Teppenpaw Act (nm) on Cascade Hall

Headmaster Brockert

May 26, 2019 8:16 AM

Concert by Headmaster Brockert

Tonight was the concert. Mortimer could not say he was thrilled about this. He had to give a speech-of sorts-that was actually might qualify as one. At least it was more than he usually said but it still wasn't going to be very long. However, he was going to have to concentrate on not scowling or sneering for a longer period of time than usual. This was going to tremendous effort on Mortimer's face since he'd been born scowling. A smile looked odd on him.

And he was just going to be so awkward up there. Now, usually he took pride in the fact that he was awkward and unsociable but it usually didn't play well with crowds.

The concert was being held here at school this time as well. In the past they'd done it a hotel. Mortimer quite frankly didn't understand why they changed it. Or why he was the one who had to emcee when in the past he'd gotten one of the staff to take care of it. He knew there were going to be lots of important people there as well as some not so important ones. Mortimer was not sure which he dreaded dealing with more.

In fact, there were a couple sets of parents he very much wanted to avoid and would quickly engage with one of his sons. Zeke and Ben were coming tonight with their younger children and Opal in tow. Shannon was staying home with baby Uriah.

In particular, Mortimer was specifically wanting to avoid the Fintocs, since their daughter Gwen had not made the Head Student ballot. He still remembered the hard time he'd been given by Arianna Tate's parents last summer as well as Uncle Clifford.

He also wanted to avoid the McLeods. Not even because Topaz didn't get along with their daughter. It was just that they were.... activists . A sort Mortimer was not fond of regardless of their particular platform. They were super picky about everything and everything was wrong in their eyes if you didn't agree with them exactly. As a white pureblood straight man, Mortimer was sure that he was doing something wrong in their opinion and the last thing he wanted to get into was a conversation about how he-or someone else on staff or one of the pureblood students- wronged the muggleborns or the gays or the minorities or the international students or the girls or someone who was not pureblood,white, straight, American and male.

Never mind that the Head Girl was muggleborn. Never mind that Kir had gotten on the head student ballot for this year. Never mind that last year the two pureblood girls-two from his family-were left off the ballot. Yeah, they'd really been wronged.

The time for the concert to begin came and Mortimer took the stage, putting a quick Sonorus charm on himself. "Welcome to Sonora and our Midsummer concert. We are pleased to have you here tonight to celebrate our students, our traditions and the values of each of the four houses, Aladren, Teppenpaw, Crotalus and Pecari. The students have worked hard on their performances the last few months, so give them their due."

He went on, making sure to keep his face not scowly, which was taking a considerable amount of effort on his part. Mortimer was not used to addressing crowds for this long. "Our first act will be the Aladrens. Aladren students are the problem solvers of the school. Both logical and strong willed, they are always looking for solutions. Please welcome them to the stage."

Hooray, Mortimer was finally done speaking, at least until they finished and he had to introduce the Teppenpaws. He settled back on his chair off to the side, with his bourbon and watched Emerald and her housemates perform.

OOC-Mortimer's opinions are his own and do not reflect that of his author. He is a grumpy insensitive old man. The order of the concert acts will be Aladren, Teppenpaw, Crotalus, Pecari.

Subthreads:

Aladren Act (nm) by Headmaster Brockert with Zevalyn

Teppenpaw Act (nm) by Headmaster Brockert with Zara Jackson, Dorian Montoir, Georgia Kirkly, Kir McLeod

Crotalus Act (nm) by Headmaster Brockert with Arianna Tate

Pecari Act (nm) by Headmaster Brockert with Evelyn Stones

Audience Thread (nm) by Headmaster Brockert with Natalie Atwater (and parents), Bridget Ferguson, Allegra Brockert (and family, ft. Topaz)

11 Headmaster Brockert Concert 6 Headmaster Brockert 1 5

Headmaster Brockert

May 26, 2019 8:16 AM

Aladren Act (nm) by Headmaster Brockert

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Headmaster Brockert

May 26, 2019 8:17 AM

Teppenpaw Act (nm) by Headmaster Brockert

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Headmaster Brockert

May 26, 2019 8:19 AM

Crotalus Act (nm) by Headmaster Brockert

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Headmaster Brockert

May 26, 2019 8:19 AM

Pecari Act (nm) by Headmaster Brockert

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Headmaster Brockert

May 26, 2019 8:19 AM

Audience Thread (nm) by Headmaster Brockert

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Zara Jackson

May 26, 2019 7:43 PM

Stand By Me by Zara Jackson

Zara stood on the stage, darkness surrounding her and butterflies in her stomach. Solo. It had sounded fun when she had taken it, and she’d been pleased at the thought of getting to do something special, especially in one of the songs she’d chosen. It was just a little bit nerve-wracking that that solo really was solo, totally alone and unaccompanied, and the opening to the whole Teppenpaw act.

She could do this though. She trusted her voice, she had rehearsed a lot, and she wasn’t really alone. Even if she’d be singing by herself to start with. She had friends and her family in the audience, who would love her even if she hit a bum note, and the rest of Teppenpaw behind her.

Above her head, a moon-shaped set piece illuminated. For the most part, the stage that had been constructed had its own lighting, which could be controlled by those working backstage, but for this song they’d made their own source of illumination. Something about a displaced lumos charm which allowed the light to emanate from an object instead of the caster’s wand. Dorian had been super excited to explain it all to her - she didn’t really care, so long as it did its job and didn’t fall on her head. That was her cue, and her voice rang out into the silent hall, singing about when the land was dark, and the moon was the only light.

She suspected she heard the accompaniment before the audience did. Because it was designed to build slowly. To be almost imperceptible but to enrich the sound that was filling the room. Softly first, low bassy ba dums and higher alto hums. As they got to the first chorus, the lights and the sounds both burst out in full, illuminating the rest of the singers and musicians behind her. The body of the tune was carried by their voices, although the sweet notes of Johanna-Leonie’s flute also accompanied them.

Zara felt her butterflies abating, as they moved into the second verse, with her as just one among many, all of them together.

(OOC I have rough staging worked out for all of the songs, and enough Teppenpaws to write them out with, but if anyone else wants to make contributions about what their characters are doing, or would have contributed, or wants to help lead write or cowrite any pieces please DM me).

13 Zara Jackson Stand By Me 1444 Zara Jackson 0 5

Evelyn Stones

May 27, 2019 2:17 PM

Alone. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn knew her role. She knew exactly what she was supposed to do. She had practiced and practiced. She'd been having dreams about performing well. The fact that she moved through it mechanically, without any thought for what she was doing, and did so well, shouldn't have been a surprise to her.

The broom beneath her was comfortable, and she felt easy on it. The fact that it gave her an increased vantage over the audience, where she could more easily pick out her father still sitting alone, was less comfortable.

She made her way around the stage, flying above it with controlled, practiced movements, and thought about how much she'd learned about flying since coming to Sonora. She played Quidditch sometimes even. She was a halfway decent student. She was in the concert. She was everything she had wanted to be and not at all who she wanted to be. A certain red-colored stone in her pocket, its weight familiar, reminded her that she could become much better, and she gripped her broom a little tighter.

She performed as perfectly as could be hoped, and landed on the stage for the final bow with a light touch. Of course, she was too small to make much more sound than that, and looked particularly small on the stage, barely coming up to five feet tall.

When she looked up, her father had a look of surprised pride on his face, looking on with awe. For a moment, Evelyn let it fuel her smile as she grinned out at the school and the audience. It wasn't until she turned away and left the stage that she let her expression crumble. At least her father had liked the water falls flowing down the walls of the room; they were something to be proud of.

She shoved her hand in her pocket and grabbed at the stone Heinrich had given her. She thought of Heinrich, Ness, Malikhi, Julius, and all the other faces that came to mind as a source of strength. Whatever else she did with her life, she was going to leave this part of it far behind.

22 Evelyn Stones Alone. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Natalie Atwater (and parents)

May 28, 2019 8:30 AM

Tag VIPBs by Natalie Atwater (and parents)

Though Natalie was not participating in the concert, her parents were coming anyway. Even though she'd done her best to prevent this by warning them that the Muggle parents would be there. Father had responded that he'd figured as much, and that they'd do their best to ignore them as there were plenty of purebloods that they could talk to, including several of Mother's relatives.

Which, she supposed, was the real reason they wanted to come. Not to see her, as they would be doing so soon enough anyway, or watch Ivy perform or to visit Mother's old stomping grounds, but to schmooze. And that annoyed the Pecari on principle.

The good news was that Kelsey was not coming, probably because....... Muggle parents would be there. While Mother could be polite,even somewhat pleasant, if need be and Father could ignore the fact that they were there, Kelsey had a strong desire to never breathe the same air as Muggles. Added to that the fact that significant others of older siblings were not invited, even if they were married like Ryan and Sophie, the former of whom was allowed as Peyton's older brother, so Malcolm certainly couldn't come when he and Kelsey were only engaged and the fact that Natalie wasn't even participating meant that the Crotalus alumna really had no reason to attend.

She wondered if Ivy would care though. On the one hand, the fifth year wasn't close to Kelsey at all-nobody was, really, except Malcolm sort of and Father and at one point, Caelia Lucan and Alistair Johnson-and half their close relatives weren't invited, and plenty of ones Ivy liked better were coming but then the Teppenpaw had had a rough year and needed the support of everyone available.

Still, Natalie was glad not to have to deal with her older sister, her parents were bad enough. She braced herself as she saw them approaching. "Greetings, Father and Mother. Welcome to to our concert night." Sometimes, when she talked to her parents, the Pecari didn't sound like herself, but rather as awkward and stiff as Headmaster Brockert did, though at least she didn't sneer at everyone. but rather kept a bland polite smile on her face.

"Hello." Father greeted her,

Mother followed suit, a bit more warm and genuine sounding. "Hello,Natalie." She embraced Natalie briefly. It was no Teppenpaw hug, but it was a display of affection and appreciated. She supposed she wouldn't like it much if her parents were more demonstrative in public, as that would be mortifying. "It's lovely to see you dear."

Father appeared to be looking around at the other families. And so it begins Natalie thought, as her father made his way towards someone he thought was worth talking to.

11 Natalie Atwater (and parents) Tag VIPBs 371 Natalie Atwater (and parents) 0 5

Bridget Ferguson

May 29, 2019 9:34 AM

Feeling sorry for myself by Bridget Ferguson

Bridget waited in the hall with the others who weren't participating in the concert for the parents and siblings to finish the tour. She wished very much that she could just stay in her room tonight. There was literally no point in her being down there. Her parents were not coming, they couldn't what with Mama being sick again. Why should Bridget stand here watching everyone else be happy when she was alone?

Well, not technically alone, since she could, of course, sit with Sophia, her parents and Lydia. Still, it was not the same thing, not at all, and she felt very very left out as everyone reunited with their parents. Bridget didn't begrudge anyone else their joyful reunions but did they really have to make her watch? It was cruel. As far as she knew, everyone else had parents coming to see them tonight, even if they weren't in concert. Sophia did, Johana Leonie did, Zara did.....she did not.

It just wasn't fair, Bridget thought. It wasn't fair that she was by herself and it wasn't fair that Mama had to feel like this. Sometimes, she wished she had a normal family, a normal life. Sometimes, she envied Sophia hers. True, Kaylie and Ian had their problems but at least they were coming . One could ask why they should bother when she wasn't performing, but that was the major reason why she had chosen not to in the first place.

The Teppenpaw looked around the room for her dad's cousins, resigned to her fate-not that she minded being around them but she would rather have her parents-when someone approached her. "Hello." Bridget greeted them.

11 Bridget Ferguson Feeling sorry for myself 1448 Bridget Ferguson 0 5

Allegra Brockert (and family, ft. Topaz)

May 29, 2019 1:50 PM

Who wants to talk to eleven people? by Allegra Brockert (and family, ft. Topaz)

Although, Allegra was quite disappointed that Mother and Uriah weren't coming, she understood. A concert wasn't really a good place for babies and Mother was still recovering from the birth. She was doing well, but since Uriah had been-and still was-so big, it was still taking her a longer time to...recover from giving birth than it had with the rest of them. Plus, he was still so young that Mother really didn't want to leave him with a nanny yet.

At least though, Father and her three other younger siblings would be there, as well as Uncle Zeke, Aunt Opal and their three younger children who were coming to see Emerald and Ruby perform. Unfortunately this meant she was going to have no choice but to sit with Topaz, though Allegra would probably be able to put a few people between them. Plus, it wasn't as if the Aladren could really do any major damage with three adults sitting there, though her presence still made Allegra very tense.

She stood there, searching for her family. The Crotalus really disliked big crowds, they made her nervous. Hopefully, she'd find everyone before Topaz found her and decided to wait with her. Being alone in a crowd was bad enough, being alone with the other second year was worse.

"There you are!" Ben Brockert exclaimed, giving his eldest daughter a big bear hug. "How are you doing, sweetie?"He asked. The others trailed along with him, a chorus of greetings following as well as a hug from her younger sister Isla and Allegra bending down to give one to her little brother Olaf. She didn't hug her other sister Esme as the nine year old was not a hugger but still greeted her warmly.

"Fine, Father." Allegra replied. "How are Mother and Uriah?"

"They're doing great!" Ben exclaimed. "I swear that boy gets bigger everyday. I brought pictures." His pride for his last child was no different than it had been for his first and all the ones in between. He handed Allegra the pictures and she looked through them.

"Aw, he's adorable." The second year said of her youngest sibling. "So did you all like the tour?" Allegra asked.

"Yup." replied Ben. "It was so nice seeing the old place and going down memory lane, wasn't it, Zeke?"

"Sure was." Allegra's uncle responded.

Allegra looked at her cousin Sapphire, who would be attending Sonora next year. The eleven year old looked rather anxious. The Crotalus didn't know if it was the crowd or the impending arrival of Topaz "Did you enjoy it, Sapphire?"

The younger girl looked down at the floor. "Um, the school is very nice." Sapphire was really not looking forward to coming to Sonora next term. It had been nice at home without Topaz, very peaceful and the eleven year old was not looking forward to being around her all year again. Plus, she was afraid the other students wouldn't like her. And that they'd make fun of her epilepsy.

Just then Topaz arrived. Allegra and Sapphire both tensed. "Hello everyone." She greeted them. "Mother, Father." The Aladren nodded at her parents.

"Hello Topaz." Uncle Zeke said.

Aunt Opal greeted her third child as well. "Hello, darling."

Topaz felt briefly like vomiting at her mother's term of endearment. It was so fake . "It looks like the concert is starting. Shall we sit?" The Aladren headed for the Hall, and the rest of them followed.

11 Allegra Brockert (and family, ft. Topaz) Who wants to talk to eleven people? 1426 Allegra Brockert (and family, ft. Topaz) 0 5

Zevalyn

June 04, 2019 10:21 PM

The Mystery of The Book of Many Teeth by Zevalyn

Zevalyn had not received a huge turn out for the concert. Ness was all for performing on stage, Amelia hadn’t objected too strenuously against a supporting character role, and Zevalyn herself had her eye on the narrator role, but pretty much everyone else wanted to work backstage. Emerald was set up as stage manager, making sure people were ready on their cue with all their necessary props, and Gary and Heinrich and a few other volunteers had done a good job making said props, as well as the set pieces. The three prefects also worked hard on the script - and revising the script for a smaller cast size - and despite the small group, they did come up with something Zev was quite pleased with.

The original script called for two main Aladrens showing off their House traits and encountering learning opportunities along the way, and a narrator adding additional information that could not be conveyed through dialogue. That was still basically what happened in the final draft, with the main difference being that now Ness was Sherlock Holmes and Zevalyn was Dr. Watson who did her own narrating, instead of there being two Hardy Boys and an omniscient narrator.

Of course, their names were different and the mystery a bit less life and death, and they were younger than either set of model detectives (especially Ness - Zev might be pretty close to the Hardy Boys actually), but it was that general formula: Learn about a problem, find clues, solve the problem, the end. And throughout, Zev would talk directly to the audience to explain things that were not necessarily obvious so even the younger siblings in the audience would be able to follow along with the plot and learn something new about Aladrens in particular and Sonora itself as a whole.

Headmaster Brockert’s introduction even gave the requisite background that made the sorting mentioned in her opening monologue feel obvious even to those who might not know much about Aladren. It segued very nicely, really.

So after Gary darkened the lights, she stepped out onto a mostly dark stage and used her wand to levitate the first prop out into position. “Alex was the first to notice the problem,” she stated ominously into the darkened Hall. “Alex was a second year student at Sonora Academy. A bright kid. Clever and inquisitive. Upon discovering the problem, Alex’s first instinct was to logically examine the issue and resolve it. Unsurprisingly, you will note that Alex wears the badge of Aladren.”

Here, Gary lit up the stage a bit more and Ness walked out wearing the same school robes Ness normally wore on a day to day basis, though the Aladren badge was somewhat enlarged so it would be easier to see from the back of the audience. That they were basically playing variations on themselves had made costuming very simple. No longer obscured in semi darkness, the audience could also see Zevalyn was dressed the same. She’d removed her Head Girl badge for the act, but the prefect one was still prominently placed opposite her own enlarged Aladren badge.

“Hmm,” Ness declared, “Someone seems to have lost their book.” A thick heavy book with teeth was lying on a table in center of the stage. Zevalyn discreetly and wordlessly ended the freezing charm on it and it started bouncing and chomping. It didn’t growl, but you kind of got the impression it would have liked to if only it were able to do so. It was the scariest looking book Zevalyn had been able to find in the Restricted Section of the library that wasn’t actually life threatening, and she’d had to sign six million pieces of parchment to be allowed to use it in the show, promising she wouldn’t let anybody else handle it and she wouldn’t sue the school if she lost an arm or a finger while doing so herself.

Ness stepped closer, and it noticed her. It chomped in her direction hard enough to fall off its table. Ness scrambled back a few steps in alarm. It was a scripted move, but Zev didn’t think it took much acting.

“Alex had found a dangerous a book someone had left out where anybody might stumble upon it,” Zevalyn told the audience. “Judging by the teeth, it looked like it might be a care of magical creatures book. The beginner’s level textbook was more prone to purring than biting, so Alex guessed it might belong to an advanced student.”

“Hey, Zelda,” Ness called to her. “Is this book yours?”

“It’s not mine!” Zev called back. “Oh,” she added, addressing the audience, “I’m one of the Aladren prefects. Each House has three older students designated by prefect badges,” she pointed hers out, “who younger students know they can turn to for help.”

Ness ignored her and took another tentative step toward the book.

“Unfortunately,” Zev continued, still speaking to the audience but frowning at Ness, “most Aladrens value independence and don’t always ask for help when they should. Like when a second year thinks they can handle an aggressive predatory book on their own.”

Ness waved a hand negligently in Zev’s direction. “I just learned how to do the freezing charm which can immobilize an animated object. I got this.” Ness drew out her wand carefully and cast the beginner level spell Immobulus at the book. The book went still. Ness looked triumphantly at Zev, “See?”

Zev sighed. “And sometimes their love of learning teaches them just enough to stumble upon the right answer, which only reinforces their idea that they can handle even more difficult things on their own.”

Ness moved in to pick up the immobilized book.

“Fortunately for Alex’s fingers, a prefect was nearby this time.” Zev turned to Ness, “Don’t touch that!” Ness stopped. Zev grinned and winked at the audience. “Of course, Aladren prefects are themselves Aladrens and are subject to the same hubris.” She turned back to Ness. “Let me do it. There’s a trick to opening a book like this. I read about it once.”

Zev did successfully open the book without loss of any digits and they both peered at the stamp saying it was the property of Sonora Academy of Magic. “I don’t see a library stamp,” Ness lied. “I wonder who it belongs to?”

“Well, we can’t just leave it unattended out here,” Zev stated. “It might bite a first year.”

“I’ll take it -“ Ness saw Zev’s frown, “we’ll take it,” Zev nodded in approval, “to the librarian. She can keep it safe, and maybe she knows who it belongs to.”

Zev carefully picked up the immobilized book and started walking stage left with Ness. Amelia met them halfway, dressed in robes that were not an exact replica of Tarquin Reynolds’ style, but were decidedly similar if a bit more feminine. “Ms. Reynolds,” Ness said, “we found this book in our common room. Do you know whose it is?”

“Hmm,” Amelia considered thoughtfully, “I don’t recall anyone mentioning having a book like that.“

“Can you keep it safe until we find who it belongs to?” Zev asked.

Amelia gave the book of many teeth a wary look. “Set it down there,” she pointed to the table - which had zipped across the stage to its new position while they talked curtesy of Emerald, standing just offstage. Zevalyn set the book down, and Amelia cast an advanced containment charm around the book. “There, that’s a solid containment charm and it will hold that book right there until you get back. Watch.” Amelia ended the the freezing charm and as hard as the book chomped and jumped at them, it could not get off the table. Then she touched a switch that made a banner unroll so the audience could read *Do not feed. Book will bite.*

Gary darkened the stage again, the book and table were moved off stage (the warning banner and containment charm still in full use, though Zev added another freezing charm just to be safe). When Gary turned up the lights again, Ness and Zev were center stage with Heinrich. Like Ness and Zevalyn, Heinrich was wearing normal school robes with an enlarged Aladren badge.

Zevalyn again addressed the audience. “We asked all the Advanced Aladrens, our Head of House, and the Care of Magical Creatures Professor the same question.”

“Did you leave a Book of Many Teeth in the Aladren Common Room?” Ness asked.

“And the answer was always the same.”

“Not me,” Heinrich said.

“So we started asking intermediates,” Zev narrated.

“Did you leave a Book of Many Teeth in the Aladren Common Room?” Ness asked again.

Heinrich shook his head. “No, but look at this spell I just learned.” And he cast a spell that turned a grey rock red. “It is a permanent color change,” he explained.

As Heinrich walked off the stage, Zevalyn told the audience, “But that got us nowhere. Alex learned some new spells though, so that was cool. We returned to the library.” Emerald and Gary between them charmed out some bookcase set pieces, complete with actual books, which Ness and Zev both began flipping through.

“Being independent Aladrens, we did our own research instead of asking for help. Alex found something useful first.”

“Zelda! I think I got it!” Ness cried out, pointing to the actual spell in the actual book Zev had referenced for this part of the script. Zev had thought this was an important point of authenticity in case the front row could read the cover and wanted to look it up for themselves.

Zev came over to look over her shoulder as Nes info-dumped for the audience. “It’s a related spell to priori incantatem, which tells the caster what a wand’s most recently cast spell was, but this tells you who touched an object most recently.”

“That will certainly help,” Zevalyn agreed, “Let’s try it.” They started walking over to where they talked with Amelia before, and the book on its table met them there, sans Amelia.

Zevalyn cast the spell and a thin glowing white line appeared between herself and the book. She grimaced. “Oh. Right. I touched it last.”

Ness and Zev looked at each other in consternation. “Now what?” Zev asked.

“Back to the books?” Ness asked back in resignation.

“Back to the books,” Zev agreed and they walked to the bookcases. While Ness continued to flip through pages, Zevalyn narrated, “We spend several hours alternating between research and trying out promising leads that went nowhere, but our will was strong and we were determined to find the owner of the book. We kept at it. Perseverance is not one of the official traits given to Aladrens, but many of us value it just the same.”

“Logic, on the other hand, is an official trait attributed to the House, and unbeknownst to ourselves, we had made one wrong assumption based on the fact that the book was found in the Aladren Common Room. Only Aladrens and staff have access, so logically, our book own must be an Aladren or Professor. This was not the case.”

Amelia walked on stage wearing school robes and an oversized Pecari badge. “Hey, are you two library helpers?” she asked.

“Sonora allows students to sign up as library assistants and monitors, which allows them to learn important things like library organization, time management, and responsibility. Many Aladrens take advantage of the opportunity, especially since we spend so much time in the library anyway. The assumption was not a wrong one, though we were not currently scheduled to be on duty.”

“What can we help you find?” Ness asked.

“Well see,” Amelia looked embarrassed. “I lost my pet book. I was hoping someone found Fido and brought him here. He got away from me in the Gardens.”

“Fido,” Ness repeated flatly.

“Yeah, he’s about 600 pages thick, with a lot of teeth. You can’t have missed him if he’s been here.”

“We found him,” Zev said, acting baffled. “But he came by way of the Aladren Common Room. How’d your book get in there?”

Amelia just looked excited. “He’s here? You found him!” Emerald released the freezing charm on the book and it starts making a racket clattering against its containment. All three actors look toward the table.

“Fido! There you are!” And the stage went dark before Amelia could close the distance between them.

“A bit more research,” Zevalyn narrated in conclusion, “determined that a Prairie Elf, one of the beings responsible for maintaining the school grounds, found the book out in the Gardens and assumed it belonged to an Aladren. Thus, he so returned it to where its rightful owner could find it again. And so, with the problem solved and the beloved book back home where it should be, Alex moved on to doing that week’s potions essay.“

OOC: Ness and Amelia bravely gave me carte blanche to god-mod their characters acting, so thank you to them and I hope they enjoy the result. Emerald agreed she would be stage manager in chatzy, and Gary approved me to give him control of the lighting. Heinrich is mine. I hope you enjoy this production of Aladren Theatre.

1 Zevalyn The Mystery of The Book of Many Teeth 380 Zevalyn 0 7

Arianna Tate

June 09, 2019 6:47 PM

The best act of all by Arianna Tate

Tonight was the concert and Arianna needed it to be perfect . Nobody was allowed to miss a note or a step. They had to be the best and especially better than Pecari. Yes, she knew it was not a competition but in her mind, it was. The Crotalus had something to prove.

And it angered her that she did. Arianna was never supposed to be in a position like this. Usually being better than everyone else came effortlessly and she knew in her heart that she actually was , that she was superior to Georgia, Zevalyn and Lily. Especially Lily.

However, the problem was that apparently others didn't think so. And that was an enormous problem. It would never ever be okay with Arianna that she had not been on the Head Student ballot and that dreadful Pecari had. Even though she would soon be on to bigger and better things and a world where others knew just what she was worth and appreciated her for it.

Anyway, part of being perfect included looking the part and tonight that meant all the Crotali performing were to wear something red. The girls were all supposed to wear red dresses or skirts and blouses-which could also be black, white or silver-and the boys were to wear red ties with suits or dress robes, which could not be another house's color. Brown was particularly forbidden. The girls also had to have their hair and make-up perfect as well as wearing only silver jewelry or red stones such as rubies or garnets. For their nails-and Arianna would strongly prefer the girls had them done-they could only be wearing clear or red polish or a French manicure. Boys had to have their hair combed and everyone had to be neat and tidy. She had made sure to approve everyone's outfit and accessories ahead of time.

As Headmaster Brockert announced their act,the seventh year gave everyone a critical look before saying. "All right everyone, this is it so you better not make a single mistake."

11 Arianna Tate The best act of all 353 Arianna Tate 0 5

Dorian Montoir

June 13, 2019 9:35 AM

Count On Me by Dorian Montoir

"Nox," Dorian whispered, and the light in the moon went out. The remainder of the stage lights which had gradually illuminated the chorus of Teppenpaws stayed on, as they had decided a black out at the end of each song wasn't necessary. In fact, he now pushed them up to full. The group had been gathered in a spot light, with semi-darkness all around them for the first song, but the second was a brighter, cheerier number and they were more spread out, which required the whole stage to be illuminated. This lighting change had also helped them conceal the ukuleles which were lined up at the the front of the stage. He had read in one of his books about using concealment to his advantage - if things had to appear suddenly, or if there were quick costume changes, it was better to have those things placed and conceal them by magic rather than try to create them live - it was always a lot easier and more reliable to end a spell than to cast a new one. However, even simpler than that was just putting them in the dark, and the point at which he’d realised he didn’t need an extra charm between songs had been a welcome one.

That just left Jozua to levitate the moon out of the way whilst Dorian got things working with the slideshow. He had had to have a bit of help from Professor Wright in setting this up. Dorian himself had done the leg work, digging through the books until he found the spells that he wanted, but had had to ask the Professor for some help in executing it. It was a variation on a Protean charm whereby whatever the caster's wand was pointed at would be displayed on a corresponding chosen object. Again, they had laid the foundations well in advance rather than trust live casting on the night. Dorian's wand was linked with a large white backcloth that had been hung for their act. He just had to mutter an incantation and the charm would be activated, whereupon he would point it at the pictures being used. This had necessitated several further spells and fixes to make it all run smoothly. It was hard to hold one’s wand rock steady for three and a half minutes, and so he had made a little stand to rest it in. He was also still limited to having only two hands (though he had seriously considered whether looking up how to transfigure himself third and fourth ones was a valid use of his research time, as it would have really solved a lot of his problems), and by needing to ensure the photos passed at a steady rate, ending when the song did. He had therefore put all the photos that the Teppenpaws had given him into a book and enchanted it so that, once opened, it would stand on its end and turn it own pages at a steady rate.

Plenty of Teppenpaws had submitted pictures, as was only to be expected for the friendly house. It had been a lot of fun looking through them all. Most were recognisable, even if their subjects were a lot younger in some of them than he knew them to be in real life, or were accompanied by people he didn’t know, as family shots had been a popular choice. The Brockerts had all gone for this, as had someone who was apparently tiny Eden, looking about four years old and on a park bench with someone he presumed to be her father. There was a composition he recognised as a Vorontsov(a) Christmas grouping, in which they were all decked out very finely and looking properly serious. Nathaniel had also gone down the family route, giving one of all four of the cousin-siblings grouped around a tinsel-draped fireplace, along with one of him and Sylvia which was easily recognisable as a 'first day of school' photo - both were wearing their robes and standing by packed trunks, proudly waving a wand apiece - you could practically see the words 'swish and flick' being mouthed happily. Lyssa’s photo too was family oriented. The photo itself showed a large, low house. It was strange looking to Dorian's eye but the pretty mountains in the background suggested it was a nice place to live. Small Parker and Smaller Lyssa posed in front of the house - it had been taken long enough ago that Parker looked like a kid, still displaying a goofy mix of baby teeth and a few adult ones that looked too big for his small face when he grinned, but recently enough that he was recognisably Parker. Dorian had been somewhat worried by Lyssa's photo at first, or rather about how to tell her that it had somehow got broken on the way to him. However, when he had anxiously pointed out to her that it was no longer moving, she had sighed, and explained that non-magical photos stayed still. He was perplexed by this, because Parker had told him that television was a box full of moving pictures, and he wasn't sure why if those moved then photographs could not, but he didn't doubt that both of things were true and that he would just sound like an idiot for asking. On top of that, Lyssa had not seemed like she was as keen as Parker to answer his questions, so he had not mentioned it to her but had added it to his growing list of things to ask her brother about.

Friendship, of course, was equally popular, and there were plenty of groupings that showed exclusively Sonora residents. The first years' photos were mostly posed, seeing as they'd had less time to acquire naturalistic photos of them and their friends - there was one of Zara and Felipe standing in the gardens both grinning (him a little shyly, and her enthusiastically), Johana-Leonie with Hilda, and all the first year girls in their room together. At the other end of the age spectrum, Finn Scott had sent photos of him and his friends, and there was a great one of Jozua and Lily in their Quidditch robes on the back of a dragon statue and looking like they were having a great adventure.

Dorian’s own contributions had been hard to pick. He had so many people who meant a lot to him, and, guilty as he felt about putting in more photos of himself than anyone else, he felt more guilty at the thought of leaving any of them out. He had assuaged some of his guilt by reasoning that the Head Girl featured in just as many of the photos as he was planning to put in of himself, and she wasn't even a Teppenpaw. There was one of Kir and Zevalyn in their vividly contrasting outfits at the ball, standing in front of the floral archway where portraits had been taken, him effortlessly twirling her, and her having to stretch and him having to duck to return the favour. She got another look in too, also in her ball finery, this time in a more casual snap of her and Georgia, and again in another photo submitted by Kir, where they were with a whole group of people in the library - Jehan's roommate was at the head of the table and Parker was rolling dice. For some reason, this warranted cheering. Dorian wasn't sure what that was about. Possibly the hobby Parker had mentioned to him, but as that had been whilst under the effects of a confusing concoction, it hadn't done a lot to really help explain it. This would have balanced out his own appearances, as contributed by himself, except he had been submitted by two other Teppenpaws. Ruby had put in one of him teaching her to skate, and he had - rather to his surprise - been asked by Johana-Leonie to pose for a photograph with her, which they had done both holding their dictionaries, a symbol of what had brought them together.

Dorian only featured in three of the four photos he had selected. There was one of the Club of Tongues, one of the many group shots Tatya had orchestrated when they had been stuck at school over Christmas. There wasn't much movement to it, and he didn't think it did much to show what they meant to each other as friends, so he had added little speech bubbles saying 'hello' in each of their languages, which moved around stopping by different people's mouths. Given the proliferation of family shots, he thought he ought to include one with Émilie - he had considered not doing so only because she was not at Sonora, but he knew she wouldn't see it that way, especially as other extended families had been shown. He had written to his mother asking whether she had any photos of him being good and brotherly, stating that it was for a school project but not what, specifically. She had sent him a selection, of which he had chosen one which featured him, Mama and Émilie. His sister was about a year old, meaning he had to be about three. He wasn't sure whether he would have been recognisable to his classmates in this picture, but Mama being there made it somewhat obvious who it was. She was holding tiny Émilie up by the hands and Dorian was standing a couple of paces away, holding out his arms encouragingly. When Mama let go of Émilie's hands, she staggered the couple of wobbly, determined steps required to be gathered in her brother's arm, he and Mama both turning to grin proudly at the camera. He had worried, seeing as he featured in individual shots with Ruby and a first year, that Tatya would be offended not to be included in a paired shot with him, and he did feel rather bad about this because she really did mean a lot to him, and was becoming someone he could confide a surprising amount to. But if he put in one of just the two of them, then it felt like he was leaving Vlad out, and if he then put in one of just them as well, it not only made it a truly ridiculous number of pictures but also made him feel like there there was little point in having the group shot, but he liked that because it represented the Club of Tongues, which really mattered to him. He had started to see why his mother complained that juggling their social calenders and hosting parties sometimes felt like more trouble than it was worth and found himself glad that, however many uncertainties his future held, the chances were very slim indeed that he was going to be required to be a society housewife.

The photo of his that did not feature him was a headshot of Professor Brooding from the yearbook. He had several, of course, of them together, but they were all distinctly wedding photos. Even the ones of them before the ceremony, with them drinking tea or him helping her get ready, were clearly taken outside of school. As far as he knew, she did not mind who he told about her wedding or his presence at it, but she herself had not exactly been broadcasting the fact that she was married, and he had taken this to mean that she trusted his judgement, rather than that he was free to announce it to a whole room. The headshot was maybe oddly formal, and he hoped it didn’t project the suggestion that she was Teppenpaw Head of House. He would have put one of Professor Xavier in for balance but he himself had submitted one, posed in front of all the planters made by his students for his wedding day. Professors Carter and Skies were also in this shot, which meant a large number of the staff were then featured, and he hoped the ones who weren’t wouldn’t take it as a slight against their teaching. Professor Wright was thanked specifically in the program that the Teppenpaws had produced, and that actually pretty much only left Professor Marsh (who was new), Professor Hawthorne (who was likely to know who had included Professor Brooding and unlikely to begrudge her wife) and Headmaster Brockert (which was just… unsurprising, really). It also helped that Professor Brooding had been a Teppenpaw, which he thought made a case for why she was included (although he hoped she would realise who had submitted it and why) and the other choice was Professor Xavier’s.

There was, of course, one of Dorian and Jehan. It was another from Tatya's Christmas shoot. She had been trying to get them to sit looking sombre but he and Jehan had not been co-operative subjects. They had kept catching each other's eyes and smiling instead, and their photographic selves were similarly disinclined to adopt Tatya's formal style, instead twining their arms affectionately around each other, smiling together and at the camera. Photographic Dorian occasionally leant his head on Jehan's shoulder and just relaxed, losing most of the self-conscious tension he usually carried. It had always been one of Dorian’s favourite photographs of them, and it simultaneously captured how innocent and easy everything had been and, to him, showed where those feelings were going to take him. He suspected that was just because he knew to look for it. People would see what they expected to see. And on the one hand, it showed two friends, perfectly happy and at ease. But knowing what he knew now, it was easy to see that everything he was going to feel for Jehan was already there. ‘Adoring’ was a good description of his own expression when he looked at Jehan, and when he turned to the camera, he kept smiling a little shyly, as if he couldn't quite believe his luck (which, in some ways, he never had been able to). It was easy to read more into it once you knew he felt more for Jehan, but plenty of people had seen it before and seen it as perfectly innocent. It still felt personal, to a degree, to show it. There were other photos he could have used. But he liked this one. The biggest difference, he supposed, was not whether people realised that Dorian was in love with the boy next to him or not, or would be one day, but that this was a photo of him with all his guards down, being who he was with his friends. He wasn’t exactly hesitant with affection in public, and nor could he help beaming like the sun had just come out when Jehan walked into the room. All of those things had been observable before but now he was broadcasting them. He was being himself, even if just in photographic form, in public. And he felt happy about that. In spite of all his fears, it had been an easy choice. This picture was the strongest proof to him that what he felt wasn’t something to fight, because it was right here, at least to his eye, even before he’d known or understood it himself. And he thought that if you tried to pick at that thread, and trace it back, you might be able to follow it forever. All the way back to the beginning of him and Jehan, or maybe further, because after all he’d been the person who Jehan had liked so much already when he had arrived here. And if you started to try to pull apart the part of him that Jehan liked, and the part that was in love with him, he wasn’t really sure what was left. Nothing much. And definitely not the person who was in this photograph. He liked the person that was in this photograph, and he would be happier if he could be him all of the time.

He had been unsure how to organise the photos. If he did them in order of submission then those who had submitted more than one had them bunched together. If he did them by age order, the same thing occurred, plus he wasn't sure where to put those of mixed age groups. In the end, he had decided that the fairest thing was just to shuffle them.

The staging for this was pretty simple. The Teppenpaws were all sitting on the front of the stage, doing some simple swaying as they sang and made a passably pleasant sound with the ukuleles, giving a good view to the screen behind them, and the photos which were the main event in this song.

OOC - god-modding of Lyssa and Professor Wright approved by their authors. Photo contributions all approved or suggested by subjects’ authors.

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Georgia Kirkly

June 19, 2019 1:04 AM

Umbrella by Georgia Kirkly

They had cut the rap section from the beginning of 'Umbrella.' Georgia was pretty confident one of them could have learnt it but learning it and pulling it off were two different things. Plus it name checked two specific artists, who obviously weren't present, and nothing that they could substitute in sounded passable.

The show was really getting underway at this point. Sure, there had been ukuleles and a bunch of backstage technical stuff, all of which could have gone wrong but thankfully hadn't, but this was both the first of the big dance numbers and was the first of the songs she had chosen for the act. It was also the first of her two vocal solos. The lines were shared out, a few different people singing solo, but she had a noticeable role in this.

It was also one of the times she was really, really grateful for magic. There was no way they would have been able to achieve half of this without it. She was pretty sure 'Glee' had only managed through having a serious budget and also being a television show and being able to do multiple takes, and not having to worry about practicalities like throwing water onto people wearing live microphones or cleaning it off the stage at the end. Not that she thought it wouldn't have been possible in real life (the documentaries she'd watched on show choirs suggested they got seriously extra with their stuff) but she wasn't sure she would have managed anything good.

Case in point, what she assumed in the Muggle world would have been stage hands just throwing bucketfuls of water at them were actually Jozua and Dorian charming the water to rise snake-like and flow onto the stage in midair with a steady rhythm matching the song. Some of the Teppenpaws near the edges of the stage were then deflecting this with their wands, creating shield charms against which the water burst in impressive slow motion, or else forcing it off its path, making it arc over their heads before it landed on the stage. They almost didn't need the umbrellas they were singing about, although plenty of these had also been worked into the act. The performers were paired for certain sections of the song, with one partner doing more of the choreography so that the singers didn't lose their breath and could continue to face forward. There were lots of stomps and kicks to flick the water that was now on stage about, along with the occasional magical helping hand. There were twirls around with closed umbrellas across the shoulders or being used for cane work, and open umbrellas being spun artistically or raised above both their heads. As the oldest student on stage she was also one of the tallest, which meant she had of course had to partner Kir. She was still not a great match for him, height-wise, but no one really was, and at least it wasn't ballroom where hold really mattered. In fact, for having someone to hold an umbrella over you, a height advantage wasn't a bad thing, and his tallness had come in very handy in other places. She had told Zevalyn they would be dancing together, hoping she did not find it weird, though she was sure it was obvious she didn't have designs on Kir. She never outwardly said anything bad, of course, but she thought it was pretty clear she found him weird, and that they just wouldn't be each other's type regardless of Zevalyn being involved.

If pressed, she supposed she would say that certain of the lyrics to 'Umbrella' were more romantic than friendship oriented. You could get away with claiming the latter to a degree, but mostly she just liked it, and it didn't not fit with the Teppenpaw theme. It was the bridge that was the main issue. 'You can run into my arms' was a line that not only sounded romantic but also begged specific choreography (even if people were technically being twirled into their partner's arms, but the point still stood), and then 'love' was mentioned and 'I'll be all you need and more.' Luckily, there was also an absolute downpouring of rain at that moment to distract her from that, and the fact that she was paired with her best friend's boyfriend. The rain fell silently thanks to Dorian's use of impervius charms, although Georgia's voice would have been a match for it anyway. She'd also asked him to make it glittery, a prospect which he seemed abnormally enthusiastic about for a teenage boy, and on which he had delivered. It fell silently and sparkling all around them.

Normally it was gross, gross, gross if she thought about the fact that it was Kir she was leaning up against. However, she had to admit that there was something nice about being danced with. Nice about thinking that someone might think the things that 'Umbrella' was about about her... In the real world, Kir was a nerd and they had next to nothing in common. But in the little rain washed fantasy land that existed on stage right now, he was keeping her firmly and safely under his umberella(ella, ella, ella) as the heavens opened, and she had to admit that she could see what Zev saw in him, and he really wasn't a bad tree.

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Kir McLeod

June 20, 2019 8:17 AM

Invisible by Kir McLeod

Kir was somewhat anxious for the fourth song. Admittedly, there had been water already and there was fire still to come, and there were a lot of ways in which those could have gone or still could go wrong, but this was the one where something going messily and painfully wrong was on his shoulders if it happened.

The transition between the third and fourth songs was the longest, but luckily the latter involved piano, and so the introduction could just be spun out and improvised upon, and he was sure it seemed perfectly reasonable to the audience even if he felt pressured by it. Dorian and Jozua did a pretty good job of summoning almost all the water off stage, though it was impossible to get it all, and he and Georgia had to do a sweep with a drying charm to make sure that no one was going to slip during the final two songs. Then he helped Dorian to levitate a staircase onto the stage, because for all that it was a lightweight prop staircase, it was still quite unwieldy for fourth year who was shorter than its tallest step to shift by himself, and Jozua was busy. Once he'd helped with the set elements, Kir went offstage to where Jozua had just finished making the last of a small group of Teppenpaws invisible-ish, in order to also become disillusioned (in the more magical and less tragic existential crisis sense). Jozua was freaking good at it too. Kir obviously knew his own hands were there, they were attached to the rest of him (if rather distally), and because he knew he was just disillusioned not invisible, he could pick out the hand shaped disturbance in the background pattern he held it up against. But he was looking, really looking, and knew what he was looking for and where.

The Teppenpaws began to sing. There were some who were still visible on stage who would have worked as something of a mask for those the audience couldn't see, who were generally rejoining their number. However, a cunning little spell from Dorian had their voices coming in from all around the room so that no one could tune in on where they were, as that would have spoilt some of the surprises.

They had not wanted the effects to be a repeat of the opening number, and thus a lot more choreography was involved, the disillusionment charms worked into it. Johana-Leonie was the principal dancer, the movements slow and graceful, fitting the song. As it built towards the chorus, she got into a ballroom hold before turning on the spot and vanishing before the audience's eyes. Less than a beat later, just the time it had taken to turn, a second dancer appeared in the mirror image of her position, almost as if one had turned into the other. They twirled their way through most of the first chorus before another well shot spell revealed Johana-Leonie again, and the fact that the two of them were paired and dancing together.

This pattern of movement and spellwork continued throughout the song. Kir was still standing stock still and probably the most unnoticeable he had ever been. He watched as Johana-Leonie began to make her way up the steps until she was about five and a half feet in the air. At this point, she turned around and, back dead straight, simply fell back into nothingness. The audience had a moment to appreciate that she was genuinely falling, before the spell on Kir was broken at the last available second so that she was actually revealed to be falling into his outstretched arms. Kir breathed a sigh of relief, and turned, depositing her gently on the floor.

He was pretty sure he had been more anxious about that moment than she had. She had seemed remarkably fine with hurling herself into space, to the extent he had been concerned that something was getting lost in translation. He had put in a safeguard - when she got to the top, he had reached out and tapped her leg three times, the signal that he was there. He had gone over this with her several times, making her explain back to him to be sure she understood. No signal, no leaving the platform. Just improvise something else. Yes, it would probably look weird, and be oddly anticlimactic but it was better than having a first year go splat. Even if he was sure the medic could have fixed her up in a second, it would still have been a very long, painful and unpleasant second.

The final chorus, everyone stayed visible, Johana-Leonie working her way along the row to be twirled, dipped and so on by her fellow Teppenpaws. Kir had drawn the line at any really ridiculous lift, because he just did not have arm muscles, but there was a certain amount he could manage just by virtue of his height, and provided there were no professional choreographers present, most lifts looked impressive enough for the average lay-person. He put his hands on her waist and she jumped, assisted in gaining height and momentum and spreading her arms in a triumphant ‘ta-da’ motion before gently returning to earth.

OOC - god-modding permission obtained from/details checked with J-L's author.

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Georgia Kirkly (soloist)

June 21, 2019 9:49 AM

Firework by Georgia Kirkly (soloist)

It was finale time. Georgia was psyched. Everything so far had gone to plan, and she could practically feel the happy upbeat vibe radiating from everyone. There were times she had wondered whether she really belonged in Teppenpaw. She could be kind of brash. She said things without thinking all the time. And after the showdown with Kir over the show, those doubts had been mounting. But as they sung their way through their cheery range of songs, she felt like she belonged. She didn’t get it right all the time, but she valued the things that Teppenpaw stood for, and she was proud to be a part of it and to have showcased it to the world. Ok, more accurately to her peers and their parents, but that was a pretty big audience. It also meant she’d come a long way since her third year, where she’d felt too fat and too stupid, and like someone who didn’t belong at Sonora, let alone on stage. The second round of midsummer events had really worked out a lot better for her than the first.

Over Christmas, she and her dad had binge watched her favourite ‘Glee’ moments along with all of ‘Pitch Perfect.’ The former had included the ‘Born This Way’ performance, and she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about it as an option for Teppenpaw. She remembered watching that, and picturing herself, imagining getting up there and sticking it to the world with who she was, in catchy t-shirt slogan form, when the concert rolled around again. Still, she had reasoned, there was no reason not to lift a little inspiration, and take what she loved about that and apply it to ‘Firework’ - the lyrics worked just as well, and she was still glad to have chosen this song, as it had specific Sonora memories for her. Taking life lessons from Fat Amy - if she called herself fat, then twig witches like the Purebloods couldn’t do it behind her back - she had considered just straight up writing ‘chubby halfblood’ across her chest, but once she’d pitched the t-shirt idea, she’d got talking about it with the Zara girl, whose t-shirt said ‘Multi-Racial2’ and who said she didn’t like the term halfblood because it made them sound like something was missing. Identity politics had never really been her bag, but that resonated. And anyway, it felt less and less like it mattered that she was ‘halfblood’ - she had never had the advantage from that, of coming in with background knowledge, feeling more like a Muggleborn in her first year. And now… now she just felt like a witch, because that was what she was. One who was going to keep a foot in each world, but that didn’t need to define her witchiness.

So she had come up with a slogan she liked better. One that actively celebrated the things she was good at and that made her her. When the spell hit, revealing her t-shirt, it read ‘Big girl, big voice.’ That had expanded the t-shirt concept beyond Glee’s ‘what have you disliked about yourself/what do others try to make you feel ashamed for’ and just into a more general celebration of ‘what makes you who you are?’ Bonus points for celebrating the former things, but it didn’t have to. Kir was of course flying the flag for team gay, even though he wasn’t, with half an alphabet splashed across his chest, but Georgia had given up a while ago on making him make sense. Those who hadn’t wanted anything in particular written on their shirts got them changed to a bright colour or two in order to make a human rainbow on the appropriate line. This was also accompanied by an actual rainbow bursting across the back of the stage, courtesy of Dorian.

It was an acapella arrangement again (unless things going ‘boom’ counted as an accompaniment), so the chorus of Teppenpaws was busy with woos and wubs and whatever else. Occasional lines had multiple voices to create depth and harmony, but it was Georgia’s song. Start to finish. She was the soloist. It said so in the little program they’d made and everything. Zara had been listed for the first song, and a bunch of them for ‘Umbrella’ but for the final number it read ‘Soloist - Georgia Kirkly.’

Even at the first chorus, there were fizzes and sparkles going off. They had given Jozua carte blanche to just make as many explosions as he liked, so long as they were safe and did not disrupt the artistic merits of the show. He definitely understood at least two of those three directions, and either had enough understanding or enough fear of Georgia to follow through on the third to her satisfaction. Georgia had, ignorantly, assumed ‘fireworks’ and ‘explosions’ to be more or less synonymous, but apparently there was a difference, and Jozua specialised in the latter. Still, those could be varied, in terms of colour, magnitude and various other factors. He was quite the connoisseur. And he’d also learnt to do fireworks for the show. There were some cool little handheld ones which meant the Teppenpaws got to throw small fireworks into the air, making it appear almost like they were generating them themselves out of thin air, and of course great big booming, full on display ones to close the show.

She had come close to killing him when she thought he had turned her deaf or nearly choked them with smoke, but now that it was all under control, it was definitely a cool experience to stand singing in what felt like the middle of your own personal fireworks display. The last ones detonated, bursting their colourful sparks everywhere, as Georgia hit the final notes of the song. And then… it was over. All of it. The concert, which she had worked so hard on, was all over, and so was Sonora and- she found she was crying slightly.

“Good tears or bad tears?” she heard Kir’s voice checking, sounding rather worried.

“Good tears,” she promised him, putting an arm around him and giving him a hug. Good tears. Mostly. It had gone exactly how she wanted, and the only thing left to worry about was the rest of her life. But right now, that felt like it could wait, as they all stepped forward to take their bows and enjoy their applause.

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