#aryck (mc)

[monstercampus]

How do we spend time with the student body when we aren't bangin' like bunnies? Like, do we have a movie watch party with the werewolves, gaming marathon with Lidya, just a chill day with the Centipede? Playing sports, study group, etc. I am all for the fucking frenzy like everyone else, but I just wanted to know what are things we do together in our free time :v

Of course! There's lots to do around campus on a day-to-day basis, both organized by the university itself or just what the students like to do on their off time. It's a big part of monster culture to throw parties and hang out with people whether you know them really well or just met, so it's likely that you could be swept into a bush party or invited into someone's dorm to smoke or play board games without even knowing their names.

As for individual students, again, there's lots! With the werewolves being the jocks they are, they're most likely to go live it up at the frat parties and afterparties for the sports games or dances, so if drinking and partying in general is your thing you'll always have a group to go with you (and keep you safe!). Although you'll have to deal with their incessant clinginess when they inevitably get hangovers, and suffer through the touchiest cuddle piles imaginable if more than one or two of them are feeling nauseous or have headaches. If you've got plans the next day, definitely skip the hardcore partying with them the night before!

Lidya and Jude are probably the ones you'll hang out with the most since they're pretty much always available, and since nobody else really tends the arcade she can pretty much open and close it whenever she wants. So if you're in the mood, she'll open up a private or public gaming tourney and you can spend hours just hanging out, talking, and trying to beat each other at your favourite games, and once it gets late she'll get food delivered and you can watch a movie or something on the sofa in the backroom. The best part is that she's spent so much time tinkering with Jude's hardware that she's come up with a couple different devices to take him out into the real world! She has yet to make anything crazy like an android body (she's working on that as a future birthday gift) but for now she's got a keychain that has a modified USB and what looks like a little retro Tamagotchi; the USB is for her to plug into the arcade cabinets so she can upload his data and he can play alongside you guys, and the Tamagotchi has a pixely little version of Jude inside that she can take around so he doesn't get lonely. Whenever she's out of the arcade, there's a good 80-90% chance that she's got Jude with her, so if you wanna hang out you can do so pretty much anywhere! She can even plug him into the laptop she's got at her dorm, although the last time she did that he got ahold of some....ahem, sensitive file folders she wanted to keep private, so she'll only let him in there if you wanna watch something online with her in her room.

As for centipede, you hit the nail on the head! If Efraim's not in class he's usually getting high, so you can stop by his dorm day or night and get a free hit off him pretty much anytime. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely times when he's handsy or you can clearly tell he was planning on jerking off instead of entertaining company, but in general it's just harmless fun and you can just bum around his dorm doing nothing if you want. He's always in the mood to watch a movie or listen to music, and he's surprisingly not averse to cooking and not too bad at it either, so if you get hungry or you're just bored hell find something you two can make together to kill a couple hours. He does that a lot, you'll find--if there's a distinct lull in conversation or your mood shifts downward, he might offer, but most times he'll just quietly get up off the couch and go fix you something to eat. Even if it's just cutting an apple and some peanut butter or making you a sandwich, he fills time pretty well with putzing around the kitchen in the hopes of finding you something you really, really like. Do keep in mind that he's got roommates, however, and although Zombie can be a pretty amiable guy to share a space with...his slime roommate is less so. So if they're home, Efraim will probably try to keep your hangout to his bedroom to limit the distractions.

It may sound a little odd, but your yeti professor is pretty open to spending time together, too! Aryck holds baking lessons quite often and he's almost always in the kitchen, so if you're ever bored or looking to expand your culinary expertise he's usually around. You can even be his taste tester if you want, and hang around the classroom for an hour or two while he tests recipes and puts together his lesson plans for the next semester! It may feel a little awkward at first, but it turns into great fun once you open up to him a little more. A lot of the professors either spend much of their time on campus or are looking for assistance in some of their menial academic tasks, so you could probably find any professor you like and hang out with them awhile in exchange for some easy labour and snacks as a reward. The orc metalworking professor holds girls-only workshops weekly too, which is a great way to get to know the girls at school since they're all so friendly and are eager to make new friends! Go there once and you'll be invited to every sleepover and girl's night and brunch for the rest of the year! And of course, the resident doctor on campus is constantly cycling through "assistants" for his questionable medical trials, so if you're feeling brave you can come help him out and be treated to teatime afterwards.

The harpies are great fun, too! There's a group of them that live in the same dorm building as you do, and while they can be excitable and sometimes a little loud late at night, they're always eager to have company and will invite you in if you so much as pass by their door. They're not only great for parties or dances but they do a lot of studying together too, so they'd be happy to cram together for your exams and midterms! And they know all the professor's likes and weaknesses, so they'll get you any important info you may need if you have to appeal to them so they'll curve your grade. Plus, free snacks!

The university holds lots of intramurals for various sports all throughout the year, too, so even if you don't want to join a team or commit for a whole season you can still play with both the athletes and the casuals, and the pool is almost always open so swimming is a year-round option too. The werewolves and Priam do these a lot during the winter months when the football season is in a lull, so they'll always be up for pretty much any sport you wanna do and will be all too happy to show you how to play if you're a newbie. Plus, they've got rec rooms separate from the arcade in nearly every dorm building and in a few of the main academic buildings, which have the usual dartboards, pool tables, community game consoles, cards, board games, and D&D style books along with signup sheets to join oneshots or campaign groups. Many of the non-athletic clubs and groups gather in the rec rooms around campus, so it's a good way to get a feel for any extracurriculars you might wanna join! Antón runs a book club and Ollie's part of the chess team, for example, so if there's something you're interested in there's probably either someone you know that's in it or a professor you've got that's running it.

Of course, you could always attend sermons or the charity events the chapel holds too, if you feel so inclined--it may be intimidating to walk in knowing how the Archangel feels about you, especially where his protégé is involved. But Isaac would be more than happy to take your hand and show you around, and he'll stick to your side like glue during any events so you won't get caught alone with Mikael and have an interrogation thrown your way. He'll take the tongue-lashing happily in your stead once you're gone--he's used to the strict hand the high angels take anyways, and he's gone through the purity rituals so many times he could sleep through them at this point. If it means you're more likely to come around more often, he'll gladly sit through a lecture as many times as he needs to!

Also, whether you're a strong swimmer or can't swim at all, Nessie and the Kraken always somehow appear when you come to take a dip in the lake. Nessie's unashamedly competitive if you're good and will want to race and time how long you can hold your breath, but if you're not a swimmer at all, he and the Kraken will want very badly to teach you. It's more of Nessie's active guidance that you'll get as he holds you and shows you how to tread and paddle, but you can be reassured that if you ever get scared or the current pulls you down too far, the Kraken will rouse within moments and extend its tentacles from the depths to push you back up to the surface for air. If need be, it'll even carry you above the water and let you down once you're at the shore, or it'll let out that deep, rumbly cry to alert Nessie to your plight so he'll come splashing up to help you!

[monstercampus]

How bad is the bullying situation at Monster Campus?

Not great! As much as the monsters you've met so far like you, there's quite a large part of MC that is not so friendly. While there's a certain divide of people who are just not very pleasant to begin with, there's a big demographic of the student body that absolutely despise the fact that there's a human on campus. Whether it's because they dislike you invading their space, or it's a matter of pride (as there's many monsters who are very particular about their lineage and social pedigree), or for a variety of other reasons, there are students who would love to make your life hellish enough to force you to drop out. Especially since there's quite a few popular, highly-sought-after monsters that are being looked at for marriage or mate material that like you--and the thought of a human ruining a well-respected monster's chance of bagging them is more than enough to make them furious enough to kill.

(cws: bullying)

But it's for that very reason that you're probably the safest you'll ever be on campus. If you caught somebody like Antón or the Dean's eye and you weren't a student, you'd be in danger from the first moment you locked eyes with them--but being in the dorms, having friends that care about you, and being the subject of so much attention ensures that practically nobody has the guts to try anything with so many eyes on you. Not that anyone would tell you, but upon having your enrollment initially confirmed the Dean had sent out a schoolwide message about your upcoming arrival, and quietly handed around a poll for the students living on campus to gauge who would be comfortable living near you, and who would adamantly reject the very premise of you attending. He and the other profs then put together a list of ideal students to be housed in the same building as you, and assigned the others to the dorms on the opposite side of the campus. Just about as far away as they could get. So you don't really encounter them much around the apartments or in classes, and it's quite intentional--some monsters can get brutal when they want to defend their territory.

....Which is also why the monsters you've made friends with are oftentimes so clingy. They worry about you! You're just a pretty, gentle little human, and you're even sweeter than they imagined you'd be. You would be in so much trouble if they left you to fend for yourself against those prudes. And while some of them are in the same boat as you and have been bullied pretty bad (Efraim, Lidya, Jude, Jelly, Tentacles, Ollie, Portia, Zombie, Aryck, etc etc) and thus are quite empathetic, there are others that use their popularity to instead turn the snobbish ones off and keep them away, so as to (hopefully) give you the impression that you're not disliked at all and surround you with friends. Nick and Raith are very much that way--as popular as they are in those circles, they have no fear of openly rejecting any high-status proposals that come their way or invitations to noble-monster-only parties. Nick isn't even of high-class lineage in the first place, so he just thinks it's ridiculous and stupid to exclude people and make it seem like you're the problem.

Then you've got people like Kirk, Jelly, Tentacles, Cyrus, Huxley, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] who would rather kick the shit out of anybody that tries to get close to you with bad intentions. Yet they pretend to either not care that much about you or act all innocent about it, hoping that you don't notice them all jumped up or wiping a bit of blood off after they hurry in late for class.

But yeah! In truth, the percentage of people you've met so far are a rather small portion of the student body that are exceptionally tolerant (compared to their fellow snobs, at least) and there's a lot of bullying that goes on with varying degrees of severity. You'll probably notice a lot more of it if you manage to catch a glimpse of someone giving your friends a hard time, or if someone gets close enough to you to shoot you a glare or whisper something derogatory while your little guard dogs are out of earshot. After that it becomes a lot clearer that you've been protected by your friends and love interests from all that negativity to a staggering degree. They'd much rather be the ones on the sharp end of the proverbial stick than subject you to it, plus, they have something to protect. For plenty of them, that's all they could ever want. They don't want you to drop out, after all! Please don't drop out. Otherwise you'll have a whole lotta heartbroken monsters on your hands </3

[monstercampus]

Happy Valentine's Day Ellie!!!!

Do monsters celebrate Valentine's Day? Are we celebrating Valentine's Day at monster campus?

hehe!! The mons may not be too familiar with traditions like birthdays and other human holidays, but they certainly know about Valentine's!! ❤️❤️ Unlike humans monsters actually get Valentine's Day off work and school, because it's considered a dedicated lovemaking holiday (of which there are few aside from MC's breeding week hehe) and everyone gets the day to stay home and mess around with the one or ones they love!! You don't have to explicitly have sex of course, plenty of monsters love to spend lots of time perfecting gifts or practicing their sweet and chocolate-making so they can present it to their adored one! As the human student, you'll have your dorm's mailbox undoubtedly stuffed with gifts from monsters around campus--and you'll probably get stuffed yourself teehee <3

They also have a kissing tradition too! If you're of different species, whether it's within monster communities or with humans, it's considered good luck to share a platonic or romantic kiss with a different species! Hence why you as the human, a yeti like Aryck, and other rare species will be fawned over for precious kisses to bring luck and fortune in the new year <3