlopers.
SIGN ME UP! Characters: Van, Amarus
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 1:54 pm
Was she here all along, or had she just suck in? Violetta Webs furrowed her brow at the white stuff that was piled around her, levitating off the floor she left no prints nor could she feel the chill or damp that was in the room. She knelled quietly, bobbing up and down in a rhythmic ghostly manor, the faint glow her skin admitted illuminating the white around her. What was this witchcraft?
SIGN ME UP! Characters: Violetta Webs
Z o m b i k ii
Magical Girl
Offline
Cheekiebirdiee
Mysterious Kitten
Offline
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:21 pm
A familiar voice had him turning in his chair and regarding an ever cheerful Van with a raspberry. Blah, he wasn't in the mood to hear about names being similar. However the closer his overeager friend got, the more his excited air caught onto Tavi. On a roll of his eyes and a wide smile the kitsune flared his tails behind him, sending a few small sparks out as the fur rubbed together.
"Goood. Go m e l t all the snow. " A devious little glint lit the normally innocently teals as he looked on at Van, very serious in his demand. From time to time he tended to forget that his friend was of fire inclination. But now that he was reminded he would make use of him, he probably owed him a favor anyways.
Yawning as talk turned to attire, Tavi nodded to reassure his friend that it was in fact very warm. "Yes~ It's nice and furry inside.." To further prove this point he holds up his arm to let him peek into the sleeve. Tavi watched his friends antics with wide eyes, wondering just how he was hanging like that without falling but enjoying the show none the less. On a giggle he waves his hand and offers, " I have another set of them that you can have ok ok ? " Van was about his size right? Right.
Reply
