forum Oh, you bastard. // OxO // CLOSED

Started May 09, 2020 by @GoblinKing

tune

Dark academia really owns my ass, huh? Damn. There's just something about it. Anyway- here's what we're lookin' at.

I feel like long, drawn-out RP introductions have sorta become my thing, so let's just lean into that, yeah? That and awful setting introductions. It's so detailed. I'm sorry, kinda.

Alright, so I'm definitely looking at an Achillean/mlm romance here. I'm thinking two rivals (debate rivals, perhaps? Less friendly, more coolly cordial) who desperately want to be noticed and validated by the other. We're talking write-a-speech-dissing-the-other's-favorite-subject-so-they-have-the-excuse-to-argue-and-have-contact-with-each-other level want to be noticed. Painful amounts of pining, if you can't tell. I'm definitely wanting them to collide at a drunken "study group"

Oh, right- the setting. That's important, isn't it?

This can be modern day, but I do still want that historical and classical school feel. After all, this RP is based heavily off of dark academia.

Cary Institute for the Academically Gifted, Cary, Vermont- Surrounded by forests, lakes, and one small town, this historical academy is reserved for the best of the best (read: the "best" of the rich). It's not uncommon to have daddy's money lining the pockets of your 100% cashmere coat there. They've achieved a 100% graduation rate by kicking out everyone with less than a C average ("Those who aren't committed don't need to be here."). A cutthroat place known for its speech, debate, quiz bowl, and Science Olympiad teams, other schools view them as "stuck-up rich assholes", and they'd be right! After all, you don't get your acceptance letter to Cary unless you've fought tooth and nail to get there! The path to greatness is often bathed in the blood of the less academically aggressive, you know. Sometimes literally! Ha, anyways. The Cary Institute (no mascot, but they have a nice crest!) takes itself seriously. Most students come from a legacy, as is expected from a beautiful school of this caliber.

Its hallowed brick walls are cool to the touch. Oil portraits of headmasters from years past leer over students with disproving stares. There's a cold spot near the window next to the library that nobody can explain. The floors usually don't creak. It's beautiful. The library is the crown jewel of the place, though. Mahogany floor-to-impossibly-high-ceiling bookshelves, while incredibly impractical, line the walls and break the expensive expansive room up into something beautiful. At least there are ladders to get what you need. The floors are marble, polished until they're opaque mirrors, and they click under your vintage leather dress shoes like obnoxious castanets. Tables, maybe a dozen, each stacked to the high heavens with books. A fireplace sits in the back, encircled with wingback chairs that are simultaneously at their peak and have seen better days.

And in the common room, a study area of sorts, able to be accessed through the back of the library, walls are lined with bookcases, broken up only by a crackling hearth. Dim lights, too dim for people to reasonably see, yet just light enough to be aesthetically pleasing. A few armchairs flanking the fireplace, though a chesterfield couch sits in front.

Wow that was a lot. Apologies. I'm going to cut myself off there, but there's so much more I'm going to try and explain in the actual RP.

Rules

After all that? Really? Yes. If you have the emotional strength to read through all that, you can read through some guidelines.

• Be semi-active! I totally understand that life is just Like That sometimes, but don't respond once a month and then dip.

• This RP will have underaged usage of tobacco and alcohol in it. If that's upsetting to you, maybe this isn't the right RP.

• Mary Sues/Gary Stus are boring and I hate them. I'm gonna veto your character if they are one. Next!

• Grammar is important here, lads! Please just use the correct grammar!

• Feel free to get descriptive! I don't need you to have multiple paragraph responses, because that gets daunting, but just one will do! All I ask if that we stray far, far away from one-liners. I can't do jack squat with "He nodded. "Okay."" or shit like that. I'm sure you agree. If you can't construct a great response right away, that's okay! But give me something to work with.

• I cuss and swear and all that jazz. I'm okay with it. Slurs are for nerds. Don't be a nerd. This is a chad only zone.

Okay as for character creation you have two options: either link a Notebook profile or fill out the template:

(Fields marked with ^ are optional, but get detailed with this! If you can't tell, aesthetics-heavy RPs are kinda my jam.)

NAME (FULL):

GENDER:

AGE:

SEXUALITY:

APPEARANCE

• Height/Weight/Build:

• General Appearance:

• Noticeable Marks:

• Piercings^:

• Clothing Style (When out of uniform):

PERSONALITY

• Traits:

• Fears:

• Strengths:

• Weaknesses:

• Hobbies/Talents:

• A song you associate with them?^:

BACKGROUND

• Family^:

• Pets^:

• Social Class (If anything other than upper, how did they get into Ridgeview?):

• Country of Origin^:

OTHER^:

Ooh this looks so rad! I love the dark academia aesthetic. May I join?

Probably! I can't remember if I've seen your writing around, I think I have, but can I get a sample just to be sure?

Probably! I can't remember if I've seen your writing around, I think I have, but can I get a sample just to be sure?

Of course! I’ll go find one real quick

Alright, thank you!

Yw! I usually write less than this for replies, but not by much )

The guests should be arriving soon. Arno gazed up at the towering grandfather clock in the ballroom. He stood, nervously swaying from side to side at the front of the room, among his royal family. Meeting people and dancing was the easy part—choosing the perfect suitor, however, that would be the challenge. Biting down on his lip, he turned his attention from the clock to the large doors as guards swung them open. The doors themselves were practically the glittering jewels, and the first main attraction of the room. The second being the golden chandelier hanging on the ceiling, lighting up the otherwise dark hall with a hundred or so individually lit candles, and the third being the decorated prince positioned in the middle of his brothers and sisters. His eldest younger brother, Sonbureli, at his right hand and clad very similarly to the crown prince, with the exception of the crown. Arno wore his newly tailored outfit: a dark royal blue tailcoat with silver thread designs embroidered into the collar and sleeve cuffs, a velvet cape draped over his shoulders, polished boots, and of course the less-than-modest golden diadem placed like a trophy upon his head. Whether the prince or the chosen suitor ended up as the trophy was subjective.

"Arno," Sonbureli whispered, grasping his brother's shoulder. "Stop swaying. You're making me nervous." His tone was firm, but with a twinge of amusement mirrored in his grin. Enough to make Arno smile and relax at least a little bit. The second prince was eighteen years old, acting much like his older brother, despite the differences in their appearance. Unlike Arno, Sonbureli's hair fell in pitch black waves to the nape of his neck, and his jaw appeared softer.

"Sonny." Arno stilled his swaying and cast a teasing look over his shoulder. "At least you have no reason to be nervous… Unless you plan on finding a suitor too. In which case, I'll enjoy the company during the search," he murmured.

Sonny loosely shrugged. "Eh, it all depends on the circumstances. I won't go out of my way, but if you happen to veto a cute boy somewhere around my age I might appreciate it if you send him my way," he winked, concluding with a bright laugh to mask his request as playful jest.

Oh wow, this is great! I'm just warning you now that I can't really match that length too often, lmao, sorry! But yeah, your style is sick! You can join!

Thank you!! And lmao it’s totally fine, I probably won’t write that much very often either. Is it okay if I get my guy’s template up tomorrow?

Yeah, that's perfectly fine!

Sweet! He’ll be up ASAP tomorrow, then :) I’m really excited for this plot

Aye, thank you! I am too!

NAME (FULL): Ivan Wolfe

GENDER: Male

AGE: 17

SEXUALITY: Gay (Extremely closeted. He refuses to participate in any and all romance talk)

APPEARANCE

• Height/Weight/Build: 5'10", roughly 141 lbs, very slim and lean

• General Appearance: Ivan is incredibly pale, almost sallow, with sharp, slim features. He keeps his fiery red hair incredibly well groomed and short. It's difficult to tell the texture, since he keeps it so styled, though it's naturally pin-straight. He keeps his nails short and well groomed. His sharp, cold eyes are leaf green (think a more natural version of Pantone 15-0343), and just naturally look incredibly angry. Major resting bitch face.

• Noticeable Marks: Ivan's heavily freckled with long, thin hands. Very nice eyelashes. Dark under-eye bags.

• Piercings^: N/A

• Clothing Style (When out of uniform): Very stereotypical "dark academia" (tweed, dark, rich colors, lots of browns/neutrals). The least formal (non-slipper) shoes he owns are leather oxfords. The only time he isn't wearing a tie is when he's asleep or wearing a sweater without a button-up. Outfits are similar to this, this and this. He wears an almost excessive number of rings, as well as a necklace that his mother gave him, though he normally keeps it tucked into his shirt or sweater.

PERSONALITY

• Traits: Ivan is logical, strategic, and incredibly confident in himself. He's quick to make decisions, quick to take charge, and more of an independent worker than anything else. He's got a short temper, been described as "incredibly stuck up" and "disgustingly pretentious", might cry if he gets less than a B+, unbelievably uptight, though Ivan's got a sweetheart side to him that he barely shows. Swears much more than one would think. Atheist and kind of an asshole about it

• Fears: Growing older, death (mild, though he's able to mitigate it somewhat by spending time in graveyards), failure, letting down his family

• Strengths: Writing essays, debate, working quickly and efficiently

• Weaknesses: Fragile ego, awful at working in group projects

• Hobbies/Talents: Reading (His favorite genres are historic fiction, nonfiction, and mystery, poetry (Both writing and reading), violin (He prefers to play on his own as opposed to an orchestra- his favorite composers being Edward Elgar and Camille Saint-Saëns (and his least favorite being Mozart and Beethoven), playing chess, card games/mild gambling

• A song you associate with them?^: Achilles Come Down- Gang of Youths; Waltz No.2- Dmitri Shostakovitch

BACKGROUND

• Family^: Only child
• Florence Wolfe (Mother, 48)- Good relationship

• Gideon Wolfe (Father, 52)- Poor relationship

• Pets^: Odysseus, a elderly tabby cat

• Social Class: Upper class

• Country of Origin^: America, New England

OTHER^:

• If Ivan isn't actively sitting down or going someplace, he's pacing.
• Ivan has gotten regular stress headaches since he was 9 years old.
• Lowest grade is a 93 and he is determined to bring it up.
• Smoker

(Is he good? I can definitely change some things up if you want!)

(He’s great!! I can’t think of anything that would need to be changed)

NAME (FULL): Dalton Emre Lachlan

GENDER: Male

AGE: 17

SEXUALITY: Gay (He doesn’t openly talk about it, but he doesn’t mind if someone knows)

APPEARANCE

• Height/Weight/Build: 5’6”, ~155, average build

• General Appearance: Dalton is pale with some pink undertones, and has mostly soft features. He doesn’t bother styling his unruly brunet hair very often, with the exception of keeping it parted to the side. The puppy-like shape of his steel gray eyes makes him look more inviting than he is. He carries whatever excess excess weight he has in his arms, gut, and neck—only most noticeable when he is reading or not wearing baggy shirts. He also has barely noticeable freckles scattering his face, collected on his cheeks and nose.

• Noticeable Marks: Crooked nose from when it was broken a few years ago (he quite literally walked into a door while he was reading)

• Piercings^: Two in each ear: lobe (black studs) and upper lobe (gold rings)

• Clothing Style (When out of uniform): He’s quite the fan of dress shirts in rich natural colors, and either vests or dark colored suspenders. Out and about he usually layers a corduroy jacket over his casual wear.His favorite style of shoes are leather loafers, polished frequently.

PERSONALITY

• Traits: Dalton is generally very logical and objective in his rationale during debates and big decisions. He’s quite reserved in his social life, spending much of his time inside his own head. He likes academic situations where he has to think his feet whenever he can to come up with creative solutions, ones he wouldn’t have thought of before. Generally, he likes to keep his options open rather than being limited by stringent planning.

• Fears: Rejection, deep water, being average, his sister being hurt in any way

• Strengths: Abstract thinking, open minded, affectionate with those he is close to, very honest

• Weaknesses: Honest to the point of being blunt and insensitive, prone to self-doubt,

• Hobbies/Talents: Studying political science, botany, nonfiction writing, reading, debating

• A song you associate with them?^: “Broken Crown” by Mumford and Sons

BACKGROUND

• Family^:

Margretta Lachlan (Sister, 15)- very close relationship

Oscar Lachlan (Father, 50)- fairly good relationship

Lillian Lachlan (Mother, 47)- Lukewarm relationship, they don’t talk much

• Pets^: A parakeet named Victor, which is often perched on Dalton’s shoulder; a very finely trained bird, but he never shuts up.

• Social Class: Upper

• Country of Origin^: Irish descent on his father’s side

OTHER^: N/A

(Anything I should change about Dalton? He’s not too similar to Ivan, is he?)

That late spring evening was a soft, rainy one. Cold, too. Dreary. Dreadful. The library was dead silent if you didn't count the pittering of rain outside of the arching windows, looming tall. The room had maybe 30 boys in it, whether they were fishing through the bookshelves, working at the tables, or reading by the fireplace,none of them spoke a word. The only sounds were the soft click clacks of dress shoes taking quick steps in search of something. You could hear a pin drop on the polished marble floors.

And Ivan Wolfe sat in the common room, the one branching off the library. He had maybe spoken one word that entire evening, maybe less. The boy sat hunched over, surrounded by a stack of books, researching and taking notes and filling up pages in his leather-bound notebook with ink. There was an icy air around him, there was- his face was frozen in a dagger-like glare as he scratched everything down in tight cursive. He hadn't taken a break from his note-gathering in two, maybe three hours, and even then, the "break" was just to scour the shelves for new sources. Needless to say, he wasn't in the mood for conversation.