The Gardenia Girls, Chapter One on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Sylvia Mordue

November 17, 2018 10:39 AM

The Gardenia Girls, Chapter One by Sylvia Mordue

Sylvia definitely felt like she was becoming Someone. She felt she led the beginner Crotali girls. It was a surprising turn of events, given that they were a Pierce and a Brockert, but both were rather on the quiet side. Of course, Sylvia could not be seen to push them around - and she wouldn’t, they were friends - but it had made it easier for her to be the one with ideas, the one pushing a social calendar, and that made her the leader.

Her Christmas gifts to Caitlin and Allegra had both included little enamel brooches of white gardenias, and she herself had a matching one. These had been accompanied by other gifts, and an explanation of her intention to form this into a proper group. The Gardenia Girls had a nice ring to it, and she was determined to make it quite the thing. Father and Mother were both members of various associations, and those sorts of things were the backbones of society - they brought dinner invites and business opportunities and connections. It made perfect sense that a similar sought of thing ought to exist whilst they were still at school, as these friendships could form the basis of their successful adult lives.

Accordingly, she had sent invites to the two first year girls not yet of her proper acquaintance - Topaz Brockert and Katerina Vorontsova, though she knew the latter from attending her art club meeting. It had been a challenge to know how to handle the guest list - not because of who was and who wasn’t proper, that was clear as crystal, but in terms of how far to reach. Approaching the seventh years felt overly ambitious - she had no wish for her invites to be snubbed or, if they did deign to come, they might try to take over. However, ruling out all older students was tricky as a lot of the beginner girls had relatives in older years and Sylvia did not want them to think she was snubbing them if they heard about this from their relatives. Therefore, she had titled the invites ‘Gardenia Girls - Beginners’ Chapter.’ That, she thought, dealt with the issue nicely. It showed quite clearly that there wasn’t any slight to the older girls. And if any of them enquired about an intermediate or advanced chapter, she could either merge them or encourage them to start it. It could be a proper association with branches all over the country. That was the point of the sorts of things father and mother were in - even if you weren’t in the same group, you were still part of the larger organisation, and its members looked out for one another. That was how such things expanded one’s social circle.

Each invite had been on heavy cream paper with gold edges, a gold-edged gardenia motif in the corner, and the following message.

You are hereby invited to the first meeting of the Gardenia Girls (Beginners’ Chapter) - a society for the promotion of proper values and sisterly co-operation by Miss Sylvia Mordue.

We will host morning coffee in the MARS water room at 11.00 am on Saturday Xth

RSVP

Although her name had been the only one to appear on the invite, she had already approved the meeting with both other Gardenia Girls, and they would all be in attendance. She had arranged coffee and light refreshments courtesy of the elves, and on the appointed day, the water room had taken on the pleasant appearance of a small open sided wooden pavilion set in the centre of a small lake. It had a table large enough for the number of guests, set with white linen, and a set of china that looked rather like mother’s best (Sylvia had considered gardenia motifs on the plates but there was such a thing as overdoing it - it was not a theme party, as if she would host anything so vulgar!). She set out the snacks, waiting for her guests to arrive, greeting each politely as they did so. Once everyone was assembled and had their choice of refreshments, she began.

“It’s lovely to see you all. I’m glad we can get together like this. My aim is to form an association here. One where like-minded individuals with the same values can meet. Clubs are all well and good, but the trouble is just anyone can join them, and some of you have had the misfortune of being given less than desirable room-mates. Therefore, I thought we might all benefit from something a little more exclusive. Something where the right sort of people can mix with each other. That’s why I’ve started the Gardenia Girls. Caitlin and Allegra are members already, and we thought that today we would get to know you two a little better, and find out if you’d be interested in joining us.”

13 Sylvia Mordue The Gardenia Girls, Chapter One 1413 Sylvia Mordue 1 5

Katerina Vorontsov

November 28, 2018 7:33 PM

Navigating the cliffhanger. by Katerina Vorontsov

Katya had read about American notions of propriety, and so her immediate thought about Sylvia Mordue’s invitation had been that they and the concept of sisterliness did not go together well. When she thought of sisters, it all involved pillow fights and snowball fights and laughing and squabbling and so forth which seemed vitally absent from the lives of ‘proper’ American witches.

This meant one of three things:

1. Katya was misinformed about Americans.

2. Sylvia Mordue was using some subtlety of English Katya didn’t know.

3. Sylvia Mordue was actually forming something like a club or charity board.

Overall, she thought some combination of the latter two possibilities was the most likely. Anton Petrovich and Nadezhda had both lived among Americans and had both warned her that they smiled and smiled all the time, but were actually usually somewhere on an emotional spectrum which began with ‘miserable’ and ended with ‘dead inside.’ This aligned with the impression Katya had of them from most of her reading, though admittedly not with the English language fiction.

She trusted non-fiction more than fiction, but still decided to accept the invitation. For one thing, Miss Mordue had accepted hers, so it was only polite. For another, she was curious what this was about, and pleased with the idea of being considered proper enough to be invited by an American girl.

“Thank you,” she said, enunciating carefully, when Sylvia greeted her. “I was honored by invitation.”

Katya took her seat with the others and agonized over the thought that she might have forgotten some detail of how to take tea or coffee in English fashion. If she did, however, no-one said anything, and no-one else seemed to be doing anything significantly different than what she was doing, so she was tentatively confident that she had gotten it right as Sylvia began explaining what this was.

Not a club, then. Not a charity either, as far as Katya could tell - she had not mentioned benefiting anyone. Actually, it sounded to Katya more like Sylvia was trying to put together a faction - a sort of court. With herself presumably the princess at its center...that would make Caitlin likely the next most important. Allegra was also already part of the club, which meant that Topaz, as her relative, would most likely be more important than Katya, who would therefore be at the bottom...but still, apparently, above what Sylvia thought of Lyssa and Topaz’s roommates and the Pecari girl….

“Thank you for me inviting,” said Katya with an American smile, not sure if she was supposed to volunteer information about herself or just fawn over Sylvia generally or...what. “It is nice to talk out of class, and this room is very beautiful."

16 Katerina Vorontsov Navigating the cliffhanger. 1418 Katerina Vorontsov 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

November 30, 2018 6:59 AM

You. Are. Doing. Very. Well. by Sylvia Mordue

“Good. I am glad you felt honored by the invitation,” Sylvia said, continuing to smile. The pace of her voice had slowed significantly to address Katerina and there was a slight increase in the volume, although it could still not be described as overly loud as ladies did not raise their voices.

“You’re welcome,” Sylvia continued, finding herself stuck with how to redress the fact that Katerina had said ‘for me inviting.’ It had been easy to give Katerina the correction regarding the invitation. Sylvia felt she owed it to the other girl, and that it was charitable to help her, so long as it was done in a polite and subtle way. She could not think of a subtle way to work that phrase back into her conversation though.

“Thank you,” she smiled, when Katerina complimented the room, “It’s also nice to escape those dreary school robes and wear something pretty for a chance. I always notice how well put together you are and today is no exception,” she added, feeling it only polite to return the compliment. “Your earrings are especially pretty,” she added, reverting to the slower and slightly louder voice and trying to focus in with a specific compliment that she felt was likely to be within Katerina’s vocabulary. “And we both like pearls,” she added, “It’s nice to find things in common, isn’t it?” She had chosen her princess length strand of white pearls and the matching stud earrings because her mother tended to default to pearls when she hosted coffee mornings. Pearls, so long as there weren’t ropes and ropes of them, making one look like a 1920s dancing girl, were very respectable day time jewellery, that made one look simply civilised but not like one was trying too hard. For this reason, her and Katerina’s overlap in jewellery was probably not the most astounding common ground on which to pretend to found a friendship, but it made for perfectly nice small talk, and that was the current aim. A pleasant round of small talk.

After that, they could discuss The Rules.

13 Sylvia Mordue You. Are. Doing. Very. Well. 1413 Sylvia Mordue 0 5

Katerina

November 30, 2018 8:15 PM

Thank. You. Very. Much. by Katerina

Katya was surprised that her earrings were the thing about her appearance Sylvia found particularly pretty - they were, after all, simple studs, quite small and plain outside of their natural light pink color. ”Little buttons for my little one,” Papa had said - malen’kaya was what they called her at home most of the time, and though she was not entirely sure she liked it, she couldn’t dispute the truth in the name. She was the youngest daughter, and physically the smallest, too, though who knew when they grew up - Sonia was taller than Anya now, after all.

Tatiana took exception, sometimes, to another of Papa’s pet names - when he called his four daughters a flower garden. ”I do not want to be a flower,” she had remarked to Katya over the midterm break, after Papa had referred to them all as the only flowers left on the whole estate while they had all been taking this year’s formal Christmas photographs. ”You pick flowers, decorate with them - and they die.” Katya didn’t see it like that, though. It was more like they were delicate roses which spent a season in the hothouse, but then in due time were ready to root outside in the wider world. She had not shared this observation with her sister, though.

“Thank you,” she said, also a trifle more loudly than she had, wondering if perhaps Sylvia had an earache - this was the second time her pitch had changed.

At home, jewels were how a woman displayed her wealth and taste. When Katya had gone with her mama and papa to Russia the previous spring to meet Anya’s fiancée’s parents, she had been amazed to see the family wedding tiara and what had to be most of the gospozha’s best things on display in a glass case. When there were parties even in rustic Volshebnaya Derevnya, though, every woman glittered as much as she could afford. Studying pictures of famous Americans in her books and in the newspapers, however, Katya had concluded that either all Americans were poor or that this was not the thing for American women to do, which was why she had deliberately made more subdued choices and not raided Tatiana’s jewelry box, even though she knew her sister would have been more than happy to deck her out more thoroughly - for one thing, at home, all four of them borrowed, if some piece belonging to one happened to suit the dress of another, and for another, Tatiana hated the simplicity of American taste. Her sister had been the first to learn English, but she showed not the slightest hint of inclination toward adopting English culture.

“It is,” she agreed when Sylvia said it was nice that they both liked pearls. Her necklace graduated slightly and was the same pale pink as her earrings, but she thought her necklace and Sylvia’s were about the same length. Tatiana liked to wear her black pearls a bit shorter, closer to her throat, but Katya disliked necklaces she could feel at every point around her neck. “Yours are also pretty. And so is your brooch.” She glanced around the table, then added, “all your brooches.”

16 Katerina Thank. You. Very. Much. 1418 Katerina 0 5

Allegra Brockert

December 05, 2018 1:28 AM

You're welcome by Allegra Brockert

Allegra was sort of anxious about the gathering that was being held today. When Sylvia had included her as part of this special group that the older Crotalus wanted to start, she was honored. It felt really good to have a group of friends.

Unfortunately, Sylvia wanted to include Topaz as well. The first year knew that it was supposed to be an organization for girls from families like theirs and that her cousin was as much a Brockert as Allegra herself but the thing was...she was, well, a really terrible person and the Crotalus had hoped to spend as much time apart from her as possible. She had honestly been cheered up by the fact that Topaz hated her roommate for if Topaz was picking on the other Aladren, she'd be too busy to terrorize Allegra. This group-or rather, Sylvia inviting Topaz to attend it-put her right back in her cousin's line of fire.

And it wasn't as if she could have suggested to Sylvia to leave Topaz out. For one, thing, Allegra was the sort who couldn't tell her younger siblings what to do, let alone a senior member of her house. In fact, she even tended to ask house-elves politely for favors rather than ordering them around.

Furthermore, Sylvia was her friend and Allegra was afraid that if she....made suggestions, the older Crotalus wouldn't want to be friends with her any more. Not to mention the fact that if Allegra asked Sylvia to leave Topaz out and Topaz found out, she'd make Allegra even more miserable.

Maybe, just maybe though, Topaz would think joining such an organization, socializing with other girls, was beneath her. The Aladren did, after all, think she was intellectually superior to everyone and had a higher calling in life. Perhaps, Allegra would get lucky just this once and Topaz would decide that her time was better spent "furthering the knowledge of humanity" or some such thing that likely translated into tormenting the inhabitants of the Labyrinth Gardens.

Oh, never mind, there she was. Lucky squirrels and rabbits and raccoons, unlucky Allegra. She sighed inwardly. At least Sylvia had invited Katerina as well. The first year Crotalus smiled warmly at the Teppenpaw and after Katerina and Sylvia made their exchange and the former commented on the matching broaches. "Thank you. I'm really glad you could make it." Allegra told her.

OOC-I also write for Topaz and Caitlin so if either of them is moved in Allegra's posts or she's moved in one of theirs (or one of them is moved in the other's) I am not God-modding.

11 Allegra Brockert You're welcome 1426 Allegra Brockert 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

December 06, 2018 7:26 AM

Girl world has a lot of rules by Sylvia Mordue

“Thank you,” Sylvia smiled when Katerina complimented their brooches. That gave them a nice segue into talking about the real reason they were all here.

“As I said, there are brooches for you two as well, if you’d like them. Of course, if we’re all going to be wearing the same symbol, we’d need to agree what it means. After all, people are going to associate us with one another if we all wear the same badge. It’s like our houses here - people are going to assume that people with the same badge share a set of ideals, and the behaviour of one member of the group reflects on the whole.” A stronger example was of course, family; they all had to behave in the correct way to uphold their family names. But that was a rather sacred tie, a little too bold a comparison to make. School houses illustrated the point just as well, especially as they had literal badges, but without being quite so daring.

“Of course, I’m sure that won’t be very difficult. The reason we’re all here to start with is because we share a set of common values. What it means to be a decent lady, what it means to behave with propriety and that sort of thing. The Gardenia Girls will simply be a reflection of all those things our mothers already taught us. We just replace the words ‘a proper young lady should’ with the words ‘a Gardenia Girl should’ and I feel we’d have a pretty decent set of rules. For example, my mother taught me that a proper young lady is always pretty and presentable. That one’s easy enough - I feel we’d already all qualify. How about yours?” she asked the table at large.

13 Sylvia Mordue Girl world has a lot of rules 1413 Sylvia Mordue 0 5

Caitlin Pierce

December 10, 2018 3:45 AM

Here's one by Caitlin Pierce

Caitlin thought that Sylvia's idea for starting an organization for proper pureblood girls was a wonderful one and something she was proud to be a charter member of as well as most likely second in command. After all, she knew Allegra well enough now to know that despite her last name, she wasn't a threat and besides, the other Crotalus was younger than her.

Besides, being part of such an organization-being one to help start an organization and have a large and instrumental role in such-would hopefully look very impressive to Druscilla and be something that helped her father and brother secure the patriarchy of the New Hampshire Pierces.

Sometimes, it felt Caitlin didn't do anything that wasn't for that purpose and if she was honest with herself, deep down inside, she sort of resented the situation. For one thing, Thaddeus should have been sent to Boston the moment he married someone who wasn't pure. The second year could not comprehend why he hadn't been. How was that fair that she and her parents and brother had to grovel and scrape when Thaddeus had screwed up so royally?

However, Caitlin generally wasn't honest with herself and so tended to plot and plan the best way to be a perfect pureblood lady and make up for what had been done to taint their family name. To fix things that Thaddeus-and Druscella-were breaking. To make sure that they continued to be respected in the future.

And here she was, part of a group of all the important beginner girls at Sonora, two of which were Brockerts, one of which was Emerald's sister-Caitlin would have been able to figure out that Topaz Brockert was Emerald's sister even if Allegra hadn't said so-and the other of which was her cousin. If she got to be friends with them, maybe they'd put a good word in for her brother with the older Aladren.

After an exchange between Sylvia and Katerina, the meeting began. Her roommate started by making the analogy that their gardenia pins were like their house badges, something that reflected who they were. It was really a very good one since everyone had opinions about the four houses at Sonora, usually more favorably towards their own than others. Of course, Caitlin didn't think there was anything wrong with being nice-within reason-or smart but respectability was of utmost importance and she could see very little that was admirable about Pecari.

Sylvia suggested that they should be pretty and presentable. "I agree." Caitlin said, writing it down in her neatest penmanship. She had decided that a list would be helpful, not that she was going to forget such things. The Crotalus noted that Topaz was writing something down as well. "What about, a proper young lady does not play Quidditch? My cousins played and we don't consider them role models. It's such a rough and masculine thing to do and there are much more ladylike ways to stay fit."

11 Caitlin Pierce Here's one 1415 Caitlin Pierce 0 5

Katerina

December 10, 2018 7:20 PM

Objection, Your Honor. by Katerina

Katerina deemed it better to be quiet and listen as Sylvia described the purpose of her organization - to mark them out as proper young ladies. This, at least, was something Katya understood. At home, besides her wealth and taste, you could tell a great deal about a woman’s connections and social position by a glance at her attire on formal occasions - the materials and patterns of her kokochnik, her sashes and pins, sometimes, on very formal occasions in Russia proper, even details of the cut of her gown. Sylvia’s brooches were less elaborate than all that, but adhered to the same basic principle as the order pins and medals that existed at home - showing affiliation to a family or organization loosely associated with something, in this case propriety.

What did that mean to an American girl, though? Sylvia spoke of what their mothers had taught them. Katya’s mother had been born in Russia, lived in Germany for a few years as a young woman, and didn’t even speak English. Katya doubted that Mama had taught her the same principles that these girls held, and this doubt was something which Caitlin Pierce promptly provided evidence to support.

“My sister is on the Quidditch team,” she said, in a very even tone, when Caitlin was done. She hoped the rest - that any organization which regarded Tatiana as inferior on principle was one Katya would have to leave on principle - was implied well enough without her saying it. For one thing, that would be rather unpleasant, and for another, it would involve a lot of English.

16 Katerina Objection, Your Honor. 1418 Katerina 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

December 11, 2018 8:26 AM

Upheld by Sylvia Mordue

Sylvia repressed a sigh as Caitlin suggested that they ought not to play Quidditch, and Katerina immediately (and understandably) objected. Quidditch was a subject one ought to steer clear of as much as possible unless one wanted to get a headache or make enemies. She thought Caitlin would have known better. The trouble was, it was so very political that taking any kind of opinion put you in someone or other’s bad books, it looked like a statement one way or the other if you said anything, and thus it was really better if one could get away with saying nothing at all. It was a little like Ex Uncle Nicky in that regard - just nicer when everyone pretended it didn’t exist. But now it was out there and she was stuck in the middle having to find something suitable to say that made sure that no one was offended - that Katerina was not offended on her sister’s behalf, and that Caitlin didn’t feel bad about her suggesting being rejected (which it was going to have to be). Still, if Caitlin was upset about her ideas not being accepted, she would just have to learn to voice better and more acceptable ideas

“I’ve often admired your sister’s taste, she’s very elegant,” Sylvia assured Katerina. Well, she had certainly noticed Tatiana. It was rather impossible not to. She was a little on the garish side, tending to flaunt her wealth in a way that Sylvia thought might verge on tasteless and unattractive. But she obviously was wealthy and proper, and she was friends with all the right people in her own yeargroup (more than friends with one of them, judging by their behaviour). “And we certainly wouldn’t want to make a suggestion that offends her.

“All of us are going to have our personal likes and dislikes. I think it’s important that we distinguish between what we personally want to do and what it’s reasonable to expect everyone to do. I personally wouldn’t want to play Quidditch. As Caitlin said, it’s so rough and it would be rather impossible to stay neat and ladylike whilst doing it,” she opined, hoping that Caitlin would be mollified by Sylvia sharing her opinion if not her decision. “But I can’t deny that some decent young ladies play now or have in the past.

“I rather think who we choose to associate with might be an important factor,” she added, hoping to steer the meeting back into what she wanted on the agenda. “The school does rather like to throw us in with all sorts, but outside of what’s strictly necessary to get through the day, I wouldn’t want to be seen talking to anyone unsuitable. I certainly wouldn’t choose to sit with them at a meal or be their class partner.”

13 Sylvia Mordue Upheld 1413 Sylvia Mordue 0 5

Caitlin

December 14, 2018 9:49 AM

Amending my suggestion by Caitlin

Caitlin was really glad she had plenty of practice over the years at suppressing her true emotions. First Katerina got all offended on her sister's behalf and then Sylvia backed up the Teppenpaw instead of her! She felt very much that her suggestion was a good one. While some acceptable girls-Caitlin really didn't think Tatiana Vorontsov was too terrible, even though she was a bit ostentatious-did play, some of the ones who did were totally revolting.

Furthermore, she really didn't think that her roommate would have disagreed if Katerina hadn't made a fuss. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment towards the Teppenpaw.

However, she agreed with and noted Sylvia's next suggestion. Caitlin very much did not want to associate with the impure. She had to be very careful to cultivate the right friendships so her family would be the ones who won. The Crotalus could not afford to make one misstep. Hence why she didn't want to associate with girls who didn't act like ladies which usually non-pureblood girls didn't. They did have more of an excuse having not been taught the right values but still, they weren't socially acceptable and she wasn't taking her chances. Besides, Caitlin had never seen any non-purebloods that overly impressed her in general.

She sighed inwardly and spoke, hoping her next suggestion would be better recieved. "We should only let in girls who act and look somewhat feminine. No tomboys. After all, this is a club about being proper ladies so we don't want people who act like there's something wrong with being female." Caitlin went on, because she had a point to make. "For example, take Miss Brockert's roommate." Hopefully people would realize which Miss Brockert she was talking about as Allegra didn't have a roommate. "If her father hadn't been disowned, we would be stuck having to invite her here."

Caitlin took note of the look on Topaz's face, knowing she'd gotten through to at least one person on this one. From what she gathered, the Aladren didn't like her roommate one bit. She addressed Katerina and forced her face to soften. "Your sister isn't like that from what I can see. She definitely is feminine enough, with her taste in jewelery." She couldn't imagine Nessa McLeod in anything like what Tatiana wore.

The second year put on her most sincere tone. "I apologize for before, Miss Vorontsov. I did not mean to offend you or your sister. I just don't think a tomboy belongs in a club for proper ladies and that was the first thing I thought of so we wouldn't have to include them. I should have voiced my idea better.Please accept my apology."

11 Caitlin Amending my suggestion 1415 Caitlin 0 5

Topaz Brockert

December 14, 2018 6:06 PM

Adding in my two cents by Topaz Brockert

One might not think that Topaz would be interested in attending the get-together that Sylvia Mordue was putting on. A bunch of pureblood girls drinking coffee and talking about trivial topics like fashion wasn't really something that appealed to her much. However, she knew it would not go well if she offended Miss Mordue. Mother might even care and not be happy with her.

More importantly though, Topaz knew full well that Allegra would not want her there and it would really get under her skin to have the Aladren hanging around her and her friends. Her cousin generally tried to avoid her like the plague so this would mean she would have to be around Topaz more often, something she clearly did not want to do. That right there was a good reason to attend, being able to terrorize her cousin. Just Topaz's mere presence would bother her.

She entered the room and smirked as she noticed Allegra looking unsettled at her presence before welcoming Katerina Vorontsov. Was the Crotalus going to try ignoring her and pretending she wasn't there? Like Topaz would ever allow that to happen! The Aladren addressed Sylvia. "Thank you for inviting me, Miss Mordue."

Forgetting her cousin completely, Topaz nodded in agreement at the comment about roommates. "Mine is the worst! She's not just the wrong sort of person, she's incredibly judgemental and self-righteous. I can't stand her. She actually seems to think she's better than me ." The first year couldn't help but be puzzled by this. Aside from her uncle, who thought all females were inferior-Merlin, she hated him almost as much as she did Ness-nobody treated her that way.

And Topaz was not about to let the other Aladren get away with it. She just had to scar the other girl for life. It wasn't as if she'd never done that to anyone before. Allegra and Sapphire were both nervous wrecks, thanks to her. Although the latter's epilepsy was what caused her to be vacant and dumb and that was not because of Topaz, even though Emerald had accused of her making Sapphire act that way prior to her diagnosis.

Once bland pleasantries had finished being exchanged, they got down to business. Which happened be deciding how decent ladies should behave. Sylvia mentioned being pretty and presentable so Topaz wrote down on piece of parchment.

No ugly girls .

It was incredibly shallow but since it obviously didn't apply to her, she didn't care.

Then Caitlin mentioned that they shouldn't play Quidditch. The Aladren had no objection to this as she'd always thought playing sports was for Neanderthals like Uncle Eustace.

However, Katerina objected. Oooh discord already! Now things were getting good. And Sylvia agreed with the Teppenpaw over her roommate. Topaz wasn't sure why but she knew full well that Sylvia was probably lying through her teeth about Tatiana Vorontsov's taste in jewelry. Well, okay, none of the individual pieces were that bad, but the third year was pretty much a walking jewelry store. What she wore in one day could probably feed starving children in Africa for a year. Either that or Sylvia had similar bad taste and judging by the second year's own jewelry....yeah, she was totally lying.

Then Sylvia mentioned not associating with those who were unsuitable. Topaz thought about not only her roommate but those two Pecaris in her class. The girl had especially bad judgement considering she was friends with Ness. Yeah, no. No, Sylvia was totally totally right about that.

Next, Caitlin decided to try to save face. However, when she made brought up Topaz's roommate, the Aladren couldn't help but agree. Point made. Plus, the logic was sound. It was a club for proper young ladies so someone who acted like, well, a boy the way Ness did, they certainly shouldn't be included. "I agree with Miss Pierce. That type of person not only doesn't act like a lady, they don't treat us with respect either. In addition to my roommate, who acts like she's better than me, there's this dreadful older girl whom my sister just despises for being disrespectful towards her and our entire family."

Topaz went on. "I would also like to add that we should be intelligent. After all, we don't want people to dismiss us as stupid and silly just because we're girls. " It was time, after all, to show people, people like Ness and Uncle Eustace and even Mother and Father that girls were just as good as boys and that it didn't make them lesser beings if they had a modicum of femininity.

11 Topaz Brockert Adding in my two cents 1427 Topaz Brockert 0 5

Katerina

December 18, 2018 6:52 PM

Offering input. by Katerina

Tom-boy. This word was evidently important in some way, but Katya was not sure what it meant exactly. Caitlin Pierce kept using it, though, and implying…something….

“I accept it,” said Katya when Caitlin apologized to her. “And I thank you.”

If nothing else, at least, she thought, this little exchange implied that perhaps Katya was not the low woman on the pole – or at least that the hierarchy was not as rigid as she had feared it would be – after all. Of course, Caitlin was still Sylvia’s roommate – but perhaps Sylvia had something on her, to keep her in line? There was no reason for them to want to make an extra effort to include Katya, though, so perhaps they weren’t particularly friends? Unless they thought they did have a reason to make an extra effort? If they did so – they kept talking about Tatiana’s jewels. They did not wear jewels like Tatya’s. Perhaps they thought she and Tatya were very, very important people….

This was exhausting, and definitely not sororial. Katya was glad they had not invited her sister, as Tatiana would have almost certainly lost her patience with it all by now, if she picked up that there were undercurrents to the stream of conversation in the first place. Which, knowing Tatiana, it was entirely possible she would not have. Her sister was undeniably intelligent, but not like a girl was supposed to be. She lacked subtlety even in Russian.

The Aladren Miss Brockert, Topaz (so peculiar to think of someone have a jewel for a name; ‘Topaz’ was the same word in both Russian and English, and so Katya knew very well that the other first year’s name was the same as the stone which Tatiana liked in various shades of blue and which Katya owned several pieces of in pink) spoke up with another idea. Katya nodded. “I agree with this,” she said.

“At home, my mama says ladies must also make good talk,” she added. “And make all in her house feel comfortable, and treat all…with kindness.” She hesitated slightly as she found a way to structure the end of the sentence, but hoped the gap was not too evident to the others.

16 Katerina Offering input. 1418 Katerina 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

December 22, 2018 10:05 AM

It seems we all agree by Sylvia Mordue

Everything was going more smoothly. Caitlin apologised and clarified her point, and everyone seemed to be agreeing with each other. Sylvia rather thought that no tomboys was covered by saying that they had to always be presentable, and rather suspected Caitlin was just trying to cover her misstep. Still, it would be undiplomatic to point that out. She also found the subject of Topaz Brockert’s roommate rather irrelevant. Obviously, if the McLeod parent hadn’t been disowned, then his children would be entirely different people. They might actually be proper instead of being what they were. They wouldn’t even look the same, because they would have had a nice society mother instead of whomever it was they actually had. Nessa McLeod was a mess of a human being precisely because of her father’s ridiculous lifestyle choices. Had he made better choices, he would have a better son and daughter.

“Very well put, good points,” she added in regards to the ideas of them being intelligent and good conversationalists.

“So, we are agreed… Gardenia Girls should be elegant and feminine, should not willingly associate with inappropriate people, should hold intelligent conversation, and act as good hostesses,” she summarised.

“So,” she smiled, profering the little badges to the newcomers, “I’m sure none of that sounds too onerous, does it? And in exchange you know that you’ll always have someone proper to sit with in class or at mealtimes,” she smiled at them, especially Katerina, who had such bad luck with her roommate. Topaz did too but they all seemed to be content with regarding Nessa as non-existent, where possible.

13 Sylvia Mordue It seems we all agree 1413 Sylvia Mordue 0 5

Caitlin (and a bit of Allegra)

December 27, 2018 8:39 PM

Indeed by Caitlin (and a bit of Allegra)

Caitlin breathed a sigh of relief when Katerina accepted her apology. She supposed she could understand loyalty to one's sibling after all as her brother was the person she was closest to in the world and a lot of what she did was to help him succeed and be the heir to the New Hampshire Pierces. Of course, Winston didn't really do anything questionable. Tatiana Vorontsov's Quidditch playing and gaudiness did make Caitlin raise her eyebrows a bit but she really wasn't the same as people like Nessa McLeod or Lily Spencer.

Thank Merlin that everyone seemed to agree with her clarification. Good breeding didn't necessarily equal good behavior and while Nessa had a mother who was nobody, Lily Spencer had zero excuses for how she was and had she not been older than them, they might have had to include her. This was exactly what Caitlin did not want so her rule was necessary.

Topaz suggested intelligence and Katerina suggested being kind and hospitable. The Crotalus felt these were reasonable suggestions. After all, they would never invite the sort of people that Caitlin did not want to have to be pleasant to. Well, she could be polite, a real lady always was, even when dealing with....the wrong sort, but she would prefer not to deal with them so she wouldn't have to be.

She looked over at Allegra, who hadn't spoken or came up with any ideas of what they should be. "Allegra, do you have anything to add?"

Allegra shook her head. "No, I think it's about covered." She said softly as Sylvia offered the pins to Topaz and Katerina. The ones she would have suggested, had she not been afraid of drawing her cousin's attention to herself were basically the same as Katerina had said.

OOC-Allegra is also mine

11 Caitlin (and a bit of Allegra) Indeed 1426 Caitlin (and a bit of Allegra) 0 5

Topaz

December 27, 2018 10:27 PM

Question by Topaz

Topaz was happy that Sylvia had accepted her suggestion instead of putting her down like she had Caitlin. Especially considering that her idea had made Caitlin's original suggestion more likely as people who were truly intelligent wouldn't waste their time with sports.

And the others had agreed to it too. Of course, it wasn't as if Allegra was going to speak against her. She knew better. Which Topaz had to grudgingly admit made her cousin reasonably intelligent. Just not as smart as her but then again who was?

Of course, Katerina's suggestion was going to be a little bit more of a challenge for Topaz but surely she must mean the girls who were assembled here as well as boys and older girls who were proper. People that the Aladren couldn't risk offending or tormenting if they weren't closely related to her anyway.

And come to think of it, how was she going to experiment on them if she couldn't "associate" with them? Topaz supposed she could merely do things in secret like slip potions into people's food.

But would that be seen as a prank? She knew she could cover her tracks and, if caught, get away with it because even people who weren't the Headmaster's grandchild got away with pranks. However, Topaz did not want to be thought of as a prankster! Pranksters were immature idiots, she was a genius trying to further the knowledge of wizard kind. She didn't want to be lumped in with common Pecaris like Slimey and Clown Lips.

Topaz took one of the offered badges and pinned it on, giving her cousin a smirk. She was going to be in this organization whether Allegra liked it or not. They would be sitting together, working together, around each other a good deal of the time. It would drive the Crotalus first year crazy. Topaz knew full well that Allegra did not want to be around her.

She did have a question though. "When it comes to working together in class, we have an odd number. I take it whichever of us was left over should work with proper boys. Should we decide which are acceptable?"

11 Topaz Question 1427 Topaz 0 5