Selina Skies

May 06, 2023 10:23 PM
Right now, it was Selina’s job to celebrate the end of term. And that was what she was doing. The incident with Xavier was as resolved as it could be, in that he had been sent away for further treatment, and the steps that had led to this happening had been investigated. It was never easy when something went badly wrong. In some ways, it became all consuming—for several days, dealing with the fallout of the incident had been Selina’s number one priority, and normal responsibilities and previous carefully scheduled plans had had to be roughly shoved aside to make room for talking to parents, investigating the incident, arranging counseling sessions… But at the same time, life didn’t stop. The rest of the world did not grind to a halt because of one person’s emergency. Being deputy head was always like keeping a series of plates spinning, and even this didn’t mean the rest got put away or could be allowed to crash down. There were exam procedures to run (with a tiny, overlapping hitch of removing one of the candidates from the roster), there was the bonfire to arrange. Selina’s heart hurt, but those feelings had to be packed away in the interests of keeping everything moving. Rather than having an acute attack of tears or sorrow, she carried it like a chronic weight throughout the week—the deep, dragging and ever present sensation of something being very wrong. The feeling spiked whenever her mind circled back around and actively thought about the situation, but then she put it away again.

It was both on her mind and distant from it as she prepared to welcome students to the bonfire. This was about everyone. It was a celebration. It needed her attention. But the ritual she’d been trying to work out had only just crystalised in the last few days, and she couldn’t say how connected it was to recent events.

“Good evening,” she greeted the assembled students. “Welcome to the end of term bonfire. As usual, we will have food available, including items you can cook over the small fires around the edge. We will be reserving the large fire in the middle for setting positive intentions.” Selina indicated the large bonfire in the middle. Around it, at a distance, sat smaller ones to make cooking easier, and so as to not muddle the purpose of the main fire—if fire was power and purity, then shoving a baked potato or a marshmallow into it wasn’t really appropriate. “Whilst fire can be destructive, and can be used to burn away things you want rid of, in many cultures, fire is seen as offering power. The idea of burning a wish in fire is said to transport the idea out of this realm, and lend it strength. Tonight, you are encouraged to make a wish on behalf of a classmate.” This was the part that had come to her in the last few days. The idea of setting a positive intention using the fire had been knocking around her mind for a long time, but teenagers often wished for selfish or unrealistic things for themselves—wishing someone would date you didn’t respect their free will, and wishing that you could get the best grades in the class couldn’t work if everyone wanted it. Not that the wishes would really have the power to make those things happen, but it didn’t feel like a positive act when Selina had so many concerns about what might be wished for. Hopefully, by transferring the focus to other people, they would give it more careful thought. It also carried a message of caring and community, which felt like a stronger message to send. “This ritual is optional. You may choose not to participate, or to offer wishes for multiple people. Other than that, you are free to enjoy the fire, socialise with friends, and enjoy the snacks.

“As a reminder, it’s a minimum of three per tent and no maximum. Please register your group with an adult by eight pm so we know that everyone is accounted for and can start assigning tents.

“Enjoy your evening.”
Subthreads:
13 Selina Skies The Bonfire - Make a Wish 26 1 5

Olaf Brockert

May 13, 2023 6:31 AM
The best thing, which was arguably the only good thing about the Bonfire, was that Olaf had been able to request a single tent. He didn’t have to share with anyone , and could just eat and then go sit alone in his tent and read. Which was perfect.

Although, for all that the Bonfire did not appeal to Olaf-very little did, aside from reading, museums and other educational activities-he had to admit that it was a bit better than the Concert, although his opinion was likely tainted by the fact that he’d been forced to perform in it when his group finished in the top three in the second Challenge. Still, he’d been to his sisters’ Concerts prior to his first year of school which he’d scowled through because all the lights went off and he couldn’t see well enough to read his book. At that point, Olaf had been unable to cast spells on his own and his parents had refused to cast lumosfor him. Instead he had to watch the boring concert that aside from Isla’s puppet show, his sisters didn't even participate in.

Of course, even the Concert was better than the Ball . Dear Merlin, was Olaf ever dreading that . All that atmosphere of…romance. Yech. And of course, there was always the possibility of someone being left out because all their friends had dates and they didn’t and there was nobody to talk to. Olaf,of course, didn’t mind if he personally had nobody talk to,since he obviously planned to bring a book and sit in a corner and read, but he knew it had bothered Isla last time and while the second year generally was not the sort of person who did feelings , he did sort of feel bad for his sister. Even though he obviously would never admit that out loud.

Just like he was feeling bad for Amethyst now. Especially since his cousin was completely in the right. The spell on their beds, while not affecting Olaf personally, was ridiculous and down right punitive. Except they were being preemptively punished before they even did anything. Especially since while there were plenty of gay people at Sonora, there weren’t actually any gay couples that also happened to be in the same house since Jasper’s roommate’s boyfriend graduated.

And the alternative suggestions that Professor Skies had presented in the letter were a billion times worse than the current situation. Having his door open at all times or having people randomly inspecting him? No, just no. Olaf probably wouldn’t be doing anything they’d have a problem with since all he did was study and read but much like with the current rule, it was the principle of the thing. Plus, in that case, he would actually feel pretty violated.

Even worse was the idea of reorganizing the dorms, presumably in a manner where there were at least three people in every room. That sounded especially heinous. Olaf currently had a room to himself and he had no desire to give that up. Never mind how impractical it was because they would have to refigure who was rooming where every year. That quite frankly sounded like a pain in the ass.

So, the bed spell sucked and Amethyst’s suggestion was the best solution. Except that Professor Skies said no, because she was apparently in favor of fascist policies that treated them all like babies. Because with the exception of some of the troublemakers, like Leo, they did not need that level of supervision. And those troublemakers didn’t need the supervision because they wanted to, um, be physically intimate, they needed it so they didn’t misbehave and play pranks.

Never mind that Amethyst’s petition had more signatures than the one Topaz’s roommate had put up at one point. Yet, they had gender neutral Head Student elections now but they still had these idiotic spells on their beds. How was that fair?

Professor Skies began to speak about the symbolism of fire and other New Age crap. Olaf couldn’t help but roll his eyes when the professor mentioned making a wish on behalf of a classmate. Really? How sanctimonious and saccharine could you get? The idea was actually slightly nauseating.

Now Olaf had to decide whether or not to try his hand at cooking over a fire. There was also pre-made food. Obviously, the pre-made food was easier, though maybe later he’d roast a marshmallow for those s’more things because the combination of marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers actually sort of sounded good.

For now though Olaf got in line for the pre-made food which he was sure would taste better than anything he managed to cook instead

Unfortunately, however,while he was standing in line waiting, the person in front of him greeted him “Hello,” The Aladren returned the greeting politely. Merlin, he could not wait to get to his single occupancy tent and read.
11 Olaf Brockert I wish everyone would go away 1564 0 5

Phil Carson

May 16, 2023 9:32 PM
Phil planned to tent with Eben. He'd also considered tenting with the gamer guys, but Eben for some reason didn't seem particularly keen on that. It sounded like Philippe and Bertie were pairing off with their roommates anyway, and Phil wasn't sure he wanted to share with just the younger Pecaris.

Not sure what to do about the tentmate situation, Phil initially just ignored it. He had hot dogs and marshmallows with his roommate, and then they did the designated activity. He'd sent goodwill wishes for the futures of the graduating gamers - Valentine, Bertie, and Philippe were all going to be gone next year, dropping the average gaming club age significantly. As the guys going into fifth, Phil and Eben would be the new oldest members come September. Phil just hoped he'd do an okay job running it. Fortune said he'd help at least.

Phil added another slip of paper to the fire that was maybe a little bit self interested which wished for Fortune to grow into a good DM. Phil felt he'd do a good job with the administrative bits of running a club - arranging meetings, slipping the librarian snacks and tea, putting up signs, making sure they followed all the rules to stay in Mr. Fox-Reynold's good graces, and helping new people make characters - as well as doing the more advanced magics for terrain and maps and stuff, but he wasn't too sure of his own ability to come up with a cohesive and interesting campaign storyline and he hoped to offload some of that onto Fortune.

He also burned a scrap of paper with hopes for Eben to have a good summer, and for Xarryn to find reading a little easier.

After that a Teppenpaw with a terrible voice started singing nearby, and Phil quickly made an excuse to be someplace else.

As he wandered about on the far side of the Pitch, he happened across Olaf Brockert, who he kind of knew from the Challenges last year. Olaf hadn't seemed especially enthused about the challenges, but he'd been competent, and really? How bad could a kid who just wanted to sit around and read all day be? He and Eben would probably not even notice he was there, and that would bring them up to three. It certainly sounded like a more restful night than sharing with Xarryn Bavol.

Olaf was on line for food, so Phil lined up behind him and said hi. Olaf returned it politely so this was off to a good start. "Hey, do you have plans for a tent yet?" he asked. "Me and Eben need someone else in ours." He'd probably still need to check that Eben was okay with it, too, but he doubted his roommate would object to a quiet reader from their own House. First though, was to see if Olaf was even interested.


OOC: Basic overview of the earlier evening with Eben can be amended if his author objects, but it seemed generic enough to be safe to assume.
Fortune's offer to help run gaming club approved by his author.
Lenny is mine and already established his plan to sing poorly.
1 Phil Carson Including me? 1536 0 5

Olaf Brockert

May 17, 2023 10:23 PM
As it turned out, the person happened to be Phil Carson, whom Olaf had done the Challenges with last year. He supposed that while the older Aladren had some irritating traits-which was to be expected, as aside from maybe Grandfather, Olaf found them in pretty much everyone-such as being too enthusiastic at times, he was also more tolerable than some people. At least it wasn’t some Pecari or Leo trying to make conversation with him. Phil was an Aladren and therefore, not a complete moron, so he had that going for him at least.

As for what he was asking…well, Olaf had had every intention of having a single tent, a nice quiet space where he could just sit alone and read. After all, if he was going to have to this whole Bonfire thing-which was still admittedly probably the least obnoxious of school events despite the utterly sanctimonious ritual that Professor Skies was inflicting on them,especially that if she was now wanting them to bond after not letting people sit on their beds together, a thing that promoted socializing and bonding, was also arguably a bit hypocritical, as well as him hearing something about a sing along, which so much no, that was most likely featuring the especially heinous musical stylings of Lenny Pierce so hard pass-Olaf wanted to at least be able to do his own thing as much as possible.

Which meant no singing, no making positive wishes for people and no socializing. It meant sitting alone in a tent with a book and reading. And the second year read alone, with nobody else. When he read alone, he preferred to be by himself.

And he was about to point this out to Phil, when he…quickly realized that the older Aladren probably didn’t have the greatest options for alternatives. Especially since Olaf was pretty sure that Christopher was hoping to share with Cole and Lenny. Otherwise he would have sent the fourth year his cousin’s way.

The second year sighed deeply. This was a major sacrifice for him.“All right. I was going to have a solo tent but I’ll share with you and Eben on the condition that I am just there so you guys can have a third person. I will be spending the entire time quietly reading my book. And I suppose I can eat with you.” There were likely a limited number of small fires to cook at and not enough for each person to have their own. Especially given that this whole thing seemed to be about…camaraderie with one’s peers. The same peers that people could not sit on the beds in their dorms with.

Not that Olaf wanted to do that anyway but still, it was the principle of the thing. That one parent had more say over how the school was run than the students who actually went here was idiotic and it was a dangerous precedent to set. Besides, he was actually feeling pretty bad for Amethyst right now-just because Olaf wanted to be left alone for the most part did not mean that he did not care about his siblings and cousins-and the failure of her petition was part of the reason, she had also had a fight with Iris, which he was not inclined to ask for details about. “Okay?”
11 Olaf Brockert No...of course not... *gives author dirty look* 1564 0 5