[OPENING] magical training log

[spellslash]

Who: Brie, whichever newbies want to show up.
Where: The beach.
When: Day 4
Open/Closed: OTA

[It's about noon on the island, based on the position of the sun. The newbies have had a few days to settle in, but that doesn't mean they've fully mastered their newfound abilities.

As much stock as Genette puts into telepathy, Brie is more concerned about their other newfound gifts. She's aggressively tried to wrangle as many newbies as possible onto the sandy shores of the beachfront area for some magic practice.

She's got a list of everyone's magic -- only a few vague notes, limitations are for you to discover -- and she's handing out missions for magic training. If you want to participate? Feel free. If you don't? Suit yourself.

But understanding your magic isn't just an activity that benefits the group. Learning your magic's abilities may be what stands between you and survival, which is something she makes perfectly clear.]

Comments

[splinten]

[...Dirk feels bad.]

Sorry. I didn't know it was yours.

[Kill him.]

[potentite]

It's not! [That is very important. Much more important than his face hurting.] It's fine! Please, um, use it? It's not mine!

[splinten]

[Should he ask about his face? That's bad. But he's concerned. But does he have a right to be concerned? What should he do. He has no idea. Help him.]

I have to destroy one. So.

[potentite]

[Jake forces himself to stand and clears his throat.]

Um, well, that one is unoccupied. Do you know how... to destroy a home?

[splinten]

English, I'm a regular homewrecker.

[ha ha ha

shit he ruined Jane's goals re: home, he is a homewrecker, he destroys home, why is he so destructive FUCK HIS LIFE. Dirk is so glad the shades hide that he's glancing away.]

I don't know. I supposedly have to 'fully understand' what I'm destroying, so... Not sure how far that has to go.

[potentite]

[He doesn't get it but he knows Dirk is putting himself down, so he's eager to push past it so Dirk won't dwell on it.]

Hm... Well, um, tell me your understanding of a hut, I guess? And we can think if... that's good enough? If you want to...

[splinten]

[Uhh.] It'd be composed primarily of plastic and wood. [The info page seems to imply this??] The plastic is tempered differently for the windows. Iron nails, screws, and bolts to hold it together.

[potentite]

[He blinks.] Well, wood you're not familiar with but plastic you are, right?

[splinten]

Yeah. But it's possible that instead of understanding the components, I have to understand the conceptual idea of what a hut is. [WHY IS HIS POWER SO DUMB.]

[potentite]

A hut is... a small shelter. It's not really a home to most people... it's just where they rest their weary heads, right?

[splinten]

[That does make sense. He tilts his head, considering.]

Anything else? This is a beach hut. I have no clue if there's anything specific about those.

[potentite]

[He tries to think more.] I don't think so... I think that's it!

[splinten]

[He stares at the beach hut a moment. Stares. Stares some more.

It collapses inwards, but it isn't destroyed.]

That's. A start.

[potentite]

[Jake cocks his head.]

I know what we need. An 80's montage.

[splinten]

Eye of the Tiger or other.

[potentite]

The Rocky theme might be better to concentrate to?

[splinten]

If only I kept Rocky on my shades.

[Instead, he has this, which he turns on.]

Ready to montage it?

[potentite]

[Jake nods firmly.]

Right! Let's rapidfire figure this out! What is the form of a beach hut!

[splinten]

[...God Jake gets so into things. Dirk just stares at it a moment, as always stunned by Jake, and then makes himself focus.]

Four walls, roof, ceiling. One door, privacy. Space for little more than changing outfits. A bed.

[potentite]

You have to go deeper than that, Strider! [He's sounding a little like a coach now.] The essence! The nitty-gritty! Nitpick the fuck out of this.

[splinten]

You sound like a movie coach.

[Nitpick the fuck out of it what the hell.]

Cuboid and triangular prism. Wood composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and other miscellany. A plastic is composed of organic polymers. It has... iron screws? Probably iron and carbon alloyed, steel.

[potentite]

[He grins at the comparison.]

Now get abstract! Be pretentious!

[splinten]

Cuboids ain't abstract enough for you?

[Jake's getting into it, though, and that brings Dirk enthusiasm of his own.]

It's a temporary place. It's a place of modesty, Victorian bullshit, used to be for swimming in public but hidden, now for changing. It's a place to shift from land to sea. It represents transience and liminality, the unstable boundary between the two. It's also commodification, with bright garish colours meant to attract tourists and to make money out of the once public space of the shore.

[potentite]

[He's bouncing on his heels now, life actually in him.]

Now! Ball up all those definitions and tear them apart!

[splinten]

[Dirk reaches out for the hut with his power, and he destroys it.

Well, almost. The exterior is completely demolished; he accomplished that. The bed inside has been left behind.]

...This is the part where we celebrate stupidly. Thanks, English.

[That was some solid coaching.]