Conflicted and Angsty on Cascade Hall

Selina Skies

February 14, 2021 8:13 AM

Telling Tales - The Midsummer Concert by Selina Skies

The concert was probably the most complicated of the Midsummer events. It required input and preparation by the students, and it involved inviting their families onto campus. Selina hoped they would have something good to show them. On the plus side, they had a clean and safe school free of strange manifestations. Whilst she was very, very pleased about that, and whilst it marked a step up from the recent situation, she was aware that was rather a minimum standard that was expected. She hoped they would have a decent performance too.

For some parents, it was their first real exposure to the magical world outside of the visit from their Muggleborn liaison officer, and the subsequent shopping trips. The school contacted all the families with detailed transportation details, but took extra care to make sure the Muggle families had things fully explained to them. There was also the option of being picked up by something that was more or less a car (just with far more capacity inside, and the ability to drive itself) from the nearest town. The welcome area, which had extra Floo connections and space for apparition, was set up outside the school, staffed by Selina on welcome duty, and Katey, in case anyone needed medical attention.

As the families arrived, she greeted them all cheerfully – some by now familiar faces, some new, some ex students, some future students, and a small handful in the middle of those ages who presumably were non-magical siblings. She directed them through a door that was standing on the edge of the raised area, that was not attached to any form of wall but would lead into the foyer of the school, where there were refreshments, along with any of the school staff who had drawn the lot of supervising the parents instead of the students, and a place for the family members to make name labels so people would know who was who. Once everyone was gathered, there was an optional tour of the school. Those who didn’t want to come could stay in the foyer and mingle with the staff or each other, and those who did would still have a chance to do that both before and after the show.

And, in the Cascade Hall, props were being put in place, actors were getting ready, and tales were going to be told…

OOC: - If posting as families/multiple people please use 'other' as the author and select the appropriate post type from the drop down menu.
- Posts can be set before or after the concert, but students will not be available to join families until after, even if they are not involved
- For the concert itself, there will be a separate starting post. We do not have a set plan of what is happening - feel free to talk about what your student contributed in their posts with their families or by writing at the concert. You can use information from the prep threads, or other ideas you have, and/or check in with people in chatzy as needed

Subthreads:

Conflicted and Angsty by Bridget Ferguson with Lorena Abernathy

I'm back, and he's not mine by Kir McLeod with Bel Pierce, Deidre Beales

Overwhelmed by Jenna-Lee Chalmers with Andrew Duell

Socializing by Amethyst Brockert with Deidre Wright

Trying not to commit a felony (again) [tag McLeods] by Karl Hexenmeister with Fionn McLeod

And getting in fights by Oz Spellman with Monica Spellmam, Isis Carter-Xavier, Monica Spellman

Is this family? [Tag Pierce-Beales] by Alexander Pierce-Beales with Bel Pierce, Mab, Deidre Beales

The two worlds meet [Tag Ness] by Lyssa and Suzanne Fitzgerald with Ness McLeod

The boys are back in town! [Tag: the Spurns] by Jacob Jamison with Ileum Spurn

Hello, Respectable Person. There is no commotion over there. (tag Allegra's family) by Wesley Pierce with Ben and Shannon Brockert, Allegra Brockert and family.

Thank Merlin, it's over by Caitlin Pierce with Winston Pierce

Ha! I beat you Billy! by Iris Cobb with Lydia Priory

I agree with Caitlin but for different reasons by Beau Tate with Beau Tate and parents

#MommyDaughterReunion #HappyFamily by Sadie-Lake Chalmers with Julieta De Matteo, Jenna-Lee Chalmers, Felipe De Matteo, Rosalie Hayles, Jessica Hayles

Being pedantic (Gaming Club member) by Gabriel Wilson with Morgan Garrett, Gabriel Wilson and parents, David Wilkes

It's real for you by Seth Alperton with Quincy Wright

Greetings by Esme Brockert with Valentine Duell

I am also glad it's over by Topaz Brockert

The fam's all here. by Graham Osbrook with Theo Spurn

Mixing and mingling on my own. by Carmela Morales with Mara Morales

It's good to be back. by Simon Mordue

So happy by Katerina Vorontsov

Ah, Professor Skies, is there a comprehensive list of potential problems I need to tell you about? by Karl Hexenmeister with Selina Skies

It's good to see you all together! [Duell family] by Bonabelle Row with Valentine Duell, Marissa Duell, Biddy Row, Andrew Duell

You there! [Jeremy Mordue] by Ilefonso De Matteo with Jeremy Mordue

Goodbye Sonora by Heinrich Hexenmeister

13 Selina Skies Telling Tales - The Midsummer Concert 26 1 5

Bridget Ferguson

February 14, 2021 6:15 PM

Conflicted and Angsty by Bridget Ferguson

OOC: CW-Abuse and alcoholism BIC:

Once again, Bridget's parents would not be attending the concert because her mother was not feeling well. While she was concerned about Mama, of course, she was sort of...relieved. If her dad showed up drunk, it would be humiliating. And he was always drunk so humiliation would have been inevitable. She never would have lived it down and her next two years at Sonora would have been completely miserable. Jezebel might have not wanted to be friends with her anymore and she would have been very lonely given that Sophia had other friends.

Or worse, someone might have contacted Child Services about her or something. She knew from her work on Peyton's anti-child abuse charity last year that some people here actually had social workers for parents and as far as the Teppenpaw knew, both Peyton's older brother Ryan and that other kid's mom would be here tonight since they had kids in school. Because people thought alcoholism equaled abuse. Which was a bunch of crap. Yeah, her dad was not the most competent of parents and Bridget supposed Mama wasn't either honestly, but he was only human and anyway, he had a lot better excuses for his parenting mistakes than other people did.

Which was a totally separate issue from merely being embarrassed or worried about what her classmates would think and whether or not they would judge her or make fun of her. The Teppenpaw knew from the many books she'd read that it was not uncommon for people her age to find their parents embarrassing. So, at least she was normal in that respect if no other.

Besides, Bridget belonged to a pureblood family where things were often covered up and social services didn't get involved. That had been the case with her dad when he was a child that was being mistreated by his father.

And anyway, it was a moot point, as her parents weren't here tonight anyway. Come to think of it, maybe Mama was okay and they weren't here because Great-Great-Grandfather, controlling tyrant that he was, did not want Dad embarrassing their family in general. Bridget actually hoped this was the case. She did not want her mother to be sick after all.

Still, the fifth year had to admit, it did kind of suck to see everyone else with their families when she was more or less alone. Okay, Sophia's parents were there, along with Connor and Lydia and Beau's parents were too. And she thought that Aunt Alicia, Uncle Wesley, Winston and his wife were coming too. It wasn't really the same though as say, having normal healthy parents who showed up.

She sighed to herself, she could not wait for this night to be over. Bridget headed over to where refreshments were being served, more for something to do than any real appetite. "Excuse me." She said, to someone who was standing in front of the punch.

11 Bridget Ferguson Conflicted and Angsty 1448 0 5

Kir McLeod

February 14, 2021 6:58 PM

I'm back, and he's not mine by Kir McLeod

It was cool and weird to be back. The main weird thing was all the people who weren’t. Kir was here, but Zevalyn was not at his side. He’d had a year of that in seventh year, of course, so that wasn’t totally unfamiliar. It was almost weirder looking around and not seeing Gary - even though he had seen him outside in the real world, Kir’s brain still somehow tricked him into expecting him to be there. There were also casual acquaintances whose lives he hadn’t kept colouring in the blanks of when they faded from sight, only to find that they had moved on and changed, and that people weren’t where he had left them – a Tatiana and a Vlad who were this side of the student/alumni divide, and didn’t have a Dorian between them.

Speaking of things that did not stay still, he was being eagerly tugged around by CJ and asked to explain everything, and when they could see everything, and where were Evelyn and Heinrich, and could he have a cookie? Kir was pretty sure that CJ was just old enough that, if his age was guessed correctly, the staff at least would know that he probably wasn’t Kir’s kid. However, the age gap between them was significant enough that he’d had more than a few muttered comments about teenage parents when he was out on his own with his foster brother. He wasn’t sure whether he was imagining it or not that one woman here seemed to be giving him an especially sympathetic look. He mostly didn’t care, but he still made sure to quickly get labels slapped on himself and CJ that had their names and that they were both ‘Sibling Ness and Evelyn’ (except he had put Evelyn first on CJ’s - he had debated whether to include Ness on CJ’s but, little as Ness seemed to want to be CJ’s foster sibling, it was factually accurate, and the sixth year would probably have a strop about being left out otherwise).

He went on the tour, partly for nostalgia and to check whether anything had changed, but also because CJ was pretty keen to see things, and allowing him to move around an area that was bigger than a foyer was probably in everyone’s best interests if they wanted him to sit still later. CJ trotted along happily, and was mostly voice activated these days, slowing down or stopping if Kir told him to, and he only had to dive on him once to make sure he Did Not Touch That.

Once they got back to the foyer, Kir glanced around, taking stock again of the other kids (noting with interest that there was a boy who was too old to be a future student but who seemed to have pronouns on his sticker and a ‘Trans Rights are Human Rights’ pin on his backpack), and wondering whether some of these were going to be CJ’s future classmates. The answer to that was ‘probably.’ He figured he maybe ought to nudge CJ towards playing with some of them, although perhaps if he made a Mortal Enemy that wouldn’t bode well for school…

OOC: I've left this pretty open to just generally establish Kir and CJ's presence. I don't mind whether someone approaches now, or timehops to after the concert so as to be able to reply with students.

The references to other people's actions/appearances are all my own characters making cameos, so not god-modding.

13 Kir McLeod I'm back, and he's not mine 366 0 5

Jenna-Lee Chalmers

February 14, 2021 7:52 PM

Overwhelmed by Jenna-Lee Chalmers

Who was in charge of the aesthetics here? That was what Jenna-Lee wanted to know! It wasn’t like some of it wasn’t nice, even #jawdropping #InteriorsToDieFor and her hand reflexively reached for her cell phone even as her fingers still itched from the last time she’d tried and found it absent. It was just that none of it went together. There was #LuxuryLiving in the grounds with their own frigging maze but the library and the potions lab were more #Cottagecore, and she didn’t even know how to start categorising that actual bonkers magical stuff. #SpecialEffects. It would have to be. No one would believe any of this… Not that they would have a chance to see it, of course.

The people were just as confusing. She had mentioned being an influencer, and been asked if that meant she was involved in mind-control. And then realised the person wasn’t joking. Was that real? Was Sadie-Lake learning to do that? Because that… that could be very useful. Still, it was an alarming concept and the more she had tried to explain what she actually meant the more it had been like they were speaking two different languages.

She was almost regretting her decision to come, but she knew it would make her a bad mother not to, and she had to admit to being curious about the place, even if the novelty was rapidly wearing off. Having seen it, she really would have liked to just get Sadie-Lake and return to where everything was comfortable, normal, and connected to the Internet.

She collected a glass of water from the refreshment table, not sure she trusted the calorie content or sheer wizardiness of anything else.

“Please,” she stated, ostensibly to her husband but in a tone that carried well enough for anyone nearby to hear, “Can you just find me someone to talk to who knows what a cell phone is?”

13 Jenna-Lee Chalmers Overwhelmed 0 Jenna-Lee Chalmers 0 5

Amethyst Brockert

February 14, 2021 9:00 PM

Socializing by Amethyst Brockert

Amethyst was looking forward to coming to the school concert tonight. It wasn't so much the program itself, which admittedly was sort of interesting, and she was sure that if she was a student here, she would want to have a starring role. Then again, Topaz had been the stage manager and the last thing she needed was her older sister bossing her around. Because Amethyst knew full well that the Aladren would make her utterly miserable, being more horrid and power crazy towards her than anyone else. After all, Topaz lived to torture her family (and her roommate). Amethyst was sure that if she was in the play and her sister was the stage manager, she would be expected to do everything perfectly and if she messed up and made her sister look bad, Topaz would make her pay for it later.

Fortunately, by the time the next concert rolled around, the Aladren would have graduated and she could try out and be a star unimpeded by having to deal with her evil older sister. Thank Merlin, she'd only have to put up with Topaz being at Sonora with her for a year.

What Amethyst was really excited about was seeing Sonora and hopefully some meeting people who would be attending school with her here. Of course, she'd been here four years ago and four years before that-which she obviously did not remember, because she was three at the time. However, now she'd be coming to school next year so she was eager for a preview of the school.

She just hoped that she'd meet people who, if not purebloods, were at least people she would find common ground with. Amethyst really hoped to popular but she knew how well that had worked out for her cousin Angelique and it would be just her luck to be in a year full of rabidly sporty people too. Because being obviously Topaz's sister wasn't bad enough.

Spotting someone who looked close to her in age, Amethyst abandoned her parents, sister,aunt, uncle and cousins and approached them. "Hello. "She greeted them. "I'm Amethyst Brockert, of the Western Brockerts. "The eleven year old had forgone a name tag because they would not look cute with her outfit . "It's a pleasure to meet you." Technically, she did not know if that was true, but it was the polite thing to say.

11 Amethyst Brockert Socializing 0 Amethyst Brockert 0 5

Deidre Wright

February 14, 2021 9:52 PM

I like doing that usually. by Deidre Wright

Quincy was not going to be in the concert, because of course he wasn't going to be in the concert, but Deidre wasn't about to miss an opportunity to see where she'd be going to school in the future. Her older brother had tried to dissuade them because he didn't think it would be interesting or something like that, but Deidre and her father had been insistent. Besides, if Quincy wasn't in the concert, it wasn't like he had anything to lose from them being there. Their mother had opted out, citing one of her usual excuses about conflicts of interest which naturally made Deidre all the more curious, but she wasn't supposed to pry. That was a primary rule of living with Heidi Wright: one did not pry if one wanted to have dessert, and Dedire basically always wanted dessert.

Deidre was very curious about Sonora because Quincy basically said nothing about it. He had sort of weird friends it sounded like but that was okay because Quincy was kind of weird and Deidre would punch anyone else who said that about him. She herself was a bit of a tomboy, which she supposed also made her weird, but she thought that she was at least more chill about it than her brother, and she could fit into different social groups better than he could. Of course, Quincy would be in his fifth year by the time she began, but that was only a few short years from now and she still had time to practice her socialization skills, whereas Quincy basically seemed like a lost cause. He didn't seem to mind, though. That was good and bad in Deidre's mind - she was glad Quincy wasn't stressed about it, but she did wish he could give her more information about the social goings-on at school. She knew there was a strong Pureblood history there, because there was everywhere, and while she was technically a pureblood, her family was about as muggle-loving as they came. Except that they were all purebloods, so she supposed there were probably others who were more muggle-loving.

In any case, she'd split off from her father because he was way too interested in some of the architecture and boring stuff (she hadn't gone that far though because she was a kid and didn't wanna get in trouble), when another girl approached. She appeared a little older, but not much, and Deidre smiled. She was immediately struck by the fact that this girl must be from one of those Pureblood families that would think her family sucked, but that didn't mean that the girl herself sucked so that was alright by Deidre. Besides, she was introducing herself to a stranger, so that was big points in her favor. Deidre was dressed up a bit, wearing frilly-bottomed dress with purple and green material coming out the bottom of a purple tank top, with a sparkly black cardigan and flats, but not fancy enough to warrant any real attention, so that was cool. She normally preferred jeans and sneakers, but she figured it was best to make a good impression and she wasn't sure how fancy this shindig was going to be.

"Hi," she grinned, showing off her newly grown in adult teeth. "I'm Deidre Wright. My family's from Oregon," she added, both in the name of transparency and finding common ground since 'western' could very well mean the same part of the country. "It's good to meet you too. You've got a lot of family here?" she confirmed, recognizing the name because that was an important thing to do if you were going to blend into different social circles, and because stuff like people's names were on the program and there were a lot of Brockerts on there.

22 Deidre Wright I like doing that usually. 0 Deidre Wright 0 5

Bel Pierce

February 15, 2021 1:59 PM

This is not what it looks like, but play along. by Bel Pierce

Bel Pierce was very aware that most purebloods had a very good reason to believe she was a lesbian, starting with the fact that this is what she'd shouted at them whenever she was feeling vindictive and contrary (which was a lot of the time), and the claim was supported by the fact that she'd had several girlfriends over the years and no boyfriends, excepting possibly Bill, but that was more of a friend zone with questionable borders than dating, and she'd made friends with him because he was a muggle and she'd wanted to thumb her nose at that restriction imposed upon her by pureblood society.

All of which meant that, showing up to Mab and Alexander's concert with Diedre - a muggle woman - and Diedre's toddler child, meant that every single person who recognized her was going to assume that they were together. And if Bel looked pissed about it, well, that was just because Bel always looked pissed whenever there were purebloods around.

They wouldn't even be wrong that Wesley Pierce was the person on the school grounds that she most wanted to murder, and not Diedre.

In fact, given the first look Wesley had taken at her and Diedre and Reilly as they first popped in, holding hands so that the portkey would transport all three of them easily, Bel was leaning very heavily toward pushing the belief that she and Diedre were married, just to infuriate him. When she was sure none of the New Hampshire Pierces were looking, she surreptitiously transfigured a credit card she had in her pocket into a gold ring and slipped it onto her left hand. She transfigured a pack of tissues into an identical one and gave it to Diedre. "Put that on," she ordered.

Diedre gave her a look of confusion, but she was overwhelmed enough by everything else going on that she put it on without argument.

"We're married," Bel told her in a low voice, which did make Diedre turn her head very quickly to stare at Bel in disbelief.

"What?" she blurted out, louder than Bel would have liked.

"See the guy over there, looks like Three's fraternal twin brother?" Bel asked in a hushed voice. Deidre looked and nodded when she spotted Wesley. "That's my blood cousin. I hate him. He hates me and hates that I'm a lesbian even more. Thinks I'm a family disgrace. I'd like to shove his face in it, if you don't mind?"

Diedre stared at her like she'd just grown a second head. "You're what? We're what?" She was at least matching Bel's lower volume now.

"Married. We've got three kids."

"You're insane, you know that, right?"

"Violently so, yes, I've been told that before. But I don't hit my family. Recommend you become that." They were approaching the table with the name tags and swiftly running out of time. "Did you take my name or did I take yours?"

"Hyphenated."

"Very good. I approve." Bel flashed her a quick conspiratorial grin, and then stepped forward to fill out the name tags: Bel Pierce-Beales Parent: Mab & Alexander, Diedre Pierce-Beales Parent: Mab & Alexander, Reilly Pierce-Beales Sibling: Mab & Alexander. She stuck each one on the appropriate individual's shirt.

Deidre looked down at her own and Reilly's. "Who said yours would come first? Beales is first alphabetically."

"Bel Beales-Pierce is too alliterative and hard to say. Besides, Pierce is the more prominent one in wizard society."

"We might be having a rough patch in our marriage right now."

"I think we have a lot of those. But we're putting on a good face for our kids and their school concert." Bel held out a hand, and Diedre looked at it like it was a snake. But she took it, and they walked into the school, hand-in-hand, with Reilly riding on Deidre's other hip.

Bel had never been to Sonora before. She'd squeezed out a graduation from Salem Institute shortly before it shut its doors forever, but Four and Ben had both been students here and Amelia had even had a stint as Head of Crotalus, so she'd heard plenty of stories. She took the tour, and the strangest thing about Sonora was Headmistress Skies being there.

They hadn't been officially married yet when they'd first been greeted by her old Headmistress upon arrival, but the impression Wesley had gotten would have been just vibrant to the current Head of Crotalus, and Bel had hurried them all away before awkward questions could be asked. But the silver letter B hanging around her neck was the same one she'd worn during her Salem years and she was pretty sure the Transfiguration professor would recognize that at least as easily as Bel herself, since that was what everyone had looked at to determine which twin was which.

When there had been any doubt, anyway. Sometimes it had been pretty obvious even without the necklaces. Any twin being brought before the Headmistress for dueling or fighting other students or standing on the tables in the Hall and cursing had always been Bel.

She was probably not doing Mab and Alexander any favors by turning up for their concert.

She should probably try to avoid Wesley if she didn't want a real life flashback of being brought to the Headmistess' office.

The tour had finished up, and over the course of it Bel had courteously offered to carry their spawn a few times when it looked like Deidre's arms were getting tired of carrying the growing toddler. He could walk on his own, but not fast and not far, so they swapped him back and forth to give each other rests as they saw the sights of the Arizona school.

Now in one place again, Deidre set him down on the floor to get some running around in before the concert started and he charged off toward another kid. Bel and Deidre chased after him, and her stomach sank when she recognized one of the McLeod kids. Merlin curse it all. This was going to get back to Lola and Catriona.

Nothing to do about it now though but play the hand. Reilly had already run up to the other kid and announced that he had goldfish and demonstrated that he was willing to share by holding the orange snack cup out in offering, and there would be no extracting him without being noticed.

"Hello, Kir. Have you met my family? Diedre. Reilly. Diedre is Mab's birth mom." Diedre gave her a stink eye, but Bel attributed that to the birth mom comment given that Bel was still the only one of them to currently have legal guardianship of Mab right now, rather than because she had introduced them as a family. Kir could take it whatever way he wanted to.

"Mallory," Deidre ground out. "Her name is Mallory."

Oh perfect. That could be the source of their current disgruntlement with each other. Bel had figured she was still put out about the order of their last names whenever she scowled down at their name tags, but belatedly it occurred to her that she'd put Mab on those, too. "I've told you, she prefers Mab."

"She hasn't told me that. Only you have told me that."

Bel considered that. As she recalled, she did not believe Mab had seemed at all put out by her mother using her birth name. But Alexander called her Mab, and she'd introduced herself to Bel as Mab, and she was 95% sure all of Sonora knew her only as Mab. "It's the name she prefers among her peers. Kir is closer to a peer than her mom. She only lets you call her that."

"Fine," Diedre conceded with a sigh. "We're Mab and Alexander's family. Good to meet you, Kir. You have," she peered closer at his name tag. She'd been around the Pierce house enough to have caught onto some of the drama with Bel's other foster child. "Oh. Evelyn is Alexander's sister, isn't she?"

1 Bel Pierce This is not what it looks like, but play along. 0 Bel Pierce 0 7

Amethyst Brockert

February 15, 2021 4:35 PM

So do I by Amethyst Brockert

Amethyst nodded. This girl, Deidre, seemed to be a little bit younger than her but that was perfectly okay. She wasn't so much younger that she wouldn't be in school when Amethyst was, as someone that young would be closer in age to her little cousins. Besides, talking to Deidre would probably be more interesting than talking to adults-although Amethyst did consider herself very mature for an eleven year old-or little kids.

"I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah." She replied. It was not the most glamorous city in the world, but at least it was a city. She wouldn't want to live in the middle of nowhere. That would be so boring. Plus, Amethyst was totally not an outdoorsy country nature type of girl. She hated things like dirt and bugs. Still, hopefully when she grew up, she'd marry a guy from somewhere glamorous and exciting like New York City or Paris. "Where in Oregon are you from?" She asked Deidre.

"Yes, I have tons of family here." Amethyst replied. "I have two older sisters in sixth year and fourth year and an older brother in second year who are currently students." Not that she really wanted to own Topaz but having a thematically named family sort of made it hard to deny how closely related they were. Normally, Amethyst liked her name because it was pretty and sparkly and fancy and totally not at all boring but it did make it hard to pretend she wasn't that closely related to the sixth year. Fortunately, Deidre would never have to meet Topaz, as the older girl would have graduated by the time she attended Sonora though Amethyst wasn't sure if that was more fortunate for Deidre or herself. It was probably the former."Plus, three first cousins and a bunch of distant ones. And my grandfather is the Headmaster." She did not think this was bragging, as it was factual information. How could facts be bragging?

Which, Amethyst was worried, might be sort of Topaz-ish thought. Which meant it was not a good one to have. She generally wasn't as good as being nice as some of her older siblings-polite, charming and sociable, she could do but nice was sort of a challenge at times, but she tried hard not to be like the Aladren. Except that saying this made sense to her as Deidre had asked her about her family. Of course, being ruled by logic was also a very Topaz-like thing to do."What about you? Do you have lots of family here?"

11 Amethyst Brockert So do I 0 Amethyst Brockert 0 5

Lorena Abernathy

February 15, 2021 5:22 PM

Same and same by Lorena Abernathy

They weren’t here.

Lorena hadn’t known what to expect, but deep, deep in her heart, she knew what she hoped: to see her parents here tonight. She had made a couple easy crafts for them to use for sets and props and stuff, and she was getting on the stage briefly to play Geppetto for Isla's Pinocchio puppet show, but it wasn't like theater was a particular passion of hers. Whether or not she was the star, though, she was hoping to spend the night with her parents at the place she loved so much, introducing them to her friends instead of just telling Dad about them in her letters.

But a couple days before, she got a letter back from her dad that said they weren’t coming. Her mother wasn’t comfortable with it, and Dad didn’t feel it was right to come without her. Lorena wrote back that she understood, even though she really didn’t, and she was getting really tired of trying to be understanding of her mom’s magical aversion.

So now tonight, she was on her own, it seemed. Lorena conveniently forgot to mention to her roommates that her parents weren’t coming, mostly to avoid being awkwardly invited to just join them and then feeling like a third wheel, so to speak. And now the concert was here, and she found herself standing by the refreshment table, spacing out.

One of the older girls politely got her attention, and it was only then Lorena realized that she was blocking the punch. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Lorena exclaimed, moving out of the way. “I didn’t mean to block you. You probably want to get back to your table. And your family…” The tail end was spoken quietly, but still distinctly audible, meant mostly as a spoken thought and not meant as conversation.

OOC: Isla's act discussed with her author in chatzy

12 Lorena Abernathy Same and same 1510 0 5

Andrew Duell

February 15, 2021 6:20 PM

I think I'm just about whelmed by Andrew Duell

Andrew had taken his time in preparing for the concert, he knew this was serious business. He'd gotten some school green robes that were trimmed nicely in Teppenpaw yellow. The large wizard hat matched in color, but style-wise he thought it looked nearly exactly like Gandalf's from the Lord of the Rings movies. The muggles had a fascinating aesthetic known as 'Steampunk' which Andrew liked. Therefore he attached a few gears to the hat that spun about erratic and jauntily. Every once in a while a very small puff of steam would poof out from somewhere. However, despite his insistence of his sacred paternal duty to embarrass his offspring a subtlety as possible in public, Marissa had forbidden the traditional long white wizard beard and 'Go Teppenpaw!' rally flags. He'd have to just get by with the robes, hat and a promise to behave himself.

Walking into the school again was a real blast from the past. He gave Marissa's hand an extra squeeze as the waves of nostalgia washed over him. Had it been so long ago? Well, he had a thirteen year old daughter, so.. yes, it had been. He couldn't even remember what had gone on with his concert when he had been here, had that been his fourth year? Then he smiled that was tinged with some remorse, the thing he remembered was Dad being here for it. The man had been so completely unnerved by everything around him, but still he had come. He and Mom had gotten him through.

There was no way he was going to miss out on the tour. Walking the old halls felt strange, very familiar, but almost as if those memories belonged to someone else, someone much younger than him. Nothing had changed to much, and he was sorely tempted to break away from the tour group to see if the Teppenpaw common room had changed the entrance dance since he left. But, he had promised to behave. He watched the tour group as much as he watched the school itself, some of the people seemed familiar enough with the place, some didn't so much. There was one woman in particular who seemed a little more... unsettled than most of the rest.

However, it wasn't until the tour ended and they were back in the opening area that he decided to do something about it. She seemed truly distressed and her husband didn't seem to be helping all that much. So at her not so quiet request, he let his wife know his intentions and approached them both smiling. "A handheld, electronic communication device used for talking to people over great distances." He almost had put the word 'muggle' in there, but caught himself figuring that wouldn't be all that helpful. "Hello, I'm Andrew Duell" he introduced himself pointing at his name tag which read as such, "Valentine Duell's father." He didn't know if the parents would know who his daughter was, but if he knew his daughter, their kid most likely did. He kept his smile calm and friendly while he talked and snagged a glass of water. They had pumpkin juice, they always had that pumpkin juice. Ugh. He continued smoothly, "I take it you're not all that familiar to the wizarding things." It wasn't really a question so he continued after taking a sip, "You're doing better than my dad did when he came to watch my concert." He kept his expression friendly, but cringed inwardly. He still missed his dad.

OOC: Marissa's opinions approved by her author

2 Andrew Duell I think I'm just about whelmed 145 0 5

Karl Hexenmeister

February 15, 2021 7:12 PM

Trying not to commit a felony (again) [tag McLeods] by Karl Hexenmeister

OOC: I am assuming the adult McLeods are about somewhere and that Kir and CJ are not the only representatives of the family. This is set prior to the concert but is intentionally left vague about whether or not they took the tour. BIC:

Karl had been to Sonora four years ago for the concert they held then. The two students he had come to see then were the same two he had come to see today, and the child as his side was the same one he'd had at his side then, but it felt very different. Last time, it had been Hilda's first year at Sonora. This time it was Heinrich's last. Last time, Hans had been a small child, still only six at the time with a tendency to flop between languages without warning. Now, Hans spoke English like a native (though accented because everyone he learned the language from had an accent) and the ten year old was looking around hoping to spot any other children who might be joining him in next year's newest Sonora class.

"I'm going to talk to them," Hans told him, pointing at another child about his own age.

"All right," Karl agreed. "Just don't wander too far."

"I won't," Hansel promised.

As the boy wandered off to try to make a friend, Karl looked around for someone he could talk to. He was a little bit leery of doing so. The last time he'd spoken to one of Heinrich's friends' parents, he'd sicced a poisonous snake on them less than a year later.

There. He saw Evelyn's foster parents. They hadn't exchanged much more than basic formalities and a few words about how well behaved their respective children had been in the other's care, but he could certainly recognize them on sight. They should be safe and not induce him to commit a felony.

"Hello," he said, coming within easy conversational range. He glanced to the side to make sure Hansel was still fine. He was. Karl turned back to the people would very likely someday be Heinrich's parents-in-law, given the way his ward talked about theirs. "Looking forward to the show?" He realized somebody was missing. "Did you bring CJ with you? Heinrich was hoping he would get to see the concert."

1 Karl Hexenmeister Trying not to commit a felony (again) [tag McLeods] 0 Karl Hexenmeister 0 7

Kir McLeod

February 15, 2021 8:39 PM

No idea what 'this' is but can do by Kir McLeod

That was Bel. This was pretty much the main thing Kir was sure of right now, beyond his own identity. He wasn’t sure if he had known that Bel was married. He would have assumed that this was because Bel was more a feature in his aunts’ lives than his own, and it was entirely possible that it either never been relevant or he had forgotten. Except he was pretty sure her stubborn singleness had been mentioned? But again, it was entirely possible her wedding had been mentioned and he’d blanked it (his aunts went to a lot of lesbian weddings) or not been mentioned or whatever.

“Hey, Ms. Pierce. -Beales,” Kir smiled, taking in the name tag and the other woman she introduced, giving a nod to let the label cover both of them. “Kir,” he introduced himself, for the benefit of the new comer, gesturing at his nametag. People often needed him to repeat or spell his name. Maybe he should have a name tag all the time. It was handy.

The fact that they were both here for someone called Mab (maybe) did not really clear things up as he wasn’t totally sure who Mab (or Mallory) was but the argument over that kind of precluded any chance for him to admit to that fact. He chilled. He was aware that other people would get awkward or tense or whatever being caught in the middle of someone else snipping at their partner and with basically no idea what was going on, but he figured that that would just mean there were then three tense, awkward people in this conversation, and that seemed like a net loss. Plus it wasn’t the weirdest or most intense situation he’d ever been caught in the middle of.

The conversation eventually drifted back round to continuing the introductions, though with a bit of a curve ball.

“No,” he shook his head, pretty sure… Well, maybe an Alexander had been mentioned in passing? But Kir was pretty sure he hadn’t been a substantial part of any conversation that he’d been involved in. “Evelyn’s mine and Ness’ foster sister,” he added, again using his handy-dandy name tag to illustrate. “And CJ,” he gestured to the small child happily munching goldfish crackers, “is her bio bro. Also, full disclosure,” he added, just in case it became essential to the conversation continuing to function, “I don’t actually know who… Mab(?) is,” he stated, checking that Deidre wasn’t about to hex him over that but figuring that Bel’s explanation made sense. He was generally in favour of calling people their preferred names, and if it was a special mother-daughter thing between Mab(-ory?) and Deidre that seemed even more of a reason not to tread on it, rather than an indication that he was picking sides. Though if he had to pick sides, he would pick Bel’s. He had no idea how hard Deidre could hex but it was bound to be less than Bel.

OOC: Kir's level of knowledge on Alexander cleared with his author

13 Kir McLeod No idea what 'this' is but can do 366 0 5

Jenna-Lee Chalmers

February 15, 2021 9:02 PM

Are you from Europe? by Jenna-Lee Chalmers

OOC: CW judgemental remarks about weight/appearance. (Guessed at based on Andrew's profile picture, happy to amend if inaccurate).

Also, I am aiming for accurate with the grade she says Sadie-Lake is in but am not great at convering to American grades. You can assume she got it right even if I didn't. She's not /that/ terrible of a mother. BIC:

Jenna-Lee turned, not quite managing to hide a look of wide-eyed incredulity as someone quoted a definition of a cell phone at her like… like they were a thing you looked up on Wikipedia. Also no one actually called anyone on their cell. Also, the person who had said it was about the most wizardy looking wizard anyone could possibly imagine as well as somewhat overweight. Her mouth dropped open slightly. He almost behaved like a normal human after that, although it took Jenna-Lee several moments to stop staring at his hat and register what he had actually told her.

“Thank you,” she said weakly, when she was deemed to have done better than his father. His father was like them then? She tried to latch onto that, although given how very wizardy this man seemed she wasn’t sure how comforting that was. Was Sadie going to start going around wearing a Hallowe’en costume in the middle of summer? She already had a talking bunny rabbit, which at least sounded cute but was sort of more than she could wrap her head around when she remembered it was allegedly real and not part of a movie.

“Valentine – that’s a pretty name,” she said, grabbing hold of something concrete she knew how to talk about, and which this man had got right. She couldn’t remember Sadie-Lake mentioning a Valentine. She mostly talked about a girl with one of those generic ‘J’ names – Jennifer, or something like that, and her roommate who began with an ‘E…’ “Our daughter, Sadie-Lake, is in eighth grade.” She tentatively pulled a business card out of her purse. A sticky label was not a very flattering accessory so she hadn’t taken one. She was not sure that the lightly perfumed card with a full colour photo of an artistic pile of scarves and accessories on one side with the gold hashtags #Lifestyle #Family #SoCal, and her name and social media platforms on the other would mean much to this man. She was not sure he was her target demographic. But handing out business cards was what you did when you met people, and… and… “I’m Jenna-Lee Chalmers, I curate our family’s Instagram page which focuses on lifestyle and affordable luxury,” she recited with a bright smile, even though she was not feeling it at all on the inside, “And- is your hat going to explode?” she asked, taking a tentative step back as it emitted some puffs of smoke.

13 Jenna-Lee Chalmers Are you from Europe? 0 Jenna-Lee Chalmers 0 5

Fionn McLeod

February 16, 2021 5:03 AM

That would seem preferable by Fionn McLeod

Karl Hexenmeister was not someone the McLeods knew well. He had crossed paths with them a handful of times, during which he had seemed polite (if quiet and awkward). The things they did know about him were that he had taken on responsibility for raising his three niblings, and that at least one of them was a wonderful person. Of course, the way a young person turned out was not always a reflection of the people who had brought them up, and clearly some of the foundations for who Heinrich was had been laid by other people. However, they were inclined to think positively of most people until given a solid reason not to, and of Karl Hexenmeister in particular, based of all current available evidence. They were familiar enough with him as well that it seemed natural for him to seek them out now, especially if their reading of him was right, and he was polite (but quiet and awkward).

“Hello, nice to see you,” Fionn smiled, echoed with a nod and a ‘hello’ from his wife. His Scottish accent was a little dented by the amount of time he’d spent stateside but there was still something discernibly non-American about his speech. “Yes, they’re usually good fun,” he added agreeably about the prospect of witnessing adolescents butcher whatever dramatic or musical material they had been entrusted with. Actually, that was perhaps a tad unfair. The performances at the last concert had genuinely been quite good (especially Teppenpaw’s, although he would not have ventured the indication of favouritism that came with saying so).

“Yes, CJ’s here – over there with Kir, our eldest,” he nodded to where CJ appeared to be forcing goldfish crackers at Kir, whilst Kir talked to- he did a slight double take. Bel Pierce. Bel Pierce had not had a school aged Sonora child, last he had checked. Or a partner. Admittedly, seeing her here with another woman was less surprising than seeing her here with a man, but only very slightly, in that he was fairly sure that she had no particular business being here with her. But then he had a kid here that wasn’t his, biologically speaking, and Karl had three of them, so families were complicated, and he probably shouldn’t Assume. “Sorry, someone else we know, and I wasn’t expecting to see,” he apologised, aware that his distraction had been entirely obvious. “So, Heinrich’s involved in the concert?” he asked. He was pretty sure he was, because Ness wrote detailed letters but it was a nice easy topic, especially as he couldn’t reciprocate about whether Karl had brought his smallest human because he couldn’t remember his name, and was pretty sure that by this point he should know that, and it probably began with ‘H’ but was it actually ‘Hansel’ or was that just stereotyping and the fairytale theme getting to him?

13 Fionn McLeod That would seem preferable 0 Fionn McLeod 0 5

Oz Spellman

February 16, 2021 5:32 AM

And getting in fights by Oz Spellman

OOC: All working out about the play content done with Freddie's author BIC:

Mom was here! Mom was here in their weird magic school, and she got to see everything and be part of everything and they got to see her a couple of hours earlier than they otherwise would have! That was so exciting that Oz almost wanted to ditch the stupid play thing and just go and see her now except the stupid play thing was one of the things she had actually come all this way to see, so he needed to actually do that and do a decent job.

He was also actually kind of excited for his part in it. It had turned out that a couple of people had put in stories that did not suck. Gus was doing some weird turtle story but it seemed to be a Cool Black Kids Thing, so Oz was just morally supporting that, but one of the older kids had put in a Paul Bunyan story that basically just about fighting and didn’t involve any icky romance stuff, so Oz had jumped on that. It had meant working with Freddie, who was hard to understand and like a very happy bouncy ball, and Ellie, who was bossy. She hadn’t let him change the name of Freddie’s character from Babe even though he was worried people would think that was weird, saying that it was part of the story and not to be so homophobic. He had pointed out that he wasn’t being homophobic because that was when you ragged on dudes for liking other dudes and Freddie, at this point, was a blue cow. And also he was fine with dudes liking other dudes (cos hello, it was 20XX) and if anyone was homophobic it was the douchebags he feared laughing at him and beating him up for calling another boy ‘Babe.’ At which point Ellie had pointed out that he had said that he wasn’t a boy, he was a cow and stuck her tongue out. He had decided that, so long as it only appeared in the narration bits that Ellie did, he didn’t care, and just made sure not to have to call Freddie/Babe by name himself. Ellie was telling most of the story, whilst he and Freddie had a couple of lines of dialogue each and then most of their involvement was a wrestling match, which shifted the landscape around them (courtesy of Ellie and an even older kid who was offstage).

He was actually pretty hyped to do their story. The wrestling match had never come out the same way twice when they rehearsed it, which annoyed Ellie but was called ‘improvising’ and he was pretty sure was a legitimate theatre move, and anyway, Freddie didn’t seem to mind. And now it was time to do it for real, and the adrenaline and enthusiasm were pumping. The resultant action definitely did not look like a smooth and overly choreographed stage fight. That could definitely be said of it. He didn’t pay much attention to the scenery, and the fact that it wasn’t entirely managing to move in time with what he and Freddie were doing, and the fact there may have been one or two pieces that got knocked over by their own efforts, didn’t matter. It was a story about smashing things.

His attention was pulled away from manically wrestling Freddie around the stage (one of his horns had come off in Oz’s hand which wasn’t intentional but was cool cos it made it look like it had been a properly brutal fight) by Ellie saying ‘When the fight finished’ in a really loud and pointed tone, almost as if she had said it once already. Still, even her killjoy vibe couldn’t diminish his euphoria that he had basically got to get into a fight, albeit a mostly playful one, for attention instead of punishment, and that the whole thing had just been super awesome good fun.

After it was done, he took a seat in the audience with the rest of the school, sort of to watch the others, although he spent quite a while twisting around trying to see if he could spot mom.

After the show, with Henry in tow, he went to look for her. Which was tricky, because there were a lot of people, and he and Henry were still amongst the shortest but- THERE SHE WAS! He got there first because Henry did not run indoors, and Oz forgot rules when he was excited, and he was excited because there was mom. He was pretty sure this was one of the occasions where you were allowed to hug your mom without it making you pathetic, and he flung himself on her enthusiastically.

“MOM! Hey! Hey mom!!! DID YOU SEE IT? Did you like it? Did you see the school too? Isn’t it neat? Doesn’t the potions lab smell weird? Isn’t it awesome?” he asked. He had had to let go of her because long hugs weren’t cool, but he leaned on her shoulder bouncing in place as he asked all his questions.

13 Oz Spellman And getting in fights 1514 0 5

Monica Spellmam

February 16, 2021 7:32 AM

Less of that, please (tag Prof C-X) by Monica Spellmam

There were several reasons why Monica knew that the child launching himself at her was Oz. The fact that the verb ‘launching’ was applicable was one of them. Even if she hadn’t known what he was wearing from seeing him up on stage, she would have known. His hair had grown out a bit over the year and was closer to Henry’s usual length, although he still seemed to be trying to make it do something with gel in order to differentiate himself. Which meant Henry’s hair must be… the same. Somehow it was the same. He had either managed to access a haircut whilst he was here, or his body just down to its every last molecule inherently rebelled against having a hair out of place. Therefore he didn’t. Was that a magic thing?

She returned Oz’s hug enthusiastically, before turning to wrap Henry in a much gentler embrace – just in terms of dynamic, not in degree of affection.

“Hello, and yes, yes, and… however many yeses that needed,” she grinned at Oz. “You were both fantastic,” she informed them. Henry had not been on stage, but she could have recognised his playing even without the programme. “And happy birthday for yesterday. Did your cards arrive?” she checked, getting confirmations from both of them. She was glad their birthday fell so close to the end of term that it almost didn’t feel like she had missed it. Only almost. Yesterday had still been strange, but it just felt postponed rather than lost, and at least they had had each other. She hoped. That definitely had been waning for the last couple of years, but their birthday was one thing that it was inescapable for them to share, and she hoped that being away together was pushing them (Oz) to be a little bit more united. “We’ll celebrate properly at home,” she assured them both. “So… I have two twelve-year-old wizards?” she confirmed, shaking her head.

“YEAH!” Oz informed her, “Hey, do you wanna see a spell? I can show you. Hey look,” he took the programme from her hand, tapping it and muttering something which turned it bright red.

“That is impressive,” Monica acknowledged, somewhat shocked.

“And I can float stuff like the explainer guy did!”

“Okay but don’t,” she requested, as he eyed up the snack table, “Don’t float people’s food while they’re trying to eat it, it’s probably… not polite,” she ventured, aware that she was way out of her depth when it came to wizard table manners, and finding herself glancing at Henry for some support or guidance or just to give him a half helpless smile that at once conveyed ‘What is your brother like?’ and ‘What would I know about wizard table manners?’

“Fiiine,” Oz sighed, as if that was so uncool, but it washed off in half a second, as he exclaimed, “Ooh! Did you meet our teachers?” he glanced around eagerly. “Come on,” he said, catching sight of who he wanted and tugging her in that direction.

She made sure Henry was sticking with them, but followed along, partly because she thought she was in danger of having her arm pulled out of its socket if she didn’t, and because Oz wanting her to meet a teacher was an unusual occurrence, and one she thought she ought to embrace.

“This is my head of house, Professor Carter-Xavier,” he explained. Monica smiled at the lady she was being presented to, finding herself estimating that Professor Carter-Xavier was broadly in the same age range as she was. Except she was balancing a baby-toddler aged child on her hip, instead of being tugged around by two twelve year olds (or rather, tugged around by one and obediently followed by other – she didn’t have two twelve year old children, was the point). It was a problem she was fairly used to coming up against, and at this point she’d just learnt to have a fairly thick skin about it. She was also pretty sure that between having twins, one of those twins being Oz, and a life that was generally fairly wearing, she looked older than the thirty that she actually was. She had weighing up how much she stood out amongst Sonora’s parents. She wasn’t sure whether it was another effect of magic, or whether having kids young was a cultural thing, but she hadn’t felt as totally out of place as she usually did around bougie middle class people. At least, not due to her age. Almost everyone seemed to come in twos, which was jarringly different from her world, where at least being a single mom wasn’t that much of a stand out. She was guessing from Professor Carter-Xavier’s name (and check, wedding ring) that that was another difference between them.

“Nice to meet you,” she smiled. “I’m Oz and Henry’s mom,” she added, as if context and the name label she was currently wearing didn’t make that entirely obvious.

“She’s my head of house,” Oz pointed out. This was met with a look that had clearly been practised and had, over the course of around a decade, been able to distil an entire parental warning/lecture down into a single pointed glance. It got a ’ ‘well she is though’ in response, but reduced to something of a mumble.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she smiled at Professor Carter-Xavier.

13 Monica Spellmam Less of that, please (tag Prof C-X) 0 Monica Spellmam 0 5

Karl Hexenmeister

February 16, 2021 7:32 AM

Yes, once you become a serial felon, the chances of getting away with it shrink by Karl Hexenmeister

"Good," Karl commented when it was confirmed CJ had made it, and that he was wandering around with the oldest of his companions' children. Karl was debating between repeating that Heinrich would be glad and pointing out where Hansel was when he realized Fionn McLeod was focused on something or someone else very intently and probably wouldn't hear him anyway so he said nothing.

After a moment, Fionn seemed to come back to himself and apologized for his distraction and asked after Heinrich's involvement in the concert.

Karl nodded in acceptance of the apology and answered for both of his wards rather than just the one asked after. "Yes, both Heinrich and Hilda are. Hilda is doing mostly backstage work like moving scenery, but as I understand it, Heinrich will be doing a fairly impressive illusion of a giant for one of the skits. He was lacking in any further details than that. I am unclear if he did not want to spoil a surprise, or if it was just because he is habitually inclined to share as little as possible with me." He grimaced slightly at the last two words, because he really wasn't sure if it was personal to him or if it was a wider failing on Heinrich's part to talk more than a few words at a time to anyone. Certainly, Hansel and Hilda both carried most of the weight in their conversations with their older brother, but he spoke more to them than he did with Karl.

To be fair, Hansel and Hilda also carried most of the weight in their conversations with Karl. It could just be that neither of them knew how to talk with other introverts and that was why their conversations were either very focused on a specific topic, or lapsed into many long stretches of awkward silence until one of them made an excuse to escape.

1 Karl Hexenmeister Yes, once you become a serial felon, the chances of getting away with it shrink 0 Karl Hexenmeister 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

February 16, 2021 9:36 AM

Is this family? [Tag Pierce-Beales] by Alexander Pierce-Beales

The concert was . . . concerty. Alexander had mostly just been involved with stage design and had contributed a fair amount of artwork to the show, but he'd also helped with some of the magic and illusions, which was exciting. He hadn't ever really thought that much about the artistic possibilities of magic and he was suddenly much more interested in Charms and Transfiguration than he'd been before. He just hoped he could carry the motivation over the summer because he was definitely going to need it when it was time to come back in the Fall. For now, however, there were other things on his mind. While he hadn't been able to see much of the audience from his spot off-stage during parts of the show, he'd made a point of looking around to see who was there when he was able to and when he was making his way back to his seat. It was a habit he'd always had, even though he was well aware that there was never going to be anyone waiting there for him. Except that today there was and not just Mab. Mab was always on his team, which meant the world to him, but now there were other faces that looked like maybe they could be proud of him too. Perhaps that was giving them too much credit, but a chance was better than he'd had before meeting Mab and Bel so he wasn't about to squander it worrying about its longevity.

When the show was done, Alexander made his way promptly to his foster parent, his eyes catching a ring and a name tag that made the vague questions his head had formed during the show solidify into what felt like answers. Real, solid answers. He looked at the woman who was Mab's mom by blood, her matching ring, and the name tag she wore too. It was the first time in his life that Alexander had ever had a parent attend anything and now he had not one but two of them. Bel had already found her way into his heart good and solid but it looked like he'd need to find more room.

Without really meaning too, and totally without getting misty-eyed or anything like that because that would be embarrassing, Alexander launched forward to embrace Diedre Pierce-Beales in a hug. His face was turned towards Bel and he looked at her with a watery smile despite the fact that his face was dry because he had awesome self-control like that.

"I didn't know," he explained as he released the woman, happy for his foster parent that he had been pretty sure was only half capable of feelings for other humans before and now was proven wrong. "You get to keep Mab then? And there's five of us now?" he confirmed, wanting to hear out loud the proof of what he was seeing: that his little family, for what it was, had grown, and now there was no need to worry that Mab's birth mom would take her away or that Bel would get rid of him anytime soon. He wondered if he could change his last name too.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales Is this family? [Tag Pierce-Beales] 1475 0 5

Bel Pierce

February 16, 2021 10:33 AM

What have I done? by Bel Pierce

They got through the pre-concert socializing without any murder, or even any broken noses, which had always been the bigger question whenever Bel and Wesley were in the same space. There had been no shortage and evil looks sent between them, but he was doing a halfway decent job of pretending she didn't exist, when he wasn't forgetting himself and getting furious over Bel standing too close to Diedre or holding Diedre's kid. He was too much the proper pureblood to start something with a dead person, nevermind a female dead person, so as long as Bel didn't start something, they could probably get through this whole thing without bloodshed. Making him so mad that she existed here with a wife, when she wasn't supposed to exist at all, was satisfying enough that she managed too keep just far enough away from him that he could clearly see her being a one of a pair of wives, without being close enough to overhear the comments he may or may not be making about it (or really, anything else at all). And if she couldn't hear him speak, he couldn't infuriate her into breaking his nose.

Win-win.

She and Diedre and Reilly sat down together to watch the concert. Reilly was a little disruptive, as one would expect a two year old to be, but between the snacks Diedre kept pulling out of a purse that had to have an extension charm on it, and Bel quietly casting some illusions that reacted to him, they kept him entertained enough to keep him in his seat even when the concert itself wasn't holding his attention.

Then the concert ended and, distracted by the rushing crowd and the effort of trying to pick out her two foster children from amongst it, Bel had almost forgotten about what was written on their nametags when Alexander found them.

As he ran at Diedre and caught her up in a tight gripped hug, Bel realized the serious miscalculation she had made. Diedre saw it to and glared at her over Alexander's head with an expression that clearly declared that this was Bel's fault and she needed to fix it, right now.

Bel had become a liar when she was thirteen years old. That was when she got disowned and started living in a muggle apartment in Boston with her cousin who was pretending to be her mom and her other cousin who was pretending to be her brother. They had different names and everything. She still answered to Linda Price and about half of her mail, and all of her credit cards, had that name on it.

Her instinct to being caught in a lie was to press that lie.

And . . . quite frankly . . . Alexander was right. This . . . would solve a lot of the custody disagreements that currently plagued the five of them.

There was the problem of Derwent to work out, and that five people wouldn't fit into her three bedroom apartment without either illegal structural changes being made or two of them needing to share rooms. And she'd probably need to share with Diedre anyway to sell the lie . . .

This was not going to work.

But the way Alexander was looking at her . . .

"It's the five of us now."

And the way Diedre was glaring death at her . . . it was actually very attractive.

1 Bel Pierce What have I done? 0 Bel Pierce 0 5

Mab

February 16, 2021 11:40 AM

YOU GOT MARRIED AND DIDN'T TELL ME??!!!! by Mab

Mab had led a charity booth last year. She felt this was sufficient involvement in the school to last her for quite some time. She had not really involved herself in the concert other than in the handful of workshops she hadn't been able to avoid, and crocheting one blanket that had been requested for one of the skits. On the day of the concert, she sat with the other students who were not on stage and just watched it.

It was pretty okay.

When it was over, she took a moment to tell Sadie to have a nice summer, then went to find her own family. When she did, she was more than a little bit confused by the fact that Alexander was hugging her mom, so she approached carefully, eyes narrowed suspiciously, because the last time she checked, Alexander didn't particularly like her mom. (Not that he had ever said that, exactly; he tried to be a very supportive brother, but she could tell Mom made him nervous because she wanted to take Mab away from Bel and him.)

She got close enough in time to hear Bel tell Alexander that it was the five of us now. Mom seemed angry about that for some reason? Mab didn't really get it. Which five? What for?

And then she was close enough to read Bel's nametag.

Mab was not one for making scenes. Quite the opposite, really. Since coming to Sonora, she'd done her level best not to attract attention from anyone. She kept away from Theo and Anya and Stanley whenever possible. She hadn't gotten into any fights. She hadn't even stolen anything from Leonor, based on the very safe assumption that she'd be the only suspect. She'd pickpocketed a quill here and there when she'd realized she'd forgotten one of her own, but overall, she'd really been on her very best behavior for three years.

But this was too much.

"YOU GOT MARRIED TO MY MOM AND DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME???" she shouted in almighty fury and threw herself at Bel, coming in low, her martial form a little sloppy in her anger, but for the first pass it didn't matter, she'd either take her foster mother by surprise or Bel would evade. Bel never attacked back on the first pass. She liked playing with her victims too much.

1 Mab YOU GOT MARRIED AND DIDN'T TELL ME??!!!! 1473 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

February 16, 2021 11:58 AM

They're telling us now, right? by Alexander Pierce-Beales

In retrospect, it made sense for Mab to be angry. This was, after all, her mother. However, Alexander felt like he was too busy riding the high of getting confirmation that he had a family with two whole parents - and a new sibling? - to have thought of that just yet. He also was not about to get between Mab and Bel in a fight and he wouldn't have been able to say which of the two scared him more. Also, he was pretty sure that neither of them needed his help anyway and were both equally capable of murdering the other if they really wanted to.

"Mab, maybe it was a surprise?" he suggested at just a loud enough pitch that Mab could hear it if she was listening, although he wasn't totally sure she was going to be doing any of that just now. He also felt like he naturally wanted to take Mab's side in this, despite the fact that his body language was definitely proving that he wasn't taking any sides just yet. He turned to Diedre, his eyebrows together with consternation. "It's new, right? And you're not going to take Mab away now?" Those were, after all, the two important things that needed to be confirmed for the sake of Mab's interests and his own. His pitch was still at a higher than normal volume though and he hoped that maybe Mab would hear and understand why he'd been happy a moment before. He would have preferred to confirm these things with Bel herself since Diedre was still basically a stranger to him but Bel currently had a Mab to deal with so Diedre seemed like the more available person to ask. He did, however, put his attention back on Mab and Bel after only a moment, as they were the more important things to be paying attention to at that point. "We're a family," he said quietly, hoping Mab heard. Hoping she understood. Hoping that if he said it out loud, it would taste good long enough to be okay even if things got bad again.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales They're telling us now, right? 1475 0 5

Lyssa and Suzanne Fitzgerald

February 16, 2021 12:45 PM

The two worlds meet [Tag Ness] by Lyssa and Suzanne Fitzgerald

Lyssa hopped from foot to foot. Tapping her left foot, then tapping her right. She hadn’t done a dance like this since she was much younger, and in need of a toilet. Maybe she did need a toilet. One she could go throw up in and then hide in the stall. No, that’s not who she was. She was someone who faced the music head on right? Still, she was waiting for her parents. Her parents, who’d been paying for this school and having never seen it before.

For the first time in her life Lyssa cursed Parker. He’d known they could come, he’d just never invited them. True the school invited the parents, but the Fitzgeralds were the sorts that “didn’t want to be a bother” and thus needed to be explicitly told to attend, and so that’s what Lyssa had done.

She’d sent a letter and that had been brief and to the point:

Mom and Dad,
As you have been told we are having a concert at school. I would like you both to be there. I’ll be able to show you around and introduce you to some people, including Ness, who has said they are interested in meeting you too. I’ll meet you outside the auditorium before the concert.

Lots of love,
Lyssa.

--
Suzanne stood next to her husband holding the piece of paper Lyssa had written to them. They walked through the school, having been directed into it by a shockingly beautiful middle aged woman. She looked down hallways that seemed… different to ones she was used to, but in a way she couldn’t describe. She’d been told not to bring her cellphone, of all things, so she was simply watching everyone around her, instead to distract her before seeing her daughter.

“Honey, the architecture here is amazing. A cross between a castle, a Spanish mission, and something else entirely. I love it. It sparks something in me,” John said next to her. Suzanne simply nodded and patted her husband on his hand.

This was the first time she found herself in the world two of her children inhabited and she was not at all comfortable. Still, she was glad Lyssa had finally invited them. Then she saw her little girl, dancing side to side in a robe of some sort. Breaking off from her husband who was still looking up at the literal ceiling, she ran to Lyssa as if she were a life raft.

“Oh my little girl!” She said, squeezing her, not so little and no longer a girl. “This place is beautiful. So many hallways though, and that teacher at the front, so beautiful," Suzanne felt her nervous tendency to talk taking over. "I think we’ll have to drag your father out of here or we'll find him in a few years just making sketches,” she said nodding back towards her husband.

She couldn’t hold it back any longer, “So where is Ness? What do they look like?”

---
Lyssa was squeezed and put down. Her nervous energy left her almost immediately, her mother was still her mother, though an obviously nervous version of her. Lyssa laughed at her father walking around looking like his head was in the clouds. She imagined that he would love to learn about wizarding architecture. Actually… Lyssa made a mental note to make sure Parker hooked Gary up with an internship with their dad, or at least introduced the two of them.

“Umm… I don’t know actually where they are, but you will meet them. I just wanted to make sure that you all got in ok.”

“Yes yes. It was a bit odd. We got picked up by a car at the airport hotel, where we left our phones as per the instructions. At first I thought it was a Tesla, but no. No it was not. It simply drove itself. Wait,” Lyssa paused, her heart skipped a beat and her eyebrows rose at the suddenness of her mothers wait, “how am I to take photos or a video of your concert?”

Lyssa let out a short laugh, nothing dire.

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out mom. Should I get you two to some seats before dad runs into someone?” Lyssa said holding out her arm for her mom and guiding her dad closer towards her.

41 Lyssa and Suzanne Fitzgerald The two worlds meet [Tag Ness] 0 Lyssa and Suzanne Fitzgerald 0 5

Andrew Duell

February 16, 2021 3:45 PM

Nah, southern California area originally by Andrew Duell

Andrew was pretty sure he'd caught a flicker of... something in the women's expression in response to his cell phone description. He hadn't actually used one in quite a few years. Well, other than that one experiment they had tried at work, but the less said about that, the better. He should probably look into them again, just to keep up to date.

He nodded at her thanks, but she seemed awful unsure of it. He debated explaining further, but he doubted she really wanted to hear his life story, so let it slide unless she asked more. Instead she made him smile wide. Complimenting ones offspring was a good way to gain favor.

"Thanks," he responded still smiling warmly, "We didn't have much of a choice given her birthday." He gave the woman and her husband a conspiratorial wink, "It wasn't the most romantic day, but I don't think either of us could have asked for a better gift."

Sadie-Lake, the name searched through his memory of the long lists of other student names that had rolled off if his daughter's tongue. While the search continued he tried to stall for time. "That's an interesting name," he replied approvingly. Eighth grade? Hmm.. that would be.. third year? Fourth? Sadie! The name finally connected, well most if it anyway. She'd been in some of Val's classes last year, and had been in the same fair booth as her. "I think Val was in her classes last year, she also mentioned that your daughter had made some really pretty bookmarks for the fair."

He took the offered card and inspected it properly. For some reason it was covered in pound signs. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Chalmers," he had only the vaguest notion of what Instagram was, one of those social media websites that looked horrifying. He'd be glad if Val never learned what Facebook was. Still he didn't want to seem rude or anything, so he threw his wife under the metaphorical bus. "Sounds like you may want to go talk to my wife more than me." He grinned glancing around for Marissa, but not actually trying to hard to spot her. "She is around somewhere," giving up the search he continued, "Maybe I can introduce you two after the show."

While he'd been looking about, it seems she had been staring at his hat. He grinned just a bit mischievously, "It had better not yet. That's for later."

2 Andrew Duell Nah, southern California area originally 145 0 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

February 16, 2021 5:33 PM

So far, so good. by Isis Carter-Xavier

Isis was not surprised by this moment. In fact, she had been somewhat eagerly (and somewhat nervously) waiting for it all year: meeting Oz (and Henry)’s mother. Whatever part of insecure childhood remaining in her was terrified that for whatever reason, Ms. Spellman would not like her. (Alright, maybe “for whatever reason” was unnecessarily vague - Isis was a little nervous anytime she had to meet white people whose opinions she intrinsically valued.) If nothing else, she hoped the bouncy and babbling infant of her hip would unite them in motherhood. It was hard to hate someone with a baby as cute as Otto.

She chuckled slightly at Oz’s eagerness, although beneath it, she felt a sense of pride. She couldn’t imagine that the Oz Spellman who landed in Pecari on September 1st would have been so excited to introduce his teacher to his mother, but here he was now, clearly happy to see Isis and his mother together. She was so proud. Isis was a little surprised by how young Ms. Spellman looked, although Isis also often forgot how young she was, due in part to her husband being a good few years her senior, and her own firstborn being in her twenties now. Obviously, the boys’ mother had been young, but Isis had a feeling she had been younger when she had Nevaeh. The fact that Monica had, as far as she could tell, raised them on her own was truly commendable.

“Hopefully all good things,” Isis smiled, extending the hand that was less involved in supporting her son’s weight. Otto tried to reach a hand out, too, to join the shake. Isis laughed. “This is my son, Otto. His sister Dora is running around here somewhere, probably with my husband. He teaches here as well,” she added.

“I’ve spent a fair bit of time with both your boys, although Oz more so than Henry, obviously.” Isis didn’t think she needed to explain the House system, since Oz had announced Isis’s title. She assumed that meant he had explained it to his mother previously, in his letters. “I just want to say, I think you’ve got great boys here. Just really wonderful kids.”

“Do you have any questions for me, or anything you’d like to know about the school?” Isis asked. “I grew up in the Muggle world as well, so I know how overwhelming this whole magic thing can be when you’re new to it.”

12 Isis Carter-Xavier So far, so good. 31 0 5

Jacob Jamison

February 16, 2021 5:54 PM

The boys are back in town! [Tag: the Spurns] by Jacob Jamison

It had been almost twenty years since Jacob Jamison had set foot inside Sonora, but he was thrilled as ever to be back. Minus a few grey hairs and some crow’s feet, he himself, much like the school, appeared mostly unchanged. He remained something of a giant, towering over much of the crowds, and his voice and laugh boomed merrily. But this time, he did not come alone. He had his wife, Tabitha, at his side. And somewhere here, too, were his two best friends.

Serapes had not maintained the same youthful vigor, and he was somewhere receiving a somewhat-false “Stanley and Wally O’Malley’s grandfather” nametag, propped up by a combination of his cane and their beloved Sophie. But more at his level, somewhere, was Ileum.

The two had been Jacob’s two closest friends since their own school days at Hogwarts. And when they were young men, with only Jacob married and procreating, they had been god-fathers to his daughter, who now was here as well, with her own children. Despite his nearly-thirteen-year-old grandsons attending Sonora, he hardly felt like a grandfather. With Tommy yet to go through school, he was blessed with extended “Dad” time. Likewise, Ileum’s son was in the same age range, and the two ~~old~~ older men got to be young dads again, together. It was delightful.

Tabby excused herself to the ladies’ room, and while he was standing alone, Jacob spotted the Spurns across the way. He politely parted the crowd to get to them - fortunately, they also had a tendency to stick out. He knew the lunar cycle and knew it was likely that Ileum wasn’t at his best, but Jacob was too darn excited to feel much less than eagerness at the sight of him. “Ileum! Liz!” he beamed as he approached. “Nice to see you on this side of the pond, eh?” Jacob gave a terrific laugh. “Being here almost makes it feel like we’re schoolboys again, doesn’t it?” he added to Ileum specifically, as Liz, a few years younger, was not among their school-day peers. “I often wonder what House we would have ended up in here.”

12 Jacob Jamison The boys are back in town! [Tag: the Spurns] 0 Jacob Jamison 0 5

Bridget Ferguson

February 16, 2021 7:18 PM

Sucks, doesn't it? by Bridget Ferguson

OOC: CW-Alcoholism, sickness, minor swearing BIC:

"It's all right." Bridget replied. She winced as the younger girl assumed she was eager to get back to her family. Technically, she did have family to sit with, it was just that it wasn't her parents. And it just wasn't the same to sit with Sophia and her parents and siblings. Even though they'd never been anything but kind to her, she still felt like she didn't really...belong. They weren't her parents, big brother and little sister, they were the Aladren's.

And while Bridget understood that her parents had good reasons not to be here and in some ways, it was definitely for the best that her dad wasn't here and drunk-as he was never not drunk-and her classmates couldn't see and mock her for it and assume the worst about him, she still couldn't help feeling a little disappointed anyway.

Worse, what if people asked her about their absence? Bridget was beyond tired of having to explain her family to people. She still remembered how humiliated she had been during the Challenges when her team had started talking about the different ways they spent Easter. Plus, she was worried about her mother of course. She always was because she never knew what was going to happen.

Bridget just wished she didn't have to think about family at all but the stupid concert was making that really difficult. Why did they have to rub her nose in it like this? Did they not understand that maybe not everyone had normal, functional families and it rather emphasized that people like her were different? And made her feel resentful and jealous? It was so honestly insensitive!

The Teppenpaw took a glass of punch and addressed the younger girl."Are you having a good time?"Bridget asked her politely, not quite wanting to go back to her cousin's family and feel like some orphan dependent on their emotional charity. Because I'm sure as hell not.

11 Bridget Ferguson Sucks, doesn't it? 1448 0 5

Monica Spellman

February 17, 2021 2:43 AM

Fingers crossed by Monica Spellman

"Yes," Monica confirmed lightly, assuming that it was polite to do so but not really imagining that what she might have heard could possibly be of grave concern to the woman in front of her.

"Cute family," she added, again as if it was easy and unremarkable. It wasn't like it was her first time dealing with other people's well-balanced lives, after all.

"Yeah, O names are the best!" Oz chimed in enthusiastically. The bait was so obvious that she doubted Henry was going to bother even being annoyed by it, but she gave Oz a light poke in the ribs, more a warning than a real reprimand.

"We're just us," Monica returned, figuring that there was a good chance Professor Carter-Xavier was already aware of that but it was easier to get it out there now, rather than wait for an awkward question about where their dad was.

"But she's the best mom ever," Oz jumped in, swinging happily on Monica's arm. She smiled. Occasionally his tendency to butt right in with whatever he was thinking could be really sweet. She was pretty sure that Henry would give her a well reasoned essay on the subject, but Oz was the one who would shout it across a room. She liked both those types of love, even if she was fairly sure objective analysis would have found a lot of areas she could improve on. Objective analysis mattered a lot less though, given that it was Oz and Henry she was doing her level best not to screw up too badly.

By Professor Carter-Xavier's assessment, she was doing okay. Better than okay. It was a rare treat to hear that she had two really great kids. And not that it was always Henry, either. When it came to sports or anything energetic, Oz usually got good feedback, though she had to admit it was Henry more often.

"Thank you," she smiled, standing a little taller. She noticed Oz's head had snapped towards her when his teacher said that, clearly looking for her reaction. She made sure to offer each of them a proud, approving look, but she did give Oz his first. "I like them too," she smiled.

"Oh, that's really kind of you. Um," she stalled, hitting the wall that people often did when they were told they could ask absolutely anything. Especially in this instance, where she didn't even know what she didn't know, and couldn't start to guess. She had about a million questions, but few of them stood out as more urgent than any of the others. "I'm not sure I even know what to ask," she admitted. "Mostly about them, I guess," she added, gesturing either side of her. She was curious what kinds of magic potion there were and how they worked but it was a less pressing question than anything that directly affected the boys. "It's just so odd not really knowing their teachers or knowing what's going on. Not that I'd understand it if anyone told me..." she pondered, aware she had yet to formulate any of that into a question but not really sure that she knew how. "They're doing okay with classes? Not behind the magic kids - the... you know what I mean," she tried. After all, whilst Professor Carter-Xavier had said they were great (and whilst she agreed wholeheartedly) that could mean a lot of different things - especially as they were two such different people.

OOC: I am assuming that Sonora does end of year reprts, so she would getsome actual info, but is also just seeking reassurance from an available real adult.

13 Monica Spellman Fingers crossed 0 Monica Spellman 0 5

Ileum Spurn

February 17, 2021 5:45 AM

And ready to... sit down by Ileum Spurn

The Sonora concert could have been better timed. Admittedly, it could also have been worse timed. Had it been any of the three days previously, he would not have been able to attend. Arguably, he should not be attending now – not because he was a risk to anyone (he never was anyway, thanks to his potion, but… well… there had been a train of thought but now there was just brain fog, and it did not seem worth the disentangling it would take to finish it). He was tired. That was the main point. He had spent a lot of the day napping, and he was still tired, but he was going to come to his kid’s school concert because of course he was. He might have to spend much of tomorrow napping to make up for it, which was a shame when it was Theo’s first day back, but he could either play with his cousins or be a nap buddy. Theo was surprisingly good at understanding those kinds of compromises, in spite of his… being Theo. The fact that it was a compromise that came with blankets and plushies probably helped.

He felt old. A lot of Purebloods had their kids young, which he had not, and most people did not have a medical condition which gave them prematurely grey hair and a perpetually tired air. Still, he would rather be him. He had long ago come to the tentative conclusion that he wasn’t a bad person to be – just one with a few bum cards in his hand – and he didn’t think he’d trade his sense of self to get rid of his problems. His self had brought him a lovely wife and good friends, which helped.

He fished in his pocket. He didn’t really care for having a cane to walk with, as that only made him feel older, but it came in very handy for other things. He tapped the handle against his leg, which caused it to extend to its full length, before tapping it twice on the ground, whereupon it planted itself neatly and the top expanded into a small perch. It was a similar height to a bar stool, so he wasn’t flomped out well below everyone else’s head height, but it helped.

He left Liz to deal with the scrum of getting name tags, though he wasn’t on his own too long. She was back and dropping off tags (mounted on card, suspended from fluffy lanyards because sticky DID NOT GO on soft, and of course they had both turned up in their softest for Theo) just as Jacob approached.

“Good to see you,” Liz smiled, “Be back in a bit…” she added, gesticulating with a box of home baked cookies before disappearing to search for Mary Brooding-Hawthorne. Theo’s letters didn’t always make complete narrative sense, but if what she thought had happened had in fact happened, she owed the woman a lot of thanks, and cookies seemed a good way to go about that.

“Hmm, yes… feeling just like one,” Ileum smiled weakly. It wasn’t as if having a couple of days run ragged had been unfamiliar in his school days either. At least now he didn’t have exams or acne or dating to worry about. “Maybe I’d have got into the sensible house and been unable to be led astray by all your hijinks,” he grinned, fairly sure that having hijinks to get into was what had gotten him through school, in spite of all his ‘Are you should we ought to?-ing’. He was fairly sure Jacob knew that too. It had made him feel human. “And what would they have done with you, seeing as they decided having a house for 'The Evil Ones' was a bad model?" he asked.

13 Ileum Spurn And ready to... sit down 0 Ileum Spurn 0 5

Lorena Abernathy

February 17, 2021 12:59 PM

It super sucks. by Lorena Abernathy

Oh. Lorena wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but the older girl didn’t seem… especially happy either. Maybe it was something she said? She hadn’t said very much, so it had to be… oh, maybe her family?

It wasn’t really right to pry, so instead, Lorena decided to just… overshare, partially in the hopes of getting the girl to tell her about herself, and also partially to get it off her chest. “Not really,” she confessed, muffling a sigh. “My parents didn’t come. The whole magic thing has been rough for us, so… they decided not to.”

“Um, I’m Lorena. Hi,” she added, feeling a bit silly because she was obviously doing the whole introduction thing in the wrong order. “I don’t know your name, I’m sorry. What is it?” Lorena had done pretty well, she felt, to learn the names of as many people as she could, but this girl wasn’t in her class level or in Aladren, so she couldn’t remember it offhand. “And, what about you? Are you enjoying yourself?” The younger witch felt like maybe she knew the answer, but she didn’t want to be so bold as to assume. Maybe this girl just had a serious and wincey demeanor.

12 Lorena Abernathy It super sucks. 1510 0 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

February 17, 2021 1:19 PM

crosses by Isis Carter-Xavier

Isis glanced between Oz and Henry and her own son, ever so briefly. Maybe Ms. Spellman really was the best mom ever. Isis could only hope to one day be awarded such a title. She had definitely already lost the race with Nevaeh, whose toleration was the best she could really hope for, and Dora… Well, Isis did what she could, but she felt like she had missed so much for her that she could never get back, those precious bonding-with-baby moments that were supposed to be the greatest experiences, yet she trembled and faltered. She did her best now, but she just felt like her failings were irreconcilable. But with Otto, things were different. It was the most maternal she had ever felt, and she refused to screw up this time.

There was also something that ached in her, seeing Monica with her boys. It felt vaguely reminiscent of a parent teacher conference, but she had little experience with those. Sonora didn’t really present them, and when she was young, her mother almost never attended. She was just too busy. They were timed poorly. Next time, Isis, she promised. But next time never came, and her studies were never made a priority to her mother. Maybe there was a factor that she had never realized, one that Ms. Spellman brought to light: there was almost a language barrier of sorts, talking about magical classes with a Muggle mom. Maybe Isis’s mother had been too embarrassed not to know.

“The boys are doing just as well as their magical-raised classmates,” Isis confirmed. “Magical abilities and predispositions don’t necessarily run in families, so they’re not at too much of a disadvantage in that regard. A little background knowledge missing, maybe, but they’re always encouraged to ask any questions they may have. I think I speak for all of my fellow professors when I say that we want Sonora to be a fully equal opportunity institution.”

“Yaaaaaaa!” Otto agreed, clapping his chubby hands merrily.

“See?” she grinned. “He gets it.”

12 Isis Carter-Xavier *crosses* 31 0 5

Jacob Jamison

February 17, 2021 1:33 PM

At least it rhymed. by Jacob Jamison

Jacob gasped in mock hurt. “Evil, indeed. Your Gryffindor prejudices die hard, I see. Rest assured, though: no House, no matter how sensible, could ever save you from my hijinks.” He gave another belly laugh, then paused to truly consider their theoretical homes. Jacob, while inclined to argue against the intrinsic evilness of Slytherin, could never fully deny that among his Housemates, he was sort of… an outlier. His pureblood status had never blinded his judgments, but he was placed there on a more pure House definition: Jacob was nothing if not ambitious. And he had paid off for him, in the end. His own law firm was fairly obvious proof of that, an establishment built not on family money, but his own credentials and hard work. But he had a heart just as big as his goals, a lover of all.

“You’d definitely be an Aladren here,” he commented. Ileum had just barely avoided Ravenclaw when they were children. Before he knew about Ileum’s illness, as children, he had wondered how that could be. But knowing now what he knew about his friend, there was no doubt. There was no braver man than the man who had to stare down his reflection the way Ileum did.

“Maybe I’m biased by the kids, but I think I’m torn between Pecari and Teppenpaw for me,” he added. “I’m certainly rambunctious, but this kind heart of mine is the very thing that gets me into trouble.”

12 Jacob Jamison At least it rhymed. 0 Jacob Jamison 0 5

Deidre Beales

February 17, 2021 2:01 PM

I don't know what this is either by Deidre Beales

Deidre had left Boston before. She'd had a car once upon a time, though that time seemed a long time ago now. She'd had a job just outside the city that was much easier to get to by car than by train, though with traffic as bad as it always was, it had taken upwards of an hour to get just a few miles outside the city limits. She'd even taken Mallory to Cape Cod two or three times, when she had the time off and the extra money to pay for the daytrip. That had taken even longer to get to.

In the space of a blink, she was on the other side of the country. Her stomach felt like it had visited both her ankles and her ears during that blink, and gone by way of her belly-button, but she managed not to throw up, and Reilly looked more freaked out than sick, so overall, she thought the portkey was a pretty amazing device. She soothed her son with a teether, not certain any of them were quite ready for snacks yet, and he eagerly welcomed the familiar chew toy, probably more for its comfortable normality than because his new molars were giving him trouble right then.

"Hello," she said to the women who were there to greet them before Bel hurried them away. Bel seemed . . . well, it was hard to tell because Bel always seemed annoyed, but she seemed maybe more annoyed than normal? If that was possible?

Well, it seemed directed outward rather than at her, so she ignored it, opting instead to gape around at her first real glimpse at a magic location that wasn't trying to disguise itself as a normal apartment. There was a guy walking around with a wizard hat that puffed smoke, a lot of people were wearing robes, and that wasn't even touching on the impossible things that were happening quite casually all around her.

"Here. Put this on," Bel told her, and Deidre took the ring she was handed, wondering if it was some kind of magical artifact that would help a non-magic user like her navigate through the magical school. She put it on. Nothing seemed to change.

Other than that Bel went mad. Well, Bel was usually mad, so maybe nothing had changed after all. She coasted through the next minutes of conversation, trying to walk the thin line between becoming mad herself and not setting Bel off. The witch wasn't wrong that people had called her violently insane before. David had done so on several occasions. Diedre had never been given to understand that David was prone to joking.

Though whatever insanity had gripped her, it did mean Bel was unusually helpful with Reilly during the tour, so Deidre wasn't going to knock this manifestation of it too badly. The shorter woman was quite fit and strong and was able to carry the toddler much longer stretches without flagging than Deidre would have guessed of a woman her size and age and obvious lack of experience with small children.

By the time the tour had come to an end, she'd begun to suspect that Bel was not actually insane, but had taken on some kind of impromptu secret cover identity to disguise herself from some undisclosed threat. Deidre still waffled between believing the whole Pierce/Price lot were part of some kind of local mob, or that they were part of witness protection (and doing a terrible job at it), or that Bel specifically was either a criminal of some form or an honest-to-God spy, and the haphazard use of aliases were intended to make token efforts to protect her family if anyone came after her in revenge.

But there was a clear shift of personality in Bel that could only be explained by her taking on a cover. She smiled at Deidre - something she had never done before. She acted like Reilly was a human child and not a terrible imposition to have to deal with. Deidre and Bel even sometimes held hands which left Deidre feeling very strange because it was something that just seemed completely anathema to Bel's very existence and she kept expecting such a gentle interpersonal hold between them would somehow make the older woman gruesomely melt like the Wicked Witch of the West doused in water.

Despite all the magic around them, it didn't happen, which should have been a given but somehow wasn't.

She put Reilly down and gave him a snack cup of goldfish. She and Bel followed him as he ran off to share with another boy who was a bit older than him, but not by nearly as much as Mallory and Alexander were. The young man who was minding him was about as old as Deidre had been when Mallory was that age. A young man who seemed to know who Bel was and took it in stride that she was married to a woman.

She'd assumed at first that 'I'm a lesbian' had been equally as much false as 'We're married' but she was maybe starting to question that. Bel had held Deidre's hand like she'd held hands with someone else before. Like she actually knew something about flirting with someone else. And the way she flirted wasn't the way women flirted with men.

And then Bel called her a Birth Mom, like that was all she was Mallory, like she was like that deadbeat of a quarterback who'd knocked her up in high school and then left her. And Bel wasn't even calling Mallory by her actual name, and despite all her worries that Bel might actually be the kind of person who killed people who argued with her, she snapped at the one point that probably wouldn't cause Mallory any lasting harm if the wrong person overheard it. She didn't think this kid - who wasn't really all that much younger than Deidre was herself - was the one Bel was trying to hide from with this ridiculous marriage claim, but if she'd picked up one thing from popular media it was that you never knew who was listening when you didn't know about it.

And Bel just argued back, like a normal person. No murder. No violence. Not even any retaliatory magic like turning her into a toad.

It was weirdly freeing, learning she could argue with this woman and not die from it. So she did, and it resolved quietly, bloodlessly, and rationally, and then they were talking with the kid again like a casual snippy argument was just a normal staple of their relationship.

Which it would have to be, if she were actually married to Bel bloody Pierce.

Trying to move past that thought - to the realization that even after giving birth twice, this was the first time anyone had ever bothered to put a ring put on her finger, not that she'd really given Reilly's father a chance - she tried to focus on the conversation in front of her. The name Evelyn tickled at her memory. Mallory had mentioned it. Mallory did not mention enough people to get them confused, so when Kir denied the connection she was fairly certain existed toward that name, she was momentarily taken aback, but then the obvious explanation occurred to her. "It must have been another Evelyn, then."

She looked between Bel and Kir. She had certainly gotten the impression they knew each other at least peripherally, but if he didn't know Mallory, it must be more peripherally that she'd realized. Or Bel was more closed-mouthed about people that could be used against her than she'd realized. She kind of appreciated that, if it was the later case, and she looked to Bel to handle their way through this.

"Didn't it get out yet that I've got foster kids?" Bel asked, sounding mildly surprised, and not like it was a deep secret. "Mab and Alexander," she pointed at her nametag in the same way Kir had been doing. "They're third years. I met Deidre through family remediation for Mab." Which was a much nicer and cleaner way of describing the last several years than it was accurate, and Deidre appreciated it. "Alexander has a few half-siblings he's never met or only briefly met. Evelyn is the one of those, and we know she goes to this school, so that's why we thought it might be your Evelyn."

1 Deidre Beales I don't know what this is either 0 Deidre Beales 0 7

Bridget Ferguson

February 17, 2021 3:12 PM

Yes it does by Bridget Ferguson

OOC: CW-Abuse, alcoholism and negative attitudes about religion BIC:

When the younger girl replied, Bridget instantly felt terrible for her. At least her own parents had a decent reason for not being here. She still thought she had a valid reason to be upset, even leaving out the fact that her mother was sick and she was worried about her, this girl just had a better one.

How could a parent not just accept their child unconditionally? That was something Bridget would never understand. Her own father had gone through that though it wasn't because of being magical, in fact that would have been worse if he hadn't been. In his case, it had been because well, Grandfather hadn't thought her dad was his child, which, she guessed, wouldn't be a parent not accepting their own child, had that been the case, except that her dad was his child and anyway, it was no excuse. There was no excuse for child abuse ever.

And, though Bridget would not quite jump to the conclusion that this girl was being abused, it was still unacceptable for her parents to not be okay with her being magical. Honestly, everyone always criticized purebloods for not being accepting of people who weren't and made a big stink of it when clearly there were Muggle parents who didn't like magic too! Why did everyone have to give them the moral high ground when they didn't deserve it. Her parents were better people than this girl's any day!

Honestly, people like that were why the Statute of Secrecy had to exist. Aunt Patience said it was because of religion, that religious people claimed magic was evil and unholy and of the devil-and Bridget didn't need her aunt to tell her about the witch trials. Even though not very many magical people were executed. It was still awful to target and kill people because they were outcasts, not to mention the exceedingly offensive idea that there was something wrong with being magical.

Of course, the Teppenpaw didn't say any of this, the way that Sophia would have. She didn't want to offend this girl, as she knew what it was to feel defensive and protective of one's family. "I'm Bridget." She replied when the younger girl introduced herself as Lorena and said she didn't know the fifth year's name. "And no, not really. My parents couldn't come either. Not because they don't like magic though. They're magical too,but my mom is sick and my dad had to take care of her." Which was not likely to be what was actually happening. The house-elves would take care of Mama while her dad sat around getting drunk.

11 Bridget Ferguson Yes it does 1448 0 5

Lorena Abernathy

February 17, 2021 5:34 PM

Does it get better? by Lorena Abernathy

Lorena had never before been so sad to be right. “Aw, I’m sorry about your parents,” she said sympathetically. “Especially your mom. Is she sick often?” Maybe that wasn’t Lorena’s business, but she felt now that she and Bridget had immediately bonded, and maybe they could share that kind of personal stuff. At a glance, they seemed to be the only two who didn’t have their parents or family members here, although there was no guarantee that there weren’t others scattered around somewhere. But it was so lucky that they found each other here!

She got herself some punch, not because she was especially thirsty, but because, well, they were standing here for a while now and she felt silly not to, especially since she had already let Bridget get to it.

“My dad’s magical,” the younger witch added. “It’s just my mom who isn’t. Before me, we just mostly didn’t talk about it. I’m not sure why it bothers her so much. But now that I’m magic too, it’s been really hard. I feel like… like I can’t tell her anything about my life anymore. Do parents ever just, like, getit?" She asked. Maybe Bridget would know. She was older and had more experience in dealing with grown ups. They always acted like they had all the answers, but did they? Did they ever really understand?

12 Lorena Abernathy Does it get better? 1510 0 5

Wesley Pierce

February 17, 2021 6:29 PM

Hello, Respectable Person. There is no commotion over there. (tag Allegra's family) by Wesley Pierce

OOC: cw homophobia BIC:

The concert was over and Wesley Pierce was glad this day was coming to an end. The concert itself had its high points (most particularly the costuming and set pieces that his daughter Caitlin had done) and also some very low points, and it had been good to see some people he didn't see as much as he probably should, but then there were also the other people here who he would have rather have gone much longer - ideally the rest of his life - without seeing again.

The Dead One was at the top of that list, and was so horrifyingly here that he almost forgot there were also other undesirables like the McLeods, a California Pierce, and the barely worth mentioning riffraff of muggles and muggleborns present. He had not heard that The Dead One had procreated and he certainly had not expected her to be at Caitlin's school concert. And if she hadn't been enough on her own, she had a companion, and a smaller get. Wesley tried not to notice any of the three of them after he recovered from his initial shock, but he kept catching glimpses and it was shocking every time. He kept thinking he was seeing Melinda, but then it became a twisted nightmare of being Not Melinda.

What was she even doing here? There were no Pierces listed on the program other than Caitlin. He'd checked. Three times. And Caitlin would have noticed, would have told him, if The Dead One had created life long enough ago to have made it to Sonora. Clearly, she had more recently. Though, if the world was very lucky, The Dead One had not actually had any biological input into the spawn. That was the one advantage to her being the kind of nonperson that she was. The . . . companion . . . was also roughly half the Dead One's age - quite the scandal on its own, even ignoring other obvious factors - and clearly at a better point in her life suited to childbirth. Melinda had celebrated her fiftieth birthday last summer.

As the students were allowed to return to their families, Wesley put The Dead One out of his mind (again) in favor of looking for his own daughter or perhaps some of her friends. It was Caitlin's final year - learning she'd earned Head Girl last fall had filled him to the very brim with paternal pride - and she would likely want to take her leave properly with the young ladies and men she would hereafter see less of than was her current habit. He would not want to impose on such leave takings, but it would not hurt to be standing nearby so he could invite their families to the graduation party his wife had planned for this weekend.

He had just spotted Allegra's parents and made his way over to them, in the expectation that Allegra would turn up soon, ideally in the company of Caitlin, when a shout cut through the room, and he turned in time to see a mid-grade level girl charging violently at The Dead One.

Ah. He'd found the Sonora aged spawn. Spitting image of her mother. One simply couldn't miss the resemblance.

Wesley turned his back on them and tried to pretend there was no commotion going on behind him. "Sonora lets in just anybody, doesn't it? I'm glad Caitlin is finally done here. Allegra still has one more year, doesn't she?"

1 Wesley Pierce Hello, Respectable Person. There is no commotion over there. (tag Allegra's family) 0 Wesley Pierce 0 5

Ben and Shannon Brockert

February 17, 2021 8:22 PM

Hello by Ben and Shannon Brockert

Ben and Shannon Brockert were looking forward to coming the girls' school concert tonight even though Allegra and Esme had had minimal participation in it and it was mostly Isla using her puppetry skills along with their niece Topaz having been stage manager that were involved in the production. However, Allegra and Esme had helped the Art Club design set pieces and costumes.

For Shannon, this was the first time she'd attended the concert, as last time, she had just had a baby. Now though, she was thankfully done with that. Five children was plenty and they were not getting any younger. If someone-Ben- had suggested "sometimes Y" to her, she would have replied "well, not this time."After all, their oldest child was an adult herself now even though she still had one more year of school left.

Once the concert performance had officially ended, the two of them looked around for their daughters although their older son, Olaf, remained seated and opened his book back up, or more likely, he'd never closed it throughout the performance. Shannon kept one eye on him too, not that she probably needed to. He wasn't a child who misbehaved much, although he needed to be reminded to put his books down at times like at dinner or bedtime, but there were far worse habits to have. Still, he was eight years old and it would be negligent to not know where he was when they were in a crowd like this. Shannon kept a tight hold of Uriah's hand too. She was willing to let Olaf sit there for the time being, so long as she had some idea of where he was but the four year old needed to stay with her, Ben or one of their other immediate relatives. But not Topaz. Neither Shannon nor Ben completely trusted the Aladren.

Before they could find any of their daughters, Wesley Pierce, father-in-law of their niece Emerald and father of Allegra's friend, Caitlin approached. "Hello, Mr. Pierce." Ben greeted him with Shannon echoing him. He decided not to comment on the bit about them allowing just anyone into Sonora. After all, Muggleborns did need to be educated or it could get very dangerous. He did wish that there were a few more purebloods around in his daughters' classes. It was sort of hard for someone like Allegra,who was very shy, to meet people, even though she was a lovely girl and would make a very good wife and mother and it would have been good for her to find someone from Sonora to marry, someone she could have spent time getting comfortable with. His other daughters didn't have great prospects either. Plus, some of the non-purebloods weren't very nice and assumed the worst about people like them.

Still, it wasn't a pleasant topic to think about. "Yes, just one more year for Allegra. I'm sure she'll be glad to leave though obviously, we have some time before we're done with school completely." Ben nodded towards his younger son whom Shannon was trying to keep from heading off to the food table. "Is Caitlin happy to be through with school?"

11 Ben and Shannon Brockert Hello 0 Ben and Shannon Brockert 0 5

Ileum Spurn

February 18, 2021 12:28 AM

Oh. Well done me. by Ileum Spurn

“Yes, sworn enemies unto the death I’m afraid,” Ileum stated, giving his old friend his warmest smile. Jacob was good proof of the plus sides to be found in any house, having turned his ambition to good use. It was something he managed to do without being judgemental about those who didn’t, or couldn’t, follow the same path he did, and Ileum definitely wouldn’t discount Teppenpaw for him here as a result of that. Still, he was going to argue the heck out of that just because he could.

“I don’t know, isn’t strong-willed and independent the closest match to ambitious that they’ve got going on here?” Ileum asked. He certainly wasn’t discounting Aladren for himself, more on the reported characteristic of ‘they like books’ than anything in the official literature, but when you looked at the traits on paper, he could certainly see the parallels with Jacob’s old house. Syltherin’s ambition was Aladren’s drive, but its focus on respectability was mirrored in Crotalus. He was pretty sure the latter had not been a real factor in Jacob’s sorting. “Maybe we’d have ended up in the same house.”

For some people, there was a clear-cut answer, but others were easily a mixture, or a not-quite-anything. That was what happened when you tried to sort people into four broad types, each of those comprising several traits that complimented each other but didn’t necessarily always go hand in hand. Theo was a case in point for that. He could easily have seen him ending up in either of the houses Jacob had mentioned. Not everyone understood that Theo was almost entirely and purely kind, because he tended to apply the way he wanted to be treated to everyone else, and his taste in priorities and problem solving was… esoteric. He would have fallen down, hard, on the diplomacy angle of Teppenpaw, as he usually had all the subtlety of a neon hurricane. But it was a well-intentioned neon hurricane. Pecari was a place where a lot of bouncy children seemed to go, and Theo was most definitely that. He was spontaneous, active, and – to people who couldn’t follow his trains of thought – incredibly random. ‘Adaptable’ was not a word Ileum would have used though. Once Theo made up his mind about something, he was hard to budge – often to the point of struggling to understand other people’s points of view. It was, he thought, rare that any one person ticked all boxes for a single house, and for a single house only. Though, unlike with the Sorting Hat, he wasn’t sure you got to argue your case with Sonora’s sorting method.

“I guess if we’re really curious, we could get Sophie to brew us up a batch of sorting potion. Though whether our current selves have the same priorities as our eleven year old selves… I’ve definitely Hufflepuffed the older I’ve got,” he admitted.

13 Ileum Spurn Oh. Well done me. 0 Ileum Spurn 0 5

Deidre Beales

February 18, 2021 11:33 AM

It's certainly a surprise. For all of us. by Deidre Beales

This was a disaster. Whatever Bel had been trying to achieve, it seemed to have been working up until the point where Alexander and Mallory got involved. That was when Alexander hugged her and looked just about ready to cry with happiness. She had awkwardly hugged him back and glared daggers at Bel, because this was her fault and she needed to fix it, right now.

She did not.

If she didn't have a Reilly around her leg and an Alexander around her waist, she would have gladly attempted murder. Instead, Mallory tried that.

Deidre flinched enough at her daughter's shout that Alexander couldn't have missed it, but there were any number of good reasons for her to flinch right then, some of which he was even privy to.

Bel sidestepped Mallory's angry charge, slipping neatly out of range with a grace that made it look effortless. Mallory spun around, still angry, but watching Bel more carefully for an opening to attack. Her guard lessened somewhat as Alexander spoke to her, and she glanced at her foster brother before turning a glare back on Bel.

Deidre was mostly just glad the anger was directed in that direction instead of hers.

"Was it a surprise?" she demanded in a clipped tone that was only one wrong answer away from shouting again.

Bel stood in a slight crouch, light on her feet, wariness in her eyes, and nodded. "We only thought of it recently, it's not even official yet. We'll do an actual ceremony and everything with you both this summer." Bel risked a look away from Mallory to look at Deidre. Please go along with this, the look said, the only time Deidre had ever heard her say please, and it wasn't even out loud.

"We wouldn't have taken this step without checking with you first," Deidre added soothingly. "We just wanted to surprise you with the idea of it." A look at Bel: This is your fault. I hate you. I will find a way to kill you. Somehow, over the last several hours, she realized she had stopped being afraid of Bel. She was still a witch with powers Deidre couldn't begin to comprehend. She was still a black belt in at least one form of martial arts - a fact that Mallory knew as well and that hadn't stopped her from attacking. She was probably either a criminal or a spy.

But she wouldn't hurt her family. Deidre knew that because any other answer than the one she'd given would have hurt Alexander. Any other answer would have hurt Mallory.

And somehow, through some force of magic, through some fairy tale plot device that was as ridiculous as anything they'd just finished watching, her whole life had changed.

Mallory had told her not to eat the fey food, that eating the fey food would trap her in the world, but Deidre hadn't believed her, had thought she was already in the world as much as she could be, and she'd eaten some of the snacks.

And now, through some combination of a boy's hug, a woman's pleading look and compulsive lying, and her own daughter starting to look hopefully between them, Deidre really was trapped.

She deeply regretted the cookie now.

"We're going to need to talk, all five," Bel looked doubtfully at Reilly who could say words, who could even string two or three of them together, but was by no means a great conversationalist, but the witch shook her head slightly and repeated, "all five of us, about what we're going to do as a family, if this is a direction we all want to take, whether we should move to a bigger place, and . . . " she hesitated, eyed Mallory and must have decided the time for fighting had passed because she straightened up again and crossed her arms and grimaced with distaste, "and figure out some things we haven't worked out yet like what's going to happen with Two."

1 Deidre Beales It's certainly a surprise. For all of us. 0 Deidre Beales 0 7

Caitlin Pierce

February 18, 2021 6:01 PM

Thank Merlin, it's over by Caitlin Pierce

Caitlin could not be happier to be done with school. She didn't mind the academic side of things but she was sick and tired of dealing with people who not only thought they were as good as her, but that they were better . Those people didn't want equality, they wanted purebloods to be less than. They wanted girls like her and her friends to forgoe marriage and children and have careers and acted like there was something inherently wrong with those desires and feminity in general. Plus, they actually seemed to genuinely think people like her were inferior to them both because she was a pureblood and because she actually acted like a girl.

And while they claimed that Caitlin and others like her, didn't take into account people's differences, clearly neither did they! Topaz had been right the entire time. The lot of them really were hypocrites. Of course, her friend had it worse than her as she had to share with one of the worst of them. The Crotalus had heard about the petition that Nessa McLeod had started but had tried not to think about it. As far as she was concerned, said petition would only lead to discrimination as it could make it so only boys or only girls got the Head Student position year after year. Which was not just discriminatory, but also wouldn't be fair because there were some issues that people only wanted to talk to people of their same gender about. Caitlin couldn't imagine going to her father or Winston with certain problems.

Of course, there were girls that she wouldn't go to with problems either, but that was beside the point. That had more to do with said character and empathy level of those particular girls. She certainly wouldn't go to someone who hated purebloods with any sort of issue.

Fortunately, Caitlin no longer had to worry. From now on, she would only have to interact with others who had the same values as herself, rather than people who wanted her to basically bow down and kiss their feet. Who wanted to force her to do things she didn't want to do, who put pressure on people like Allegra to do things that would stress her out and make her utterly miserable.

She was free. Or would be after tonight. The seventh year looked around the room for her parents or brother or someone else that would she would actually want to talk to.

11 Caitlin Pierce Thank Merlin, it's over 1415 0 5

Iris Cobb

February 18, 2021 6:22 PM

Ha! I beat you Billy! by Iris Cobb

Iris was to excited to loose her lunch. It was a close call however, once her body was all done twisting and lurching about. She was still holding onto Ma and Pa's hands as the instructions had told them to do when the small medal object had arrived at their house. An owl had delivered the metal thing, Ma had called it a 'crest', about the size of her hand and it showed the school's symbol. The instructions that had accompanied it had explained that they all needed to be holding hands while one of them was holding the crest and at the right time it would activate and bring them to the school for Billy's concert. She had initially wondered why the school did those wagons if they could just zap people around, but now her stomach understood. Glancing at her parents, she suspected at least Pa was wishing they had decided to use the flying wagon option instead. She hoped they'd be riding home on those wagons with Billy.

Fortunately the feeling didn't last to long and a nice woman, who was afterwards introduced to them as the school's healer, helped them recover. The other nice woman that was there to greet them was the Deputy-Headmistress, so Iris made sure to be extra polite to her. She showed them through a door... that wasn't in a wall that took them into another room. Ma and Pa only looked momentarily baffled by it, then shrugged to each other and went through. Iris dutifully followed trying to take in as much of the place as she could.

The door brought them into a room with all sorts of folk milling about. It was pretty fair to say that on occasion Iris had felt a bit out of place at times. Usually when they headed into town and the fancy city folk had their own sorts of clothes and strange thingamabobs and whatzits. The feeling had been with her when her and Ma went shopping for school stuff, and now it struck her again. She missed something Pa had muttered to Ma, who looked like she couldn't decided if she wanted to smile or chastise him for the comment. The folks here looked like an odd combination of both group of them city folk and wizard folk, most of 'em were dressed nicer than the three of them were though, despite the fact that they were all wearing their best.

There was a food table, so naturally Pa started moving that direction. It seemed like they were all trying to take it in, and there wasn't more than a muttered comment between her parents as they crossed the room. It almost seemed as though they'd forgotten she was here. Iris followed them, but noticed a fair number of kids her own age as well. Were they also the younger siblings of students? Would some of them be in her class? She should try to make a good first impression if that was the case... and that might be best done without her parents nearby.

"Ma, may I go to talk to some of these other kids that might be in my class?" She asked.

"Yes dear," Ma replied a bit distracted. "Have fun."

"Thank-you." With permission granted, Iris strode away from her gawking parents trying to decide who would be a good person to talk to. Spotting a suitable candidate she straightened out her dress that had been handed down through a few cousins before it got to her and made sure her hair was behaving as well as it ever did and walked up to them. Oh shucks, should she do that thing that Billy said these people did? Probably. So she smiled, "Hi! I'm Iris Cobb of the Kentucky Cobbs." Hopefully that was done correctly. "I'll be coming to school here next year, will you?"

OOC: Medic Willow assistance approved by her author.

2 Iris Cobb Ha! I beat you Billy! 1526 0 5

Beau Tate

February 18, 2021 7:22 PM

I agree with Caitlin but for different reasons by Beau Tate

OOC: CW-Mentions nudity and alcohol BIC:

Beau was super extremely happy to be completely done with school forever now. He was now completely one hundred percent free to engage endlessly in mindless hedonism and he couldn't wait. He was going to spend all his time from now on drinking, partying and visiting night clubs and nude beaches.

Of course, he was sure that Father had some other ideas for what the Pecari was going to do with his time from now on. Honestly, it was amazing how much people lied to themselves. He was not about to let his father put him to work any time soon. Beau would leave the house and go squat in property his family owned like he had when Mother and Arianna had been planning the latter's wedding. Why should he have to spend the rest of his life miserable and doing something that he hated just because it was the socially acceptable thing to do? Some people certainly seemed to think that you didn't have to do other socially acceptable things if it went against who you were and working certainly went against who Beau was. Okay so who he was was a lazy pleasure seeker but he was really okay with that. Why couldn't Father accept that he was way as well? The seventh year didn't want to waste his life with boring stuff, he'd already spent the last seven years of his life at school.

Anyway, now the concert performance was done. Beau sort of wished he could have ended his time at school with a different event, one that was actually fun . Admittedly, this year's concert had been more interesting to watch than the last one, but still, he would have preferred something like the fair-and he would have preferred the state fair to last year's charity fair, which, while most people tried to come up with fun activities, had come with a side of depressing topics-or the bonfire. Aside from the stupid mandatory meeting and workshop, Beau had not participated in the concert at all. Nothing about being involved in these kind of activities were fun, they were work. Besides, Topaz Brockert had always struck him as sort of a bossy sort and she'd been the stage manager.

"There you are." Chelsea Tate greeted her son. Her husband Julian followed close behind her.

"Hello Beau." Julian also greeted the Pecari.

"Mother, Father." Beau replied. He was happy to see that his sister had not joined them. The last thing he wanted was Arianna around.

11 Beau Tate I agree with Caitlin but for different reasons 1416 0 5

Kir McLeod

February 19, 2021 2:22 AM

It's a Whole Big Thing by Kir McLeod

For the first year of uni, Kir had lived at home. He had figured it would be nice to spend some more time with his family after living away at boarding school for seven years, plus there were laundry and food benefits. Not that he didn't pitch in with both those tasks but it was easier when there were other people to share it with, and way better quality and availability of ingredients than he probably would have managed living as a student. It had been great. His family had been able to be super involved and known all about his life. And it had been not great for approximately the same reasons. Not that his parents were exactly judging about him spending the night away (most likely with his long-term, steady girlfriend – and not that it would have really been an issue even he’d not gone that direction) or coming home late (most likely from attending D&D in another timezone… okay, or occasionally partying with drag queens) but it just felt like it might be nicer to choose what he shared instead of having it out there by default.

Moving out with them also had the added benefit of choosing who to move in with, not that there was competition for much except the far and distant second place in that category. He and Zev didn’t go to uni in the same state, but he had factored her in when choosing, and they went to uni in the same timezone, and with magical travel, it was easy enough to get a tiny little flat and fill its cupboards to overflowing (however much bigger they were on the inside) with boardgames and drag outfits. And, whatever his other drawbacks as a room-mate (glitter everywhere), he at least baked well and knew how to clean (except for the glitter – there was no charm invented that could successfully banish it).

What all of that meant was, that in addition to having his parents out of the loop on his life, he was apparently out of the loop on everyone else’s.

“Uh, not to me,” he stated, in reply to Bel’s question, unsure whether she agreed with Oscar Wilde on the subject of being talked about, and deciding to hedge his bets, “You move out, you miss stuff I guess,” he shrugged.

“It might be. Probably is,” he clarified, regarding Evelyn. He was not aware of any other Evelyns in the school. He tried not to feel hurt at not knowing. Evelyn didn’t have to tell him every last thing that was going on. And the Pierce-Beales had mentioned that the meetings had only been in passing, so perhaps it was something that didn’t register as significant to her. He certainly doubted she wanted many more reminders of her dad, if he was the shared parent. “Evelyn knows, right?” he checked, as another even worse option for why he didn’t know occurred to him.

13 Kir McLeod It's a Whole Big Thing 366 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

February 19, 2021 4:32 AM

#MommyDaughterReunion #HappyFamily by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

It was silly to be this nervous. It was just her mom. If she was even coming. She had never really got super into the whole letter writing and owl thing, and although there had been a ‘You Are My Sunshine’ postcard (complete with cute cartoon sun) which had included ‘So excited to see you on the XXth!!!’ it had not given any indication of whether that would be happening at the concert or at home.

That had left Sadie with a bit of a dilemma. She tried hard with her appearance at Sonora. She always made sure her nails were neat and well-manicured. She liked styling her hair. She tried to pick cute outfits. But she felt like she needed to try extra for her mom. Her mom expected her to be extra. She didn’t particularly want to doll herself up to the levels her mom would expect and then be ridiculously overdone and nothing like herself if it turned out to be for nothing. But she wanted even less to be criticised if her mother did show up. She had spent a long time with fashion magazines and her entire wardrobe spread across her bed, anxiously consulting Jessica.

In the end, she liked what she had chosen. And she thought Jessica did too. That made her feel better in that Jessica’s opinion was one she valued, but she thought that Jessica probably went a bit too ‘classic’ and did not make enough ‘bold statements.’ It was stupid to worry when it was all going to engulfed by her robes anyway, save for her shoes (which was the literal worst because no shoes looked normal with her uniform) but she figured that as soon as they left campus, she would be expected to be good enough. She probably wasn’t.

She watched the show with fixed attention, deliberately not looking behind her. She had debated for a long time whether it would be better or worse if her mom didn’t show up. Whilst she sometimes liked being in the background, this would feel like the bad kind of ignoring, and everyone – or anyone who noticed – would feel sorry for her. But if her mom came… For starters, she was bound to use her full name in front of everyone. Judging by the increasingly sick, anxious feeling that twisted in her belly as the lights went up, she wanted to turn around and find that they hadn’t come.

No such luck. The high point of her evening was probably going to be Mab wishing her a good summer. She wished her one in return, and then made her way over to her parents, smiling brightly.

“Hey there, pumpkin spice!” her dad grinned, pulling her into a hug.

“There you are sweetie!” her mom beamed, following suit. “Well, this is cute,” she stated, running a hand over Sadie’s hair – a careful mermaid braid with a pale pink ribbon with gold edging worked throughout - and giving her a momentary flicker of optimism because cute was on brand. “Are we going Cottagecore for summer?” she smiled.

Sadie grinned in reply, as if she hadn’t just been told off. Because, of course, she hadn’t been. To anyone who was listening it would sound like her mom had complimented her, but what she had heard was that she’d messed up. It was subtle enough that she wondered sometimes whether her mom really meant to make her feel that way or whether it was all in her head.

“Ooh, and such blingy nails,” Jenna-Lee added chirpily, inspecting her carefully rhinestoned fingers. Bling and Cottagecore, two concepts that didn’t go together, and she knew that- so why had she done it? Because she liked ribbons but her mom liked sparkles, probably. But it had been silly to try to please them both.

“I’m sure you can take that off now,” her mom continued, gesturing to her uniform. “The children who were on stage aren’t wearing theirs so I don’t see why you have to. Why weren’t you up there, darling? You’d make a lovely princess. You’re so pretty.”

Sadie was not sure what the right response was to that. She also wasn’t sure whether it was true. Sometimes she was pretty, when her mom wanted her to do something. Of course you’re lovely. You should want to share that. People would kill for your skin, you know that. But when mom wanted her to stay still, or to justify why she needed to take another dozen shots, beauty was a lie that they created with styling and poses and filters. She shrugged lightly, busy with trying to take off her school uniform whilst being utterly invisible in case she wasn’t supposed to yet. Professor Skies was scary and was not a person Sadie wanted to displease, but her mom had given her a direct order to remove it (even if it hadn’t sounded like that) so she had to gamble on that being the lesser form of disobedience.

“Mm, that’s better,” Jenna-Lee nodded, taking in her daughter’s pastel shorts with a rose patterned scarf as the belt, white blouse with scalloped sleeves, and white tennis shoes. Sadie wasn’t sure whether ‘better’ meant ‘good’ or just less awful than her school uniform, which was a low bar to clear. “I’ve got some lovely new things for you at home! Lots of people want to get in on your summer shoots,” Jenna-Lee carried on, rattling off a handful of fashion brands. Sadie smiled, brighter and bigger than she ever did for her classmates, her voice a little above its usual pitch as she squeezed enthusiastic monosyllables between her mom’s name dropping - Wow! Great! - desperately hoping that she could be enough of the person her mom wanted to see whilst remaining inconspicuous to her classmates. It could happen, right? They’d be wrapped up in their own families, right? Everyone was happy and bubbly and excited right now, and she was behaving would seem totally normal, right? And Mom wouldn’t want to stay long. She could get out of here without her worlds colliding too messily, right?

“And you’ll be soooo excited about one of the packages I’ve been able to score for your cosmetics. Guess who?”

“I-I don’t know,” Sadie mumbled through a bright smile.

“It’s your favourite, honey,” Jenna-Lee prompted. Sadie looked at her blankly, waiting to be informed what her current favourite was. “ARVALE!” Jenna-Lee beamed at her.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers #MommyDaughterReunion #HappyFamily 1480 0 7

Lydia Priory

February 19, 2021 2:41 PM

Nice to meet you by Lydia Priory

Lydia glanced around the area nervously, not straying from her parents at all despite seeing others around her age. In fact, the ones around her age intimidated her more than anyone else because she'd probably be going to school with them, unless they were actually the younger siblings of Muggleborn students. What if she met them and they didn't like her? What if they picked on her for their entire time at Sonora or someone else did? Would Sophia protect her? A lot of the time, her sister tended to ignore her and do her own thing and Lydia assumed it would be similar at school. And even if she did, what about when the Aladren graduated?

She knew that her parents wanted her to get comfortable with being at Sonora as much as they wanted to be here for Sophia, who was not even participating in the concert. She didn't blame her older sister for not wanting to, it wouldn't be her kind of thing either. Even if it meant she got to pretend to be a princess in front of the entire school...the point was that it would still be in front of the entire school and she was sure that she'd get terrible stage fright.

Of course, Lydia didn't think that was the reason her sister had not signed up for the concert. Sophia was confident and brave and sometimes the younger girl wished she could be more like her. Her parents insisted there was nothing wrong with how she was, but at the same time, Lydia knew it would be easier, for example, to go to school if she was more like Sophia.

Before Lydia or her parents could do anything else, one of those possible future classmates approached. She could feel her stomach drop as the red-haired girl introduced herself. Still, she replied. "I'm Lydia Priory, of the Wisconsin Priorys. Pleased to meet you, Miss Cobb. Yes, I will be attending Sonora next year. I assume you will be too?" She inquired.

11 Lydia Priory Nice to meet you 0 Lydia Priory 0 5

Winston Pierce

February 19, 2021 4:34 PM

Welcome to the other side, Sister by Winston Pierce

Winston Pierce had been a Crotalus, not an Aladren. He'd gotten good grades during his school years and he had earned very respectable RATS scores, but he was very much not an Aladren. He had very proudly been a Crotalus and he had never doubted his placement there. Despite this very clear delineation in his mind about his appropriate House affiliation, Winston was very definitely taking notes during his sister's school concert. He did not want to forget to tell Kira about any of it.

Not all of the folk tales on offer were ones he particularly liked, but he was as diligent in the notes about those as he was for the ones he did enjoy, because some of his favorite discussions with Kira were about tales where they could debate its merits and drawbacks rather than just praise it. He'd also like to see the source material to see how much got changed for a 1st-7th year student production with a limited budget.

He tucked the small notepad away as the curtains closed for the final time and the performers, backstage crew, and uninvolved students began to disperse into the crowd to find their families. Winston was on the smaller side of average for a grown man (an advantage when Seeking if not in the rest of his life), but he was still a grown man, and it gave him height over most of the students anyway, allowing him to spot Caitlin.

Making his way to his sister's side, he gave her a congratulatory smile. "Nice job with the concert, and happy graduation, Caitlin! How's it feel to be done?"

1 Winston Pierce Welcome to the other side, Sister 370 0 5

Gabriel Wilson

February 19, 2021 5:56 PM

Being pedantic (Gaming Club member) by Gabriel Wilson

Outside of one mandatory workshop-the initial meeting didn't count, as it was just the announcement of what the concert was going to be-Gabriel had not participated in the concert at all. Although he enjoyed myths and folktales, he just wasn't really a theatrical type. That seemed to be more Morgan's kind of thing, as she was the one who'd gotten really into acting out her parts in Gaming Club. Gabriel tended to be more trying to figure out what he was going to do on his turn even though it was nearly always some kind of spell when they were in combat. He wished he was better at the building up his character part although he had had fun with the bargain seeking feat of Erezan's, his wizard merchant, which was, of course, not something that Gabriel had ever needed to give much thought to in real life.

Still, he was looking forward to his parents and sister coming to the Concert tonight anyway. Although the third year did initially wonder why it was called a concert since there was no music involved and a concert was defined as a musical performance that was given in public.He knew in the past that some of the acts had been musical in nature but it had never been a requirement for this particular midsummer event. Which made Gabriel wonder why they didn't call it something else such as a production or performance. That would be like if they had the bonfire next year without an actual bonfire.

However, the Aladren had learned some interesting facts about concerts such as that the first one had been in the seventeenth century and that they could also be called shows or gigs.Given that shows could also be any sort of public performance regardless of musical content, calling tonight's event a show would have made a lot more sense. Calling it a play this time around would be even more precise but calling the event a show in general would be the way to be the most accurate-and he did like accuracy.

Gabriel spotted his parents and walked over to them. "Hey, Mom, hey Dad." He greeted them. "Where's Piper?" He asked.

"Oh, Ryan is watching her and Charlotte." Jana Wilson replied. Gabriel's cousin, who was Stanley and Wally's father, Ryan was really easy to talk into child care duties or almost anything that wasn't completely unethical.

"Oh." The Aladren replied. Then he spotted one of his fellow Gaming Club members with their parents. "Hey, there's one of my friends, let's go meet them." He lead his parents over to the other Gamer.

OOC: For anyone whose attended any gaming club meetings, even if you're not a regular member ie Bertie, Phillipe

11 Gabriel Wilson Being pedantic (Gaming Club member) 1481 0 5

Seth Alperton

February 19, 2021 7:24 PM

It's real for you by Seth Alperton

OOC: Mentions of the Delachenes approved by their author.
Open to anyone replying to this if they want to. BIC:

Seth took a deep breath, not only because they were about to be squeezed into nothingness, but because he was about to see Sonora for the first time. Well, sort of. The squeezing would take them back to the Delachenes’ horse ranch, from where they could jump into a fireplace. He’d been side-alonged a couple of times before when they’d gone to hang out (back when they’d thought about him and Philippe making friends before they both started Sonora…) so it wasn’t totally unfamiliar but it was still weird. Exciting weird though, kind of like a rollercoaster. He really liked magical transport. It was fast, and it was sci-fi, and he wished he understood how it worked.

They all got to school in one piece. Dad looked a little dizzy but with just a moment of standing still and clearing his head, he seemed fine, so they all made their way in. His parents sipped glasses of water, wondering at how he could want a cookie immediately after that (cos cookies were awesome and cos they’d gone light on lunch) and he even tried a sip of pumpkin juice. It was as weird as he had expected, and he switched to lemonade. He made himself a name label, habitually including his pronouns after his name, and checked with his mom that writing ‘Ellie’s brother’ with an apostrophe meant what he thought it meant and not that he was somehow saying ‘Ellie is my brother’ because obviously she wouldn’t like that.

Then it was time for the tour.

It was time to see this place, which belonged to Ellie, and down to some quirk of genetics, only to her. Well, like, and all these other people’s kids. But the place that had taken her but left him out. There had been no question that he wanted to come, now that it was finally willing to let him in, even if only as a spectator, but he was worried it would stir up all those old feelings of jealousy and resentment. He hadn’t liked resenting Ellie, but he hadn’t liked being left out either.

They walked. They looked. The teachers pointed out and explained stuff. And it was all…okay. Like, seeing actual magic was always hella neat and kinda mind-blowing. Magic was undeniably cool. But his thoughts came back to the transport, which reminded him of a rollercoaster. Those were fun, but it didn’t mean he wanted to live in a theme park. Maybe that wasn’t fair, and obviously they were just pulling out the show off stuff for the visitors. Maybe if this was your day-to-day life it would start to feel real, but even seeing it for real didn’t make it so for him.

He also couldn’t help but notice all the things that were missing. No TV. No video games. He knew that of course, but seeing the entertainment facilities really hammered it home. Magic folx really didn’t seem to have moved much beyond sports and reading, which seemed like such a wasted opportunity. And like a world where he wouldn’t fit in. Ellie might be happy unwinding by reading for hours, but to him that was work. He needed Netflix. He liked soccer. The badges on his backpack also testified to other burgeoning interests that Sonora could not have catered for. Alongside his ‘Trans Rights Are Human Rights’ badge (which he had checked Ellie was okay with him wearing), was a ‘Lego Bots Club’ badge, and one he had made himself which read ‘Binary is for coding, not for genders’ with a rainbow stream of 1s and 0s underneath it. Mom had got him into the Lego Bots club as an afterschool activity, and it was awesome. They also had found a high school for him with a really good coding program. He liked code. Unlike stupid spelling, every single letter or number or character that was in there had to make sense, or it would fall over. Sonora might have been more practical than most places, but from everything Ellie had told him, it would not have saved him from long, complicated words.

After the show, he greeted his sister with a big, enthusiastic hug, listening for a while as she chattered on about what a nightmare to wrangle the two other participants in her act had been (not Freddie, so much, but that younger boy…) and anxiously asked if it had looked bad, and what had they thought of the school?

“It’s really neat!” he grinned, genuine and enthusiastic. For you. And those two words felt like a good thing instead of the weight he’d carried them as for the last couple of years.

Ellie broke off soon after that to go squeal with Jasmine about… probably, like, everything, so Seth made his way back to the snack table. He was sort of curious to meet Freddie, whom he’d heard lots about but never crossed paths with, or even go bug Professor Wright about how exactly magical physics worked, though he suspected he was a couple of years off understanding any of the answers. Hopefully his awesome magic sister could explain it to him some time. And that was good enough for him.

13 Seth Alperton It's real for you 0 Seth Alperton 0 5

Quincy Wright

February 19, 2021 10:19 PM

01001101 01100101 00111111 by Quincy Wright

Quincy liked food. He liked his family alright too - although his mom hadn't come because of course she hadn't come - but he liked food maybe even more. He had taken a minute after the show to greet his sister and dad, felt some feelings, and excused himself to the snack table. Deidre didn't look like she probably minded anyway and his dad was mostly distracted with everything else all the time, so it was fine. Everything was fine. Food was just better.

There was another boy getting food too and Quincy had the brief thought that this boy looked about his own age - old enough to be attending Sonora but definitely not a Sonora student - before he refocused on the food table. He grabbed a couple Oreos and then turned to walk away. As he stepped around the boy again though, there was something else that caught his eye.

"Do you know binary?" Quincy asked abruptly, more than a little in awe as he looked at the pins on the boy's bag. His mouth was open in unrestrained excitement and jealousy. It was pretty clear that there was a theme going on here since the pins were largely centered around gender and stuff but Quincy was way more interested in the fact that there was binary code. Beautiful computer code. It had been so long since he'd seen it. Also, legos. "I took a coding class, but I only got to learn a little bit of it before I had to come here," he added wistfully, frowning a bit as he remembered the days he could study all the science and technology he enjoyed. Those things were practically moot here except for the few nerdy people who enjoyed it as much as he did. Granted, he was in the right house for that, but his follow Aladrens were largely not the type to be excited about computers all the same.

22 Quincy Wright 01001101 01100101 00111111 1495 0 5

Julieta De Matteo

February 19, 2021 10:35 PM

I'm having the first part, not the second part. by Julieta De Matteo

Julieta accompanied her husband to Sonora for the second time in her life, feeling much more tense than she had years prior. She always felt more tense than she had over previous years, although she tried to ignore the feeling, hoping it would wash itself away in her daily routine or in the creative pursuits she was able to enjoy when presented with the chance. She had always thrown herself into helping the people of Ciudad de Matteo but especially when her husband's political and personal pursuits had had some undue burden on them, as they did every five or ten years. This was normal, she knew. She had known that even before she married Ilefonso; it would have been hard not to know what the De Matteo family had a legacy for. But it didn't make it easier, especially now that Felipe and Leonor were old enough to understand what was happening. Of course, they were hardly present now, so most of her tension was reserved for her own part in her life's show rather than what her children thought of the whole thing. They would, she knew, learn to live with it as she had. Simply a matter of adjusting to the philosophy of the De Matteo family.

Ilefonso was talking with Felipe near the snack table, the former's eyes naturally darting about with interest at the mix of Muggles, wizards, and important people (some of each category, they knew) who were gathered for the concert, and Leonor had excused herself long enough ago that Julieta was pretty sure she was only going to come back when she had to. As such, she'd excused herself as well, determined to either find out what her daughter was up to or find something to engage with long enough to feel interesting when it was time to gather as a family again and head home. If she was lucky, she might even find out something that was helpful, or at least fascinating. That would make Ilefonso happy and, for all his flaws, Julieta did love him.

She was meandering towards the bathrooms a bit, figuring that was a likely place for Leonor to hide and easy enough to pop in subtly and use the facilities herself if not, when she overheard a word she was familiar with. It was a word she associated with important Muggles now, even though Felipe seemed to have gone and turned the tables on that possible connection. That was fine; Muggles generally didn't have a place in the De Matteo family line, although Julieta knew that his current girlfriend's family wasn't a lot better. Still, the girl Felipe was dating now was pleasant, kind, and made Felipe happy, and those were traits that mattered more to Julieta than did anything else, although she wasn't always sure Ilefonso agreed. In any case, it was the word 'Arvale' that Julieta overheard and that drew her attention to a woman with her own daughter (presumably), a girl who looked to be about Leonor's age. Both were gorgeous, although they had the distinct look of social airs about them that made Julieta think more was happening under the surface. Perhaps she was projecting though. In any case, she smiled at the woman she assumed was the girl's mother and extended a hand.

"Pardon my interruption, I can't help turning when I hear 'Arvale'," she explained, her best social smile gleaming on her face. She knew that she looked relatively modest compared to a lot of the important people who might be here, but it was only for lack of adornment. Her clothes, handmade and beaded, were elaborate enough not to call for much in terms of jewelry, and she'd settled with only a floral clip - red to match her lipstick which was from Arvale funny enough - in her dark hair instead. "My son is close friends with the owner's daughter, so I'm always happy to hear when her family's company is talked about with such excitement," she explained. "I'm Julieta De Matteo."

22 Julieta De Matteo I'm having the first part, not the second part. 0 Julieta De Matteo 0 5

Wesley Pierce

February 20, 2021 4:11 PM

Good to see you. by Wesley Pierce

He sometimes forgot that he was more lucky than most. He cared for his two children deeply, but he could not imagine having any more of them. Two siblings, only three years apart. Ten years of being a Sonora parent and then done. Winston was already now settled and married, and while Caitlin still needed to make a match, he did not expect it would take very long or be particularly difficult to find a proper young man for her. He and Alicia had invited several potential prospects to the graduation party, and were hopeful at least one of them might catch Caitlin's eye.

He made a suitably sympathetic look at the gesture toward the youngster who looked small enough to not yet be literate. He could not begin to express how glad he was to not have one of those underfoot. Winston and Caitlin had been exemplary children, in his completely unbiased opinion, but every year had been better than the one before it, and he did not miss that age at all.

Speaking of unexemplary children, he casually glanced behind himself to see that the situation back there had not devolved into a brawl. While he would certainly not have put it past the Dead One, he was glad to avoid another incident that could do nothing good for the Pierce name.

"I wish you the very best of luck," he said sincerely, turning his attention back to where it should be: on Ben and Shannon Brockert. "We are having a graduation ceremony for Caitlin on Saturday. You and your family are, of course, welcome to attend."

1 Wesley Pierce Good to see you. 0 Wesley Pierce 0 5

Iris Cobb

February 20, 2021 4:13 PM

It is nice to meet you as well by Iris Cobb

Iris smiled at the girl's response as a thrill ran through her. She must have gotten it right! Which, she then thought, meant Billy had actually gotten something right. That didn't sound quite right, but she ignored that fact for the moment. She was talking to Lydia Priory, of the Wisconsin Priorys, and she did her best to commit that name to memory. It would look poor if she forgot it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," She caught herself, almost calling the other girl Lydia. That wasn't what Lydia had done, Lydia had called her 'Miss Cobb'. Therefore that must be the proper thing to do. "Miss Priory." She finished, hopefully smoothly. Then she nodded in agreement to Miss Priory's question. Just as excited to have found a future classmate as she was that she had gotten the greeting correct. "Yes, I am looking forward to it. My brother," she paused again as her mind raced, if Miss Priory was in a similar situation as her, the reason she was here was that she also had an older sibling at the school. Which meant that older sibling might know Billy and whatever exploits he'd been up to that they hadn't heard about. Maybe it would be best not to associate herself to closely, just in case. So instead of mentioning his name as her original train of thought suggested, she moved on and also decided to be vague as to what year he was in, "has been telling me about the school." She smiled again, with just a hint of her excitement showing on her expression. "I can't wait to begin. How about you? I assume you have older siblings here as well?"

She had to admit she was a bit nervous, but refused to let it show. She had to make a good first impression, for all she knew perhaps she and Miss Priory would be roommates. Billy apparently got along well enough with his roommates, so she could guess what they were like. Still, the other girl was dressed very nicely, as were the man and woman standing nearby. She assumed they were Miss Priory's Ma and Pa. She kinda hoped they wouldn't want to meet her parents. That would probably just get embarrassing.

2 Iris Cobb It is nice to meet you as well 1526 0 5

Esme Brockert

February 20, 2021 5:13 PM

Greetings by Esme Brockert

Because Topaz had been the stage manager, Esme had decided not to participate in the concert aside from helping with some of the stuff Art Club had done. Like her cousins and older sister, she did not want to take orders from the Aladren whom she knew would torture her. Of course, neither Allegra or Sapphire was the type who wanted to be on stage in front of a lot of people in the first place. Nor were they sort to join in an activity that included lots of different people that they weren't necessarily comfortable with in the first place.

However, Esme might have participated. School involvement upped one's chances of getting prefect and Head Student, not that she was willing to do things for that reason alone. She was not power hungry enough to be involved in something she hated, like Quidditch, just to get the position. She was unwilling to compromise herself and make herself miserable, or worse, make herself possibly look foolish to get ahead. She simply didn't need the accolades that badly. Didn't need to constantly assert her dominance and prove her superiority. Esme wasn't that insecure.

This was, of course, one of the many differences between herself and Topaz. After all, Head Student was why her cousin was involved in the Concert to begin with. Plus, the Aladren was an incredibly bossy person who took great delight in ordering others around and just overall making people miserable. She'd been simply terrible to Isla during this whole Concert ordeal, since the younger Aladren had wanted to do her puppetry regardless.

Still, Esme had to admit that the concert seemed to have gone well. Which meant that either Topaz had done a good job or it had been successful despite the sixth year. She rather wanted to believe the latter, as she would loathe to give her cousin a drop of credit. Now it was over and she looked around the room for her family. Before she could spot anyone other than some people she thought were some of her distant cousins, someone else approached her. "Hello." Esme greeted them. "Did you enjoy the performance?"

11 Esme Brockert Greetings 1479 0 5

Lydia Priory

February 20, 2021 6:27 PM

It's a good way to start things by Lydia Priory

"Please, call me Lydia." She replied. It was harder to make friends when you were addressing each other so formally and she was worried that she was going to have a difficult enough time doing so to begin with. Lydia did not have much experience with kids her own age as the only person even close to her own age that she had spent any time with was Uncle Adam's daughter Gwendolyn who was two years younger than she was. She was looking forward to her cousin coming to school, as she was closer to her than to Sophia.

In fact, Lydia was already beginning to feel worried about what to say. Iris had asked her if she was excited about school. Well, technically, the other girl had said she couldn't wait for school and basically asked if Lydia felt the same way but it amounted to the same thing. And she really wasn't looking forward to going to school. She was absolutely terrified of going to school and not having Mommy and Daddy around. However, Lydia did not want to say that! What if Iris judged her for her shyness? There were definitely people who were like that. Her uncle was always saying how people preferred outgoing athletic types, not people like him. Or her.

At the same time, Lydia did not want to lie . For one thing, it was wrong and for another, it was no way to start a friendship. She really did want to become friends with Iris so it would be easier when they started school in the fall. Fortunately, the other girl brought up older siblings, which was a much safer subject. "My older sister Sophia is an Aladren. She's going to be a sixth year next year. I also have an older brother named Connor who graduated already. Plus, my entire family has gone here. My cousin, Beau, is graduating. What about your brother? " Lydia asked. She didn't remember Sophia mentioning anyone whose last name was Cobb so she assumed Iris' brother had to be younger than the fifth year was. Or he was just someone her sister didn't have a strong opinion about. If that was the case, he must not be someone who stood out too much, because Sophia was very opinionated.

Which wasn't always a good thing since there were lots of people the Aladren didn't like. Sometimes, Lydia worried that she was one of those people. "Do you know what house you want to be in?" She asked Iris. "I hope to be in Teppenpaw because they're supposed to be really nice."

11 Lydia Priory It's a good way to start things 0 Lydia Priory 0 5

Morgan Garrett

February 20, 2021 7:01 PM

Bring it on. by Morgan Garrett

In a way, Morgan was glad that she hadn't known that her mother was going to be present. If she had known, she thought it would have completely screwed up her performance in the Concert, and she didn't know what she would have done if that had happened. Her whole career would have been ended right here and there, and that would have been awful.

Unfortunately, though, this meant she now had to live with knowing her mother had seen her going all-in, make-up and costumes and exaggerated mannerisms and all, and now Morgan could never un-know that. Which meant she could never stop thinking about it. Because she was completely sure that Mom must have totally disapproved of everything, but Mom wouldn't say so as such, and Morgan wasn't going to ask, so....

"This place is very interesting," her mother remarked, looking at the waterfalls that defined the room. She sounded stiff, but that could just be because she was a little uncomfortable in a magic place, couldn't it? And because she was being forced to hang out with Dad? It was definitely because of Dad, and she totally didn't think that just because it wasn't her fault that her parents kind of hated each other, whereas it was her fault if Mom thought she had been acting a fool.

"It's nice," agreed Morgan's stepmother, who had diplomatically placed herself in the middle of this. Sage was such a Teppenpaw, thank God. That, and, as Dad put it, the grown-up in the family. "I'm a little jealous now, actually. I went to a newer school, so the buildings didn't have much character."

"I can't imagine the water bill, though," said her mother. "Not exactly what I'd choose to spend my half of Morgan's tuition on...."

"I don't think the tuition goes toward the waterfalls," said Dad. He definitely sounded a bit awkward, too, addressing her mother directly. He definitely didn't care about her acting a fool, had even congratulated her and seemed pretty enthusiastic while handing her flowers. So it was all good. "Magic. Probably the same as in my day."

To Morgan's surprise, her mother actually looked interested a little. "Is it like an illusion, then?" she asked.

"I don't think so," said her father. "At least, they weren't back then. You definitely did not want to walk into one of them," he said in a deadpan that clearly indicated that he had done that, at least once, probably more than once. Morgan laughed.

"You still don't," she said, and then spotted someone walking toward her odd little group of people. "Oh, there's our wizard!"

"You're gonna have to be more specific, kid," Dad advised.

"From the gaming group," she explained. "He likes to play people who can cast spells in the game. I can do a few, too, but - hi Gabriel! Mom, Dad, Sage, this is Gabriel, from my Dungeons and Dragons party. And these are - " she grinned awkwardly, having already announced who two of the three others were. "Mom, Dad, and my stepmom, Sage."

16 Morgan Garrett Bring it on. 1470 0 5

Allegra Brockert and family.

February 20, 2021 7:10 PM

Indeed by Allegra Brockert and family.

"Thank you." Ben replied. Considering how things had been going lately, they might need it. While he understood that Muggleborns and half-bloods also had to come and wasn't completely against them being at Sonora, nobody wanted their children to be at any sort of disadvantage be it physically, intellectually, or socially. And being the one who was different put you at a distinct social disadvantage. Ben hated the idea of his children being excluded or put down and there were definitely non-purebloods, albeit not all of them, who would do just that.

He was just glad that Allegra had her friend group and that the two younger girls liked their roommates, even though Esme's was better friends with his niece, Sapphire. The third year still seemed to like her roommate better than the only other pureblood girl in her year, which was a shame, but Ben didn't think his daughter should have to be friends with someone who from what he understood was none too pleasant. Of course, that was only Esme's opinion, but as the other girl was a Pecari, he doubted she and his second daughter had much in common as the third year was a very proper young lady and didn't think much of the sort of people who went into that particular house.

"We'd love to come." Ben replied. "Thank you for the invite." Maybe Allegra would meet a nice boy there too.

Just then his eldest daughter appeared. Uriah, temporarily distracted from his never ending quest for cookies, broke free of his mom, and threw himself at his older sister."Egga!"

Allegra bent down to give her youngest brother a big hug. She had really missed both her little brothers, but Uriah tended to be more affectionate than Olaf overall. Olaf, whom she spotted reading, unsurprisingly, not far away, was more like Grandfather and affectionate was definitely not a word one associated with Mortimer Brockert. "Hey Uriah!" She refrained from picking him up though. The four year old was a chubby one and she didn't want to start the summer by hurting her back. With Topaz around, she was not inclined to want to end up at a greater disadvantage. "Hello, Mother, Father." She hugged both her parents and then turned to Caitlin's father and greeted him. Without a hug, of course, because that would be weird and awkward. "Hello, Mr Pierce." She said. "Did you enjoy the show? I think I saw Caitlin talking to your son."

11 Allegra Brockert and family. Indeed 0 Allegra Brockert and family. 0 5

Seth Alperton

February 20, 2021 8:53 PM

Looks like it by Seth Alperton

Seth thought he maybe kind of recognised the other person at the snack table. He had looked through all of Ellie's yearbooks, sometimes enthusiastically with her, and once behind her back, covetous and jealous of the world that didn't want him. He wasn't sure whether this person had stood out due to having very distinctive hair, or because the two of them would have been yearmates. Maybe even friends. He had looked over last year's yearbook by himself, hastily and furtively, and decided he didn't want to memorise their names and faces. The two of them looked to be a similar age though.

And, prior to today, all of that might have still mattered, just a bit. He had had a good year, and it had helped him let go of a lot, but if he seeing Sonora had stirred up those old feelings he thought this interaction might feel very different. As it was, it was sort of interesting to find a magical person who coded (even just a little bit) and who maybe even sounded slightly jealous of him.

"A bit," Seth answered. "Like, I more know of it than know it, if that makes sense? Like, I've been to a couple of coding clubs where it came up, but it was more like we learned what it is, and played games to get us familiar with how it works. You like coding?" he added, clearly curious but not too surprised or incredulous. There were all kinds of people in the world, after all.

13 Seth Alperton Looks like it 0 Seth Alperton 0 5

Jenna-Lee Chalmers

February 21, 2021 5:53 AM

Follow me for #ParentingTips by Jenna-Lee Chalmers

People always said the trouble with first impressions was that you only got one of them. Jenna-Lee thought that simply wasn't true (though she would tell Sadie-Lake it whenever she needed her to believe it). For example, this woman initially struck her as nothing special. She was quite stylish, for a particular sort of style, but wasn't someone Jenna-Lee would normally have picked out of a crowd. Of course, the bar here was considerably lower, and she was definitely better than the chubby man with his exploding hat, and his inordinately plain wife. She had been quite stunned when the absolutely beautiful little blonde girl from one of the plays had rushed over to embrace them as her parents, proving that genetics really was a wild throw of the dice sometimes.

However, as the woman spoke (revealing herself to be fairly skilled at inserting herself smoothly into a conversation, an admirable trait in itself) she became substantially more interesting. Anything Jenna-Lee had initially thought about her was erased, in favour of always having thought this person seemed stylish and well-to-do.

"Not at all,” she easily waved off the apology for the absolutely welcome interruption. “What a small world!" she smiled. "Has your son managed to keep up much of a relationship with her since coming here?" she asked. "It's such a struggle to maintain connections with the outside world, I find."

13 Jenna-Lee Chalmers Follow me for #ParentingTips 0 Jenna-Lee Chalmers 0 5

Iris Cobb

February 21, 2021 9:05 AM

It is, beginnings can be tricky by Iris Cobb

Iris breathed an internal sigh of relief and smiled at her new.. friend? "Thank-you Lydia," Oh goodness that was easier. Then she returned the sentiment, "and you can jus call me Iris." How exactly did one go about making friends anyway? Pretty much everyone up on the mountain was related to her one way or another. They were all kin, she hadn't really had to figure out how to be 'friends' with them. This was a bit strange, and perhaps it was just the beginning. She had better figure out how this worked.

Fortunately it seemed like talking was a good way to figure this out. Back home, she didn't have to talk much to Suzie to figure this out. She knew Suzie was her second cousin and her parents were Aunt Millie and Uncle Fred and that told her more than she really needed to know about how to behave around Suzie. Talking to Lydia was different, she was learning things about how Lydia's family worked. Fortunately, she didn't seem to know anything about Billy. From the sounds of things, Lydia also sounded like she knew how a lot of this should work. She had a sister, a brother and a cousin that all came to the school. "Are you very close to them?" They all sounded a bunch older, and Iris knew she wasn't all that close to her cousins that were more than five years older than herself.

Figuring it would come out eventually, and it didn't sound like he was already infamous, Iris decided it was safe enough to mention her brother's name. "My brother is Billy, he just started last year." Lydia had mentioned her sister's house, but not her brother's or cousin's. Perhaps because they weren't going to be here next year and it didn't matter. "He's in the Pecari house."

That did lead nicely into Lydia's next question though. Which house she would be in was a question that swam through her head on a regular basis. She'd read everything she could on the school just trying to figure out what it was all about, how it worked... and as a filter for Billy's tales. "I'm not really sure," she admitted. The description of the Teppenpaw house did make it sound like a good place for nice folk, but she wasn't sure if she could see herself fitting in there right. Maybe? If Lydia went there and she didn't, they wouldn't be roommates. Oh well, they could still be friends. "Honestly, I'd prefer not to be in the same house as my brother." It had been nice a quiet when he'd been off at school. That left Aladren and Crotalus. From what Billy said Aladren is where the 'smart folk' went that liked to read a lot. Reading was alright, but wasn't something Iris just did for fun. "If I had to pick right now," she hesitated just a moment again, "I guess I would pick Crotalus?" There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice as she reached the conclusion though.

There were other important things to discuss though with this girl who was hopefully going to be her friend and had more knowledge about the school. "Have your siblings told you much about the teachers here?"

2 Iris Cobb It is, beginnings can be tricky 1526 0 5

Julieta De Matteo

February 21, 2021 11:30 AM

Follow you where? by Julieta De Matteo

"I'm afraid this is the outside world for us," Julieta explained, her modest smile tipping with amusement. "Our estate is in a fairly rural part of Mexico so most of our world is limited to our subjects and the people we meet when we travel," she said, knowing that this woman's world must be the Muggle world. That was probably the case for most people who knew about Arvale, although the company seemed to be wildly successful enough that Jessica certainly was on an in-route to taking it to the magic world by storm. She had high hopes for the young girl's future, although she worried a bit about her all the same. Julieta didn't know Jessica well but she was pretty sure she was right in thinking Jessica was a bit sheltered for her own good, and that was by De Matteo standards.

"But no, Felipe met her here," she added, going back to the point that had brought the question up anyway. "They're in the same House and year, so he met her here." She glanced around to point Jessica out to the woman but didn't immediately spy her and as Felipe was still engaged with his father, she didn't bother to call him over either. "I'm not sure where she is at the moment but she's a lovely girl. You probably know Jessica, right?" she asked, turning her smile to the girl. It didn't cross her mind that the Hayles family might not want it publicly known that their daughter was a witch or attended this school, or that mentioning it to this particular woman might have ramifications for Jessica herself, because why would anyone be disappointed to have a magic child? Frankly, it was the best thing that could have happened to the Hayles family, and to Arvale, and Julieta was happy for them. "You're about my daughter's age, I think. Leonor is a third year," she added to the older of the two women.

22 Julieta De Matteo Follow you where? 0 Julieta De Matteo 0 5

Gabriel Wilson and parents

February 21, 2021 3:51 PM

Okay. by Gabriel Wilson and parents

"Hello." Gabriel greeted Morgan's family. "These are my parents, Jana and Barry Wilson.Mom, Dad, this is my friend Morgan. It's nice to meet you." He said to his classmate's parents. Jana and Barry both shook hands with the other adults and greeted them and Morgan both. For purebloods, they were surprisingly unfazed by the fact that Gabriel's classmate had a stepmother as Jana's own sister had been through a divorce. Not that she assumed one of Morgan's parents was at all like Pearl. At least, she hoped not. For Morgan's sake. Pearl had been a terrible sister and a worse mother.

Gabriel grinned at the fact that the other third year introduced him as part of their Dungeons and Dragons group. After all, the Gaming Club was his main social group here at Sonora and he truly enjoyed playing even if he wasn't as good at it in some ways as Morgan was.

His parents, for their part, didn't quite understand the game but they thought it was pretty harmless despite being a Muggle thing. They were generally pleased that the game made their son happy, and that he was playing a wizard and solving problems using magic. After all, magic was what they wanted him to learn. Even though the magic in the game was mostly different from real life. Which was also a good thing in their opinion because it meant that the Statute of Secrecy was working.

Plus, they were happy that Gabriel was making friends, even if they weren't purebloods. After all, their son was a bit...unique. While they loved his intellectual curiosity, kids weren't always that nice to those who were different and the third year had a habit of spouting off trivia at great length, which some people might find boring. Of course, the people who would find Gabriel boring were people they would find boring themselves. Still, they were happy that he had a group that belonged to and that there really hadn't been any instances of him being bullied.

"You did really well." The Aladren boy told his friend sincerely. Acting seemed to be Morgan's thing, like trivia was Gabriel's.

"Are you having a nice evening?" Jana asked Morgan's parents, in the interest of making conversation.

11 Gabriel Wilson and parents Okay. 0 Gabriel Wilson and parents 0 5

Lydia Priory

February 21, 2021 4:29 PM

Agreed by Lydia Priory

"I'm closer to my brother than my sister, even though he's older." Lydia explained. She assumed Connor was around here somewhere. "Sophia tends to like to do her own thing most of the time while he was more willing to play with me sometimes. They're both much older than me so by the time I was interested in something, Sophia had usually outgrown it. Sometimes Lydia did wish they were closer in age,so they could be best friends. Instead the Aladren was best friends with Bridget.

Of course, she supposed they might have also ended up with a bad case of sibling rivalry. After all, they had very different temperaments and possibly would have argued more instead of Sophia ignoring her. Her sister sometimes seemed impatient with her as it was but Lydia thought this might be the lesser of the two evils. She hated conflict, it made her tummy hurt.

That was another worry. What if Lydia had a roommate she couldn't get along with next year? What if her roommate bullied her? She knew she was the kind of person who was easy to push around.

"That might be why my sister hasn't said anything about him." Lydia replied. Sophia was unlikely to hang out with a much younger student in a different house, though she remembered her sister saying something about helping out one of the younger Aladrens, which made her feel both surprised and a tad jealous, given how little interest her sister had in spending time with her. "My cousin Beau is in Pecari too, but I don't think he knows your brother either. One of my aunts was also in that house but obviously, that was a really long time ago."

She wondered if Iris liked her brother much, since she didn't want to be in the same house as him. At the same time, the other girl might just not want to be in Pecari. Lydia wouldn't either. Pecaris were mostly just so...rough and she'd always been on the delicate side. She was sure they would be the most likely to make fun of her. Not that Beau or Aunt Nina was ever mean to her. "My brother was in Crotalus. So was my cousin Arianna and my Uncle Adam. It's a not a bad house." Crotalus tended to be a mixed bag. Her brother and uncle were nice but Arianna really wasn't. Lydia didn't really want to risk things and end up with the mean kind of Crotalus as a roommate. Although it would be nice to be with Iris.

"My sister seems to like them okay but then she's an Aladren so she likes learning things. She says the Herbology teacher is probably the nicest. My cousin says that the Charms teacher talks too much about things that Beau finds boring." Lydia replied. "But he's not really the academic type."

11 Lydia Priory Agreed 0 Lydia Priory 0 5

Iris Cobb

February 22, 2021 12:42 PM

So, what's next? by Iris Cobb

Iris nodded along as Lydia talked about her siblings. That sounded familiar enough, there were definitely age groups of kids back home. Everyone was related to everyone else somehow, but for the most part the older kids did their things and the younger kids did their boring things. Very rarely some of the older kids would 'play' with them. But really it was more like them using the younger group for their own nefarious purposes. She had just been starting to figure out how that all worked when she learned she was going to be leaving for significant amounts of time for special schooling.

Iris wondered how her leaving would affect things. Billy had been in their age group as well, but the boys usually ran off and did different stuff than the girls. She suspected the boys hadn't gotten into as much mischief without Billy around, but couldn't really confirm that. The less she knew about the trouble people were up to, the better. If she couldn't be associated with it, she couldn't be blamed for it.

"Your cousin Beau is the one that is graduating this year?" Iris asked to confirm, she was pretty sure she remembered that right. "That would make sense that he probably hasn't interacted with Billy." Her mind rolled back over some of the information they had gotten about the school, "If your sister will be a sixth year, I guess you won't have any classes with her, but we will be stuck with my brother for the year?" It was only sort of a question, and was just looking to make sure she'd gotten all that information right. "My brother says that some of the teachers are alright, but classes are boring as anything." She gave a sigh, "I am a bit surprised the teachers here got him to sit still long enough to learn anything. He says the best ones are the ones that teach about plants and animals." She paused again, remembering something else he had said, "He also likes Quidditch, but was very vague on details. Is that another class?"

2 Iris Cobb So, what's next? 1526 0 5

Lydia Priory

February 22, 2021 4:05 PM

I'm not sure by Lydia Priory

Lydia nodded. "That makes a lot of sense." Beau was nice enough to her but he didn't pay a lot of attention to her, Gwendolyn or Misty. Actually, his sister wasn't directly that mean to her either, she just was on the snobby side in general. "People don't usually have much interest in people much younger than them. My sister is unlikely to spend much time with me at all. Although, she's a prefect so if you're in Aladren, she's someone that is supposed to be there if you need help." Lydia worried about this a lot, whether or not Sophia would protect her if need be, given the older girl's penchant for ignoring her. And if Sophia didn't, who would?

She continued "If your brother is going to be a second year, we'll probably be having classes with him most of the time. Like, Beginners classes are first and second year, Intermediates are third through fifth and Advanced is sixth and seventh. Of course, with Advanced, not everyone takes all of them so if you don't want to be with your brother, you can take different classes than he does. Of course your options for what you can take sixth and seventh year depend on how well you do on your CATS, which is this big test that you take at the end of your fifth year." She informed Iris, unsure if her brother had told her any of this. If he was only going to be in second year and not an Aladren, he probably wasn't thinking about tests yet. And Sophia hadn't even seemed that concerned at that age, and she was an Aladren. Of course, the fifth year had more a tendency to be annoyed by things than worried about them. Lydia, on the other hand, worried about them.

Lydia went on. "Oh, no, Quidditch is a sport. It's not required at all" Thank Merlin, she could think of nothing worse than having to play Quidditch. Even if her mom hadn't been in a horrible accident involving a bludger to the back, she still wouldn't have wanted to play. Lydia was on the girly side and also considered herself to be fairly delicate. She didn't have any athletic skills whatsoever. She wasn't at all fast or strong. "We have to take flying lessons though." She did not sound that thrilled about this but hoped Iris would not judge her for that. Getting up in the air with only a small piece of wood supporting her sounded terrifying.

11 Lydia Priory I'm not sure 0 Lydia Priory 0 5

Ness McLeod

February 23, 2021 6:31 AM

So...hi? by Ness McLeod

OOC: Mentions of Val and Topaz approved by their authorz BIC:

Ness was excited. Right? That was what it was called when your skin was all tingly, and you couldn't keep your feet from jiggling, and your stomach felt all upside down? Maybe some people would have mistaken it for nervousness, and it was funny how closely the two emotions resembled each other, but Ness was definitely excited. Definitely. Excited. Not nervous. Yup.

There were two big, exciting things happening this evening. First, the concert, then meeting Lyssa's parents. Both of which would be great. The Aladren was currently pacing about backstage, rocking a toga, and so Lyssa's parents' first in person impression would actually be Ness' contribution to the concert. There was a bit of a McLeod tradition there, in that had been how Kir had first met Zevalyn's parents too. He had made his first impressions singing, dancing, and playing the piano, all with only a moderate degree of proficiency, as well as probably coming across as 'as tall as described' and slightly glittery. Ness would be Iphis. And giving a nerdy introduction speech explaining how the piece fitted into the ongoing trans narrative and should be taken as positive representation.Whatever else they might have to say, no one could claim that Kir and Ness did not give accurate impressions of themselves when on stage.

Ness and Val hadn't done much to update or alter the story, feeling that would be inappropriate, but had made sure to phrase and frame everything in language that seemed acceptable, and the introductory speech would help contexualise what they were doing. Ness' main concerns were really other people messing up, or Topaz trying to undermine things somehow. It had not been fun feeling like Topaz had a degree of power, though given that how smoothly the whole show ran reflected on Topaz, it was surely self sabotage to mess any part of it up.

Once the concert was over, Ness did a quick round of family hugs (not CJ, he was sticky) and went off to find Lyssa and her family. Or, as it turned out, her parents. Ness was neither surprised nor bothered by The Other Brother's absence, sometimes even forgetting he existed but had expected another familiar face to be there.

"Where's Parker?" Ness asked. "And um, hi, I'm Ness, nice to meet you." Cos that was the thing you were supposed to say first.

13 Ness McLeod So...hi? 1419 0 5

Topaz Brockert

February 23, 2021 2:33 PM

I am also glad it's over by Topaz Brockert

OOC: CW-Homophobia, transphobia, straight privilege and Topaz being Topaz. Mentions of Lorena were worked out in chatzy and the stuff regarding Ness and Oz is taken from their posts. BIC:

Honestly, Topaz was super glad that this stupid concert thing was over. She had only ever signed up to do anything to begin with because she was hoping it would help her get Head Girl. Still, every last person involved managed to get on her nerves. Like how those two in the Paul Bunyan play couldn't get the fight to go the same way twice which confused the stage hands.

Of course, the people that really bothered her were, well, the people who usually really bothered her. Which were Isla and Snotti-Ness. Unlike the rest of their close relatives, the younger Aladren had not avoided the Concert like it was the plague. Which meant Topaz had to put up with her. So, ugh.

She had to -very grudgingly-admit though, Isla hadn't been that difficult. The first year, much as her mere presence annoyed the sixth year, at least knew to do what Topaz wanted her to do. Or else. The main issue with Isla's skit was that one of her roommates had agreed to play Geppetto. Her female roommate. Which meant that said roommate-Laurie?-was playing a guy. Because Topaz had insisted on accuracy in stories.

So, therefore, she was trapped into something that furthered Snotti-Ness's agenda. Which was worse than anything else. Why couldn't Isla have gotten Jasper or someone to play Geppetto? Unfortunately, Topaz's little brother had done the same as Sapphire, Allegra and Esme and completely opted out of the play. She was going to have to make him suffer for that.

Of course, Snotti-Ness was the worst-and this time, Topaz didn't mean generally speaking that her roommate was the worst. She was actually the worst. Her myth had been...acceptable being that it was an actual myth. The problem was the little speech about the transgender narrative. Topaz honestly didn't think that was a good idea, due to the fact that there were conservative purebloods in the audience who probably didn't want to talk about the transgender narrative. In the end she'd gotten Grandfather to place one of those disclaimers in the program that said that the opinions expressed in the production belonged to those who said them or the original author of the story and not that of Sonora, it's staff-despite the fact that that part wasn't exactly true given their favoritism towards gay students when picking prefects-board, or students.

The thing was, couldn't Snotti-Ness just once relax and not push a political agenda of some kind? The myth wasn't an especially well-known one so Topaz wondered just how long her roommate had had to look for something that promoted her ideals. Ideals that Topaz personally would have been kind of indifferent to or not really thought about had the other sixth year not shoved her nose in them every single second of every single minute of every single hour of every single *potato*ing day of the last six years! But since Snotti-Ness used less than favorable tactics and was nasty and judgemental towards purebloods, girly-girls, straight people, and taxidermists-and because most of the staff was favoring gay students for prefect-Topaz had to be against everything her roommate stood for. Honestly, she couldn't wait to graduate and get away from Snotti-Ness once and for all.

And *apple*ing Isla had made it worse. Really, her cousin should have known better.

But at least it was done now. Topaz looked around the room. In all honesty, she was not in a hurry to go see her parents on the grounds that her mother was extremely annoying. And her siblings might be with them and they were also extremely annoying.

Just then, the Aladren heard someone call her name. She groaned inwardly as her parents approached. "Hello Mother, Father." Fortunately, none of her siblings were with them, she guessed that Ruby and Amethyst had gone to talk to someone else, that Emerald was somewhere with Winston or her in-laws and that they just hadn't ran across Sapphire and Jasper yet.

Thank Merlin for small favors.

OOC: Disclaimer-Views expressed in this post belong only to Topaz and not her author or any of her author's other characters.

11 Topaz Brockert I am also glad it's over 1427 0 5

Graham Osbrook

February 23, 2021 6:11 PM

The fam's all here. by Graham Osbrook

Graham's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he wandered through a gap between two groups of people he did not know and spotted a group of three people who he did know. Grinning, half from pleasure and half just from bemusement, he went over to them.

"What's this?" he asked, looking between his parents.

His sister frowned at him, then at their mother. "That's not a good sign," she said. She held up two fingers in front of him. "How many fingers?" she demanded, in a fair imitation of the manner of a brusque adult checking for concussion.

"Eighteen," said Graham, reaching out to tug the end of Claire's brown ponytail affectionately. "Sorry," he added when his mother gave him a Look. "Just kidding. I didn't think you would come." He realized the statements didn't quite follow from each other. "That's not why I was kidding," he added.

"All the parents were invited," pointed out his mother.

"Yeah, but your job...."

"Is my job," said Lillian Greene, psychologist. Then, though, she half-smiled, acknowledging the real question. "Being discreet isn't the same thing as pretending that you two don't exist," she observed, putting her arms out for a hug.

"As I reminded her when she made noises about it just being me bringing Clareree to see the place," said James Osbrook. Graham kind of expected his dad to hug him, too, but James seemed content enough to save that stuff for at home. Graham was relieved, but to his surprise, also slightly unhappy with it. What was that about? "Even if a client recognizes her in all this crowd, I wouldn't bet on them wanting to admit it any more than we do...."

Lillian made a faint shushing gesture with one hand, but this was largely unnecessary. Claire, bored of this conversation, changed the subject. "Did you do anything in all that?" she demanded eagerly, gesturing toward where the stage had been.

"A little," he said. "The whole school had to go to these work meetings, and at one of them, this bossy Russian sixth year, um, kind of saw me trying to lay low and pretty much just told me that I worked for her now at one of them."

"Sparkly Quidditch girl?" asked Claire, who had made it her business to memorize almost everything Graham had said or written about Sonora for the past two years. "Tatiana?"

"Nah, she graduated last year," he said. "It was her sister...I think I saw Tatiana out here earlier, though. I'll show her to you - oh, over there."

He jerked his chin in the right direction (pointing at someone, in his mother's presence, was like running through the common room in front of Professor Skies without pants on: just not a move a smart person was going to make). Claire moved forward and turned to see, craning her neck and standing on her toes, to try to get a look - and, in the process, collided with someone a little when she overbalanced.

"Whoa there," their father admonished her lightly, putting his hands on Claire's shoulders. "Sorry," he apologized to the bumped-into party. "My little girl got a little too enthusiastic about looking around her big brother's school," he joked.

OOC: Edited slightly to account for reply.

16 Graham Osbrook The fam's all here. 1498 0 5

Carmela Morales

February 23, 2021 6:38 PM

Mixing and mingling on my own. by Carmela Morales

They had not planned it - had not, in the weeks since the invitations had arrived, even discussed it between themselves - but Carmela was certain that Arthur and Rosalie were not at all surprised or upset when her first reaction to the unnerving trip to the school was to walk away as if they were all perfect strangers. There was, after all, really nothing for it; it was bad enough that there was really no way to conceal that they were all from the same city....

Lola, poor baby, had begged and pleaded to be allowed to come see her sisters' school, but there had really been nothing for that, either; Lola was still too young to quite trust out in a public situation like this. Perhaps she would have remembered that she must not speak of having 'sisters' plural, or run to Jessica as readily as she did to Mara, or take it into her head to go to her father or 'Mama Rosa' instead of staying with her mother - but it was a chance that she - they - simply could not take.

It was a good thing, she supposed, that she had practice in refusing Mara such things already; without that, she was unsure how well she would have done with Lola. Mara, at least, combined stubbornness with a most un-charming bluntness, and usually tried to hide any hurt behind long, exasperatingly sulky silences; she could get cross with Mara when she was really angry with either herself or Arthur or both. This was more difficult to justify with Lola, who had the same determined streak as both of her sisters, but combined it with all the charm of Jessica at her best and none of the sometimes alarming emotional volatility or brittle, cold hauteur of Jessica at her worst.

Yes, it had been hard, refusing Lola something she really wanted. She did hope, though, that Arthur had not been serious when he had promised her a tennis bracelet and to contrive to take her to Italy in his attempts to placate her. He could afford all of it, of course, but it was too much for such a small girl, or at least for a small girl of Lola's stature. Jezi had been one thing, perhaps, but Jezi was not like other little girls, even her own sisters, however hard they all tried behind closed doors to deny that fact.

Approaching the refreshments, she could not, despite the stresses of the situation, help but smile at the thought of seeing Jezi. Mara had been typically (at least for her letters to her mother) laconic when discussing events leading up to this, but Jezi had been bubbling over with enthusiasm from the beginning, telling them about everything and asking for advice. She helped herself to some punch and shifted the smile to a polite one for another adult, presumably another parent.

"This is a very nice school, isn't it?" she asked, with a clear Spanish accent, even after nearly twenty years in the United States. "It is my first time here, since my daughter came here. She is in her third year."

16 Carmela Morales Mixing and mingling on my own. 0 Carmela Morales 0 5

David Wilkes

February 23, 2021 7:57 PM

I'm a lot warier than she is, but you seem okay. by David Wilkes

David preferred interacting with his ex-girlfriend as little as possible, but as they were introduced to Morgan's friend and his family, he wished that he had thought to make up some hand gesture or other signal to tip Amanda off to people or situations she might want to be careful during. He had taken one look at the other family and immediately been pretty sure that they were talking to purebloods. Half a glance at his wife was as good as confirmation of this. If Amanda said the wrong thing, or admitted that she was a Muggle....

Still, Morgan was almost Muggleborn herself, for all practical purposes - his fault - and the Wilsons' son was friends with her, and the two adults were willingly shaking hands with him and Sage and Amanda. They were probably not too actively prejudiced, then, at least as long as Gabriel and Morgan refrained from falling into a turbulent love affair or anything like that. He smiled politely, then, and hoped for the best.

"David Wilkes," he introduced himself. "My wife, Sage - and Amanda."

Hopefully, he thought, they would assume he and Amanda were divorced, or that there was something polygamous going on involving Sage as the senior wife and Amanda not being explicitly acknowledged as a wife in public for legal reasons, or something. Remarkably, the truth might actually be more awkward to explain, if they knew Morgan's last name was Garrett and asked how that had come to happen - he hadn't thought of it until after he had said his own name. Why had he done that? They had not needed to know that information!

He glanced at Morgan, worried, but she seemed utterly unbothered. She had always seemed like that, as far as he knew. Had they ever actually discussed it, though? Should they?

"Thanks!" Morgan said brightly when Gabriel complimented her, beaming. "It's been so long since I did anything in public, you know - I used to do some tiny bits of community theater when I was little, but that was a while even before Sonora, so I was totally nervous...."

For now, at least, she seemed to have other things on her mind. He'd just go on hoping for the best.

"It's good to be back at Sonora," said David. "And show them around - they went to different schools. I went here. Aladren," he added, with the ghost of pride. "Are either of you alumni?"

16 David Wilkes I'm a lot warier than she is, but you seem okay. 169 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

February 24, 2021 6:54 AM

It seems like we should follow you by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

OOC: Post subject to editing if inaccurate assumptions have been made about what Sadie would know of Jessica's thoughts, or if Juilieta would have jumped in to respond sooner.

Also happy to edit up to get to intros if that's easier for other people. BIC:

“Oh, how wonderful!” Jenna-Lee smiled. “Well, think of you going to school with someone like that and you didn’t even know it!”

Sadie - if possible for someone who was already being an obedient, smiling statue – froze, wondering whether or not to correct her mom. When they had first been interrupted Sadie, had been almost grateful. Whilst she wanted to severely limit the number of people her mom interacted with, this person was saving her from having to respond to the Arvale shaped bombshell her mother had just dropped into the conversation. Though the relief was very, very short-lived, because here they were looping right back round…

She wasn’t quite sure what to make of Mrs. De Matteo’s claim about Felipe being close friends with Jessica. Jessica had never said anything, and it was certainly possible that – of the plenty of times she wasn’t with Sadie, many of them were with Felipe – but he was aware enough of Jessica’s presence in the girls’ dorms to know that it fluctuated, and she had a feeling that Jessica was on/off friends with Felipe. Still, her own policy of keeping her head down and not being noticed by her housemates unless necessary or definitely safe had extended to him, and she had to admit that she didn’t know much about him. The way Mrs. De Matteo talked it sounded like he came from money. Like, serious money. Of course, Jessica did too, and to a lesser extent she herself did, but this was clearly magical money. Possibly more than that. Unlike her mother, who assumed there had been a minor slip in the otherwise impeccable English, Sadie did not automatically under-rate the word ‘subjects.’ It was odd, given everything Jessica had said about ‘these people’ and ‘back-stabbers’ in their house that she was friends, even if intermittently, with someone who was so much a part of that system.

Still, none of that was the point right now. The point was that the subject of Arvale was very definitely on the table, and more specifically the subject of Jessica. Sadie wasn’t exactly the sort to chime in about knowing Jessica, partly because it would have seemed like bragging, but also because she knew exactly how her mother was going to react. But if she went over there and started talking as if Sadie barely knew her, that could be embarrassing in its own way – that had already happened once this conversation, though luckily only with Mrs. De Matteo who didn’t know any better. There was no doubt that her mom was going to be begging this woman for an introduction even if Sadie didn’t say anything. She also felt the tiniest sting of being left out. Not that she wanted to brag about Jessica, but if anyone here got to be excited about her, shouldn’t it have been Sadie?

Still, what to say was taken basically out of her hands as Mrs. De Matteo turned and asked her point blank about it.

She nodded, feeling like she was making the gesture in slow motion.

“Yeah, she’s my friend too,” she said quietly.

“Well, goodness me! And here I thought all the Arvale things under your bed were just because you were a fan. I didn’t realise you’d networked your way right to the top!” Jenna-Lee beamed, “You could have told me sooner, sweetie! Honestly, we get never ending stories about your talking bunny rabbit but you never thought to tell me this?” she asked.

Sadie was pretty sure she hadn’t mentioned Jack-Jack above a handful of times. Certainly, she had mentioned Jessica far more, though obviously not the part her mom thought was the most interesting or important. For obvious reasons. Reasons which were now manifesting themselves all around her.

“Well, won’t it be nice for all of us to go say hello, hm?” Jenna-Lee asked.

“I don’t see her,” mumbled Sadie, having the most cursory glance around, wondering whether Jessica’s parents might have spirited her away quickly and impatiently.

“I’m sure we can find them,” Jenna-Lee said. She was about to gesture for Sadie and Mrs. De Matteo to lead on, figuring that they knew who they were looking for, when it suddenly occurred to her that she did too. The promo video that Arvale had sent had featured ‘Ms. Arvale herself.’ And that bright, coppery hair should be easy enough to pick out of a crowd. “Isn’t that them?” she nodded at a place where a little knot of people had just moved on, revealing a familiar figure.

They made their way across the hall. Jenna-Lee was chit-chatting to Mrs. De Matteo as they went. Sadie tried to block it out, though she had already heard her full name twice and ‘highly successful.’ She wondered how slowly she could walk without it being obvious, or whether she could somehow use magic – either on purpose or by accident – to stretch the tiles in front of them out so that however far across them they walked they never got closer to where they were going. Or to just… set everything on fire.

But the hall remained devastatingly obedient to physics and totally unlit. In literally every sense.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers It seems like we should follow you 1480 0 7

Felipe De Matteo

February 24, 2021 3:04 PM

I'm not following. [Introducing the Hayles family] by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe would rather be almost anywhere than talking to his father, although he was happy to if it meant that Leonor could get a bit of respite from conversation for now, and if it meant that Ilefonso De Matteo wasn't going around meeting anyone else. It was probably fine if he did, but there was a certain ex-boyfriend Leonor was pretty determined to keep their father from and much as Felipe didn't like Jeremy, he didn't necessarily want to see harm come to him either. At least, not from the De Matteo patriarch. So Felipe chatted with his father. Well, his father chatted with him at least; Felipe didn't have much to say and his father seemed to have a lot to say. He was in booming high spirits and had been pleased with the concert. Entertainment for the masses was important to him and he appreciated a good throwback to folklore, even if he didn't know most of the stories that had been depicted.

Over his father's shoulder, Felipe caught sight of his mother making her way through the room and then stopping to chat with an unfamiliar woman and Sadie Chalmers. Felipe didn't know her well except that she was in Leonor's year and Felipe's House, and that she was quiet. They'd spoken before and she seemed nice, though. It wasn't the fact that Felipe's mother was chatting with the Chalmers family though, it was that they were rapidly crossing the floor to where Jessica was standing with her family. Felipe hadn't done much to keep his parents updated on where things stood with Jessica, although he was sure it hadn't gone unnoticed that there hadn't been any invites either direction for summer visits anymore.

Felipe's father noticed his sudden disengagement and tapped the side of his nose suggestively when he followed his son's gaze. "Go talk to her," he said with a wry smile, glimpsing Jessica across the room. "I need to find the restroom. And your sister probably too." With one more small smirk, he left Felipe alone to decide whether to throw himself into a conversation that probably wasn't his business or not.

It really wasn't his business. He really didn't have to join. But something about the way that Sadie just looked like something bad was about to happen made him want to fix it, even though he almost definitely couldn't because so far he'd fixed exactly zero things ever. Picking his way between other milling families, Felipe arrived at his mother's side just as she led Sadie and her family to the Hayleses.

"Arthur, Ros, Jessica, always good to see you," Julieta was saying with a small dip of her head and a friendly, social smile. "I overheard these lovely people talking about Arvale and wanted to give you the chance to meet each other if you haven't already," she said. "Ah, and my son. This is Felipe," she added to the woman she'd walked with, placing a hand on Felipe's arm with a much firmer grasp than she probably meant to. Felipe wondered how much of his and Leonor's stress was also his mother's, and whether he'd ever be able to be as collected as she was. Or whether he wanted to be.

Felipe nodded as he was introduced, smiling at the gathered families. This was probably going to suck, he suspected. "Pleasure to meet you," he said. "Sadie and I are in the same House," he added for context, glancing at Jessica out of the corner of his eye to read her expression as best he could, although he expected the same social smile that they all wore because that's what you did. That's what you always had to do.

22 Felipe De Matteo I'm not following. [Introducing the Hayles family] 1434 0 5

Jenna-Lee Chalmers

February 24, 2021 4:43 PM

But soon you will be by Jenna-Lee Chalmers

Whilst Tag had smiled and acknowledged the new comer, he had mostly left it up to his wife, seeing as they seemed to be talking kids, and school, and shop. He suspected that would be the case too with these Arvale people, seeing as he would have guessed at those being cleaning products if someone hadn't already said they were cosmetics. Either way, it was more connected to Jenna-Lee's world than his. Still, he felt he should be the one to lead (other than Julieta) partly because he was the man of the house, and partly so he could fade back again and leave his wife to talk lipstick and... and whatever else.

"Tag Chalmers," he smiled, offering a handshake and a business card, which declared him to be in corporate management for a highly prominent cellphone company. He passed one to the witchy lady too, even though she was possibly going to think it was a fruit not a range of high end tech. "My wife, Jenna-Lee, and I guess you already at least know of our daughther."

"Lovely to meet you," Jenna-Lee smiled, handing over business cards to both parties (if the hat man had got one, she could spare this lady one for the sake of being polite). "Sadie-Lake," she stated, pointing the second syllable lightly at Felipe. She suspected he had only heard her name in roll call and perhaps he assumed it was her surname that was double barrelled. It was, she had to admit, a slight flaw with the name they had chosen, although surely any sensible person would never call themselves Lake-Chalmers, "talks about Jessica all the time, and I'm always finding Arvale things in her room. She never mentioned the connection though!" she stated, shaking her head slightly. "It's the funniest thing, I've been DMing your social media people to set her up with products to model in her summer shoots, and all the while she's better connected than I am!" she laughed.

13 Jenna-Lee Chalmers But soon you will be 0 Jenna-Lee Chalmers 0 7

Valentine Duell

February 24, 2021 5:30 PM

Salutations! by Valentine Duell

Valentine was thankful that she had been far to busy and excited to worry about things to much. Mama and Papa were here to see concert and she did her best to make it as wonderful as possible. She had been busy making props and helping with costumes and working with Ness on their performance... and then it was all over. Everything had gone fine, she had played the part of Ianthe just fine, there had been applause and then it was over. It almost felt anti-climactic.

Some of those pesky worries were beginning to pop up in her mind as she started to search the crowd for Mama and Papa. School was now over for the year. She was happy and excited to spend a lot of time home again with her parents and Aunt Giselle, but she was also going to miss her friends here. Thankfully they were all going to be back again next year, she hadn't really gotten to know any of the seventh year... Oh. Heinrich wasn't going to be here when she returned. That was fine, he was just one of the game club members. That was all. She would miss him, but there certainly wasn't any more of a reason she was sad to see him go. Strange feeling swirled around inside her as her thoughts wandered. Evelyn would miss him, yes. She would need to be very good friends with Evelyn next year and help her if she wanted help.

Would next year be Evelyn and Ness' last year? What would happen to the game club after that? Would Morgan take over? She was the next oldest. What was next year going to be like? Intermediate classes and Divinations... things were going to get harder. Would she need to drop some clubs? Nope. Problems for next year, not right now. She shook her head to clear it and look around at where she was walking. She needed to find Bonabelle and Lavender and Alexander and Esme and... oh, probably Stanley. Val chided herself a bit for not putting her boyfriend higher on the list. Well she tried to, but things had just gotten a little awkward after the picnic and she just wasn't sure what was going on anymore. But she should find him before leaving.

Looking around however, she spotted Esme first. So she pushed all that other stuff to some back corner of her mind, smiled and walked over to the girl. "Hi!" she replied cheerily in greeting. "Yeah, I think it went off really well! Thanks for helping out making some of that stuff." Val thought the slightly older girl had made some really nice bits for the show. "Do you have any exciting plans for the summer?"

2 Valentine Duell Salutations! 1490 0 5

Gabriel Wilson and parents

February 24, 2021 7:51 PM

We do try to be okay by Gabriel Wilson and parents

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wilkes" Jana replied. Wilkes...that sounded vaguely familiar and not because of Morgan. Actually, she thought her son's friend might actually not have the same last name as her dad, if she remembered correctly.Gabriel had mentioned a lot of names regarding those who participated in his game but she didn't think he mentioned a Wilkes. Of course, Gabriel had been more inclined to mention first names as she'd raised him and his sister never to call people by just a last name without putting a title in front of it. It was either first names or the names of the characters they played. And there were a lot of them and it was hard to keep track. All Jana remembered was that none of them were other purebloods. There weren't a lot around Gabriel's age and most of the few that there were were related to him somehow. It was going to make it harder for him to find someone when he was already at a disadvantage due to him being, well, a bit different.

Still, trying to place the name Wilkes was going to bug her.

"You're welcome." Gabriel replied. "Have you ever considered starting a theater club? I mean, you clearly enjoy it and are good at it." To him, this made a lot of sense. You should do what you enjoy so long as it doesn't harm anyone else. He would start a trivia club, but he wasn't exactly sure how that would work. Or if anyone would join.

Well, Val might. She seemed to be a big joiner.

"I am." Jana replied. "Also an Aladren. Barry went to the Melcher Academy in Iowa." She smiled at this man, a fellow housemate. "I was before your time obviously." Mr. Wilkes appeared to be quite a bit younger than her, closer to age to some of her nieces and nephews.

Then it hit her. "Actually, I think my nephew Ryan might have been in school the same time as you. And some of my nieces too. Arabella and Amity Brockert?" She thought David Wilkes might have been the guy who beat her nephew out for things twice, not that Ryan really cared. His self-esteem was low enough to not think he deserved Head Boy and he was pretty proud of second place in those Challenges."And Ryan O'Malley?"

Of course, Jana wasn't about to hold it against Mr. Wilkes now. That would be silly, especially since Ryan never had. The friendship between their children was more important regardless of Morgan's blood status. Jana cared a good deal about her children and while them being social butterflies didn't matter, she did want them to have friends and be liked. However, she was still curious about a potential connection here.

"Ryan is Stanley's dad." Gabriel added, for Morgan's benefit. Stanley had shown up one night for one of the games they'd been playing. It was one that Val was running and they'd had some people there who weren't regular members, like Phillipe and Bertie. Honestly, Gabriel had enjoyed that one quite a bit and had been more relaxed than usual. And he'd really enjoyed having his cousin there and sharing something with him, even though Stanley was there because of Val, not him."And Wally's." He continued, not wanting to leave the Crotalus out either. "He's over there with my sister and theirs, talking to Valerie and her family. She's a cousin of some kind and her son is a first year."

"Her dad is my first cousin." Jana informed her son. She looked at Morgan's family "Sorry, our family is huge and complex." She apologized. "I don't mean to get into it. It can be rather confusing."

11 Gabriel Wilson and parents We do try to be okay 0 Gabriel Wilson and parents 0 5

Esme Brockert

February 24, 2021 8:57 PM

On to conversing by Esme Brockert

Esme smiled at Val. She generally found the younger girl to be fairly pleasant and sweet. She was pretty good company which was always nice to find. They weren't that close but they had worked together at the charity fair last year at the ABCD booth and chatted in class before. "You're welcome." She replied.

"You did very well." Esme complimented Val. As the Teppenpaw had been working with Ness McLeod, the Crotalus had heard from Isla that Topaz had had many complaints about the act but none of them had really been about Val. Mostly, her cousin seemed to be complaining about the other Aladren pushing a political agenda and just...existing in a production Topaz was involved with. And then complaining about Isla having her roommate in a male role and that inadvertedly furthering Ness's agenda which the first year had not been intending to do in the least . Isla didn't have agendas, and she'd just needed someone to perform a role that Jasper had been unwilling to do. Honestly,Esme tried her best to ignore her cousin, but she was none to pleased about her giving Isla a hard time.

"Some. We'll be going down to St. Berylla's as usual." St. Berylla's was an all magical island in the Caribbean that wasn't found on any Muggle map. It was a place where high society purebloods vacationed and the Brockerts, as a whole, owned a good deal of property there and generally speaking, came and went all summer, with women and children spending more time there while men went to their jobs and came down on weekends or for a week here and there. Such was the advantage of magical transportation.

"I'm still a little young for the balls that my older sister and cousins will be attending." Esme went on. This was a tad annoying, as she felt that even though she was just fourteen, she was incredibly mature for her age but her mother still thought she was too young, Meanwhile, Allegra would be going to them and was completely terrified. Which was one reason Esme needed to go. Moral support because Merlin only knew her sister wouldn't be getting that from Topaz .

Which was yet another reason Esme needed to go along, to protect her sister from whatever horrid thing her cousin would do to spoil things. "What about you?" She asked Val. "Do you have plans?"

11 Esme Brockert On to conversing 1479 0 5

Beau Tate and parents

February 24, 2021 9:38 PM

Continuation by Beau Tate and parents

"Well, that was quite a lovely show."Chelsea said. She wasn't all that upset that Beau hadn't been a part of it. Although she sometimes wished her son had a fraction of his older sister's level of ambition, she didn't think he needed to prance around on stage or be involved in any sort of activity he didn't enjoy. She never quite understood why Beau had never gone out for Quidditch though beyond that he was lazy. Chelsea had never thought someone could be both active and lazy at the same time until she'd had her son. He sometimes worked out, clearly out of the desire to look good, a value their family shared, or would do things like surfing but had no direction, no goals, no purpose.

Something that concerned his father greatly. Julian often wished that his son had been the ambitious one rather than his daughter. A girl had no need for ambition and some even thought it was unseemly. At least Arianna could help her husband get ahead. Beau, on the other hand...well, if he was more like his sister, he would go so far in life.

Beau tried to choose his next words carefully, which was not something he usually did. However, there were things he could say, about how hard that people had worked on the show or how much effort they'd put in, that might remind his parents of the fact that Beau... didn't work hard or put effort into anything. Except for having fun, of course. "They certainly did a nice job." Beau replied.

Oh, crud .

He'd said that word . The word job . The Pecari hoped to Merlin that it didn't make his father think about him having one.

11 Beau Tate and parents Continuation 0 Beau Tate and parents 0 5

Theo Spurn

February 25, 2021 6:48 AM

I HAVE MANY PEOPLE by Theo Spurn

Everyone was here! His mum! His dad! His Sophie! His Jacob!

Theo really felt like the concert went on far too long given that he couldn't touch it and it was standing (and walking and playing and fighting) in between him and his family. He twisted around in his seat, half listening to the stories (because he did like stories) and half running things through his fingers to pass the time.

When the concert was over, he started wiggling through the crowd, looking for all his people. This involved moving other people out of the way, which he sometimes did slightly shovily. He was certainly concentrating more on going than on stopping, or going carefully, and-BUMP

Someone bumped him. He had not explicitly noticed much of the bumping he had done, but the one that happened to him was sudden, definite, and surprising, and he squeaked. Theo was no stranger to getting bumped. He semi-lived with Stanley, and whilst Theo and Wally sometimes let Tommy be the buffer of Stanley's bumpiness, there were certain situations where Theo threw himself in just as enthusiastically.

This, of course, was not one of them. And he had not asked to be bumped, or gotten involved in a confirmedly bumpy activity. Then a man was saying sorry for the girl bumping him and he wasn't sure what this man was being sorry for as he looked to be behaving perfectly well.

"The person who did the bumping is the one who says sorry," he said, surprised that the grown up didn't know this. He had stopped, because he had been bumped, but he still craned his neck around, peering about for his own family whilst he spoke.

"Graham is Wally's roommate!" he added enthusiastically, as something within all the blah blah blah the man had said connected with something he knew. "He's okay. Quiet and tidy," he quoted what he knew on the subject from his god-nephew. "But I don't know where he is," he added. "I am still looking for people too, and I am trying to do it without bumping others." He was not sure he was doing that entirely successfully, but he was trying.

13 Theo Spurn I HAVE MANY PEOPLE 1476 0 5

Simon Mordue

February 25, 2021 10:23 AM

It's good to be back. by Simon Mordue

There was, Simon thought, something ever so slightly surreal about bein back at Sonora.

This morning, with it somewhat forced onto his mind by the impending occasion and its influence on his day, Simon had thought of his old school with a trace of residual affection and nostalgia, but no more than that. He was, after all, altogether a different person from the Simon Mordue who had been a part of life at Sonora: he was an adult now, a man of the world, someone entirely removed from schoolboy concerns.

Then, of course, he had actually set foot on campus, and all at once, it had become bizarre to also see his parents, and even stranger that he was being led around with a tour group. He already knew where everything here was! And then they had passed Gunther, and realizing that he didn't know the password which would motivate the inferius someone had inexplicably painted to grant access to the Crotalus commons caused him a momentary sensation of dislocations and mild alarm, as though he had forgotten his bat upstairs and was about to be late to Quidditch practice.

Part of it, no doubt, was just that he had not been gone long enough, but with a rare flash of something like insight, Simon suspected that other people were probably also parts of it. There were one or two new faces among the staff, but next to none he expected to see were missing. Many of the students he had gathered were the ringleaders among those slated to provide the entertainment had names he knew, could even put faces to. And as for the thought that he was going to be late to Quidditch practice - why, two of his teammates were right here in the tour group!

Admittedly, Tatiana was in no fit state for a round of practice, though he reckoned one could respectably kit out a school team with the proceeds from selling her earrings - or possibly just the pearl drops, even without the large rubies and their frames of small diamonds. He could only assume they were charmed in some fashion in order to lighten them, otherwise he couldn't see how they couldn't damage her earlobes. Amazingly, though, she was not even the gaudiest member of the little group of people who periodically gabbled to each other in their harsh language - that would be a tall, brown-haired, somewhat melacholy-looking witch he assumed was her mother. How rich were these people, anyway, to be able to turn out two women like that, plus all the other things Tatiana had worn in her school days? Tatiana - unfortunately, if she was that rich and as attractive as she was when she kept her mouth shut - was not someone who would last five minutes in polite society here, but she did have that sister, the one who was friends with Sylvie...He had a fancy to catch one of the Brockert girls whenever it occurred to Father to insist that he get married, just to ensure a minimal amount of ambiguity on whether he and Winston had come up equals again, but he had gathered that Nathaniel might have a thing for the quiet Brockert girl in Sylvia's crowd, and Simon could put up with some gaudy in-laws if they brought with them a claim on what had to be an eye-watering amount of money....

Not, of course, that his opinion was the most important in such matters (if it had been, he wouldn't have to be so discreet in his efforts to finally enjoy life a bit, now that he had the ability to come and go as he pleased), and at the moment the whole subject was of no relevance at all. As they were left in the Cascade Hall to mingle before the Concert, then, he put the issue aside and wandered off to find someone hopefully marginally interesting to speak with.

16 Simon Mordue It's good to be back. 369 0 5

Valentine Duell

February 25, 2021 5:37 PM

I like conversing! by Valentine Duell

Valentine smiled and blushed just a bit at the compliment that Esme paid her. "Thanks," she responded simply. It had been fun, but she wasn't sure if acting was something she really wanted to get into more. She loved telling stories and acting up for her friends in the gaming club, but this had felt different. Her audience hadn't been sitting next to her at the table, easily able to interact with, they had been separate. The front of the stage and that mythical 'fourth wall' had set them apart. While it wasn't entirely bad, she just wasn't sure if it was an experience she would seek out again without good cause. Like, someone asking her to do it.

Then Esme mentioned her summer plans and Val's face scrunched up a bit trying to recall some wayward bit of information. St. Berylla's.... St. Berylla's... she'd heard that somewhere before. Then her eyes snapped open as it hit her. "The island in the Caribbean?" Aunt Jhonice talked about the place every so often. It sounded fantastic... and expensive. "I've heard a little bit about it, is it really nice?"

Truth be told, Val was a bit jealous of Esme. She was going to get to go to balls when she was older. The only ball Valentine was probably ever going to go to was the one that the school had every few years. She wondered if she would have someone to go with when the time came. At least she could commiserate with her friend for the time being. "Balls do sound like fun, but you won't be alone. I don't think I'll be going to any either." She responded as cheerily as she was able to. "Will your sister go to a lot of them over the summer?"

When Esme turned the tables on her Valentine was quite sure what to say. To the best of her knowledge, summer was going to consist of hanging out at home with Mama, Papa and Aunt Giselle. Bonabelle had visited last year... maybe she could convince them to do that again? Maybe she could work out doing something with Lavender? "Not really," she responded. It was the best answer she could give. "I've got some ideas for things, but nothing really planned." It struck her that her life might be boring.

2 Valentine Duell I like conversing! 1490 0 5

Wesley Pierce

February 25, 2021 5:37 PM

Quite so by Wesley Pierce

"Very good," Wesley confirmed their confirmation with a nod. "We will see you there, then. Alicia will send an owl with a formal invitation tomorrow, most likely." It was cutting it a little close, but they had wanted to give Caitlin a chance to add any personal touches to the invitation cards that she might like, and amend the guest list if she noticed anyone was missing or that she wanted to snub. Wesley figured Allegra's family was a safe bet, but it would be rude for some people to get their formal invites before others.

Wesley watched the interaction between the small child and Allegra, feeling no regret at all that Caitlin had no younger siblings. The child was cute in the way only very small children could be, but it wasn't nearly enough to make him wish he had one at his house. He much preferred adult company, and he felt like he had won some kind of achievement having now reared two offspring to that status.

Allegra finished greeting her youngest brother and came to join the adults she was very nearly a part of, if she wasn't already. He could not recall the date of her birth and whether or not she had reached the age of majority yet, though it would still be another year before she graduated even if she was already seventeen.

"Hello, Miss Brockert. I did enjoy the show," he answered politely, deciding not to mention the parts he'd found less than enjoyable. They certainly were not Allegra's fault.

"Ah, good," he said, when she noted that his son had found his daughter. They would most likely be making their way to find him or Alicia soon then.

"Are you a part of the Art Club Caitlin talks about?" he asked, as he could not remember if she had mentioned if Allegra had been part of her concert preparations or not.

1 Wesley Pierce Quite so 0 Wesley Pierce 0 5

David Wilkes

February 25, 2021 6:15 PM

We do, too...but sometimes we kinda fail a bit. by David Wilkes

Morgan’s eyes widened slightly at the thought of starting a theater club. And at being told she was good at theater!

“Thank you so much!” she bubbled over, smiling as widely as her face would allow. “I’ve always wanted to be an actress when I grow up – that’s actually kind of why I joined D and D,” she admitted, tucking her hair back and feeling her cheeks redden as she mentioned her dearest ambition out loud. “It sounded a little like acting, yeah? I pretend to be someone else, right? But to start my own club – “ She could hardly even imagine that. “Do you really think that anyone would join?” she asked. “Or, like, listen to me trying to organize anything?” she added with a self-deprecating giggle, smoothing her hair again.

“We’re a very Aladren crowd then,” said David upon hearing he had just met another former Aladren. “Melcher, though – that sounds familiar, too – I think I went to school with a Melcher! Quentin, yeah, I think that was his last name – he was a few years ahead of me. Small world, huh?”

Then Jana mentioned more names, and David nodded. “Ryan, yeah, I remember him, we were in the same year. I think I remember your nieces being at school with me too.”

Morgan looked between her father and the Wilsons, now even wider-eyed. “Very small world,” she said in a tone of faint awe.

Sage Wilkes laughed when the Wilsons apologized for their complicated family tree, followed by chuckles from the rest of her party. “Believe me, David and Morgan can follow,” she said, smiling. “I remember when I met David’s younger sister – I could hardly understand anything they were saying, they kept calling so many different people ‘our cousin,’ and they hardly ever meant the same thing twice….”

“David’s family tree does resemble a briar patch in a few places,” said Amanda dryly.

“Yours isn’t that much better,” he protested. “We’re from the same town! I think my great-grandma’s half sister might have been married to one of your great-uncles, actually….”

“They all understand,” said Sage. “I think I’m starting to get the hang of it, after all these years. At least it put all the memorization I had to do while I was studying to be a mediwitch into perspective! What do you do?” she asked, before David and Amanda could start arguing about either or both of their great-uncles.

16 David Wilkes We do, too...but sometimes we kinda fail a bit. 169 0 5

Graham Osbrook

February 25, 2021 6:58 PM

I hope that's a good thing? by Graham Osbrook

James blinked, surprised and a bit confused by the boy’s response.

“Er – yes, I suppose that is right,” he conceded awkwardly, and then glanced down at Claire. “Claire?” he prompted.

Claire, reduced to shyness by the awkwardness of the way in which she had caused someone to actually notice her presence, shrank back against her father. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, now tugging on the end of her own ponytail as, bright-eyed, she studied the stranger she had collided with.

“You look about Graham’s age,” observed James, moving the conversation along. “Are you boys friends?”

Graham opened his mouth to try to form some kind of response, but Theo interjected with what seemed to him like a small avalanche of largely irrelevant details. He nodded instead, a tad uncertainly. “Er – yeah, that’s true, Wally is my roommate,” he agreed. He was unsure which of them was being called quiet and tidy in particular, himself or Wally, but guessed it applied about as well one way as the other and so let that one go. “Mom – Dad – Claire – this is Theo Spurn…I think he and Wally might be related somehow?” he hazarded a guess.

Claire’s face went brilliantly red at the comment about trying not to bump into others. Graham, having been in the same class spaces as Theo the previous year, thought it was possible it was just a non-sequitur rather than an attempt to be snarky at her, but still…. “Dude,” he said a touch crossly. “Accidents happen, it’s okay.”

“Graham,” said his mother quietly in warning, putting a hand on his shoulder.

16 Graham Osbrook I hope that's a good thing? 1498 0 5

Katerina Vorontsov

February 25, 2021 8:41 PM

So happy by Katerina Vorontsov

The past few weeks had passed in a blur, a single long rush of colors and sounds and the aches and pains of fatigue. Now, looking around her after it was all over, Katya could hardly believe that it had really happened. Only the amount of glitter in her hair (it had seemed necessary to make her very visually obvious for her role in the Russian tale which had been selected for the Concert) confirmed the reality of the situation.

Ignoring the sparkling of her collarbones, she smiled to herself, wrapping her arms around herself and closing her eyes in pleasure.

When they had had the workshop meeting, she had been relieved to note that she was in the gap between her major exams, as she had quickly realized that she was going to be extremely busy. At the time, though, she wasn’t sure that she had really known what the word meant. Planning and logistics alone had been massive tasks, coordinating between ‘departments’ in order to see what people needed and check that there were enough people working on various tasks and making sure that backdrops she worked on didn’t clash with costumes…and that had been before she had begun to paint and sew and charm and transfigure things herself. She was not entirely sure that a slight indigo stain under one fingernail was ever going to completely come off at this point, and she had had at least one case of highly durable paint somehow getting on part of her hair, all that before she had on one occasion glued two fingers together, much less started rehearsals, and….

She had loved every minute of it.

The rush that came from being part of something, the equal if not greater one of a sense of command, the chance to use all of her talents up to their breaking points…it had been blissful. And then – then, she had shared something from her world with the people at Sonora, with her friends, and people had clapped. They had not seemed to reject something overtly Russian, the way she had been afraid they would – it had been all right, putting the two together, instead of trying to just be as American as possible. And her family had seen it, too, and –

She would, of course, be happier than this in her life. That was inevitable. She’d marry, have children, observe them making her proud, and those things were sure to be more important to her in the long run than this performance would be. But that knowledge in no way changed the fact that right now, she was very, very happy.

16 Katerina Vorontsov So happy 1418 0 5

Esme Brockert

February 25, 2021 9:16 PM

I gathered that by Esme Brockert

"You're welcome." Esme replied. She really hoped Topaz hadn't been too hard on the second year. Merlin only knew what sort of guilt by association her cousin had assigned to the girl for working with her nemesis and the subsequent misery that was inflicted on the Teppenpaw. After all, Topaz had done her best to make Isla's life as difficult as she could and Esme could only imagine that she was worse to her roommate and that would have affected Val.

"Yes, that's the one." She responded. "It is absolutely beautiful and even if I don't get to go to balls, it's still a lot of fun. " Esme got to spend time socializing with pureblood children who didn't attend Sonora, meeting people and making connections. However, she was aware of how this would probably sound to Val who was not part of that community and she really didn't want to make the other girl feel bad. After all, even though there was something to be said for being in an environment where you weren't the one who was different and not having to be careful all the time not to offend someone or worry you were going to offend someone just by being who you were, that did not mean that there weren't people at Sonora whose company Esme enjoyed, such as Val, Sadie and even Mab to an extent. And the Crotalus would not want to make the younger girl feel like she was less than. Val didn't deserve that and Esme didn't really see her that way either.

She smiled at the Teppenpaw, trying to think of a diplomatic response. "Yeah, it's unfortunate." Esme replied "But I'm sure we'll both find other things to occupy ourselves." She shrugged. "She'll probably be going to quite a few. It's just what we do when we get to a particular age. My parents are hoping she'll meet someone nice since she hasn't had much luck at Sonora. They think I'm too young for that yet." Esme rolled her eyes. "Parents always think things like that, they never seem to want us to grow up." She had been ready to grow up since before she was even at Sonora.

"Well, that can be nice too." The third year replied. "I mean, you can just relax and not have anything stressful to worry about." She knew full well how Allegra would rather be doing that and not going to parties and meeting people. " A break from all the school work and everything."

11 Esme Brockert I gathered that 1479 0 5

Rosalie Hayles

February 26, 2021 7:43 AM

Somehow I don't think he will.... by Rosalie Hayles

It was true, Ros thought, what people said: you really could get used to anything, given enough time.

She remembered, vividly, the last time she and Arthur had been at Sonora: they had both been terrified, being out in what amounted to public without bodyguards or even the ability to call common police at need, among strange people, and both also desperately worried about their daughter, too. They had been concerned enough about the educational neglect and lack of direct communication with Jessica, but then at midterm, it had become obvious that her mental health was beginning to deteriorate….

Those had not been good times for them.

Now…well, Ros wasn’t sure if they were in a better place or if they had simply resigned themselves to the situation while Jessica had developed Stockholm syndrome. Either way, though, she supposed that it was better than where they had been: tonight, Ros was still a little anxious, standing here without any security which was more loyal to her than to the organization, but she was less anxious than she had been the last time, and as Jessica came out to them, this time she was smiling.

Ros smiled, too, when she saw a familiar face coming up to her: not a friend, perhaps, but she had an acquaintance here in this world. Someone she could more or less understand on some level, who was not totally dissimilar to herself. “Julieta,” she greeted the other woman. “How have you been?”

Jessica smiled, too. “Buenas noches, Sra. De Matteo,” she said, and continued to smile as they were presented to what she assumed were Sadie’s parents, even though the picture of that dress Mrs. Chalmers had tried to put Sadie in for the Ball flashed through her head. They had managed to fix that situation, but still: she was kind of surprised to see Mrs. Chalmers looking…not that bad. A little too trendy for her personal taste – being actively trendy seemed to her to be a little too…try-hard – but still, perfectly respectable. Designers, heels. She saw her mother’s eyes flick to Mrs. Chalmers’ shoes, and started to suppress another smile (some things never changed) before instead directing it to Felipe as he joined them all.

“Hi,” she whispered to him.

And then, she found out that Mr. Chalmers’ name was Tag, and Mrs. Chalmers shoved perfumed business cards at them and started calling Sadie something weird, and she was right back to understanding the dress. Of course, Mr. Chalmers couldn’t help it if that was his real name, or some kind of fraternity nickname, but….

Don’t be judgy. That is not okay. And Sadie is your friend, and they’re her parents, so they can’t be that bad.

Rosalie looked over Tag and Jenna-Lee, approving of their clothing at least, but her smile remained smoothly social after Jenna-Lee made a somewhat backhanded remark about her daughter’s patronage of the company. Jessica, too, was smiling, but Ros had a feeling she was worried, somehow.

“Well, I wouldn’t really call me a connection at this point,” said Jessica, feeling rather awkward. “I’m just a private person now.”

“We’ve always preferred to keep Jessica to ourselves,” added Ros. “She would have assumed a bigger role in company events as she got older, of course, but now…” She shrugged. What had there been to do, but resign themselves to the situation? “On the bright side, though, she gets to have friends who aren’t just looking for free cosmetics,” she added with a brief smile and nod of approval for Sadie.

“You said your girl does shoots - modeling shoots?” asked Arthur, smiling at Sadie. “Interesting – I’d be worried about these secrecy people coming after us, if we put Jessica in public too much."

16 Rosalie Hayles Somehow I don't think he will.... 0 Rosalie Hayles 0 5

Karl Hexenmeister

February 26, 2021 8:24 AM

Ah, Professor Skies, is there a comprehensive list of potential problems I need to tell you about? by Karl Hexenmeister

After the concert, Karl said hello to his two elder wards, congratulated their efforts, and then instructed Heinrich to keep an eye on Hansel while he ‘went to discuss a minor issue with Hansel’s registration for next year.’

He found Professor Skies and approached with only a few obvious nerves showing. This was not something he wanted to talk about with anyone, particularly anyone who might know the circumstances around Mr. Stones’ death, but it would look better if he came forward with it voluntarily than if it came out through some other means. And since Hansel was begging for him to ask if he could bring a harmless small non venomous snake to school as his pet, it would probably come out.

“Deputy Headmistress,” he began, pulling slightly at the scraggly beard on his chin. With Karl’s long tangled grey hair and the scruffy beard (cut short enough that it wouldn’t get in his way while working with the snakes, but equally obviously the severing charm he used had never been in any danger of nicking him), it was pretty obvious Heinrich still took his grooming cues from his father. “Ah, if you have a moment, I wondered if, ah,” the pauses and hesitations were from nerves not difficulty with the language, but maybe if he was lucky she would attribute them the other way. “Do you have a comprehensive list of conditions or rare magical talents that guardians need to, ah, declare, if, um, one of their chatch-ah, um,” and that was a language stumble as both ‘children’ and ‘hatchings’ tried to come out at the same time, and the resulting stutter gave him a chance to change the word to something a bit more neutral, “if their incoming ward might have one? Not that I’m saying Hansel has one,” he added, entirely unconvincingly. “But if he did, is there a list of ones you need to know about before he starts school? He won’t need any special accommodations for it or anything.”

1 Karl Hexenmeister Ah, Professor Skies, is there a comprehensive list of potential problems I need to tell you about? 0 Karl Hexenmeister 0 5

Bonabelle Row

February 26, 2021 9:00 AM

It's good to see you all together! [Duell family] by Bonabelle Row

Bonabelle had done what she'd said she'd do and not participated much in the concert. She'd been a helping hand in costuming but wasn't about to be caught dead on stage (mostly because she might actually die if she tried anything like that) and instead was content to watch Valentine take the spotlight. When the show finished, the year finished, and it was weird to think about. The next time Bonabelle came to Sonora, she'd be in a new class with new students (old students?) and she'd be in for a new set of challenges. It was exciting in a way; at least having academics to look forward to was a nice change of pace from thinking of family or friends too hard.

Family and friends we're going to collide tonight though, as Bonabelle's grandparents had stayed with Valentine's parents for a night or two (Bonabelle wasn't too sure on the details) in order to help them adjust to the time difference before attending the concert. It was their first time at the school, since their own sons had attended Hogwarts, and Bonabelle felt a little flutter of nerves. She didn't have a parent to attend this thing, but she wasn't short of family, and that was beautiful in a way too. She was getting used to that.

When the show ended, Bonabelle made her way to her grandparents who had separated from the Duells at some point and who were waiting with eager grins. Grandma was positively glowing and grandpa was looking like he wanted to and might have if he hadn't been too stoic to do such things. Bonabelle thought Uncle Killian would probably be good for her grandfather if she could get them to spend more time together. Of course, they'd had that chance and grandpa was still stoic and Uncle Killian was still... Whatever he was. Of course, who was Bonabelle to have thoughts on that?

She almost ran to her grandparents, more excited than she was expecting to be, and embraced them both together.

"That was beautiful, sweetheart!" Biddy Row told her granddaughter in her sweet mother hen voice. Bonabelle smiled.

"Thank you," she said, feeling a bit like glowing herself. "You have to meet Val!"

Turning promptly to the much more important topic was Bonabelle's way and she turned physically too, searching for her friend. She spotted her with her own parents, looking happy and glowing too. Perhaps Bonabelle was the Glenn Row to Valentine's Biddy. But not like that.

"There," she said, pointing, although the couple knew the adults of the family and could probably figure out who Val was from context, if not from pictures in the family's house. "Val!" she called, putting her hand up as she led her grandparents through the crowd. She had high hopes that Val would be allowed to visit her in Ireland this summer and getting the two families together seemed instrumental in making that happen. "Grandma and Grandpa, this is Val," she said when they were finally together and she'd thrown another embrace, this time around her friend. "You did great," she added more quietly to Val herself.

22 Bonabelle Row It's good to see you all together! [Duell family] 1488 0 5

Gabriel Wilson and parents

February 26, 2021 4:34 PM

At least you try by Gabriel Wilson and parents

"You're welcome." Gabriel replied, pleased that he'd made his friend so happy. "I mean, you never know. Some other people might really enjoy it too. People signed up for this concert so they might want to do more acting. And the Concert only comes around every four years and isn't always a play, or a bunch of plays." He wondered why Morgan wanted to pretend to be someone else, since as far as he was concerned, there was nothing wrong with being Morgan. She was a nice, fun person. Still, he supposed that acting and doing things like Dungeons and Dragons were socially acceptable ways of playing pretend once you got to a certain age. Gabriel hoped that was the case and it wasn't that the other Aladren hated herself or something. "People would be more likely to join a theater club than a trivia club, which is my thing."

"Oh we know Quentin." Jana replied. "He's related to us too, albeit distantly."They didn't know him that well, but Quentin Melcher was not exactly what one would call forgettable. Gabriel could be a tad pedantic but he had nothing on the Aladren alum. Still, Quentin was pretty decent person, a nice guy and very intelligent too. Not that intelligence and decency necessarily always went hand in hand. She knew there were Aladrens who could be completely ruthless. Her nephew Fabian disliked the type immensely but there were plenty of good ones too including her son, her brother Tim, her niece Amity and, she wanted to believe, herself. Quentin seemed to be in this category too and Gabriel definitely seemed to think both Morgan and another Aladren girl, Josie were nice as well as a boy who ran the gaming club before his graduation.

"Yeah, Amity was in our house too. We don't have quite as many on our branch of the family." Jana added. She chuckled lightly at Morgan's reaction and said. "Indeed. Ours is much the same. It's hard to keep track of just how everyone is related. Most of us think geneology lessons are a pain." She found it interesting that she found some common ground with these people who were from a different sort of life than her. It was nice.

"I didn't mind them." Gabriel added. He was the sort who enjoyed that kind of memorization and detail and was better at keeping track of who was related how than some of his cousins were but it still usually took a minute to figure it out. Still, facts and memorization were sort of his thing.

"Well, I don't work outside the home." Jana responded. "But I'm involved in charities and such." She hoped the Wilkes wouldn't judge her for this. This was what rich pureblood women did, but some people who weren't like them thought there was something wrong with this. Even though she was doing things with charities that helped people, including ones that helped abused children-the same one Ryan's sister had been involved in last year-and victims of domestic violence. "Plus, I homeschool my daughter." Normally pureblood families hired someone for this purpose, but Jana was a former Aladren and she'd wanted to do it herself. "A mediwitch though is a very admirable career."

Barry added. "And I'm a financial analyzer. It's not the most exciting job in the world but it pays well enough. You?" He asked David and Amanda.

11 Gabriel Wilson and parents At least you try 0 Gabriel Wilson and parents 0 5

Valentine Duell

February 26, 2021 4:35 PM

No, it's good to see US all together! by Valentine Duell

Valentine had found her parents, it wasn't terribly difficult with the hat Papa was wearing. She was excited to see them again. While it hadn't been all that long since she'd seen Mama last, these were much better circumstances. She made sure to embrace Mama extra hard just to make sure Mama knew she was alright and everything was fine after her last visit.

However, she didn't have long to catch up before she heard a familiar voice calling out her name across the crowd. Smiling from ear to ear, Val quickly spotted her friend waving and pulling to older people along behind her. They must be her grandparents. Which meant they were Mr. Row's parents, that was a funny thought, meeting one of the teacher's parents. She also didn't have much time to muse on that thought before she was being introduced to them.

Her initial instinct was to smile, which she did, and curtsy with a 'A pleasure to meet you'. These were after all very good and important people to Bonabelle. However, she barely got started with the gesture before Bonabelle hugged her, which was fantastic! At that point she decided that returning the hug was much more important. She blushed again as Bonabelle whispered the accolades to her. "Thanks. And thanks for helping with the costumes."

Then she figured she'd better finish with the parts of the introductions she could still complete. "It's a pleasure to meet you finally." She smiled at the pair. Turning as if to introduce her own parents, she remembered that Bonabelle's grandparents had been staying at their house already. "I guess you all already know my parents." Well, they could just move on to other topics then. "Was your trip over here okay? How has your stay been so far?" Then she glanced back at Mama before continuing, "Will you be staying with us long?" There was undoubtedly a hint of hope in that question.

2 Valentine Duell No, it's good to see US all together! 1490 0 5

Allegra Brockert and family.

February 26, 2021 8:09 PM

Uh-huh by Allegra Brockert and family.

Allegra nodded. "I'm glad you enjoyed it." She said politely. There was something about Caitlin and Winston's parents that made her feel the need to be extremely proper. They seemed to be very formal people, not as....warm and relaxed as her parents tended to be when they were alone as a family. Her parents were definitely very family oriented types and Allegra was looking forward to them all spending time together. Well, the seven of them, that was. Not including the cousins, aunts and uncles.

Anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Pierce were always pleasant enough to her and her friend definitely didn't seem to have any complaints about them, nor did Emerald. It was just that Allegra didn't want to screw up and look bad in front of them which probably said as much about her as them. She tended to worry a lot when it came to socializing, even beyond just being afraid Topaz was going to somehow mess things up for her. Allegra was also worried about messing things up all on her own. Socializing tended to make her anxious and she was dreading the fact that she would be doing a lot of it over the summer.

She nodded. "Yes, sir. Caitlin's and my friend, Katerina, runs the club and I wanted to help her. So, I helped paint the set pieces."

"Allegra is quite the quilter." Ben added. "Although that wasn't really something that was needed for the concert, she made some for the fair last year, which sold."

The sixth year blushed, as she usually did when she was complimented in front of strangers. Or in general. She wasn't especially used to them, she was used to having Topaz there cutting her down to size.

11 Allegra Brockert and family. Uh-huh 0 Allegra Brockert and family. 0 5

Marissa Duell

February 26, 2021 8:11 PM

Yes, it is, by Marissa Duell

The Duells, it had to be said, made an odd couple tonight. Andrew looked like a younger steampunk Gandalf, while Marissa, in black dress pants and a silky, modestly scooped-neck pink and black abstract-patterned blouse, looked like a middle school teacher.

Marissa, content that Andrew had at least left off the most extravagant efforts to do his paternal duty of embarrassing Val in public, had largely forgotten about the discrepancy by the time the show ended and Val found them. Beaming, she hugged her daughter, pleased and relieved to see how much better Val looked than she had the last time Marissa had seen her. As far as she could tell, at least, it seemed that Val had completely recovered from her accident, as if it had never happened at all….

Hopefully, that was the case. She had no real reason to think it wasn’t. It was true that she had also had no reason to think there was anything subtly wrong with her life after she’d returned from Greece, until one day she had…but she could not keep dwelling on that. It was just plain unlikely that anything else like that would ever happen to her family again. For one thing, she and Andrew were older and smarter now than they had been when Giselle was a child. For another, how much could happen to one family?

Though, of course, she was still lucky. Looking at Bonabelle and her grandparents, she was reminded of that. They had lost Giselle, true, but they had gotten her back. The poor child…and, for that matter, quite possibly her poor grandparents, depending on why her father wasn’t here with her instead….

“It’s nice to see you again, Bonabelle,” she said, smiling at the Aladren. She smiled indulgently, then, over the children’s heads at Mr. and Mrs. Row as Val managed to be completely unsubtle about her hopes for their house to remain crowded for a while. Not that she objected if it did; Bonabelle was a good child, and Marissa hadn’t minded extending motherly tendencies to her even before she had saved Valentine’s life.

16 Marissa Duell Yes, it is, 147 0 5

Selina Skies

February 26, 2021 10:09 PM

That's not at all suspicious by Selina Skies

The evening was going fairly well, though Selina was trying not to dare think that until it, and this term, were firmly over. Still, she had yet to be yelled at by any parents, the concert seemed to have gone relatively smoothly, and there were plenty of happy family reunions occurring.

She had just finished saying a few helloes when she was approached by an unfamiliar parent- /guardian. Mr. Hexenmeister cut a slightly odd figure, and certainly a marked contrast to Heinrich. But then, being an uncle was an odd sort of relationship, and there wasn’t that much reason why they should be like each other. Her mind strayed fondly to Killian and Bonabelle, though she kept her eyes on the person in front of her, her expression neutral but friendly, patiently waiting for Mr. Hexenmeister to get out what it was he wanted to say.

And her face remained neutral and friendly, through years of practise, as he said something she very much didn’t want to hear.

“I think in general, it’s best if we know about these things. Even if he doesn’t need any accommodations,” she stated, feeling like given how directly that had been stated they had somewhat dropped the pretence that this was hypothetical. She wondered what his understanding of ‘special accommodations’ meant. Sometimes, the student themselves didn’t need them, but the school still had to take precautions for others’ safety. Like, when they were half veela, for example. And gosh, they were all blond(e)- but no, that would have come up with the other two. Unless she was about to learn something about marital infidelity as well as special powers. “These things have a habit of coming up one way or another, even if it’s only to do with how Hansel feels about it. It might be better for us to know, even if we then decide we don’t need to do anything in particular about it. Would you like to discuss it somewhere more private?” she asked.

OOC: Permission to move the thread to her office if desired, but we can keep it here for ease

13 Selina Skies That's not at all suspicious 26 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

February 26, 2021 10:50 PM

We can but hope by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Sadie smiled. She kept her eyes as firmly as possible on Mr. and Mrs. Hayles, not wanting to see Jessica’s reaction to any of it – to her parents, to her full name, to everything her mom had said in those few breaths and was no doubt about to say about her. She didn’t want to witness Jessica re-evaluating her. Starting to hate her. Jessica’s mom and dad were smiling at Sadie-Lake, but it rarely felt like the smiles she got when being presented by her mom were genuine. Maybe if they got to meet Sadie, Jessica’s friend, who really genuinely cared… But with mom around there was no chance. And maybe they would think Sadie-Lake was better anyway. Most people did, or at least pretended to.

She tucked her hands even more firmly inside the bundled up school robes she was holding, pretty sure that the Hayleses would not approve of her rhinestones. Jessica always wore very minimal make up in spite of her parents’ jobs, and Sadie blushed under her blusher, wondering if they thought she looked tacky. They wouldn’t exactly be wrong.

As Mrs. Hayles mentioned not just being in it for free samples, her eyes widened. She sort of wanted to nod yes, to show that Mrs. Hayles had it right, and that had absolutely been what she was not doing but it hadn’t been a question, and she wasn’t sure how to agree with that even though it absolutely was what she wanted them all to keep thinking. She was slightly amazed that two seconds into being exposed to her mother, Mrs. Hayles hadn’t already concluded the worst about her. She probably only succeeded in looking a little caught in the crossfire, and potentially looking guilty – she wanted so badly for them to believe that she wasn’t a bad person that she would end up looking like she had something to hide out of sheer panic.

“Of course not!” her mother spoke the thought for her. Though any benefit was immediately ruined as she followed it up with “Sadie-Lake knows she’s expected to work for nice things when people give them to her, don’t you sweetie?”

“Yes,” she agreed automatically. Then realising that made it sound like she regarded Jessica as someone she had networked for products, shook her head. “No,” she hastily amended, glancing anxiously back to the Haylses. “I-I mean… Jessica’s my friend,” she said plaintively.

“Of course she is, sweetie,” her mother stated, as if Sadie’s remark was stating the obvious. “No one said otherwise,” she added, looking at her blankly.

“It’s so hard having them whisked away like this, isn’t?” Jenna-Lee continued, glad the Haylses had provided a wealth of other things for them to talk about. She mostly addressed this to Jessica’s mother, as she was the one who had mentioned how school had impacted their plans for Jessica. “Especially with a high-profile child. It’s been a nightmare trying to explain Sadie-Lake’s absence all the time! And all the plans I had for her. Completely rewritten!

“They’ve never told me I can’t continue to share photos of my own child,” she frowned slightly, when Mr. Hayles mentioned being wary of putting Jessica in the public eye. “So long as I don’t show her waving a wand or put her talking bunny rabbit on camera,” she stated, giving those words the slight disbelieving head shake that they warranted. As if she was here, talking to the heads of Arvale, and the subject on the agenda was a talking rabbit. And one that wasn’t even allowed to do promos. “They can’t me what to do with my own child during the few weeks a year I’m actually allowed to have her! And Jessica’s youtube promotion must have been after she started here,” she added, quite sure she had been about Sadie-Lake’s age in that.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers We can but hope 1480 0 7

Karl Hexenmeister

February 27, 2021 9:52 AM

Oh good. I was trying not to be suspicious. by Karl Hexenmeister

Karl grimaced slightly as Professor Skies confirmed what he had feared. They wanted to know anything. "Some privacy then," he agreed, sounding resigned, and followed her back to her office. Once they were behind closed doors and away from where the families of any of Hansel's potential peers might overheard, he dropped all pretenses that Hansel did not have a talent that should be disclosed to those entrusted to his care.

"It really is . . . mostly . . . harmless," he assured. Only one person had died from it, so far as he knew, and that had been by the use of Karl's talent not Hansel's. "A minor but rare inborn talent. But this particular one has had a bad reputation throughout history and given who his parents were . . ." he knew from both Heinrich and Hilda that some of that had come to Professor Skies' attention this year. "I would just rather it not be made public, if possible. You see, Hansel speaks parseltongue."

Given the recent mention of his brother and sister-in-law, and the historic correlation of parseltongues to dark wizardry, he awkwardly added, as an afterthought, "His parents were not. The talent is not unknown to the Hexenmeister line, but it only manifests sporadically, and his father did not have that ability, and neither do either of his older siblings." He neither confirmed nor denied his own status, but he did not think it was any kind of secret that he owned a snake ranch, which was certainly suggestive that Karl might be.

1 Karl Hexenmeister Oh good. I was trying not to be suspicious. 0 Karl Hexenmeister 0 5

Quincy Wright

February 27, 2021 4:59 PM

You've got it better I think. by Quincy Wright

Quincy had long since given up on the hope that he might turn out to be muggle. He'd been very young when his magic had started showing itself and he'd known that muggle school was only temporary for him, but he still couldn't help being entirely jealous of anyone who got to learn more about it. Whether this kid was a muggle or whether he just had some fancy education that let him learn coding and magic, Quincy didn't care; he had the dream. He'd thought about trying to stifle his own magic for a long time but it just wasn't going to work and everyone who wrote about it said bad things happened if you tried. Those were mostly in books that were a bit dark for kids to read but that's what happened when your dad owned a bookstore and left you vaguely unattended for large swathes of the day and he'd learned enough to keep him from trying to stifle it so maybe it was for the best.

"Yeah," Quincy said with a sigh, answering whether he liked coding and whether he missed it all at once, although the boy had only asked one of those things. "I wish they had it here. There's a lot of things I wish they had here," he added, trying not to grump too much about a potions classroom being the closest thing they had to any sort of science lab. "I bring a lot of books from home but learning about computers from books only gets you so far. I'd kill for a whole club." The jealousy was obvious in his voice, although it was friendly enough to be clear he was happy for the boy too. Wherever he went to school, it was better than Sonora.

22 Quincy Wright You've got it better I think. 1495 0 5

Biddy Row

February 27, 2021 5:12 PM

Well, most of us all together. by Biddy Row

Biddy smiled warmly at her granddaughter, as she always did. She wouldn't admit it to her sons, but she'd always wanted a daughter. She wouldn't admit it to Bonabelle, but this definitely wasn't how she wanted to get a daughter. Loving the girl and finding her sweet and good and perfect was not at all the same as being the same young woman who had been in the sort of shape that raising a young'un required, although this particular young'un was past the nappies and tantrums phase (most of the time) which helped. Glenn loved her too, she knew, which made her all the more lovable in Biddy's eyes. The girl was a lot like her grandfather, even for all the ways she wasn't, and it was easy for her to see why they got along.

Now, Bonabelle and Val were harder to see. As far as she could tell, Valentine was a bubbly, happy, cheerful young girl with a big heart and a bright smile. Bonabelle possessed some of these traits but in much more finite quantities (even the heart, unfortunately, Biddy couldn't ignore some of the cynicism and bitterness that her eldest had installed in his daughter). Actually, the pair rather reminded Biddy of her two sons, although there were key enough differences that she put the comparison out of her mind as quickly as possible.

Smiling at the little blonde fountain of words, Biddy nodded. "We've had a lovely stay," she promised.

Bonabelle was smiling up at MarIssa Duell, which Biddy thought was definitely points in the woman's favor and made Biddy feel a lot better about having let the girl stay with them the previous summer. She hadn't thought too much of it at the time but realized belatedly that she was probably supposed to do some more checking into such things if she was meant to be a surrogate parent. It had been a long time since she'd had to do any sort of screening for sleepovers.

"And we're happy to come back for another visit, although I think your parents probably want their house back with you in it," Biddy continued to Valentine, hoping to giving an out to the Duells if they wanted it.

"Of course, you're welcome to come stay with us," Glenn said, speaking up for the first time which was always fun to Biddy. Not only was he adding a fourth accent to the conversation in this case, but he was also usually more prone to meaningful smiles and twinkly eyes, or the occasional grunt of agreement or dissent, and actual words were harder to come by. She grinned at her husband - he'd always been such a fox - as he continued: "The house is a bit small, but it would fit the three of you no problem. Even two rooms! If, of course, you don't mind sharing a room with Bonny?" he asked, pointing the question at Valentine with a smile that said he already knew the answer.

22 Biddy Row Well, most of us all together. 0 Biddy Row 0 5

Ilefonso De Matteo

February 27, 2021 5:40 PM

You there! [Jeremy Mordue] by Ilefonso De Matteo

Ilefonso watched Felipe walk away, off to mingle with the Hayles girl, as his wife did the same. It was a family ordeal really, but one he was not disappointed to exclude himself from. The Hayles family was nice enough but by the look of all those gathered, it was about to be one of those conversations that made his head spin; Muggles were a subject he was familiar with, but none of the residents of Ciudad de Matteo were about to start talking about some of the technology that the Muggles at Sonora always seemed to know about. He wasn't even entirely sure what it was that had kept his subjects away from such things but he was eternally grateful for it.

As he was now left to his own devices, Leonor still disappeared off somewhere unknown to him, Ilefonso's mind and eye wandered. He'd made a point of looking through the children's yearbooks to familiarize himself with the names and faces he might encounter, as that was the only appropriate thing to do when important people might be around. Plus, sometimes people needed help. Sometimes, one could tell that just from a photo. It was infinitely easier to tell that in person, but not at events like this, which was where yearbook photos were an advantage; both the books and these events were when people put on their frills and frocks to impress. How people chose to impress was usually as telling as anything, although Ilefonso was hardly enough of an expert in deduction to approach anyone too boldly based on what he'd seen. Still, mingling was the name of the game and there were people he was very interested to mingle with.

He'd not seen the person he had in mind on stage at all and he tried not to read too much into that, but he'd spent enough time skimming the pages of the yearbooks that he was sure he'd recognize the boy even without the confirmation of a program with his name to match with. Leonor had generally been rather quiet about the relationship she'd had at Sonora, largely, he suspected, because it can't have been that serious. She'd only even mentioned his name once or twice, and usually with much backtracking to correct herself when she did. If it was serious, she'd have introduced him to the family and gone through the appropriate channels of courtship. As it was, and considering the boy was Felipe's roommate as far as he could tell, it seemed his little girl was continuing her practice of social engagements and courtship and dating were important rituals to get right. He couldn't blame the girl for that, even if he did wish he'd been given more of a chance to be involved. For all he knew, it wasn't much more than a crush on a friend at this point anyway, so perhaps that was part of her nerves. Well, there was much that could be done about that.

It crossed his mind vaguely to be worried that he hadn't seen his daughter for a bit when she seemed to have a boy on her mind now but he doubted that was going to be an issue. Her last practice experience with boys had not gone well and he was pretty sure she and they had all learned their lesson from that. He avoided the urge to crack his knuckles at the memory of his last encounter with them. Still, Leonor did seem to have found a person she was at least vaguely interested in, even if he only knew that through a few mentions and not anything more solid than that, so it seemed only right to get to know whether he was worth being interested in. Perhaps that was all the more true given her other practice experiences.

When he spotted the boy, he was with a group that was probably his family. Ilefonso contented himself with a small glass of punch - the stuff was odd and not at all what the man was used to but it was sort of exciting trying out things like this - and was pleased when biding his time worked. Since he wasn't about to follow the boy into the bathroom, he waited until he came back out and then approached.

"Jeremy Mordue?" he confirmed with a booming, if measured, voice and smile; this was a private conversation but no less reason to be happy about it after all. At least not yet. "I'm Ilefonso De Matteo. I believe you are acquainted with my son and daughter, if in different ways I hope, and I wanted to introduce myself." It really wasn't proper that it had to be done this way, but since neither the boy nor Leonor had done the introductions themselves already, steps had to be taken. In any case, Ilefonso was at least hoping the boy would be worth his time.

OOC: Jeremy being with his family and then having to use the restroom approved by his author.

22 Ilefonso De Matteo You there! [Jeremy Mordue] 0 Ilefonso De Matteo 0 5

Selina Skies

February 27, 2021 9:46 PM

I was trying not to be sarcastic. And yet... by Selina Skies

They had something to discuss. Something private. Something that was described, after a tense and silent walk to her office in which she pretended to be entirely relaxed, as 'mostly harmless.'

She was given a few more sentences during which to weigh up that description, as Karl Hexenmeister hedged his way towards the point in question. Ah. A parselmouth. She had to agree with his description, and the fact that it was more likely to endanger Hansel, in the form of teasing and mistrust, than to endanger anyone else.

"I see. Well, I certainly don't believe any of the superstitions about it - they are just that, people being afraid of what they don't know. And you can be sure that, if it did come out, we would take any bullying on the subject very seriously," she assured him. "I'm glad to be aware of it, so that I can look out for him, if need be."

She weighed up the rest of what he had said. Obviously, it was not her call on whether to keep it a secret or not. She thought that it could go either way - being open and honest about things and bringing them into the light where they could be examined generally made them more widely accepted in the long term. But that didn't mean it was nice for the people who had to be the test cases, and to forge that road.

"It's something personal to Hansel. It's up to him who knows, but please assure him that he can always come to me if he gets any negative reactions. From a safety point of view, I don't think I need to inform the rest of the staff, but I can if you or he want me to, so that it's not a secret or a surprise if they have to intervene in anything. I trust all my staff members to have an open minded attiude, and to not gossip to any students they themselves are related to," she emphasised, even though it should have gone without saying. Sometimes people just needed to hear things like that anyway.

"Thank you for telling me," she added. It clearly had been something he was anxious about doing, but it felt helpful for her to know, even if it never mattered.

13 Selina Skies I was trying not to be sarcastic. And yet... 26 0 5

Andrew Duell

February 27, 2021 10:02 PM

True, not quite all by Andrew Duell

Andrew was happy to watch the scene play out before him. He was fairly certain he knew how this would go, mainly because he knew his daughter. So naturally he just chuckled silently to himself as Valentine all but begged her mother to keep Bonabelle around for a while longer. It didn't matter much to him, the basement had been cleaned up and transformed into a guest room since Val and Giselle would both be home again. It could easily stay that way for longer. He would have to keep working, but Marissa would be around so it would really be more of a decision on her part. If he knew his wife though, she wouldn't throw them out.

He was about to offer his thoughts when Mr. Row spoke up. That caught him off guard Andrew had picked up fairly quickly that he was a quiet man, but it wasn't that he was speaking, or was what he was saying. Them travel to Ireland? Val was wide eyed and looked like she would explode with excitement. His gut rebelled at the very thought, and it took his brain a few moments to figure out why. But then it was obvious. He, Marissa and Val were not about to leave the country and leave Giselle behind. Again.

That just wasn't going to happen, not on his watch. He also wasn't about to ask if she could accompany them, space sounded tight as it was. Still, maybe there was another solution. He glanced at his wife then smiled at Mr. Row. "That's very generous of you Mr. Row." He hesitated just a moment, "Unfortunately I have some things going on at work that won't allow me to take such a vacation." Marissa would know that wasn't true, but hopefully she could figure out his reasoning. "But, I don't see why that would stop Marissa and Valentine from visiting if they'd like to." He sent another look Marissa's way trying to convey his thoughts to her.

2 Andrew Duell True, not quite all 145 0 5

Jeremy Mordue

February 28, 2021 5:27 AM

Yeah, and? by Jeremy Mordue

The concert had been dull. Jeremy had not bothered to get involved because it seemed all kinds of awful, and he already was busy with Quidditch. Watching it had been more than enough hard work, because ack, most of these people were talentless and the stories were insipid. They were too old for baby stuff like this.

Still, now that he was standing around making conversation with his family, he was struggling to decide which experience was less like having a self-extracting jinx cast on his teeth. He excused himself to go to bathroom less because he needed it and more because it was a few minutes where no one could tell him what to do.

He was on his way back, when he got stopped by Mr. De Matteo. Of all the people he expected to want to talk to him, Mr. De Matteo was... Well, actually, Jeremy supposed he might be quite high on the list because he was actually frustratingly unconnected in this school. He blamed the type of people who came here. Though he wasn't sure why more of the desperate Brockert girls weren't flocking his way. Not that people had to be desperate to want him. He wasn't sure why he wasn't more popular. He was Pureblood, a star athlete, pretty good looking... But anyway, they didn't have any connections outside their own families unless they acknowledged him, so he would have thought they'd be a bit friendlier. Mr. De Matteo did at least have some connection with him. Jeremy knew both his kids 'In different ways, I hope?' as he phrased it. Did he mean that he hoped Jeremy hadn't punched Leonor, or that he hadn't made out with Felipe? Well, probably both, actually. If he knew about Leonor, which he probably didn't. It wasn't like Jeremy had told his family. So, there was nothing to worry about, apart from the fact that the fist fight had been written home about so he almost definitely knew about that.

He really wanted to respond with 'Yeah, and?' because the entirity of this family was almost as big a pain in his backside as his own, but he bit his tongue. He had been raised to be better than that, and had had enough opportunities to practise being bland and polite, that he could manage it for a minute or two. Especially as he could only imagine that it would make Leonor and Felipe sweat to see him making small talk with their father. He certainly wouldn't have been pleased to look over and see either of them talking to his aunt and uncle. He wondered which of them would hate it more. Leonor, probably. He certainly would have been more concerned to see her than Felipe with his family if the positions were reversed.

"Yes, sir," he returned the greeting and confirmed both who he was and his relationship to Mr. De Matteo's children. "Pleased to meet you," he offered politely, smiling and offering a small bow which hurt his pride more than was reasonable. Mr De Matteo was an adult and that was just what you did.

13 Jeremy Mordue Yeah, and? 1443 0 5

Ilefonso De Matteo

February 28, 2021 10:51 AM

And I want to make sure I don't have a problem with you. by Ilefonso De Matteo

Ilefonso smiled approvingly at the boy's show of respect. The boy was making points up in areas he'd been lacking thus far and that was encouraging. Ilefonso wasn't about to say he'd heard good things about him because that wasn't precisely true, especially considering what he'd gotten letters about with regards to his and Felipe's interactions, but a lad who knew how to behave in the face of an adult was already doing better than some of the others Ilefonso had had the displeasure of meeting. The fact that Ilefonso was a De Matteo only made the show of respect more important and more well-placed, which pleased him further.

"The pleasure's mine," Ilefonso assured him, because that's what you were supposed to say. And although Jeremy Mordue certainly had more to gain from a positive interaction with Ilefonso than the other way around, Ilefonso was a business-minded man who wanted the best for his subjects and his family. Making connections was how you assured the best for others and a deep sense of altruism meant he wasn't about to go making connections for himself so much as for his children. Felipe had given up his own claim to much of a future but Leonor hadn't and this had the potential to be the right sort of connection, even if it wasn't yet serious. "I understand you're a bright young man with a good future ahead of you. Leonor could do worse for herself. You're aware that she's set to inherit a great deal? Our subjects are still getting to know her but I believe she has her own promising future as well. Tell me, young man, do you speak other languages or only English?"

22 Ilefonso De Matteo And I want to make sure I don't have a problem with you. 0 Ilefonso De Matteo 0 5

Jessica Hayles

February 28, 2021 1:29 PM

I'm a totally respectful young lady who'd never sass an adult. by Jessica Hayles

The air felt electric, somehow, bright with tension; Jessica resisted the urge to fold her arms in self-defense, hoping that it the tension wasn’t literal and a result of some sort of magic force building up and feeding off of all the unspoken tensions in the group.

She had greeted Sra. De Matteo normally, forgetting for a moment that it was possible there was a problem, and that she had cause to be wary of Sr. and Sra. De Matteo now. Felipe’s arrival to the party, however, reminded her of the problem – potential problem? – and made it hard not to allow her eyes to dart between her friend and his mother, looking for some clue to let her know if Sra. De Matteo was the one who had done…something…Felipe had not wanted to tell her what was troubling him, and she had only pressed so far. She had told him that she understood if he didn’t want her to know, but that he could change his mind at any time. So far, he had not done that, which left her just to worry and speculate – not an easy position to be in.

And then there was Sadie’s mother, who was….

There was…almost nothing wrong with most of what Mrs. Chalmers was saying, but nevertheless, Jessica got a feeling of…backhandedness about her. Two-faced comments that were far less okay when she thought about them than they seemed at first glance – comments that put Jessica’s back up, but which she couldn’t say anything about without being rude, or sounding unreasonable.

“That’s right,” said Jessica when Sadie stammered to the end of her response to one comment which Jessica felt she could say something about. “And I don’t really think that I expect my friends to ‘work’ for presents from me, or that I work for presents from them," she added dryly. "We just – like each other, so sometimes we give each other stuff. Right?” she asked Sadie.

Her mother discreetly tapped her on the back: a signal, no doubt, that Rosalie felt she had spoken with too much ‘attitude’ toward Mrs. Chalmers. Jessica did not react, not even by a flick of her eyes.

For a moment, when Mrs. Chalmers began to talk about the difficulties of having a high-profile child (Sadie, high profile? Jessica had never realized. How could Sadie, of all people, have functioned at all in a high-profile role? She was so shy sometimes…), her parents nodded along with the woman. Jessica had often thought about the difficulties of having her and her parents’ plans for her all derailed, had even thought before about how this was all nightmarish, but somehow – perhaps because she was rapidly deciding she didn’t like the woman – hearing it from Mrs. Chalmers made her shrug uncomfortably, shaking her red hair back. Her mother tapped her again, and was ignored again.

“This…wasn’t what we expected our lives – her life – to be like,” her father admitted. “I had always thought Jessica would be taking a role in the company by now, but…”

He sounded slightly lost, a little bewildered, and for a moment, Jessica felt sorry for him, and for her own less than exemplary attitude tonight. And then Mrs. Chalmers annoyed her again distracting her from that.

“That was Arthur’s idea,” said her mother disapprovingly when Jessica’s Youtube episodes were mentioned. “I didn’t think it was a good idea – but then, I still don’t think she’s old enough for that kind of thing, even though we’d agreed – before – that she could have a regular public role after she turned sixteen, if she seemed mature enough to handle it.”

16 Jessica Hayles I'm a totally respectful young lady who'd never sass an adult. 1442 0 5

Karl Hexenmeister

February 28, 2021 6:32 PM

I see what you did there. So I was suspicious then? by Karl Hexenmeister

It was good to know Professor Skies did not give weight to any of the superstitions that went along with being a Parselmouth. "I appreciate it," he said in response to her assurance that any bullying would be dealt with appropriately. One would need to be entirely lacking in any kind of perception to think Hansel bore any potential of turning to the dark arts, but Karl would not put that kind of oblivious ignorance past some humans, especially when faced with a stereotype and a foreign accented stranger.

"Hans may need looking after," he admitted, with nearly as much reluctance as he'd shared Hansel's talent. "He knows more snakes than people, and I do not expect he will be good at deception." Heinrich and Hilda remained unaware that their brother could speak to snakes, but they both had their own problems and were away most of the year. Karl was fairly certain that Hansel would need to tell them outright and then prove it before either of them picked up on it. A roommate or even just a friend his own age would likely be much more perceptive.

He grimaced slightly as she emphasized that it was Hansel's choice on who to tell. "I do not think he is nearly as concerned about people finding out as I am. On that note, he asked me to check with you about whether it would be allowed for him to bring a small, harmless, non-venomous snake to school as a pet."

Karl shook his head as she turned the choice of whether to inform the staff over to him (and Hansel, but for this moment, Hansel was not here). "I do not expect it will be necessary for any staff person but his Head of House to be made aware of his ability. That is the most likely member of the staff that he would go to with related issues." Karl twitched a faint smile at the woman. "Given your House's mascot, he is hoping it will be you, though I understand the sorting is based on personality rather than mascot appreciation."

1 Karl Hexenmeister I see what you did there. So I was suspicious then? 0 Karl Hexenmeister 0 5

Marissa Duell

February 28, 2021 9:21 PM

Which is too bad, considering the last time we split the party.... by Marissa Duell

Andrew was correct to think that Marissa wasn’t going to throw guests out if they wanted to stay in, but she did think Val was possibly being a tiny bit inconsiderate of the guests themselves. She had the feeling Val would have shrieked the house down with happiness had they just adopted Bonabelle into the family, but it was possible that Mr. and Mrs. Row were not happy living in a basement (nicely set up, Marissa was rather proud of the degree to which she had made the basement not look like a basement given the time and architectural restrictions she’d been working with, but…it was a room in a basement), or in the admittedly sometimes uncomfortable even for a native climate of Georgia in late June, or that they wanted their granddaughter to themselves now, or that she might want to go to her own home….

She was about to deflect the question with a remark about how of course they were welcome to stay as long as they liked, but they could talk about details later, when Mrs. Row seemed to begin a polite withdrawal and Mr. Row then turned the whole situation on its head.

The previous year, Val had – poor bright innocent thing – written to them almost casually asking to go to Ireland with Bonabelle. At the time, they had had an excellent excuse for declining permission – all that business with Giselle and her magic mirror. Now, that excuse was out of the window, but Marissa also instinctively balked at the idea of leaving home. Maybe it was just the last time they had done that, what had happened and how they were still dealing with the fallout from it, or –

She glanced at Andrew just as he glanced at her, and then he…stretched the truth a bit past its breaking point, as far as his ability to take time off went. She thought she understood it, now. Andrew and Giselle at home, Marissa and Val in Ireland – it wasn’t ideal, ideal was them staying all safely together, but at least that way, one of the adults (she tried very hard not to think of Giselle as a child, Giselle wasn’t a child, but it was difficult, when for her, Giselle had walked out of a house when she was barely a teenager and then walked back in as a grown woman) would hopefully be aware that something was wrong, go to look for the other one.

“Well, we’ve got plenty of time to settle things at home,” she said, figuring it would be best if she and her husband discussed matters in a clearer manner than was possible in sideways glances before anything was settled upon definitively. “Y’all are welcome to stay as long as you want, of course, but I was definitely expecting you to hang out with us at least tonight – it’s a little late for international portkeys if you don’t have to use ‘em!”

16 Marissa Duell Which is too bad, considering the last time we split the party.... 147 0 5

Jenna-Lee Chalmers

March 01, 2021 4:08 AM

Glad to hear it by Jenna-Lee Chalmers

"Sounds nice," Tag smiled, as Jessica talked about Sades more like a friend. Jenna-Lee's Instaing was harmless enough, and she seemed to enjoy it and get nice things for the kids, but he often felt out of his depth (or, if he was honest with himself, just a tiny bit bored) when it was the only topic of conversation. "And you do all your fancy braids and things from grandma's magazines together, right?" He did not understand ninety percent of the details that Sadie put into her letters about French knots and waterfall braids, but he dutifully relayed it to his mom, or took Sadie's letters to her, and it all seemed to make both of them happy, which was what counted.

"Yeah," Sadie confirmed. She had nodded emphatically as soon as Jessica had spoken, and this was more to her dad, though she glanced again her friend to include her. She wasn't sure whether Jessica knew what she was doing, or really meant to take her side - calling it that probably made it seem far more dramatic than it really was, or than she would want the Hayleses to think of it as - but it was such a relief to think she might get out if this with her still thinking some good about her, or that she had some allies in this conversation. She edged a little closer to her dad.

Jenna-Lee, meanwhile, was having all her suspicions about trying to work with a brand like Arvale confirmed. They were so stuck in their ways that she was going to end up in the role of convincing them that the digital age was worth their time. It was no wonder that the response from their social media arm had been so slow and underwhelming. It was clearly something they were yet to fully embrace. She was torn between her delight in finding people who seemed to understand how confusing and ridiculous this world they been thrust into was, versus her dismay that they seemed to lack any real appreciation of the world she spent most of her time in. In fact, they seemed to feel it was beneath them and their daughter.

Maybe they were jealous. Or just didn’t understand – well, clearly they didn’t, and the question was whether it was worth her time to try to make them. Ordinarily, it might not have been but they were all stuck here with no one better to talk to.

She looped back to where things had last gone right – they seemed to at least understand the fact that this place was ruining all their plans. This place was a problem, and her daughter was wonderful – yes, those were familiar safe and happy refrains.

“I’m sure Sadie-Lake would have been getting all kinds of interesting offers by now if this hadn’t happened,” she stated, addressing herself mostly to Mr. Hayles, who seemed the less like hard work. “Her brother’s done some similar collaborations to the one you had Jessica do,” let them sneer at that if they could. “Though more for gadgets and boys’ things. Of course, he misses out on any sibling opportunities. And where am I meant to say she is? I swear, half the Internet thinks she’s been taken into care or had some kind of breakdown.”

13 Jenna-Lee Chalmers Glad to hear it 0 Jenna-Lee Chalmers 0 5

Selina Skies

March 02, 2021 3:43 AM

I'm afraid so by Selina Skies

Ah. Hansel, it seemed, was much more open about things. Fond as she was of his brother and sister, it wasn’t something she really associated with either of them, unless you counted Hilda’s willingness to air her frustration with English.

“It’s good that he feels positive about it,” she added encouragingly. “I’ll be sure to keep an eye on him.” There were, of course, dangers in being too trusting, but she hoped Hansel’s apparent tendency towards that would turn out to be in his advantage.

“Yes, I don’t see why not,” she agreed, regarding his choice of pet. “Clearly he knows how to look after it himself,” she added, as that was one of the concerns with bringing in anything outside of the ordinary. She flicked her wand summoning over a form. Sonora’s official pet choices were the usual, but ‘anything reasonable’ was allowed. She added her name, Hansel’s name (having a sudden moment of doubt in spite of staring at it for years over how to spell ‘Hexenmeister’ but pretty sure she’d got the vowels in the right order) and ‘snake*’ to the relevant lines. Underneath she added *small and non-venomous and signed.

“I doubt anyone would pass comment, but just in case,” she smiled, handing the note over.

“Well, favourites are one element of personality, so we’ll see,” she said regarding his house selection, though the Sonora sorting potion did tend to look a little deeper than that. “I’ll make sure his head of house is informed if it’s not me.”

13 Selina Skies I'm afraid so 26 0 5

Jeremy Mordue

March 02, 2021 3:54 AM

Okay. How's that going? by Jeremy Mordue

Jeremy wasn’t sure why both this man’s children were so damn rude when he seemed perfectly willing to be polite. He was pleased to meet Jeremy, and said he had a bright future. Admittedly, Leonor had often complimented him too, so it wasn’t a completely unheard of trait amongst De Matteos, but it definitely didn’t hurt.

And then it all got very weird very fast. Was this guy sort of… trying to throw Leonor at him? He knew that was how their world worked but it was still sort of weird to hear it. And she was apparently stinking rich (he wondered whether that meant above average for Pureblood or just like the rest of them?). And had subjects? What? Also, did this line of questioning mean that Mr. De Matteo knew about the kissing, or definitely didn’t know about the kissing? He clearly didn’t know that Leonor was done with Jeremy.

Luckily, there was a direct question, and one that wasn’t too difficult to answer. It wasn’t, for example, ‘do you want to date/marry my daughter.’

“Not really, no,” he admitted, pretty sure that he couldn’t fake speaking another language for any length of time. “We did some French when we were younger,” but he had never paid attention, “And obviously quite a lot of Latin.” He was neither stupid nor uneducated, in spite of his best efforts. “I spent a lot of time on athletics,” he added, swinging the conversation back around to his strengths, “I was on the junior side for our county’s team before I came here.”

13 Jeremy Mordue Okay. How's that going? 1443 0 5

Biddy Row

March 02, 2021 8:06 AM

It's been mostly good for me. by Biddy Row

Biddy was all smiles but she sensed something was amiss here. She couldn't put her finger on it but she'd always had a keen sense of such things and had long since learned to trust it. Since nothing struck her as particularly ominous or malevolent though, she chocked it up to a private family tension and put it mostly out of her mind.

"We'd be happy to take you up on that offer another night if you're sure it's no trouble," Biddy said. "This one is catching a Portkey to Canada tonight with her uncle to visit a family friend," she added as Glenn put a loving hand on his granddaughter's shoulder. She looked almost surprised by the touch but accepted it with a happy little wiggle and a smile as she leaned into it.

"Jean-Loup," Bonabelle added to Valentine with a grin.

It struck Biddy as easier to explain the older boy's relationship to them as 'family friend' simply because he was a bit young to be Killian's friend and a bit old to be Bonabelle's. Somehow, he was both regardless. Biddy had thoughts about that, suspecting that he was playing an important role as proxy for people that both of her family members were otherwise missing terribly, but she wasn't going to put that on them. At least not out loud. She trusted her younger son's judgment on these things so she wasn't worried, and he was as invested in Bonabelle's safety as were her grandparents so Biddy couldn't worry. Much.

"But we can talk more about plans for later this summer if we'd like to make that work. Honestly, international portkeys are always a bit of a headache," Biddy laughed. She didn't want there to be pressure on this little family, although she knew Bonabelle would love if they did come visit. She smiled warmly as was her wont. "But we'd be happy to host as many or as few as you as would like to come." Glenn and Bonny nodded their enthusiastic agreement.

22 Biddy Row It's been mostly good for me. 0 Biddy Row 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

March 03, 2021 5:46 PM

Goodbye Sonora by Heinrich Hexenmeister

OOC: Philippe and Rosalynn are both mine, so I give me permission to say what they did in the play.
Billy's author volunteered him to be the Giant's voice. BIC:

Heinrich had been put together with three younger students, two first years and a second year, to do a short skit. There were only two characters in the tale - three if you counted the narrator - and one of them was a giant who rose up out of the ground of a cemetery. Philippe Delachene, a Teppenpaw, played the titular character - the spritely tailor - and spent the entire scene sitting on a gravestone and pretending to sew a pair of trousers, looking bravely terrified, and adding his one line of dialog at his appropriate cues in the story, while Rosalynn Tellerman, a first year Aladren, recited the main bulk of the story. She did a surprisingly good job of sounding ominous and dramatic by turns, and carrying the story's suspense. Off-stage, Heinrich and Billy Cobb, a first year Pecari, worked together to bring the giant to life - Heinrich by casting illusion charms to give the giant form, expression, and movement, and Billy by speaking the giant's lines.

They pulled it off in front of an audience about as well as they ever did in practice, which was about the best Heinrich had been hoping for. His illusory giant only had a few minor mistakes where a hand moved through a piece of scenery, and he and Billy had never quite managed a perfect sync of the giant's mouth and the words being spoken, but overall, he was quite pleased with what he'd accomplished.

When the concert was over, he was immediately wrangled to keep an eye on Hansel while Uncle Karl went off to talk to Professor Skies about something, but Hansel didn't need close supervision, being old enough to come to Sonora himself in a couple months, so Heinrich was still able to flag down Evelyn to say a temporary good-bye. They'd see each other again in probably just a week or two, but this was the last time they'd be together at Sonora, and that seemed worth a serious moment of reflection together.

"So this is it," he said solemnly after they finished making all of the relevant comments and congratulations about their respective parts in the concert. "The end of our time at Sonora together."

OOC: The tale of the spritely tailor can be found here: The Spritely Tailor

Also, I'm not making this a tag because it's already so long since the concert went up. Heinrich just needed to say his goodbyes.

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister Goodbye Sonora 1414 0 5

Jessica Hayles

March 03, 2021 7:44 PM

...did you just go a whole title without a hashtag, Jen? by Jessica Hayles

Mr. Chalmers might not be able to help being named Tag, but he could help being married to Mrs. Chalmers. Consequently, he was not, Jessica thought, to be totally trusted. He did, however, seem to have the basic social capability to understand what the term ‘friend’ meant when the user was offline, and to actually know a vague detail or two about Sadie and stuff she did….

“Sadie’s fantastic with hair,” she said approvingly, bestowing her most winning smile upon Mr. Chalmers. “Which is great, because I am so beyond hopeless with my hair on my own.”

His wife carried on complaining about the inconvenience of Sadie’s sequestration here, which made even Jessica, who had more than once been vocal enough on the point herself, want to wince. She had heard her own parents say the same between themselves when they didn’t know she could hear, but nobody said it to her face. That was just…rude, to announce how inconvenient Sadie was to her when the Sadie was right there and, even more to the point, had no choice at all in the matter of causing said inconvenience. It might have been one thing if there had been some choice involved, but there wasn't. She guessed it was true, then, what Daddy always said: mommy bloggers were bad businesses to get too close to, because they always eventually got found out for something distasteful sooner or later. Usually something kind of (or even explicitly) child abusey, actually –

And yet, Mrs. Chalmers had somehow won herself at least a one-off sponsorship. Either someone at the company had goofed up or she had slipped under the radar, something supported by her talk about Sadie (why did she keep calling her Sadie-Lake? What an odd term of endearment, and what an even odder quirk to use it constantly like this…) getting deals in her own right in another world, and about her brother doing it in this world…was Mrs. Chalmers just, like, some weird Instagram variant on a pageant mom? Who were these people?

“Hm,” her father said as the speech rolled to an end. “Well, we told…about half the truth, ourselves, with Jessica – that she’d gone to boarding school. The publicity wasn’t fantastic, since we had to pretend she’d chosen to go to school out of state on her own without mentioning what state she was in, but…” He shrugged helplessly.

“You should have blamed O’Connor,” suggested Jessica. “Said I went to Iowa to walk in her footsteps and – “ No, it was not a good moment to insert a remark about learning to tip cows. She could not be openly aggressive. Plus, that wouldn’t have worked anyway, she could tip all the cows she wanted in various parts of Georgia, too. “work on my poetry when I got frozen in every winter,” she substituted. An idea flashed into her head, and she looked at Sadie. “That reminds me, Sades – I’m nearly done with the new draft of that chapbook – think you’ll have time to look them over for me this summer? The manuscript’s pretty short.”

This was a bald-faced lie, but novel problems, creative solutions. It would be much easier, if she had to, to work less obvious stuff into poems if Mrs. Chalmers started to not let Sadie communicate directly. It would not be terribly effective if Mrs. Chalmers went full-blown horror movie crazy over Sadie’s failure to exploit Jessica’s identity the nanosecond she’d found out about it, but hopefully, nothing was really that bad…

Despite her distaste for doing so, she turned her focus to Mrs. Chalmers and put on the charm for her, too. “That’s so interesting about your son, though, Mrs. Chalmers,” she said brightly. “Are all your socials on your card? I’ve got to check you all out when I get home. And you said you’re doing something with Arvale this summer? I can’t promise anything without checking our schedules, but who knows…” She raised her eyebrows, not speaking the implied proto-offer.

16 Jessica Hayles ...did you just go a whole title without a hashtag, Jen? 1442 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

March 03, 2021 9:16 PM

I don't know what a hashtag is but I hate this woman. by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe was pretty sure that his parents were not great. His mom was alright and she even had gone out of her way to be supportive of him when he'd had his . . . episode. But his father was arguably a pretty terrible person, even if he put on a good show. It was hard to say for sure whether it all balanced out actually because you could do bad things and good things and Felipe wasn't yet sure whether that meant that you were a neutral person or what. But Mrs. Chalmers was, so far, just terrible. And Sadie was not. Sadie had been nice to Felipe and was Jessica's friend (which didn't necessarily mean anything; Jessica was friends with Felipe too which clearly meant she had poor taste in companionship at least some of the time) and was just a kid. So as sure as Felipe was that his parents were not great, he was extra sure that Sadie's parents - at least her mother - were definitely not great. Although. . . . probably not the same sort of terrible. That wasn't the point.

His stomach clenched on Sadie's behalf and his jaw locked with uncharacteristic anger as Mrs. Chalmers went on about how inconvenient her own daughter was. Then Jessica's family was sort of almost defending themselves and Sadie against her own mother and Felipe wanted to smack Mrs. Chalmers in the forehead with his wand until he made her a bit more charming. A lie of sorts came to mind and he wondered whether his own mother would call him out on it if he went for it . . . if he was trying to help someone, what problem could she have with that? It wasn't as if she never lied on behalf of others . . .

"You'll have to excuse me, ma'am, as English is my fourth language," he began, looking at Mrs. Chalmers and clearly speaking in perfect, unaccented English. "But Sonora's reputation is internationally known and it's my understanding that your daughter is in the best place she could possibly be for the bright future you're hoping for." He gestured at Jessica and himself. "She's in the same House and made quite an impression on the daughter of Arvale's owner," he began, desperately hoping he'd gotten that title right, "And myself. My family has a minor . . . what's the word in English?" he asked, glancing at Jessica as if she might be able to help him. "Kingdom? I think that's it." He was pretty sure his mother was either very proud or very disappointed but she hadn't stopped him yet. "But as I said, English is not my first language; I'm not understanding what your concern is on Sadie's behalf? She's been nothing but extraordinary since I met her at this boarding school, ma'am."

His mom took a breath and then tapped him on the shoulder. Her eyes gleamed a bit and she kept them locked on his as she spoke. "You're helping?" she confirmed in Spanish, making the question sound exaggerated for those listening. When he gave a small nod, she looked up at Mrs. Chalmers. "I'm afraid I don't understand either," she said with a small, embarrassed smile that Felipe recognized as completely untrue. "Both of my children have said nothing but good things about your daughter. She's certainly doing very well in the magical community so far."

22 Felipe De Matteo I don't know what a hashtag is but I hate this woman. 1434 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

March 05, 2021 3:41 AM

You can't say that by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

OOC: CW - passing references to abuse BIC:

“Yeah?” Tag smiled, as Jessica complimented Sadie-Lake, giving his daughter and the other girl an approving smile. He was pretty sure anyone whose family ran a cosmetics empire was not ‘hopeless’ with their hair because, as far as he was concerned, that all fell into the same bracket, but it was nice of her to give Sadie-Lake a compliment like that. “Sometimes between… what is it, mermaid tails and unicorn this and that, I have no idea if I’m reading her about hairstyle or her homework,” he laughed, tipping his daughter a wink to show he was mostly joking. “She’s very good at the magical animal class,” he added to the Hayleses. Sadie did what she did whenever anyone tried to pay her a compliment, and looked at the floor.

“She gets her hairstyling skills from me,” Jenna-Lee smiled at the compliment, “We used to spend a lot of time doing things like that, didn’t we?” she added to her daughter, who looked back up and nodded. She wasn’t sure she’d got a lot of hands-on experience herself as her mom wrangled her hair into the latest trend for a photoshoot, but she wasn’t about to say so.

The conversation then took a decidedly weird turn then as Jessica started talking about poetry, and offering to show her something called a chapbook, that she was apparently meant to have an opinion on. She had never seen any of Jessica’s poetry, and was fairly sure she wouldn’t have anything intelligent to say about it, but she did whatever she did when someone with more power than her asked her to do something, and nodded obediently. It was a little intimidating, but it didn’t feel like things were going badly, until Jessica abruptly switched sides. She probably didn’t mean to of course. And it wasn’t a case of ‘sides’ because that was her mother and it was ridiculous to think of it in those terms and Jessica was probably just trying to be nice to her mom, because that was what you did, and Sadie should probably be pleased about all of this, and Jessica talking about collaboration because obviously her mother would think was excellent. And if she felt ashamed and scared and just downright horrified at the thought of Jessica getting to peer into the parts of her life she was most ashamed of then maybe it was her own fault for being such a bad friend and keeping such a big secret. It wasn’t Jessica’s fault if she didn’t know what to do with this when, after all, Sadie had never told her.

“Of course,” Jenna-Lee smiled, pulling out a second business card so that Jessica could have one too (Sadie felt herself die slightly as Jessica was handed what amounted to a password to everything Sadie had tried to keep hidden. But she was sure she had no one to blame for that but herself). Jenna-Lee thought Jessica seemed like a very nice girl, and with far more business sense than her parents seemed willing to give her credit for. “I’m surprised you don’t know where to find us already!” she added, looking slightly quizzically at Sadie-Lake. They didn’t have computers at school, of course, but her friends could have looked her up when they got home. “Sadie-Lake’s things are generally further back, but you can just search her hashtag. It’s an advantage of having such a unique name. Unique and special, just like you, right sweetie?” she smiled at her daughter. Sadie hated agreeing with that more than anything else because it sounded not only egotistical but it was also blatantly untrue to anyone who’d ever met her. Still, she had worked out a couple of years ago that so long as she was smiling and not disagreeing, her mother generally just moved on without noticing that she hadn’t actively agreed.

In this case, it was not her mother who override her silence with the next torrent of words but Felipe. Felipe was talking about her. She was pretty sure he was saying more words about her right now than he had ever said to her. Or that he had ever said about her at home- speaking of which the word ‘Kingdom’ had just come up which combined with ‘Subjects’ earlier was just… Was an actual prince coming to her defence right now? That sounded impossible but then she owned a talking bunny, so all bets were off. Still, Felipe was seriously over-selling any kind of reputation she might have, and she was pretty sure he was lying through his teeth and wouldn’t have even been aware she existed in spite of being in the same house were it not for Jessica. Then his mother chimed in. Sadie was certain that if Leonor had ever noticed anything about her it was that Leonor could probably very easily eat a girl like her for breakfast. She couldn’t but stare at both of them in slightly wide-eyed amazement, though luckily they were standing on the side which meant she was staring across her dad instead of her mom. She wasn’t sure why they were doing that, but maybe it seemed like her mom was insulting magical people, which she guessed was offensive to them, even though she was sure mom hadn’t meant it like that. And which meant they were maybe picking a fight with her mom. That was a bad idea.

“I never said Sadie-Lake wasn’t doing well here,” Jenna-Lee replied. “Of course she’s doing well, and making friends. She’s always been very popular.” The fact that Felipe spoke four languages and claimed to have a small kingdom were largely lost on her based on the fact she didn’t like him and he wasn’t being co-operative. The main thing she noticed was that he had, as he himself had admitted, missed the point. Apparently it was entirely possible to keep applying filters, even when there wasn’t a cellphone in your hand.

“The problem is-” she began. The problem was that Sadie-Lake had been taken away, had unbalanced their brand dynamic, and that everyone who had liked or shown an interest in her could not be told what had become of her, which led to half of them being angry, and the rest inventing wild conspiracy theories, the worst of which was that her father had done unspeakable things to her and that they had murdered her and buried her body to hide the evidence. Any sane person, she thought, had every right to be upset by having to read things like that about her own family. But there were potential collaborators listening. She wanted to put this boy in his place, make him understand that she was the one who was suffering here, without alienating the Arvales from being interesting in her brand. She was also far from convinced that her daughter had made anything like the impression they were claiming given that he didn’t even know her full name, but she wasn’t about to point that out, even though it annoyed her. Jessica had shorted it too, but in a way that sounded like an affectionate nickname. It wasn’t ideal but it was much more tolerable. “People notice when someone like Sadie-Lake disappears from the public eye. And people in my sphere don’t like liars. We’re told we can’t talk about where she’s gone, but we’re not told anything convincing we can say when people ask. And people do ask, everyone still cares about her so much,” she added. She kept her voice calm and patient. Yelling at a fifteen-year-old was not a good look, and she was a sweet, bubbly person. “Not to mention the fact that we only get to see or speak to our daughter for a handful of weeks a year. I can talk to someone in Siberia or Indonesia more easily than I can speak to my own child,” she added, allowing herself a little bit of a frown because she thought most people would find that upsetting. “And actually, the bright future we had planned for her involved technology that was invented in the twenty-first century, which is banned on school grounds in case it explodes. Of course she’s doing very well with it all,” she added coming back to the point she had liked. “But it seems like the magical world doesn’t really care about her old life at all. It just expects her to build a whole new one, and leave all that behind, which seems very hard on everyone, especially her.” Actually, especially Jenna-Lee, who had to deal with the fallout whilst Sadie-Lake played with talking bunnies, but it was sadder if it was Sadie-Lake’s life that had been ruined.

“It’s lovely that she has you,” she added to Jessica. “And that you’re interested in doing something with her during the summer,” she added.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers You can't say that 1480 0 7

Jessica Hayles

March 05, 2021 10:13 AM

Can I? by Jessica Hayles

Jessica was still not to the point of asking him what the hell was going on here, but she was relieved when Mr. Chalmers continued to act like Sadie was an actual person he had actually met before – or possibly not. Possibly he was simply acting like he was an actual human person, instead of an advanced-but-still-slightly-visibly-‘wrong’-somehow AI….

“She is,” she agreed proudly when he commented on Sadie’s aptitude in Care of Magical Creatures. “She was a big help when we had a group project a while ago, we were learning to evaluate sources for biases and she knew so much about the subjects that it was easier for us to figure out when an author put in inaccurate information, or relied on stereotypes,” she added.

She felt vaguely like she was doing something wrong when she took the card from Mrs. Chalmers, but she needed an ‘in’ and hoped two things. One was that Sadie understood. The other was that Felipe…didn’t assert his sometimes problematic degree of honesty at the worst moment possible.

Jessica’s expression flickered for just a moment when Mrs. Chalmers started sounding like a parody of a kindergarten teacher while interrogating Sadie (had a grown woman just literally used the phrase ‘special and unique, just like you’ out loud in public on purpose, unironically? Was that a thing that really happened?), but she hitched her smile back into place as quickly as possible in order to try to come to her friend’s rescue. “Well, you heard what Mommy said,” she said quickly. “It was always the rule that I could only use the computer for school until I was sixteen, and I’ve only been sixteen since February.” This was…quite a bit of an exaggeration, but she knew her mother wouldn’t cause a scene by calling her out in front of people. You did not discipline or argue in public, it was not pretty. “And now I am, so…here we are,” she added, trying to catch Sadie’s eye.

Here they were indeed, and here, too, were Felipe and Sra. De Matteo….

Her expression flickered again, this time in surprise, when Felipe acted as though English was a problem for him…but then his mother spoke to him in Spanish. Jessica saw her father glance sideways at the pair, and frown slightly, evidently confused. She had to do something – but what?

Jessica could see what Felipe was trying to do – well, she thought she could, anyway – and she loved him for it, but she didn’t think it was going to work. For one thing, Felipe and Sra. De Matteo couldn’t really understand what it was like to suddenly have all of one’s dreams and plans and attachments and everything else suddenly snatched out from under them the way that Muggleborns did. For another, she didn’t think that Felipe…fully understood the problem here, maybe. They appeared to be in the process of confronting a mommy blogger in the wild. It seemed like at least even odds that Mrs. Chalmers’ problem wasn’t really that she was concerned about Sadie’s life, just about the revenue lost and comments made about Sadie not being available for lucrative brand deals….

In theory, Jessica was supposed to know how to read a situation and respond to it, steer it in the direction she wanted it to go, immediately. In reality…well, she felt like the tension was rising, like the situation was devolving somehow and Mrs. Chalmers might lash out if she was put under any further pressure to stop complaining, but she didn't know what to do about it. The knowledge just made her want to freeze, to hide, to hit Mrs. Chalmers over the head with a chair to make this all stop -

Is this how Mara and the staff feel when they have to deal with me?

The thought was deeply unsettling. Jessica had always been embarrassed and ashamed when she had breakdowns, but she had just as equally usually regarded them as inevitable. She had been used to other people taking care of her, even when she sometimes resented it, on days when she was in control of herself and they all treated her as if she wasn’t, or like she might abruptly stop being so. Mara, Carmela, Robert – they helped her hide it, helped her calm down, helped her maintain her public face in public and in front of her parents. She didn’t ask them to, they just…did it. Just as they were all trying to manage Mrs. Chalmers.

Do they think about me the way I think about her? And then, given the source of Mrs. Chalmers’ distress, Does Felipe?

She couldn’t think about that now. It wasn’t a good time to think about that.

Her first thought was to do what Mara would do, but what Mara would have done was find a pretext to get Jessica out of the room. Jessica could do that, she guessed, as a last resort – invoke the old trick of a girl asking another girl to accompany her to the ladies’ room – but right now, it would just be extremely blatant, so – she had to do something else, or try to –

“Yes, well,” she said when Mrs. Chalmers appealed to her directly again. “I know that it’s, um, really hard to adjust…at first, when this is all so new and different from everything you’ve been used to before.” Not that Sadie was exactly new, or like Sadie seemed like she was still struggling, or like Mrs. Chalmers shouldn’t have gotten over it for the most part by now, but…. “Felipe was a huge help for me in our first year, actually,” she added, shooting her friend an only slightly strained smile. “With figuring out that there could be a place for me here, too, just like there was at home.”

Her father cleared his throat, too. “I’m sure Felipe would have had some troubles adjusting if he’d had to go to school where Jessica was going to go, too,” he offered. “But we work with what we have to work with. That’s business, eh?” he added with a grin, nodding slightly to Mr. Chalmers as to an equal, someone in his own world. “You adjust to whatever’s thrown at you and choose to look at it as an opportunity.”

Jessica gave her father a glance which she hoped conveyed gratitude. “Absolutely,” she agreed firmly. “Just because something isn’t what you expected it to be, that doesn’t mean it has to turn out that it’s a bad thing.”

16 Jessica Hayles Can I? 1442 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

March 06, 2021 10:19 AM

You'll have to race me to it. by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe had the distinct impression that this woman was a moron. It wasn't something he generally thought about people - or at least not something he allowed himself to think about people - but he couldn't help it in this case. Sure, he'd claimed to have missed the point for the sake of getting his own across, but it was clear to him that Mrs. Chalmers was the one who missed the point. She hadn't actually said anything about which life Sadie herself might prefer and from what he could tell, everything she talked about in Sadie's old life was basically terrible. Felipe couldn't understand a lot of it, to be fair, but he did understand what it was to have images to keep up and people to impress. When that hadn't been the life he'd wanted, his parents had, with a fair amount of grace all things considered, allowed him to step out of that. What did Sadie want?

He resisted the urge to clench his jaw, instead settling for biting the inside of his mouth as he listened to the conversation move on. He'd given Mrs. Chalmers the chance to think it through and she'd done nothing of the sort, which meant he had nothing more to say to her. After all, what could he possibly say to someone like that? Felipe had never been one to think anyone was less than him for blood status or wealth or any other thing, but he thought that generally snotty personality and possibly terrible mother were good reasons to think someone was less than him. He kept his expression neutral though because Sadie was there and he had somehow become very invested in her throughout this conversation. The year was at an end, but he was pretty determined to be nice to her basically forever now.

"Yes," Julieta agreed kindly when Mr. Hayles suggested that, if the positions were reversed, Felipe would have had trouble adjusting too. Of course he would have, because he'd suddenly be around all that exploding technology and he would have had his world ripped away. But that's because it was a world he wanted to be part of and it didn't sound like Sadie was the one who was having a hard time adjusting, it sounded like Mrs. Chalmers was. "And it's always a challenge to have to change our own ideas for our children's futures," she added, keeping her eyes on the Hayles family.

Felipe wasn't sure if she was avoiding looking at Mrs. Chalmers or at himself then, and he felt a bit like shriveling up inside. For all that he was about ready to figure out some very unbecoming hexes he could send Mrs. Chalmers' way, he hadn't considered whether his own mother had felt the same way about him. Was this what people thought about his decisions and preferences? Is that why everything had gone so horribly wrong over winter break? Because he'd put so much stress on his parents that they'd snapped? On Leonor? He didn't want to blame himself for those things, and hadn't previously, but they were quickly adding themselves to the list of things he'd done wrong in his short life and it was overwhelming to be confronted with the idea that his mother could have felt like this woman said she did. Did that mean his mother was as horrible as he thought that Mrs. Chalmers was? Or that neither of them were in the wrong? Was there a middle ground? His own mother at least had included his thoughts in her own feelings on the matter . . . right? Perhaps she'd just kept her own feelings silenced. Because that's what you did. This wasn't the right time or place to start spiraling down those thoughts, so Felipe just swallowed hard and nodded, agreeing with his mother that he was a disappointment.

22 Felipe De Matteo You'll have to race me to it. 1434 0 5

Ilefonso De Matteo

March 07, 2021 10:16 AM

Just fine so far. Which is good for you. by Ilefonso De Matteo

Ilefonso nodded to himself, a bit disappointed in the boy's functional monolingualism but aware that such things were more normal in this part of the world. Besides that, athleticism, while not inherently valuable to Ilefonso's mind, was still a demonstration of self-discipline and pursuit of success in the face of challenges. Certainly it boded well for the boy's physical aptitude, an important trait for a possible future husband to his daughter.

"That's very good," he said, offering faint praise again, although his smile and jovial demeanor showed his friendliness. He was certainly pleased with what he was learning so far. "You're comfortable with hard work and the outdoors," he observed, making it a compliment again.

This sort of unspoken negotiation was unfamiliar to Ilefonso, who didn't have sisters and certainly wasn't negotiating anything between Felipe and his girlfriend's family. Still, he knew what he wanted out of it and that was helpful. Before he could open his mouth to pursue any particular train of thought, a familiar voice piped up beside him, sounding oddly tight.

"Papa," Leonor asked, making it almost come out as a question before switching to Spanish. "What are you doing?" Her eyes darted nervously between him and Jeremy and Ilefonso put a hand on her shoulder, amused by his daughter's nervousness.

"I'm getting to know your classmates. Anyone my child speaks highly of is of interest to me. Don't be rude, mija," Ilefonso responded.

Leonor turned to Jeremy and dipped her head and knee some, and if she looked tense then Ilefonso didn't notice. "Jeremy," she greeted him.

"I think it would be most fortuitous for the two of you to spend more time together. Invite the boy over this summer, Leonor," Ilefonso smiled, happy that he could help his daughter with a schoolyard crush that had such potential. "We would love to have you visit if you're able? Or perhaps over winter break next year?"

22 Ilefonso De Matteo Just fine so far. Which is good for you. 0 Ilefonso De Matteo 0 5

Jenna-Lee Chalmers

March 10, 2021 4:35 PM

#WhenLifeHandsYouWizards by Jenna-Lee Chalmers

"Good job, Sades," her dad grinned, putting an arm around her as Jessica praised her contribution to the group project. Sadie was pretty sure that Jessica was over-selling it, given that she was putting into terms that Sadie herself could never have used to describe it, but she couldn't exactly argue, so she just mumbled some thanks, intended for both Jessica and her dad, and leant in a little more to the hug.

Jenna-Lee was pleased to see everyone was behaving again, and they weren't trying to argue that she had nothing to be upset about. There was a lot of #Instaration about taking what you were given. Jenna-Lee could #WhenLifeHandsYouLemons and #DontSurviveThrive with the best of them but there were limits. Still, Jessica and her parents seemed to be helping bring Felipe back on track, and even his mother was conceding some of their points.

"Well, it seems like you'll have lots to catch up on," she added to Jessica. Honestly, who in this day and age restricted their children's computer use to that degree? It was scarcely preparing them for thr real world, not to mention all the entertainment that they would miss out on. "And perhaps you girls can email over the summer instead of having owls swooping in amd out all the time. Much faster and more hygeinic," she stated, giving a chance for that to get settled before pressing her next point.

"It sounds like you're interested in joining in with Sadie-Lake's shoots as well," she added, glad they could finally get back to the main point. "So, now you're sixteen, are you in charge of those decisions, or should I get your contact details too?" she asked, her attention flicking from Jessica to her parents as she spoke. Her tone was light, as if she was mostly joking, though she honestly thought that inciting a little rebellion in the Arvale girl might be good for her.

13 Jenna-Lee Chalmers #WhenLifeHandsYouWizards 0 Jenna-Lee Chalmers 0 5

Mara Morales

March 10, 2021 6:16 PM

Something's wrong. by Mara Morales

Something was wrong.

For quite a long portion of the Concert, Mara had remained carefully unaware of whether anything was wrong with her family or not, because she had carefully avoided looking anywhere near her family. At the slightest hint of a glimpse of anything even vaguely resembling a flash of coppery hair, she had quickly found somewhere else to look and to be, regardless of the consequences.

Her mother, however, was harder to spot at a significant distance due to her less unusual hair color; in the end, Mara’s strategy had backfired on her, as she’d almost walked into her mother while trying to avoid her sister and her father and her stepmother. And thus, she’d reached the end of her ability to ignore her family, and from there, it had been a short journey to knowing that something was wrong.

“You’re quiet, querida. What’s wrong?” her mother had asked at one point, in English. Mara had replied in the same language, denying that anything was wrong, because at first, the only thing wrong had been the thing they couldn’t speak about. She had, accordingly, said that she was just tired. Looking around in her efforts to avoid thinking about that unspoken issue, though, her eyes had landed on a gaggle of people with Jessica near the center, and before she’d even had time to look away, she’d realized: something is wrong.

“What do you think is going on over there?” she asked her mother, frowning and speaking in Spanish.

“Talking,” said her mother, also in Spanish.

Mara felt awkward carrying on a conversation in Spanish in public – she always worried that people would think one or both of them didn’t speak English, or would say something rude about what country they were in, or even assume they weren’t here legally – but privacy was more important than blending in at the moment. “Something is wrong, Mamá,” she argued, still in Spanish.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now even if there is,” her mother said, and then she ended the conversation by switching back to English. “But come, Mara – you must find some of your friends for me to meet. You do have some, yes?”

16 Mara Morales Something's wrong. 1472 0 5

Jessica Hayles

March 11, 2021 8:41 PM

...then you...have wizards. by Jessica Hayles

Mr. Chalmers praised Sadie and gave her a hug, which allowed Jessica to give him another ‘potentially okay’ point. Sadie didn’t seem to be entirely comfortable, but she was leaning into her father, not pulling away, and all things considered, there were a lot of reasons to be uncomfortable right now. Jessica was uncomfortable and her parents were perfectly acceptable, with no mommy bloggers among them.

She wasn’t sure what to make of Mrs. Chalmers’ statement that she’d have a lot to catch up on. ‘Catching up’ on…the whole internet? She was pretty sure that keeping up with the Internet was basically impossible, never mind catching up after being away so often. Unless she thought Jessica actually didn’t know what, like, Instagram and stuff were? She’d been in a few web videos herself, and she heard people talk about various campaigns all the time, and she doubted learning the actual controls would be that difficult…

“Honestly, I’ve sort of started to like handwriting letters,” she said, in a tone of slightly embarrassed confession. Email was quicker and more hygienic, that was true, but it also went to a neutral spot. It was possible that it would only be accessed by the person it was directed to, but it was also possible, especially since they were kids, that it could be accessed by someone else. Like Mrs. Chalmers. “It feels so classy, like I’m Emily Dickinson, or Jane Austen,” she improvised with a photography-ready smile. “And owls seem a little quicker than the postal service for sending stuff like samples,” she added, going into something Mrs. Chalmers might actually attribute value to. “So maybe we’ll mix it up sometimes, both ways,” she concluded, not noticing that she had started lacing and unlacing her fingers in front of her. Somehow it felt like the crisis might have been averted, like Mrs. Chalmers was not such a risk for explosion at this point, but it was hard to be sure….

“The buck stops here when it comes to the brand,” her father answered for her when Mrs. Chalmers brought up the preposterous idea that Jessica herself might ultimately decide whether or not to join in Sadie’s ‘shoots.’ “And the buck stops with Ros when it comes to Jezi,” he added, with an affectionate smile to her mother.

“Plus I really wouldn’t want to upstage anyone or anything,” said Jessica. “Or just make everyone go, like…’who is this girl,’ if I’m on something other than the company website.”

16 Jessica Hayles ...then you...have wizards. 1442 0 5

Theo Spurn

March 15, 2021 5:00 AM

BYE by Theo Spurn

"That's okay!" Theo smiled brightly when the little girl apologised to him, reassured that the conversation was proceeding along more usual lines.

"No," he answered, in a tone that probably sounded much blunter than he meant it to when asked if he was friends with the boy. It wasn't mean though, it was just a fact. Friends were people you spent time with, and he did not spend time with this boy. He wasn't even totally sure that boy went here. He had never seen him before. Except the boy knew who he was. And who Wally was.

"Ding-ding, ten points!" he awarded Graham's correct guess with enthusiasm. "Wally is my god-nephew, but it's mostly just like having a friend, and Stanley too, and somewhere to hang out when dad’s sick or I just want to."

Then the boy was incredibly random. ‘Accidents happen’ was a thing you said when there had just been an accident and you wanted everyone to calm down and be friends again but there had been no accident, and everyone was already calm.

Then his mom put a hand on his shoulder and labelled him. Graham. This was Graham? Oh!

Theo was so distracted by this revelation that he forgot he hadn’t really said anything, he’d just sort of stared at Graham like he was weird, and anyway he was looking for his family which was more important than this boy being weird even if he was Graham so he left.

13 Theo Spurn BYE 1476 0 5

Selina Skies

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Bridget Ferguson

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Kir McLeod

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Jenna-Lee Chalmers

Overwhelmed by Jenna-Lee Chalmers

Amethyst Brockert

Socializing by Amethyst Brockert

Deidre Wright

I like doing that usually. by Deidre Wright

Bel Pierce

This is not what it looks like, but play along. by Bel Pierce

Amethyst Brockert

So do I by Amethyst Brockert

Lorena Abernathy

Same and same by Lorena Abernathy

Andrew Duell

I think I'm just about whelmed by Andrew Duell

Karl Hexenmeister

Trying not to commit a felony (again) [tag McLeods] by Karl Hexenmeister

Kir McLeod

No idea what 'this' is but can do by Kir McLeod

Jenna-Lee Chalmers

Are you from Europe? by Jenna-Lee Chalmers

Fionn McLeod

That would seem preferable by Fionn McLeod

Oz Spellman

And getting in fights by Oz Spellman

Monica Spellmam

Less of that, please (tag Prof C-X) by Monica Spellmam

Karl Hexenmeister

Yes, once you become a serial felon, the chances of getting away with it shrink by Karl Hexenmeister

Alexander Pierce-Beales

Is this family? [Tag Pierce-Beales] by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Bel Pierce

What have I done? by Bel Pierce

Mab

YOU GOT MARRIED AND DIDN'T TELL ME??!!!! by Mab

Alexander Pierce-Beales

They're telling us now, right? by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Lyssa and Suzanne Fitzgerald

The two worlds meet [Tag Ness] by Lyssa and Suzanne Fitzgerald

Andrew Duell

Nah, southern California area originally by Andrew Duell

Isis Carter-Xavier

So far, so good. by Isis Carter-Xavier

Jacob Jamison

The boys are back in town! [Tag: the Spurns] by Jacob Jamison

Bridget Ferguson

Sucks, doesn't it? by Bridget Ferguson

Monica Spellman

Fingers crossed by Monica Spellman

Ileum Spurn

And ready to... sit down by Ileum Spurn

Lorena Abernathy

It super sucks. by Lorena Abernathy

Isis Carter-Xavier

*crosses* by Isis Carter-Xavier

Jacob Jamison

At least it rhymed. by Jacob Jamison

Deidre Beales

I don't know what this is either by Deidre Beales

Bridget Ferguson

Yes it does by Bridget Ferguson

Lorena Abernathy

Does it get better? by Lorena Abernathy

Wesley Pierce

Hello, Respectable Person. There is no commotion over there. (tag Allegra's family) by Wesley Pierce

Ben and Shannon Brockert

Hello by Ben and Shannon Brockert

Ileum Spurn

Oh. Well done me. by Ileum Spurn

Deidre Beales

It's certainly a surprise. For all of us. by Deidre Beales

Caitlin Pierce

Thank Merlin, it's over by Caitlin Pierce

Iris Cobb

Ha! I beat you Billy! by Iris Cobb

crosses by Isis Carter-Xavier