Burning Academia is a 17+ fantasy IF about accidently getting caught in the magical politics of the private college Vales Grove University. [Author: Em (he/him)][NOT ANSWERING PROMPT/SCENARIO ASKS RN]
You never thought you'd go to college, due to your circumstances. But you especially didn't dream you'd be forced to attend the prestigious Vales Grove University after being attacked by wraiths in their library. What started as a visit to a long time friend, ended with your hands burned, your innocence questioned, and the startling realization magic is real.
To apologize for what's happened to you, or more accurately, to keep an eye on you, the Headmaster himself offers you enrollment with all fees waived. With no real choice in the matter, you become a student, and try to ignore the suspicion everyone throws your way. Besides, you have worse things to deal with.
Like how you've started to attract ghosts and other dead things, or the fact that there is a very living thing inside your head, waiting for you to lower your guard and take control. And most pressing of all, managing your obligation to a family that hasn't been such a thing in years.
Tread carefully, if the ghosts don't devour you, the university certainly might.
Customize the MC; gender, appearance, personality, etc!
Romance six questionable love interests, or not!
A morality system which changes how your story will go. Do you belong to the day, the night, or somewhere in between?
A complicated family, which you've been shackled to your whole life. Will you ever be able to escape them? Do you even want to?
Survive college, your job, and attempt to not have a quarter life crisis.
Avoid getting devoured by all the things that go bump in the night.
Retain your free will.
Dawn: The world has never been kind, but that hasn't stopped you from giving up. You'll run through the night and embrace the rising dawn. A path of becoming hope.
Day: There's light in the world, if one only knows how to look. As long as you hold on, the light will find you, too. A path of finding solace.
Dusk: All you've known is suffering, and you won't stand for it any longer. Regardless where that leads you, or the choices you need to make to save yourself. A path leading to freedom.
Night: There's no hope here, not as things stand. You'll change it all, even if you must stand in the darkness. A path of destroying everything which has sought to destroy you.
More simply: Dawn/Day: traditional good paths, Dusk: anti-hero path, Night: "villain" path
Rook Bellerose [M]: A "best friend" you've known for almost a decade now. He's never let you get close even after all this time. He's the king of jokes and immaturity, but after the events which led to your enrollment at Vales Grove, something's changed. Maybe it's the guilt, or maybe it's the mask finally slipping.
Beck Castro [M]: Rook's detested roommate, although you aren't sure why. He's the kind of guy who likes to hear himself talk, and he's pretty good at it. He can captivate a room or get himself out of any situation. For whatever reason, he's taken a keen interest in you, and has offered his help for whatever you might need.
Rhea Windsor [F]: The Headmaster's daughter. Everyone who talks about her often complains that she's the traditional prim and proper young woman one would expect from a Headmaster's daughter. However, the more you talk to her, the more you realize she's the exact opposite with a dorky personality and a streak of clumsiness.
Zoe Ripley [NB]: A loner who hides in the library to avoid people. They saw what went down the day you were forced to attend Vales Grove. Despite their prickly attitude, you get the sense they aren't a bad person, and despite how they act, they've never refused to help you. If anything, you seem to be the one person on campus who doesn't get on their nerves, professors included.
Lars Angel [M]: The most exhausted person you've ever seen, and that's saying something. He's a grad student, and one you keep running in to. He can't stand you, and you can only guess at why. With a sharp tongue and a bitter disposition, he tries his best to avoid you. Too bad you both keep running into each other. It looks like fate has other plans.
??? [M/F/NB]: The thing which haunts you. You have no idea how the two of you got connected, but you can feel it in your blood, organs, neurons, synapses. You know it's evil, you know it wants to consume you, but tell me? Has anything ever cradled your soul so gently before?
Poly Route options:
Beck/Rook [triad]: Dawn or Day Path
Rook/??? [triad]: Night Path
Rhea and Zoe [V]: Dawn or Dusk Path
[RO Portraits]
CW: Gore, violence, discussions and depictions of death, parental neglect, emotional abuse, parental abuse, alcoholism, depression, classism, mtc
Hiya I was curious how the chapter 4 beta is going? Anything you can tease us with? (obv you mentioned having stuff going on in other posts so no pressure and i hope youre feeling better) Might it be on our distant horizon or are you in the depths cooking up a tasty treat that's gonna need a while longer to stew? Either way I am VERY hype and think about this story in passing SO MUCH easily one of my fav IFs
I will be fully transparent in that chapter 4 has been sitting on my PC at like 95% coded in and I just. Have not had energy to finish up that last bit. Post my hospital stay in June, I've been on the decline (which is neither helped by the US healthcare system nor the fact that no one knows what's actually going on with me rn), so yeah.
I wish I had better news and could promise a release soon but I can't and that's kinda where we're at. Hopefully they can figure out what the Mysterious Pain in my Right Side is (and that it's something that can be managed alkfja) and I'll be back to it.
But also yeah, I can spare another teaser especially since it's been a million years alfja:
I just read Marlowe's bonus story and it got me a lot. I've had a terrible relationship with family like her too and I've felt the need to react in ways she did too (to call them out, you need to face all the faults rather than act to fix the problem at the roots otherwise shit like this is going to continue). I recalled what my bare impression on her was before reading the bonus (I chose all the dad scenes in story because I suspected him and wanted any form of info), and I was not expecting Marlowe to feel so familiar? When things happen back at home, I wonder why my younger brother always tries to go along with my parents too. I had dreams like Marlowe too. Reading and realizing how similar we were in that regard I started going back on MC's POV in the family, and it made me think about how my own younger sibling could have looked at things before and now still may be whenever I return during summer break. I wondered about his perspective before many times too but I've never known where to begin to even theorise. Reading the story from the perspective of a younger sibling with such issues really made me reflect. Thank you, and also this goes on to say you've written these things really well!! Good job and keep going!
I may not be stable enough yet like Marlowe and the danger of being reduced back still exists, and I had been contemplating on a possible income stream with how many things I have on my plate already. But all this reading and reflecting made me decide I should go for it. And that I need to do better. My brother has also just graduated and I feel like he might end up saving himself better than I could have (he tends to get along well with them than I do? At least that's the impression I have). I never got to communicate or talk of these things with him, and when I try, he deflects the conversation (much like Rook lol) and I'm not the best with words in these. I just hope when he needs it I can offer a place with my actions instead (without having to talk my head gets too heavy and the conversations usually end up terribly). In this sense, Marlowe is better than me. Atleast she got to say some things, no matter how MC might have received it through (empty or not).
Anway thanks Em. Thanks for providing me new perspective and understanding. Also thanks for the motivation. Marlowe may have failed in many things on the family side, but she managed to stand on her feet in her career life after what she's been through? That's inspiring. It could have gone a lot worse and I want Marlowe to know she did the best she could. You can't offer to fill a starving man's stomach when you don't even have enough for yourself. And on top of that, to sow and harvest your own food? She already had too much on her plate. Thanks for like the 10th time, I love the story you're writing.
I'm really glad you managed to get something out of BA. Reality is so much more complicated and messy than fiction could ever be, but I hope things work out for you, and that things become easier.
drew my character from the lovely interactive fiction @burning-academia-if, please do check it out its currently at 3 chapters ^^
details under cut
Due to being lonely and having below average social skills xe are quietly desperate for companionship, resulting in vesp being more easily manipulable then xe even know.
xe are falling for "the ghost" in xir head, so that kinda blows
wears the haunted earings
has a slight scar above xir lip from fights xe got into as a kid
I did consider Rook as Quincy's RO but with the way they are, the arm's length he holds her at, she's the type to play along with it that any feelings that might have developed easily fizzled when the distance grew again.
IF: Burning Academia by @burning-academia-if (or @heartsyncproductions)
"Lol there are other ways to attempt to squash someone's feelings for you besides fighting" but have you considered that I think it's funnier if they were ducking it out? Have you considered that I like the mental image of Rook putting a hand on a dejected MC's shoulder and going "I think we're gonna have to punch each other, MC" and the MC going "damn😞"?
AJSJS LMAO I've certainly imagined MC punching Rook but he would never hit MC, even if they hit him. He'd just take it
He's gotten into fights before but he's super skittish and scared about physically hurting someone he cares for. I think he'd cry after
"If someone is being super annoying in his vicinity he is going to a big asshole about it anjsj" I mean, when is he NOT being a big asshole?🤨 I'm sure the wind would be blowing in a slightly inconvenient manner for him and whoever happens to be walking around him would have to pay for it. His entire being seems to just be asshole- which is something I'm sure he would be somewhat pleased with, even though it's pretty embarrassing to be a hole. And the hole of an ass at that. Smh. Just full of shit on a spiritual and biological level
(nothing against you🤚I'm sure you can tell I think he's a great character🤚 but it has to be said🤚🤚)
Lars sucks so bad and tbh he's very content with being the biggest asshole in the entire student body of Vales Grove 😌
"Lars: "You wrote this?" Lars asks, taking the written poetry said admirer was trying to hand to you, and reading it out loud. "This is shit. Have you ever even read a poem before?" Hands it back, pointedly leaves. If crushing, he also tells you you're admirer is annoying sjsjd while they're still there " it's killing me that he would do that shit without even having a crush on the MC. Like omg get OUT. Who even invited him here??😭 Just doing the most
If someone is being super annoying in his vicinity he is going to a big asshole about it anjsj
how would the ros react to the mc having an admirer that just won’t give up? Someone that writes romantic poetry and just outright ignores or dismisses the ro?
Rook: Incredibly bold of the admirer to assume they get ignore him. The guy, slinging his arm around your shoulder and navigating his way into whatever conversation the two of you are having? No way, he's being way too annoying to ignore. Even if you're into it, Rook would do it just to fuck with you lol (and he's totally not mad about it at all if he's crushing ajsjs)
Beck: I don't really think he minds. Unless you seemed bothered by it, then he'd probably just rescue you with a brief, "Excuse me, something's come up and I need to steal them, real quick." He drags away so fast, said admirer doesn't have a chance to respond.
Rhea: Honestly, I think she would pull the "Do you know who I am?" card ajsjjd. Less because of jealousy and moreso because being point blank ignored is infuriating to her. And if you also aren't into it, the annoyance grows worse. She can't stand someone who doesn't listen to a "no."
Zoe: They don't have the confidence to do anything, if we're being honest. Being ignored makes them feel small and calls back to their youth, so they just fade into the background. If you don't like it, though, they'd pull out their calm persona and say, "Excuse me, they don't like this." Then proceed to run away sksks and the second it's just the two of you they crumble and immediately start complaining about said admirer
Lars: "You wrote this?" Lars asks, taking the written poetry said admirer was trying to hand to you, and reading it out loud. "This is shit. Have you ever even read a poem before?" Hands it back, pointedly leaves. If crushing, he also tells you you're admirer is annoying sjsjd while they're still there
???: That is a pest and they need to get them away from you. So they make you your admirer's little bad luck charm. Small little misfortunes seem to befall them whenever they approach you. The more persistent it becomes, the worse it gets. Doesn't matter if you like it or not, the voice has decided they're annoying and wants them gone either way
"he actively went out of his way to do things to make MC stop having feelings" seeing as you said that he has a bit of Ivan Alien Stage in him, I assume he and MC were duking it out on the daily whether the MC was a sweetheart sopping wet of a cat or not
Lol there are other ways to attempt to squash someone's feelings for you besides fighting
Granted, I do imagine more hot head MCs got into it with Rook a lot in high school, especially a crushing MC lol. But yeah, he wouldn't actively/willingly get into a fight, especially with kind and/or pathetic MCs ajsjd
