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 <i>un</i>fair. 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
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Headmaster Brockert
Midsummer Fair (TUMBLEWEED)
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Headmaster Brockert
1
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Peyton O'Malley
December 13, 2018 6:26 PMPeyton O'Malley
AlumnusHouse: Crotalus
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 13
Birthday: December 16
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.
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Peyton O'Malley
Catch me if you can (Jasmine)
1403
Peyton O'Malley
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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?"
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Tasha DuBois
The End (Tag Joe)
323
Tasha DuBois
0
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Beau Tate
December 17, 2018 4:55 PM
How <i>un</i>fair. 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?"
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Beau Tate
How <i>un</i>fair.
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Beau Tate
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Topaz Brockert
December 18, 2018 3:42 PMTopaz Brockert
AlumnusHouse: Aladren
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 11
Birthday: October 29
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.
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Topaz Brockert
Satisfied
1427
Topaz Brockert
0
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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.”
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Lily Spencer
The penultimate end.
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Lily Spencer
0
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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."
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Isaac Song
This looks fairly promising
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Isaac Song
0
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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."
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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 AMNatalie Atwater
AlumnusHouse: Pecari
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 15
Birthday: February 6
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
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
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
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
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
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 PMEmerald Brockert
AlumnusHouse: Aladren
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 15
Birthday: September 16
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
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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 PMJoe Umland
AlumnusHouse: Teppenpaw
Written by: Grayson Wright
Age in Post: 17
Birthday: November 13
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
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
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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
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
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
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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
Can't hold him back anymore by Jasmine
Jasmine watched the gingerman run off out of sight and wished him a good life. Albeit a naked life without the benefit of beautiful clothes like his batch-mates were going to have. It was his own fault for running off before they were done with him. But she wished him a good naked life and hoped he didn't get stepped on too quickly.As Peyton picked up a tube of frosting and set to her tray, Jasmine settled beside the other one. Peyton was getting some complaints from her cookies, so Jasmine decided to avoid that problem by asking her cookies what they wanted to wear. She sent Peyton a sympathetic look but kind of doubted Peyton would never make these again. They were a lot of fun when they weren't running off and being ungrateful. Or maybe they just wouldn't use the enchanted flour next time. Or maybe try a different brand that maybe had less backtalk.
"It might have been a bad batch of flour?" she suggested, not entirely sure that was the problem, but feeling it was a good guess. "I don't remember the ones at Christmas giving us this much trouble."
She addressed her first gingerwoman (as identified by the cookie cutter used to mold her already wearing a dress). "I'm a qualified gingerbread dress designer," she told it, quite certain that there was no such thing but if there was, she would meet the requirements to be so qualified, "What kind of dress would you like? Cute? Beautiful? Elegant? Any favorite colors?"
"Oh," her first cookie said, delighted, "I'd love an adorable little green outfit, with red highlights. Maybe a Santa's elf hat?"
Jasmine beamed at it, pleased that this approach seemed to be working so well. "Excellent. I can make you into an adorable little elf gingerbread girl." She picked up the green tube of frosting and set to it.
1
Jasmine
Can't hold him back anymore
1397
Jasmine
0
5
But is very nice by Cleo
"Oh, hi Ivy," Cleo greeted the other girl. She had often noted Ivy's name when it came up in roll call, especially during herbology where it seemed kind of funny, like Professor Xavier had switched over to checking which plants were present. It did not escape her notice that she had met Ivy in the horticulture tent, though she thought it better not to point it out, as she suspected it might be a lot funnier in her own head than it was out loud, or to Ivy, who may have had to endure a lifetime of such observations."Yeah, I got a blue one," Cleo nodded to the ribbon on her garden. She wasn't really familiar enough to remember what all the colours meant, and was just pleased to have got some form of recognition.
"First! Best use of edible plants," she added, as she leant in to read. The first word came out as an excited squeak. It was nice to get an award at all, but a first place one was amazing, and especially for something she cared about so much. Her daddy was going to be so proud. Professor Xavier probably would be too. "Did you enter any competitions?" she asked Ivy, trying not to get too wrapped up in her own award, although she couldn't help turning to read it one more time.
13
Cleo
But is very nice
389
Cleo
0
5
Nevaeh Reed
December 31, 2018 2:18 PM
The last year, anyway by Nevaeh Reed
So this was it.She had spent seven years in this place, being led and trying to lead as best she could, and above all else, learning. Nevaeh had learned a lot, both academically (obviously) and personally. She had made friends and seen one disappear without a goodbye - Barnaby Pye still swept through her mind with some frequency, the memory of how she had felt about him but was too young and unsure to convey - and all the time had never really seen any of them. But she knew them. Blind or not, she knew them. She knew the particular spring in Kyte’s step, knew the gracefulness with which Raine moved. She knew how Tess’s voice changed when she was speaking through a smile, and how often that smile came when Ben Pierce was around. And even without them, she had never been alone. She had Scout, her constant companion, an extension of herself. The only thing Nevaeh didn’t know was how people were looking at her, but she had made her peace with that a long time ago.
The Aladren had also had her fair share of struggles with the staff, but in entirely individualized ways. It was mostly, if not exclusively, the substitute professor and Pecari Head of House with whom she had found near constant conflict. Isis Carter was a person she had spent the first ten years of her life wondering all about, only to intrinsically refute upon actually knowing. Maybe it was the secrecy that weighed her down, or maybe they were just incompatible people. But either way, the tensions had only strengthened this year as Isis found new ways to form an updated family picture without Nevaeh in it, all the while claiming - quietly - that she so desperately wanted her to be a part of it.
It was what it was. Maybe something better would grow when they weren’t together all the time, or in a setting where most people weren’t intended to know who they were to one another. Nevaeh promised to write, but she wasn’t entirely sure that she intended to keep that promise when she got to college. After all, a Herbology major could be pretty demanding, she imagined. It would depend on the collegiate transition, and how much she felt like hearing about the new baby sister who would be arriving in the summer. The baby Isis was actually keeping.
Nevaeh tried to shake those thoughts away and allow herself to enjoy the fair and her last hurrah as a Sonora student before she would be on her way. And she had been, but as she wandered, she heard someone address her. “Enjoying the fair?”
“Yeah,” she answered, smiling despite herself. Professor Xavier had been her favorite professor since the very beginning, teaching her favorite class and with her favorite kind way about him. However, she was still gaging how to feel about Nathan Xavier, her step-father. She attended the wedding mostly because her parents (the Reeds) insisted that she should, and she assumed it was beautiful. It was just… weird. “I haven’t checked to see how the horticulture competitions went yet, though. Do you know where they put mine?”
12
Nevaeh Reed
The last year, anyway
325
Nevaeh Reed
0
5
Joe
December 31, 2018 5:19 PM
If only it didn’t have to end so soon. by Joe
“Food’s good,” agreed Joe, pleased to see everyone getting along.This, he thought, was why he thought he and Julian were closer these days. Well, part of it was just that he was old enough for them to function more as equals than they had when he was small, but also that they both were what they were, yet were able to have friends who were other things. If Julian could somehow have John and Mom and her friends in the same rooms sometimes without anyone dying, then Joe could enjoy the fair with both Raine and Tasha without even a death glare in any direction.
He tilted his head closer to Raine when he heard her start to speak, knowing she was often a quiet person and that it would take a little effort to hear her when she was speaking in the middle of a fairly loud event. He smiled when he heard what she had to say.
“That would be something, wouldn’t it?” he said at the thought of Ethiopian food. “Really good for old times’ sake.” He tried to figure out if he remembered enough to do a bit of transformation on some boring foodstuff to make it like Ethiopian food, and if that would be funny or a little weird. “I’d say you two should come to Canada sometime, but our regional cuisine’s not too interesting.”
Saying this reminded him that it was...the end. Made it almost real, even. He’d say goodbye to them, and to Georgia and Jozua, and then it would be...over. There was a chance he’d see none of them again and not much of a chance at all of maintaining any real sorts of relationships…
“Seriously though - look me up if you’re ever in western Canada, both of you,” he said. “Or it might be easier to look up my sister and have her do it - she’d also love that.” He considered it part of his duty as godfather to prevent Julian from quite smothering poor Cecily, as if the way Julian was about her brothers was anything to go on, she was going to be the aggressively overbearing, over-involved sort of mother. “I’ll put the right province in when I sign your yearbooks,” he added. “What do you guys have planned for summer.”
16
Joe
If only it didn’t have to end so soon.
329
Joe
0
5
Tasha
December 31, 2018 11:56 PM
Let's enjoy it while we can. by Tasha
Well, not only was she not being rejected and left on her own, they were even agreeable to her suggestion of trying different food. Raine even returned her smile, though the Teppenpaw girl seemed a little nervous. "That would be great." Tasha agreed. "Ethiopian food is so amazing. I've never really been to a fair like this so I have no idea what they have though I did see a walking taco and hear some ice cream screaming.""Don't sell Canadian cuisine short." She said. "Personally I think some of it's very good, such as poutine, garlic fingers and lobster rolls. Oh and meat pies." Tasha could usually find something good to eat in any country though there were places she drew the line such as spiders which were served in Cambodia or any sort of insect. She understood that in some places people were starving because they were ruled by dictators so they had to eat what they could but could never quite fathom why they'd kept on eating them after things improved. Tasha had a life long fear of spiders as it was and the thought of those hairy little legs going down her throat made her want to gag.
Of course, even though the thought made her feel sick, she supposed it was better than the reverse, an acromantula eating her.
Tasha nodded. She hadn't really expected to ever see Joe again after graduation and now he was offering to have them visit. "I can probably arrange that. My dad has relatives in Montreal but I haven't really been to western Canada."
She continued. "I'll probably be traveling this summer and for awhile." Unlike a lot of pureblood girls, Tasha wasn't getting married right away. She'd probably end up with a foreign guy eventually , preferably one who spoke English. She was fluent in French and Portuguese too but English was still her main language.
The Aladren saw the sign for the culinary pavilion. "Hey do you guys-" Her voice broke off as something small and brown rushed by.
"Run run, fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man."
She turned to her companions. "What was that?"
11
Tasha
Let's enjoy it while we can.
323
Tasha
0
5
Peyton
January 01, 2019 4:41 AM
There are other problems to deal with by Peyton
Peyton considered this. "Possibly. Sometimes things just go wrong with magic and with food both." She paused. "I wonder if they're safe to even eat.""We're not! We'll make you sick! Don't eat us!" cried one of the gingerbread people on her sheet.
She gave it a dirty look. "Or you're just saying that because you don't want to be eaten." Peyton wasn't stupid. For one thing she was definitely smart enough not to point out the gingerbread people that she was not stupid because she had a feeling they would just taunt her.
"But, but....there's gluten in the flour." said one of the others.
"Yeah, not really sensitive to that." Peyton thought for a second. She got a piece of parchment and quill out and wrote on it. Contains gluten . She used a sticky charm to affix it to the table. "And now people who are have been warned."
She turned to the next cookie. "And what would you like to wear?" The Crotalus inquired, deciding to try Jasmine's tactic as it seemed to be working for her friend.
The gingerbread person seemed to be thinking. "Okay, so I want a multi-color dress where you use every single color and then covered with rainbow sprinkles and those little silver ball candies on it."
Peyton sighed in frustration and set to work. After a moment, she turned to Jasmine and asked. "Do you think it could be a prank? Or sabotage? I mean, I don't know of anyone else who has cookies entered or that hates either of us but there are, well, probably pranksters at school who could have done this." Or maybe someone did hate Peyton and she didn't know it. The thought was kind of distressing. She had never been nasty to anyone that she could recall, but sometimes people attacked someone without any provocation. Carrie had been like that and so had Ryan's biological mother and her brother had certainly never done anything to them.
11
Peyton
There are other problems to deal with
1403
Peyton
0
5
And then enjoy what comes next by Raine
Raine was never sure how seriously to take these offers. Look me up if you’re ever passing through… That was different than ‘come visit,’ less intense, and people could even say the second one without really meaning it - we must get together sometime… She found herself nodding and smiling because that was what one did but it felt hard to imagine just popping over to Joe’s house and having tea because she happened to be in Western Canada. It had always been difficult to picture herself amongst her classmates’ families. One of the ways in which Sonora worked was she didn’t really have to interact with people beyond themselves, and search for, and fail to get, the approval of their families. She got the impression Joe’s family were all very smart, and rather proper.Tasha already seemed to know a fair bit about Canada. Raine could recognise some of the things she mentioned, or elements of them. She knew it had maple syrup. She was glad, however, when the subject switched to summers, as she had more to say about that.
“I’ll be working,” she answered, with a smile. “Summer’s always super busy. So… I guess I’ll be doing what I can, and then catch up on training as I go, or in autumn when it’s quieter.” She had given herself a strict training routine at school, or had done her best too, but it felt like she maintained her level - her condition, her flexibility - rather than really improving as much as she should. She just hoped the best years, where she could have made the most improvements, weren’t gone. She thought they might be though, and that the school, which had promised her a proper education and opportunities, had robbed her of something instead. The younger you trained at gymnastics and aerials, the better you were. She might never be as good as she could have been, if they hadn’t forced this lifestyle on her, and she felt a sudden stab of resentment, the old feelings of it being a prison creeping back into her consciousness.
You can’t catch me…
Her train of thought was interrupted by this, and Tasha’s subsequent question.
“It was a cookie. Running,” Raine answered, her eyes following the gingerbread figure as it disappeared amongst the legs of other fair goers. Admittedly that was noteworthy, but it didn’t strike her as being totally unusual, given that they’d just been talking about walking tacos and screaming ice cream.
13
Raine
And then enjoy what comes next
327
Raine
0
5
There is a re-education programme available by Ness
Ness nodded along, loving that Gary casually used terminology like ‘baseline’ and ‘visual feedback loop’ in casual conversation. Or perhaps it wasn’t casual - perhaps he was talking this way because of how Ness was talking. Perhaps it was a conversational awesomeness feedback loop. Either way, Gary was undeniably, incredibly cool. By Ness’ standards.“That makes sense,” Ness nodded, “I mean… it rules out anything that’s happening as a result of my reactions… Though we can’t rule out it being in reaction to anything I’m thinking because I already looked in it once, so I do have some expectations of what it might be doing to me, right?” the first year queried, hoping that was a correct interpretation of, and expansion upon, what Gary had said. “I mean, I’ll try to keep my mind clear, and like...I won’t be changing what I think based on what I’m seeing, because we’re ruling out the visual feedback loop,” Ness confirmed, feeling like using Gary’s phrase made it sound even better, “but we can’t totally rule out that influence because I’m not sure I can stop thinking. But I don’t think it’s reading my mind anyway...” Ness decided to stop there because that was possibly becoming Too Many Thoughts, and there was a danger that the point was getting lost: Ness agreed with the plan.
“Ok, so test run of just me in the mirror, no looking?” Ness confirmed, before turning, eyes shut, to face the mirror again and let Gary observe what was happening. Ness’ hypothesis was that the image was still switching, both because the most obvious way of it working was based on superficial features but even on the off chance it could read minds, Ness’ expectation and desire were both that it couldn’t choose - it was amusing to be confusing.
Eyes open again, Ness waited for Gary’s feedback, taking his pen, though this meant they immediately hit another snag...
“Maybe you need to draw it on me? Cos I can’t really do that properly without looking in the mirror,” the first year suggested, handing the pen back to him. “Beard first. I’m not sure how I feel about having a pen poked at my eyes. I mean, I will. For science. But let’s build up to that.”
13
Ness
There is a re-education programme available
1419
Ness
0
5
Georgia Kirkly
January 01, 2019 2:17 PM
Doing the friendly roommate thing (tag Juniper) by Georgia Kirkly
Georgia was pretty excited for the fair. If she was honest, it was her favourite kind of school event - maximum fun with minimum work on her part. She could see herself getting really stuck into the concert next year, and was actually excited that that would be her final Sonora event but beyond that, she didn’t want to have to make much effort. This attitude was one of the many reasons she had concluded that Zevalyn would be a better head girl than she would, and Georgia had - admittedly after some pen-hovering indecisiveness - voted for her friend instead of herself.She collected her yearbook, pleased to see she had been nominated as friendliest, and a bit baffled as to what she had done to earn most creative. Either her skills with a blusher brush had been noted, or perhaps her singing (and the definition of ‘creative’ stretched in either case) or her yearmates had struggled to identify anyone amongst them who really fit it. Oh well, it wasn’t like it was a negative thing to be called.
Glancing around, she noticed Zevalyn was chatting with one of her housemates. Georgia had suspected that Zevalyn would want to spend time exchanging saliva with Kir and had not exactly banked on her company, though she admittedly hadn’t come up with a solid plan B. Zevalyn was really her only close friend, but there were plenty of people whose company she found pleasant enough, so she just figured she would see who was free.
She noticed her roommate a little way away. On the one hand, Georgia wasn’t sure about hanging out. She and Juniper didn’t really have a very close relationship. They just kind of… politely existed in the same space, not trying to trouble the other one too much. But Juniper didn’t look like she was actively with someone, and Georgia knew that her roommate definitely didn’t feel the same way she did about approaching others. Juniper had also seemed kind of sad lately. There were a couple of times when Georgia came back to their shared room and it looked like the other girl had been crying. The yearbook award nagged at her, making her feel she wouldn’t be doing a great job of living up to her title of friendliest classmate if she ignored her roommate.
“Hi,” Georgia smiled, making her way over, “Were you waiting for someone?” she asked, wanting to check that Juniper didn’t have any prior arrangements before pushing her company on the other girl.
OOC - roommate relations double checked with Juniper’s author
13
Georgia Kirkly
Doing the friendly roommate thing (tag Juniper)
346
Georgia Kirkly
0
5
Joe
January 01, 2019 3:13 PM
Got to give it the old college try, I guess. by Joe
Travel, work. These plans were not altogether surprising given the speakers. Joe nodded. “You’re both more ambitious than me, then,” he said. “I’m planning to spend a lot of time doing not much of anything until autumn. Hang out with the brothers and sister while I can, do volunteer stuff with Mom. That kind of thing.”He supposed he was looking forward to this. Getting some rest, before plunging into something else, then something else, then something else again. However, it did feel weird to say out loud that he wasn’t really going to do things for a while, however short of a while it was.
He was quickly distracted, however, by the running gingerbread man. “And talking,” he added to Raine’s description. “I find that the strangest part, though I never quite get moving food anyway.” This cookie demonstrated why - it was running around people’s feet. On the ground. Joe had fairly conservative beliefs about eating food that had been on the ground, and a cookie could not be washed. Not without making it really soggy and not nice. Therefore, it was a lost cause of a cookie.
“Someone clearly did not roll him up enough before throwing him in the pan,” he added, remembering Julian’s efforts to teach Cecily the ‘patty cake’ rhyme over Christmas.
16
Joe
Got to give it the old college try, I guess.
329
Joe
0
5
Connor
January 02, 2019 1:31 AM
You're welcome by Connor
"Oh that's really neat." Connor replied. Just because calligraphy wasn't one of his own talents didn't mean he looked down on it. Some people were like that. According to Uncle Adam, it was the Quidditch players looking down on those who weren't. Especially if you were male. Or at the very least, they thought they were somehow special. Not just that they were proud of what they could do but that they thought being good at sports was more important than being talented at art or music or academics.Interestingly enough, his sister Sophia, who was good at both flying and academics, tended to be more interested in the latter and generally thought Quidditch was stupid. Not that people who liked playing it or watching it or were good at it necessarily were but the sport itself was.
Anyway, Connor had never really felt picked on by Quidditch players or anyone else but he could kind of see that his uncle had sort of a point. After all, Quidditch was school sponsored with an actual coach that was paid, whether or not the Headmaster himself actually cared about it-and Connor's guess was no, since Headmaster Brockert did not seem like he cared about much-whereas there had never been a school orchestra until Louis Valois started one. Now Connor and Ivy had to fight to keep it open while the Quidditch players had combined into a full school team and were playing against other schools despite a waning interest among the students at Sonora. Hence the lack of house teams.
"No, I'm just checking out other people's work. " Connor replied. "I more of a musician than an artist. I play the trombone."
11
Connor
You're welcome
395
Connor
0
5
Juniper Brockert
January 02, 2019 2:23 AMJuniper Brockert
AlumnusHouse: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 16
Birthday: February 23
Thanks, I appreciate it by Juniper Brockert
Juniper sighed to herself. She was not really looking forward to going home for the summer. Yes, it would be nice to not have to be around people all the time, to have her own space to go to, but at the same time, there were balls and not only did that mean being in an acute social situation, but pressure from her mother to actually dance with boys and talk to people of both genders that she barely knew.And the boys that usually asked her to dance-that had the confidence to ask someone to dance-were exactly the sort that Juniper found intimidating. She did not want someone brash and arrogant, the sort who had girls flocking around them. She wanted someone soft and gentle, like her brother and Finn. Someone who would care for someone like her and who would need and appreciate her.
Of course, the sort Juniper was not especially interested in were unlikely to want her for any reason but her last name anyway.
There were times, however, that she was truly terrified that she was never going to be happy in life. Oh, Juniper knew she wasn't going to end up a spinster but she worried that she was going to end up married to someone she didn't even like very much and who didn't...like her the way she was.
And it was not as if she could be different. Juniper knew full well that she couldn't be more outgoing anyway.
Georgia approached her and asked if she was waiting for anyone. "Oh no." The sixth year replied. "Not at all."
11
Juniper Brockert
Thanks, I appreciate it
345
Juniper Brockert
0
5
Zevalyn Ives
January 02, 2019 10:14 AM
None at all by Zevalyn Ives
Zevalyn smiled at Emerald. Zevalyn’s perception of who was in which year was a bit skewed as she had jumped two grades in the last six years, so some of the fourth and fifth years she was a bit fuzzy about who belonged where, but she was certain that Emerald was one of the ones in fifth, given that she had earned the Aladren Prefecture this year, and had therefore probably had been one of the close runners up for the school wide award Zevalyn had claimed. She hoped Emerald didn’t hold Zev winning it against her.“Hi,” she said, because that pleasantry had been skipped over by her out loud musings being answered. Given Emerald’s Aladrenicity, and her lack of upset over Zevalyn’s clothing choices (though, Zevalyn noted, she hadn’t reassured her that wearing purple was okay either), she felt the pressure of Representing Aladren lessen somewhat.
“True,” she agreed, though Representing Pecari had never been an option on the table. She didn’t know about other people filling out the surveys, but she hadn’t even considered anyone not in the House for its Most Representative candidate. And she had never been in any danger of getting sorted to Pecari when Aladren existed.
She had nothing against Pecari or its members, of course, but neither was she close to anyone from that House either. Her two closest friends, Georgia and Kir, were both Teppenpaws, so if she had to name a secondary House for her loyalties, she would probably peg that one. She wouldn’t want to Represent Teppenpaw any more than she would Pecari though. It wasn’t hers. Not like Aladren was. She could Be Aladren without even trying, that was just who she was.
Which was probably why she got the award in the yearbook.
Though learning five years worth of material in three probably hadn’t hurt either.
“I guess that’s why we’re both in Aladren together,” she continued, then turned her yearbook to the empty space inside the front cover and offered it toward Emerald. “Would you like to be the first person to sign my yearbook?” They weren’t best friends or anything, but they were Housemates and co-Prefects, and that counted for plenty.
Besides, she didn’t want her parents thinking she only knew two people in the entire school.
1
Zevalyn Ives
None at all
380
Zevalyn Ives
0
5
May the next be less awkward by Nathan
“Absolutely,” he promised, glad that he’d already picked out where Nevaeh’s entry was in preparation of showing it off to Isis later. “We’re standing next to the a Beginner’s planters, now,” he told her, figuring he could work his way over toward Nevaeh’s slowly and tell her about the herbological competitions along the way. “Sonora did well. This one, here, I think you’ll like,” he said, leading her to one entry in particular, “It won a blue first place ribbon for most pleasant fragrances.” He leaned in and drew a deep breath through his nose to appreciate the fine combination of floral scents.He led her meanderingly through the exhibits, always heading generally in the direction of her own submission, and giving clear descriptions of every exhibit they passed.
Nevaeh was the only blind student he had ever taught, and he knew he would do this for any student needing his words to understand what was in the visual world around them, though he’d probably tone down the technical herbological terms if he wasn’t talking to an Advanced Aladren student he knew would soon be studying Herbology at a college level.
Yet, he couldn’t help but also be aware that the young woman beside him was his new wife’s biological daughter. A biological daughter she had given up for adoption and whose relationship with her was currently very strained. A young woman who he wasn’t quite sure how to fit into his new growing family, or even if she wanted to fit.
“You know,” he said, while the walked to the next exhibit, “If you ever want to meet up next year, to talk herbology or . . . Isis . . . or anything, my floo is always open, or we can meet up for sandwiches or something, have a chance to meet your sister, if you want.”
He stopped walking, “And here’s yours. Congratulations, you got a ribbon, too!” He picked it up, waved his wand over it as he cast a quick spell to add braille markings to it so she could read it for herself, and handed it to her.
1
Nathan
May the next be less awkward
28
Nathan
0
5
Nevaeh (and Scout)
January 02, 2019 9:10 PM
Fingers crossed by Nevaeh (and Scout)
Scout was a good boy. He helped his human navigate her very different world, and he was quiet and well-behaved. He took his responsibilities very seriously and was only playful when it was appropriate, like when she took off the harness or at least let go. Nevaeh did not let go too often, but when she did, he stayed near or nuzzled one of her human friends or did other good boy things. Of her human friends, Scout liked the one called Raine the most. She was very soft.But this big man - the Nathan - was also good. Nevaeh liked him. Scout could tell because she didn’t hold on to the harness as tight. Her fingers slid on and off casually. She let the Nathan lead her. She trusted him. Nathan was good people.
And Nevaeh did like Nathan. She followed him fairly closely, listening intently and happily as he described all that they passed. He didn’t have to do that, but he did. The Aladren stiffened, however, at his proposal for the upcoming year, her fingers tightening on Scout’s harness. A lot of what he suggested, she just wasn’t sure about. The baby and Isis were not necessarily something she thought she wanted to deal with if it could be avoided.
Fortunately, the pause was not too long and awkward before he stopped walking in front of her submission. Nevaeh felt the charmed raised Braille of the ribbon. “Second place,” she commented. “Not too bad.” But then the pause came back, and she knew she needed to say something about his suggestion. She frowned slightly. “I’m sure I’ll want to meet up some next year to talk herbology,” she admitted, “but the rest of that… I don’t really know. It’s all very… I don’t know. It’s weird. I know things are really different now than they were then, but her having a baby is just…. I mean, she didn’t…. When I was….” Nevaeh sighed, frustrated by her inability to put it in words. “I don’t know. It just bothers me, I guess.”
12
Nevaeh (and Scout)
Fingers crossed
325
Nevaeh (and Scout)
0
5
Emerald
January 02, 2019 9:34 PM
In fact, it's something to be proud of by Emerald
Emerald was pleased that Zevalyn agreed with her. It wasn't as if people could be voted for being the most something of a house that was not there own and she wasn't saying that Zevalyn could have been voted most Pecari-ish, but that being an Aladren which generally meant being smart was better than being a Pecari which, while not being part of their house description, usually meant one was loud and obnoxious. Emerald considered being intelligent-or kind or respectable-far more of a thing to be proud of than being active and daring.And the thing was that people who were seemed to think that they were better than everyone else. She had seen Uncle Eustace walk around with a swagger, thinking not only women but boys who didn't play Quidditch, were inferior as human beings and then take her brother and cousin Christopher and force them into Quidditch drills and bully them if they didn't do things that well as well as not really treating Aunt Helena that good. She had seen Owen feel insecure about whether or not Jemima's family liked him because he had asthma and was unathletic. She had seen Angelique sort of lose her mind and become desperately lonely because she didn't fit in with a year group that was full of jocks,one of whom,in Angelique's words, "hoarded up all the friends and left her with nothing." And finally, Emerald herself had had a run in with Lily Spencer who thought she was just so cool and special that she had the right to mock other people's relatives. So maybe she could be forgiven for not being a fan of the type.
Not that Aladren was perfect. Topaz was part of it, after all and there were some people who also thought they were better than everyone else because they were smart including both Emerald's sister and her sister's roommate. Of course, she only had Topaz's word on the latter and normally that wasn't worth that much, but given the visceral reaction invoked by the other first year, she sort of believed her. It would be like dealing with Lily Spencer if Lily Spencer was smart.
Generally speaking though, Zevalyn should be proud of her award.Emerald wouldn't have minded winning it, if for no other reason than she would love to shove Topaz's nose in it. As it was, she really wished she'd have won biggest brain. So Topaz couldn't shove her nose in that.
"Certainly." Emerald said. "You can sign mine too, if you'd like."
11
Emerald
In fact, it's something to be proud of
358
Emerald
0
5
Winston Pierce
January 02, 2019 11:28 PM
Rescuing you from the bad element by Winston Pierce
Winston’s first thought upon seeing the yearbook was “Oh Merlin, that’s a bad picture of me.” This was was swiftly followed by “Oh! Wow, I got Most Representative of Crotalus!” That was a proud moment. Of the whole school, he was the most Crotalus Crotalus, beating out not only his two roommates, but also older Crotali. He was, in fact, the youngest of the four Most Representative House picks. And since Crotalus was easily the best House in the school, he took this to mean he was voted the best of the best, in the whole school.This boded well for the Head Boy election at the end of next year, and proved the staff had been wrong to give prefect to Victor instead of him. He was, after all, exclusively among prefects with that award. He should have that badge, too.
He pushed that thought aside, as he always did. He tried not to begrudge Victor that victory. They were friends, after all.
Winston flipped into the second year section and was very pleased to see his sister as Class Lady. That suited Caitlin perfectly and suggested to him that she would also surely be the Most Crotalus Crotalus someday. She earned Most Creative, too, which he thought would please her. It pleased him.
Next, his own class. He frowned at Victor’s picture with the title of Class Gentleman. That was not right. How . . . Winston only got Quidditch Obsessed? That didn’t even sound complimentary; he was not obsessed. He was Skilled and eager to continue improving those skills. Plus, Quidditch was good for making connections. He didn’t talk and think about it all the time, he had other interests; he was not obsessed.
He didn’t even get most ambitious? Who in Merlin’s name thought Victor was more ambitious than he was? Victor didn’t even try out for Quidditch, nevermind make a bid for Captain.
Winston was starting to get seriously weary of Victor taking almost all of the good things at this school.
The only person more slighted than Winston was Simon who only walked away with being called Most Serious.
Winston flipped back to the school wide page to admire his own name (if not his photograph) again. Oh, and he had missed it last time, but Caitlin made it onto that page, too, for her friendship with Sylvia. Very good. He was the Crotalus’s Crotalus and she was known for her ability to made strong connections. An excellent showing for the New Hampshire Pierces.
He closed his yearbook and looked around the crowd to find a strong connection of his own to see the fair with. Pity, Emerald was currently talking to Zevalyn. Oh, but Zevalyn was dating The Teppenpaw, so perhaps Emerald needed a rescue from the questionable element. At the very least, it was likely Zevalyn would drop Emerald like a pile of rocks as soon as she spotted her eye-liner-wearing boyfriend. It would be much better for Emerald to drop Zevalyn before that could happen.
“Miss Brockert,” he said with a polite but warm smile of greeting, as the girls’ yearbooks returned to their rightful owners. He offered a cursory nod of acknowledgement toward Zevalyn. The older girl was muggle born, and had very bad taste in men, but she was a prefect and was obviously on yearbook signing terms with Emerald, so he didn’t want to slight her completely. “Would you allow me to accompany you around the fair today?”
Victor might have asked her to the ball first, but Winston hoped this year he’d be the one lucky enough to keep Miss Emerald Brockert company for the school’s midsummer event.
OOC: Zevalyn is my character as well so I can say she gladly signed Emerald’s yearbook as well. (It read ‘To my fellow Aladren prefect, enjoy your summer! Zevalyn Ives’)
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Winston Pierce
Rescuing you from the bad element
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Ivy
January 03, 2019 3:00 AM
Agreed by Ivy
"That's really cool. Congratulations." Ivy smiled at Cleo. She knew that the Crotalus had to have had kind of a hard year, what with being outed as a veela and all. She could not begin to imagine how humiliating that was. Or what it would be like to feel like you were undeniably different than anyone else in the entire school. As rough as Muggleborns might have it, there were other Muggleborns at Sonora whereas Cleo was the only person who was partially another species .And being part veela in particular had to be hard. On the surface it might sound nice, to have lots of people find you attractive-which was hardly the be all end all of things in general-but on the other hand, how did you ever know if they liked you for yourself or because you had accidentally used your powers on them? Plus, others might resent the fact that everyone was attracted to you rather than them.
"Yes, I made a container garden too. I got a blue ribbon for Best Mixture for it." Ivy paused. "I suppose that's because I had a lot of different types of plants maybe? And I also attempted to grow a Chinese Chomping Cabbage but that didn't turn out as well. I got an Honorable Mention." She had probably overextended herself just a bit with the Cabbage.
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Ivy
Agreed
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Ivy
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Caitlin Pierce
January 03, 2019 3:59 AM
Running out of ideas for titles by Caitlin Pierce
Caitlin was not entirely sure about this state fair thing. She thought it was nice to showcase things like needlework and painting. Indeed, it was especially nice to see the former given some attention, it was a truly ladylike art and such things should be embraced and given their due. Naturally, the Crotalus had entered something. She had always been good at such things after all.On the other hand, fairs were generally...sort of dirty places. Caitlin liked things neat, tidy and orderly.
She received her yearbook from the Headmaster and opened it up. Her brother had gotten Most Representative Crotalus, she noted with some pride. Meanwhile, she had gotten Best Friends with her roommate. Caitlin wanted that to be true, she really did, but Sylvia had sided with Katerina over her when it came to allowing Quidditch players into Gardenia Girls. She still couldn't believe that, really. It seemed odd to her that Sylvia who was as girly and proper as they came, would want to associate with girls who did such an unladylike thing.
The Crotalus next noticed that Topaz had gotten Worst Enemies with her roommate. Now that spoke well of the girl!
Next she turned to her own year's page and felt even more pleased to realize that she had gotten Class Lady and Most Creative. Caitlin felt that these were well deserved awards and she was especially proud of the former.
Finally, she flipped to the fifth years to see what Winston had gotten and felt disappointed. It was okay for him to get Quidditch Obsessed, as he was a boy but there were so many better awards that he could have or should have won such as Gentleman, Ambitious and Brain. Even Most Athletic would have been superior. Plus, he really wasn't obsessed with Quidditch. He just tried to do well at it.
Caitlin closed the book and headed off to the art pavilion.
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Caitlin Pierce
Running out of ideas for titles
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Heinrich Hexenmeister
January 03, 2019 11:07 AM
Not soon enough by Heinrich Hexenmeister
Heinrich was initially concerned when he found his face beside four of the fifteen awards given to the second year class in the yearbook, which was more than any other one person in his year received. That initially seemed like too much fame, like he was drawing an awful lot of attention from his classmates, more than he thought somebody who barely spoke the language ought to have garnered. But as he slowly deciphered the English beside his name and picture (with the help of his German-English dictionary in a few cases because people didn’t normally use words like brain and bashful in everyday conversations), he began to believe it was because of his language difficulties and the fact that he was the year group’s sole remaining Aladren that he’d been noticed.The one that said something about finding the library and the one commenting on the size of his brain, he attributed to his House placement. He felt neither he nor his classmates were in in any position to accurately compare each other’s intelligence, nevermind the physical size of anyone’s gray matter. And the fact that Aladren’s common room was physically located inside the library gave him an unfair advantage in finding it.
The other two were direct results of not being comfortable enough with the language to make friends. He did not consider himself bashful. He kept to himself because he knew his English was inferior. Furthermore, he did not like attention for fear of somebody connecting him to his parents’ very public trial in Europe. He supposed his classmates might interpret the combination of those as bashfulness.
Serious, though, he figured he might have actually earned, though it probably had seemed exaggerated to a higher degree than he was actually serious to people who never saw him joke or play or even relax much because English was too much of a barrier to attempt to do any of those things. And what with finding out his parents were murdering criminals, he hadn’t exactly been in a cheerful mood since coming to America.
He closed his yearbook and tucked it away into his bag, deciding he was just the beneficiary of House and behavior stereotypes and thankfully not actually the foremost person in the minds of his classmates. He still wasn’t entirely comfortable with how many times his name showed up on that page, but he could explain it, and that was just going to have to be good enough.
For now, though, he figured getting lost in the state fair crowds would help him feel a bit more invisible. He let the noise of the place and people sweep over him. He couldn’t make out words, and if he closed his eyes, he could almost image he was at some event back home. None of them were exactly like this; they had different noises, different smells . . .
Wait. His eyes popped open. He thought. . . Yes!
“Strudel!” he exclaimed and headed toward the German food cart selling familiar foods and boasting umlats and the letter ß on its signs. He ordered in German and was understood.
He was actually smiling as he walked away, enjoying his apple filled pastry, which was actually authentic and not an American approximation, when someone bumped into him. He managed not to drop his food (which was good for Evelyn because he might have had to hex her a little if she’d ruined his strudel) and smiled back at her. If he hadn’t spent the last year getting used to it, he might have stated a bit at her lipstick, but by now he just accepted it as as how Evelyn looked.
“I did,” he agreed. He showed her his treasure. “I found strudel.” It might be the first time she ever heard him sound genuinely happy.
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Heinrich Hexenmeister
Not soon enough
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Jozua Sparks
January 03, 2019 12:08 PM
We’re here to enjoy some rides not get maudlin by Jozua Sparks
Jozua dressed in trousers and a short sleeved shirt for the fair, figuring robes would just get in the way on rides and in the crowds, and who knew what they might get dragged through. Best to just wear a pair of sturdy shoes, some older clothes he wouldn’t mind getting stained, and leave the robes at school.He collected his yearbook first thing, and checked to see if he was still the reigning Explosion Master, despite not exploding anything all year (he was; some reputations could not be easily erased) and he was a bit surprised to find he had also gotten most involved. Huh. He was mostly just in charge of Dueling Club. And he did Quidditch. And he’d managed to talk his way into Gary’s D&D game after Lily explained it all to him and he’d thought it sounded interesting. So maybe he was involved in a lot of stuff after all. Neat.
He was going to meet Lily later, so he glanced around for Finn. He didn’t see his roommate, but he did see Joe. Jozua just waved to him though, since his graduating Teppenpaw friend seemed busy with other seventh year friends then he walked by close enough to wish all three of them good luck in the future.
Anyway, to justify the good sense of his outfit, he spent the first bit of the fair checking out the magical creature barns. Those had been pretty cool, but pretty quickly the scents from all the food vendors made him hungry enough to go find something to eat. He picked up some “funnel cake with extra fun” which turned his hair a different color after each bite. He wasn’t entirely convinced that particular ‘extra fun’ was to his own benefit, particularly since it didn’t leave out his body hair, which meant his arms changed colors, too, and that was all kinds of weird and distracting, but it tasted great.
His hair was electric purple (which was a very unfortunate combination with his orange shirt) as he licked the last bits of sugar off his fingers and headed over to the rides, where he was supposed to meet up with Lily pretty soon. She seemed to have had the same idea. He grinned as he spotted her getting on line for a particularly terrifying looking one, and he followed her.
“Nope,” he answered her question about whether he’d tried it yet or not. “Just got here from seeing the animals.” He smiled teasingly at her, “Were you gonna start the rides without me?”
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Jozua Sparks
We’re here to enjoy some rides not get maudlin
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Ben Pierce
January 03, 2019 12:49 PM
A Fair Day for a Date with a Fair Lady (tag Tess) by Ben Pierce
It was his last full day as a Sonora Student. Tomorrow, he’d finish packing up his trunk, get on the wagon bound for the Northeast, and never see Sonora again. He was ready to move on to the next stage of his life, but he was going to miss the place and all the people in it.It put a little bit of a damper on the State Fair, which was something he was sure he would otherwise really enjoy.
His melancholy did not last long though. The yearbooks were awesome - he’d gotten both the awards he’d hoped for and expected, plus an additional one for being involved, and his picture even came out good. Tess was, as always, beautiful in her picture. Even Kyte looked more photogenic than he sometimes was.
Plus he and Tess got best couple, which he already knew they were and he didn’t need a yearbook to tell him that. Still, the acknowledgment was nice, even if the small box nestled safely in his robe pocket needed no such popular affirmation to exist. He wasn’t sure if he was going to offer it to Tess today, but he wanted to be ready if the right moment did come along.
He spent the first little while trading off his yearbook for signatures, but slowly the group of Sonorans thinned out as they made their way out into the fair proper and soon there wasn’t anyone left who he needed to get any lasting messages from, so he turned to Tess and offered her his arm. With a totally fake posh accent, that clashed badly with his native Boston one, he asked, “Where would you like to start, my dear?” He dropped the accent as a bad idea, and continued normally, “Food? Fun house? Ferris wheel? Something else that may or may not start with F?”
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Ben Pierce
A Fair Day for a Date with a Fair Lady (tag Tess)
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Re: Fingers crossed by Nathan
Nathan was surprised. He probably shouldn’t have been, having known Nevaeh as long as he had, but he was still a little surprised that she actually voiced her concerns and doubts instead of keeping them inside as was Isis’s habit. Isis and Nevaeh might share blood, but they really weren’t very much alike. He knew that. So why was he surprised?Maybe it was just that he’d seen a lot more of Isis lately, and a bit less of Nevaeh. Maybe it was because he was trying too hard to imagine what his own daughter might be like by extrapolating what his own and Isis’s personalities would be like combined together.
Maybe it was that he had been somewhat fearing that bringing up Isis would make Nevaeh walk away from him instead of confide in him.
“It’s awkward,” he agreed. “If all you want from me is to be a herbology mentor, I can do that.” He hoped his tone of voice suggested he would be okay with that but that it wasn’t his first choice.
“But I did marry you biological mother,” he said. “I know you two don’t get along as well as either of you might hope, and I certainly don’t want to try to fill a position that is rightly Mr. Reed’s. That said, I would like you to be part of my family now, and I think my little girl would be amazingly lucky to have you as a big sister. But I won’t pressure you into anything that you don’t want too. If you want us to remain student and professor, I can maintain that distance. And it’s not a one time offer. You don’t need to decide now. Or if you do decide you don’t need a bigger family right now, you are always welcome to change your mind later. I would like to introduce you to Theodora at least once though, if that’s okay? I am going to be a proud first time daddy. If it helps, just think of her as mine instead of Isis’s.”
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Nathan
Re: Fingers crossed
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Nathan
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Evelyn Stones
January 03, 2019 6:06 PM
Easy for you to say! by Evelyn Stones
Evelyn was surprised to find Heinrich bumping into her so literally as he usually seemed so composed and careful. The delicious smelling food in his hands was as good as any excuse; Evelyn didn't even need a good meal to be clumsy so she certainly couldn't fault him for a moment of it."I don't know what that is," she admitted. "But it smells great." She emphasized the last word to show that something like "incredible" or "delectable" might've fit better. Those didn't seem like good words to throw around people learning English still -- if the point of language is to communicate, why make that any harder than it already is?
"And you seem so happy about it, I bet it tastes great too! Where did you get it?" she added, looking around hopefully. If she was going to have a miserable morning with miserable news from miserable people, at least she'd stuff her face with some nice people in the meantime.
The nearby German food stand stood out to her now that she knew what she was looking for, and she almost felt silly for not noticing it before. It was a good reminder that The World was bigger than Her World, and she managed a resigned breath just shy of a sigh as she considered the menu. "Would you help me order?"
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Evelyn Stones
Easy for you to say!
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Evelyn Stones
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It is difficult for me to say anything, actually by Heinrich
"It is like apple . . . pastry?" he explained what his strudel was, not entirely certain of the English words. "You try?" he offered, breaking off a piece and holding it out toward her, and feeling like he was being very generous. Before he left, he was definitely going to need to come back here and buy a whole box of them to take home for Hilda and Hansel. Uncle Karl was not a good strudel maker.She asked where he got it and he pointed, but that seemed unnecessary as she was already looking that way even before his finger moved. "They speak English," he told her when she asked for help ordering. He'd overheard the people in the line ahead of him place their orders, and the vendors spoke fluent English, much better than Heinrich's, but with just enough accent that he'd felt it was safe to try using German for his own order.
"I help you decide what to buy?" he suggested, using tone more than grammar to convey that this was an optional possibility rather than a requirement. He was already shaky on the grammar for such a complex thought he didn't want to mix it up any more than he had to by turning it into an actual question. "What do you eat with pleasure?" he walked over close enough to the German food stand that he could read the menu more easily, and tried to pick out something that would be familiar and tasty to an American but still have some German flair. "You like pretzels?"
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Heinrich
It is difficult for me to say anything, actually
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Heinrich
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There always are by Jasmine
Jasmine bit her lip as she looked at the cookies, not having considered that they might not be safe to eat, if it was the fault of the flour. Mostly she'd just thought something might be off with the magical enchantment used to animate them, but it could possibly be a deeper problem. They looked fine though. "They look like they're supposed to," she said slowly. "They smell like they're supposed to. I think they're fine." She frowned at her own tray, "Though the next gingerbread person who says their inedible will get a bite taken out of them, just to make sure.""We're totally fine," Elf Girl promised. "Quite delicious even. You don't need to test it."
Jasmine looked over at her roommate in dismay. "They're just going to say whatever makes it least likely we'll eat them. Next time, I think we need to make ones that don't talk. And we may want to put a silencing charm on them before they get judged or we might loose points because nobody wants to eat a cookie begging for its life."
She gave her tray a stern look as a cacophony of protests rose at that remark. "Pipe down or I'll do it now and then you won't get to pick your outfits."
There were still some grumbles so she silenced them, and started decorating those cookies however she liked. Which was with a lot of glittery sprinkles and pink frosting. Even for the boys.
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Jasmine
There always are
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Jasmine
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Georgia Kirkly
January 04, 2019 6:35 AM
And now.... puppies? by Georgia Kirkly
“Okay. Well.. me neither. If you want to hang out, we could. But you don’t have to,” Georgia added hurriedly. This was why it was really hard to socialise with Juniper… Not because her roommate was really quiet - heaven knew, Georgia was capable enough of talking for the both of them. And not exactly because she was Pureblood, although… kinda that. With Purebloods, there was always the worry that they just flat out didn’t think you were worth their time and it was exhausting trying to work out whether there was that undercurrent to the conversation. But then, non-Pureblood people could dislike you too. The whole blood superiority thing was just flat out racist, and Georgia was not really willing to give them a pass on that. But it wasn’t like Trying To Work Out Whether This Person Hates Me For No Real Reason was a unique thing to dealing with them. People could just be sucky. With Juniper though, it was kind of the combination of those two things… Being Pureblood, she might think Georgia was beneath her. Being quiet, she was never going to just out and say it. Georgia guessed that was preferable, in some ways, because they did have to live together, but she would rather know who the people who disliked her were, or whether people would prefer she wasn’t around. With Juniper, she was never going to. But then it felt like she was being annoyed at Juniper for being shy which would be mean, even though it was actually more complicated than that - it was just kind of uncomfortable not knowing what she was thinking about her, but she couldn’t decide whether that was Juniper’s issue or hers. Still, she had decided that today would be one of those days where she tried.“I’m guessing you’d like to see the animals?” she suggested. Georgia wasn’t exactly against that as an idea. She took advanced Care of Magical Creatures, after all, and was nowhere near as clueless with animals as she had been when she started - coming from living in a city condo and never having had a pet, actually having to handle animals had been a bit weird at first. Especially as this was meant to be school and it made her feel like she was training to be a veterinarian. But she’d adjusted, as she had to everything else. She didn’t think she shared Juniper’s burning passion for animals. She doubted she would do much with them after she graduated, except perhaps get the puppy she had always wanted as a child, and she was pretty sure that she didn’t need seven years of training for that. “Do you think they have puppies? Or like… cute things we can pet, or is it only like… big animals?” she asked, wondering whether Juniper had been to this kind of thing before. The animal pavillion wasn’t exactly her first choice, but she thought it would make her roommate happy. It might feel more like class than anything, but if there were puppies, she was a lot more on board.
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Georgia Kirkly
And now.... puppies?
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Georgia Kirkly
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Juniper
January 04, 2019 7:53 AM
Yup....and horsies? by Juniper
Juniper actually found herself smiling at her roommate. "Sure, I would love to." Georgia was, after all, a person she was less scared of than anyone else other than of course, Finn and Tasha whom she wasn't afraid of at all. Well, okay, she was generally afraid that Finn would marry Gwen and she'd end up heartbroken and truly never be okay again. Which would also be unfair to her future husband. Except that Juniper would probably end up married to someone who only liked her for her last name and connections.And objectively, Georgia was a very un-scary person. She was a Teppenpaw and had won friendliest in the yearbook. Other than Finn, of course, Juniper was probably better off hanging out with her roommate than anyone else, even though the other sixth year was someone Mother would most definitely not approve of because she wasn't a pureblood. Juniper didn't actually feel that way though and liked Georgia better than either Arianna or Lily, the latter because they had nothing in common with each other and the former because she was a terrifying person whom the Teppenpaw likened to some bird of prey. Both of them while seemingly polar opposites in every other area, had an abundance of confidence that majorly intimidated Juniper.
She was a bit surprised that Georgia did want to hang out with her though, both because Georgia had Zevalyn and because Juniper was, well, Juniper . People generally didn't want to spend time with people like her. She even worried-a good percentage of the time-that Finn preferred Gwen.
Juniper nodded in response. "I really would, but we can do things you want to do too, of course." She really wasn't that afraid of most rides though would generally prefer not to go upside down and she was a little unsure about the invisible roller coaster that she'd seen the sign for her. "Especially if you entered anything and want to go and see if you won a ribbon." Juniper hadn't entered any competitions herself, she didn't have the confidence.
"There are dog sports actually, like a trick competition and dock diving. I assume the latter is dogs jumping into water. There's also something called 'weave pole' but I have no clue what that is." She replied. "And I think there's a petting zoo. Oh, and something called 'Neigh'borhood Corral which is all about horses." Juniper loved horses more than anything, except possibly Finn.
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Juniper
Yup....and horsies?
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Juniper
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House Cup Winners by DH Skies
Halfway through their time at the fair, the students of Sonora were gathered back in to the meeting point at which they had arrived. They had been forewarned of the expectation that they would come back at this particular time, and there had also been announcements made via the sonorous system to remind them. The main purpose in gathering them back in was to announce the house cup winners, although it also gave them a chance to do a quick headcount.“Good afternoon,” Selina greeted them, “I hope you are all enjoying the fair so far. We are going to announce the house cup winners. In addition to receiving the trophy to display in their common room for the next year, each member of the winning house will receive two tokens which can be used on the rides here, or to purchase any food item whose sign displays a star next to it,” this was largely the snacks and smaller items on sale, “You should all be very proud of what you’ve achieved this year, and the points you have earnt as an individual or collectively for your houses.
“In fourth place, with ninety points, we have Aladren. In third place, with one hundred and twenty seven, we have Crotalus. In second place, with one hundred and fifty five,” she gave a dramatic pause, as revealing the second place house would, of course, reveal the first, “Teppenpaw. Which means, the cup has a new home. With one hundred and eighty points, congratulations to Pecari!” She called Isis up for a handshake and presentation of the cup, though she would actually vanish it back to the school to save anyone having to carry it around the fair. Tapping the trophy, tokens flew out, dispensing themselves two apiece to all the members of the winning house.
“Enjoy the rest of your time at the fair,” Selina wished them. “We’ll see you back here at five pm.”
OOC - sorry this is so late. I “posted” it last week but think I must have just done “preview post” (I was on my phone) and didn’t realise it had never gone up.
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DH Skies
House Cup Winners
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Maaaaybe? by Georgia
“That’s probably where they… weave in and out of poles,” Georgia replied, beginning the sentence before realising that she had no better words to describe it than Juniper had already used and which she guessed her roommate had figured from the name, “Er, like… agility skills.” Georgia had watched plenty of agility shows on tv over the years - partly because it was the next best thing to actually having a puppy, but also because she just enjoyed staring at the pretty moving wallpaper. The TV had been a fairly consistent fixture of her childhood.“I didn’t enter anything,” Georgia assured her. There wasn’t anything she really considered herself competition level for, or that she wanted to put that degree of effort into. “Animals sounds like a good first stop. And I’ll keep my eyes open on the way there for what I’d like to do after. I’ve not really been to something like this before.”
She followed her roommate towards the animal tent, at the end of which was a paddock where some of the bigger animals were being kept. She had seen horses in real life a few times, when they’d gone on like… little farm and petting zoo trips. She remembered them as being big, but figured that was cos she had been small. And it had only been a handful of times. Hers was a pretty indoor, city-type family. Her mom was more a fan of coffee shops than anything involving getting muddy boots.
“Horses are big in real life,” she stated, stopping in her tracks. Okay, they’d had unicorns in Care of Magical Creatures, which were a similar size, but they were somehow slender and… well, they seemed kinda aloof, and they had watched them for distance. The horses were sticking their big faces over the fence and nuzzling at people or eating treats from them. And even though she had grown, they still seemed intimidatingly large. Perhaps because the petting zoos had only had little ponies, in scale with their visitors. She watched a horse snuffle a piece of carrot off someone’s hand. “And their teeth are huge! Do they ever bite you?” she asked anxiously.
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Georgia
Maaaaybe?
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Georgia
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Let’s find the scariest ones by Lily
Lily grinned. “I saved you a spot, but if you’d taken too long... Luckily you found me first,” she replied with a wink. “What’s going on here?” she asked, touching his hair briefly. “Have they got a hair dye booth? I saw a booth for temporary tattoos, we should get one later.” Purple did not go well with his outfit, but she didn’t bother to say anything about it. Off of Jozua’s head, purple was one of her favourite colours. “Blimey, it’s all over you,” she gasped, looking at his arms. “What did you eat? Need to get myself one of those. What colour d’you think would look good on me?” She combed her fringe into her eyes with her fingers, and then tossed her head, grinning.Lily was thankful to have a best friend that she’d grown up with. Her friends back in England were all good and well, but it was difficult to explain to them her fanciful make-believe days fighting dragons as a knight. There were very few people she felt she could be her true self around, and Jozua was certainly one of them.
The queue moved forward. “Have you seen the yearbook yet? You were voted ‘Most Involved’. Not a bad award to get.” They moved closer to the ride’s entrance and her stomach suddenly felt like it was twisting into a knot. Lily looked up at the ride. It was so high she had to tilt her neck all the way back to see the top. “I think I’m getting nervous,” she admitted, putting a hand to her stomach. “How were the creatures? Smelly?” But her nerves were beginning to get to her and she didn’t exactly hear if he said anything in response.
Soon it was their turn and Lily stepped forward and allowed herself to be strapped in. “Ready?” she asked, feeling a bit lightheaded from her short breaths. “For Merlin’s sakes, I’m hardly ever afraid of anything, I don’t know why I feel nervous about this. But I’m excited. My heart’s beating so fast.” Her words were coming out in a quicker stream as well. As the ride began its ascent, her stomach dropped. “I won’t close my eyes,” she breathed as she stared at her dangling feet, unable to figure out whether she was more terrified or more thrilled.
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Lily
Let’s find the scariest ones
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Lily
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Works for me by Jozua
Jozua felt a little tingly as Lily touched his hair, though he really wasn't sure if the light flush warming his cheeks was from that or just the simple embarrassment of having electric purple hair. "It was the Funnel Cake with Extra 'Fun,'" he told her, not sure if was a warning or an endorsement. Or rather, he meant it as a warning, but felt pretty sure she'd hear it as an endorsement. "Every bite makes your hair change color. Like, all of your hair. I don't know how long it takes to wear off yet. I'll let you know. Tasted good though," he added, because it had been delicious and it deserved that much intentional endorsement anyway."Yeah," he agreed when she brought up the yearbook. "Most likely to cause an explosion again, too." His voice was resigned, but he really did have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand - he'd been good and hadn't exploded anything for almost two years; he felt a bit unfairly put upon. On the other hand, he was a Sparks, and he had exploded way more things than anybody else in the class. He didn't remember exactly, but he was pretty sure even he had voted for himself on that one. "You got Most Pecari, though," he added sounding impressed. "Congrats."
The riders screamed, and his stomach dropped a little in sympathy, then soon enough they were moving up a few steps as the riders disembarked and the next group loaded. He grinned a little in empathy as Lily admitted to nerves and latched quickly onto her change of conversation to distract them both. "Of course," he agreed on the creatures being smelly. He wasn't sure creatures came in any other variety. "But they were cool. There was even a baby dragon, just hatched, getting shown. It was kind of cute. You know, in a this-is-going-to-grow-up-to-be-terrifying kind of way."
Lily didn't seem to be listening, so he stopped talking, and watched the next group fall, and his stomach kind of felt a bit like a few baby dragons were flying around in there.
Then it was their turn, and he got strapped into the seat next to Lily's. He could just about reach over to hold hands, so he held his out towards her as they rose higher into the air. She could take if she liked, but he didn't want to imply she was scared or anything and needed hand holding. "We got this. We're from the Secret Order of Sonora Knights. We can handle a little heights and gravity."
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