When the contestants arrived at the stage, a small groan elicited out from each of them. “Good afternoon everyone. It was only inevitable that this sort of challenge would appear eventually. You see, most of these midweek challenges have been testing your magic might, but what about the power of your brain? This week’s trait is that ‘a good magician’s assistant is intelligent and has a good memory’. And what better way to test this out than the old Reality TV Show staple, A Quiz Challenge!”
On the stage were three pedestals, each the color each contestant had picked at the start of the competition to represent them, so yellow for Saffron, green for Jill, and black for Cammie. If the color scheming wasn’t obvious enough, each pedestal had a plague with their name on it, as well as a LED display which was used for points right beneath it. Drake stood in front of more impressive pedestal, although the front of his had a large question mark symbol rather than a name plaque and a score display.
“Now, let’s start up, ‘Do You Know Your Stuff?’” as Drake announced the name of the quiz segment, an unseen studio audience said the name along with him.
~~~
Round One
“Alright ladies, round one will be about trivia relating to the events that have happened on the show thus far. There’s three questions, each worth one hundred points. Before we begin, do any of you have any questions?”
Saffron raised her hand, to which Drake nodded his acknowledgement, “Yeah… So why are we doing this again?”
“It’s because all Reality TV shows have a mandatory quiz segment so that we can claim we provide an educational benefit to the viewer or some other corporate jargon,” Drake responded.
“No, I got that. I meant why are doing this now. Is this the last midweek challenge? Most shows usually do their quiz thing closer to the end.”
“Ah. Well you see, we already have a much better midweek challenge for which ever two of you are left next week, so we have to get it out of the way this week.”
“Gotcha,” Saffron said, snapping her finger.
“Great anything else?” Nobody else raised their hand. “Great, then let’s begin.”
“Alright, Question One,” Drake picked picked up an orange card that popped up from the pedestal, “Who-“
A ‘boing’ sound effect occurred, and Saffron’s pedestal lit up, “Cammie!”
“No. Who-“
Another ‘boing’, Saffron’s pedestal yet again. “Jill!”
“No. Now let me finish the question. Otherwise I’m going to start penalizing for just guessing.”
“Okay, okay,” Saffron said, looking sheepish.
“Great. Now, Who has received the most votes of elimination across all rounds of the competitions held thus far?”
This time, a buzzing sound effect was heard, as Jill’s pedestal lit up, “Is it Ophelia?”
“That is correct!” Drake said, the LED display changing to show ‘100’ on Jill’s pedestal, “and you don’t have to form your answer in the form of a question Jill. This isn’t Jeopardy.”
“Sorry.”
“Now then, Question Two: In total, how many locations have we filmed the show in-”
‘Boing’ “Duh. Two, Here and that fancy building,” Saffron said, looking smug.
“Incorrect. And if you let me finish my question you would hear me add, counting each individual room as a separate location.”
“Oh…”
The sound of a whistle played, as Cammie’s pedestal lit up, “Seventeen?”
Drake sucked in through his teeth, “You’re close.”
‘Bzzt’ “Nineteen?”
“That is correct!” Drake said, her LED changing to ‘200’ now, “Yep for a quick summary: There was the Driveway, Entranceway, Foyer, Kitchen, Library, Dining Room, Roof, Garden, Isabella’s Room, Auditorium, Practice Room, the road outside the Automagic building, the Automagic building proper, and each of your six rooms.”
“Now, the final question of the round: How many stuffed animals does Saffron have in her room?”
‘Boing’ “Fifty-Seven! Their names are Oscar, Contessa, Fernando, Jeralt, Henry, Calliope, Daytona, Wiggumsworth, Alfon-“
“Alright! We get it!” Drake said, sounding peeved off, before regaining his composure. “That is correct! And as you, so graciously pointed out, you named each individual stuffed animal.”
“Yep, ‘cause Mama loves all her babies equally. Well except Fernando, everyone knows he’s my favorite,” Saffron winked.
~~~
Round Two
“Thus concludes round one!” Drake said, disposing of the orange cards through another slot on the podium, “The scores coming out of round one are Jill in first place with two hundred points available in the first round, followed by Saffron with one hundred, and Cammie who doesn’t have any points. Now, the first round was all about ANGA trivia, this second round is more about a practical knowledge in relation to magic. Once again, there will be three questions for the round, but this time the questions are worth double.”
“So, Question One:” A small pink card popped up this time, “What is the world record for most bodies controlled by a single consciousness at one time?”
‘Tweet’ “I’m pretty sure it was sixteen,” Cammie said.
“That is correct!” Cammie’s score bumping up to 200, “Set recently in 2014, Sergei Calzori accomplished this amazing feat by controlling a whopping sixteen bodies at a single time, beating out the previous record of fifteen set in 1987. For anyone interested in trying this out for themselves, I hope you’re good at multitasking, since you will have to be performing an involved task monitored by a judge with each of your bodies.”
“Alright, Question Number Two: What is the recommended remedy for a person suffering from a mild case of magic indigestion?”
‘Boing’ “So, whenever my little sisters got a little carried away with the magic, my Dad would always give them a mixture of lilac, copper scraps, and the crushed cocoon of a butterfly.”
“Judges?” Drake asked, turning towards the producers offstage. The man gave a thumbs up, “That is correct! We would have also accepted Kasoki’s Elixir, the official name of the potion created by those ingredients.”
“Yeah!” Saffron cheered, her points jumping from 100 to 300, placing her in first.
“Now, for the final question of the round: In the official, scientific nomenclature of hemihumans, or creatures that are half human, half beast, what are the three branches of being?”
‘Tweet!’ “So, there’s anthro- creatures, who are half human, half beast that maintain the overall body and mannerisms of a human. Then there’s -taurans who have the upper half of a human and the bottom half of a beast. And finally, there’s -saurans which have the upper half of a beast and the bottom half of man.”
“That’s correct!” Drake said, “Yep, the only exception is when using a bull, in which case the names are reversed for some reason. Blame the Greeks for not being consistent.”
~~~ Round Three
“Well, that ends round two. And while I could go ahead and list the scores, It’s time to throw them all out, because it’s time for the final round! There’s only one question in this round, and it’s worth a whopping one thousand points!”
“Wait a minute!” Cammie complained, “if the last question was going to just decide the game anyways, what was the point of all those other questions?”
“I told you earlier, something about having to prove we have educational value, or something,” Drake explained, waving his hand. All three girls just sighed at this response. “Anyways, time for the final question, so finger on buzzers!”
“What day of the year was David and Amanda’s first ever world tour?”
‘Bzzt’ “January 15th! It’s the same day as their wedding anniversary!” Jill said, barely hiding her glee.
“That is…” Drake did his best to hold out on revealing the answer, “Correct!” Green confetti began to rain down on the contestants, as Jill squealed in happiness. “And props for getting the interesting piece of trivia as well.”
“So what did I win?” Jill asked, already suspecting the answer.
“Well. That’s up for the Audience at home to decide!” Drake smiled, looking towards the camera expectantly.
To Amanda and David: “Since Amanda mentioned it, and since I've been holding off on tertiary education for long enough: what does the Angel Magic Scholar Foundation entail? What are the requirements, and the benefits, for accepting such a scholarship? And what courses would be recommended in order to be eligible? And what courses would you recommend for someone who wants to deepen their understanding of anatomical manipulation, and possibly get a broader skillset with magic in general? Seeing Leela fly and duplicate herself, Cammie turn into an android, and all the conjuration effects performed throughout the course of the show, has certainly made me feel like I know so little about magic.” -FlexibleAnatomy
David: Well honestly, Amanda is more involved with the foundation than I am. I’m sure she would be happy to tell you everything about it.
Amanda: So, the Angel Magic Scholar Foundation was a charity foundation formed by David and myself to help fund the educations for people interested in the magic arts who may not be able to afford the crazy prices charged by most universities. We have pretty simple requirements, you have to be going for a primary major in any of the magic related subsets offered at most universities (Practical Magic, Stage Magic, Transformation Magic, History of Magic, Alchemy, etc.), have and maintain a GPA of at least 3.0, make less than 50,000 dollars a year, and be willing to perform in a national stage show once a semester. The benefits are access to a large array of magic professionals in a variety of different fields, assistance in paying off student debts, and the opportunity to get performance experience with other similarly skilled individuals.
If you’re looking for specific course loads, I’d recommend checking out the course catalogs of the universities you are considering, as any classes that are requirements for a magic major are eligible for the scholarship. For anatomical manipulation, and broadening skills with magic in general, I would recommend checking out History of Magic 507 - Magic Biology, Anything in Practical Magic 301 or above (assuming you have at least a middle level understanding of simple magic, you should know most of the spells taught in the 100 and 200 level courses, although they can be nice refresher courses as well), Stage Magic 502 and above (Stage Magic mostly focuses on the theatrical aspects of stage magic, so a high level course would most likely teach you new magic), and really anything in the Transformation Magic, as it’s a branch that I’ve always found difficult.
David: Oh. Don’t forget about History of Magic 505 - Magics From Around the World. That’s a really fun class as well.
Amanda: It is, but again I’d really recommend checking out the course catalogues, as any classes that aren’t offered at your university can be completed online, free of charge, with one of our registered masters if you receive a scholarship from us. I hope that answers your question Penny. *Smiles*
To Jill: “You know Jill, there are more scholarships out there that involve magic and I do suggest looking more into it. Your time in this show would definitely help you with it.” -quad2
Oh I know. I’ve also been eyeing the Merlin Society scholarship. Although, their requirements are a bit more extreme, seeing as how you have to join a magic fraternity or sorority, have a 3.5 GPA, and be going for both a magic related major and minor.
To Saffron: “Go for Centaur! That's a really good idea! It's something familiar, but its something new!” -Rei
I might! The only problem is I would have to figure out a better finale. It would be pretty weird for a centaur to randomly begin dissolving into a pile of bubbles.
To Drake: “It would actually be a DISadvantage for her, because she'd have to avoid stepping on her own toes. That said, I was mostly just remarking on an amusing coincidence, which was probably nothing more than that but with "reality" TV you can never tell.” -HeraldOfOpera
Yep. Coincidences are pretty sweet.
To Jill: “Well I'm glad you are at least fine with it, as it is a staple of many magicians. My favorite form is decapitation, of the detachment you have managed to sample, what is yours? And How would you fancy combining detachment and flattening?” -James-MacCloude
Well, since it’s the form I have the most experience with, I guess mine would also have to be detachment, since I’ve spent almost every night of this competition as a detached head on my bed.
I actually had a pretty clever idea for combining detachment and flattening for the everyday objects challenge, but the major issue with it was that David told me I didn’t have enough magic reserves to be able to pull it off and hold my form. It was going to be making pancakes. I would have had David flatten each of my pieces to about a quarter inch thick, and then he’d stack them all up, fry them a bit, and then maybe take a bite or two of one of them.
Wish I could have done it, but I’m still pretty proud of the trick I managed to pull off.
To Saffron: “What is your favorite form of detachment, and do you ever like having extra parts?” -James-MacCloude
When I was living back home and certain that none of my sisters could get in my room, I really liked to detach all of my limbs and use my torso as a pillow for my head. I really understand now why guys like them so much, because boobs make a perfect rest to snuggle my head between.
Despite having a rather large family, I don’t really have all that much experience with extra parts. You can’t really go about growing extra ones, unless you’re like crazy good at magic, and while we weren’t poor, we didn’t really have a ton of extra money to be going out and buying unused limbs from a parts shop. The power trip you get from having extra limbs is a lot of fun (especially when you’ve secretly stolen the extra limbs you’re using) but besides extra arms I don’t really see a ton of practical use for having them.
To Cammie: “What is your favorite form of detachment?” -James-MacCloude
I much prefer transformation to detachment. If you had to strap me down and pick one, I guess it would be decapitation, since it’s the most impossible of your standard sort of detachment.