don't mind me - just studying

Dakota Zimmer |  The Academic | He/They | 27 | PhD Candidate

[dakotaxzimmer]

Happy birthday, Koa! | @amethvsts​

On June 1st, Dakota presents Koa with a box messily wrapped in newspaper. Inside is some decor for Koa’s snail terrarium, a card game, as well as a note on a piece of notebook paper.

Hey Koa,

Happy birthday! Thank you again for being so welcoming to me and letting me rent out one of your rooms. I thought you were a bit much at first, like, uh for me as a person, but I’m really glad I’ve gotten to know you. Your antics and your general attitude make my day a lot better... uh, anyways, yeah, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Your roommate,

Dakota 

[dakotaxzimmer]

@silvcrlining​ | starter for Jemma

It had been a nice enough day that Dakota decided to head to the beach - both to gather a few soil samples and stick their feet in the water. After a few hours of digging in the soil, they closed several tubes, placed them in a box that would prevent any spillage, and moved to sit by the water. Just as they had begun to toe off their shoes, they noticed a familiar figure - Jemma. The other person in town that actually knew D&D things. “Jemma, hey-” they waved her over. “Uh, do you have a few minutes? I-I wanted to ask you something... it’s D&D related.”

[dakotaxzimmer]

amethvsts​:

it had been a whirlwind of a month for zola. she had been called away for a special tour for ana indiana, something about a nostalgia reunion with her and some other stars when they were on the same tv show back in the day (they were children and wore awful clothes, but they were also best friends – just busy best friends). media sources these days were really banking on nostalgia as a selling factor nowadays. anyway, she was back in stardew valley, a place she can’t exactly call home yet, but that’s where her stuff was stored for the time being. she came crashing into the saloon, having lost control of her luggage and knocking over one of the chairs. “oh, shit… that’s my bad… sorry!”

Dakota had been calmly humming to themselves as they flipped another page of their Dungeon Master’s Guide and scribbled more notes. To say the table was a mess would be an understatement. There were four books opened to different pages, a laptop, a notebook, a large bag of dice, a dice tray, and a dice tower. They were so involved in their work that almost everyone else in the bar was drown out - until there was a large clatter, which caused Dakota to startle and knock over one bag of dice, sending them loudly rolling on the floor. “Shit, my dice!” they were quickly kneeling over to collect the oddly shaped dice, some rolling near Zola’s feet.

[dakotaxzimmer]

qvietlight​:

For the first time in months, Henry is baking. In fact, he’s been baking, and now almost every available surface in both his kitchen and living room, as well as several stairs, are littered with baked goods in various stages of being iced. It’s like a switch has suddenly been flipped, and all that time he spent as a zombie has been brushed aside in favour of his usual flurry of activity. It’s time to try again.

“Watch your step!” He calls, reaching to turn down the radio with one floury hand as he hears the front door open behind him.

Dakota bounced back and forth on their toes as they stood in front of Henry’s door. In the months since moving to town, they had yet to stumble across the man to thank him for the gift. And after weeks of talking themself up, they finally decided to visit his home and take him up on the offer for a game night. When Dakota knocked on the door, it opened. He curiously peered in and saw a flurry of movement. Cautiously he entered, until the warning was given to step carefully.

“O-Oh, there’s a lot going on in here, it smells really sweet in here...” the wave of aromas was almost too overwhelming for them. But, no, Dakota wanted to make new friends. So they switched to subtly breathing through their mouth, as they adjusted the straps of their backpack (which contained a board game and snacks - which they doubted would be needed with all the food stacked on the counter). “I, uh, came by to take you up on the offer for a game night and, uh thank you for the, you know, the gift...” he seemed busy. Maybe Dakota should leave?

[dakotaxzimmer]

@wintcrwinds | Matty’s Birthday

On May 30th, a package arrives at Matty’s door containing a handmade dice tower, and a set of dice. Atop the newspaper wrapping is a sloppily written card.

Hey Matty. I heard that it was your birthday soon - I hope I got the date right... 

Since you’re getting into D&D because of me I thought I would give you some essential items.

Thanks for being nice to me for being so welcoming Thank you for being my friend. 

Happy birthday! Dakota

[dakotaxzimmer]

wintcrwinds​:

Dakota slips out from under his arm and Matty immediately loses his balance, stumbling a little before he can quickly right himself. Being such a tactile person, it doesn’t always occur to him right away that some people simply aren’t.

He rocks on the balls of his feet as Dakota explains, trying to channel his frenetic energy into listening, and when they ask if he’s heard of tabletop before, Matty shakes his head. “Nope!” He says brightly. “But you can teach me, right? I already have an imagination so I’m basically, like, half prepared!”

There was something about Matty’s energy that while overwhelming, it was welcoming and friendly, too. Like Koa. "Y-Yeah, yeah, if you’re interested?” hearing the mention that he was already half-prepared made Dakota grin. “That’s a very important, uh, thing to have prepared. S-So the basic premise is that you and the rest of your team, t-the other players, go on quests to either fight monsters, rescue people, or gain information. And basically, how you play is, uh, I tell you what the scenario is and you tell me what your character would do. After that, you roll some dice and depending on how you roll, that determines whether you succeed or not.”

[dakotaxzimmer]

alwaysgcld​:

Ben was returning to the clinic after an at home appointment with one of his patients that had a harder time getting into town. As he was approaching the town square he caught sight of someone standing in front of the community board. It wasn’t until he got closer that he recognized who was standing in front of the board and his curiosity got the better of him so he approached to see what he was looking at. Not much had been up on the board when he had left earlier, so his eyes narrowed in on the new flyer quickly. Once he read through it he had turned to ask Dakota a question when the other man began to speak. “That’s right. You’re free to put pretty much anything up here,” he offered a reassuring smile as he spoke. “I’m sure there’ll be a few people interested in being apart of that. It certainly sounds like it would be fun.”

The assurance that hanging the flyer of their nature was acceptable was a relief. Dakota took one of the pins and placed it on. “That’s good to know. You’d think there’d be some sort of, you know, guideline o-or rules. Or maybe t-that’s just me...” they turned to face the man speaking to them and thought there was something familiar, but couldn’t place how. “T-Thanks...I’m j-just new, uh, to the area, so I figure it would be a good way to, um, make friends and all...”

[dakotaxzimmer]

dcwdrops​:

Iris fully intended on pinning her own sign to the board — FOR SALE: Furniture, records, books, etc. Come by and look. Inquire: —  and then a phone number neatly printed beneath. Going through her grandmother’s possessions was a little exhausting, especially when she called almost every day to inquire if Iris had found some book or board game or blanket she wanted Iris to keep around. She stared blankly at Dakota as they talked, before popping her gum and shrugging her shoulders.  “  Yeah, sorry, I have no fucking clue. But, like  — I’m sure you can find people for your little nerd herd. This town seems like it’d be super into it.   ”  With a flick of her hair over her shoulder, Iris turns her attention towards the board, pulling a pushpin out after digging through her purse.   “  You need one?   ”  She asks him absently, carefully tacking up her flier on the direct center of the board. 

The woman’s tone made Dakota freeze in place. It just felt so icy and he felt the overwhelming urge to just run off and not deal with this. Being called a nerd was not a problem, but feeling unimportant was... But, one of the things he’d been working on in his sessions with therapists was learning to stand up for himself. Or at least not run off. “O-oh...uh, okay...t-thank you,” he watched a bit blankly as she put up the flier and took the pin. But with hers positioned how it was, his would be awkwardly hanging on the side. “D-Do you think, uh, that you c-could maybe scoot yours just a little, b-because there, um, isn’t much space fo-for mine?”

[dakotaxzimmer]

amethvsts​:

zola decided to wander around town as a way to acclimate herself to a new home. it was a small town, there was no way she could get lost, right? well, having wandered around the town square and up by the community center and just circling that area because she couldn’t remember which way she had went… zola was lost. she meandered up to the person standing by the bulletin board, but they started to speak up before she had a chance to ask how the heck she could get back to her house.

“o-oh… i am so sorry, i’ve got no clue. i didn’t even know there was a board here. i’m new to town,” she replied, eyes flickering back and forth between the board and the person standing next to it. the mention of dungeons and dragons piqued her interest though! “but a dungeons and dragons group! that sounds so fun! i travel a lot so i never really got a chance to try it out. anyway, i think you should just post it. better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?”

Dakota shyly nodded at the information. It seemed like there were lots of new people here, which was good in that they wouldn’t stand out like a sore thumb, but also meant there were more people around than they had thought. “O-Oh, then are you interested in trying it out? I-I mean, if you’re, uh, leaving or something, we could always work together and figure out what to do with your character...” they looked at the board again. There wasn’t much up there, aside from someone looking for a job.

“I would disagree...but it’s nothing inappropriate,” Dakota gave a shrug and took a pushpin and posted the page. It felt a bit weird to do so without explicit permission, and they felt themselves fidgeting a bit, but it was just paper. If it needed to be removed it would be done easily.

[dakotaxzimmer]

amethvsts​:

“i’m down for whatever, bestie.” koa inspected the game’s artwork and rules before coming to a more resigned conclusion. flashbacks to being chased around the  beach by seagulls ran through the projector in his head. “this game lies. these birds are super pretty, but birds in real life are terrifying. they swoop down at you with only vengeance in their eyes.” he tapped his temple to mime thinking, feeling a bit smug with his observation as if he were the first to ever point out that some birds were evil. despite it all, he pulled out the pieces in the board game box and mulled over their significance. “i know i read the rules but… i still don’t know what to do.”

At being called ‘bestie’ a huge grin pulled at Dakota’s lips. They hadn’t known Koa for too long, but they did feel a kinship with their roommate. Dakota set down the box and began pulling out the materials, sorting out pieces for Koa and themself. “That’s just seagulls...and magpies too, but they’re all the way in Australia” they snickered. “Maybe one of these days I can, uh, bring you out with me while I catch and release some birds, i-if you want? Then you can handle one and see.” Once they all had their own pieces, Dakota began to explain. “Right, so the point of the game is to get the most feathers, or, uh, points you could say. And each turn you can do one action,” with that, they began to explain all the actions one could take and how to get points. “D-Does that all make sense?”

[dakotaxzimmer]

silvcrlining​:

“Oh, yeah, it’s– You’ll probably be fine. I don’t really think anyone will mind. I think the signs will help with your, um, studies.”  If anything, the signs would probably make it clearer for anyone who struggled to get the message. Writing down the specifics of the shelves and the requested color. “Okay, perfect. Um, the signs shouldn’t take too long. Maybe a week? And then the shelves will probably be ready a week after that. If you want, um, just write your name and phone number here, and I’ll send you a message once they’re ready to be picked up.” She draws two lines on the notepad for him to write his information, turning it towards him and handing him the pen. “Are you, um… Are you a new resident here?” She spent most of her time indoors; it was easy to miss when new people came into town.

Dakota nodded in relief at the affirmation. “That’s good to know...I mean, people here seem nice, but you never can be sure, you know?” They still just hoped no one would think of them as aggressive. The last thing they needed was people intentionally walking over their study areas. “Oh, wow, just a week for each? That seems so fast,” they wrote their number and name on the paper. “And by message, you mean text...right? I just have, uh, had people say message before a-and they mean phone call, and I really hate talking on the phone.” Really, why did people call on the phone when text was an option. “Uh, yeah I am. I just moved here in December, I think?”

[dakotaxzimmer]

jvnimo​:

“Cool,” Art said with a blank grin and nod. He did not know what Dakota was saying to him. He barely knew what a sample was. He held his hand in his pockets, admiring Dakota. Clearly they were a genius at work. He barely knew how to grow a tomato.

“Uh, kind of? I mean, we sold some vegetables to the general store last year…but not as many as we could. Lizzie and me, we didn’t move in until the end of the summer. Then we left for a month,” he explained haphazardly and vaguely. It was a lot to get into with a stranger. He paused and nodded more brightly again. “LOVE bugs. Always have.”

Dakota gave a nod at the explanation. It still didn’t quite make sense to them, but they weren’t a farmer. “I see...well after my analysis, I should have some information that will be helpful with making sure you can, uh, produce the highest quality crops without disrupting the natural soil ecosystem. If you and your partner would like?” 

When he mentioned loving bugs, Dakota found themselves grinning. “Really? I feel like I never meet people who also love bugs that aren’t studying them. I-I have a collection of beetles and butterflies at home if you’d ever like to see them?”

[dakotaxzimmer]

jvnimo​:

Sasha was, as usual, out for one of her little walks. Each day her boredom warred with her desire to lay low in the valley, and eventually boredom won out with a cautious stroll during Pelican Town’s quieter hours. She was surprised and mildly displeased to find another person in the square – that Dakota person, the one her father told her about.

“You can hang up anything,” she confirmed plainly, arms crossed over her chest as she gave them a subtle once-over. “I’m sure someone will play with you.”

Dakota blinked in surprise. “There’s no regulations at all? N-Not that I’m going to hang anything weird, but it seems like someone would...” Dakota looked down at their feet nervously. Had that been the wrong thing to say? “H-Have you ever played before? Are you interested?” Part of her aura was a bit intimidating, but maybe she made that comment because she was interested?

[dakotaxzimmer]

silvcrlining​:

Jemma makes it a habit to check the bulletin board most every day. There was always someone who wanted slimes killed, or bat wings, or even a fish, and she was there to provide! However, as she strolls up to the General Store, there’s someone she’s never seen before, and a flyer that looks quite different from the ones she usually comes across. She stands a few feet behind him, hands behind her back as she leans forward, eyes narrowed. She had just begun to read when the strangers pipes up, and all of his previous questions go in one ear and out the other once she processes his last sentence. “Oh, shit, are you starting a campaign?” Her eyes widen, smile growing, “Can I be in it?”

Sensing someone nearby, Dakota flinched a bit. When he glanced over, he saw an unfamiliar woman behind him. A little close for comfort but that was fixed with a step back, and her enthusiasm for D&D. “Y-Yeah, I am. I have one I’ve been writing since undergraduate. Yes, h-have you played before? Because it would be awesome to have an experienced player. I don’t really know many people in town, a-and a lot of people don’t seem to have experience. But it’s such a good way to meet people, but I haven’t met anyone who knows how to play, s-so an experienced player would be so helpful.”

[dakotaxzimmer]

wintcrwinds​:

Materialising seemingly out of nowhere, Matty rests his elbow on Dakota’s shoulder and leans in, squinting to read the information on the notice in their hand. “Hey, I like games!” He says cheerfully, “What kind of game is it? Like World of Warcraft or something?”

Feeling contact on their shoulder, Dakota practically jumped out of their skin. They did pull away and look over to see who was there. With it being Matty, some of their tension eased. And since he was a new friend, Dakota just refrained from getting overtly upset about the sudden contact. “Oh h-hey there, Matty. World of Warcraft? Um, kind of, I suppose? H-have you heard of tabletop games? It’s, uh, one of those. So, like, you don’t have a screen and everything just happens in your head, or, well your imagination. And it is like World of Warcraft in that everything is fantasy based.”

[dakotaxzimmer]

silvcrlining​:

“Five… Yeah, that sounds good.” At his question, she pauses, lips pursed in deep thought… specifically surrounding Koa… and Matty… and Art… “Not… purposefully? – I’ll write ‘do not take’ on the back of the signs. Just for good measure. If you do notice someone taking them, though, just let me know.” She quickly jots down the details for the shelves, glancing up at him. “Well, um, designs are usually anything that the customer wants customized. Whether it’s, um, an unorthodox shape, engraved designs, stuff like that… But if you just want simple shelves, then that should be good enough.” With her thumb, she points at a row of sample woods lined up on the wall behind her. “I have color samples, though, in case there’s a particular kind of natural color you want.”

“T-Thank you... everyone here, uh, seems friendly. B-but I haven’t met too many people yet. It’s not really my thing, uh, but I know some people don’t like being told what to do and, you know, get mad by signs telling them not to do things,” they rambled for a moment. As Elain explained what she meant by designs, Dakota nodded to themself. That made sense. Now they felt more assured they knew what they want. “I- I think simple shelves is fine. Maybe, maybe three tall? I have a lot of plants...” they followed her to the sample woods and hummed as they looked them over. “I think a light wood is what I would like, maybe like this, uh, treated bamboo color, oh, um, but the signs first would be great. I- I can wait on the plant shelf until you have time if- if there’s a lot of other orders you have to deal with right now.”

[dakotaxzimmer]

Nervously Dakota stood outside of the Mercer General Store, staring at the bulletin board after hanging a flier. There was not much else up there so he didn’t feel too confident that this was the right spot. Since a week had passed from the avalanche, he was beginning to notice that he didn’t know people here. But he did want to make friends. What better way than to set up a D&D game? Then there wasn’t the pressure to talk about himself and it was one of the few settings he felt comfortable in. 

Just as he was starting to fidget, he felt someone staring. “Oh ... uh, this- this is the community board, right? There’s no...restrictions on what I can put on here? I-I mean, not that I’m putting up anything inappropriate- just, I wanted to start up a Dungeons & Dragons game if- if there’s interest...”