Shakespeare, Letters, and the Occasional Bludger on Aladren Commons

Anne Wright

May 28, 2005 10:58 PM

Shakespeare, Letters, and the Occasional Bludger by Anne Wright

Sunlight was streaming through the windows of the Aladren common room, causing Anne, stretched out on one of the couches, somewhat inclined to go to sleep. Warmth did that to her. Shading her eyes with one hand, she made herself focus on the battered paperback copy of Romeo and Juliet in her hand. She had been told by a snot-nosed jerk of a fifth grade teacher that she wasn't supposed to read it until she was in ninth grade, which was, of course, why she had proceeded to read the entire collected works of William Shakespeare.Some people chalked her reactions of that nature up to St. Martin arrogance, but she didn't think that was it. She just liked proving people wrong.

Romeo was boo-hooing to Friar Laurence again. If the play had a fault, it was that Romeo was such a wimp. If he had ever gone head-to-head with a Bludger, she had no doubt he would have blubbered like a baby over it and probably fainted. Admittedly, the fact that Romeo appeared to be a Muggle made it highly unlikely that he had ever known what a Bludger was, and the whole point became irrelevant if the "true story" Shakespeare had based the play on was not actually true.

Bludgers. That tugged at something in her memory, though she wasn't exactly sure what. Frowning, she lost focus on the book again as she tried to remember whatever it was she had forgotten. She snapped her fingers as the link between her and Bludgers resurfaced. Quidditch tryouts were coming up soon. She was a fair enough Keeper or Chaser, but didn't think she stood much of a chance of making the team. She thought she might drop in for a while anyway, just so Gwenhwyfar could write home to Grandmother St.Martin to tattle and make the old lady furious.

The sun was directly in her eyes, now. Muttering to herself about how annoying cloudless days were when one was trying to read, she gave up on Shakespeare. Closing her eyes against the glare of the sun, she put her hand in the pocket of her robes and felt the sharp corners of the envelope that had reached her during the morning mail delivery. She had hoped that the St. Martins would correspond with her and Gwenhwyfar through Gwenhwyfar, but no such luck. It was from her grandmother, reminding Anne for perhaps the millionth time of her duty to the St. Martin family and her poor dear dead mother, to strive to emulate her cousin so she could learn how to be a pureblood faster, and informing her that she and the said cousin were to stay at Sonora for Christmas. Apparently, she and Uncle Alasdair had already decided that their holiday would be much merrier without the so-called Princess of Savannah and Anne Wright at home.

Anne found herself remembering the previous Christmas, but swiftly blocked it out. Don't, Anne, she told herself firmly. There's no point in crying over spilt milk. You have to make a new life now, and remembering the old one is just holding you back.

Her eyelashes lifted off her cheeks within a split second of her becoming aware that someone was watching her. "Who's there?" she demanded suspiciously. Better not to trust anyone than to trust the wrong people. That was one part of the St. Martin philosophy she had readily adopted.

\n\n

16 Anne Wright Shakespeare, Letters, and the Occasional Bludger 59 Anne Wright 1 5

Zack Dill

May 31, 2005 8:10 AM

As long as the bludger is only occassional by Zack Dill

Normally, Zack Dill did not approach other students. He was a geek and a loner and liked it that way. Sure, he did stuff with other people like Stephen, Sorrel, and Ash, but that was at their instigation and because he was just a little bit afraid of saying 'no' to them. He counted Zoey Welsh as his only true friend and that was one more friend than he'd had at his real school.

In truth, this time he didn't approach the other student either. But he was caught staring at her. Or, more accurately, the book she was reading. "Who's there?" the girl demanded suspiciously, looking up.

Zack jumped a little, startled by the harsh question. He looked around, trying to find someone else to blame, but nobody else was paying them any attention. "Um, Zack. Zack Dill," he said, deciding to go for the direct answer to her question. Feeling that the intoduction alone was somehow insufficient, he felt obligated to add, "Romeo and Juliet. I couldn't get past the first scene. I like the comedies better."\n\n

1 Zack Dill As long as the bludger is only occassional 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Anne Wright

June 02, 2005 1:03 PM

Shakespeare is more enjoyable anyway. by Anne Wright

Anne felt more than a little silly once she had spoken, and the feeling grew when she actually saw the guy who introduced himself. She was so paranoid sometimes that it approached the point of ridiculous. No logic she could find, regardless of how twisted by pureblood maniacs it might have been, so much as suggested that such paranoia was in any way useful. If she ever wanted to get anywhere, in school or in life, she was going to have to follow logic instead of instinct.

She glanced at the book she still had in her hand, surprised. That was what he found so fascinating? Of course, Muggle books didn't enjoy much success in the Wizarding World, so that could be it. "The first scene is a tough one to get into," she said. "You're thrown right into the middle of things, and things aren't really that interesting.I thought Much Ado About Nothing and The Merry Wives of Windsor were pretty good, for the comedies I can remember off the top of my head. I'm Anne Wright." She held out her bookless hand. "Sorry if I sounded a little harsh a minute ago," she added. "I thought I was by myself."\n\n

16 Anne Wright Shakespeare is more enjoyable anyway. 59 Anne Wright 0 5

Zack Dill

June 02, 2005 9:27 PM

Actually, I prefer sci-fi by Zack Dill

Zack shrugged, accepting her apology with the casual ease borne of having been in the same boat himself. "Sure," he agreed, "No offense taken. I can get like that too when I'm reading." He dropped into an armchair set near to the couch she occupied, letting his backpack (bought on sale at Walmart) drop to the floor beside him. The textbooks in it were rather larger than Anne Wright's paperback and they made a solid thumping sound as the bag hit the ground.

"The Comedy of Errors was my favourite," he continued, jumping back to the original subject. "Gotta love a story about mistaken identies, and my school took a field trip to see it performed. They did it really well. Shakespeare's a lot easier to watch than read anyway," he made a self-depricating gesture with this admission, but he was willing to concede, at least to himself, that his genius did have some limits. Watching the movies worked a lot better for him than reading the plays.

Grinning ruefully, he added, "I prefer reading Tolkien and Douglas Adams myself, but I'm a geek so that might just be me." \n\n

1 Zack Dill Actually, I prefer sci-fi 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Anne Wright

June 06, 2005 11:53 AM

I'm picky about my sci-fi and fantasy books by Anne Wright

"I have to agree," she said to the comment about Shakespeare being easier to watch. "I've seen two versions of The Taming of the Shrew. One was the real version, and it was pretty good for a local production. The other was a modernization some traveling troupe of actors put on for my school. I wasn't so crazy about it. The mother became a school principle, the younger sister was a cheerleader, and when you add in that the story doesn't really fit with modern times...no one got it at all. Including me." She shrugged. It had been completely ridiculous, but it had been better than listening to Mrs. Waleckstein talk. The whole class had cheered when they heard that the play would be during what Old Wally, as they called her, dubbed 'lecture time to prepare you for middle school.'

"I've heard of Tolkien," she said, recalling seeing the three shelves at the local bookstore devoted to him. "Never quite got around to reading The Lord of the Rings, though. What's Douglas Adams, though?" She laughed when he referred to himself as a geek. "I think we're all geeks, here," she said, gesturing around to show she meant Aladrens in general. "I learned to take pride in it over the years.I treat being called a music geek as a high compliment."

\n\n

16 Anne Wright I'm picky about my sci-fi and fantasy books 59 Anne Wright 0 5

Zack Dill

June 19, 2005 2:52 PM

Re: I'm picky about my sci-fi and fantasy books by Zack Dill

While he was fairly certain that Anne continued speaking after she said she'd never heard of Douglas Adams, Zack was also completely certain that he hadn't processed a word of it.

"Adams isn't a what," he corrected, hoping that he was keeping his incredulity in check. Not everybody was lucky enough to have encounted the genius that was Douglas Adams. "He's a writer. He did the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy." Grinning, he added the qualifier that made that collective name for the series ironic, "There's five books in it."

Leaning forward in his seat, his grey eyes alight with his his enthusiasm for the subject, he continued, "It's a really great story. It's funny and the Guide has a piece of very excellent advice written right on its cover. 'Don't Panic.' It even tells you how to fly without using magic. You just need to miss the ground when you fall. Personally, though, I think I'd like to avoid trying to put the theory into practical application. I'd just as soon keep my broom under me if I have to be flying."\n\n

1 Zack Dill Re: I'm picky about my sci-fi and fantasy books 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Anne Wright

June 24, 2005 9:37 PM

Re: I'm picky about my sci-fi and fantasy books by Anne Wright

Great move,genius, getting authors and subjects mixed up, she berated herself mentally at being informed that Douglas Adams was a who as opposed to a what.She vaugely remembered the guy who sat next to her during her last month of public school babbling something about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy once. He had been a transfer who didn't know who she was, and she had been so surprised at being spoken to that she had barely processed ten words of his ten-minute ramble.She couldn't figure out why something called a triolgy would have five books in it, but she supposed it was for some reason like why the Lord of the Rings had been split into a trilogy.

Zach's enthusiasm for the subject of the five-book triolgy was obvious, and Anne found it interesting in spite of herself. Chances were she'd never get a chance to actually read it, but anything she could find out had the potential to be useful, even if it was only for testing how gullible purebloods really were.

"I must agree that 'don't panic' is good advice," she said, ruefully making a mental note to take it the next time something hit her figurative knee of suspicion. "Not so sure about the flying thing, though. While it might-theoretically-be possible to miss the ground, that leaves you with the alternative of falling through space forever, which isn't exactly appealing." She smiled self-consciously and shrugged. "Sorry. It sounds like a good story. You've got the right idea, though-stick to brooms or stick to the ground. Preferably not the ground at the bottom of an ocean, either." She knew the last sentance probably made no sense, but the ocean floor met her standards of the ground, as it was composed of dirt and rock. "Isn't there something about Earth being demolished?" she asked as she remembered something transfer boy-Mike, that was his name-had said.\n\n

16 Anne Wright Re: I'm picky about my sci-fi and fantasy books 59 Anne Wright 0 5

Zack Dill

June 25, 2005 10:08 AM

I'm changing the subject this time by Zack Dill

He was very grateful to Anne. He'd realized belatedly that pausing where he had would have made an opening to change the subject to Quiddich. He was almost certain Stephen, the Cravens, Dupree, and Briar would have; and that was eighty-three point three percent of the people he was really familiar with. He was less sure about Zoey.

So instead of needing to suffer a discussion on the wizarding sport, Zack instead grinned wider. "Yeah, the Vogons had to blow it up to make room for an interstellar expressway. That's the whole reason why Ford and Arthur left Earth in the first place. Most of the series takes place after Earth followed Alderaan's example and became a bunch of space rocks."

Waving around the room, his grin changed to something a little more devious. "Speaking of Alderaan, wanna join the campaign to change our house name? So far it's just me, but every person calling it that helps. Hey," he added as a question occurred to him, "just for curiosity's sake, are you wizard born, or from normal America? I just ask so I know whether or not I should translate myself before talking about computers and cell phones."\n\n

1 Zack Dill I'm changing the subject this time 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Anne Wright

June 25, 2005 4:02 PM

The subject line and I are old enemies. by Anne Wright

Anne's eyebrows went up a little at the explination that the Vogons blew up the world because they had to make room for an interstellar expressway. Whatever else Douglas Adams might or might not have had, he certainly seemed to have imagination. She was reminded of a dream she sometimes had about being trapped in a room full of mirrors and somehow knowing she had to blow all of them up one by one if she was ever going to get out. She usually woke right before smashing the last mirror. "Wow," she said aloud. "I'm gonna have to try to poke around the library this summer." If she could get Gwenhwyfar on her side, then maybe she could work things out so she could slip out for a few hours without anyone ever being any the wiser.

She hesitated before answering the question. "I'm a pureblood, but I was raised like a Muggle," she said. "So I guess you'd call me normal. I can't understand more than five or six words of pureblood lingo. My parents were Muggle Studies geeks, back in the day. As long as you don't get overly technical, I know about electronics and stuff." Okay, so maybe she was half-lying. Maybe the real reason her parents had raised her the way they had was because her sweet old grandma was going to kill them for getting married and having her. She had learned that sometimes it was better to ignore certain facts, and it was a fact that her parents had both liked Muggle Studies, when it was offered in their day.

"What about you?" she asked, although she had a feeling she knew. "Muggleborn?"

\n\n

16 Anne Wright The subject line and I are old enemies. 59 Anne Wright 0 5

Zack

June 25, 2005 10:08 PM

Yeah, I have my good days and bad days with it by Zack

Zack nodded as she explained her own background, feeling satisfied that he wouldn't need to curb his normal-speak for her. Most people couldn't follow his technical discussions even if they didn't come from the wizardly world.

At her guess about his origins, Zack grinned, and gestured widely as he agreed, "Completely and totally nonmagical. Raised in Detroit, with a grocery store clerk for a mom, and a gas pump attendant for my dad. My little brother is a utter idiot, and I'm your classic science nerd. You don't get any more mundane than that or, at least, we didn't until it turned out I could do real magic, which really took all of us by surprise. I still don't think my folks fully grasp the concept - they just tell people I got a scholarship for some fancy school, and I think they're buying their own propaganda.

"Even I had been pretty much convinced that it was just a dream that I teleported myself out of the locked closet back when I was eight. Completely shook my world view when I found out magic wasn't just in fiction. The guy from the Society to Promote Muggleborn Education had to demonstrate three different spells before I even considered the possibility that he wasn't just some conman trying to pull one over on the kids who played Magic: The Gathering at the Dragon's Den every friday."

His grin transfigured into a smirk, and tried to pass off a truth as a joke, "I'm still waiting for the aliens to show up. My latest theory is that Tolkien's elves didn't sail across water to reach the Undying Lands, but instead developed some way to sail across space, and settled on Vulcan. Think about it. It totally explains the ears."\n\n

0 Zack Yeah, I have my good days and bad days with it 0 Zack 0 5

Anne

June 28, 2005 10:21 PM

I start out witty and gradually lose imagination. by Anne

Anne barely restrained herself from humming the old song about the man wanting to go home from "Detroit City" as she found a link between the conversation and a song. It was just another annoying habit she had sworn a hundred times to break and promptly given up on. "Maybe," she said, trying to remember what she had read on the topic of Tolkien's elves. Not much, but she could remember it. "Makes sense,with the whole straight planes and bent world thing, but I think the aliens might already be here. My grandmother has a house-elf who could pass for E.T.'s twin brother." She and Norbie had endured a relationship based on mutual loathing ever since the day he had gotten the inspiration to set the house in an uproar by shrieking that 'Ain' was trying to kill them all after some incident she didn't even remember. That elf was the worst drama queen Anne had ever met.

She considered whether or not to elaborate on her own history. "I'm from Charleston, with a trolley tour guide mama and a Huddle House manager daddy, so I lived off South Carolina trivia and grilled cheese for years. No siblings, but I have a cousin whose picture should be beside the dictionary definition of 'idiot'." Time to steer the conversation back away from herself and keep it there.

"Which universe is Vulcan in again? I can't remember for the life of me." No need to mention that she wasn't entirely sure she had known to begin with. She had tried to stay reasonably familiar with every topic she considered worth knowing about, but there was always something that slipped past her notice. She thought she had read something about Vulcan before, but she might have been getting the planet mixed up with the Roman god or a book mixed up with a TV show. \n\n

16 Anne I start out witty and gradually lose imagination. 59 Anne 0 5

Zack

June 29, 2005 4:01 PM

a subject is fairly useless this far down a thread anyway by Zack

Zack stared at her. Douglas Adams was one thing, he could forgive the transgression of not recognizing his name. But Vulcan? To Zack, that was akin to not knowing where Jerusalem was. Okay, admittedly, given an outline of Israel, he would be unable to point to the location of Jerusalem, but he could recognize the city name and knew its general geographical region.

And, all right, yes, Jerusalem was important to three major religions (counting all divisions of Christianity as one), not just one, but still. It was somehow morally wrong that she didn't know even what it was from. He imagined Hindus felt something of the same when people couldn't even remember whether it was pig or cow they weren't supposed to eat.

Sure, he could handle it when people didn't catch his references about Alderaan. Sure, it got blown up in one of the biggest movies of all time. Sure, it had the distinction of being the first on-screen target of the Death Star. Sure, the famous line 'I felt a great disturbance in the Force' was in regards to its destruction. Sure, it was Princess Leia's homeworld, but somehow, it didn't bother him (much) when people didn't remember its name.

Vulcan was different. The difference between forgetting Alderaan and forgetting Vulcan was analogous to the difference between forgetting a dinner guest was vegan and forgetting a dinner guest was Hindu.

"Star Trek," he answered, a little stiffly.

Zack, after all, was not Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, or even Christian. Zack was a Trekkie.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Zack a subject is fairly useless this far down a thread anyway 0 Zack 0 5

Anne

July 02, 2005 10:03 PM

Probably... by Anne

Anne noticed Zach was staring at her for maybe the third or fouth time today. Had her face turned green or something? She was tempted to ask just what his problem was, but she had figured out over the past few months that she didn't need any more outright enemies than she could help, so she contented herself with matching him stare for stare.If there was any faint hostility or antagonism in her look, she was unaware of it. She was more curious as to what what up than anything.

She managed to figure out with minimal difficulty that it was her question about the origins of Vulcan that set off the staring competition. She immediately flushed and looked away. This was the second time she had apparently said the wrong thing, and her instinctual reaction was to get out of her current position as quickly as possible. Which was, of course, why she stubbornly stayed right where she was in relation to the rest of the common room. For once, a bit of her grandmother's droning came to mind at the moment when she needed it.

In the event you find that a comment on your part has had the wrong effect on those it was directed to, there are three things that may be done. One is to flirt. Two is to gracefully cover and then excuse yourself from the company once some form of reply has been made and normalcy hopefully reestablished. Three is to do all that save the last,and in its place play whatever hand is dealt to you. Purebloods rarely got anything right, but some of their social rules could be used, if they had their malignant growths of snobbiness removed. One was not an option, and she hadn't made up her mind between two and three.She smiled and looked back at the "company", not showing that she had noticed the stiffness of his answer.

"Of course," she said. "I get Star Trek mixed up with Star Wars, sometimes. It's been a while since I've had the chance to brush up on my universes." And that was the utter truth. Months now of only reading the heavy dull books approved by her grandmother and not seeing a television or anything even akin to one, unless one counted the maids' wizarding radio soap operas.Time to 'reestablish normalcy', if she didn't bungle it. "Ever read Llyod Alexander? He's good, even if his books are pretty low on the charts in terms of reading level. I loved The High King." \n\n

16 Anne Probably... 59 Anne 0 5

Zack Dill

July 11, 2005 12:28 PM

A title's goal is to draw attention, & we're ok alone by Zack Dill

Oh, well, he guessed he could understand a lesser mortal's confusion of Star Trek vs. Star Wars. It was the word structure of the titles - both began with the same word, and both had a second word made of four letters, consisting of three consonants and a single vowel. Anyone could get confused if they only had a passing familiarity with the two sci-fi universes.

Blasphemy satisfortorily explained and forgiven, Zack nodded his understanding of her problem, then almost immediately shook his head and flushed lightly at her knowledge of a series he hadn't gotten to. "No, sorry, I must have missed that one," he admitted, then grinned a little, "You recommend it for summer reading?"\n\n

1 Zack Dill A title's goal is to draw attention, & we're ok alone 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Anne

July 18, 2005 9:21 AM

Re: A title's goal is to draw attention, & we're ok alone by Anne

One point to you, Eileen, Anne thought when the advice worked. Diplomacy has its benefits. As if her grandmother could actually hear her, she quickly added, But I still say that breaking Lila's nose was the only way to get my point through her thick head. There had been times she regretted breaking her cousin's nose in her third month with the St.Martins, but not very many. She had gone from denying what had happened to being angry about it during that third month, and when Lila had opened her stupid mouth...

She pushed the thought aside. Lila St.Martin wasn't worth the bad feelings thinking about her generated. She would have a whole summer of Lila and her giggling idiot of a twin to deal with, so it was better not to mess up her time at Sonora by remembering that they existed.

"I'd recommend 'em, but that's me," she said, returning to the subject of Lloyd Alexander. "It's a spin-off of Welsh myth. Disney made a movie of The Black Cauldron even though it's actually the second book in the series. The Book of Three was before it." She shrugged. "The Disney people don't really do a lot of their stories based on stuff justice, but I reckon it's that way with most movies." \n\n

16 Anne Re: A title's goal is to draw attention, & we're ok alone 59 Anne 0 5

Zack

July 19, 2005 7:51 AM

movie magic by Zack

Zack's eyes widened in sudden recognition as she mentioned 'The Black Cauldron'. "Oh, yeah, I've heard of the Disney movie," he admitted, even if it wasn't exactly cool to still admit to that sort of thing when you were a half-pint twelve year old boy. But then, Zack did a lot of things that weren't, strictly speaking, 'cool'. "Never got around to seeing it, but the premise sounded interesting," he told her.

He grinned then, "'Course, that's no guarantee given what Disney does to their plots. Some of those movies - well, pretty much any movie based on a book for that matter - sometimes the only thing they have in common with each other is the name of the main character."

Then, because any argument had to be backed up with examples, he added the first one to come to mind, "My friend Randy saw the Bourne Identity, then read the books, and there's apparently two character names, and a couple of scene locations in common. That's even more true of Supremecy, which is more like the third book in the series, the Bourne Ultimatum, than Supremecy. Do you believe it? They completely dropped the primary villian for the movies."

Randy had ranted about the discrepencies with enough detail that Zack felt completely comfortable using a book and movie combination he had never seen nor read as his primary debate support. Most of the movies he saw were movies first, then novelized. The obvious exception being the Lord of the Rings. \n\n

0 Zack movie magic 0 Zack 0 5

Anne

August 09, 2005 6:18 PM

It's getting more elaborate all the time... by Anne

"My mama used to read the Bourne books,along with any other stuff like that she could get her hands on," Anne said when Zack brought up the discrepancies between them and their movies. "She got a real kick out of reading about these little fictional Muggles plotting against each other and shooting high-powered machine guns or whatever they did. Said they acted so much like purebloods that it wasn't even funny." She frowned slightly. "Problem is, I'm not sure if she ever fully understood that they weren't real."

She had never read the books or seen the movies and knew very little about them, but Zack's description of the plot-mangling warranted a comment. "I can believe it," she said. "Messing with stories like that should be made illegal. If the author had wanted to tell a different story, he or she would have written it instead of the one that got published. If the people had wanted another story, they wouldn't have bought so many copies of the book that a movie was a good option."

For her own argument, she decided to bring in a book she herself was familiar with. "Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights is another one the movies didn't do justice. I've seen five or six versions, and half of them ends halfway through the story, all of them cut a few key characters, and most of them added in things that made no sense at all."

A clock chimed another hour somewhere and Anne grimaced. She really did need to find Gwenhwyfar. Zack was much better company than her faintly antagonistic look-alike, but necessity was necessity. "I have to go find my cousin," she said apologetically. "She's in Crotalus, so it'll probably take a while. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Stuffing Romeo and Juliet into her bag, she reluctantly stood and slung it over her shoulder. "Nice meeting you, Zack." \n\n

16 Anne It's getting more elaborate all the time... 59 Anne 0 5