Nathan Xavier
August 11, 2017 11:43 AM
First Year Orientation by Nathan Xavier
Nathan greeted the students as they disembarked from their wagons, helping anyone with the last big step who needed it, and telling them to leave their luggage for the elves. For the first years - or rather anyone he didn't recognize from teaching last year, though he hadn't heard of any transfers this year so presumably they were all first years - he then invited them to follow the signs through the Garden paths to Orientation. For second years, he welcomed them back and told them the library and Cascade Hall were open for use until the feast later that night, or they could go to their dorms. Prefects or staff should be in the Hall if they needed a password. Everyone else presumably knew the drill so he just welcomed them back and hoped they had a good summer.Once the last of the wagons arrived, he followed the first years through the Gardens, collecting the "Orientation this way ->" signs along the way, as well as releasing the staff members or prefects posted at path intersections to prevent unsupervised wandering to go and enjoy the rest of their afternoons. The designated path led into a large clearing with a fountain and a banner exclaiming "Welcome to Sonora Academy!"
There were tables beneath the banner laden with snacks, both healthy and unhealthy, sweet and salty, light and filling. Cupcakes, cookies, breads of several varieties, pretzels, potato chips, cheese, crackers, fruits, vegetables and dip, small sandwiches, and more were all available. Cups of water, pumpkin juice, and fruit punch filled another table.
An additional staff member was posted within the clearing, encouraging new arrivals to get some food and collect a packet, and prevent anyone from wandering away or or swimming in the fountain or otherwise causing trouble. The packets the students were told to grab were thin green folders, the same shade as their uniform robes, that contained useful things like the first year class schedule, a map of the school, and a list of school rules they would be expected to abide by. Most of the later would be covered by the Head of House speeches later, but it never hurt to have it in writing.
He gave the students from the final wagon time to get food and mingle a bit before he cleared his throat to get their attention. It wasn't a notably large class this year, so he didn't bother with a sonorus charm to amplify his voice, but he did motion for them to gather closer so he wouldn't need to project to the far corners of the clearing or compete too much with the splashing of the fountain.
"Hello and welcome to your first year at Sonora Academy. My name is Professor Xavier and I'll be your Herbology teacher this year, and your orientation guide today. First, I'm going to tell you a bit about your new school," it wouldn't be anything novel or exciting for anyone who read the school brochures sent out with the acceptance letters, but there was no guarantee those had been read. "Then you'll have some time to meet your fellow yearmates, get more snacks, and ask questions if you have any. At five thirty, we'll start a tour of the school which will culminate at the Cascade Hall, where you will all be sorted into your Houses and then the Welcoming Feast will begin."
The first few times he'd done this, he'd had a whole speech planned out, memorized, and rehearsed in front of his cat. As this was now his fifth time running Orientation, however, and since he'd become more comfortable talking in front of large classes over that time, he was mostly winging it today.
"So, Sonora Academy of Magic is a seven year secondary school. You're expected to already be able to read, write essays, and do basic math. If you can't, or you have trouble with those things, we do have an academic support program run by Professor Skies, which includes language help for anybody who doesn't speak English fluently. Additionally, each professor holds office hours a few times a week in case you need a little extra help with their specific subject."
"As first years, you will be taking beginner level classes. The core classes Sonora offers are Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and Defense against the Dark Arts. These beginner courses will continue into second year, and the two beginner year groups sit classes together. In third year, you will advance to intermediate classes and be permitted to pick up elective classes and independent studies if you so choose, in addition to those core classes that you will start this year. Intermediate classes last through fifth year, at the end of which you take your first major exam call the CATS - the Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills. Depending on how you do on those tests, you may move into advanced classes for your sixth and seventh years. At that point, you may drop the courses that are not of interest to you or for which you did not pass the CATS. At the end of seventh year, you will sit your last major exam, the RATS - the Ridiculously Anal Testing of Skills. You need to pass two RATS to graduate, and most colleges require a minimum of three."
He took a breath then continued, "Obviously, that's still a long way off, but that's the overview of academics here at Sonora. You should have your schedule for beginner lessons in the green folders you picked up. If you didn't get one, they are over there," he pointed to the appropriate table.
"Extracurricularly, Sonora has a number of student led clubs, including a Dueling club, an Orchestra, a Choir, an Art club, a Baking Club, possibly a Book club," they hadn't had a part in last year's Concert, so he wasn't sure if that was because they ceased to exist or because Book Club didn't lend itself well to a stage performance, "and a Sports club. If none of those tickle your fancy, you can always make your own. Depending on participation rates, we may also have House Quidditch teams competing for the Quidditch Cup. Quidditch is a wizarding sport played on broomsticks. Oh, on that note, as first years, you do have one more class beyond the core classes called Flying Lessons where you'll learn to fly on a broom."
That was the bulk of the information he was supposed to disseminate right now, so he began his wrap up, "As for living arrangements, you will be sorted into Houses, which each value certain positive personality traits: Aladrens value learning; Teppenpaws friendship; Crotalus believes in respectability and responsibility; and Pecaris are often adventurous. There are other traits each House seeks, so this is a bit of a generalization and not everyone fits neatly into one or another, so try not to put too much stock into House stereotypes. But you will be sorted into one of them, and you'll share a room with anybody else sharing your House and gender. Your Head of House will look out for you and serve as your adult guardian while you're here. Each House has three prefects who are also appointed to help you with any trouble you may encounter. And each student has the opportunity to gain House points for good behavior and exemplary class work. Likewise getting in trouble can lose your House points. The House with the most points at the end of the year wins the House Cup to display in their Commons for the following year."
He mentally ran through the important topics one more time and thought he'd hit most of them. "That's about it, the Cascade Hall serves breakfast from 6:30 to 8:30, lunch from eleven to one, and dinner from five to seven. Those times should also be on your schedules. Between those times, you can get light fare like sandwiches and snacks. It opens at six and closes at ten. Ten PM to six AM is curfew and you should be in your House areas during that time. Unless there are any questions, you are free to mingle until the tour."
OOC (Out of Character):
Welcome first years to Sonora! You can post a reply here to ask staff questions or meet your new classmates. This thread is intended for first year students to have a chance to try out posting and get acclimated to the site before we throw you into the big Opening Feast, which is open to the entire school population and can be a bit overwhelming. So post, enjoy, have fun! Everyone here is happy to help out, so if you've got a question, put it on the OOC board or try to catch somebody in the Chatzy and we'll try to get you an answer as quick as we can. Have fun and glad you could join us!
Subthreads: I have arrived. by Jasmine Delachene with Parker Fitzgerald
Freedom? by Jehan Callahan with Dorian Montoir
As long as there is sugar, I'll be okay. by Tatiana Vorontsova with Gary Harper
1
Nathan Xavier
First Year Orientation
28
Nathan Xavier
1
5
Jehan Callahan
August 11, 2017 5:02 PM
Freedom? by Jehan Callahan
Jehan was small for his age, with faraway eyes and hair that was cut a little too short for its natural curliness to really show. Of course, his curls were nowhere near as wild as his brother’s. He was dressed neatly, in slacks and a shirt, thanks to his mother – when left to his own devices, Jehan had an interesting sense of style.He also had a tired air, but that was only because he hadn't slept well the night before. He had been too busy imagining things and creating stories of what his time at Sonora would be like. He’d eagerly heard all of the stories his older brother, Victor, had to tell, many times over, and had done his own research too, but nothing could really tell him exactly what it would be like.
Victor was worried about him starting Sonora. Jehan knew this. He could see it in Victor’s eyes, in his smile, in the way he ruffled Jehan’s hair as they stepped off the wagon (of course Victor wouldn’t hug him in public. Victor was funny like that). Jehan didn’t know why, though. He was away from his parents, and with Victor. Surely those were the two most important variables? Anything else wasn’t really important. People thought Jehan was small and young and different, and that he couldn’t cope, wouldn’t cope, or maybe just wouldn’t fit in. He didn’t understand why that was seen as a problem. Maybe he wouldn’t find any close friends here, but there were so many more people than at home. The odds (and also all the stories he’d read) suggested that he’d find someone he liked. And if he didn’t, if he ended up alone and sad, it would make the most beautifully tragic story. He thought he would quite like to sacrifice himself for The Sake of Art.
He was lost in his imaginings about dying a tragic death when he heard someone speak, startling him out of this thoughts. “Oh! I’m sorry, I was thinking about tragic deaths,” he explained politely, not having caught what they said. “My name’s Jehan.”
He didn’t bother with the traditional pureblood greeting. He knew his mother would be disappointed, but he didn’t really see the point. Unless someone asked who his family was, surely they wanted to know who he was? And the two things were hardly the same.
9
Jehan Callahan
Freedom?
1398
Jehan Callahan
0
5
Dorian Montoir
August 12, 2017 12:50 AM
From older brothers by Dorian Montoir
Dorian stepped off the wagon and tried to tell himself that he did not feel... That word for when things were too much. He was sure there was such a word, a single word or maybe two word combination for it in English, but he could not call it to mind - a fact that only served to heighten said emotion. He had tried to spend the wagon ride here keeping his thoughts in English, for practise, but it had only made him more nervous and frustrated. He could function in English, this he knew, but Dorian was a person to whom sharing intimate thoughts and feelings was important. He wanted to get to know others on a deeper level than small talk allowed, and was worried that his language skills would form a barrier preventing that connection. A world without closeness to others sounded grey and cheerless.Prior to actually having to go through with it, he had been feeling optimistic about starting Sonora. There had been a day late in the summer where the heavens had opened, and he had sat in the attic watching the rain drops running down the windows,placing silent bets with himself about which would merge with the static drops further down the pane, giving them the weight and momentum they needed to continue their journey, and which would fall short, either skimming around the others or grinding to a halt themselves. He had been in the attic because of Matthieu. His older brother liked to go outside and do things, and rainy days made him miserable. And, whilst Matthieu was generally not a generous person, given to sharing with his siblings, bad moods were one thing of which he made an exception. Even if Dorian and their sister, Émilie, stayed out of his way, taking their activities to one of their bedrooms, he would seek them out. When it rained, he had nothing to do except pick fights. Dorian and Émilie, armed with enough cookies and colouring books to while away the morning, had tried the attic as a retreat, and Dorian had started to think longingly of the freedom he would soon experience from his brother, who attended L'Institute Quebecois. Perhaps it was too much to hope that he could enjoy his rainy days, all his days, without some meat-head bully looming over him. He was sure Sonora had its share of Matthieus, none of whom would take kindly to someone like him. But at least they wouldn't have the deeply personal mission of making his life hell that seemed to go with being brothers. He tried to hold onto this hope and this optimism now as he disembarked. Many of the things he would miss, the familiarity of home, his sister and his parents, he would be without now had he gone to school in Canada. There would only have been the safety net of a familiar language, but the price to pay for that was living in Matthieu's shadow, and for Émilie to have come here instead.Since father had determined that one of them should go to America, to make connections either with the Americans or the increasing number of French students there, the possibility of him attending school with his sister had disappeared.
He wished he had a moment to compose himself, both mentally and physically. He had packed his comb close to hand so he could smarten up but not found an opportune moment to use it, it seeming a strange thing to do around other people. He supposed he would have to trust that his dark hair had not suddenly abandoned its genetic predisposition to absolute poker straightness, and nor had the anti-creasing charms that his mother had cast on his black slacks and pastel blue shirt let him down, and that he just felt ruffled rather than actually appearing it. First impressions counted. He had chosen the shirt specifically to compliment his skin tone - provided one ascribed to the Western ideal of a healthy tan. His mother couldn't quite let go of the Chinese ideal that pale was beautiful, and made many wasted efforts every summer to shield them from the effects of the sun. Even Dorian, who was more of an indoor boy, couldn't help but get a few shades darker. Upon meeting him for the first time, many people did not immediately twig that he was mixed race. Whilst he had his mother's straight black hair and dark eyes, his facial features took far more strongly after his father. The resultant effect seemed to be that he slightly puzzled people. He could see it, when they met his mother, that it answered a question that they might not even have realised they had. It explained why his appearance hadn't quite met their expectations but without being so obvious as to fall into the category of 'foreigner.' This was where they often then placed him, in spite of being Canadian born and a fluent French speaker. Pureblood society wasn't exactly used to diversity and the reactions ranged from the overtly hostile to, at best, a sort of accidentally patronising attitude, whereby people complimented him on how well he blended in in his own country, how good he was at speaking his native tongue, or how they had totally thought of him as white until that point, as if this was some grand and higher status to aspire to. He had realised early on that he was never going to meet everyone's expectations - he had failed by default for some of them, merely by existing, and everyone had a different version of what it meant to be proper. There was some shared doctrine, sure - sit up straight, learn to dance, marry well - but it was already apparentto him that he was never going to please everyone. Rather than try to jump through a set of contradictory hoops, he had decided instead not to set too much store by those whose versions of 'the rules' he didn't care for.
He occupied himself with a snack whilst waiting for everyone to assemble, and then tried to listen carefully to Professor Xavier. He understood the information conveyed but there were one or two turns of phrase that threw him, and his perfectionist streak, especially when it came to communicating, caused him to write this experience up as failure. Hoping he would have more luck with his classmates, he approached another boy. He was surprised to find they were similar heights - Dorian was pretty small for his age and used to being loomed over.
"Good morning. I am Dorian Montoir, of the Quebec Montoirs," he introduced himself. It was strange how even this incredibly familiar ritual felt odd. He wasn't sure he had ever introduced himself in English outside of lessons. At least though, to start with, any conversation would likely be on safe, predictable territory, as they worked through introductions. He tried not to do a double take at the boy's response.
"Someone is dead?" he asked, his accent quite obvious in the way he spoke, which would explain both his poorly constructed question and confusion. "I - I am sorry to hear this," he stammered out, struggling to remember the correct English expressions of condolence. Formal expressions of grief were not something he had expected to need on his first day of school.
"I am Dorian," he replied, dropping the formal introduction as the other boy hadn't used it. The other boy's name registered. "Jehan?" he confirmed. Then added, in a mixture of hope, but also doubt and confusion because Jehan's accent was decidedly American, which prompted him to ask the question in the negative. "You are not French speaking?"
13
Dorian Montoir
From older brothers
1401
Dorian Montoir
0
5
Jehan
August 13, 2017 5:14 PM
Well, mine isn't too bad by Jehan
Jehan was a little thrown off by Dorian’s assumption, not really having considered that as a possible response. Still, there was logic to the other boy’s question. It was a big world, and who knew what was going on out there?“Probably,” Jehan confirmed. “Though I was thinking more about the idea of death, rather than a specific person. It would make a wonderfully sad story if someone died of loneliness, wouldn't it?”
He smiled hesitantly at Dorian as the other boy introduced himself, a little shy but not wanting to discourage his new acquaintance, even if it took him a step further away from martyrdom for the sake of literature. He supposed there were advantages to remaining in the land of the living, starting with the snack table that he'd have to investigate before they left the gardens. But there was time for that later, as Dorian was opening an interesting line of conversation.
“My grand-mère is French,” he explained, as she had been the reason for his name. He automatically slipped in the French word, that being the way he mentally differentiated between his two grandmothers. “So I can speak some of the language- I don't suppose you read any Baudelaire, do you?”
About a year ago, Jehan had discovered the world of poetry. Despite being an advanced reader for his age, some went over his head, but he still found enjoyment in the crafting of words to create feelings that expressed just what he couldn't. Realising that Dorian was French (or so he presumed), his brain immediately leapt to one of his favourite French poets.
One of the exciting possibilities about Sonora was that he might find others who shared his interests. Victor was a pretty amazing older brother, but he just didn't understand some things. Victor preferred to get wet and muddy rather than curl up in front of a fire with a book; he ate meat rather than realising that he wouldn't like it if someone ate him (Jehan was still debating whether or not eating plants was potentially cruel too, but was aware of the fact that he needed to actually eat something); and Victor thought that his last name was the most important thing about him (it was actually his smile, that particular one he saved just for Jehan). But Sonora promised a wider range of people, with no parents to control who was or wasn't suitable. The next seven years had the potential to be glorious.
9
Jehan
Well, mine isn't too bad
1398
Jehan
0
5
Dorian
August 16, 2017 11:20 PM
Lucky you by Dorian
"Oh, I am sorry for misunderstanding," Dorian apologised. "My English is terrible," this was a conclusion he had been forced to reach in the past ten minutes. Prior to disembarking the wagon, he would have said his English was passable, maybe even quite good - he was certainly the best speaker out of his siblings, but he was rapidly realising how little that counted for when thrown in amongst native speakers. Whilst he was, somewhere in the back of his mind, relieved that he was not having to deal with someone recently bereaved, this was largely eclipsed by his acute embarrassment at having misunderstood. Whilst only a slight blush coloured his cheeks, the remainder of his expression conveyed the emotion very clearly.Dorian enjoyed good stories though. He prefered to read them, or to see them on stage, than to invent them himself, but now that Jehan had explained his comment, he didn't find it the least bit odd, and was indeed quite enthusiastic about the general subject.
"Perhaps I was thinking a similar thing?" he asked, phrasing it as a question because he didn't quite trust his interpretation of the conversation. "That maybe I cannot talk well to people here. Though for me, this is more the real worry than the story," he added sadly. He frowned slightly. "My explanation does not join up as well as I would like," he added. He felt like what he had said had missed a step somehow, but as he couldn't identify what it was, he could only acknowledge that he knew something was missing.
He was encouraged to know that Jehan had French family and spoke some of the language, although from the way he phrased it, they were not going to do better at sharing their deeper feelings by switching language. Still, perhaps Jehan would be interested to practise, and then Dorian would feel less horrible about asking for help with his hideous English because then he'd have something to offer in return. He was going to suggest this when Jehan took the conversation off on a different tangent.
"I think not," he searched his memory for the author mentioned. "He is the Muggle?" he queried, taking the fact he hadn't heard of him alongside Jehan's lack of a formal introduction. Literature was a strange area, with almost everyone disagreeing, or having their own personal version of 'acceptable.' Some Muggle authors readily made most people's cut for their brilliance, some with a Muggle section to their work had really been wizards dabbling in both worlds to increase their audience (opinions again varying on whether this 'tainted' them), whilst others with little known about their biographies were fiercely argued over by academics as to which group they belonged to. There stood next to this, if course, plenty of unambiguously wizarding literature. Perhaps Baudelaire would have made it onto Dorian's curriculum at some point with 'Le Vampire,' but his tutors had not deemed that appropriate thus far, either because of the author's questionable blood status or the poem's more mature themes.
He named a couple of authors he had enjoyed in French to see whether they rang any bells with Jehan, although having not recognised Baudelaire's name he had not made the conversational leap from prose to poetry, and so stuck with the former, even though the latter was something he enjoyed reading very much.
"In English, our tutor gives us the more modern work for the language to be more easy for us," he added, naming some works they had recently studied. Judging by this, their tutor regarded 'modern' as works produced up to around 1920.
"At the moment, I read the history of Serpentina. She is the Ancient Greek lady who is speaking Parseltongue, and many people are treating her differently. Sometimes she is loved and worship. Sometimes she is regard as evil," he explained, his tenses slipping a little as he got excited about the subject. "I enjoy this very much at the moment because for the birthday of my sister, we go to see 'Melody.' It is the musical show about a girl who can speaking Parseltongue, and it makes the very interesting subject to see how people are reacting to this," he explained, trying to make his interest sound like it was more vested in the story and the reading around this he could do, and not mentioning that the soundtrack was also simply breathtaking and that he and Émi had spent most of the summer singing it, draped in spangly fabric and him with a wig on. He had learnt that it was this sort of behaviour that tended to make people want to beat him up, if Matthieu was anything to go by. Being interested in stories and history was also dangerously nerdy but as Jehan had started a conversation about books, that part was probably safe territory. Admitting that he loved to sing and dance probably was not.
OOC: my explanation of wizards' treatment of Muggle literature follows on from discussion with Jehan's author. Whilst there is presumably a whole wizard canon, some authors prefer to reference Muggle work for ease, and have the head canon that there may be large cross overs. This was an attempt to explain Dorian's ignorance of the subject whilst leaving it as open as possible for everyone else. I may also start working on a wizard literary canon, if anyone wants to help. This will mostly be taking descriptions of Muggle authors and the main themes occurring in their works and then applying wizardly edits and new names. E.g. Oscar Wilde equivalent is either a half blood or disenfranchised society type who writes satirical pieces mocking society. Not widely read by Purebloods as it might give their children Ideas.
13
Dorian
Lucky you
1401
Dorian
0
5
Jehan
August 20, 2017 8:01 AM
Lucky you, it sounds like! by Jehan
“No, I quite like your English,” reassured Jehan, not wanting Dorian to think badly of his language abilities. After all, people often said that Jehan didn’t always make much sense (even if Jehan himself thought the opposite), and he felt sorry for the other boy, having to talk to Jehan straight away.He frowned as Dorian suggested that he may undergo a similar thing. No, two people of dying of loneliness wouldn’t work, unless perhaps they were star-crossed lovers and there was a huge and fatal misunderstanding. Unfortunately, suggesting such a thing upon first meeting another person probably wasn’t the done thing. It would make the whole story awfully contrived, too, which would remove all the drama and tragedy from it.
“My mother always says that I make no sense,” he offered, not wanting Dorian to feel embarrassed by his apparently unsatisfactory explanation. “I find that things sometimes work better in my head than out loud. Some thoughts are complicated to say.”
That still didn’t really solve Dorian’s problem, though, and after a moment Jehan came up with the answer. “You could always switch to French, when you need to,” he suggested, brightening. “I can’t promise I’ll understand everything, but at least you won’t be left with words you haven’t been able to say.” Jehan knew that it could be frustrating, wanting to say something but not being able to say it. Victor always told him to keep quiet when around guests or their parents, because he had a habit of confusing people, or saying things that annoyed Father. He found it hard, but he knew that Victor was just trying to help him.
And here was a prime example of why Victor was right. “Yes, he’s muggle,” replied Jehan quietly and a little apprehensively. Mother didn’t really like him reading Muggle authors, even the old ones. Dorian probably knew it was Not Allowed too, and Jehan was about to lose his first friend here. Well, he didn’t really want to be friends with someone if they scorned Baudelaire just because he was a muggle, but it would be a shame to have driven someone off already. Roll on the tragic death, and quickly, please.
But Dorian kept talking, and Jehan recognised a couple of names that he mentioned. They weren’t poets, but he’d have plenty of time during the school year to introduce Dorian to that side of literature. No need to worry about it now. Then Dorian started getting very enthusiastic about musical theatre, and Jehan very much wanted to keep him. Not only did the other boy like reading, it was also cute how enthusiastic he was, and Jehan liked cute things.
“Oh! I wanted to see that, but Father said it wasn’t a good idea to encourage me,” said Jehan, jealous of Dorian, even if he wasn’t sure whether the other boy was talking about a trip in the past or the future. “Have you seen it yet, or are you going to see it during the holidays? I bet the costumes are glorious. Do you think a story is more romantic with music or without?”
He paused, realising that was rather a barrage of questions, and not wanting to overwhelm Dorian and his English. Jehan just couldn’t help it, sometimes; his brain came up with one thought and then that quickly led onto something else, and he just had to get everything out.
9
Jehan
Lucky you, it sounds like!
1398
Jehan
0
5
Dorian
August 21, 2017 6:35 AM
I'm starting to feel that way by Dorian
Jehan liked his English. Dorian was not quite sure whether this was just a way of saying that his English was fine, or whether it meant something else -that there was something special and different about the version of English that he was speaking, which Jehan found somehow enjoyable."Thank you," he replied. Whilst he didn't want his English to be especially individual and noteworthy, unless it was for composing beautiful works of verse with exceptional depth of feeling (something he was quite certain he was a long way off), he still recognised that Jehan was giving him a compliment, and the gracious thing was to accept it, not to ask for clarification.
"They are," he agreed, when Jehan stated that some thoughts were hard to explain. "I think this happens to everyone. You are making sense to me, when I don't get confuse anyway," he added, and was then forced to laugh slightly at the absurdity of what he had just said. "Here is the example. This makes sense clearly to me before I say but maybe it sound strange. I mean, when I can know and follow your words, your ideas are making sense to me. Only when I get confuse by the word I don't know then we have the problem. But not with the thoughts themselves. They are the good thoughts."
When Jehan suggested that he spoke in French so his feelings and thoughts were not going unvoiced, he found hinself st a loss. For a moment, he didn't think he could think of any words, in any language to express what that idea meant to him. Other than Émilie, he had never found someone who wanted to know what he was feeling, or who cared so much about the act and the importance of expressing his emotions.
"Thank you," he said, although it was obviously said with much more heartfelt feeling than his previous thanks. "That is maybe the nicest thing someone is ever offering me," he added. He wished he could hug Jehan, but he was fairly sure that a spontaneous display of affection to a virtual stranger would get him some strange looks and unwanted attention.
Jehan then brought the conversation back to the writer. Dorian was so focussed on what the other boy was saying that some of how he said it passed him by. He didn't pick up the drop in tone as Jehan admitted to reading Muggle fiction. Especially as Jehan had not introduced himself in the society fashion, so Dorian already assumed him to have some Muggle heritage.
"Wait, are you reading him in French or in English?" was the more pressing question that now occurred to him. "If you are reading the novels in French, I think you know it better than you suggest."
He had thought that Jehan might be interested in his reading material, and at best hoped he would largely ignore the source that had started Dorian off on that tack. He felt as if someone had hit him with a stunning spell when Jehan became enthusiastic about the subject of the musical itself. Although, sadly, before he could get into his stride with the subject, Dorian was lost again.
"He is not wanting to encouraging you?" He wasn't sure whether the question he was trying to ask was 'why' or 'with what' or to just have the phrase explained in case it had an idiomatic meaning, which it might. He knew that generally parents did encourage their children, but also that Jehan hadn't expressed any particular goal other than seeing the musical, with which he certainly didn't seem to need encouraging but which seemed a harmless enough wish. He returned the phrase as a question for clarification. Answering the other boy's questions was easier though.
"We did saw already," he clarified, mentally kicking himself for forgetting his tenses the first time, which he supposed he must have done. "The costume are not the most exciting part because a lot of it is set in the school. But there is a scene with the masquerade party... It is beautiful and ugly together. The mask and the outfit look very nice, but the song is about hiding what you feel, what you are, so it is the very negative symbol and sad part of the story. There is the very nice dress at the end also.
"Absolutely it is better with the music!" he enthused, scarce believing he was being given permission to wax lyrical on such a subject. "And not just the romantic but all the feeling. Sometimes when you read the song or an idea on the paper, it seems not so much. Its meaning can seem simple, but when the music is there it is a more complex expression, and so it can express a feeling more better than words alone. Also, if you cannot catch all of the words in a story, you can know straight away how the person is feeling because of the music - he is happy, her heart is breaking. You do think so too?" he checked.
13
Dorian
I'm starting to feel that way
1401
Dorian
0
5
Jehan
August 23, 2017 10:55 AM
Yes, this is all going very well! by Jehan
Jehan beamed at Dorian as the other boy said that he made sense, and that he had good thoughts. No one had ever said that to Jehan before. His flights of fancy were seen as, at best, amusing, if not considered downright ridiculous. His tutor had often scolded him for having his head in the clouds. Even Victor, who loved him, thought he was a little crazy.Apparently, he’d also said a Very Nice Thing to Dorian, not that he’d considered the suggestion out of the ordinary. It was simply that Jehan couldn’t think of anything much more important than being able to express what one wanted to express. Plus he quite wanted to hear what Dorian had to express. Whether or not he understood it, he loved the enthusiasm that the other boy was already showing. Dorian’s gratitude and the whole connection they seemed to have going on made Jehan feel happy and a little emotional inside. He rather wanted to hug Dorian, and almost did so, when he realised that it would probably make the other boy feel uncomfortable. Hugs normally seemed to make people uncomfortable, Jehan had found, unless the person in question was Victor, and no one else was around.
Dorian’s next question gave Jehan an idea. “I’ve read his works in English, although I have been trying to read them in French. Maybe we could read together?” he suggested. He knew his French wasn’t too good, but maybe with Dorian around it would improve more quickly, or at least give him the motivation to improve.
“No, Father doesn’t want me to spend all my time on useless things like musicals and poetry,” he explained. “Well, the things he thinks are useless. Apparently I need to prepare myself for society instead of reading and singing.” Jehan wasn’t about to start agreeing with his father on that front. To him, such things were far more important than reputation, and whatever else it was he missed when he zoned out during his father’s lectures. Unlike Victor, he didn’t care about what strangers thought of him, so long as he had people who loved him.
Dorian’s description of the musical made Jehan even more envious of the other boy, and he was determined that he would see it, somehow.
He nodded along with Dorian’s opinion, generally agreeing with the other boy. “Yes, music definitely adds a lot, and it makes things oh so much more beautiful. You can really understand the characters.” He found it hard to describe, but there was just something so amazing about listening to music, and feeling the emotions. “But what about poetry? Poetry can tell some wonderful stories, but it’s not always the same if set to music. Sometimes I read a line, and it’s so beautiful I want to cry, and I can’t imagine it being any other way than just written down in ink.”
9
Jehan
Yes, this is all going very well!
1398
Jehan
0
5
Dorian
September 15, 2017 1:48 AM
Then let's keep going by Dorian
"Yes, that will be very good! And I can also read some more harder English with you to help," Dorian nodded, glad that Jehan had brought up the idea of shared language study so that he didn't have to. He was already looking forward to seeing what works Jehan would introduce him to, and thinking of other French authors whom he regarded highly enough to bring for Jehan's perusal."But they are not useless!" he protested, when Jehan talked about his father dismissing poetry. "This is the certainty of someone who speaks his language without difficulty. It is my goal to understand poetry, without help. Only then, I can say 'yes, I speak English completely.'And what is more important than expressing properly what is in your soul?" he was sure Jehan had put this agrument across already. He pondered the problem for a moment. "Surely though, even if you take his position that society is the most important, can you not from this tell him that he should find poetry important? To make your way in society well is to give good presentation of yourself. To give good presentation of yourself, you can only do with a brilliant command of words. They make me study this. They call it 'rhetoric' when it is making the good speeches to other people, but all of it requires to be the master of language. So study of poetry is study of language, which is the best preparation for making yourself good in society. There is a Chinese saying," assuming that the same rule applied as it did with French, even though Jehan would definitely not understand this, he quoted the saying in its original form first, before trying to search for the right words to explain it. "It is like... The greatest wizard is the one with the best... Li. The person who write about him? In French, le scribe. Not ecrivain,, not writer... The more old-fashioned one? All is meaning, the words and praise we give of people's deeds are what make the story of their life, not the things that we actually do. Words have power.
"Of course. A song is not just a poem that is... we cannot say 'singed'?" he checked. He knew it was wrong. It sounded wrong. But what did one say? "And the poem is not a song without music. Writing them is different skills."
13
Dorian
Then let's keep going
1401
Dorian
0
5