A question

[connie_maheswaran]

[Yes, it is rather easy to send one of these out when you have the internet back home. Connie was a little vexed that there was no network quite like that here, but she'd make do].

Ok, I know that most of the people here have a lot of questions about how things work and how to fight and all, and so far there have been plenty of you who have graciously given us answers and time (I'm very grateful to specific people here like Mr. Crackshell and Webigail and Princess Deetz, but many of you really helped, thank you). I have a different type of question though.

For those of you who live here and work, how easy is it to do all of your magical studies and keep a stable job? Back home I have to be attending college, but I'll be living on campus. That's different from working here and living AND learning about magic.

Basically, how do you budget your time? Any tips?

Comments

[connie_maheswaran]

In that case, I'll call you that when Shoggoth isn't listening, so he won't get on your case too much about it.

Right, of course! I mean, what good is anyone without their team! You'd be surprised how hard it is to hammer that into the head of people who think their part is crucial. They might mean well, but without a team, you're just asking for trouble.

[Connie thought about this a moment].

How have your teams been doing, against this Corrosion stuff? What's their rate of success?

I actually looked @ the Mission board for this b/c I am lame

[strangeandunusual]

[she cackled] Oh my gosh, please call him that as often as possible, that's hilarious. He's ... on my team. Definitely. I trust him. But that doesn't mean I can't have fun teasing him.

It's ... hm. Well, we've cleared the entire Jungle, and that only took us about five months or so ... and then we weren't able to get to anything new until fairly recently. But the Bayou missions seem to be going well too ... sometimes we fail, though. I'd say our rate of success is about ... fifty percent, give or take. But a lot of that has to do with the nature of some of the magic. Fairies and Mystics in particular have pretty unpredictable powers. My friend Fenton tried to summon a big book full of camping information on his first mission, and instead he got a blank book big enough to use as a tent. We turned it into a big scrapbook when we got home, but .... yeah.

[she's probably seen the book in question: it's in the apartment lobby, filling up steadily with photos of the Apprentices and all the places they've been]

No problem cross referencing, that definitely can help

[connie_maheswaran]

Oh, I will. I bet most people call him Betelgueist, but I figured Shoggoth sounded way more interesting. No, I bet. He speaks pretty highly of you.

Right. The jungle. Cleared. I'm writing some of this down so I can remember for next time. So the class of Faerie and Mystics have unstable early magic. I've met Fenton, I'll ask him about it the next time I see him.

How do the other classes rate as far as magic and its nature goes?

[strangeandunusual]

Fenton's great, he's such a total sweetheart. I'm glad he was one of the first people you met. You know, I've got a bunch of notes in my spellbook ... it's a little more of a hodgepodge notebook than anything else. You're welcome to come over and copy out of it if you want. I've got cocoa and stuff for sandwiches.

[connie_maheswaran]

Oh, I got that! It was strange to be approached by a walking dressed up duck at first, then I realized he was actually nicer than some regular adults that I know back home, and even some aliens."

There was a manual? I didn't know that! I'll look through it immediately!"

[strangeandunusual]

Well, there's kind of a manual that they put in everyone's room? It's not much, just the basics. The notebook I mentioned is mine, stuff I write down as I learn things.

[connie_maheswaran]

Oh. In that case, I'll opt for your notebook. If I need just the basics, I can probably just ask someone.

[strangeandunusual]

What room are you in? I can come find you, or you can come downstairs and visit. My roommate's off patrolling, which is her fancy word for sulking.

[she had decided she was pretty much done sugar-coating Mal for other people. she could still love her despite her mess, so maybe other people would learn to, too]

[connie_maheswaran]

Oh, sulking? Something bad happen to her? I'm sorry to hear that.

[She looked up at her door, needing a reminder]. I'm in 10 B, with Kusa! We're getting along pretty well, by the way!

[strangeandunusual]

More like ... she tends to blow a lot of things out of proportion for some reason. [a sigh.] She's a really good artist, though, and great with magic. If you ever need a favor from her, candy is the perfect way to get it.

I haven't met Kusa yet. I'm glad you're getting along, though! Do you want me to come up, or would you rather come down here? I'm in 3A on the first floor.

[connie_maheswaran]

Ah, I know some people like that named Pearl. Candy? Is that a kind of currency here?

[Maybe it was just a sweet spot for her. Pun. Steven was loving it somewhere, she bet].

She's new, like me! I'm glad, so we can both puzzle things out together.

Oh, I'll pop over, I need to get familiar with places anyway.

[It takes a few minutes, but soon the girl was there, giving Lydia a wave].

I made it!

[strangeandunusual]

It's not - we have munny, spelled with a u. It's all coins. But Mal didn't have access to candy for a really long time where she's from, so I guess she's ... catching up? On her ... diabetes progress? I don't know. But any time anyone asks her to do something, she wants to be paid in money and candy. She also really likes strawberries, but don't tell her you heard it from me. She's got this thing about people knowing her favorite things.

[the fact that Mal's first thought on sharing her favorite fruit with anyone was that they could try to use it to poison her was ... extremely telling. while Connie made her way downstairs, Lydia put away a few bits of clutter and straightened out the pillows on the couch, which was angled to give a good view of Main Street off their balcony]

Great, come on in! Have a seat. You want something to drink? I have lemonade, chocolate milk ... and I think there's still some orange juice left, too.

[the two princesses had wasted no time decorating the apartment in their style: black, purple and red were everywhere, and their Goth chic was extremely apparent. Mal had done murals of spiders, dragons, and bats all over the larger swaths of empty wall, and Lydia had made curtains with spiderweb patterns and draping at the bottoms. Some of her favorite photographs were framed around the place, as well. her journal was sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch, and she raided a nearby drawer for some paper and a pen so Connie could take notes]

[connie_maheswaran]

Money, spelled "MUnny?" Hmm. Fun-er, interesting. I think I will have to go get myself a job then. I don't want to be lacking for that in case there's something I want, and I DO need to get myself a proper weapon. Also, it might sound very uncool, but I think I want a violin.

[She may be in another world, but she got stressed too, and the instrument had a way of calming her down].

I won't tell anyone. Your friend sounds pretty protective about her secrets.

[At any rate, Connie has to go down to the first floor and walked down until she got to 3A. She knocked politely and Lydia let her in and...Connie just stares a minute. It was one thing to see college dorms in media: usually it was very bare bones, a few posters here and there, closets for secret liasons, nothing to elaborate,. Coming into the room was like stepping into a completely spooky aesthetic and Connie was just LIVING for it. It was an embracing of things that were creepy and spine tingly, spiders and bats and just...it was like stepping into another world, like finding a secret library nook only few people knew about].

This is so...creative! When did you guys have time to do this?!

[strangeandunusual]

Oh, we've done bits and pieces here and there. Princess magic tires you out, so after we come back from a mission we usually have a day or so where we stay around here. Since we have the time to kill, we spend it painting and sewing and stuff. Or I frame the prints for my gallery.

[she was the very picture of modesty about it, too] All the spray paint art is Mal's - she's really good. That one over there, the big spider? That was her Christmas present for me. It actually glitters in the moonlight at night, she put magic in it. And she'll do murals for other people, too. My friend Rose is from London, and she did one of Big Ben for her off a postcard.

As for what you said earlier? Violins are absolutely cool. I mean - I had some opera records back home, right in with all the Cure and Bauhaus, and Adam's Harry Belafonte albums. How long have you been playing?