A good year on Tumbleweed

Headmaster Brockert

December 11, 2018 5:57 AM

Midsummer Fair (TUMBLEWEED) by Headmaster Brockert

This year, regarding the Midsummer event, Mortimer had gotten lucky. The Arizona Magical State Fair had fallen at the right time for them to take advantage of it. This made his life significantly easier as he didn't have to go about planning and hiring and debating what the fair should entail. Everyone tended to have opinions of how things should be and what they should do and well, they didn't always agree. And sometimes, things were very much what he didn't think they should be.

However, by having the organizers of the state fair do everything, he didn't have to worry about the responsibility of deciding. Of trying to make the students happy. Not that Mortimer was one to care about their happiness but he didn't want to deal with complaining parents or being blamed for anything. After all, he shouldn't have to be held responsible for things the rest of the staff or the board decided and if pressed by any angry parents or other family members-Mortimer was slightly concerned about facing Uncle Clifford's wrath because his great-great-granddaughter hadn't been on the Head Student ballot, he didn't really care that much about what the old man thought in general but just having to deal with such things irritated him-he would pass the blame where it belonged.

Honestly, sometimes he really did wish he had the power to just unilaterally decided things, whether it was what they did for the Midsummer Event or who got prefect and Head Student. Of course, the way things were he could avoid accusations of nepotism and other biases as well as pass blame onto others. Though he still really didn't think students should be choosing who got the Head student badges since that just turned things into a popularity contest. Unfortunately, it was Tradition and while as a pureblood, Mortimer had some appreciation for Tradition, this was a rather stupid one.

Anyway, today the population of Sonora-staff and students alike-were attending the Arizona Magical State Fair, an event full of rides such as soap bubbles that the students could ride in and "fun" houses that included magical mirrors that did things like dress people up in a costumes and show them as a different gender. There was also a bucking broomstick for the more daring students as well as other rides.

Of course, there was also food such as cotton candy that made one levitate a bit and walking tacos that actually walked as well as live music by bands Mortimer had never heard of.

For the more competitive there were contests such as livestock competitions-with magical animals of course-arts and crafts including photography, quilting, crocheting, knitting, fine arts, textile garments, culinary items and horticulture. He knew the beginners had submitted items for the horticulture contest so he was going to have to see the items Allegra and Topaz had submitted. Ruby had one in there too since she was very good at flower arrangements. There was also a craft beer and wine competition but the students weren't allowed to enter that. He, of course, planned to go see it though.

They arrived at the fair and Mortimer handed out the yearbooks. Then he headed off to beer tent, a place with no students and lots of alcohol, the two things he wanted most.

OOC-Welcome to our midsummer event. Yearbooks are available here- https://sites.google.com/view/sonora-yearbook-sa31. Please be advised that we are in Tumbleweed and not on school grounds. You may make up different rides and whatnot. House winners will be announced midway through.

Subthreads:

Catch me if you can (Jasmine) by Peyton O'Malley with Jasmine

The End (Tag Joe) by Tasha DuBois with Raine Collindale, Joe Umland

How unfair. by Beau Tate with Michael DiCaprio

Satisfied by Topaz Brockert

The penultimate end. by Lily Spencer with Jozua Sparks

This looks fairly promising by Isaac Song with Natalie Atwater

Being myself by Dorian Montoir with Connor Priory

What to do? by Gary Harper with Ness McLeod

A good year by Nathan Xavier with Nevaeh Reed

Ending on a high by Kyte Collindale

I am . . . very Aladren apparently. by Zevalyn Ives with Emerald Brockert, Winston Pierce

No prizes for guessing where I'll be by Cleo James with Ivy Brockert

All too soon (tag any fellow beginner grade) by Evelyn Stones with Heinrich Hexenmeister

Doing the friendly roommate thing (tag Juniper) by Georgia Kirkly with Juniper Brockert

Running out of ideas for titles by Caitlin Pierce

A Fair Day for a Date with a Fair Lady (tag Tess) by Ben Pierce

House Cup Winners by DH Skies

11 Headmaster Brockert Midsummer Fair (TUMBLEWEED) 6 Headmaster Brockert 1 5

Peyton O'Malley

December 13, 2018 6:26 PM

Catch me if you can (Jasmine) by Peyton O'Malley

Peyton was really excited about the fair. Even though she was normally not even remotely competitive, Ivy and Connor had really encouraged her to enter a baking competition that was being held, so she had decided to make gingerbread people. They had been a big hit over the holidays.

Of course, with gingerbread people, there came decorating. For this, Peyton had enlisted Jasmine's help because that seemed like something that would be right up the Crotalus's alley. Plus, it would be more fun to do this with her best friend and share any prize they won. Any honor would belong to both of them.

And Peyton really kind of did want to win. Eden was always winning at Quidditch and in all honesty, the third year felt like...she wasn't as good somehow. She did feel a little better since she (and Ryan) had been included this year but generally speaking, the other girl always seemed to shine-in a non-literal way, as opposed to the other third year girls and Peyton felt like people thought Eden was special and she wasn't. The thing was though, that the Crotalus had interests and talents that usually didn't involve competition even though people always seemed to enjoy things she cooked or baked.

Once they got to the fair, Peyton went to the cooking pavillion. She would have time later to go on the rides and whatnot but she had to prepare her gingerbread people. They were already baked because she'd had to store them for five days but they still needed decorating. She hadn't done this already because she didn't want the icing to get smudged."Ready?"

Peyton opened the container and removed the gingerbread people. She placed them on baking trays so they could be decorated. She turned her back to get out the decorating supplies and when she turned around she noticed something off. Peyton frowned as she counted. "Where's the other one?" She asked Jasmine.

Then she heard a little voice coming from under the table and something small and brown dash by. ""Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man ."

"Seriously?" Peyton said, looking at Jasmine. "We better go catch him I guess." She sighed. Running wasn't one of those things she really excelled at.

Before she took off after it, she quickly imbolized the rest of the gingerbread people with a spell. "Sorry, but it's bad enough we have to go after that one. I don't want to spend all day hunting the lot of you down." Peyton apologized.

OOC-Connor and Ivy are mine as well. Permission to have Jasmine there already confirmed by her author.

11 Peyton O'Malley Catch me if you can (Jasmine) 1403 Peyton O'Malley 0 5

Tasha DuBois

December 16, 2018 11:05 AM

The End (Tag Joe) by Tasha DuBois

Tasha was rather excited about the fair. She had gone to fairs before but never a magical state fair so she was quite looking forward to the new experience. Especially the food. Fairs in general had things like cotton candy, corn dogs, funnel cakes and nachos. Plus there were culinary competitions which included meats,cheeses and honeys that people had made from what she understood.

However her time at Sonora was coming to a close and Tasha was feeling surprisingly sentimental. For one thing, the last fair that they'd had had been her favorite event because of it had been an international fair which had been right up the Aladren's alley. It had not only influenced her midterm breaks ever since but had been what first caused her to become friends with Joe.

Not only that but she was genuinely worried that she was leaving Juniper here to fend for herself. Yes, Tasha logically knew that this was inevitable because her cousin wouldn't be able to leave early and she couldn't stay-and really didn't want to. The Aladren was going to be leaving right from school to join her parents in Iceland. She was really looking forward to that, having not been there before. Anyway, she was leaving so Finn had better be there for her cousin.

The other thing that sort of bothered about graduating was that,well, she was unlikely to ever see Joe again. With her traveling and their generally different places in society, they probably wouldn't be able to maintain much of a friendship and that made Tasha sort of sad. The Teppenpaw was pretty much the only person here outside her family who'd given her much of a chance at all.

She got her yearbook and approached the other seventh year. "Do you want to hang out with me today?"

11 Tasha DuBois The End (Tag Joe) 323 Tasha DuBois 0 5

Beau Tate

December 17, 2018 4:55 PM

How unfair. by Beau Tate

Despite being forced to enter the horticulture competition-where Beau had managed to make something that was passable so he wouldn't shame himself or his family by being terrible but not great, because he was a boy and while there were probably boys who could do well on it, flowers were much too girly for him to be interested in and put effort into, and to do too well would make him feel a bit less masculine and thus also ashamed-the fair sounded like lots of fun. Better than some stupid ball. Beau was only just starting to notice girls-the two in his year were rather attractive-and he definitely wasn't all that into dressing up and dancing.

Not that he couldn't dance. He'd had lessons in it since he was very young. It was just that it was something his sister liked and excelled at, which made the Pecari less interested in it, especially as Arianna was quite critical of him for not being as good at it as she was. Also, dancing was so...girly too. As was being into clothes, so that was why Beau wasn't into the ball. Also, he hadn't been into girls yet back then.

Anyway, the fair would be full of rides and food which was much better than wearing formal, uncomfortable clothing. This was more of a chance to let his hair down and have a good time.

And Beau liked having a good time. In fact, he hated being bored which he admittedly often was.

He received his yearbook and opened it up to the second years' page. He frowned. Only one award? Okay it wasn't a bad one but still, only one ? Of course, he didn't see anything else that particularly suited him either. The Pecari considered himself athletic enough but since he didn't play Quidditch-he didn't want to deal with all the harsh practices, especially if each house went back to having their own teams, as Pecari had a history of captains who took the sport way too seriously and sucked any fun out of it-it was unlikely that anyone realized that.

Actually, that was probably why Beau didn't play Quidditch at school in general. Lack of drive and competitive spirit.

Still, yeah, maybe they should change the awards so there were more things that suited him so he'd get more.

The second year quickly flipped to the sixth year section, scanned it and groaned inwardly. Great, Arianna had gotten three awards to his one . She was never going to let him live this down. And at least two of hers were ones his parents would be supremely impressed with. Thank Merlin he was a boy or Mother might even think Most Adventurous was a bad thing.

Beau sighed to himself and closed the book. Well, if he was Most Adventurous and that was all he was, then he was going to go live up to it. He was going to go on all the fastest, most exciting rides and try every food no matter what it was. He just had to find someone to go with. That would probably be a lot more fun and he liked fun.

Spotting someone, he said. "Hey, wait up! Want to go on rides and stuff with me?"

11 Beau Tate How unfair. 1416 Beau Tate 0 5

Topaz Brockert

December 18, 2018 3:42 PM

Satisfied by Topaz Brockert

The fair wasn't something that Topaz felt was going to be very interesting. Carnival rides were for children and even though she'd had to be entered in the horticulture competition-her entry full of attractive plants that also had all sort of fun side effects if ingested as well as some that gave off some very foul smells or tried to bite off fingers if they got too close or had other affects that made them all a little more interesting than the boring plants they were supposed to use. Well, okay, they were the same plants....sort of. She had tweaked them a bit-there was no taxidermy competition.

Which was kind of annoying. After all there were quilting competitions. Not that Allegra had entered them. And Ruby had the horticulture one and was sure to do a lot better than Topaz since she was kind of into that sort of thing whereas the first year had just used her entry as test subjects.

So what was she going to do all day? Sabotage the better horticulture planters? Or at least Ness's? Topaz wasn't sure she cared that much about winning, though she probably had the most interesting and original display. If she were judging it, that's what she'd choose but things like this were usually judged on superficial beauty. Still, the Aladren would certainly like to do better than Ness or Allegra, the former of whom she hated and the latter of whom she could not allow to think she was weakening her dominance over.

Yearbooks were handed out and Topaz opened hers up. She looked at the Whole School awards and smirked. She had-out of the entire school-won Worst Enemies with her roommate. That meant that they hated each other more than anyone else in the entire school. It was something to be proud of.

Then Topaz turned to the First Year page and scanned it. Yes! She had won Biggest Brain. She had beaten out her roommate for it. That meant Topaz was smarter than Ness was. Well, okay, she didn't need a yearbook to tell her that but still, it was nice that others understood that she was not only smarter than her roommate but everyone else too.

And yeah, the other Aladren had won two awards while Topaz had only gotten one, but hers was better. One of Ness's was Quidditch Obsessed and that wasn't anything to be proud of.

At least Allegra hadn't gotten more than her. Now to see what her sisters got. She flipped to their class pages. Oh good, they'd each only gotten one thing too and Emerald hadn't gotten Biggest Brain. Topaz was satisfied.

Now to find something to do for the rest of the day. The first year wandered around for a a bit before she came to a building that said Transfiguration Expo. She entered the building, happy to finally find something that had potential to be intellectually stimulating.

11 Topaz Brockert Satisfied 1427 Topaz Brockert 0 5

Lily Spencer

December 18, 2018 6:17 PM

The penultimate end. by Lily Spencer

The Fair was always the most exciting Midsummer Event, and this one threatened to top the cake. Lily had never been to a state fair before and she was looking forward to it. Getting off school grounds was also a treat. Sometimes it felt like they were locked in for most of the year, and she was developing the itch to get out. She would miss it, of course, but she couldn’t wait to explore the world outside of academia. She couldn't believe they had only a year left.

She had dressed in casual Muggle clothing today: a loose open shirt that revealed a graphic T-shirt underneath with black jeans and sneakers. Even though she thought casual robes were the most comfortable clothing in the world, it was nice to wear something else and stand out. Lily needed to get a haircut when she returned to London; it looked hoppy and rather unkempt right now, making her look like some sort of male pop star. It was, however, fun to run her fingers through it.

The fair was busy and there were so many things to look at. Lily wanted to share the moments with her best friend, but she also wanted to give him space to meet with other friends if he liked. She had asked Jozua to go on rides with her later on anyway, so she would hopefully see him then.

First, she visited the horticulture contest to support the Pecari first years who’d submitted something. She was very glad she wasn’t taking Herbology anymore; that class had been an absolute drag for her. Lily wandered around, saying hello to nearly everyone, whether she knew them well or not, and ate a walking taco that nearly jumped out of her hands. Afterwards, she took a quick break to peek at the yearbook. She was surprised to see her photo as the face of Pecari this year, and she was very pleased about it. The other awards she’d received were rather fitting as well. She would have to keep this one.

Becoming Head Girl was not exactly something Lily wanted, and she had voted for someone else. It was a high honour, one she wasn’t sure she deserved, but she was proud of how hard she’d worked to improve after becoming a Prefect. Her parents had recognised that much, which was all that really mattered after all. But she hoped Jozua would make it as Head Boy; he didn’t seem particularly keen on it, but she thought he’d be good at it. Besides, it seemed almost treacherous for her to vote for any other wizard.

A bit later, Lily went to queue for a very tall ride. It shot the riders straight up into the air and then dropped them about halfway before bouncing back up and down till it gently reached the bottom. It looked thrilling and Lily had never seen anything like it before. “Have you been on this before?” she asked a friend in the queue. She was a bit nervous, but also excited to see what it would be like. “There are so many rides I want to go on.”

40 Lily Spencer The penultimate end. 357 Lily Spencer 0 5

Michael DiCaprio

December 19, 2018 1:25 AM

Let's make it fair then by Michael DiCaprio

Of the fair, Mikey was most excited about the horticulture contest. He and the rest of his classmates had submitted something to it. While he had struggled a lot in the beginning of the year, by the time the fair rolled around, he felt like he had a good chance of winning, if not at least making it to the final round of judging.

The other part he was looking forward to were all the rides. That was the best part about a state fair, and maybe the flying pig races. He went to the one in Denver every summer with his family, but there they had to pay for everything individually. Here, since they were students, it seemed a lot less costly. This was way better than that lame ball last year. This was going to be fun.

Mikey grabbed a yearbook with a, "thank you" to the Headmaster and then flipped open to his year. He was surprised to find that he'd won three awards. The last one about explosions made him a little bit peeved, but he brushed it off. It was a little bit true, if they were comparing him to the rest of his yearmates. He hadn't caused an explosion yet, though.

After glancing at a few other pages, he shut the book and ran off to find the cotton candy stand. It was easy to find, and he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of levitating as he walked eating it. He started making his way towards the rides when his roommate called out to him. Not specifically by name, but Mikey didn't have anyone else around him.

"Yeah, totally!" Mikey replied, and went to join him. He didn't really know Beau too well, except that he was from Jamaica, but this would be a good time to get to know him better. "Which ride do you want to go on first? One of my favorites is the soap bubble ride," he said. They had that one at the magical fair in Denver as well and he loved it.

19 Michael DiCaprio Let's make it fair then 1406 Michael DiCaprio 0 5

Isaac Song

December 19, 2018 2:49 AM

This looks fairly promising by Isaac Song

It had only been one little walk, albeit with quite a serious talk, but already Isaac wanted to spend more time getting to know her. He didn't know if it was developing into a crush or anything, since the only crush he'd ever had was on a celebrity he'd never met. But he was sure Lauren would tease him about it if she found out.

In any case, Isaac tried not to overthink it and decided to simply go with the flow. She was talking to him and willing to get to know him, which was a huge plus in his book, and so he was simply happy with that for now. It was festival day today and he was pretty excited about it. One of the bands he liked was going to be playing there, and he couldn't wait to see them live.

When Isaac entered the fair, he was hit with a barrage of sights, sounds, and smells. Especially the smells. It was like sweet, savory, and animals all rolled into one. Wasn't exactly unpleasant, just weird. Isaac went to the culinary contest tent first and handed in his submission. He had baked a spiced zucchini bread loaf, hoping that he'd win with the unique flavors. He had only made it once before, but his first attempt had turned out well, so there was something to hope for. The announcement of the winner wasn't until later, so he had some time to walk around.

After dropping off his loaf, Isaac sat outside of the tent and looked through the yearbook. He didn't know the first years very well, so he skipped them and went to the fourth year page, peeking just to see what awards a certain someone got. He turned to his year after a brief look and saw that he'd won two awards. Most Creative and Most Adventurous weren't bad awards to win. He could be happy about that. He turned the page to see the other years, admiring how attractive people at this school were. He thought Zevalyn Ives and Theresa Whittaker were especially pretty, but Theresa was a little intimidating for him to talk to and Zev was cool as a friend.

Having a yearbook was kind of fun, and Isaac wished he'd brought a pen or something to get his friends to sign it like his non-magical friends did at their schools back home. He could find something to transfigure into one, but coming right off of his CATS, he didn't want to concentrate on that complicated stuff right now. He just wanted to have fun.

Isaac got up and dusted off his pants. He made his yearbook disappear, and then scanned the crowd to find a classmate he could hang out with. "Hey," he said, jogging up to them. "Want to go get ice cream? We could check out some of the rides after."

19 Isaac Song This looks fairly promising 375 Isaac Song 0 5

Dorian Montoir

December 20, 2018 12:53 PM

Being myself by Dorian Montoir

Dorian was excited for the fair. It seemed like there would be a lot to see and do there. It was sort of like a museum, only outside, and with things that ordinary people had made. Whilst he admired the great collections in proper museums, A Museum of Ordinary Things also struck him as a very pleasing idea. People could be capable of creating many beautiful and interesting things, and it was nice that some of those would have the chance to be acknowledged. He shared these thoughts with his friends as they ambled into the fair, finding himself to be in a cheerful mood. The thought of this, of a day spent in good company, and of celebrating the nicer sides of humanity – the ones that wanted to make, and to show, and to learn, rather than to destroy – was uplifting.

He was also a little on the nervous side. He wasn’t quite sure what had spurred him on to do it… Or rather, he knew that a combination of several things had, and he wasn’t quite sure whether any of them would have been enough on their own… There had been the conversations with Jehan, about not showing shame in who you were. Admittedly, Jehan had been talking about that in relation to other subjects, but it had clicked even more firmly into place (Dorian had never disagreed with the principle as such, just with the safety and practicality of applying it) when he had had the showdown with Simon in Defence Against the Dark Arts. That defiance, along with the knowledge that his friends would support and appreciate his effort, had been channelled into him submitting something to the art tent. He was a little put off by the notion of it being a competition – he did not want to compete at arts, or at anything really, he just wanted to make something nice, to celebrate himself and his friends, and to share it publicly. It seemed a good embodiment of all the more serious conversations he had had with them this year.

The piece in question was the poem ‘Grasses,’ which he had written to Jehan about over the summer, done in his best calligraphy. It was a classic, and it fitted the occasion well, seeing as it dealt with the subject of friends parting but friendship never dying. He knew that his calligraphy was, according to his grandfather, rather behind that of his Chinese cousins. However, they weren’t in China, and he suspected it would pass the inspection of an American audience. Dorian did not think of himself as particularly artistic, and had indeed turned down Katerina’s invitation to art club with a polite note thanking her but assuring her that he was not suitable. Calligraphy was just something he had been taught and that he could make a passable go at. He had also spent time trying to emulate decorative styles he had seen to add to the piece. That part was harder. He had, after much practise, been able to make a decent version of some grass and nestle two little rabbits in it to represent him and Jehan, the style copied from the ones on his teaset, which were simple and minimalist, composed of a few quick brush strokes, yet bursting with animation. He had been unsure what to add to represent Tatya, as dragons were both harder to draw and did not really fit the theme. He had ended up opting for a hummingbird, seeing as she had mentioned her family drawing that comparison before. He was less satisfied with it than the rabbits but he thought it was at least recongisable.

It was tempting to rush straight to the art pavilion, but Dorian also wanted it to be as much of a surprise as possible, and so he was trying to keep his patience and let his friends choose to set the itinerary, deciding it would be more fun to let them discover it in their own time. However, he found himself itching more and more to at least see it – to check people were not laughing, if he was honest – and so he excused himself from Tatya and Jehan on the pretext of going to look for a washroom. He headed towards the art pavilion but as he approached, someone coming out approached him.

OOC – permission obtained from Jehan and Tatya to say they were hanging out together.

13 Dorian Montoir Being myself 1401 Dorian Montoir 0 5

Beau

December 20, 2018 3:52 PM

Sounds good to me by Beau

Beau grinned as his roommate joined him. Even though they'd been sharing a room for two years now, they still didn't know each other well. He wasn't quite sure why since he didn't find anything objectionable about Mikey.

Of course, there wasn't really much Beau found objectionable in most people. Maybe people who were too Type A. At best they were just really tightly wound and needed to relax. Spend some time, as some of his relatives said, with Great-Grandpa Frank. The Pecari wasn't sure exactly what was meant by that but he got the impression that it was some sort of way of saying they needed to relax. Why they didn't just say that, Beau had no idea.

However, the problem that he had with Type A people was that they were control-freaks and expected everyone around them to be just the way they were. They didn't have much patience with others and were highly aggressive and competitive. They had a need for dominance. Arianna was sort of like that, especially the aggressive and needing to dominate part. Beau was more Type B himself. Things didn't get to him as much and people like his sister didn't understand why he didn't have more drive and ambition. The Pecari didn't really know why either, it was just how he was and in all honesty, he thought his way was better. He wasn't the one who was going to drive people away and end up in an early grave from stress.

Of course, since Type A people had no patience with those like him, Beau was likely to drive them away but he was perfectly okay with that. He really didn't want them around anyway, trying to control and dominate him. That wasn't anything he should have to put up with. Nobody should but especially not him.

"Yeah, that sounds fun." Beau replied. "I really want to try some the really exciting rides too."

11 Beau Sounds good to me 1416 Beau 0 5

Gary Harper

December 20, 2018 8:42 PM

What to do? by Gary Harper

Gary walked around the fair rather aimlessly. He looked around with mild disinterest at all of the various fair things, but didn't really feel like engaging with any of them. He was just in one of those moods. After covering the grounds a time or two, he found a bench and plopped down on it. He sighed and watched the crowd swirl around him before digging out his idea notebook. He had purposefully left his main notebooks and binders behind. He was going to the fair, that's no place to bury yourself in a notebook, it's a place to have fun and do things. So, he had limited himself to his little idea pad, just in case inspiration struck. Also a pencil or two, the notepad wouldn't be much good without them. And... maybe some dice, because you never know... but that was it. No other books or anything. He was here to have fun at the fair. So, why wasn't he? The thought bounced around a bit in his head. Why was he just sitting here on a bench watching everyone else have fun?

He finally saw it, he'd made his WIS check, and that led him to the cause of his apathy. In the midst of those crowds, the vast majority of the people were traveling in groups or pairs. That was what it boiled down to, he wanted someone to hang out with. Hmm... he had people to hang out with, didn't he? He had his D&D group, and maybe his roommate Jehan. Maybe he could even try to find Jasmine... that thought was struck down nearly instantaneously as his stomach twisted violently at the thought of the girl. That had been a new reaction, he'd had to analyze it later. He had a quest now, find some people to hang out with! He stood and considered his options, he hadn't recalled seeing anyone while he had been walking earlier, but he hadn't really been looking either. He was going to have to canvas the place again and see who he could find.

Walking around the crowds again, he began making purposeful perception checks. Apparently none of them got high enough, or they weren't out in the open. They must be inside one of the buildings. He turned towards one of the closest buildings, it was marked 'Fun House'. This could be 'fun'. It was not well lit inside the fun house, which increased the DC of the checks he needed to make, and the mirrors weren't making this any easier either. He stopped for a moment to look at 'cowboy' Gary, then at 'astronaut' Gary. Then he stood staring at one for awhile before muttering out loud to no one in particular, "I don't make the prettiest girl in the world."

2 Gary Harper What to do? 1404 Gary Harper 0 5

Nathan Xavier

December 20, 2018 9:19 PM

A good year by Nathan Xavier

Nathan walked among the horticulture displays, partly supervising the students checking out the schools' contributions, but mostly enjoying the horticultural displays for himself, both those made by his own students and the ones submitted by other people in the Arizona wizarding community. He could tell that the beginner's work was still very amateur in comparison to some of the professional exhibits offered by landscapers hoping to earn name recognition and business from their spectacular (and much larger) presentations, but they had done well in the 10-15 year old age group. Many got ribbons (admittedly, not difficult at this level of competition, with multiple first, second, and third place ribbons getting handed out, and even more earning honorable mentions, but ribbons were not a given and about a third of the entries had not gotten any). He was very pleased with how well they did.

As he looked at the floral arrangement done by Sylvia Mordue, he twirled his wedding ring around his finger and smiled fondly as he recalled her contribution to his wedding. This arrangement, he thought, was overall better, which he attributed in part to the practice earned by the first one and in part to the fact that she was no longer constrained to the Teppenpaw yellow theme she had adopted for the wedding arrangement.

As it often did at the least provocation, his mind revisited the spring day not terribly long ago when Isis Carter had become his wife. He had spent much of his time the preceding months preparing his mother's garden for it, and it had bloomed beautifully for them. The guest list had been small: seven people from Nathan's family, Louisa Carter and the Reeds as Isis' family, plus Selina (and her husband, John) and Rory as their closest co-workers and friends. The wedding guests had all been seated under a clear blue sky, comfortably shaded by rows of cherry trees whose blossoms looked like a soft pink cloud just overhead. An appropriate color, given what they had already learned about the child causing Isis' middle to swell.

Nathan and Isis had said their vows beneath a trellis of flowers whose meanings mirrored the words being spoken. Love, devotion, eternity, steadfast commitment.

The students' contributions - which had been . . . a poetic idea but not really wedding quality work - were placed in the parlor where people arrived by floo, and could be admired by the people who knew the students involved, but not where any of the ceremony or reception was taking place. The arrangements in those areas, Nathan had done himself.

Coming back to himself at the fair, he wandered over the horticultural submissions entered by adults who were not landscaping businesses, and found his own. He couldn't help a pleased smile when he saw the small blue ribbon attached to it. There were fewer first places in this section, but his was not the only one, and he hadn't earned the large Best In Show ribbon, but it was still a proud moment. Almost as proud as when he'd seen that he got Best Staff Member in the yearbook this year. Not really anywhere near as proud as when Isis said "I do," and he expected he'd about bust with pride when he finally got to meet his little girl this summer, but a proud little moment all the same.

This was undoubtedly the best year of his life so far, and both of the things making it so were merely beginnings.

He smiled warmly as he saw someone he knew approach. "Enjoying the fair?" he asked cheerfully.

1 Nathan Xavier A good year 28 Nathan Xavier 0 5

Natalie Atwater

December 21, 2018 4:15 AM

I scream, you scream.... by Natalie Atwater

There were a few things Natalie was looking forward to about the summer. They would, of course, be going to St. Berylla's and Livilia for part of the break. That meant swimming, boating, para-sailing, surfing and other water sports. There would also be plenty of just hanging out on the beach and socializing with the other pureblood teenagers who were vacationing there. Plus, it seemed like a family reunion of sorts with Brockerts and their associates-which included the Atwaters-coming and going all summer. She ended up talking to Emerald a lot more than she did at school.

It also meant visiting Serena in the royal palace and attending the Royal Ball. Natalie honestly couldn't believe her cousin was actually a princess sometimes. It was actually like a fairy tale and really, Serena was pretty much the ideal fairy tale princess type. She was good and kind and pretty like all the princesses in the stories that the Pecari had been told as a child.

What was really satisfying though was that it was Serena and not Kelsey. Kelsey could be the perfect pureblood lady but she'd never be a princess. Malcolm, after all, even though he was numeraled, was not a prince. And he was about as interesting as dry toast. Or less than dry toast.

Her parents were impressed with him though as well as Father's side of the family-and the Brockerts had no objection. If they did, it probably wouldn't happen.

Anyway, in all honesty, Natalie didn't really object to Malcolm marrying Kelsey either. He wasn't a bad person, he was just boring. And so was her sister.

On the other hand, the fifth year really wasn't looking forward to other things about the summer such as balls and other social obligations. It wasn't that she didn't like socializing with people, it was just that there was so much pressure on Natalie to act a certain way. Like...someone who was this perfect pureblood lady and lacking in any sort of personality whatsover. She was introduced to boys as stuffy as her future brother-in-law, some of which were Kelsey's rejects. Fortunately, they were quickly dissuaded once they realized that Natalie was not her sister.

For today though, she was going to just enjoy the fair. She got her yearbook and turned to the fifth year page. The Pecari looked at her award, puzzled. Most Bashful? Her? She was a Pecari for Merlin's sake! The house known for being loud and boisterous.

Still, there was no shame in winning it. Natalie really didn't think there was anything wrong with being bashful, she just wasn't sure it was true. She thought briefly about her classmates. Maybe it was a process of elimination thing. Fabian had won it once too and he had assumed it was because the other guys in his year were sort of full of themselves and he was more humble. That might be it for her too, except she didn't think some of them were particularly arrogant.

"Want to go get ice cream? We could check out some of the rides after."

Natalie turned to see Isaac Song. "Sure. That sounds fun." She thought for a minute. "Do you think they have the kind of ice cream that actually screams?"

11 Natalie Atwater I scream, you scream.... 371 Natalie Atwater 0 5

Ness McLeod

December 21, 2018 1:25 PM

Messing with gender's always a good option by Ness McLeod

Ness was excited for the fair. It sounded like a chance to learn a lot, and see some pretty cool magic. It also involved scare-you-silly rides and all kinds of weird foods. Ness was not a fan of some of those. Malikhi was almost definitely going to be. And they didn’t exactly get on even when they had class mandated activities of doing exactly the same thing. Evelyn wanted to spend time with both of them, but doing so separately seemed sensible, and currently she was with Malikhi, and Ness was… around. The Aladren knew people other than Ev, and would have happily hung out with Kir or Mikey, or anyone who occupied the Venn diagram spaces of being on the Quidditch team and not a total douche. But equally, this seemed like a chance to mingle.

The first year had studied the yearbook for a while. It would have been irritating to see Malikhi get three awards, except one of them was about causing explosions. He was probably taking great delight in that but Ness knew better than to see that as complimentary. Ness had beaten him out for Quidditch, which was bound to annoy him. The less said about Topaz and what she had got the better… Kir’s awards were also well suited, as were Evelyn’s, so Ness was pleased for them.

Ness was most interested in the educational exhibitions and wasn’t sure whether to save that for Evelyn time or not. On the one hand, she was smart, and Ness liked the idea of sharing the best bits of the fair with her. On the other, it felt like something Ness might be a might more heavily into… Deciding to put off that decision for a while longer, Ness headed into the fun house instead. It was kind of fun, seeing the mirrors project different outfits. Though the muttered comment from nearby quickly attracted the first year’s attention.

“Being pretty isn’t that important,” Ness assured the boy. “I- hm. Wow. That is weird,” Ness mused, staring at the very feminine caricature that was now staring back. The image in the mirror had long hair, rosy cheeks and long eyelashes. And a dress. And then it flickered and someone who looked much more like Ness, but perhaps with a slightly firmer jawline and generally a… heavier face appeared. Then the princessy look again. And back. “Guess that means it’s analysing how we present and assigning a caricature of the “opposite” features rather being able to read our biological sex. I guess that’s kind of preferable…” the thought of some magic mirror somehow knowing what was in your pants was a bit creepy, Ness supposed the ‘girl image’ looked kind of pretty. In a sense. But it made the first year feel more angry and upset than anything. There should not be just one version of being a girl. And it irritated Ness to think that most people would probably say the image in the mirror was prettier than the real life version, like that mattered.
“Your Kir’s game guy, right?” the first year added, turning away from the mirror. Ness had occasionally appeared alongside Kir as he made his way to the table, and the first year and the D&D gang probably all knew each other by sight, but Kir always made it clear that Ness was not welcome and needed to disappear off into the shelves so the first year had never really had a chance to talk to them.

OOC - based the idea that the mirror would read presenting facial features etc rather than Just Knowing Biology by comparing to nearest available Muggle tech, i.e. face recognition that tries to guess age and gender.
Permission re Evelyn sharing out her time gained from her author.

13 Ness McLeod Messing with gender's always a good option 1419 Ness McLeod 0 5

Jasmine

December 21, 2018 1:58 PM

I can't catch you, you're the gingerbread man by Jasmine

Jasmine loved making cookies. More than that, she loved decorating cookies. So when Peyton asked her to help with her gingerbread people, Jasmine had been delighted to agree. Peyton was a great baker, and she felt pretty confident in her decorating skills, so she hoped they might even walk away from this contest with a ribbon to hang in their room next year.

Unfortunately, before they could get that far, one of the gingerfolk ran off. Peyton wisely immobilized the rest, but they still had one on the loose.

Racing after a tiny confection did not strike Jasmine as the most dignified of activities, but she fortunately had another skill up her sleeve. Living on a ranch, being able lasso runaways was a life skill. She glanced around, and found a loose ribbon she could transfigure into a small rope. Having done so, she looped it up properly, looked around, and found where the gingerbread man had gotten to by that time. She twirled the lasso around a few times, building momentum, and expertly flung it toward the cookie.

And missed completely. She grimaced. "He's a lot smaller than the horses I normally do this with," she muttered, somewhat embarrassed by her failure to rope in her mark.

"Can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!" the annoying little confection mocked her as it ran off in a new direction.

She looked over at Peyton a little helplessly. "Do we have enough cookies without him?" she questioned, uncertain the time necessary to chase the little guy down was something they had, nor did she know if it was worth the effort of doing so when they still had a whole batch of gingerfolk to decorate before they could submit anything.

1 Jasmine I can't catch you, you're the gingerbread man 1397 Jasmine 0 5

Mikey

December 21, 2018 7:32 PM

Sweet! by Mikey

"Same here, they look so fun. Awesome, let's go!" Mikey led the way to the soap bubble ride, eager to get his adrenaline pumping. He liked the rush roller coasters and flying on brooms gave him, but he still wasn't confident enough to try out for the Quidditch team. Even though he picked up sports really fast, playing against other schools seemed intimidating. Maybe next year he would finally bite the bullet and try out. He knew his parents would be thrilled even if he was just a reserve.

"Have you been to a state fair before?" Mikey asked. "The one in Denver is pretty similar in size. I go there almost every summer with my family, but it's cool being here without them for once. It makes summer so much more awesome." Though he technically lived in a magical community in Denver, he lived a very dual lifestyle since his mom's side of the family were all non-magical, except for her. The fair gave them a chance to really enjoy magical things without being afraid of being found out by Muggles, so it was special to him. Mikey just hoped everyone else enjoyed it just as much.

The soap bubble ride was just as fun as he remembered. His stomach dropped every time the bubble bobbed up and down, but overall it was a relatively gentle ride. Now that he was older, he really wanted to ride something a little, maybe a lot, crazier.

When he got off the ride, Mikey turned to his roommate. "What next?" he asked, eager to keep going.

19 Mikey Sweet! 1406 Mikey 0 5

Isaac

December 21, 2018 7:53 PM

Ahhhh! by Isaac

Isaac shrugged at the thought of screaming ice cream. "I bet they do. I mean, why not? Hopefully it's not too loud though." He grinned at her. "Do you think you could eat screaming ice cream?" he said, a teasing lilt to his tone. "It might make me feel a little weird, but I'm willing to try it, I guess."

It felt pretty good hanging out with a pretty girl even just as friends. He hoped he could leave school with a lot of good friends and, if he was lucky, a girlfriend. He was the only one in his LA friend group that hadn't dated yet. His older sister hadn't been super lucky in that department while at Sonora either, but she was better now that she was working and meeting new people all the time. Isaac didn't exactly want to be like her, though; he was definitely more outgoing than she was and had more friends. Still, he felt really comfortable around the female sex, having grown up in a household of women with only sisters.

Isaac went over to the ice cream stand. "Can I get a single scoop of butterscotch on a cone?" After a moment, he added, "Do your ice creams scream?"

The vendor smirked at him as he scooped the ice cream. "Only by customer request. We try to make our ice cream appeal to everyone." A quick wave of his hand--clearly he was experienced with this--and he handed the cone over to him. It didn't seem different, but when Isaac went to take a lick, the scoop of ice cream screamed, shocking him so much he almost dropped it. It wasn't so loud that it hurt his ears, but it was definitely uncomfortable and noticeable.

"I see why it wouldn't be appealing for the general public," Isaac said to Natalie as he paid for his. Once he was finished, he stepped off to the side and waited for Natalie to get hers. He was learning to ignore the screams as he licked the delicious, creamy dessert.

"What flavor did you get?" he asked afterwards. "This is actually really good once you get over the screams. I've never had screaming ice cream before. It makes me want to try all the different foods around here." Isaac looked around the fair, gazing at all of the different things to do.

19 Isaac Ahhhh! 375 Isaac 0 5

Gary

December 21, 2018 10:15 PM

Is it nice to confuse inanimate objects? by Gary

Gary watched Ness mess with the mirror and smiled. He noticed his own reflection perk up accordingly. "You may be right..." He looked at the slightly dumpy girl looking back at him. She had straight, shoulder length hair and thick glasses. When he smiled, her face had brightened and shifted somehow. "Hmmm..." he thought a moment about the Maar the barbarian, the most overly 'masculine' character he had ever made. Then he got into character.

Standing tall, he threw his shoulders back, sucked in his stomach, and firmly set his fists upon his waist. He set his jaw and looked down his nose to his reflection with a look of stoic indifference. The girl in the mirror was now tall and shapely. Her wavy hair spilled halfway down her back, and she glared back at him with icy distain.

Both of them burst out laughing, and the feminine reflection settled somewhere between her two previous incarnations as Gary turned to face Ness."Yup, I'm Kir's 'game guy', Gary. And you're his..." his voice trailed off a bit as he considered what he had seen in the mirror, before finishing "...sibling, right?" Quickly trying to shift the conversation, "I've seen you around with him, but you seem to avoid our game table. It's not really an exclusive club, you can hang out if you want. Maybe even join in if you've got any interest."

2 Gary Is it nice to confuse inanimate objects? 1404 Gary 0 5

Ness

December 22, 2018 3:05 AM

If they're tools of the patriarchy, then yes by Ness

Ness watched curiously as Gary also managed to shift his reflection somewhat. It was hard to tell whether it was just the confidence he projected with the new stance or whether things about the appearance were also changing. Either way, the girl in the mirror looked tough and cool and powerful. Ness liked her.

“She looks strong. That’s better than being pretty,” Ness nodded approvingly.

Gary hesitated for a moment over how to refer to Ness before settling on the word sibling. Whilst it was possible he’d had a chance to pick that up from Kir, the first year was still impressed. People often struggled to find gender neutral words, even when they were common, everyday things. They were just so programmed into not using them, into dividing everyone up and labelling them.

“Yeah. I’m Ness,” the first year informed him with a smile. “And I don’t avoid you.” Ness pondered how to explain the fact that Kir’s message had constantly been ‘butt out and go make your own friends.’ Ness was worried that drawing attention to that fact would cause Gary to retract his offer because he wouldn’t want to upset one of his players. Also it wasn’t nice to have to showcase how you weren’t wanted around by someone. “Kir always says it’s his thing and that I won’t understand what’s going on,” Ness shrugged, feeling like this covered pretty much the truth but without sounding quite so negative. “I’d like to join though.” Kir was older than Gary and a prefect but it was Gary’s game, so Ness was pretty sure he overruled Kir in that situation. “Lily’s only got one more year, so maybe I can be like… an apprentice next year. Would I take over Ronin or make a new character of my own? Or is Amelia next in line for that?” Ness added, keen to show she knew at least something of the game. Kir had chatted about it plenty in the holidays before Ness had joined the school, when piquing his sibling’s interest hadn’t seemed like such a dangerous move.

13 Ness If they're tools of the patriarchy, then yes 1419 Ness 0 5

Gary

December 22, 2018 5:28 PM

How can you tell? by Gary

"I wonder if it has some 'mood ring' type properties as well", Gary thought out loud as he continued to consider the mirror. As the analytical part of his brain kicked into action, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His feminine counterpart did likewise. "What sort of experiments could we run to find out what variables it is analyzing to come up with it's results? If we could figure those out, we could make it show us however we wanted." He pulled out his notepad and pencil. When he looked in the mirror again, the girl now held a clipboard and was wearing a lab coat. "Huh, neat."

He considered Ness' explanation a moment. "Well, that's probably true... but next year I'm probably going to start a new game with new characters. I was thinking about doing that this year, but they were having fun." He stopped talking for a moment to consider something and started off into space for a moment. "Did I tell them that when we met up last time? Heh, I may not have. Oops. I may have to try and catch some of them yet." He shrugged, "Oh well. They've been playing long enough that they can create their own characters instead of some generic pre-gens I made two years ago."

"Anyway," he continued, "I always like bringing new people into the hobby. It's a fun way to spend time with friends. The game usually works best with four to six players, so we'll have to see who wants to play again." He grinned, "If there's enough people, maybe we can get a second game going. Know anyone else that may be interested in playing?"

2 Gary How can you tell? 1404 Gary 0 5

Ness

December 23, 2018 4:03 AM

They enforce gender norms or otherwise do oppressive things by Ness

“I suspect each mirror is limited to a single property. There may be others that are linked to mood or something, but it’s probably much more complicated. I’ve read about mirrors that do things like show your deepest desire but like… It’s the stuff of legends. Even magical people debate that it exists. The best I can guess for this shifting is that as the light catches our face from different angles or we stand in different ways, it “notices” different features to accentuate. There are plenty of spells that react differently based on sex or gender - take the corridors at school for example, though I’m still trying to work out which one they’re actually programmed to. I need to do further studies, but the trouble is the experiment kind of hurts. I suppose, for these... Well, I guess I'm a pretty good test subject. We already know that it's not linked to biological sex, otherwise it would know for sure with me. So, it's trying to read what's on the surface to decide and alter our gender. Lily would be good too but we probably can't ask them to just come here and be part of an experiment,” Ness mused sadly, "I guess we could approach the mirror thinking or expecting different things and see whether what we're shown changes, or also try to.... present ourselves differently physically but with a neutral mind? I'm not sure how we'd alter our appearances much though. I mean, there's various spells but not ones I can do. I guess we could use your pen and try using it like eyeliner to see if it reads make up as a female signifier and like... draw little beards on ourselves because that would be a classically male signifier. Or stuff our t-shirts to make us look more like girls. You can do the cleaning charm, right, so we'd be able to get it off again? Not that I mind going around with a little moustache drawn on me, it might be kind of funny, but I don't want to be permanently wearing eyeliner."

Gary would probably have been surprised to learn that Ness found him undeniably cool. He had had the starting advantage of being an older student and friends with Kir, which made him both intriguing and, according to Kir, off-limits. The game he ran sounded fun, and now he was revealing himself to be the kind of person who brought a notebook along to a funfair and analysed the magic he was encountering, which was something Ness highly approved of. Gary was definitely awesome, and Ness hoped that making some intelligent contributions about the mirrors would mean he thought the same.

“I’d definitely like to join," Ness added, when he talked about involving more people in the game, "And I bet my friend Evelyn would too. I’ll see her later and I can ask.”

13 Ness They enforce gender norms or otherwise do oppressive things 1419 Ness 0 5

Raine Collindale

December 23, 2018 1:19 PM

Gatecrashing by Raine Collindale

Raine was excited for the fair. It sounded like there were going to be a lot of fun things to see and do. It was also way more easy to dress for than the ball. Raine had never bothered with super conventional outfits for the latter, usually working some big swirls of fabric onto her stage costumes in order to pass for something semi-ballgown-like, but the fair was a place to just be herself. She was wearing short denim shorts and a rainbow crop top with a crisscross back which fitted tightly to her slim frame. Her flyaway brown hair was loose and doing its usual trick of disrespecting any and all notions of gravity. She had put a light glittery eyeshadow over her eyes but left it at that because figured there might be a face painting tent. She could do a semi-decent job with those herself, of course, but it might be fun to get something done that was outside her own skill set.

She was also feeling nostalgic. Today would be her last day at Sonora Academy and, whilst she was undeniably happy about that, there were actually a lot of happy memories associated with the school - something she would never have believed when she had first set foot in it seven years ago and found herself so out of her depth, so behind her peers in terms of her reading and academic skills, so different to everyone around her.

One of those fond memories was of the first fair. It had been the first time a school project had really been interesting to her, and had also been the first time she had felt like her ideas were good enough. She had felt such a sense of achievement out of what they had made for the first fair. It had also been how she got to know Joe a little better. She would not say that they had become friends as a result of doing the project. Raine could remember very vividly standing next to him at their booth and being anxious that she was going to say something stupid and make him dislike her. But it was the thing that had opened that door. It had been a foundation for the overall rather slow and scary process of liking and trusting a new person. To be fair, she still felt it was a big risk that she was going to say something Joe regarded as stupid, but she had got to the point where she minded less, and she trusted Joe to be nice about it if she did.

As people dispersed around the fair, Raine caught sight of Joe. She wanted to spend time with Nevaeh and Tess but they had the whole day. Tess would probably want to spend some of the time with Ben anyway. And… well, she honestly wasn’t sure she was going to really see anyone much after graduation. She sort of hoped they stayed in touch, but letter writing wasn’t her strong suit, and she knew they were all going to go on to lead very different lives… But she thought the chances of staying in touch with the girls were a little higher than the chances with Joe. It was still hard sometimes knowing how he felt about her - whether he really liked her, or just sort of… put up with her and was nice because he was a Teppenpaw. And boys were just more complicated anyway. But it would be nice to spend some time together, just in case…

Except Tasha got there first. Raine hung back for a second. The companionability that she had found with Joe during the fair had never sprung up with Tasha. Tasha had never, outside of that one project, really tried to talk to her. Raine knew there were rules about that kind of thing as far as people like Tasha were concerned. Raine was not one of her type of people. She guessed that was why she and Tasha had never got particularly friendly. There was something about people like Tasha that just made Raine feel instantly self-conscious about everything about herself - her clothes, her hair, her background, even those were things that Raine didn’t dislike about herself, and didn’t want to have to feel awkward about. Not that Tasha had ever done anything. They were just such different people. But Tasha hadn’t been unfriendly when they had worked together. And she was seeking out Joe, who Raine was pretty sure was not That Kind of Pureblood. Raine took a deep breath, still a little intimidated but trying to tell herself that it would be ok. She made her way over to Tasha and Joe.

“Hi,” she smiled, only holding Tasha’s eye for a split second before looking to Joe, and then the ground. “Do you mind if I tag along with you guys for a bit. I… I was thinking it’s… kind of like a reunion… of the first fair.”

13 Raine Collindale Gatecrashing 327 Raine Collindale 0 5

Kyte Collindale

December 23, 2018 2:01 PM

Ending on a high by Kyte Collindale

Kyte was glad that his last event was the fair. It was the second best thing after the fire. The ball was stuffy and dull. The concert was work if you were in it, and usually boring if you were stuck watching it (performances that did not involve stunts or fire could barely be called entertainment, in his opinion). The fire was the best because it was fire. But they’d had that recently. The first fair had been ok. Some people had put work into it, but he had just gone along to enjoy. There had been food. He had possibly been meant to learn things but he had mostly just enjoyed the food. The fair they were going to this time sounded even bigger and better. There were going to be rides, there might be cool animals, there was definitely going to be loads of food. Something might even be on fire at some point, either accidentally or on purpose. With that much magicalness going on it, it was a possibility.

Kyte did not have to wander for very long before he saw something that caught his eye. Levitation Cotton Candy. Yes! He loved it when wizarding kind put their minds to good use. None of this theory rubbish. None of this trying to understand how boxes could end up bigger on the inside. People didn’t need to know that. They just needed to do it. And then free their minds for inventing stuff like this - things that let you legally push the boundaries of experiencing crazy new sensations. Kyte grinned as he took the stick full of pink fluff, preparing to get both sugar high and literally high. He felt lighter the second the first bite touched his lips. A few bites in and it was like… like every time he stepped he had trouble coming down again. And before long, he was hovering happily in mid air. Which was cool, for like a second or two. Floating, in and of itself, was ok, but now he was up here, he wanted to see what he could do.

The first idea to enter his mind was to try to get upside down or roll over in some kind of flip. He could do a standing backflip and this seemed kind of similar. It was basically just throwing all his own weight backwards and letting momentum take him round. It was slower than he was used to with nothing to kick off, but it worked more or less the same. He made some swimming motions which moved him about a bit, but with the same feeling… Everything was just kind of slow. It was sort of weird to just be… floating. He turned a flip again because that was fun. As he came around, he noticed someone watching him.

“Come on up, the air is lovely,” he grinned.

13 Kyte Collindale Ending on a high 335 Kyte Collindale 0 5

Beau

December 24, 2018 2:11 PM

How about this one? by Beau

Beau followed Mikey to the soap bubble ride. "No, I live in Jamaica so we don't really have state fairs. I don't really get many opportunities to do things like this." It wasn't just the location either. His parents weren't really the sort who went to state fairs. Mother had gone to whatever they'd had when she'd been in school here but mostly, they were the sort to go to balls and other society events.

And that was what they did mostly when he was home too. Beau knew it was rather the norm for people to see less of their parents when they went to school but with the social whirl of the summer season in Jamaica, St. Berylla's and Livilia, as well as parties in America, the Pecari saw even less of his than most people did as at this point, he didn't really have to go to balls much yet.

Which basically meant that Beau was on his own much of the time. He didn't really need a nanny keeping an eye on him anymore so he was pretty much left to his own devices. It was mostly awesome though he felt a little lonely at times. Not that he'd admit that to anyone. Boys were not, after all, supposed to be too emotional about these things. "I mostly spend a lot of time on the beach when I'm not at school."

Once they were done with the soap bubble ride and Mikey asked what was next, Beau scanned the area. "Oh! The invisible roller coaster. That sounds fun."

11 Beau How about this one? 1416 Beau 0 5

Zevalyn Ives

December 26, 2018 10:14 AM

I am . . . very Aladren apparently. by Zevalyn Ives

Zevalyn was very excited about the magical state fair. She had been to the muggle one before, of course, and she was eager to see how the magical one compared. Plus, Arizona was her state so this was her fair and it would be awesome to get a bigger look at her own magical community outside of Sonora itself. She had been half tempted to try to get someone to escort her parents there so they could see it, too, but she decided she could do that herself in a couple years once she was graduated and didn’t have friends going who she was about to not see again for a whole summer.

So she just grabbed her wizarding camera (a Christmas gift she wasn’t entirely sure how her parents had found and purchased, but she was laying money on her guess that Amber’s parents were involved) and mentally promised her parents she take lots of pictures for them. Assuming she could get Isaac or Amber’s mom or somebody to tell her how to get the film developed. She didn’t even know how to go about developing muggle film; her normal camera was digital.

Still, she was excited about actually having something to take pictures of, and the fair was a good excuse for snapping some pictures of Kir and Georgia to keep her company when their actual persons weren’t available to her.

First though, was the yearbook and she collected hers with some degree of anticipation. She was more than a little surprised to find herself as the face of Aladren, out of every Aladren in the entire school. Including the Head Girl. Skipping ahead to the fifth year awards, she found she had also earned Biggest Brain and Lives In the Library (paraphrased).

“I am apparently really, really Aladren,” she commented aloud. It wasn’t inaccurate, of course. She had never doubted her sorting. It was just a very Aladren showing for the yearbook. Her kids someday were going to think she didn’t do anything but study. Which hadn’t been far from the truth her first few years here, but she was branching out and doing more fun things lately.

At least she hadn’t gotten Most Serious this year. The was a fun representative of being a study brain.

“I mean, that’s not a bad thing,” she hurried to add. “I’m actually pretty pleased about it all, but . . . it’s just . . . very Aladren.”

She looked down at her purple t-shirt with an astronaut riding a unicorn through a rainbow circle. “I feel like I’m disappointing people by not wearing blue today.”

1 Zevalyn Ives I am . . . very Aladren apparently. 380 Zevalyn Ives 0 5

Emerald Brockert

December 26, 2018 8:18 PM

No shame in that by Emerald Brockert

Emerald had never been to a state fair before and she had to admit she was rather curious to experience one. The last fair had been an international festival and she'd been involved with the South Korea booth. It had been a lot of fun. This, however, was not the same thing but hopefully it would be fun in its own way.

She hadn't entered any of the competitions though. Emerald wasn't really talented in any of the areas that were being showcased. She did well enough in COMC and Herbology but wasn't a big plant or animal person. Same with needlework, she knew how to do it but wasn't really into it enough to enter. Nor did she cook, paint or do photography. Her main hobbies were reading and learning. There was no competition for that.

Not that it mattered, Emerald really wasn't that competitive by nature. She had nothing to prove to anyone.

However, her sisters and cousin were entered in the horticulture contest, Ruby by choice and Topaz and Allegra because the beginners had done products in their herbology class. She would go see that. Emerald felt Allegra could have entered the quilting competition for her age division but the Crotalus was too shy and unsure of herself to enter anything unless forced. The fifth year sincerely hoped Allegra would beat Topaz.

Or maybe not. Topaz would surely not take it well if the other first year beat her at something. And she would take it out on Allegra too. Topaz was petty like that.

Emerald received her yearbook and flipped to the fifth year page, most interested in seeing what she had won. Most likely to be found in the library. True. She did spend lots of time there.

She went back to the whole school page and snickered. Topaz had won Worst Enemies with her roommate. The fifth year couldn't blame them for not liking each other. Her sister was a little demon that nobody would want to share with but she couldn't completely side with the other girl either because on a visceral level, she reminded Emerald of Lily Spencer so, ew. Topaz was probably actually right about Nessa being disrespectful and thinking she was better than Topaz and not for any of the reasons why anyone should think themselves so.

She turned to the first year page and groaned inwardly. Topaz had gotten biggest brain? Great, now she was going to be more insufferable than ever, especially as Emerald hadn't won it.

Before she could look and see what Ruby got, she heard someone speak and looked up to see Zevalyn Ives. "Congratulations." Emerald replied. "I mean, I'd certainly rather be very Aladrenish then Pecari-ish, for example."

11 Emerald Brockert No shame in that 358 Emerald Brockert 0 5

Natalie

December 26, 2018 9:33 PM

That's magic for you by Natalie

Natalie nodded. " I have before. They serve it at some of the upscale ice cream shops I've been to. I don't think it tastes different or serves any purpose other than just being magical though." There were often things like that in the magical world. People could do something, like make ice cream scream or make chocolate frogs jump or make jelly beans taste like lint and earwax, so they did. Nobody really wanted to eat things that tasted like that and chocolate frogs could be a pain if they tried to get away.

But that was the magical world. That was how she'd grown up and just because Natalie didn't like how strict society could be, she doubted she'd trade it in for a different life, especially not a muggle one. She couldn't imagine how much time muggles had to spend on things like chores and transportation. Father had told her more than once when she'd been careless with something-Natalie wasn't any more careless than anyone else-or didn't act as perfectly proper as she should-didn't act like her sister enough but had acted as well as anyone else-that she was lucky to live the life she did, to have magic and not have to toil as much as muggles did and to be wealthy and....not have to toil like those with less money, she guessed.

After Isaac had gotten his scoop, Natalie went up and requested. "One single scoop of cookie dough please. And I'd like for it to scream too." The vendor complied and she paid for her cone.

Natalie nodded. " It can be unsettling, especially if you're not used to it. I got cookie dough. It's my favorite." She licked her cone and it screamed. "I think that sounds like fun. I'd like to go on some rides too."

11 Natalie That's magic for you 371 Natalie 0 5

Cleo James

December 27, 2018 10:32 AM

No prizes for guessing where I'll be by Cleo James

Cleo was excited for the state fair. She and her daddy had been to them, or to similar, small scale local versions, on occasion, both magical and muggle, seeing as he was muggleborn. Their favourite section was horticulture, of course. She found some of it a bit mind boggling - at the bigger fairs, there could be a whole category just for dahlias, and people who would seriously go around inspecting all the, to her eye near identical, flowers in their regulation bunches of three in a single shade, and deciding which were the best. But it was a good place to talk to other people who were seriously green fingered and get some tips, and she loved categories like the flower arrangements or container gardens, where people actually created proper little gardens in miniature. The muggle shows sometimes even had a category called ‘fairy gardens,’ with cute little flowers, and people making tables with little acorn cups for bowls sitting on top of them. Figurines were allowed, but all the flowers had to be real. Her daddy had told her that real fairies were rather more stupid than the Muggles portrayed them, but as they were essentially harmless, he had allowed her to go through a phase of making a fairy garden in the corner of the allotment.

She had made a slightly more mature offering for this fair, creating a container garden. Being a fruit and vegetable grower at heart, she had wanted to stick to those, though the small space had rather curbed the varieties she could include. She had planted a lot of herbs, and some lettuces, and transplanted a small strawberry plant into it too. She had added some edible flowers, her first foray into the idea of mixing her garden types, even if they still served a practical purpose. She had even managed to trail some tomato plants up the back by sticking a small trellis into the box. They loomed over everything else, like strange trees, and she thought that perhaps the tendency to make fairy gardens hadn’t vanished entirely - it was like a real allotment, with all its sections, just in miniature. She had also, with the consent of the members, entered a salad of spring vegetables under the gardening club’s name. It wasn’t the most impressive selection, the plants being deliberately quick and easy to grow ones because that was what they had needed to get their project moving, but it felt like an achievement to have something to show.

Cleo was not sure who to spend the day with at the fair. In some way, she actually had more choices than usual, as she’d done quite a good job of widening her friend circle this year. There was Jasmine, whom she now definitely regarded as a friend. And she was sure Lyssa, or even Evelyn would hang if she asked them to. There was always Parker. And there was Isaac… It still felt like going against her better judgement to say that she wanted to be around him but she did. The trouble was, she wasn’t sure who was free or who wanted to spend time with her. Parker and Lyssa might want to keep each other company. Jasmine had other friends. Isaac was… complicated, and maybe it was too soon to ask him to spend more time with her.

Cleo decided to let the universe give her a helping hand. She would head over to the horticulture section because it was where she most wanted to be. The chances were that several of her friends would be doing the same, and maybe she would run into one of them, but if she didn’t, she was guaranteed to meet someone like-minded by going there. She headed straight over to see her own display, to check it was all still standing and looking right, and was pleased to see there was a ribbon on it. She bounced on her toes, glancing around with a big grin on her face, looking for someone to share her excitement with.

13 Cleo James No prizes for guessing where I'll be 389 Cleo James 0 5

Mikey

December 27, 2018 2:07 PM

Let's do it by Mikey

"Aw, that's too bad. Spending time on the beach sounds really awesome though. Colorado is landlocked, so I hardly ever get to see the ocean except when I visit my grandma in California. Are the beaches really nice in Jamaica? I feel like that's a big vacation place for people in America." It seemed like a luxury vacation as well, something his family wouldn't be able to take quite yet.

His dad had grown up really poor and his mom was from a lower middle-class single-parent household. Whatever money they did have was from his dad's job as a healer since his mom worked part-time at her dad's muggle auto shop. His mom could've worked anywhere, but fixing up cars was her passion and no amount of magic could change that in her. Their lifestyle was comfortable and steady, and Mikey felt like he and his brother never wanted for anything.

However, one main income meant they were hardly able to travel anywhere besides California to visit family, but Mikey preferred local camping trips and state fairs anyway. It meant a lot of quality family time building tents, cooking, fishing, and hiking together. Besides, going to school in a different state was basically like traveling for a good part of the year.

"Yeah, let's do it." Mikey pumped his fist and made his way to the large sign indicating where the line started. He wasn't sure how the invisible rollercoaster had caught Beau's eye, but he was glad for it. Mikey definitely would've overlooked it in his excitement. "Do they have amusement parks with roller coasters in Jamaica?" he asked.

19 Mikey Let's do it 1406 Mikey 0 5

Isaac

December 27, 2018 2:52 PM

Gotta love it by Isaac

"Right," Isaac replied, agreeing that there wasn't anything particularly special about it screaming. "I can see why I've never tried it before. My mom would hate this. It would have driven her crazy having three kids with screaming ice cream cones." Younger Isaac would've purposefully driven her crazy with it just for fun too. They didn't really visit ice cream shops because his mom was strict about sweets, but on the occasion it was usually at the beach or someplace casual.

Isaac took another lick of his ice cream, and then took a little bite out of it. "Nice. I got butterscotch. It's not my favorite, but I was feeling it today." He took another lick. "I think I'm getting used to it," he said. "It's entertaining to say the least. I think I saw a taco walking by. That might be fun to try later." The magical community was always so fun, and even though his group of best friends back home were Muggles, he didn't stray far from magical communities when he was with family or in Korea.

Sometimes Isaac felt sorry that his best friends couldn't share these moments with him. They were seriously missing out on all that magic had to offer, and he couldn't even tell them about it. It sucked.

"Yeah, let's go on some rides. Looks like there's a roller coaster, flying teacups, bucking broomstick, soap bubbles... any of those catch your interest? I just have to be back soon for the bread contest. I submitted a loaf I baked and the results are supposed to come out in an hour or so."

19 Isaac Gotta love it 375 Isaac 0 5

Peyton

December 27, 2018 6:57 PM

Let it go by Peyton

Peyton held her breath as Jasmine attempted to lasso the gingerbread man-that one was decidedly male, not because boys behaved worse than girls did, after all Ryan obviously was better behaved than Carrie had been, so were Jake and Arnold, but because his voice and mannerisms seemed so and he'd specifically used the word man -and failed. "Nice try though." Peyton told her friend, admiring the other third year's creative solution to the problem.

She sighed inwardly. "I suppose we do." She wasn't exactly keen on the idea of chasing after the gingerbread man herself. After all, gingerbread people were known for being fast runners and Peyton was not really all that athletic. The chances of her being able to catch it were pretty slim. "What harm could it really do to just let it go? I mean, it's just a cookie so it's not like it can really do much damage. Besides, we have all these other gingerbread people to decorate."

The third year turned back to one of the sheets of gingerbread people, leaving the other one for Jasmine. She picked up a tube of blue icing and was about to start giving the gingerbread person a beautiful ballgown when it exclaimed "Not that tube! I hate blue. Give me a red dress."

Peyton groaned and turned to her friend. "I am never making gingerbread people again!" She looked at the gingerbread person next to the one she'd been about to decorate. "Do you like blue?"

"Very much so! But I don't want a gown, because I'm a man and I don't wear gowns."

"Fine." Peyton replied. She began to give the gingerbread man a set of blue dress robes.

11 Peyton Let it go 1403 Peyton 0 5

Evelyn Stones

December 28, 2018 4:41 PM

All too soon (tag any fellow beginner grade) by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn was determined. She usually was and there was nothing unusual at all about the way she set her shoulders, held her chin up, and painted on the most awful orange lipstick she could find from the collection Malikhi had gifted her. There was nothing unusual about the way she marched herself downstairs, and got a ride. She readied herself and joined the festivities with a prepared grin and easy laugh. She was the only one who knew of the letter burning a hole in the pockets of her robe and she had zero desire to keep it that way. In fact, if she had her way, everyone would know exactly what was going on at home and what the contents of the letter promised for her summer. Instead, she glued a friendly face on and greeted her classmates and professors with easy charm. She had spent the year with this attitude on the outside whenever she had managed to tuck away the less secure parts of her personality, and she wasn't about to let the end of year activities be any different.

With wide eyes and eager curiosity, she took in all the sights and smells of the fair. It was by far her favorite part of the year so far, which was a shame really, but that was unimportant. She enjoyed all the different foods in particular, and was chewing on some sort of meat on a stick when she bumped into a familiar classmate.

"Hello," she greeted them eagerly. "I see you made it to the party!"

22 Evelyn Stones All too soon (tag any fellow beginner grade) 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Joe Umland

December 28, 2018 11:33 PM

Welcome to the party. by Joe Umland

There were a few fragments floating around Joe’s head which he could not date accurately, which made it difficult to say exactly what his first memory was, but one of the first ones he could place involved sending Julian off to school. It was a tad blurry, it was difficult, given the fact that she had always been older than him and it was therefore hard to picture her as younger than he was, to trust his memory of how she had looked then, but it had definitely happened, and happened at a point early enough that he could not clearly, specifically place events before a time when he had been somehow associated with Sonora Academy.

It was, therefore, impossible to quite come to grips with the fact that today was probably going to be the end of the majority of his association with the place. He remembered various events which made it clear it was seventh year – actually sitting his RATS was prominent among these memories, and fairly unpleasant; if John made one comment about them being easy and overrated ever again, Joe was going to be very, very cranky with him – but – well, he had taken tough exams before. He had even not been at Sonora before. He just…couldn’t quite get his head around there not being a brother or sister here, he supposed, but the fact remained that he was very definitely the youngest child in his family. There were no more brothers and sisters. They were a family of adults now.

Of course, technically Joe had been an adult since November of last year, at least by the standard of the wizarding world. This, however, wasn’t the point.

He supposed the fact the fair was being held in Tumbleweed, where he had no real associations, might make things easier. Having secured a yearbook and a paper cup of ice cream, he was wandering about, wondering what to look at first, when Tasha came up. He was just saying “sure” to her suggestion when Raine approached them too.

“Absolutely,” he said cheerfully to Raine’s suggestion that they could have a sort of first fair reunion. It occurred to him that it was perhaps strange that where he thought of his sister’s much more – well, somewhat more – natural-looking paints as stuff Julian put on as part of an arcane ritual to turn her, Polyjuice-like, into the character she played in public, glittery eyeshadow was something that made him think Raine just looked very much like Raine. Was it something to do with the products in question – Julian trying to make a fool of nature, where Raine’s make-up was unapologetically false and expressive – or just that, well, Raine wasn’t his sister, he’d never had occasion to observe her making tea in her pyjamas or on a couple of occasions seen her putting all the stuff on and watched, a bit fascinated, as her face appearing to visibly change shape a bit in the process?

Mysteries. Women were full of them. At least they weren’t boring, he supposed.

“Except this time we just get to sit back and see everyone else do things,” he continued. “Any opinions on what we should go see first?” he asked the girls.

16 Joe Umland Welcome to the party. 329 Joe Umland 0 5

Ivy Brockert

December 28, 2018 11:38 PM

One isn't necessary by Ivy Brockert

Ivy had mostly had a pretty good fourth year at Sonora,other than facing some slight and puzzling rudeness from a younger student. She had gotten involved with the paper and she was really enjoying it a lot. Now she was really looking forward to the state fair, she'd even made a container garden to enter and between that, the paper, orchestra and her actual studies, Ivy had managed to stay quite busy all year round.

The garden itself included plants that were both magical and mundane and included flowers and herbs alike. Ivy had chosen to grow parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme along with puffapods, dried nettles and flitterbloom. And of course, she had planted ivy and lavender, representing herself and her sister. Then she had shrunk a lilac bush and some roses to represent her mother and Peyton, whose middle name was Rose. There were some shrinking violets too plus beebane and a venus fly trap.

She had also decided to try and grow a Chinese Chomping Cabbage to enter in the contest for for doing so. That...was only mildly successful and she'd kind of struggled with it because it kept wanting to chomp on her. Her container garden had turned out a lot better.

Before she went to check on her plants to see how she'd done, Ivy collected her yearbook and opened it up. Instead of flipping directly to the fourth year page, she looked through the whole thing from the beginning. She was slightly surprised that Evelyn Stones had been voted the Friendliest first year since the girl hadn't been all that friendly to Ivy. Maybe she was a really nice person and Ivy was the problem? Still, the Teppenpaw didn't understand why since she hadn't ever met Evelyn before the first Aronos meeting.

She turned to the third year page and noted that her brother had gotten Most Creative and Friendliest. Now that was well deserved! And Peyton had gotten Most Bashful. Ivy figured that her cousin would be happy with that since she thought it was something that Ryan had won in one of the past incarnations of the yearbook and Peyton really looked up to her big brother.

Then Ivy turned to her own class' page and her mouth fell open in surprise. Ivy had won five things? Friendliest, Most Likely to Be Found in the Library, Most Creative, Biggest Brain and Most Involved! A big smile spread over Ivy's face. This meant a lot to her and she really appreciated how well her classmates thought of her to vote her for all these awards.

She closed her yearbook and made her way to the horticulture pavillion to check on her plants. First she approached the Chinese Chomping Cabbage where a big colorful ribbon that said Honorable Mention was waiting for her, but after the yearbook Ivy didn't feel a bit disappointed. Besides, she hadn't really expected to do that well anyway and it was a really pretty ribbon.

Next she went over to the container gardens and noted with pleasure that there was a ribbon there too, a nice blue first place one. She also spottted Cleo. "Hi." Ivy greeted the other fourth year. "How'd you do?"

OOC-Apparently more than one person can get the same kind of ribbon at a state fair so you're free to say Cleo got a first place ribbon as well

11 Ivy Brockert One isn't necessary 394 Ivy Brockert 0 5

Gary

December 29, 2018 3:09 PM

Even if constructed in ignorance and not maliciousness? by Gary

Gary studied Ness for just a few moments, "I think you're right, as far as being a better test subject than me for this trial." He looks back into the mirror and assumes, what he thinks, is a much more 'feminine' pose while attempting to do the eyelash flutter thing that he's heard about girls doing. His reflection remained female and simply copied his actions. "I'm not fooling it at that level. Although I guess I could try the shirt stuffing thing to see what that does. I'd have to find something to use though."

"How about we start with this?" Offering Ness his pen. He reassured "I can do the cleaning charm, so no worries there." Although he did make a mental note that while Ness didn't mind the masculine markings, the feminine ones were apparently terrible. That hinted to him less of gender neutrality mindset and more of an aversion to only one side of the spectrum. The mental note then got filed away, possibly something that may come up to be referenced again during character creation if Ness does at any point make one for a game.

"To do this properly, we'll want to eliminate as many variables as possible, or at least account for them as a base line." He considered for a moment, "We've seen what you're initial approach got, but that may have been adjusted based on your reaction to my initial reflection in the mirror." He stopped suddenly and stared off into space for a moment. "I wonder... what happens if you can't see your own reflection and make any subconscious judgements or adjustments based on that visual feedback loop. Perhaps the best base line would be to close your eyes when first presenting yourself to the mirror. What do you think?"

He smiled at Ness' response to join, "We'll definitely have to see about setting up something then."

2 Gary Even if constructed in ignorance and not maliciousness? 1404 Gary 0 5

Tasha

December 29, 2018 7:15 PM

Glad you could join us by Tasha

Tasha looked over at the sound of Raine Collindale's voice and her heart sank. Joe was probably going to go off with the other Teppenpaw instead and leave her on her own. She didn't really have anything against Raine, it was just that the other girls in her year-except Angelique-had formed a group and not included the two of them. That was why when they'd had the international festival, Tasha had bonded with Joe, because the other three girls in their groups were all best friends. There was no room for the Aladren with them.

Even though she didn't dwell on it that much, she was pretty lonely at school. Joe was literally the only person besides some of her relatives that had been at all interested in talking to her and that was only because of the first fair they'd done together. If not for that, he probably wouldn't have given her the time of day either.

And of course, because Tasha was the one who was a wealthy pureblood, it was her being made out to be the bad guy, it was her always seen as her being the one who was stuck-up and didn't want to be friends with them when it was them who hadn't included her from the beginning. When it was them who had all shared a tent at the bonfire and left her and Angelique out. When people who were no longer here more or less decided that these people were going to be her friends and it was basically everyone but herself, Angelique and Daniel Fintoc. Then when that person had left, the damage had been done and everyone else was in their little clique.

Tasha smiled warmly at Raine anyway. "I don't mind at all. If Joe doesn't that is." She would honestly never have minded getting to know the other seventh year, Raine seemed nice enough, but she'd been more or less shut out by most of her class. Even Joe seemed to spend more time with others. "Yeah, it kind of is." She sort of hoped they didn't end up joined by Raine's other friends though. Not that she didn't like them, but she didn't want to tag along feeling left out.

As it was, she braced herself for Joe to say he only wanted to hang out with Raine.

He didn't however. "I'd kind of like to go taste some of the different food that's available."

11 Tasha Glad you could join us 323 Tasha 0 5

Connor Priory

December 29, 2018 10:57 PM

Good for you! by Connor Priory

Connor was really excited to go to the state fair. He had never been to one before. Because of his mother's back problems, they didn't get to do much that wasn't local unless it was a family thing such as visiting his grandparents. Mom had been the victim of a freak bludger accident when she was back in school and was in a lot of pain now. It was why Connor and his sisters were not allowed to play Quidditch. His father was anxious that something similar-or worse-would happen to them.

Not that any of them minded. Connor preferred watching games to playing them, Sophia thought sports were stupid and Lydia was very much a delicate fragile girl who'd never be interested in such things. Plus, she was also very much a girly-girl.

He accepted his yearbook from Headmaster Brockert and looked through it quickly, noting that he'd gotten Gentleman. Gentleman was a word that, while containing connotations of being extra proper and formal such as the Crotalus boys a year ahead of him, also meant one who was courteous, chivalrous and/or honorable. These were things that Connor tried very hard to be so he appreciated the award very much.

Or it could be because he was a pureblood. Everyone else who'd won the same award was.

Anyway, maybe it would impress Peyton. A bashful girl like her-that was what she'd won-deserved a guy who'd treat her with kindness and respect rather some obnoxious alpha male or someone who wouldn't be understanding of her shyness. Although Connor didn't think Peyton was too painfully shy but she had needed encouragement to enter the baking competition.

The fourth year, however, had not entered anything. His main hobby was playing the trombone and while there were some bands playing-and they were not the sort of bands that included the trombone anyway-there was no competition for it.

At least that gave Connor ample free time to check out everything that the fair had to offer. And there was a lot! Food and rides and exhibits. He decided to check out some of the different competitions, to see what others had made.

He entered the Art Pavilion, looking around for a familiar face. Connor didn't spot any of his fellow Dungeons and Dragons players, and Peyton and Ivy, of course,were busy with their own entries in baking and horticulture respectively. He spotted Dorian Montoir though and made his way over to the Teppenpaw. "Hey." Connor greeted the other boy, smiling warmly. "How's it going? Did you enter anything or are you just a lover of art?" His tone was friendly and made it clear that he didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

11 Connor Priory Good for you! 395 Connor Priory 0 5

Dorian

December 30, 2018 5:57 AM

Um, thanks by Dorian

"I made a calligraphy," Dorian answered, his tone quiet and neutral. He was unsure, after saying it, whether 'made' was the right verb in English, but he did not know Connor well enough to seek clarification from him, or to feel comfortable with the thought of dissecting his grammar with the other boy.

The fact that the other boy was hanging around the art tent was an indicator that he was not going to find making art something worthy of ridicule in and of itself. Of course, he might still dislike Dorian's particularly entry or feel it was too foreign for an American state fair. But if that was the case, it was his problem, not Dorian's. That was the whole point. It had not escaped his notice that he was talking to a Crotalus - the one house where he had never successfully made a friend and where he now seemed to have an enemy. Still, Connor was not Simon, and Dorian did not like to judge people before getting to know them (though if avoiding getting to know them at all was an option, he was perfectly happy to take it).

"Chinese calligraphy," he clarified, his tone the same - a little shy at finding himself the subject of the conversation but neither embarrased nor unfriendly. "You?"

13 Dorian Um, thanks 1401 Dorian 0 5

Raine

December 30, 2018 6:11 AM

Let's get this show on the road by Raine

Tasha seemed fine with Raine joining them, and the Teppenpaw's posture relaxed a bit. In fact, Tasha was actually smiling at her, and Raine returned it. Her expression wasn't so effusive as Tasha's because Raine simply wasn't able to warm up to strangers that quickly, but it was genuine, whilst also betraying a little of the nervousness she felt.

"Food's always interesting," she agreed. She feared it might also be expensive at something like this, or rather expensive to her but not to anyone else. Still, she didn't want to be disagreeable, and she was genuinely interested to see what was on offer. She could treat herself to something if it looked really good, and maybe some places would have free samples. She could always say she wasn't very hungry or that she planned to go on the rides later and didn't want to do so on a full stomach.

"I wonder if there's an Ethiopian stall," she added, quietly enough that the remark might get lost against the background noise, depending on whether or not her companions were really giving her their attention or not. She doubted that there really would be one but it seemed sort of funny and sort of... nostalgic to suggest it. She just wasn't confident enough in her ability to be either of those things to do so very loudly.

13 Raine Let's get this show on the road 327 Raine 0 5

Natalie

December 30, 2018 5:12 PM

I sure do by Natalie

"My mother tolerated it. Father was less impressed and my sister didn't care for things like that at all." Kelsey thought that it was a silly way to use magic and served no purpose. And that it was annoying. Which meant that Mother would take Natalie out for ice cream just the two of them, which was fine by her. The Pecari really liked when it was just the two of them because they could relax a little bit. "My cousin Scarlett just adores it though. She thinks it's hilarious. So does my Uncle Seth." Maybe it was a Pecari thing. Then again, Isaac had said he could see why it wouldn't be appealing to the general public which made her think it wasn't something that he was that into and he was a Pecari too.

Which Natalie could understand. There were certain interests and traits associated with her house that she didn't especially possess nor did some of her relatives who'd been in Pecari. For example, regardless of what her sister thought, she was not loud and obnoxious. Nor did she care for Quidditch. Though she did like water sports. Scarlett didn't really do anything athletic though.

Natalie chuckled. "Tacos sound really good, later of course. We did just have ice cream." She paused. "I'm not entirely sure a taco that walks is a good idea. Who wants to have to chase down their meal?" Maybe it went back to some primal urge from when people lived in mud huts-her ancestors, if they were anything like the current Atwaters and Brockerts, probably lived in mud mansions-and had to hunt for their food? Or-and more likely-it was like the screaming ice cream and people were using magic because they could .

"Oooh, let's try the flying teacups." Natalie suggested.

11 Natalie I sure do 371 Natalie 0 5