No need to make a song and dance about it on Aladren Commons

Henny B-F-R

June 26, 2012 3:42 PM

No need to make a song and dance about it by Henny B-F-R

Henny was neither especially fussed nor massively over-enthused about the idea of the end of term show. It was a nice idea, and she bore no grudge over being... 'requested' to participate. On the other hand, nor was she rushing to drape a feather-boa around her neck, be all eyes and teeth dahling, and engage in a nympholeptic chorus line. Currently, she was skimming her favourite collections of poems, mostly Romantic works (note, with a capital R) and Gothic fiction (again, with a capital. Henny didn't tend go in for genres that were not also proper nouns). A reading might not excite all, or even many or most, of the audience but she would enjoy doing it and Father would like it, and those seemed two highly reasonable criteria on which to base her contribution. She wasn't above changing the idea. If someone asked for volunteers in a group piece that she liked the sound of, she might join them. If someone asked to go in on her piece, she wouldn't mind acting out a scene rather than reciting. However, even if these events came to pass, time spent mulling over her favourite works was never time wasted.

The collection around her included both Muggle and Magical works. She bookmarked a particular Byron poem, intending to pick up a magical volume to look for the equivalent. The works had been written when secrecy laws had been somewhat laxer, and it was known that Byron – at the very least – had fraternised with a number of prominent wizards of the era. What was much more hotly debated was whether he had been one himself. Either way, it led to some interesting variations between sets of his work. Sometimes the same work would be reproduced for both a wizarding and a Muggle audience, sometimes a work stood alone in one oeuvre or another. As magic and the mystical were strong themes in Romantic works, it was interesting to see where it had been deemed appropriate to draw the line.

As she hunted amongst her books for the required volume, she happened to glance up and catch the eye of someone else making use of the common room. She smiled, inviting them to interrupt her activity if they wished. Otherwise, she was quite content to be left to her own devices.

13 Henny B-F-R No need to make a song and dance about it 211 Henny B-F-R 1 5

Thad Pierce

July 09, 2012 1:19 PM

Are you sure? by Thad Pierce

Thaddeus Pierce was on cordial terms with nearly everyone in his house. There were, of course, some he liked better than others simply out of proximity or common interests, but he tried to be polite even to those he had little in common with or suspected of having muggle roots. There was no call to get nasty just because a person had not been given the opportunity to select the right parents, and they all had to live and work together in a relatively small space. Even Grandmother would understand and approve of this reasoning, so even Kitty - the person he was most certain above all others was a muggleborn - received pleasant greetings when they crossed paths.

The origins of Henrietta Boxton Fox Reynolds were more ambiguous. She generally went by a nickname which might have suggested a lower social circle, but Thad was hardly one to talk since he used one himself when he was amongst friends. He wasn't sure what to make of her three surnames either. It could be she was the last remaining heir of two dead or dying families, or it could mean something much more liberal or complicated.

Believing it rude to ask, Thad generally accepted these ambiguities as something he may learn in time but he would treat her as a proper peer until proven otherwise, at which time he would maintain an indistinguishable level of propriety toward her but would perhaps begin to limit the amount of time he spent in her company without it seeming rude.

For now, though, he wasn't entirely sure of her station, and any Aladren would surely understand and forgive curiousity about a book even had it been Kitty who was reading it.

"Good day, Miss Boxton Fox Reynolds," he greeted politely. He wasn't entirely sure if he had permission to use her given name, so it was always better to error on the side of proper ettiquette, no matter how much of a mouthful it was. Besides which, he kind of enjoyed the way her long name rolled off the tongue. It felt even more formal somehow.

"May I enquire as to which book you are reading?"

1 Thad Pierce Are you sure? 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Henny B-F-R

July 09, 2012 1:41 PM

Aladren present Keats: The Muscial? I'm sure... by Henny B-F-R

Henny was in no way ashamed of her background. The DISCUSS and rainbow flag badges sewn to her school bag certainly attested to the fact that she wasn't trying to hide anything. However, she didn't make a point of walking up to those who she knew might have opposing views and shouting 'I have gay adoptive parents, want to fight about it?' She felt there was little to be achieved by being antagonistic on the subject, though she was perfectly happy to fight her corner if necessary. Therefore, as far as the Purer blooded (and therefore generally less liberal minded) members of the school were concerned, she maintained a polite distance, matching any social interaction they gave her. If they smiled or said 'good morning' she said it back. If they made small talk, so did she. If they decided to start a political debate, she would argue back. However, that – mercifully – had not yet happened.

“Good day, Mr. Pierce,” she greeted Thaddeus as he joined her in the common room, again applying her policy of like for like. She didn't feel the need to be formal but she understood enough to know that he might find it rude for her not to be so, and she wasn't in the business of offending people. “I'm quite happy for you to call me Henny, by the way,” she added, as she felt the only way around this was to be to the point. She didn't add that he could call her Henrietta if he was uncomfortable with nicknames because really no one did call her that and she felt that she would find it a little strange to be called it.

“This one is Byron, magical version,” she said, retrieving the book she'd been hunting for from the stack, “And this one is the Muggle version. I don't know whether you're aware that he wrote for both audiences?” It was a somewhat rhetorical question, a way of imparting the knowledge without being so patronising as to assume that Thaddeus had not known. Given that he was speaking to her without knowing her bloodline, she doubted he was so easily inflamed as to be insulted by the suggestion that he might be familiar with a Muggle work of literature. “I was just perusing a few favourites to see if anything leapt out at me to recite for the concert, though I'm open to any other options that might come along. Please, help yourself if you're interested,” she added, indicating the pile of books. It wasn't an offer she would feel safe to make outside of Aladren but she felt her housemates could be trusted in this respect. “Had you had any thoughts on what you might do for the concert?” she enquired.

13 Henny B-F-R Aladren present Keats: The Muscial? I'm sure... 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5

Thad Pierce

July 09, 2012 4:10 PM

You have a good point there by Thad Pierce

Thad smiled as she returned his greeting, nodding in acknowledgement of her invitation to call her Henny. If he remembered correctly, she had done so at least once before, so he made a mental note of her preferred form of address, only mildly lamenting that he might not get to say Boxton Fox Reynolds again. Perhaps he could mention her in passing to Alicia sometime and use the full compilation then. "Thank you, Henny. You may call me Thad," he returned, not because they were close, but because he thought it would be strange to be called Mr. Pierce or even Thaddeus if he was calling her Henny. It just didn't feel equitable. It would perhaps have been different if nobody called him Thad, but he had made the invitation to a number of people in the school by now, and it seemed more effort than it was worth to try to keep some people calling him one thing while others called him something else.

He glanced over each of the books she indicated, verifying they were both by the same author but unable to tell just by the cover that one was intented for muggles. Further proof of the axiom that books should not be judged by them.

He had heard of Byron before, though he couldn't have said what he wrote, nevermind that he had written for muggles as well. picking up one of the other books in the stack, upon her invitation to do so, and flipping carefully through several pages, he made a guess that Byron, and probably all the authors in this pile, were poets.

He had never really understood poetry, and when he asked mom about it, she generally ended up telling him that he was analyzing it too much, and he should just feel it. He didn't know what she meant by that though, and she couldn't seem to explain it. So he had tucked that section of the library into the category, 'Maybe when I am older.'

He felt kind of impressed Henny seemed to understand it now, but she was an Aladren, so clearly she was smart.

At her question, he shook his head. "I haven't decided yet. I thought I would work with Evan, but we haven't talked about what we might do, and if its anything like our craft last year, we probably still won't know what we're doing until we step off the stage." He shrugged and smiled wryly, still not comforable with the lack of foreplanning Evan liked to work under, but accepting that this seemed the best way to come out of the concert having done something creative. Creativity was not one of Thad's gifts.

He returned the poetry book to her pile, adding, "I promise not to steal your idea, though."

It was an easy promise to make. He didn't think Evan was into poetry any more than he was.

1 Thad Pierce You have a good point there 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Henny B-F-R

July 09, 2012 6:22 PM

The 3.30 slot will be mandatory and scheduled spontaneity.. by Henny B-F-R

Henny smiled and gave a little nod of acknowledgement as he invited her to call him Thad. She mentally marked him down in the column of 'definitely doesn't have a stick up his backside.' That wasn't to say that he was going to embrace her background, no questions asked and want to hand out pro-gay-adoption leaflets in the park with her. She imagined that, if certain debates arose, she would find him considerably less friendly. However, he wasn't looking down on her just for being her. He was willing to be on abbreviated first name terms and converse, even when Muggle books were mentioned. They were little baby steps but she found herself glad to see the Purebloods taking them. Compared to some of the stories she'd heard, this was them being positively open-minded. There were definitely shades of Pureblood.

He seemed to flick through her copy of Keats more to be polite rather than with any genuine interest, and to offload it back onto the table as soon as possible. Either poetry, as whole, was not his thing, or he was worried about reading Muggle works. At least he was still being polite though, if that was the case. There was also the possibility that it might seem a bit odd or rude to go off into serious reading and abandon the conversation but this was Aladren. The people in here couldn't resist a book that genuinely interested them.

“Thank you,” she smiled as Thad promised not to steal her idea, deciding not to tease him with the suggestion that there was plenty of poetry to go around.

“Your piece definitely sounds like it will be exciting and original. I'll look forward to it.” She felt like the next step was to ask who would be coming to support him but she could see the very easy route by which that could descend into a hostile and highly political conversation. This was pleasant, and she wasn't especially keen to give it up. “Do you know what anyone else is planning on doing?” she asked.

13 Henny B-F-R The 3.30 slot will be mandatory and scheduled spontaneity.. 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5

Thad Pierce

July 09, 2012 9:48 PM

Oh, good. My spontaneity must be tightly scheduled. by Thad Pierce

"Thank you," Thad answered almost as a reflex, despite his doubt that any act that went together as organically as their craft from last year (which Thad honestly still didn't know how to identify beyond 'a craft') could possibly turn out well. To be fair, anything that involved Evan would almost certainly be original at any rate.

Also, Thad would surely find it exciting as he worried about making a fool in front of his parents, his teachers, everyone who would be voting for Head Boy in four years, and the school as a whole. It wouldn't necessarily be as thrilling to the spectators as it was to him, but hopefully they'd come up with something that was at least interesting.

"I haven't heard any final plans yet," he admitted. "I think the Fourth Year Teppenpaws," a group cohesive enough that Thad thought they had earned capital letters, and one that Thad paid attention to since Derry was still known as his biological cousin, "are doing a play or something about zumbies, whatever those are." He frowned a little, in uncertain confusion rather than disapproval, "I think it's a muggle medical thing. A play about healers, maybe?"

1 Thad Pierce Oh, good. My spontaneity must be tightly scheduled. 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Henny B-F-R

July 11, 2012 2:00 PM

Can't risk it getting out of control now... by Henny B-F-R

“Zombies?” Henny confirmed/corrected Thad. “Zombies are a Muggle horror thing. They're.... they're kind of like Inferi,” she added, her tone implying something of a loose association. “Only they don't really do anyone's bidding, they just go around trying to eat brains. And they're not real,” she added, hoping that wasn't patronising. Thad came from a world where monsters were real and, although he was aware that magical things didn't exist in the Muggle world, that didn't necessarily preclude the existence of non-magical nasty things. Henny tended to avoid horror films and so was unable to explain the recurring trope of a viral outbreak as the possible source of Thad's idea that this was somehow going to be a medical drama.

“I wonder how that will go down... I mean, I don't really like horror but I think the point of it is supposed to be that people enjoy pretending something's real and letting themselves get scared by it. Surely it's a bit different if you're showing it to an audience who knows that that kind of thing is real?” she mused out loud. But if it was so universal to enjoy being frightened, what did wizards do for horror stories? Were they all about horrible things that were distorted versions of the Muggle world or did they use their own monsters? She'd heard some magical bedtime stories growing up which were cautionary tales about the dangers of such creatures (not that she needing telling, really) but did grown-ups then make up more realistic stories with which to frighten themselves? “Do wizards tell horror stories about vampires and inferi?” she asked Thad, figuring that he might have more insight into it than her.

13 Henny B-F-R Can't risk it getting out of control now... 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5