Alessa Hinckley
June 17, 2010 10:10 PM
No longer the baby by Alessa Hinckley
Over midterm, Alessa had learned that her cousin Elton and his wife Annabeth were expecting a baby. That meant she was no longer going to be the youngest on her mom's side of the family. Although if she wanted to be very picky, she technically hadn't been since she was about three months old and Nina was born but Alessa was only counting her grandparents' descendents, not distant relations. The last she'd heard, Great Uncle Otis's twin granddaughters Scarlett and Savannah were the youngest in the Brockert family overall.And she hadn't been the youngest on her father's side for quite some time. Blaine and Oralie were both younger than her.
Everyone was hoping Elton and Annabeth had a boy, line of succession and carrying on the family name and all that. Alessa was no exception but for a different reason. She liked being the only girl. The only granddaughter, just like her mother was the only daughter. True, this would be a great-grandchild, but if it was a girl, it would screw up the pattern.
And Alessa liked patterns, even more than she liked being the princess. Someday, she would have a daughter, even if she had a bunch of boys first. Hopefully her daughter would be the only great-granddaughter.
She was strange for it, but that was how things were. Still, if it was a girl, or one of her other cousins had a daughter, Alessa would just have to live with it. She'd probably learn to like the kid, just like she had learned to not mind Oralie much.
Besides, better her cousin than her mom. Alessa didn't think she'd want a younger sibling. She was totally used to being an only child and often had difficulty adjusting to change. There was a reason she hadn't been sorted into Pecari. Besides,
Alessa sat in an armchair and took out a book. She began to read and was completely engrossed when she felt someone standing over her. "Hi," the Aladren greeted them.
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Alessa Hinckley
No longer the baby
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Alessa Hinckley
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Brad Hayman
June 24, 2010 4:48 PM
I'm at the bottom of the heap by Brad Hayman
Cooper was in a particularly bad mood today, and Brad didn’t feel like getting yelled at for reading his comic books in their dorm like he usually did. So instead, he decided to head over to the library and read in peace. The Death of Superman issue in hand, he plopped down in the first armchair he spotted upon entering the room. He’d been here before, but that didn’t lower his appreciation for the super-comfy furniture that filled the library.He’d read this issue countless times before, of course, but it never got any less exciting. It was just so monumental and crazy and unbelievable…Superman couldn’t just die like that! He came back eventually, but Brad couldn’t help reliving the event─it was so tragically incredible.
When he got to the part where Doomsday punched the lights out of Superman and brought him to his demise, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “NOOOO!” he shouted, raising his hands up above him and looking up to God. “Why!?” His breathing was heavy and his body shook. Then he realized he wasn’t just sitting in his bedroom in Kansas reading by himself. There were…people here, and the librarian probably didn’t want all that noise.
He blushed a little and then finished reading the book. By the end, he was tearing up a bit. He never cried, though, so he wasn’t going to let this be an exception. Superman’s death was devastating, but Brad had to be strong.
What stunk about being a comic fanatic at Sonora was that there weren’t a whole lot of people like Brad. Comics just weren’t very big around here. It would be nice to have someone he could talk to about the vast legion of heroes and sidekicks. He could trade action figures with them, find out which villains they hated most…It would be so much fun. But he just hadn’t met anyone yet who truly shared his tastes.
Getting up from his chair and putting his hands on his hips, the freckled redhead nodded as he mentally decided to go on a hunt for a comic lover. It was a quest─a mission! He knew he’d succeed!
Marching around, he looked for a possible candidate. The first person he saw was a girl, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a comic fan. Just like there were heroines and heroes, there were comic lovers of both genders out there. He marched on over to her and held out a hand for her to shake.
“Howdy!” he greeted her with a grin. “I’m Brad Hayman, Aladren first-year. You a comic book fan?” He looked at her hopefully.
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Brad Hayman
I'm at the bottom of the heap
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Brad Hayman
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Alessa
June 30, 2010 4:50 PM
That's kind of sad by Alessa
Alessa blinked. This was not what she had been expecting at all. "Um," She tried to think of how to respond. Brad, a first year she had seen around the commons and in class but had not spoken to-the only first year she'd actually spoken to at all was Caleb, Alessa hadn't even spoken to Kirstenna or Autumn-"Actually, I've never read one." She admitted.She didn't want to disappoint him, Alessa may not have been great at reading emotions but Brad obviously seemed enthusiastic about comics. She hoped that he wouldn't hold her lack of knowledge about them against her. Sometimes, people were like that. If you didn't like what they liked, they wouldn't like you. Of course, normally, that thing tended to be Quidditch, not comic books.
"You see, my parents won't let me." Alessa explained. "I'm a pureblood and they don't generally approve of comic books for girls. Teen magazines, yes." Her mother would probably love if Alessa did read one of those and she was pretty sure she could easily get her hands on one of Veronica's-with her roommate's permission of course. "Comic books, no. A lot of my cousins have them though-or did when they were younger." Alessa had a lot of male cousins but only Cory still read them as an adult.
"It doesn't mean I don't like them." The second year added. "I've just never read one so I don't know." Comics were something Alessa had never given much thought to either way. She normally read novels or historical stuff but that didn't mean she wouldn't give comics a try. Even if her parents did find out she had, it was not a disownable offense. Her uncle had married a muggle for Merlin's sake! Alessa didn't think a little comic was such a big deal.
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Alessa
That's kind of sad
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Alessa
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Brad
July 01, 2010 12:11 AM
Don't be sad, get Glad! My name's Brad, and I'm a lad! by Brad
Brad’s hopes were dashed when the Damsel admitted she’d never read a comic before. “Oh…” Well, so much for finding someone he could connect with. He was seriously considering leaving her so she could continue reading her not-a-comic-book, but she continued to talk, so he stayed to hear her out. It would be rude to leave a Damsel while she was speaking to him, after all.His jaw dropped when she said she wasn’t allowed to read comics. “Seriously!?” he exclaimed, flabbergasted. “That should be a crime! I would run away from home if my parents tried to make me stop reading comics—no question!” He knew his parents would never do such a thing, though. They loved him, and they knew how much he loved comics. It simply wouldn’t make sense for them to take away something he cherished so dearly!
“I’ve just never read one so I don’t know.” “Well, here ya go!” he said, handing her The Death of Superman. “That there is one of the best comics you’ll ever read, my friend!” He grinned at her. “By the way, what’s your name? I’m Brad!” He paused, furrowing his brow. “Wait, I already told you that…Heh.” He smiled, slightly embarrassed that he’d repeated himself. Oh, well, he thought. No use being embarrassed. These things happen.
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Brad
Don't be sad, get Glad! My name's Brad, and I'm a lad!
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Brad
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Alessa
July 07, 2010 5:50 PM
That's um, rad? by Alessa
Generally speaking, Alessa's grasp of reading the emotions of others was dreadful-a matter which was made much worse by pureblood society's way of hiding their emotions the best they could. Which, she supposed, made her inability to read them excusable, as until she came to Sonora those were the only people Alessa ever interacted with. Perhaps it meant that it wasn't her after all, and the people she met were just really good at hiding how they really felt and she should not be so hard on herself for it.And, right now, there seemed to be support for this theory as Brad's emotions seemed very extreme to her. In one way this actually made Alessa feel better. She didn't have an issue, it was just pureblood society.
In another, it made her feel worse, confused. Alessa didn't know exactly what to do when someone seemed so expressive and passionate about something.
It could have been worse though. One of the few non-family members Alessa had regular interaction with who was about her age, Lysandra Troughton, had turned out to be an Empath. Alessa couldn't read emotions of others unless they were extreme and Lysandra couldn't help feeling the emotions of others. The Aladren felt she'd gotten the better of the deal. To feel what others felt as well as what you were feeling yourself sounded exhausting. And possibly confusing.
One thing Alessa did know, though, was she wasn't all that thrilled with what seemed to be an insult to her parents. "They really aren't all that bad." She corrected the younger Aladren. "I can see why you would be upset if your parents didn't let you read comics as they're important to you." Alessa would not be happy if her parents forbid her from doing something she loved, but she honestly did not see that happening. Alessa usually seemed to get what she wanted and was allowed alot more input than some pureblood girls were. For example, her parents would never betroth her to someone she hated.
"But there are far worse things a parent can do to a child than forbid them to read comic books." Alessa continued. Not that she knew anyone personally who'd experienced something horrible. Aside from Lysandra's cousin who'd lost a sister but that had nothing to do with her parents, aside from what Alessa understood didn't pay attention to her anymore. She thought the girl might be at Sonora and live with some guy during vacations.
She smiled politely at Brad. Alessa might have been a little defensive but she did not want to be rude. She had been raised to be polite in general after all."Alessa Hinckley. Of the New Jersey Hinckleys." She tacked on. Her parents had reminded her over midterm to keep in the habit of being introducing herself that way, even if it was to a non-pureblood because otherwise she might forget to when she was speaking to a pureblood.
Alessa accepted the comic from Brad. "This looks quite different from the comics my cousins had." She said looking it over. "I've never heard of Superman before. Most of the ones they read were like Marvin the Mad Muggle and stuff." The older Aladren opened it up to find that the pictures were completely still. "Why aren't the pictures moving?" Alessa asked.
OOC-I apologize if I got the name of Marvin the Mad Muggle wrong. I was going for the comic Ron had and can't remember the correct name off the top of my head. If I'm wrong, just pretend Alessa didn't know it right. That would be entirely possible.
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Alessa
That's um, rad?
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Brad
July 08, 2010 2:02 PM
You're not so bad by Brad
Brad wasn’t convinced when the girl said her parents weren’t that bad. Comics were the greatest thing in the world, and if her parents had allowed her to discover them, she would have realized how amazing they were. Instead, she had to go through her life without the never-ending sources of inspirational entertainment, and that was just cruel in this Aladren’s opinion.“But there are far worse things a parent can do to a child than forbid them to read comic books.”
Brad could hold his tongue no longer. “Like what!?” he asked her, horror written all over his face. The thought of having his comics stolen away was bad enough; he had a lot of trouble imagining what could possibly be even worse than such an evil act…
His jaw dropped to the ground as his expression changed from fear to exasperation. “Seriously? You’ve never heard of Superman!?” That was like…not knowing who Santa Claus was! “He’s only the greatest superhero to roam the earth!” Alessa was missing out on so much that Brad couldn't help feeling bad for her. He furrowed his brow when she mentioned some weird comic he’d never heard of before. Before, he would have automatically ruled it out as a nonexistent series since he’d read every comic book known to man. But now that he was at a wizarding school and he understood that magic was real and he had special, superhuman abilities, he guessed it made sense that there were wizarding comics he’d never had the pleasure of laying his eyes upon. “I wonder if they have that somewhere in here,” he said, turning his head back and forth to look around the room in curiosity.
Brad laughed and returned his attention to Alessa when she asked why the pictures weren’t moving; it was a really random and amusing question. “Why would they move?” he asked with a smirk.
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Brad
You're not so bad
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Alessa
July 12, 2010 6:53 PM
Well, thanks! by Alessa
Alessa felt quite taken aback by Brad's reply to her saying that parents could do worse than forbid a child to read comics. He probably had an even more sheltered life and was more spoiled than the average wealthy pureblood child. Not that Alessa had room to talk about that one but still, she had heard horror stories and rumors.Fortunately, her upbringing also allowed her to not show her reaction to Brad. "Well," Alessa stated. "I grew up in the magical world, in pureblood society, where marriages are normally arranged. A parent could betroth their child to someone the child hates for business reasons or whatnot. Or they could disown a child for something, like if a girl played Quidditch or the child turned out to be a Squib." Or they could kill a Squib child, Alessa had heard of families who'd done that. "Or if a child was covhorting with non-purebloods, sometimes they get disowned for that." The older Aladren felt both disownment or betrothal to someone she disliked would have been worse than not being allowed to read comics.
Alessa could feel herself getting a little defensive again as Brad seemed horrified that she hadn't heard of Superman, which the second year gathered that must be a muggle comic book hero. "Sorry, but I grew up in a magical environment, and wasn't exposed to things that muggles have, at all ."
"They might have it." Alessa went on. "But libraries usually don't carry comics." She was just glad they had a decent enough fiction selection.
The next thing Brad said also put her slightly on edge. His smirk made her feel a bit like he was making fun of her or thought she was an idiot. Alessa was not an idiot and she shouldn't have to feel bad because Brad didn't understand the magical world. "Because magical pictures move." The second year replied matter-of-factly.
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Alessa
Well, thanks!
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Brad
July 13, 2010 6:35 PM
You're welcome by Brad
Brad gasped at the horrible things coming from Alessa’s mouth. Arranged marriages? Disownment!? Okay, maybe the first-year was wrong about taking away his comics being the worst possible thing that could happen to a person. Apparently, purebloods had very frightening lives, and their parents sounded like they had many qualities of your typical supervillain!He shook his head in disbelief. “Wow…That’s some scary stuff. I can’t imagine going through all that…” He looked at her with concern. “Your parents aren’t like that, are they?” If they were, he was more than willing to rescue her from her predicament. That was his job, after all.
“Oh. Okay,” Brad replied with a shrug when Alessa said she had never encountered any Muggle items. She sounded a little bit aggressive, but Brad didn’t make too much of it.
“Oh, right!” he said in realization when she told him magical pictures moved. He’d seen the moving portraits around the school as well as moving pictures in his textbooks, but he didn’t read anything other than his comics too often. Lately, he’d become particularly uninterested in his schoolwork since a lot of his teachers were giving him some very boring lessons. That was why he wasn’t all that aware of the existence of moving, magical pictures. “Muggle pictures don’t move. That would be so cool, though! Then you could see Superman flying around saving the world one innocent bystander at a time!” He grinned widely.
“You wanna help me find that comic you were talking about—Marvin the Mad Muggle?” he asked her hopefully. “You’d be able to spot it quicker than I would.” As weird as it was to say it, he had to admit that he wasn’t as well-versed in this particular section of the comic world as Alessa seemed to be.
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Brad
You're welcome
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Brad
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Alessa
July 18, 2010 5:36 PM
*Insert title here* by Alessa
It was interesting for Alessa, who usually had trouble reading social cues and facial expressions, that she seemed to be able to read Brad's perfectly. He looked truly horrified by the idea of disownment and arranged marriages. Really, Alessa had not wanted to make him feel bad, but it seemed she had gotten her point across."Well," she replied. "It's not very likely I'll be disowned." Her uncle hadn't been disowned and he married a muggle, there was next to no chance that Alessa would be. "But, yes, I will most likely be put in an arranged marriage." The chances of her not being so were about as good the chances, of well, her being disowned.
It was,however, very important to her family that she married a pureblood. Only Uncle Bernard's kids did not have to because they were half-bloods to begin with. They were, in fact, the reason why it was essential that Alessa,Blaine, Oralie and Aunt Amaya's kids married purebloods.
Alessa continued. "However, my parents, unlike some won't marry me off to someone I really can't stand. I'm luckier in that way." She really was. Some pureblood girls were married off to men twice their age. Alessa wouldn't mind someone too terribly older, as she seemed to be able to connect with older people and younger ones more than those her own age but the idea of marrying someone her father's age was disgusting.
Besides, someone that age was, well, used. It was likely that they would pick a younger woman for a second wife if they somehow lost theirs. Alessa didn't want someone else's leftovers. Leftovers were what house-elves ate. At least their house-elves.
Alessa smiled when Brad mentioned how cool it would be for Superman to move-even though she did not know who that was. "Yes, I'm rather used to pictures moving. I can't imagine them not doing so." Muggle life seemed awfully dull to her generally speaking.
She went on. "Sure, I can help you look for it. I'm not sure they have it though." Alessa got up. "It's too bad I don't know how to do the summoning spell or I'd just use it to find the comic. It would be so much easier and less time consuming that way."
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Alessa
*Insert title here*
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