wow, that's a lot of pollen...

[peckishmods]

wow, that's a lot of pollen

what's up?

Hard to believe the temperature today is a record setting 91 °F what with all that snow in the air. Wait, that’s not snow. It’s cottonwood fluff! And boy is there a lot of it. Over the last three days, the seed fluff and yellow pollen have steadily collected, though not quite like this. Students wake up to a white out on Wednesday, and it just keeps on piling up through morning classes, sticking to everything and causing rampant sneezing with no end in sight.

By lunch, some parts of campus have several feet of fluff on the ground. Central Campus is still manageable, but Thorntrail’s woods and Mothgarden’s grounds look like a blizzard rolled through, the hillsides around Wildgulch are a not-quite-winter wonderland and the pollen is ankle deep in Deeplurk’s meadows. Bub is working his special brand of magic double time to clear paths as fast as possible, but keeping up proves a challenge even for him.

The relentless pollen explosion is a considerable nuisance and staff has trouble keeping students focused after lunch. Junior Pre-Healer Studies is canceled outright when Healer Greatheart decides to move herself to the Central Classrooms lobby to keep a better eye on students. She passes out allergy medicine to those who seem to need it.

Several students spot unfamiliar wizards in long black robes wandering around the upper floors of Central Classrooms before fourth period. By the end of fifth, the day’s called a wash and Administrator Kwan announces that the last period has been cancelled. She advises that students stick indoors — not just because of the pollen, but because it’s hot as hell! Of course, y’all aren’t about to listen to good advice, are you? At the very least, enjoy the rest of the day. Throw on a Bubblehead Charm (or not) and brave the fluff!

As the sun dips low, the endless rain of fluff finally slows and it seems to have petered out after dinner. Staff and student volunteers spend the evening helping to clear fluff.

At the end of the night each Head of House stops by their respective Common Room with a bit of explanation for the day’s events: while the pollen itself was mundane, it seems the cause was magical. Local magical flora and fauna took issue with an invasive grove of Ents moving into the area north of Peckenpaugh, above the falls, and the excessive pollen was the result of magical beings attempting to intimidate the Ents into leaving. Ms. Treetops and Mr. Trullinger are collaborating with the BoMB to help mediate the dispute. Things aren't quite settled, but at the very least, going forward our sinuses should all be spared.

volunteer slots!

A harried Ms. Gunzenhauser, unable to track down her TA, asks 💯 GERTRUDE MCGILLIGUDDY and 💯 LIONEL LOVELACE to teach freshmen the Bubblehead Charm. Assuming they at least try (make a thread with 3 replies each) they’ll each net 5 Points for their House(s). Ms. Gunzenhauser knows how difficult the freshmen are, though, and if TRUDY & LIONEL make real headway (make a thread with 6 replies each), they’ll each get 10 points for their House(s).

As soon as classes are let out, TYBALT ZETTLER digs up some makeshift sleds in the athletic building and organizes a fluff-sledding session on the hills around Wildgulch.

Whether or not 💯 LASZLO PATAKI knows that cottonwood seeds go up like flash paper, they go right to a pile of it with a bit of flame. Just the right amount of mayhem for them, they try this again in several other spots, netting a crowd and ultimately taking their little lightshow to the Mothgarden hedge mazes. Lighting the fluff on the ground at the eastern hedge maze causes quite a scene as the fast burning fire rips through the greenery. It looks cool, but it seems to catch on some mulch. Luckily (unfortunately?) Mr. Berzelius happens to be nearby, with a “Dude,” and a quick Aguamenti he stops a real fire before it can spread. LASZLO loses 10 points for their House and has to turn in a two page paper about fire safety to Berzelius by this Saturday.

HOLLAND GRAVES and FREYA NORRIS use their free time to do some detective work, following a Muscheron scout around campus sure it’ll lead them to the source of all this pollen and fluff. In fact, the Muscheron does not, and instead takes them on a winding adventure through the deepest, densest areas of fluff before returning them to the Surly Stump, which trips FREYA as the Muscheron giggles.

ARMANI’s eyes are so bleary and itchy from all the pollen that they can hardly see, so they decide to head back to their dorm to nap once classes are cancelled. The wheezing mess barrels right into MERLIN PLETCHER outside Central Classrooms after fifth period going in the complete wrong direction. So, MERLIN finds themself tasked with escorting ARMANI to their dorm.

Something’s moving in the fluff near the Greenhouses and CORIANDER PICQUERY can’t tell what it is. It’s kind of freaky, the way it moves, and they scramble to get away, but whatever it is gives chase. CORI leaps into the arms of EDDY WAXWEILER seeking escape when the tiny predator leaps to attack—it’s the FEROCIOUS cactus kitten! Covered in so much fluff it almost looks like a regular cat! CORI and EDDY return the kitten to a very thankful Mr. Trullinger, whom they find speaking with a bearded wizard in long black robes.

locations!

⬦ WHAT'S UP: Well, this has been a weird day! Did you get an allergy headache? Collect fluffy seeds for a craft project? Celebrate when classes were cancelled? Tell us in brief how your student spent their day here!

⬦ SCENES: A place for threading around campus during the Pollenpocalypse!

⬦ OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Comments

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[notpoison]

"Mothgarden mostly." There's still a column of smoke rising from the mulch pile he accidentally set on fire.

Regardless, Tybalt isn't wrong about being in charge; Laszlo got the inner tube under one stringy arm and was starting to follow him towards the starting line. And while they talked and walked, clipped as it might be, Laszlo had started to calculate likelihoods of who would win. Tybalt is shorter, but Laszlo is taller. Tybalt has muscle mass, Laszlo does not. "It goes up," he pauses to find the word, "instantaneous."

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[princeofcat]

Tybalt has selected himself a large piece of plastic. Just to have the edge. Gotta maximize those aerodynamics. He tosses it down at the edge of the hill, and perches on the edge. He takes a moment to appreciate Laszlo's handiwork and chortles at the smoke cloud in the distance. "Show me." He sits at the edge of the sled, and without much warning, pushes his way down, "At the bottom."

This is, to be fair, mostly so that he doesn't give Laszlo the chance to cheat first.

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[notpoison]

Laszlo has a warning ready. I could ruin it. I could ruin your game. I could destroy— But it's too late. He sees that Tybalt is trying to cheat, and he respects it. It's smart, if he wants to win. Which Tybalt always does. And therefore, Laszlo cannot allow it easily.

So when Laszlo spots it, they're suddenly careening down the hill at the same time. He feels calm for the first second or so, and then, unexpectedly, the laughter comes. He's not sure who reached the bottom first, because he hits something and is thrown violently off his vehicle into a pile of the flammable fluff. It barely softens the blow, but all that can be heard is the odd, awkward giggles. A strange, uncomfortable noise, but also a happy one.

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[princeofcat]

Tybalt's journey down the hill is less a slide, more an inelegant tumble during which he eventually just tucks the plastic around himself as a shield, and rolls through the cottony fluff to the bottom. Where he can't even see Laszlo at first, it's still falling so thick. But there's laughter a moment later, and Tybalt smiles in response. He doesn't hear Laszlo laughing very often, so this feels like a win, even though he's got no idea who reached the ground at the same time.

"So there's some issues." He admits, sitting up with his hair full of cotton. He sneezes a pieces of fluff away,as punctuation.

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[notpoison]

It takes a moment or so before Laszlo emerges, cottonseed in his hair, dazed and delighted. In this brief moment, he and Tybalt look alarmingly similar. There's a ghost of a smile on Laszlo's face, but it hides itself away as soon as he feels Tybalt's eyes on him. He sinks a little further into the fluff, as though it might disguise the remaining laughs he wishes he could smother.

"They won't let you keep the ride," he warns. There's a bit of cotton on the tip of his big nose that he hasn't noticed. "What do you want to change? Quick."

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[princeofcat]

"They don't even know about it yet," he protests, but Laszlo's right. This is probably, technically, against at least three rules, but it's not like anything here is wrong. Just like it's not wrong to leave that fuzz on his roommate's face. Because it's funny.

The question, though, reminds him he's in the presence of a much larger brain than his own. The experience does need enhancing. They're magic, maybe it's possible. "The cotton needs to act more like snow." He spits out, quick as commanded. "Can't really slide down when it just squishes in."

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[notpoison]

"I can fix that. Maybe. Probably. If you wanted." It's a whisper, but Laszlo seems convinced. He's ready to try if someone gives him an excuse. One of his hands has found the hem of Tybalt's sleeve, and the fire in his eyes is asking for permission it should probably not be granted. Results will definitely be mixed.

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[princeofcat]

Unfortunately, Tybalt has never done anything but stoke the fire in anyone's eyes. Recognizing possible danger, his mouth curls into a little smirk, and his opposite hand meets Laszlo's in a small shake and a terrifying contract. "Go for it." He says, solemn.

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[notpoison]

Laszlo steps away, and for a moment it's like he's forgotten Tybalt is even there are he mulls over his options. He murmurs to himself the words a few times. Charms aren't really his strongest suit. His father didn't think they were necessary. He could do all the chores by hand, after all. But that was then, and this is now, and he can't fold laundry to make these cottonwood seeds more like snow.

The plan is set and settled in his mind, and casts. "Idem Viscosi," and "Omnus Geminio." And without any further warning, the mass of fluff begins to multiple and cling to itself, creating sheets upon sheets of tangled cotton until he loses sight of Tybalt.

"Oh no." It sounds muffled.

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[princeofcat]

Tybalt knows Laszlo is smarter than he is in almost all things, which accounts for the few moments he stands there, getting folded in by a prison of thick almost-fabric. "Hey...hey is this the plan?"

It does not feel like the plan, and there are beginning to be cotton seeds in his throat.

Dashing through the seeds with two crime boys

[notpoison]

"No," comes the smothered reply. "Similar, but no. This is unexpected, this is—close to the plan but not the—" Laszlo fumbles through the disaster he's created, and grabs a handful of someone's hair. Is it Tybalt's? He won't be sure until the other person yells.