#fluxrspar

[far-from-common]

[ PHOTO-ARTIFEX ] - The ever-popular photo-artifex makes its annual return, allowing users to capture pictures in as little as a flash of light and a moment. Take home something to remember the event by!

Whilst taking photos of herself and friends was always a lovely activity, it is always nice to take a moment and photograph the scenes playing out naturally during the ball. People making memories, partaking in merriment, some arguing, some messing about, some standing awkwardly in the corners.

It is a nice reminder of the peace she fought for, and the one she will continue to fight for as she slays monsters left and right with grace.

Moving around to take a photo from a different angle, she almost takes the photo, before a woman in frame catches her eye.

Looking at her more carefully, L'Arachel's brow furrows. She looks so familiar, but it cannot be her, right?

And yet last year, Valter revealed himself to her at this ball.

And she had heard of a Selena in the academy.

But... surely not, right?

Yet another one of Grado's generals, very much alive and living life in Garreg Mach?

Next you shall tell her the prince of Grado himself is also alive and active somewhere in the academy!

She shakes her head; no time for silly thoughts like that. More importantly, she needs to figure this out, and what better way than just walking up and asking? Not like anything bad shall come out of it, if it never did out of Valter.

She swiftly makes her way towards Selena, and with a point of the finger, she gets straight to the point.

"Are you the Fluorspar?"

[azurelunae]

It’s a new name on the roster—not necessarily an uncommon occurrence given the flexible enrollment schedule of the Academy, but it is one that stops her for just a moment: to read again, to process, to understand.

Princess Eirika is here.

It is with this knowledge that Selena approaches her now, finding a spare moment of time in her schedule and dedicating it to the task. (After all, the professor would prefer the princess’s first impression be a good one.)

“Princess Eirika,” she begins, fist over her chest in salute. With a slight bow of her head: “Welcome to the Officers Academy.”

(Furthermore, though Selena does not know the extent of the other’s relationship with him, it would only be fair to warn her—for she was the princess of Renais.)

“I would be mindful of the Knights,” she continues, voice solemn and a tad quieter—for Eirika to hear and Eirika alone. “There is someone you would perhaps like to avoid in their ranks.”

General Selena, the Fluorspar. Eirika had not forgotten her face nor had the woman forgotten her. Though they had only crossed paths briefly, she knew her by reputation as one of Grado's six generals and as a woman who stood by her convictions.

Also as someone who came back from the dead, if her brother is to be believed. And she knows Ephraim would never lie to her.

Eirika returns the general's gesture with a short inclination of her head.

"General Selena, I'm glad to see you well. My brother and Myrrh both speak highly of you."

She pauses at her next words. "Who do you speak of?" Eirika barely knows anyone here and those she does she would all count as among her friends.

[dcggersedge]

[ WOUND ]:          upon noticing a recent injury on the receiver’s person, the sender carefully moves closer, running a thumb (or hand) across the wound in a gentle, troubled manner.

It’s nothing. (Basically nothing.) There was no reason for anyone to fret. Yunaka was probably used to this sort of thing, and indeed, it wasn’t all that uncommon of an injury to begin.

…but Selena cannot help but find herself worrying over it all the same. Hubris has been the downfall of many a soldier in her time as a general, and she has seen, time and again, how small injuries will spiral into something far worse.

A thumb runs over the cut, slow and careful, getting a sense of the severity; and at the end, for just a moment, it lingers, hesitant—before Selena remembers herself, quickly withdrawing from the other altogether. With a gaze elsewhere, clearly embarrassed, she remarks:

“…I’ll go fetch the first aid supplies.”

𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐆𝐎 👀 | Accepting!

It's nothing. Yunaka can't for the life of her figure out why the other wants to stay.

Her expression flinches as the woman's finger runs across the cut, but she doesn't move aside from that. Every single muscle is tense, like clockwork wound too tightly. Yunaka sits where she was asked to sit, hands balled into fits in her lap, and tries her best to move despite her body fighting against every attempt at doing so.

She's been hurt worse before. And aside from the war, where healers had been quick to react, every cut had been hers to mend after she'd sulked away to some dark corner with her tail between her legs. Injuries didn't get you any pity when the alternative was dropping dead. The old man never looked over her like she was something fragile like this.

Her eyes remain lowered, refusing to meet Selena's. She doesn't need or want to be tended to, but there's no real alternative when she's confused herself into thinking Yunaka is someone worthy of it.

Between forced attempts to breathe normally, she eventually manages to pry open her mouth and speak. "Thanks."

[princessmacedon]

And so, they have departed.

It’s a strange feeling for Selena, given she had arrived in Fódlan suddenly, implying an afterlife after what should’ve been a permanent demise. Even as she had learned that this place was filled with people very much still alive, and even as she had found others from her homeland, still beating with the throes of life, to leave her new home to visit one of the far off, distant places she’d only heard in anecdotes was…

…Well, it was certainly something. (She feels a bit like a ghost for it.)

And without her fluorspar to anchor her, that phantom feeling threatens to mistranslate itself into aimlessness; but she is with the church, and she is with her students, and that alone is something to find a place in. Even more so that within the crowd, there are faces she has grown familiar with.

“Maria,” she greets, finding the girl when the other is outside of conversation. “Hello. How are you faring?”

“Are you looking forward to this trip?”

"Oh! Hello, Professor Selena!" There's a brightness to her expression like when one brings many guests to one's one's dog's home: eager, flitting from place to place, and overjoyed without fail every time she encounters someone else. If aimlessness ever threatens to take the fluorspar away, there is certainly room enough for her in this playful little whirlwind's pull.

"I am!" She answers honestly. Oh, she has no doubt that this journey will test them -- they always do -- but if they truly step foot on the soil of Jugdral this time, then it will be the third continent she has visited in her life thus far, and that will be a very grand adventure indeed. Just because she knows she will be troubled sometimes, that does not mean she cannot take her joy in all the others.

"I've never been to Jugdral," Maria continues, smiling as her eyes trace Selena's expression. "But I have lots of friends from there, so I knew I had to go! Besides -- even though my home is by the ocean, I haven't ridden that many boats before!"

With a wistful, slightly exaggerated sigh, she wedges her chin between her palms; it is something warm (and perhaps a bit mischievous) that glitters in her expression like the light cast across the waves.

"Doesn't it remind you of how big the world is? I can dream as many dreams as I want, and there will always be enough room for all of them!"

[lycianlynx]

Another she hasn’t seen amongst the crowd of trick-or-treaters—and nearly continues not to see, what with the way they pass through the corner of her vision. (Perhaps that was the point, Selena thinks, given they also don an outfit colored to blend into the shadows.)

Well, at this point, she’s already seen him. Why not extend an invitation as well?

“Hello,” she begins, in part to announce herself—just in case they weren’t expected to be noticed. (Also, in part, to gauge an initial response, though she can’t imagine it could be that poor.) “I’m Selena, a professor at the Academy.”

Next step: tilting her head towards some of the houses on the horizon, she continues, “Would you like to go trick-or-treating with me?”

Cat or spectre, it's difficult to tell in the shadows of the night, where black fur muddies with the darkness into obscurity. Brown eyes peer out from them to watch rather than be seen, only choosing to step out on their own terms.

In short, they hadn't meant for themself to be seen. Keen green finds them regardless.

It's all he can do to not bristle at the realisation, at her voice calling out to him— They miss, entirely, that that was her attempt at softening the discovery.

Professor, they hear instead, the night already having left its marks, and shy away from her invitation; Pulling their hood closer so she won't see the pinpicks of dried blood on the inside, suddenly paranoid beyond reason.

Old panic bubbles up. Old habits, too: A Professor? An eye, a hand, a limb, dancing along candyfloss like a spider in wait, entangled stickily in this cursed night. A master of witchcraft not known to them, another monster beneath the bed. Too-worldly to not have ulterior intentions.

They don't know her—She's watching. They can't trust her. Something'll happen again and she'll do fuckall about it—They can't trust her.

Quiver-eyed, Chad shakes their head and disappears back into the night.

[allyphase]

It is a little ghost that Selena lays eyes upon, passing from house to house. Of all the people present, all the little groups that had formed, she finds this specter isn’t paired with anyone—and, as it were, neither was Selena at present.

“Hello there,” Selena greets matter-of-factly. (From what she can recall, she hasn’t met this person before, so it was fine that she didn’t have a name yet.) “My name is Selena. I’m a professor at the Academy.”

Extending a basket of candies to her, one hand gesturing towards the houses yet to be visited, she asks, “Would you like to go trick-or-treating with me?”

Ah, the magic professor. That’s why she’s never spoken to her, despite her being of the same house. She hopes that her absence from any magical curriculum won't count against her here. Mark can only offer an apologetic smile as the other introduces herself. 

“Um, my name is Mark. I’m, um, a tactics student.” She extends her candy basket, and Mark offers her own forward in return. “Um, yes! Let’s, um, go together.” A breath, as Mark gathers the rest of her words. “I, um, like your costume.” 

[magisolsmiles]

Selena finds it remarkably easy to find the boy despite his size (she supposes it is a simpler task when he is quite literally floating above the crowd), and indeed, that is a broom quite capable of flight. The professor finds herself impressed by both the work put into his costume and the lengths to which he likely went to make it all succeed.

“Ewan?” she calls out, seeking to catch the boy’s attention. (There is little room to doubt the flier’s identity—a unique possession of stature, color scheme, and props made him hard to mistake.) “Ah, hello!”

“I hadn’t expected to run into you tonight, but a woman by the name of Dorothea made me aware of your broom?” (A nod between her statements.) “I wanted to give you my compliments.”

Shifting her gaze then to the rows of houses she had yet to visit: “…and, on a related note, I would like to invite you to go trick-or-treating with me?”

A pause.

“If you’d like.”

Flying high without a care, Ewan was currently occupied with the delicate art of shoving strawberry flavored gummies into his face, watching the trick or treaters go by, door to door. That was, until he heard someone call his name. Looking around, he noticed where the voice came from- oh, it’s Miss Selena! Fellow Magvelian Mage, and this time fellow witch!

Quickly, he lowered himself to the ground. “Hewwo-“ Oops! In his excitement he forgot his mouth was still full of candy. Cheeks puffed up like a chipmunks and stuffed to the brim with sweets, it took a good few seconds until he finished chewing and swallowing. “Ehehe, sorry bout that! Hiya Teach!” Voice cheerful and energetic as always, he gave her costume a look-over. “I see we both went on the path of witchy wiles? You look great!”

The redheaded witch then notably perked up at the mention of his dear friend. “Ooh, you met Dorothea too? She’s really the best!” Casually, he started to float upside down. “She’s super nice, and always brings the best cakes and treats! I love hanging out with her.” A content sign followed. “And she mentioned my broom? Pretty cool, huh?” He started to play around with it, seemingly defying gravity in all kinds of magical manners in order to show off. “It’s just being creative with wind magic! It’s a pity how little non combatant magic is explored as a field….”

Quickly, he got back to proper orientation. “Anyway! I’d love to go trick or treating with you! I’ve already emptied my candy bin… twice. I was thinking it was time for a restock!”

[warpaway]

acanthus :   is your muse deceptive ,   or willing to lie or deceive to achieve certain means ?   why or why not ?

botanical hcs || accepting

if linhardt lies, it's almost always a lie of omission, and it isn't always on purpose the he's doing it that way. when it comes to their interests, they are incredibly driven... literally to the point of doing crimes or committing heresy for the sake of continuing their research.

that said, he is honest to the point of bluntness. like in a silver snow route, he straight up says he stole some of his family's valuables to sell for war funds. if byleth isn't teaching the black eagles, he tries to break into the holy mausoleum. you know, the same month where they are increasing security on the holy mausoleum. and he doesn't try to hide these things. if anything, i think he takes full advantage of his privilege where it's convenient to him. yeah you had to kick out this student from trying to break into a holy site but like, what are you gonna do about it? his family owns the oghma mountains.

i think he would be willing to lie or deceive in certain situations, especially after the timeskip, but i think he usually doesn't see that as a necessity in order to further his goals. like, he could have lied to catherine when he was trying to get her to let him use thunderbrand, but the truth - that even if the crest is wrong, it seems to prevent relic users from turning into beasts - does a better job of furthering his goal, right?