So can jokes if you're really clever. on Library

Julius Astley

October 18, 2018 4:49 PM

Papers can be recycled. Sorry if that was old news. by Julius Astley

Julius had a thoroughly normal and boring Christmas, though this suited him just fine. There had been the standard Christmas party to attend on Christmas Day but, aside from that, he had spent most of his time seated in his favourite armchair of the Astley Manor library, steadily making his way through book after book while his sister Aurelia played him all the new piano pieces she'd learned and Aelia coloured in pictures of magical beasts as she lay on her front. When his sisters had gone to bed, he spent the time alone with his mother as they talked about school and his latest history facts and other interesting things. It had been a wonderful, calm time.

Of course, this meant that having to return to Sonora made his mood sour. The returning feast had been the same as any other feast and Julius had been just as glad to retire to his dormitory in Crotalus and start reading his newest book.

Upon waking the next morning, he'd felt marginally better if only because he'd had some more ideas for the revival of The Aronos. On the last day of the previous term, he had stopped by the library to pick up his sign up sheet, pleased to see that a few people had taken interest. He'd penned a letter to each of them, arranging a meeting for the afternoon of their second day back and he had to admit, he was looking forward to starting the revival. He'd also, of course, let the Librarian know as it was probably the right thing to do.

Julius, of course, was early to the meeting and the first one there. He'd chosen a table in a quiet corner and spread out his things on the tabletop. He had sketches for The Aronos' logo in one pile, ideas for articles and columns in another and fresh parchment and quills and inkwells for everyone else to borrow if they needed or wanted to. He only knew two of the people on the sign up sheet. One of them had been Evelyn, which he had mixed feelings about. Was she doing it out of some sort of feeling of obligation as they were supposed to be friends? Or did she genuinely want to be part of the newspaper? The other had been Nathaniel Mordue, who he had only really spoken to once and knew next to nothing about. Still, it was nice that he'd know two people on the new team. It was better than knowing nobody.

When he'd set up and felt ready, Julius took a seat and folded his hands together on the tabletop. Now, all he had to do was wait.

Subthreads:

So can jokes if you're really clever. by Evelyn Stones with Isaac Song, Julius Astley

Old news, but a decent bit of wordplay, well done. by Nathaniel Mordue

20 Julius Astley Papers can be recycled. Sorry if that was old news. 1425 Julius Astley 1 5

Evelyn Stones

October 19, 2018 12:08 AM

So can jokes if you're really clever. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn felt a bit like overused clay, that gets sort of mushy and floppy when it's been pushed into too many different shapes but still feels kind of cool in the sculptor's hands and is just as fun to play with. She wasn't sure whether this was a side effect of an overall relaxing winter break, or simply due to the tension she'd been carrying in her stomach since the end of Fall term. While break certainly had been relaxing, it wasn't just that. More than ever was she reminded of how truly kind Ness was and what a good friend the Aladren was. She thought similar things about Malikhi most of the time, but couldn't help being concerned about the prickly feeling that he was somehow like her father. Perhaps she just assumed that about moody men though. She wasn't sure anymore. Although 'moody' did seem unfair, all things considered.

She pushed thoughts of Malikhi aside as she made her way into the library, too sad about everything going on in that friendship to think about it now, and took a seat at the table where she found Julius. She wasn't normally so early for things like this but didn't particularly want to answer questions about what she was doing, where, why, or with whom, and had made her excuses as quickly as possible. Now, she found herself alone with the Crotalus and found herself smirking playfully before she'd actually said anything.

"Hi," she said, plopping into the chair across from Julius. She thought the way he held himself looked like nerves and at least this way he'd have a friendly face to look at across the way when the meeting began. "Please tell me I'm not the only one who'd rather have spent a month here with all the books for company than actually having a proper Christmas break," she laughed, only half joking. There were more aisles here than she could count and she would wholeheartedly have accepted an opportunity to stay and read them through Christmas.

OOC - Everything with Malikhi meant to be left ambiguous regarding whether or not Evelyn knows about his father yet.

22 Evelyn Stones So can jokes if you're really clever. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Isaac Song

October 21, 2018 1:44 AM

Trying to make a good impression by Isaac Song

The Christmas break had had its ups and downs this year. One of his best friends had broken his leg during their annual snowboarding trip, which meant their time at Big Bear got cut short. But he was finally fifteen and able to join the grownup Christmas party Mom, Uncle Derek, and Lauren went to every year. He got to wear the snazzy suit he’d bought last year for the Sonora ball and met some cool people, most of them older than him. Dad and Maia hadn't’ made it back home for Christmas, which sucked, but they surprised them at New Year’s by showing up for a few days. It was strange to see his little sister’s style and accent even changing, but his had started changing too.

Since the ball, Isaac had started being more conscious of his clothes and style. He liked being fashionable, and his older sister Lauren was more than happy to help him out. Shopping with her, which he'd dreaded before, was now actually kind of fun. It was a great way for them to bond, and he liked hearing how good he looked.

But, he was happy to be back at school and get back into the swing of things. Winter break was always fun at home, and he would miss his family and friends a lot, but he liked Sonora and having his own life here.

Isaac was also looking forward to the Aronos resurgence meeting, not necessarily because of the project, but because he’d be seeing Zevalyn there. It was weird, since he didn’t know her super well, but she was really pretty and, if he had the guts, maybe he’d ask her out. But he was pretty sure she was dating someone, so that was kind of a moot point. Still, getting to know her would be cool. Getting to know these younger kids would be nice too; he didn’t really interact with younger students except when he was carrying out his Prefect duties.

When he got to the library, two of the younger years were already there. He approached the table confidently and smiled when he got there. “Hey, I’m Isaac,” he said, holding his hand out to shake theirs. “You must be Julius. Thanks for putting this all together.” He turned to the girl and held out his hand to her. “Hi, what’s your name?” Afterwards, he added, “I'm excited to start working on this paper."

He sat down and looked at all of the papers set out on the table. “Wow, did you guys draw these sketches?” he asked, impressed.

19 Isaac Song Trying to make a good impression 375 Isaac Song 0 5

Zevalyn Ives

October 22, 2018 4:38 PM

I'm here! by Zevalyn Ives

Zevalyn had spent the eleventh and twelfth years of her life in muggle middle school, actively disbelieving in magic. Consequently, when she had been forced to concede to its existence and began at Sonora when she was all but fouteen, she'd had some catching up to do. The only club she'd had time for during her first two years at Sonora was Dueling Club, and she'd only joined that because it was basically just extra DADA practice, which she had needed. By her third year - academically her fifth due to skipping over grades as she plowed through an accelerated course load - she had basically caught up, and had dared to join Gary's D&D club.

This year, the Aronos sounded like something she probably would have joined in High School, had she ever made it there, and she'd signed up on something close to nostalia for normality. It also put her club total up to three now, as she was still Dueling because it really was good practice, and she would never consider dropping D&D. It was good solid mix of extracurriculars that would surely look great on her college applications next year. She was pretty sure college admission officers were required to be impressed by students on the school newspaper, weren't they?

She arrived in the library at the appointed time, coming in from the back of the room instead of the main library entrance because she was coming from Aladren rather than the school corridors. She wondered how long it took most non-Aladren first years to realize that Aladren had to have its commonroom entrance in here somewhere. Months? Weeks? Days? Hours? Surely by second year, everyone must have figured it out if they spent any amount of time in the library at all. Maybe she'd ask Georgia later.

Three others were already there, and she was kind of glad to see Isaac among them, not because she knew him at all, but because he wasn't a first year, and it made her being there feel less weird.

"Hi," she greeted, taking one of the chairs relatively near to Isaac. "I'm Zevalyn," she introduced herself to those who didn't know her already. Curiously, she turned one of the lists toward her, to skim over what it said. "Oh," she said, a sudden idea occurring to her, sparked by the other suggested article topics, "Would you be interested in a column about the adventures the D&D club is getting up to?" In case the others had no idea what D&D even was, she added, "That's a role playing game where a bunch of murdering hobos goes out and kills things and robs dead people. Except we have Kir in our group, so we're a little more diplomatic than normal and our murder sprees are totally justified in order to save the world from Evil. But it'd basically be a column reporting on the in-game deeds of fictional characters. Don't know if that's something people might find kind of interesting or not?"

1 Zevalyn Ives I'm here! 380 Zevalyn Ives 0 5

Julius Astley

October 22, 2018 7:02 PM

Well, I think I'm really clever. by Julius Astley

Julius felt a little more at ease when Evelyn actually showed up, especially since she was the first one. This meant that he didn't have to suffer any awkward small talk with a stranger while they waited for the others. Well, he thought that but Evelyn had an uncanny knack at making him feel awkward and out of place. He still hadn't figured out why. Being friends with her felt so strange as they were so completely different. Well, if he was honest, he still really wasn't sure if they were friends. They just seemed to be balancing on the fence between being acquantainces and being friends.

He didn't really smile at her as she took her seat, instead opting for a polite incline of the head in greeting. He also didn't understand her own way of greeting. Why would she have rather spent an entire month in Sonora's library instead of returning home? While he could appreciate the academy's impressive collection, he much preferred the library back at home. There was just something about curling up in his own armchair with a good, big history book that he couldn't quite get in the same way at Sonora.

"My family has a library in the manor," he began. "I spent most of my Christmas holiday in there. It's filled with all kinds of books of different genres."

He paused momentarily, considering something before he ventured, "You are welcome to come and see it sometime."

20 Julius Astley Well, I think I'm really clever. 1425 Julius Astley 0 5

Julius Astley

October 22, 2018 7:11 PM

Nice to meet you. by Julius Astley

Julius looked up from his conversation with Evelyn as an older boy approached the table and he stood to greet him. Given that he knew Nathaniel, he quickly came to the conclusion that this was Isaac Song. Like Nathaniel, he also wanted to be a photographer for the paper which had caused Julius some concerns originally. He hadn't been sure if the paper would cover enough events to warrant having two photographers but Nathaniel had also written writing so perhaps they could share the duty? He also supposed, given that Evelyn had signed up to be a writer and that he was also going to be a writer as well as the editor, the two boys could be split and accompany each of them during events.

He shook Isaac's hand firmly. It had been drilled into him by his father that he was to always give a strong handshake and to give the impression that he was confident, even if he didn't necessarily feel it. However, the notion that Julius wouldn't be confident was, according to his father, ludicrous. Julius was an Astley. They were always cool, calm and collected.

Of course, this also showed that his father didn't know his son very well. As much as he would've hated to admit it, there was a twinge of nervousness in Julius' stomach.

"A pleasure to meet you," he greeted stiffly, formally. "Thank you for signing up."

20 Julius Astley Nice to meet you. 1425 Julius Astley 0 5

Julius Astley

October 22, 2018 7:25 PM

Welcome. by Julius Astley

Julius had a strong interest in meeting Zevalyn Ives. She had been the only one to not sign up as a writer or a photographer. She had written 'crossword puzzle maker' as well as 'editor'. Julius had been affronted at first, wondering why the girl had decided to write that when it should've been clear that he was going to be the editor. It was obvious, wasn't it? Given that the revival of the Aronos had been his idea, surely it made sense that he was going to be in charge of it?

The more that he had thought on it, however, the more he had warmed to the idea. Did the fact that she had put herself forward for the job indicate that she was ambitious? Julius thought that this was a very good quality to have. He also thought that if he was going to be a writer as well as an editor, it would make sense to have someone help share the workload and a second pair of eyes and opinions never hurt. That was part of the reason he had set up the meeting. It was intended as a 'meet and greet' as well as sorting out roles and brainstorming.

As with the others, he shook her hand once she arrived, noting that she hadn't come from the main entrance to the library though he dismissed the thought. She must've simply been browsing through the shelves beforehand. This, he thought, was a good thing as he hoped it indicated intellect. It just wouldn't do if any of these people were below-average in the brain department.

His positive view dimmed slightly when she started to talk about... had she said D&D? He didn't understand what the letters stood for but the fact that it was a 'role-playing' game seemed somewhat childish and a bit of a waste of time. That was just his opinion, though, and if they really were going to go ahead with the production of this newspaper then it was probably a better idea to start viewing things from a reader's perspective.

"I think if people are interested in this... game, then it would be a useful column to have. Particularly if people don't know about the club or are thinking of joining. It'd offer a unique insight. Would you be willing to write it? Perhaps some interviews could be held with the other participants in order to share why they take part and what they enjoy about it."

He admitted to himself that he'd read those kinds of interviews, if only to find out who were the lunatics that took part in such a thing. However that he didn't say.

OOC note - Julius' views do not reflect those of the author.

20 Julius Astley Welcome. 1425 Julius Astley 0 5

Zevalyn

October 22, 2018 8:33 PM

Thanks by Zevalyn

Zevalyn shrugged, unsure if people were interested in the game or not. Among muggles, D&D had a strange niche where nearly everyone had heard of it, and either they disliked it on principle, thought it was only for nerds, or had some personal experience with it that could be either good or bad. Among wizards, though, it was fairly unknown, and with magic being an actual thing that didn't really mesh with how the game used it, she wasn't sure it was really something that had a wide range appeal.

She backed off the idea, it not having been one she was particularly attached to, especially since she wasn't really much of a writer herself. She didn't give it up entirely, though. Julius' thoughts and comments helped her come up with a more generalized one, "Or maybe it could be a 'Club Corner Spotlight' column, where we write about a different club each time; what it does, and some recent hightlights of what's happened in it? That'd probably have a wider range of audience appeal. I could cover D&D and Dueling, I guess," she volunteered hesitantly. One or two articles wouldn't be terrible, she supposed, especially if all she had to do was talk about something she knew a bit about already. "But I'm not part of any other clubs but those two and this one, and one of you people would probably write a better article about this than me. I'm better at finding and fixing mistakes than actually writing articles."

She shrugged a little apologetically at Julius. "That's why I signed up for editor. It wasn't to step on your toes or anything - I didn't mean I wanted to be editor-in-chief, obviously that's you. I meant I can do the proofreading, if you don't want to do that part."

1 Zevalyn Thanks 380 Zevalyn 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

October 22, 2018 9:15 PM

Old news, but a decent bit of wordplay, well done. by Nathaniel Mordue

When he had first seen the sign-up sheet, Nathaniel had thought joining Astley’s paper sounded like a good idea. When he had seen the grand total of other people signed up, though, he had begun to have his doubts. Evelyn Stones was one of the people he had specifically told Jeremy to avoid, and the other people signed up were ones he had barely heard of. Admittedly this spoke better of them than a lot of things he might have heard of would have, but he was fairly sure that they were not exactly proper associates for someone of his social standing.

Astley, however, was, so far as he could tell. This meant that standing the guy up without being quite sure that the whole thing was a disaster waiting to happen was potentially a bad idea. He had not, he thought, exaggerated at all when he had told Jeremy that school was complicated. He wished he could say he had.

He approached the group of misfits in a quiet corner of the library, placid everyday expression in place beneath his light brown curls. His face was lightly flushed and his green school robes mostly obscured by a dark blue cloak and gray scarf as he approached, removing his gloves – he had just come in from a walk in the Gardens.

“Good afternoon, Julius,” he said, offering his hand to the club leader. “And – everyone else. I’m Nathaniel Mordue.” This was probably obvious, but there were Rules, even when he wasn’t sure what sort of company he had fallen into…He had, he thought, a knack for poor company, somehow – Cleo James was one thing, but when he had recovered from his fever, the first thought he could recall having was that Sylvia would never forgive him for putting her in a situation where she had been spoken to by Kir McLeod.

16 Nathaniel Mordue Old news, but a decent bit of wordplay, well done. 1412 Nathaniel Mordue 0 5

Evelyn Stones

October 23, 2018 1:52 AM

So many grown up people by Evelyn Stones

(OOC -- bear with me if responding to everyone at once isn't appropriate, it felt like it made the most sense and I haven't been on a mass thread before).

Evelyn stared at Julius when he said he had his own library at home but was saved from responding by the arrival of a boy she hadn't met yet. He looked friendly and smiled very nicely which was pretty great. Evelyn just smiled when he held out a hand, and then shook it as politely as she could manage. Julius shook much more firmly and she wasn't sure if she sent the wrong message with her much lighter touch.

When Kir's girlfriend showed up, Evelyn had to remind herself that she didn't actually know the girl much. She hadn't spent much time chatting with Kir over the holidays but he was nice enough-- all the McLeods were-- and she'd heard plenty about Zevalyn. It would be a bit odd to acknowledge this so directly, although she was sure Zevalyn was aware of the stow-away in Vermont this year. Evelyn liked the girl just because their names rhymed, and hoped that she would be as confident as she was someday.

Something about this group of people, people who shook hands and smiled at her, had no shame in their interests, and generally just were themselves was appealing to her. Suddenly, Evelyn was quite sure she'd signed up for exactly the right thing. She threw an excited smile to Julius, who was looking just as formal as usual.

"I'm really excited," she said, putting words to her tone for the sake of Zevalyn and Isaac. "I'd love to join a club," she added, turning to Zevalyn and just hoping she'd find older students to hang out with. It wouldn't stand out so much that she was behind her peers in magical ability if she was the youngest of her peers anyway, and maybe spending time with people who were in higher classes would give her more people to pick the brains of and maybe even improve. "I don't know what Dungeons and Dragons is but I'd love to learn. Are you in any clubs?" she ended, doing her best to include all three of the people at the table with her.

22 Evelyn Stones So many grown up people 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Isaac

October 23, 2018 10:01 PM

Aw, I've never been called grown up before by Isaac

Both Julius and Evelyn seemed pretty put-together, and he really was looking forward to working with them on this paper. In his first year, he never would've been this motivated to start a big project like this.

Isaac smiled at Zevalyn when she arrived. He couldn't remember if they were expecting any more people or not, but he hoped the meeting got started soon. He was feeling a little hungry--too bad he hadn't thought of bringing snacks.

Zevalyn started talking about the D&D club she was a part of. He'd seen a group playing some kind of complex board game in the library sometimes. From the way she described it, it sounded pretty geeky. He had a stereotype of the kinds of people who played those kinds of role play games, but clearly nobody in that club here fit the mold. It wasn't a game he'd ever be interested in playing, but he wouldn't discriminate if she wanted to write a column about it. He just didn't think it would be something people would want to read about weekly. Julius did a pretty good job of giving a not-so enthusiastic yes.

"A Club Corner Spotlight would be rad," he said, excited by the idea. "For every issue, you could join a different club for a day and interview different members. I could help you out with the interviews too if you want, I'm just not the best writer." He especially wouldn't mind interviewing people in the Dueling Club; it seemed like the coolest club at school.

"No, I'm not in any clubs right now. Before, I was adjusting to boarding school life, and this year I've got CATS and Prefect duties. But I want to join Dueling Club next year. It'd be a great way to practice spells." Isaac looked at the rest of the things spread out on the table. "So, what's on the agenda for this meeting? Are we going to plan out the first issue?"

19 Isaac Aw, I've never been called grown up before 375 Isaac 0 5

Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

October 24, 2018 8:33 PM

I am grown up and supervising by Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

Tarquin was quite excited by the prospect of the school paper. He was not sure what sort of publication Julius had in mind but was encouraged by the general fact that people wanted to write, and that Zevalyn had signed up to write puzzles - puzzles were an essential component, as far as he was concerned.

On the day of the meeting, he made his way over to join the group once everyone was assembled. Making awakward small talk whilst you waited for a meeting to start was painful enough without the added complication of having an adult lurking there. Plus this meant he only had to explain his presence once.

"Hello," he nodded to the group, sliding into a chair at the far end of the table from Julius, keen to not seem like he was co-chairing the meeting, "Julius has asked me to act as your staff supervisor, which is why I am here. Mostly, I'm just here to keep an eye, and to offer help if you need it," he explained. The problems he could see as most likely to occur were them biting off more than they could chew or an awkward power imbalance as a first year tried to direct a bunch of older students. "I'll only step in if you tell me you need me to, or if I see a problem. Otherwise, this is yours to run as you wish," he added, mostly speaking to Julius but glad that the single and plural preposition was the same.

OOC - so this should probably run as a turn based thread with posting order determined by order we joined the thread. If there are reasons to disrupt that, e.g. someone needing to answer something urgentky before the group can move on, or Tarquin needing to interject (or be skipped if he has nothing to say) we can work it out via chatzy and/or the OOC board.

13 Tarquin Fox-Reynolds I am grown up and supervising 1464 Tarquin Fox-Reynolds 0 5

Julius Astley

October 25, 2018 4:56 PM

Right. Let's get started. by Julius Astley

Julius nodded politely to The Librarian, who he had since learned was 'Mr Fox-Reynolds'. However, he found that to be a bit of a mouthful and he'd also gotten used to calling the man 'The Librarian'. Well, at least in his head. He felt slightly more at ease that he sat at the other end of the table as while it showed that he was clearly a part of the meeting, it also didn't feel like he was going to take over and usurp what little power Julius currently had over the assembled party.

"Thank you, Sir," he responded after The Librarian's small introductory speech before returning his attention to the question that Isaac had brought up. "Well, yes. This meeting was to, first of all, get to know each other and understand what each person is doing. Then, we need to figure out what our first issue is going to contain - what kind of articles are going to go in, is there anything big we need to report on?"

He looked down at the papers that were spread across the tabletop and reached for the one closest to Zevalyn, which listed different ideas and a current list of events. "So, we've already had a brief discussion about a club-focused column which is a good idea and I like the title, 'Club Corner Spotlight'. It's also fair to investigate a different club for every issue so every club gets the chance to share what they do and, potentially, recruit new members. Good job. Isaac and Nathaniel..." he paused, lifting his eyes to flit between the two boys. "You both signed up as photographers. I'll leave it up to you both as to who wants to take which column or take it in turns each issue and swap. Zevalyn, you're already part of the Dueling Club and the D&D Club? Do you think you could do the interviews? I don't mind which is done first so you can pick."

He scribbled a few notes on the list, basically sumarising what had been said and the given answers before moving on. "The other thing I think we need to focus attention on is Quidditch and give it its own 'sports column'. Unless I'm mistaken, Coach Reilly is new to the school so it might be worth interviewing her, finding out what her vision is for the team and asking about her methods - Evelyn, how would you feel about that? I can help, of course - and also if she'll let us take a few photos of the team practices."

Julius had to admit that he felt comfortable being in charge. The revival of the Aronos was something that was important to him and, mercifully, he seemed to have an intelligent and focused team. This made him more willing to listen to what they had to say and to incorporate their ideas. Like his paper, he wanted to be fair and give them control over different bits and pieces.

"Does anyone have any more ideas for columns?"

OOC - I have tried to leave this as open as possible so everyone can get their views, answers and ideas in. While Julius can be a little snot and does like being in charge... As his author, I want everyone to feel included.

20 Julius Astley Right. Let's get started. 1425 Julius Astley 0 5

Ivy Brockert

October 30, 2018 12:15 AM

Ideas by Ivy Brockert

As she often did, Ivy entered the library. However, instead of searching for books to read as usual, she headed for where the others were gathered for the newspaper meeting. The Teppenpaw had to admit, she was excited. When she found something that she was interested in, she tended to be incredibly enthusiastic.

And therefore, ever since signing up for the paper, Ivy had been making a list of ideas for different things that the newspaper could feature, which read as follows.

Ideas for the Aronos

Student interviews-An interview of any student picked at random

That one needed a bit of specification, Ivy didn't want it to be just prefects or just Quidditch players or just club leaders. She wanted people who normally might not get the chance to be the focus to feel like they were equally important and that what they had to say mattered too. The next suggestion went along with it.

Students answer a question-A question is asked of random students and the answers are published in the paper

Comic strips

Horoscopes

Letters to the Editor

Advice column

Arts/Culture column-Music, travel, art, dance, food

Book reviews

Fashion column

Around Sonora-About things going on at Sonora

Editorials

Student art subissions

Unfortunately, Ivy had more ideas than there were people signed up, especially since Isaac was only signed up to be a photographer which meant she was unsure of how interested he was in actually writing. Which was fine, of course. Plus, people were bound to have ideas of their own.

As she sat down, she introduced herself to everyone else. "I'm Ivy Brockert of the Western Brockerts." The standard pureblood introduction slipped out automatically, even though nobody besides Nathaniel Mordue-who hadn't introduce himself that way- and Julius himself was part of the society crowd. Still, it was a habit and besides, even though Julius-and Nathaniel-were younger than her, she still hadn't met them before.

The Teppenpaw listened as Zevalyn mentioned the Dungeons and Dragons game that she knew Connor was in too. "That could be interesting" Ivy told her. "Maybe it could be written as a story?"

Julius didn't seem quite as enthusiastic and Zevalyn mentioned a Club Corner spotlight instead. Admittedly, that probably would appeal to more people and Ivy would definitely want to spread the word about orchestra.

The next feature brought up was focusing on Quidditch. Which was very much not Ivy's thing at all. Thankfully, Julius passed that one on to Evelyn rather than her. She wasn't at all interested in covering that. There were so many things she would find more enjoyable to write about.

"Does anyone have any more ideas for columns?"

"As matter of fact, I came up with a whole bunch of ideas." Ivy replied. She did a replicating charm on her list and made enough copies for everyone at the table, including Mr. Fox-Reynolds and used her wand to distribute them around.

11 Ivy Brockert Ideas 394 Ivy Brockert 0 5

Evelyn Stones

October 30, 2018 9:55 AM

This just got intense. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn stared at the newcomer, surprised. Things had quickly gone from herself and Julius chatting about winter break to a whole slew of people chatting about...not very much. Evelyn wasn't usually one to be so irritated with people, particularly considering how few she'd had the chance to be around, but I've Brockert of the Western Brockerts (Western wasn't even a place!) managed to rub her exactly the wrong way.

While the others seemed keen on sharing ideas, Ivy seemed keen on listing them. Evelyn took the paper that floated in front of her, more irritated by the display of magic than she'd like to admit, and read over the list. They were admittedly good ideas, but who was going to do all this? There weren't enough people and this was Julius' paper, not Ivy's. Evelyn felt ruffled, an oddly protective instinct for her odd friend prompting her to react differently than she might otherwise have.

"It's great meeting you all at once," she started, speaking in a light tone. The last thing she wanted was to sound like a leader and risk overthrowing Julius or putting him on edge. "I think it will be great to keep some of these ideas in mind." She added to Ivy before distinctly and deliberately tucking the list behind the paper she had to take notes on. "I'm really curious what your ideas are, Julius." She came to her friend last and turned her shoulders squarely towards him, making it quite clear who she wanted to hear from next.

OOC - Evelyn's sass and irritation does not reflect the author's and this author is really excited for some of those ideas!

22 Evelyn Stones This just got intense. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Julius Astley

November 04, 2018 2:36 PM

I like to see someone with passion. by Julius Astley

Julius, for a moment, had been stunned by the length of the list that floated in front of him. It had, admittedly, surprised him that somebody else had put so much thought into the contents of the Aronos. Slowly, he plucked the page from the air to place it on the tabletop, his eyes roaming over the different ideas with a slightly quirked eyebrow. There were definitely some ideas that he preferred over others (he was not completely sold on the idea of a fashion column) but there was a lot to choose from and certainly enough to create a newspaper with.

He looked up when Evelyn addressed him, his eyes searching her face and wondering why she was so intent on hearing from him. He knew that he was the Editor and that he was, essentially, in charge but it was clear that others around the table had ideas. He needed to hear them all before making any concrete decisions. He cleared his throat, turning his attention to Ivy.

"This is a good list," he began, reaching for his quill in order to make notes. "I like that there's a lot of focus on what the students have to say and lots of opportunities for them to write in and share their views and participate - I think the Aronos needs to be an engaging paper. I want it to be popular, attractive. I worry, however, that there's not enough of us to do them all so we need to be selective in what we choose."

He looked around the table, wanting to address everybody else now. "Is there anything on the list - or, indeed, a different idea - that somebody really wants to do? Whether that's a particular article they want to write or something that they feel needs a focus? Isaac, I know you signed up as solely a photographer but you also get a say in what goes in the paper too - is there anything you think there needs to be a focus on or do you have any more ideas?"

20 Julius Astley I like to see someone with passion. 1425 Julius Astley 0 5

Isaac

November 04, 2018 5:13 PM

I don't think I'd fit into that category by Isaac

Isaac's eyebrows rose at Ivy's list. She had a ton of ideas, and they all sounded pretty good. He didn't know what else he could possibly add to it, especially since he'd only signed up thinking he'd be taking pictures.

His eyes continued to scan the list while Julius talked about the paper. Isaac had never put together a paper before, so he didn't really know what was expected of him. The only person he'd ever seen read a newspaper was his uncle, but even that was rare. He didn't really like horoscopes, but he did like the idea of an advice column and student art submissions. Comic strips was definitely down his alley too.

Just signing up as a photographer seemed like an unambitious idea now. Apparently everyone else had signed up for two or more jobs except for him, and he felt a little weird about it.

"I really like the comic strip idea. I can draw comics pretty well and could probably think about a fun storyline. I could help out wherever you guys need me too, except maybe the writing part." He felt bad he couldn't contribute more to the paper; he felt a little silly for even signing up in the first place, but it was too late for that now. "I could come up with a few different options and bring them next time to see how you all like it."

Isaac tapped his chin. "What about having a sports section? I know Quidditch is the only sport here, but it'd be cool to have someone to write about it. I already go to every game, so I can definitely take pictures for it."

19 Isaac I don't think I'd fit into that category 375 Isaac 0 5

Zevalyn

November 06, 2018 1:23 PM

I’m a bit more casual too by Zevalyn

Her Club Corner idea seemed to be pretty popular and she couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased about that. “Maybe,” she agreed with Ivy’s suggestion to fictionalize the D&D adventures into a serial story, though she wasn’t sure it would translate all that well into a real plot with clean characterizations. “That might work out better as a one shot at the end of the campaign though, because sometimes we have to stop in the middle of a battle when curfew comes and I don’t hate everyone so much as to leave it off with a cliff hanger every week.”

She smiled at Mr. Fox-Reynolds as he joined them as their staff advisor, but then she turned her attention back to Julius as he started the meeting properly.

“Yeah, I guess I can do the Club Corner Spotlight at least the first two times,” she answered. Maybe after she wrote about the ones she knew, she’d feel more comfortable going out to visit the other clubs for their turn in the Spotlight, and ‘club reporter for the school newspaper’ did sound like a more solid resume position than just ‘member of’ did. “Isaac, we can work the Spotlight together,” she said, taking him up on his earlier offer. “I guess we should start with Dueling?” she guessed, asking Isaac more than anybody else, but willing to take suggestions from anyone. “That one has been around longer.” She wouldn’t swear to it, since her awareness of clubs had been pretty limited early on, but it might even be the longest running one currently offered. Though maybe Orchestra was older? She thought that one might have been around her first year, too.

She looked at Mr. Fox-Reynolds, “Is there a list of current clubs anywhere or should I just scout out the bulletin boards for announcements?”

Zevalyn looked over Ivy’s list when a copy landed in front of her, and she nodded in approval of most of the ideas. Comics were often the most popular draw, and they would definitely be a good thing to have. The other column ideas also showed promise though she didn’t think she really wanted to try writing any of them personally except maybe the book reports. She did read a lot of books and enjoyed discussing them, so it probably wouldn’t be too much of a burden to just write those thoughts down.

Isaac volunteered for a comic strip, which was great. “Comics are an important draw. Casual readers will sometimes pick a paper up just for those, then get bored and read the rest of it.”

Zevalyn looked at Nathaniel and Evelyn as Isaac talked about a Sports section. She wasn’t really into Quidditch at all, but she had seen their names on the sign-up sheet last term.

“I can do the Club Corner Spotlight,” she reiterated when it seemed to be her turn to claim her part in the first issue. “At least at first. If someone else does that column later on in other issues, I can do some book reporting. I’ll still do the crossword puzzles every issue, too. And should we have like a calendar of upcoming events or something? Like when the clubs are meeting, if the Quidditch team has a game coming up this week, any holidays, and possibly even major class events like an impeding unit exam or big report being due. And just to clarify, because I’m making assumptions here but it’s never been specifically declared, are we thinking this is going to be a weekly publication?”

1 Zevalyn I’m a bit more casual too 380 Zevalyn 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

November 06, 2018 2:30 PM

I would like to be, but am not. by Nathaniel Mordue

Nathaniel looked at Ivy Brockert as she sent around copies of a list, his expression openly respectful and impressed. Simon had mentioned the girl a few times in positive enough terms, but not in enough detail that Nathaniel had ever thought of her beyond recognizing that the name was one Simon had mentioned whenever Nathaniel happened to hear someone else mention it. Either this was new or Simon had –

Well, there were a number of reasonable explanations, he supposed. Simon’s closest attachments (for lack of a better term) seemed to be with his roommates, with whom he seemed to be in a sort of unspoken competition over who was the best heir. Plus, he and Simon had never been especially close – there was no reason for Simon to go into a great deal of detail to Nathaniel about his classmates, especially girls – those were generally more relevant to Sylvia’s social life than to Nathaniel’s. Plus the paper was an entirely new thing, so she might not have ever had an opportunity to display this kind of initiative before.

The odd Pecari girl, however, did not seem to like it as much as Nathaniel did. Just asking Julius his opinion was one thing, but deliberately putting the sheet under another was the kind of thing Nathaniel recognized from another life, one where his mother had known how to put a box down on the sofa in just the right way to make his father’s jaw tighten….

This, he thought, was the thing about photographs. They could let him relive moments, study them over and over again until he knew what had gone wrong and what he could have done differently. This was why he had nearly had a meltdown when he had finally looked at old pictures of his family and realized that his father had walked out of the frames in those, too. There had to be a better way to develop photos, one that kept the people doing what they had really done, without giving them the option to imitate what their originals did later. He just hadn’t found it yet.

He could not exactly dive back into the Potions or Hobby sections of the library right now, though, so he put that issue back on the back burner. “I know the terms well enough,” he said when the older boy said he could take pictures of Quidditch. “We can talk later – what kind of shots would be the easiest to write about, or if you want to link pictures to the writing at all, your camera and potions….” His tone lifted slightly with enthusiasm at this last note, wondering if the older boy might have tricks Nathaniel had not yet learned. He was, after all, mostly self-taught; Mama had encouraged him, bought him books, but she wasn’t a photographer in any but the most casual sense – she took pictures sometimes, but didn’t take an interest in the process itself.

Miss Ives had a lot of ideas, too, and ambitious goals for productivity. Nathaniel looked between her and Miss Brockert and, despite his best efforts, could not ignore the chill of intimidation, followed quickly by the hot flash of embarrassment over it. Intimidated by girls. And Julius, if he was to be honest. And those Russian girls. And almost every other guy in Teppenpaw, come to think of it –

I cannot point out how much work that is. She has to know. God, how are we supposed to report on exams when we’re studying for them, and writing to Mama, and writing to Uncle Alexander, and I need to write to Jeremy more, and – but it doesn’t matter. Mama will be proud if I can pull it off, so I will.

“If we go that way, we could use the ideas for student art more in weeks when we don’t have a Quidditch game or exams or anything,” he said. “I also thought we could do interviews – teachers, prefects, club leaders, international students – these are just ideas. Maybe one every other issue – or every issue, either way. We could collaborate on questions, and I could write up the responses and photograph our subjects.”

16 Nathaniel Mordue I would like to be, but am not. 1412 Nathaniel Mordue 0 5

Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

November 09, 2018 7:23 PM

Let's try to casualise this a little then by Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

Tarquin sat at the end of the table, listening quietly. The meeting was, on the whole, heading in a civilised and productive direction. Plus points: they had plenty of ideas, and no one seemed to be getting into a weird power struggle so far with Julius. But he did find himself having to think ‘on the whole.’ He wasn’t sure what to make of Evelyn turning her back on Ivy. The gesture seemed deliberate and unfriendly but her tone hadn’t sounded irritated, and he also saw no real reason for her to be irritated by the other girl. He supposed the society style introduction might get some people’s backs up, but if Ivy was willing to work on a paper with people from a variety of backgrounds she clearly wasn’t that much of a blood snob. He wondered whether there was some past history, though they seemed unlikely to have had much chance to interact. Clearly they didn’t hate each other to the extent of wanting to avoid completely, as they had both signed up to be on the same paper. It wasn’t enough to call Evelyn out on, but he would keep an eye on that… He really hoped there wasn’t any need to sort out personal dramas between the paper’s staff.

There was also the more immediate issue of the words ‘weekly publication’ which had been uttered by Zevalyn. He was loathe to step in unless absolutely necessary, but he rather thought that it might be necessary to temper that idea before they all ran away with it. Zevalyn had also given him a good opportunity to add his two knuts now by asking him a direct question, from which he could segue neatly into his own thoughts rather than having to interrupt

“I should be able to get a full list of clubs and presidents for you. At least, correct as of the start of this year. Keeping an ear to the ground - or an eye to the walls - might be a good idea too though. And perhaps a line at the end of the column ‘Want your club to be featured? Let us know!’ That way anyone who has a burning desire to be interviewed, or who has a special event coming up can flag themselves up to you.

“A couple of suggestions, if I may?” he added, his voice soft, “I think you’ve got a wonderful range of ideas and lots of enthusiasm. Let’s aim to start with something that’s definitely possible. In terms of the features… Some of the ideas here - fashion, travel… There could be a theme for each edition, using one of those each time. Students with a particular interest in it could write in or do a guest column. You could also, as you note, put a question to students to answer about that particular subject. That saves you committing yourself to a lot of columns that no one here particularly wants to write. And you might find you can talent-spot, and persuade a few extra people to join you. As for publication frequency…. Well, again, start with something you know you can manage. Surely it’s much better to work up from there than have to cut down if you find you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. As a guiding factor, how many newsworthy things have happened to each of you in the last week?” he offered.

13 Tarquin Fox-Reynolds Let's try to casualise this a little then 1464 Tarquin Fox-Reynolds 0 5

Julius Astley

November 10, 2018 6:42 PM

Let's all be sensible about this. by Julius Astley

Julius felt like the first meeting of the Aronos was going very well. He was pleased that he seemed to be surrounded by relatively clever people who all appeared to have something to contribute and share. That had been the whole point of creating and bringing together individuals to form a team. While he relished in the idea of being Editor, he hadn't wanted to submarine himself in mountains of work. He did realise that he was sacrificing the opportunity to take full credit for the publication, as his name wasn't going to be the only one to be printed in the pages which was perhaps a bit of a drawback. He had, admittedly, imagined the look on his father's face when Julius would tell him that in his first year, he was in charge of a newspaper. When he had been thinking about running it by himself, he thought it sounded impressive.

Now, he was sharing the spotlight with others.

And he could see his father's face morphing into one of disdain and disappointment at the thought of his son sharing credit with others who would be, in his eyes, of a lower status and importance. He would probably approve of Ivy Brockert, especially seeing as she was related the Headmaster - the Astley family was all about making connections that would be of benefit to them. Nathaniel Mordue was somebody else who his father probably wouldn't mind Julius socialising with. However, everyone else... Well...

It was probably better that he keep his involvement in the Aronos to himself. After all, given that it was only a school publication for the students, it wasn't like his father was going to find out anyway.

He dragged his thoughts back to the present, nodding along with what The Librarian was saying. He liked the idea of each issue having a theme. It kept things tidy, in a nice box and prevented things from spinning out of control. And the man had suggested a good idea that could potentially result in more recruits. More people to write meant that a bigger publication would become possible, hopefully boosting popularity. If demand increased, they could look at increasing the frequency of issues. For now, however...

"I was thinking a monthly issue would be best. It allows us, first and foremost, enough time to research, interview and find subject material to write about. Secondly, those of us who are committed to other things, wouldn't be required to make a sacrifice in order to get an article in on time or something. Also, we will all still have homework and I don't think our studies should suffer."

His father would be furious if his grades slipped in school. It was a one-way ticket to end up in Janus' office, being lectured and shouted at and embarrassed in front of his mother and sisters.

20 Julius Astley Let's all be sensible about this. 1425 Julius Astley 0 5

Ivy

November 29, 2018 5:32 PM

Good idea by Ivy

Ivy couldn't help but notice Evelyn tucking her list behind another paper. Then the younger girl turned back to Julian and asked about his ideas instead. Sure, she said they'd "keep Ivy's ideas in mind" but it was clear to the fourth year that Evelyn was brushing her ideas aside as if they didn't matter. Her whole attitude suggested that Ivy's presence was not wanted and her ideas were not appreciated. A lot of people wouldn't have taken this from someone three years younger but Ivy couldn't help but feel hurt. She had never met Evelyn before and didn't understand why the younger girl was being so rude to her. The Pecari's behavior was completely uncalled for. Ivy had personally always taught to treat everyone with respect and consideration. Obviously, Evelyn hadn't been.

But what really bothered her was that the first year had been perfectly polite to everyone else, which suggested it wasn't just a simple case of not being taught to treat others with common courtesy or being a snotty person in general. Ivy had been singled out for poor treatment. But why? She'd never even spoken to Evelyn before and she hadn't done anything here or otherwise to warrant how the other girl reacted.

Fortunately, Julius was more receptive to her ideas. "Thank you." Ivy replied. If she was the sort of person to feel smug, she would have felt it now. Not that a compliment alone would have warranted that but after Evelyn's nastiness, it felt extra nice to have her ideas appreciated. Had she been a cattier person herself, Ivy would have responded by pointedly saying that.

Isaac spoke up next and surprised her by offering to do the comic idea. The Teppenpaw had been rather unsure about that one because it needed someone with both drawing ability and a sense of humor."That would be awesome Isaac." She nodded at Zevalyn in agreement and went on. "My dad basically only reads the comics."

His idea for a sports section thrilled her less. Ivy wasn't fond of Quidditch really and she definitely wasn't interested in Muggle sports. However, she was not going to say this to Isaac because it was rude and negative and she wanted to encouraging. Besides, just because she didn't like sports much-and most houses hadn't gotten a full Quidditch team in years-it didn't mean it wouldn't appeal to others.

Ivy turned to Zevalyn "If you want, I'd love to help with crossword puzzles. I think they're an excellent idea. Those are my favorite part of a paper. And the calendar is a good idea too."

Nathaniel spoke next and she tried to think of a polite way to point out that the reason she had specified picking a random student was to make everyone feel equally important instead suggesting that specific people were superior. But maybe he was suggesting they do both? "Is this in addition to the student interviews I suggested?" Ivy asked the younger Teppenpaw. "Because I think we should promote the idea that everyone has a voice by picking a person at random. However, that seems like a good idea regarding the student art."

Then Mr. Fox-Reynolds gave a few suggestions of his own that sounded like reasonable ideas. Ivy had to admit that she did think a weekly paper as Zevalyn suggested might be a little much, at least before they got their footing. Julius then suggested they do a monthly paper instead. "That sounds good. I'd like to do the student interviews I think, and/or the question that's asked."

11 Ivy Good idea 394 Ivy 0 5

Evelyn Stones

December 05, 2018 6:59 PM

I hope words taste better than feelings. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn tried not to sigh and she tried not to look frustrated. She wasn't sure why no one else seemed to see that Ivy was being overbearing until came the slow realization that maybe...just maybe... she wasn't.

Ugh.

Evelyn waited until she was pretty sure no one was looking - if she was going to be wrong, she was at least going to be subtle about it - and retrieved Ivy's list again. The ideas were actually good, even if they came from someone older and prettier and whateverer. She wished she'd come up with some of them on her own, until she realized that she would have called herself helpful for doing exactly what she'd called Ivy bossy for.

Embarrassed, and not entirely sure where this sour streak had come from, Evelyn did her best to focus on what Ivy and the others were talking about. She felt small and the fact that Julius likely wouldn't want his pureblood-in-disguise friend hanging around him when he was working with his own ambition here didn't help.

"I'm happy to help wherever I'm needed," Evelyn said quietly when it seemed like her response was next. "I'm glad you came prepared," she added to Ivy, allowing just a little bit of her shame to pull her shoulders forward and to keep her eyes fixed firmly anywhere but Ivy's face. She wanted to apologize, but she definitely wasn't going to do it in front of everyone. She would wait. Maybe if she was lucky, Ivy would turn out to be a terrible person.

22 Evelyn Stones I hope words taste better than feelings. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5