Afternoon at the Museum

[ohgoodgrief]

Who: Yang... and you!
What: It's time for a field trip to the Musée de l'Armée in Paris, France. The afternoon is in the museum. But Yang took everyone at like 10 AM as an excuse to get out and see Paris.
Where: Paris! And at the Army Museum.
When: February 25
Notes: The following prompts are if you want to interact with Yang directly! Otherwise, please feel free to use this as an excuse to do threads in Paris! Yang's taking basically anyone -- heck, even other teachers, TA's, and RA's -- because he really just wanted an easy field trip after grading all the papers and despairing over the fact he might have made his courses too hard.

A. WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE PARIS RIGHT NOW

[The helicopters have landed at Charles de Gaulle airport, everyone has bused into the city center, and it's now about 11:00 in the morning. They aren't supposed to be at the museum until two. Thus, standing in front of the crowd, Wen-li Yang...

...is due to give a speech.]

So, Paris! It's a pretty big deal.

[Hm, what else is important...]

Meet at the Army Museum at 2! And try to not get in too much trouble. Have fun!

[He'll hang around for a second in case anyone has questions.]

B. AND NOW: OLD STUFF!

[At about 1:57 PM, Yang comes running up with a sandwich still in his mouth and a paper cup with tea in it in hand. He skids to a stop in front of the museum's steps, looks around, and... peers at the people waiting for him.

Then, sheepishly, he waves.

The museum is much too big to do a guided tour. However, unlike the free roam period in Paris, Yang is actually a good source of information here. He roams between the different groups of students, answering questions, providing historical detail, and showing that he isn't actually terrible at his job all of the time.

He'd be easy to approach during any of this.]

Comments

[suddenlybees]

i. open
[ Is Kano even in this class...? He has little interest in history, but he does have an interest in field trips, or any opportunity to get out of campus and play to his heart's desire, even if it is a boring history museum that's the main attraction.

But there's three hours of free time before that!! WHERE ARE HIS FRIENDS/people he's friendly with/people who don't hate him... lbr, the bar is very low as to who he'll turn to, excitement plastered all over his face. ]

Come on, come on! We need to take pictures at the Eiffel Tower, and eat baguettes, and find street mimes!!

[ Please... he wants to see the mimes ]

ii. closed to Yang
[ Inside the museum, Kano more or less tags behind Yang the entire time— not really ever side by side, but he sort of lingers in the same room and moves on when Yang does, listening from across the room whenever Yang stops to talk to other students.

It's when they enter a room with armor and swords that Kano peels away from his spot along the wall and trots up to Yang. ]

Professor, Professor~ Question~!

[ohgoodgrief]

[Yang noticed Kano lurking about, because he's not that oblivious. He stops in front iof a suit of armor, admiring it for a moment -- and then he turns his head, blinking when he finally sees Kano approach.

Good! Maybe he's not a total failure of a teacher, here!

He puts on his best encouraging smile, and then:]

Of course, Mister Kano! Please, ask whatever you'd like.

[suddenlybees]

[ The moment Yang calls him "Mister Kano," he regrets opening his mouth.

jk jk

Kano almost turns right around and walks out of the room, but he doesn't, instead clasping his hands behind his back and peering at his reflection on the suit of armor, distorted in the wide chest plate. ]

I was wondering~ Are any of these still good to use? How much d'you think they'd cost?

[missleading]

Do you think they wear face paint and striped shirts like in the movies?

[ They are going to find the mimes even if it takes all day to do it. They can just tell Yang that they got "lost" on the way to the museum. ]

We gotta find an invisible piano to take with us for them to play! Or a giant invisible box!

[suddenlybees]

Of course they wear face paint and striped shirts! It's the uniform!!

[ He will reject any mime who does not meet both those criteria. Granted, he doesn't really know much about mimes besides the box trick, but the best thing about mimes is that they can't take- he can harass them and they can't talk, how amazing is that?? ]

Hey, hey, Minako, are mimes the ones who hand out balloons, or are those clowns?

[tsuns]

( Who likes museums? Kanata -- well, he likes art museums. Not history museums. He wasn't totally aware of what was going on on this trip, other than a museum was involved. The only true thought plan he had was "hey, I'm still exhausted from shifting back -> let's go on a little vacation to avoid school and other exhausting things!"

Ugh. Stupid military bullshit. So depressing.

At least there's pre-museum things to do, even if he's sleepy just thinking about Kano's enthusiasm. )

You act like you've never been to Paris before. ( This wouldn't be his first school trip to Paris. You've seen the tower once, you've seen it a thousand times. )

[suddenlybees]

[ If Kanata wanted to avoid other exhausting things, engaging with Kano isn't the way to do it. He's never been to Paris before, despite living in the country for over three years now, but here's his chance to run around without the supervision of the guards stationed all around Daybreak for the Contracted. ]

I've never been~ Have you? Do you know your way around here? You're playing tour guide with me, Ka~ na~ ta~!

A

[yokeye]

Le Chat Noir (open)

[Toki is definitely not actually in any of Yang's classes; history is the worst. Much like the Outlands field trip, he's only here to explore. He has been spending a lot of free time learning French, so he can actually read the signs and maps and brochures. That in itself is exciting. He'll probably still get lost at some point, but there's a lower chance of that happening. He still chooses something randomly from a brochure, Montmartre. He intends to make it all the way to the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on top of the hill.]

Who wants to go to... Montmartre!? There's a cute little train by the Moulin Rouge cabaret~!

[abenoshutup]

[Otoha recognizes him as one of the boys on her floor, but that's about the extent of it. Regardless, she does need to attach herself to someone here, for one important reason:]

Sure, let's go! I speak English, but not French, so I'll be in serious trouble if I wander around on my own.

[yokeye]

[Oh, her. Toki has seen her around a couple of times; the blue hair is hard to miss. Unfortunately, her important reason may backfire, because he doesn't speak English. He's using the translator app, and understands what she says. He responds in heavily accented English, taken from a minute of Googling.]

No English! Use translator? Speak Japanese?

[It will be easier if one of those is a "yes". If not, it's still Paris and there's things to do, places to see, and bad decisions to make. Otoha picked the wrong person to keep her out of trouble.]

[transfusionem]

a; open
[So, Paris! She's never been. She's never even thought one day she'd be here, and now...she is.

It's a little overwhelming, but she's mostly excited! She turns to whoever's next to her with a bright grin.]

What should we do first?!

[Yeah, you're coming with her.]

b; ...still open
[She's there earlier than she probably needs to be, but she doesn't want to be late. She's actually in this class and she wants to pass it - coming in over a month into the quarter isn't doing her any favors.

Her enthusiasm for all of the stuff isn't even faked! She's got tons of energy.]

What do you think it would've been like back then?

[She asks in front of a display of old weapons, stopping for a moment to peer at them.]

b

[ohgoodgrief]

[Yang heard a question! His life has meaning again!

He's over there in... not in a flash, but for a guy as laid back as Wen-li Yang is, he's there pretty quick. He comes up behind Adelaide, and puts his fingers to his chin.]

It depends how you mean. A lot of things were different -- no electricity, running water was more limited if there at all, different values and standards of living...

But I think people stay the same, in a lot of ways, no matter the era.

[transfusionem]

[That's an interesting take, and she looks back at him, curious.]

If everyone had different values and everything back then, would they really be the same as we are now? I mean...they'd have different problems and different ways of solving their problems that wouldn't fly right now, yeah?

a; open

[yokeye]

[He gives her an elaborate bow.]

Mademoiselle must choose~! A lady in Paris should be free to give in to her most intimate desires~!

[transfusionem]

[The bow startles a laugh out of her, and she shakes her head.]

I'm not really sure I'm desiring anything right now. Maybe some chocolate?

[There has to be a bakery or cafe around here somewhere...]

B

[abenoshutup]

Well, most of us would probably be burned at the stake for witchcraft, so that's not a great starting point.

[Said like a joke, though. She does have to admit that old swords are incredibly kickass.]

[transfusionem]

[That's a grim joke but she can see it.]

That's unfortunate for those of you who are any good at magic.

[She'd be just fine! She's awful at magic!]

[prisoneroffate]

A. open

[Given that he hadn't had a chance to visit the fabled City of Light. It was huge, but the metro system, much like that in Tokyo, was expansive, allowing him to cover a great deal of distance in a relatively short amount of time. Thus, he was exploring along the 7th arrondissement, checking out the Eiffel Tower since he was in the area]

B. also open

[Ren will following along in the museum, attentively listening to Yang's explanations and nodding along, taking notes. He'll chat with other students, of course, as warranted.]

B.

[yokeye]

This is so boring!

[He's addressing Ren solely because he happens to be the closest person. The Army Museum is full of old things. Yang's explanations are background noise. Occasionally, there's been something suitably shiny enough to amuse him for a moment, like jewels and gold on some armor displays.]

How long have we been here?

[Hours. It had to be hours.]

[prisoneroffate]

Twenty minutes.

[Ren won't judge too much but seriously Toki. Have some culture or something.]

A

[gaiarage]

[It took a lot of finagling to get Naoki in a state where he could leave school grounds without tripping anyone's weirdness alarms, but he's here now. The markins on his face have been smudged out with a combination of makeup and illusions, the rest covered up by the hoodie and track pants they had to badger him into wearing. He almost looks like a person now.

He slouches around the base of the tower alongside Ren, staring up at its peak.]

Why do you think they built it?

b

[ohgoodgrief]

[In a break in the questions, Yang approaches Ren. It's important to reach out and talk to students!

He read this in the training materials.]

Hello, Ren! Enjoying it so far?

[redcarmen]

[ I. Streets of Paris, open ]

[ Carmen volunteered to lead a group of students around the streets of Paris as a tour guide. She knows the language, but more importantly, she knows the history behind most of the major landmarks. But beyond even that, she's just excited to explore the city's more hidden locales as much as any of the students.

It IS a tour though, so feel free to ask any questions your character might have about a landmark or locale they're passing by. She probably knows SOMETHING. ]

You know, I haven't gotten to spend as much time here as I would've liked. Before Daybreak, I had meant to pay another visit, but I got sidetracked in Poitiers. It's nice, isn't it?


[ II. They just can't get my nose right, open ]

[ She's dressed casually for this trip, in a red hoodie, but curiously she keeps the hood up the entire time they're out in public, and moves the group around any police stations, cop cars, or policemen that she sees.

The reason might become obvious as a large electronic billboard, apparently in use by the French authorities, flashes through various "Wanted" posters - including one for a woman dressed in all red, with the name CARMEN SANDIEGO displayed prominently at the bottom. ]

I think we should head back this way. It's almost time for the military museum tour that Professor Wen-li was so excited about! The original museum was founded following the French Revolution, so it has a lot of history all its own. [ This is not a distraction tactic. ]

II

[infestedcouncilpresident]

[Good luck getting Kohaku to NOT notice something.]

Hey, doesn't that lady on the billboard look a lot like you and also have the same name as you?

[schemerfreak]

A. Gothic Glass (Open)

Mal had ditched everyone else to do something she didn't want anyone else to see. No not crime, she doesn't care about crimes being seen. She did crime all the time.

No, see, she'd heard about the stained glass in Paris from one of her professors at Dragon Hall. And as much as she'd done this before, every time she was in Paris, she found a way to sneak off and look at the cathedrals and structures of old Paris when she could.

B. New Installations (Open)

You would think middle of the day is the wrong time to deface walls in Paris. You would think someone would have checked Mal's bags for spraypaint. Well, she turned all her paints into books, the spell was one of her best works. Undone by the noonday sun.

Magic has its rules and all.

But once her books were spraypaint again, she snapped a new spell over her spraypaints. One that made the paints invisible. Until the spell wore off tomorrow. So to anyone who didn't know better, she was waving empty spray cans at walls, not leaving anything there. It'll be a sick looking kraken tomorrow. Not at noon, too obvious, she made the spell break down somewhere around four a.m.

If anyone wants to find her, since her spray-can is 'empty' she isn't really hiding where she is.

At the Time of Old Stuff (Open)

Mal isn't at the meeting place for the tour that's the actual point of the trip.

Because she's already in a different museum looking at the art.

What, she likes art.