Ugh, just ugh on Transfiguration

Professor Skies and Charlie B-F-R

September 23, 2019 8:52 AM

The Camera Always Lies by Professor Skies and Charlie B-F-R

“Good morning class,” Professor Skies greeted the intermediate students. “As you can see, we have a visitor today,” she gestured to… She still wanted to say ‘a teenage boy.’ In her head, that was exactly what he was because really, it couldn’t be all that many years since he had graduated, had it? But, she supposed, ‘young man’ was more appropriate. Apparently Charlie was twenty-five now, and something like a real adult (depending on how generous an assessment his father felt of giving him on any particular day). He certainly had a job, and quite a reasonable sounding one at that. Enough so that she had been able to borrow him for class, anyway. She was always keen to make sure her students knew about how each of their subjects related to real life and career potential. However, she wasn’t convinced that her constant assurances that it was all very practical were really cutting it, and she was on a drive to make sure they got the kids well educated about what they could do with their education - Killian being hired was part of that initiative, and she hoped that bringing some real adults (or at least people she could pass off as such) in to talk about what they did would be another way. If this went well, they could maybe make a thing of it. It was especially important for fifth years, who would be choosing RATS courses, but she had found a way to make Charlie useful for each of her classes that day.

“Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds is a Sonora alumnus, a former Teppenpaw, who now works in fashion design, and is going to be guiding you through some practical Transfigurations that he uses at work.” She gestured politely that he could take the floor.

“Hi. You all can call me Charlie, and no I’m not related to the librarian - it’s just a really massive coincidence,” he grinned to show he was joking. Appearance-wise, he possibly looked more like he was related to Professor Skies, both of them having blond(e) hair and blue eyes, though genetics were kind of a moot point given that he was adopted. He had rarely felt so like a proper grown up as he did at this moment. He had been worried that he wouldn’t be able to pull it off because he very definitely did not feel like he had his life together, definitely not to the same degree as other people and way, way less than people who had been adults of this age when he had been a kid. Adults his age had been his teachers. He wasn’t sure he’d have trusted himself with kids. But then, that was why he’d gone into fashion rather than teaching. He surveyed the pimple-ridden sea of adolescent uncertainty before him and could concede, at least, that he had his skincare and probably some of his issues more under control than they did.

“Like Professor Skies said, I work in fashion. There’s a lot of ways that Transfiguration comes into that.” He waved his wand, causing the chalk behind him to start scribbling a list on the board and feeling immensely powerful. He had always wanted to do that. “You can create prints or change fabrics,” that was what he would be doing with the beginners, “Switching spells are great for quick changes during shows. Lots of high-end fashion houses also allow customisation of garments, and will have prototypes that respond to input from a catalogue,” those were spells they would be trying out in the advanced class - there was some nice wibbly-wobbly theory about whether that was a Charm or a Transfiguration or a set of spells involving both. For the most part, this was a debate that the fashion industry really couldn’t have given two flying figs over, so long as their mannequins did their jobs.

“As you know, Transfigurations are usually temporary. So, mostly they come into fashion in the design process - you can pull things around and test out different ideas. You can see how a fabric will look before committing to an expensive print process. You can alter a garment - you can show a client their idea without ruining something forever if it’s a bad one. There’s also some handy industry tricks - for example, some fabrics are harder to sew neatly than others. Stretch fabrics are easily pulled out of shape whilst you work them. You can transfigure them to something much more robust, like a light cotton, and then change them back once they’re assembled.” He had been warned there were non-native English speakers in the class, but he was trusting that the chalk would boil that down to the key words, as he wasn’t very good at not talking.

“Today, you’ve got my job from about a year ago,” he informed them. “I was mostly working in fashion photography. The one thing that’s always on trend is vintage - just it harks back to a different era depending on what else in is in. So, there’s always a big demand to create retro looks for fashion shoots. Sometimes, it’s to recreate a particularly iconic look by a particular brand,” he waved his wand, and some posters unfurled themselves, hovering in midair either side of him, showing two different women in what appeared to be an identical shimmering silver gown, sporting bright red lips and nails that matched the shawls flowing around their shoulders. “Sometimes with a twist, or to play with another famous image” he added, unfurling another set of posters, this time showing a classical painting on one side, and the image brought to life on the other.

“These looks are entirely style over substance. They need to hold together long enough to get the photos done, and that’s it. That’s going to be your job today. Working in groups, you’re going to get a mannequin, a basic cotton shift and an image to recreate. There are various other materials at the back,” he indicated two tables, one of which had vintage pieces which were past their best but which were useful for borrowing from, and the other of which had various staple supplies such as feathers and trims.

“Some tips… Switching spells are your friends. Knowing how things are constructed is important too - if you can see how and where seams are in your image that will help; if you know how a garment would need to be constructed, then you’re going to transfigure more accurately. It’s likely that you’ll need a few Charms too, but remember shrinking and stretching places wear and tear on fabrics,” all of these were, of course, reasons why people like him existed. Being magical let you go a long way in messing with your clothes, but it still definitely helped to really know what you were doing.

“I’d like you to first construct a list of the changes you think you need to make. You can write or draw, but be as detailed as possible - telling me it needs to become red and dress shaped is not enough. If you know any spells, note those down, but there’s going to be a lot of spells you’re not familiar with. There’s indexes if you want to look things up, or you can ask me. I’ll help you identify what words you need - the main goals is the problem solving, and then actually putting those spells into action. So, once you have a plan, bring it to me. I’ll also be coming round to check how you’re doing.

“You may begin,” he grinned at them.

OOC - welcome to Transfiguration. This is mostly going to involve group discussion and playing. You are free to get Charlie’s help. You may god mod him for basic actions, such as stating that he told them a spell. If you need any help, let me know in Chatzy.

As usual, posts will be graded on length, realism, creativity and relevance.

Subthreads:

So does magic. by Evelyn Stones, Pecari with Nathaniel Mordue, Teppenpaw

Ugh, just ugh by Beau Tate

13 Professor Skies and Charlie B-F-R The Camera Always Lies 26 Professor Skies and Charlie B-F-R 1 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

October 03, 2019 6:51 PM

So does magic. by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

When Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds entered the classroom, the classroom got a little bit better. Okay, that wasn't entirely fair. On the whole, Evelyn liked Professor Skies, and thus had a fondness for Transfiguration, despite being generally terrible at it. She had high hopes that she would improve, although other than a general Zen-esque attitude, she hadn't seen it happen much yet. Still, Charlie was young, cool, and full of the sort of magic that Evelyn could get into. Plus he was sort of beautiful and a former Teppenpaw, which meant he was nice. Sometimes luck favored the resigned, or so it seemed in Evelyn's case.

She listened with interest as he explained his job and found herself wondering whether that was a job that many people had. She'd enjoyed dressing up with Kir and using some of his makeup over the break (he'd even taught her some contouring, which she was not confident with, and some ways to blend her eyeshadow better, which was her favorite new trick), and the more she thought about what she enjoyed, the more she came back to these things. She loved climbing and playing outdoors, but that was more of a release than anything else. She loved to study world religions, but that was more of an interest. Of course, the sort of intricacies that went into the designs she'd seen of Vishnu and Krishna made her think that perhaps there was a way to combine some of these interests.

Putting that aside for a later conversation with Professor Wright or Mr. Row, Evelyn was surprised by how eager she felt to begin. She wasn't terribly excited to fail, but she was going to learn some new stuff about something she liked, and that was cool. Plus, if she did terrible, Charlie would come help. Or Professor Skies, which was fine but different fine but fine.

Evelyn selected her shift, a piece that would have been much too long for her, and a poster of Marilyn Monroe. She was glad to recognize any of the women in the photos, although she looked upon them with new eyes; she couldn't help looking down at her own stringy shapeless mass beneath her robes, knowing the wiry mouse proportions beneath. She looked again at the photo of Marilyn Monroe and put it back, choosing another photo instead. She didn't recognize the woman in the polka dot dress, but she had black hair and that made her different enough. Either way, Evelyn suddenly didn't feel so excited to talk to Charlie.

She took a seat quietly and began to examine the dress in the photo. She busied herself with counting the dots, identifying colors, and guessing at lengths and things, taking notes while she waited for someone to work with.

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari So does magic. 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue, Teppenpaw

October 19, 2019 5:37 PM

Everybody lies. by Nathaniel Mordue, Teppenpaw

Slowly, slowly, Nathaniel's eyes came into focus.

He did not remember the guest teacher's name. He did not remember, for that matter, how he had gotten to Transfiguration more or less on time today. He couldn't sleep anymore, not really, but he more or less allowed his mind to retreat into an endless twilight during the day now to compensate for the times when he either didn't sleep or was plagued with such vivid nightmares that he wished he hadn't. He had expected to go through the motions only, and likely remember nothing about this lesson once it was over. But then, they put up photographs.

He couldn't help it. Even now, half-asleep and with far more serious problems to deal with, he couldn't help examining the images, looking at the technical differences and similarities between them. The colors in the older one were brighter, purer, he noticed with interest; the newer one used shadows more effectively, in a more lifelike fashion, but the colors were also different, more subdued. Was that deliberate, or something to do with technique?

The guest lecturer was talking about photography, but he was not telling them much about that. Nathaniel almost smiled as he thought about it - looks that only had to hold together long enough for a camera to flash. All the things a good photographer could do to make it look better once the photograph was taken - he knew some of that. Just like keeping one's face on in public. It only had to hold together long enough to get a job done...

He stared off into space, losing his train of thought, then gave himself a shake. A girl was looking at a picture in the next seat. A girl Sylvia would massively disapprove of. It was the one who had the strangely colored lips all the time, who could barely function in class most of the time. Not someone Nathaniel Mordue should even be seen near, never mind working with. But there had been something about groups. He had heard that. Were they in a group? Glorious. He was semi-conscious and she was incompetent - who else was here? How badly could one more thing go wrong?

"That's harder to photograph than it looks," he observed, his voice slightly hoarse, as it always was nowadays. He was beginning to think he had damaged his throat over the holidays. "Blacks and whites together. You don't want just...solids. It looks unnatural. But so does too much contrast, or everything starts going grey..." He ran out of energy and stopped his unsolicited lecture. "It's a good photograph."

16 Nathaniel Mordue, Teppenpaw Everybody lies. 1412 Nathaniel Mordue, Teppenpaw 0 5

Beau Tate

November 19, 2019 8:34 PM

Ugh, just ugh by Beau Tate

CW-Ignorant homophobia, sexism and rigid gender roles.

Beau was never very happy about coming back to school. The only good thing about being at Sonora was that it was now an Arianna-free zone. He was not the studious type in the least. The Pecari could do the work and did, he just did it rather half-assed. If something didn't come automatically to Beau, he wasn't going to waste time and effort on it when he could be doing something fun.

Not that there was a lot that was fun to do at school. The fourth year worked out a lot, lifting weights but that was more about the end results than it being an enjoyable process. Not that Beau disliked doing it, because if that was the case, he wouldn't do it at all, but that was secondary to the desire to be muscular and attractive.

The Pecari noticed there was a guest today. Maybe Professor Skies didn't want to be back and working yet either. She introduced the guest as Charlie Boxton-Fox-Reynolds, a name vaguely familiar. Possibly the librarian's though Beau couldn't be sure as he didn't exactly spend a lot of time there. He wasn't a nerd .

He was not a girl either. Nor was he gay. Therefore, anything having to do with fashion was...not for him and while Beau was certainly capable at Transfiguration Okay, yeah, men had to wear clothes too. They couldn't run around buck naked. And they had to look relatively presentable so as not to embarrass their families and attractive enough also to appeal to girls. Similarly though, they weren't supposed to care too much about it. That would be weird.

And Mr. Fox-Reynolds-Boxton-Beau had already forgotten which order the man's name was in-had mentioned these being style over substance. Honestly why?

Apparently the point of this was to practice switching spells. Awesome, that was useful and he would certainly be able to handle them, but couldn't they be taught in a less feminine way? It was a mixed class, so maybe something a bit more gender neutral.

Beau sighed to himself and looked around for a girl to work with. Preferably someone who was at least somewhat fashion conscious and not prone to writing that something was "red and dress shaped." He approached one of his female classmates that fit the description. "Would you care to work together?" Beau asked.

11 Beau Tate Ugh, just ugh 1416 0 5