Like sands through the hourglass. on Quidditch Pitch

Selina Skies

November 25, 2019 4:09 AM

The Bonfire - Let it All Drift Away by Selina Skies

In the centre of the Quidditch pitch stood the makings of a fire. Not yet lit, Selina supposed a more accurate description was ‘a large formation of wood.’ And yet, everyone knew its purpose, the thing it was about to become. It was a fire-in-waiting. To one side of it were gathered tents where the students would spend the nights in groups of three or more. That was up to them to choose and arrange, and the tents would sort themselves out accordingly. There was a dividing line down the middle to stop boys crossing into girls’ tents and vice versa, and a rule of three minimum because the staff were not naïve enough to think that such a line ruled out the possibility of couples sharing.

The headmaster stood, officially opening the end of term event and announcing the house cup winners. For the first time that she could remember, it was a dead heat, with Teppenpaw and Pecari tying. After that, as the midsummer event required more lengthy explanation, and one with feelings at its centre, the actual ceremony around the fire had been handed over to Selina.

“Thank you headmaster, and congratulations to Teppenpaw and Pecari,” she smiled. “I have quite a lot of talking to do this evening, so I have enlisted some help.” She waved her wand, and from behind the stage three portraits came forward and floated down to the ground, leaning back against the stage. This had been an idea she had got courtesy of one student in particular during the challenges, and the familiar face of Professor Schmitt was amongst the portraits now lined up. Normally, the international students had to get along as best they could – they had come to an English medium school after all – but given some of the themes of her speech, and its complexity, she had wanted to make sure she was including them.

“Miss Barres speaks Russian,” she gestured to the portrait of a slender ballerina in the centre – she had been more challenging to find, as – although her English was somewhat accented – she had clearly anglicised her name, besides which the number of Russian-speakers was overall far fewer, and “Mr. Le Croix speaks French,” French-speakers were easier, as there were any number of Pureblood paintings who had studied languages, but Mr. Le Croix had the benefit of being a native speaker, and had seemed amicable. She had not included a Chinese-speaking picture owing to the fact that Dorian would not need to be listening to two portraits at once (in reality, he probably needed to listen to none at all, but there were other French-speaking students in the school, and it seemed rude not to include it). “If anyone would like to come closer to hear them, you are welcome to.

“For our bonfire this year, we have looked into traditions surrounding fire. Many cultures use fire in celebrations and in ceremonies. First and foremost, fire drives out the dark. In some cases, this is literal. Where winters are cold and dark, fire is often celebrated as the force that will drive out the cold and bring light in the new year. In Fukoka, Japan, the Oniyo ceremony is used to drive away evil spirits, and many other similar traditions exist worldwide. In other places, fire cleanses – it gets rid of the old and allows space for the new. In Hindu practise, fire ceremonies called yajna clear obstacles that would prevent us achieving a spiritual balance.

“We did not want to mimic a ritual that belongs to someone else, but we did want to take the idea of celebrating fire. We have a diverse number of cultures interacting here, making up our own Sonora culture, and that in itself is worth celebrating. We also saw the same ideas recurring again and again in the fire ceremonies of the world – burning away the bad, inviting in the good, cleansing and making offerings.

“It has probably been a difficult year for all of you, at some points,” there were some cases, of course, where they knew that to be true. It felt like it had been a heavy year. But even without that, there were the many cases of every day suffering that made up life in general, and adolescence in particular. “It may not seem like it from where each of you is standing. It may seem like almost everyone around you is so much more certain, so much surer and so much happier than you. However, this time of your lives is filled with uncertainty for all of you, as you discover who you are, where your place is in the world, what your voice and your magic mean to you, and what you want to use them to say and do.

“We hope we can help you with those problems. Not with the kind of magic that flashes and transforms the world in an instant, but with the more old-fashioned kinds. Listening. Patience. Love. And we wanted to take our fire tonight as a chance to let go of some of those feelings, some of the things that may have weighed you down. We are going to light the fire at the end of this speech. After that, you will have an hour to mingle, to spend time with your friends and get some food. All good things that help the soul. You will also have the choice of adding something to this box,” she held up a simple looking black wooden box. “Something that has weighed you down, something you’re afraid of – something you would rather was off your mind. After an hour, we will be pouring those parchments onto the fire. The smoke has been enchanted to spell out what is written on the papers. You can watch your fears, and the things you’ve been holding onto, drift up and break apart as the smoke dissipates. And maybe that will leave you feeling a little lighter. Try to imagine what you would say if a friend came to you with the same problem." The technique was page one of the psychology textbook, but it had stayed that way for a long time for good reason. "We often find it easier to be kind to others than to ourselves, and to see solutions as meaningful if we were giving rather than hearing them.

“Some practicalities. Firstly, what you write will be visible to others in the smoke. Participating is a choice – you do not have to,” these two points had been made already but were worth reiterating. “You do not have to admit who you are in what you write. If there are any things, such as your use of English or your spelling, that would give you away, and if you would like corrected, please note it on your paper. The staff will read the papers before they go into the fire, in order to check for anything inappropriate,” she stated. Sonora students were, on the whole, well behaved, but they were teenagers. Given the recent contributions to the bathroom décor, she could not rule out the idea of this exercise being used to spread gossip. Or, for the more childish amongst them, to simply try to create giant smoke letters spelling out obscenities. The thought of a litany of swearing drifting into the ether was almost amusing enough, almost a good enough break to the tension that had been pervading the year, that she would have been quite tempted to let it pass.

“Please sign your paper with an ‘x’ using the quill provided. This allows us to trace the papers back to their writers. We will only do this in two circumstances. Firstly, if we think that someone is trying to write hurtful things or start rumours about other people. Secondly, if what you write makes us fear for your or someone else’s safety.

“The box is going to be placed behind a variation of the disillusionment charm. Whilst you will all be able to see the box, your attention will have a tendency to wander away from it. Thus anyone who chooses to place something in the box can do so knowing that their classmates will not really notice them doing so,” she explained. The one complication with this that she had not thought to address was if two people crossed that line at the same time. If they found themselves inside the enchantment together, perhaps it would not be quite so effective.

“If anyone has questions or concerns about this, please come to see me. We hope this activity will be a chance for you to get things off your mind, and to clear your thoughts before the summer.”

OOC – welcome to the fire! I hope the above is clear. If you have questions, you can ask me in chatzy. There will not be a separate post of the papers going on the fire. You may post your character engaging in any of the fire activities - spending time with friends, putting their paper in the box, watching theirs or others’ words in the smoke, or settling down in their tent for the night.

Subthreads:

Unsure what to do by Sapphire Brockert with Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Fire, Inside and Out by Evelyn Stones with Heinrich Hexenmeister

This adventure's over (tag any D&Der) by Kir McLeod with Gary Harper, Connor Priory

Looking forward, not back by Winston Pierce with Emerald Brockert

Like sands through the hourglass. by Jessica Hayles with Felipe De Matteo

The sister of my sister is my sister (tag Ellie) by Anya Delachene with Ellie Alperton

I mouth the words I think I wanna speak by Dorian Montoir

Any Welkomme to Deutsch Tent by Hilda Hexenmeister with Johana Leonie Zauberhexen, Sophia Priory

Going out on a limb (Tag Jasmine Delachene) by Gary Harper with Jasmine Delachene

The End by Natalie Atwater

Escape plans by Beau Tate

Let it go by Ivy Brockert

Who wants to chaperone? (Tag Tatiana or Lyssa) by Ness McLeod

Letting go and holding on. by Simon Mordue with Nathaniel Mordue

13 Selina Skies The Bonfire - Let it All Drift Away 26 1 5

Sapphire Brockert

November 25, 2019 6:27 AM

Unsure what to do by Sapphire Brockert

Sapphire's first year at Sonora was coming to an end. Soon, she'd get to go home but she wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. At school, she was in a different house than Topaz and the older girl couldn't get to her in Crotalus. At home was different since the third year had zero respect for boundaries and would come into her siblings' rooms whenever she wanted without permission, other than Emerald's who had threatened to hex her into oblivion. Sapphire very much admired her oldest sister for this. She would never have the nerve and even if she did, Topaz would probably laugh in her face. At a bare minimum.

After Grandfather opened the fire and announced the House Cup winners, Professor Skies began a long spiel regarding traditions surrounding fire. They were not the sort that Sapphire would have thought of. The kinds of "traditions" that she was familiar with the sort that involved Topaz burning things such as someone else's treasured belongings or skin. Not to mention that old European tradition of burning witches. Or rather those they thought of as such.

Instead, Professor Skies was talking about burning away the bad and cleansing. She mentioned that it had been a difficult year for people. Well, yeah, it had been. They'd had a Challenge involving desert survival . Which had been totally awful . However, it was done now and her team had done really well in the final Challenge-in fact, better than any of her sisters or Allegra surprisingly-and it had really pulled them up in the standing .

Her other issues-epilepsy and Topaz-weren't going away any time soon and Sapphire didn't really want to have them broadcasted and have people guess they were her. Writing that her sister was a monster might very well lead to Very Bad Things happening to her. Even though that could plausibly be Ruby or Emerald. Still, it was bad enough someone was writing mean stuff about her in the bathroom.

She also had to find people to share a tent with but she wasn't sure anyone would want to share with her. The only people Sapphire could think of were her roommate or Johana Leonie and they might very well have others they'd prefer. They probably did. And even if either would want to share with her, the other people they were sharing with wouldn't want her to join them. People thought she was inert. Which she'd looked up and found out meant that she was passive. Which she supposed she was and they would be too if they were Topaz Brockert's younger sister and terrorized by her since birth. Besides, there were clearly worse things to be. Sapphire would rather be passive than aggressive like her sister and Uncle Eustace any day!

Still, the Crotalus was too afraid to ask someone to share a tent with her. Clearly, someone-other than Topaz, she knew it wasn't her sister because it wasn't her style, the third year was an Aladren who revered school property and if she was going to stoop to writing something on the bathroom wall, it would be something mean about her roommate-disliked her.The whole school was probably laughing at her and nobody was going to want to share a tent with her or be her friend.

11 Sapphire Brockert Unsure what to do 1459 0 5

Evelyn Stones

November 25, 2019 12:43 PM

Fire, Inside and Out by Evelyn Stones

It was the end of the school year, decidedly Evelyn's least favorite time of the year. With three months spanning in front of her and little of it stable, it was hard to imagine a less exciting prospect than summer. As she felt terrible taking advantage of the McLeods' kindness, she insisted upon staying most of the summer at her own house with her father and CJ, and only taking week-long trips to the McLeods' as often as she felt was appropriate and as often as they would allow. She wasn't yet sure what that would look like, but she knew it would be decided in coming days and letters, so she didn't mind. It also meant she would see more of Ms. Heidi, which she was always glad of, and that she would spend more time reading for fun, playing with Edgar, and maybe getting to know her brother better. At the same time, little of that promised a good time. Such things were never really promised.

While this school year had felt like a turning point for Evelyn, and indeed her control of magic had improved significantly over the months, summer was her bane. It seemed like her bad wolves were much stronger at home than they were at Sonora, and it was the sort of thing that made her wonder if maybe she was just a bad wolf in a good wolf's outfit. Perhaps she was just the same sort of terrible as her parents. Well... not the same in some ways, that was certain. But in other ways, she wasn't so sure.

Her fifteenth birthday was also looming, a fact which reminded her that she was behind, and embarrassed her. While she hadn't grown any taller for some time and was now smaller than most, if not all, of her yearmates, she still hated that she would remain at Sonora when she was eighteen instead of graduating at seventeen like she should have. It was particularly frustrating now that she was friends with Heinrich and had an idea what her life might have looked like if she had gone to Sonora at the right time. They would have been in the same year then. Of course, she wouldn't want to give up her friendship with Ness in particular just for that, so she tried to focus on that idea as she made her way to the bonfire.

Professor Skies spoke, which Evelyn always appreciated. She looked on with favor at the witch who had quite literally changed Evelyn's life, and felt emotions she didn't know the words for welling up inside her as the speech finished. She had no intention of writing anything for the fire, as she didn't have anything she wanted to get off her chest that she would be comfortable with her classmates seeing. At the same time, the promise of relative anonymity was tempting, and she couldn't help wondering what she would put in the fire if she were going to. Labels for all the boxes she compartmentalized came to mind and she shoved everything back away, imagining a locked storage unit and a key drifting to the bottom of the ocean. She didn't want to start unpacking those things anytime soon.

Instead, Evelyn turned her attention to the people around her. Throngs of students bustled about and the sound of laughter bubbled over their heads, as it always did in groups like this. Evelyn thought that was interesting and wondered what her contribution was to the sound cloud that mulled over the student body when they sat down for meals or gathered for such end of year events as the bonfire. She wondered what her contribution was to anything at all.

She thought to look for one of her friends, but decided that maybe she'd let fate have its go this time and let one of them - or somebody else - find her. Besides, bonfires reminded her of those she'd seen dotting the Oregon coast at night, and she had plenty to reminisce about while waiting for someone to hang out with. Perhaps she'd meet a new friendly face, or perhaps she would get to see a friend, or perhaps she would be alone. She suspected still, even after everything, that perhaps the last of these was where she was meant to be.

I am not alone, she thought to herself, forcing herself to listen to the internal voice that reminded her again of Ness, Heinrich, Ms. Heidi, and so many others. Maybe, just maybe, she had something to write down after all.

22 Evelyn Stones Fire, Inside and Out 1422 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

November 25, 2019 6:13 PM

Watch it Burn by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Heinrich did not think he needed the help of Professor Schmitt, but most the other languages spoken at the school were getting translators, too, so he thought maybe he ought to stand close enough to hear the former German professor, in case Professor Skies was going to talk about something he didn't know the vocabulary for off the top of his head. Still, he tried to listen to Skies more than Schmitt, but found himself bouncing his attention back and forth between them. He thought he'd understood her well enough - there had been a few sentences that had gotten away from him, as there usually were, but he'd followed the gist of it anyway - but when Professor Schmitt translated to Hilda and the other Germans, he discovered he had missed some of the subtleties. It made him wonder how much of his class lectures were getting lost, too, but the only thing he could do about that, he was already doing - continuing to improve his English comprehension and reading every piece of supplemental information he could find. His grades were ticking up from an E overall average to a low O average, so he must be doing something right.

Once the deputy headmistress finished providing them with the bonfire's activities and agenda, and he was able to think about what he'd heard instead of just comparing the English sentences to the German ones, he began to worry. First and foremost, there was the issue of three to a tent. He was the only Aladren in his year, and he'd never had to share with a sibling, so he was unaccustomed to having company while he slept (other than Evelyn that one time) and he didn't think he would like it (though it had been just fine with Evelyn).

Unfortunately, there were boy tents and girl tents, so Evelyn wasn't even an option, and neither was Hilda. He had no other friends.

He supposed there were Dorian and Isaac from his challenge team, but they probably both had friends that they were already planning to tent with. Dorian in particular seemed to have a large circle of friends. Isaac was a seventh year and probably too cool to spend the night with a fourth year. Gary was only a year older than him and also in Aladren and not in Dorian's group like Jehan, so he was a possibility, but Heinrich wasn't in his club. Heinrich didn't know exactly what 'D&D' was, but it looked like some kind of game from what he'd seen when he passed by their table in the library, and they might want to play that all night long.

Maybe Parker? Parker seemed like he had the same problem Heinrich did - his best friend was a girl, and his sibling was a sister.

In his own year, Nathaniel had other family, only one of which was a girl, and the two Pecaris were already roommates with each other and probably comfortable in each other's unconscious presence, though they'd need at least one more. In Evelyn's year, there were Julius and Mahliki, both of which were friends with Evelyn, too, he'd gathered, but which he didn't think got along with each other, and he didn't know either of them very well at all, otherwise they could maybe do a Evelyn's Friends Tent.

Going younger than them, he would probably be kind of scary and intimidating, as they were all beginners and he was a fourth year so they'd never even shared a class. There was Freddie in that age group, who might be willing, based on their common language and their sisters being best friends, but Heinrich thought it would be kind of weird for him to tent with a first year. Freddie, from what he'd seemed of him, seemed friendly and cheery and probably had lots of friends his own age anyway. So not Freddie either.

But that was a problem he had time to think about. He only had one hour to decide if he wanted to burn any worries away in the fire. He had no shortage of worries, starting with the immediate 'I have no friends or acquaintances who I'd be comfortable sharing a tent with' and going all the way down to 'I'm afraid I'm genetically a bad person and doomed to turn to evil because my parents were both dark magic assassins.'

Neither extreme was something he wanted to show up for the whole school to see, but he was sure he could find something in the middle that was vague enough that it wouldn't implicate the Hexenmeister family when it burned up in smoke before everyone.

Of course, if he was burning it away, it had to be a worry he was willing to give up. Most of his worries . . . he didn’t want to give up. That’s why he worried about them. If they weren’t worth worrying about, he’d have let them go already. They were things he wouldn’t feel right not worrying about.

So he couldn’t write anything about his concerns about Hilda’s English because those were valid. He couldn’t write anything about his exams next year because they hadn’t happened yet. He couldn’t write about how he might go Dark because that worry was what was stopping it from happening.

Though he guessed maybe he could try to release the fear of being found out. Professor Brooding knew. Professor Hawthorne knew. Johana Leonie knew. Evelyn knew some of it if not the charge and length of sentence. None of them blamed him for his parents’ sins. He didn’t doubt there would be snide comments or people who avoided him if it became public knowledge, but . . . not the important people, not the ones who knew him.

Admittedly, that was, like, Evelyn and Professor Brooding, and they already knew or almost did. He was not good with sharing personal details about himself with others, and that was unlikely to change, so really did it matter? He already had the only friend he was likely to have even if the secret stayed secret.

So he wrote it down, checked it against his German-English dictionary to make sure he had all of the spellings right, and then he put it in the box before he lost his nerve.

He wandered a little, got some food, almost approached a few people who might possibly accept him into their tent but then decided now was not the time to bother anyone about it yet.

Then it was time for the smoke messages, and Heinrich gravitated toward Evelyn. He watched nervously as the first concern floated up in the smoke and flinched visibly when it was his. He had asked for teacher intervention on his grammar, and some of the words were slightly rearranged to how he had written it, but he still knew it was his.

I release the fear that people will not like me if my secret is known.

As it faded and the next emerged, he did feel the fear shrink. A new fear rose that it would only be temporary, so he took that moment to cast a privacy charm before he leaned over and whispered to Evelyn (privacy charm or not, this was something that could only ever be whispered), “My parents are dark wizards. They have life in prison because they killed much people. The Hexenmeister Assassins are my mom and dad.” And I am afraid I will become like them, he did not say now, but he had said it in the past, and now she knew exactly how scary that would be if he did.

And the release of fear was temporary. Now it was back stronger than ever and he was terrified that she wouldn’t like him anymore. That it would be different being the kid of dark wizards than it was of being the kid of common crooks, and she couldn’t tolerate that darker stain. It was all he could do to stay where he was and not run off and hide forever.

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister Watch it Burn 1414 0 5

Evelyn Stones

November 25, 2019 8:13 PM

I think I might be burning. by Evelyn Stones

CW: All the usual warnings that go along with mentions of Evelyn's home life and past.

There was something odd about standing in the relative darkness with Heinrich. They had been in more intimate situations before, as their friendship had taken off after napping together, but it was different when they chose to be close. It wasn't even really very intimate, but it felt important somehow. Of all the people and all the faces and all the moments, this moment was theirs.

Evelyn wondered whether Heinrich was dealing with the same issues that she was with regards to finding tentmates. She was pretty sure that Ness was technically allowed to stay in a tent with her, and she sort of wanted to take advantage of that since that wasn't something they could do normally being in different Houses, and wasn't something Ness' parents allowed when Evelyn stayed with the McLeods. At the same time, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to share a tent with Ness and and someone else, unless maybe that person was Heinrich but that was impossible and she would die of embarrassment to ask. Plus, what if she woke up in the middle of the night with a panic attack? What if she forgot who it was that had fallen asleep next to her and she hurt him? No, it was better that she returned to her own bed that night, unless Ness particularly had someone in mind and asked her to share.

She had spent most of the last hour on her own, only making polite small talk with people, cracking jokes and laughing about nothing in particular, and she had found herself by The Box with only a few minutes left before the deadline. She even got a piece of paper and wrote a secret on it. But she didn't put it in the box. Professor Skies already knew most of what her life was about, but would undoubtedly worry, and Evelyn had no desire to deal with the followup. Besides, Evelyn had seen the newspapers all term and didn't care for any sort of investigation that would put her family in the papers, too. She had tucked the paper with her secret into her pocket, opposite the Quaffle rock, and stepped outside of the enchantment, feeling a heavy weight in her stomach.

Finding a good spot to watch the smoke messages as they emerged, far enough from the light of the fire and any eavesdroppers that she could feel her feels and not worry about whether she laughed or cried, Evelyn looked up when Heinrich approached. A smile crossed her expression and she settled into the newness of having company. There was a certain static in the air, the kind that always lingers when two people are close enough to touch and it's too dark to tell exactly how close they are. It made Evelyn's stomach feel twisted instead of heavy, which was a nice change if nothing else. She was frustrated with herself for the nerves that flitted into her throat, though, too, and the way her eyes darted around to find the best direction to run should she need to. But she wouldn't need to, because this was Heinrich and Heinrich had never hurt her. Would never hurt her.

The first message to emerge didn't help, as Evelyn found that she wholeheartedly related to it. She felt dirty and sad and all the anger that she didn't normally let herself feel came back. She wanted to cry, but she didn't want Heinrich to feel like he had to comfort her. She wanted to throw something, but that was very bad wolf. She wanted to... she wanted to tell someone. But she couldn't do that, could she? It wasn't worth it, because telling a secret meant acknowledging it, and if she pretended it never happened, that it was just a bad dream, then she would be okay. Everything would be okay.

Heinrich murmured something then, which drew Evelyn's attention. It was just as well that it did, because he then leaned towards her. Her skin felt like it was on fire and she closed her eyes instinctively, freezing in place. But Heinrich wouldn't hurt her.

"My parents are dark wizards. They have life in prison because they killed much people. The Hexenmeister Assassins are my mom and dad."

Everything rushed out of Evelyn, then. All the fear and the anger and the grief. She was much more full of worry than anything else. She imagined a young Heinrich without those mysterious eyes, wondering what was going on and why everything was bad all of a sudden, and then it made sense because they weren't mysterious eyes, they were scared eyes. They were the eyes of someone who had hurt too much and been scared too often. They were eyes with a brick wall and Fort Knox on the other side.She looked up at Heinrich and wondered, not for the first time, what he saw in her eyes. Was it too dark now to tell?

His parents had killed people. His parents were famous assassins. His parents were dark wizards. His parents had left their children to hurt and grieve and figure it out on their own. His parents would never get out and Heinrich would never get to have his family back.

Everything came back to Evelyn in a rush that almost made her dizzy. The anger towards her own parents redirected to include Heinrich's. The grief she felt redirected to include Heinrich. The happiness she felt at having found a friend like him shifted a little bit with a renewed understanding of how much it maybe meant to Heinrich, too. The gratitude she had felt towards Professor Wright was particularly renewed, as nothing burst into flames or anything, and she thought that she'd definitely need to send him a basket of chocolate or some fancy stationary for Christmas.

Some part of her recognized that the secret she'd seen in the sky, the one she'd so related to, was probably Heinrich's.

"You're not your parents," she said emphatically. "And I will be your friend as long as you want me to be."

Evelyn didn't really mean to move, particularly as she only really ever moved toward people if it was Ness, or sometimes Malikhi. She'd hugged Julius once, but that was mostly to see whether he'd actually give her a hug. On the whole, she liked hugs. She just didn't give them away lightly, whether they were serious to other people or not. But she hadn't moved toward Heinrich before, a glaring oversight now that she thought more about it.

Her arms went up around him and she pressed her cheek against his chest, putting all the love and concern she could into her hug. Hugs were warmth and nice smells and safety, and that's what she wanted to give Heinrich.

"Thank you for telling me," she murmured.

Then she thought of Ness, and how grateful she had been to learn about consent. Having bodily autonomy had made all the difference in Evelyn's life at Sonora, and she had just stolen that from Heinrich. She had done what her father had always done, and the entire idea made her feel sick again. But this moment wasn't about her, so she forced that thought away, locking it up with the piece of paper in her pocket.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't just hug you like that without asking first," she said, jerking away. "Are you okay?"

OOC - If Heinrich would move with lightning speed to intercept a hug before contact happened, feel free to say so and I can retcon or leave it as is. I don't THINK I godmodded, but wanted to be sure.

22 Evelyn Stones I think I might be burning. 1422 0 5

Kir McLeod

November 26, 2019 4:59 AM

This adventure's over (tag any D&Der) by Kir McLeod

So, here it was. The end of his Sonora career. Kir was fond of the place, and the challenges had really ended it on a high. Second was great, and it wasn’t like Isaac and Dorian (and co) were people he begrudged their win. They were all super nice, and they weren’t Winston, Simon or Victor who had placed… where was it again? Fourth (close but no potato), eighth, and dead last. It had been an interest seven years of… he would have called it ‘rivalry’ but that made it sound like some kind of childish banter or playground nonsense. It had been seven years of institutionalised racism in which three members of his cohort, at least, refused to acknowledge that he was actually a person who existed. He was tempted to see that out on the note he felt it deserved, which was something akin to finding out which tent they were sharing and charming ‘Hahahaha, in your faces, racists’ across it in neon rainbow letters.

He would not though.

He had a reputation to uphold, little as they thought he did. The irony had not escaped him. He had a family legacy. He reflected all of them in what he did… It came so perilously close to the ideals of all the people he despised. At least his meant something real though. But whilst it would absolutely let him ride into battle on other people’s behalf, he could not rise to their bait for his own sake.

He didn’t need to anyway. Not really. He had had a good seven years in spite of them all. He had a wonderful girlfriend waiting outside, and lots of options he liked the sound of for his future. He was going to see this evening out in style, having fun with people he liked, and whom he would genuinely miss, rather than brooding on the people he was glad to be shot of.

The theme of the fire didn’t really match his jubilant spirits but he gave it some consideration anyway. There were plenty of things that worried him. None of them excessively. He was, on the whole, a pretty happy person. He was more inclined to worry about others than himself, and those things weren’t his business to share. Still, it didn’t seem right not to participate fully in his last Sonora event, especially as sharing feelings was right up his alley. And, as Professor Skies had said, they all shared a lot of the same worries. He supposed that, when he considered other people’s problems, there was the way that became a worry for him - that was something he could share without implicating other people. He added ‘I am worried I’m not good enough at helping others’ and slipped it into the box. It didn’t drag him down every day, but he did put a lot of responsibility on himself. And was looking into a career of doing just that. Probably more in policy, the big picture, than being the counselling shoulder people leant on, but the idea was still the same - he needed to make the world a better place and that was an awfully bad thing to screw up or not try your hardest at.

For now though, it was time to relax. He planned to spend some time with Ness, as it would be their last Sonora moment as siblings, but he mostly wanted to hang out with the D&D people - the ones he wasn’t related to, anyway, Ness having grabbed a spot at that table too. Spotting one of them, he made his way over.

“Good evening, fellow adventurer,” he smiled, “Might I beg a moment of your time? For I think I cannot tarry much longer in these parts."

13 Kir McLeod This adventure's over (tag any D&Der) 366 0 5

Winston Pierce

November 26, 2019 7:51 AM

Looking forward, not back by Winston Pierce

Winston was mildly irritable about his wedding ceremony not ranking higher than it did, but he supposed that was what wedding planners were for, and why people normally had months to plan instead of one day. What they had come up with was not awful, but it certainly wasn’t how he expected his actual wedding to look. For all of that, they had still claimed fourth place overall, which would have been perfectly respectable if That Teppenpaw hadn’t ranked second.

But that didn’t matter anymore. It was the bonfire and, with luck, just about the last he’ll ever see of both Sonora and certain people who do not even exist. The box of worries to burn away was as good a way to get past it as any. As he wrote “Past disappointments,” he realized it applied to more than just being the first loser in the challenges, but also included losing the prefect position to Victor, and Quidditch being cancelled for the year he stood a chance of becoming the school wide Quidditch Captain.

These things had bothered him, but outside the context of Sonora they were really quite meaningless. He could grow past them, and be very happy in his life as Emerald’s future husband. He dropped the slip of paper into the box and went to find his fiancé. He smiled outwardly just thinking the word. Fiancé.

Yeah, he could get past a lot of old disappointments just thinking of the promises in that word. No burning smoke words necessary. But it would be nice to see them burn to ash anyway.

“Emerald!” he called out when he caught sight of her. He smiled as they got close enough to hold hands, and reached his out, inviting her to take it. “It’s our last midsummer event,” he commented. He himself wasn’t sure if the thought was a welcome relief or bittersweet. He did have good memories of the past ones, many of them spent right here, at Emerald’s side. He decided his answer would depend on hers. “Are you going to miss them?”

1 Winston Pierce Looking forward, not back 370 0 5

Jessica Hayles

November 26, 2019 8:54 AM

Like sands through the hourglass. by Jessica Hayles

Bonfires and tenting were not exactly Jessica's idea of a great time, but she approached them with the same attitude she did the occasional rally she got dragged to alongside her parents: grin and bear it. This, Mommy assured her, was exactly how everyone else felt too, so there was no point in complaining about it.

Of course, it was entirely possible that some of her classmates were outdoorsy enough to enjoy being deliberately less comfortable, but...well, nobody enjoyed political rallies except dedicated bases, and yet families of politicians were expected to endure them. So the fact there were people who were the equivalents of the common voter was no reason to indulge her private feelings on the matter. So she had crammed a couple of soft blankets and a long book into her backpack and made sure she had a blank pocket notebook and several pens in her little handbag before shoving that into the backpack as well, to cover for all eventualities, and went down to the Quidditch Pitch.

She took out the coarser of her two blankets (the other was to add at least a modicum of comfort to whatever sleeping arrangements they had going on - she had brought her own sheets to school this year, and while dragging those down was a bit pointless, she could at least have her brushed cotton light blanket with her) and spread it out to sit on, picnic-style, as Headmaster Brockert opened the party. She applauded politely for Pecari and Teppenpaw, then listened to Professor Skies' explanation of why the fire wasn't on, well, fire yet.

Jessica had to admit, the ritual bit sounded kind of cool. Mommy would probably disapprove of copying rituals from Japan and India - Mommy could be such a Baptist sometimes - but it all did add a touch of interest to the proceedings. Assuming, of course, that anyone actually divulged their secrets, however vaguely. Jessica felt an instinctive aversion to the very idea. What worries did she have that she could even give up...?

Worries, perhaps none. Anxiety sucked when it overwhelmed her and she started hyperventilating and crying, but more often than not, it was helpful in keeping her focused - when, at least, she really had much of anything to focus on. Probably better to say it had been useful and might be useful again someday. Dreams, though...

She sighed and adjusted how she was sitting on her blanket, pulling her backpack over and fishing out her book and her writing pad and a pen. Officially, in her head, she had given up over a year ago, when she had first found herself on a couch in the Crotalus Common Room after fighting tooth and nail to stay at home the first time she had been allowed back after things had gone sideways. Officially, she knew she was too far behind to ever catch up on her education now - the best she could hope to do was self-educate well enough to write decent poems, but that her business career was over before it had begun. Arvale might get bigger and better, but it wouldn't be under her direction; she'd benefit just from inheriting stock from her parents, but she wouldn't be in the top chair. Unofficially, though, it was another thing entirely to actually write that down for public consumption, even without her name on it, and she wanted to try to get her thoughts down in lines for herself before she even thought about participating in the game.

Bearing down on the back cover of her book, she opened the little pocket notebook, only about two inches wide by three tall.

A thousand sparks, a million embers,
Shadows thrown, ~~who remembers~~ over the members

Members or remembers. Or should she just cut this rhyme altogether, or save it for somewhere else? Maybe it could be a refrain, like the women who come and go and talk of Michaelangelo...she had never had the slightest idea what that poem was about, and apparently nobody else really did either, but the words were beautiful. She thought 'embers' and 'remembers' were beautiful words, too, but she couldn't help them meaning something when she used them, which was apparently a failing of her work. She glanced up and saw someone she thought was looking at her and smiled. "Hey," she said, to be friendly.

16 Jessica Hayles Like sands through the hourglass. 1442 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

November 26, 2019 12:28 PM

So are the days of our lives. by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe was looking forward to returning home to Los Jardines de Plata. He thought that the school year here was just long enough that he missed home in time for the end of the school year, and he missed Sonora in time for the end of summer. It was a little sad that he missed Sonora sooner than he missed home, but he did get Christmas break at home, and that helped. He supposed it would be odd for a teenage boy to be more excited to go home than to come to Sonora, but really it wasn't about developmental milestones at all.

The topic was heavy on his mind as he listened to the explanation of the bonfire, and he knew immediately that he needed to write something. He wished he had Jessica's way with words to do so, and he wished that using any language he wanted wouldn't be a dead giveaway, but all good things came with limitations so he resigned himself to these and approached the box. As Professor Skies had promised, the enchantment kept him anonymous while he did his deed.

He thought about it for a longer moment than he should have, as he really should have planned this out before entering the enchantment; the longer he stayed here, the longer he risked someone else coming in and finding him. At the same time, they wouldn't know which of the secrets in the smoke were his, so he wasn't too worried about that.

The problem was that he wasn't sure whether he wanted to burn the negative feelings, or display the positive ones. They were two sides of the same coin and he wasn't sure whether he needed a cathartic release or inspiration more. Eventually, he decided on something more neutral, that still got at what was weighing on him.

I am not who I want to be.

Scrawled in his neat handwriting - which was significantly less fancy than his usual style, but there was no time to worry about all the loops and things - the note seemed much heavier in his hand than he thought it should. He dropped it in the box and stepped out of the enchantment. The urge to get away was suddenly strong and he walked quickly into the crowd of students, hoping to find a place to be alone, or else to find someone worth talking to. He hated himself for thinking there weren't many of the latter.

One of the only people he would have found worth talking to happened to be sitting on a picnic style blanket doing something alone, which made him think he could maybe enjoy some solitude in the company of his friend. It was a promising venture, although he worried what Zara would think if he was sitting with Jessica. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep from hurting them by some action or another, and made a mental note to go find Zara next. He could split his evening.

"I won't interrupt your writing," he said by way of apology when she greeted him, interrupting his wavering and making the decision for him. "Could I sit though?"

22 Felipe De Matteo So are the days of our lives. 1434 0 5

Jessica Hayles

November 26, 2019 1:59 PM

As The World Turns by Jessica Hayles

Jessica grinned and made an inviting gesture with her free hand. "Sure," she said. "The writing's not going great right now anyway," she admitted. "Do you think 'members' or 'remembers' works better as a rhyme for 'embers'?" she asked, curious what his response might be. Felipe didn't write, but that didn't mean he didn't read or know how things sounded. Far, far more people could read and analyze a poem than could write one - though she couldn't understand how more people didn't write. The worst bit of her life had been that time in her first year when she had been too stunned and upset to write a word. It had been horrible, needing to write, but not having anything to say.

Of course, people had different ways to be creative, she supposed. Painters, knitters...whoever wrote model legislation. She guessed they would think her activities seemed as unfulfilling as theirs seemed to her, probably. Everyone else always looked a little weird from your own seat, she guessed. And if she could rephrase it a little more elegantly, she might be able to work that thought into what she had started to write about the Bonfire.

"It's the last night here for a while," she observed, looking around at the people, the architecture. "Are you looking forward to getting home? Tell your family I said hi, by the way," she added. "And remind me before we go that Daddy sent me some of this summer's limited edition nail polishes, I'm going to send them to Leonor, if you think she'd like them."

16 Jessica Hayles As The World Turns 1442 0 5

Anya Delachene

November 26, 2019 4:07 PM

The sister of my sister is my sister (tag Ellie) by Anya Delachene

Anya was not without friends. She got on well with Freddie, and there weren’t really any people she disliked exactly, but . . . she just hadn’t made many close friends. Nobody that she immediately thought of when the option of have a sleepover with other girls was presented to her.

Honestly, her first thought was Jasmine, but she didn’t think Jasmine would be too keen on that. She had Peyton, and Ruby, and Cleo, and Tatiana who were all closer to her in age and interests. Anya was just the little sister.

She was consequently quite surprised when she noticed Jasmine heading right for her after the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress were done talking to them. Expecting congratulations for Pecari’s win, as that was the first explanation that occurred to her, she was further taken aback when Jasmine said instead, “Anya, there’s a girl.” She stopped, debated with herself, her head tilting from side to side as the internal arguments rebounded within her skull, until she reached a conclusion and she nodded in agreement with herself. Jasmine was easy enough to read and Anya knew her well enough that she understood Jasmine still wasn’t entirely convinced by her own arguments but she didn’t see any better options. So it was going to be a lesser evil, telling Anya whatever she was going to say.

“Promise not to tell anyone?” her sister demanded.

Anya was confused but not confused enough to think she was promising not to tell anyone that there was a girl. Whoever the girl was. But her existence was not the secret. It was what Jasmine had yet to tell her. “I promise,” she swore very seriously because Jasmine never just wanted to tell her secrets for no reason. This was, in fact, the only vow of silence she had ever demanded of Anya. Anya wouldn’t let her down.

Jasmine looked around furtively, telegraphing to everyone nearby she was Up To No Good. Anya rolled her eyes, grabbed her sister by the wrist, and dragged her off to an actually private location appropriate for sharing secrets. On top of the broom shed.

Jasmine looked kind of terrified but appreciative of Anya’s dedication to keeping the secret. In barely more than a whisper, she told Anya’s left ear, “There’s a trans girl in your year. She’s probably scared to tent with anyone. Be nice to her. Help her out.”

If Anya had to guess that any of the girls in her year hadn’t been born biologically female, even knowing better, she’d have had to guess herself. “Who?”

“You’ll help her?” Jasmine pressed. “You won’t scare her or act weird if you know?”

Anya gave her sister an unimpressed look. “According to you, I always act weird.”

“Broom. Shed. Roof.” Jasmine pointed out tersely. But then she relented, “But that’s not what I meant.”

Anya knew that wasn’t what she meant. Anya just thought she deserved to be messed with for doubting her. “Of course I’ll be nice, and won’t act weird, and I’ll help her. Who is she?”

Jasmine looked relieved. “Ellie.”

“Pshaw,” Anya scoffed, “She’s totally a girl. I’m more a boy than she is.”

Jasmine bit back an answer, but her guilty look said she had just barely refrained from saying something that probably would have offended Anya even as she was asking her sister for a favor. Anya gave her a narrowed eyed look of wary distrust. “I’m not,” she stated, in case Jasmine had doubts. She might not be a girly-girl like Jasmine and Ellie were, but that didn’t make her any less of a girl.

“I know,” Jasmine promised. “That’s why I’m asking you to help her. If you were a boy, you wouldn’t be allowed in the same tent.”

“Fine,” Anya agreed, her huffiness having everything to do with Jasmine and nothing to do with Ellie. “You can get down, right?” she asked and then jumped off the roof without waiting for an affirmative. Jasmine was a fifth year. If she couldn’t get off a little broom shed without Anya’s help, she had no business calling herself a witch.

Anya darted in and out amongst the other Sonorans, looking for Ellie. She saw the box that they were supposed to put their concerns into, and Anya debated if she had any. She decided the only significant one was about Mom but there was no way she was going to whine that her mother didn’t love her in front of everybody.

So . . . there! She spotted Ellie and headed right for her.

“Hi!” she greeted cheerfully. “Ellie, right?” she asked, more as a formality than anything. She knew who Ellie was. Their class wasn’t that big. “Jasmine said you’re cool,” which was not what Jasmine said at all. If Jasmine said that, it wouldn’t mean anything to Anya anyway. Their opinions of what was cool overlapped on exactly one thing: horses. But Ellie was important to Jasmine. Jasmine wouldn’t have come to Anya with this if she wasn’t. And the people who were important to Jasmine were important to Anya.

That was what made them sisters.

“She thought maybe we should tent together? If you want to?” Putting it on Jasmine would hopefully clue Ellie in that she was trustworthy without actually needing to say out loud what she was being trusted with. She’d promised Jasmine to keep the secret and not scare Ellie, after all.

1 Anya Delachene The sister of my sister is my sister (tag Ellie) 1453 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

November 26, 2019 4:28 PM

Mood. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel had somehow managed to get through the entirety of her first year without blowing anything up or failing any classes. The latter was less of a surprise than the former, but she was pleased nonetheless. This was the first evidence that she may actually be in the right place, other than the obvious of having magical powers like some crazy Disney channel movie that didn't take off. Unfortunately, as she stood by herself at the bonfire, she realized that's about all she'd done.

She supposed that she was friends with Nico a little bit, and that was good, and she'd talked to Ellie and other classmates during class, but the rest of her time had been spent preparing for something, getting organized, or studying. She'd done everything she could to make sure that no one thought she was less than them just because she didn't have a head start, only to find that she didn't even have anyone around to impress. She didn't even have anyone to be proud of her.

Meandering felt awkward, but so did approaching someone she didn't know that well. That left basically one option and it wasn't actually an altogether bad one. She had thought of asking Bridget, but she still wasn't sure whether she'd basically just ticked the older girl off. She had thought of asking Zara, but she seemed much more social than Jezebel was and she didn't want to put her off, either. She figured that maybe her other option would have a suggestion, or one of the other two girls would approach her.

With that in mind, Jezebel set about finding her roommate. She'd brought extra blankets, her pillow, her wand, and some basic necessities like toothbrush and such, all of which was stored in a plain pink backpack that she'd slung over her shoulders. She thought it probably made it really obvious that she didn't have anywhere to put it yet, but that couldn't be helped.

"Hey," she said when she found Sapphire, approaching with a bit of hesitation. "Do you already have people to tent with? I know it's not super exciting to tent with me . . . you see me everyday. But . . . well I just don't have anyone yet and you seem really nice." Truth be told, Sapphire mostly just seemed quiet. Quiet could be nice though, and beggars can't be choosers. She could learn something from the more reflexive of her classmates.

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer Mood. 1454 0 5

Dorian Montoir

November 26, 2019 5:12 PM

I mouth the words I think I wanna speak by Dorian Montoir

Dorian distinctly remembered the first bonfire. He had woken up opposite Jehan. He remembered with perfect clarity watching the early morning light starting to bring out his freckles, watching him slowly wake up and look back across the tent with his brilliant blue eyes, and he remembered thinking how perfect it would be if every day could begin like that. With the benefit of hindsight, it was sort of hard to see how he had never realised how romantic most of thoughts about Jehan had always been. That was what you thought about your sweetheart, not your friend. He sort of wished for that innocence back. It was definitely easier to lie an arm's space away from Jehan when he wasn't soul crushingly aware of how impossibly in love with him he was.

He had come to the fire sort of tempted to throw that all out there anyway. If there was any chance Jehan returned his feelings then... well, no time like an evening where they could share a room to get that out in the open. If he didn't, Dorian wasn't sure he could stand being so close and so very far away from what he wanted at the same time. And, he was surprised to find himself realising, he had other options for tent buddies if it all went horribly wrong. He didn't want to make Vlad pick a side if he and Jehan fell out but even without that... There were the guys on his challenge team. There was Parker. And he could hardly imagine Kir refusing him, if he showed up broken and miserable and in need of somewhere to go. It was strange, feeling for the first time there was a life and a world for him if Jehan hated him. He would be broken and devestated, he really believed there was no one else in the world quite so wonderful, but he would not be alone. Jehan was not the only person who thought he had value or who cared about how he felt. That had been true for a while but it had never felt quite so solidly real before that he was actually safe in his position in the school, in the world... So long as no one ever told Matthieu, anyway.

The theme of the bonfire fit perfectly with his mood. There was no question that he was going to submit something. It was just a case of how to say it. He worked through several drafts in his head. He supposed he could just write 'I'm gay' and leave it at that, and maybe he was reading too much into the description but he didn't want anyone trying to think he was trying to distance himself from that or let it go. It was who he was, and who he had always been. It had never really been the crux of the problem. It was the stress that went with that which he wished he could just cast off, even if resolving all the family drama was going to take a while. It was the endless pining, waiting... 'I am gay, and I am fine with that but I am worried that no one else is going to be, espeically not my best friend, who I'm in love with.' Bit long. He was pretty sure he was not going to be particularly succinct but that was definitely overkill. He thought about the length of time is would take for that to be spelt out in the smoke and practically died. He considered a reference that would mean more to Jehan, or even just spelling it out directly. 'I love you, even though you think that's glupyy' (except then people might unfairly ascribe it to Tatya or Katya) or just 'I want to marry Jehan Callahan' - seeing that in giant smoking letters sounded like it would be pretty freaking cathartic right now. As did watching it dissolve. Because maybe, just maybe, if Jehan didn't want him in that way, it was time to let it go and believe that someone else might. He wasn't sure what Jehan would read into seeing that literally go up in smoke though. He would rather let go of his fear than anything else.

He chose his words and signed them with the requisite x. He hesitantly noted '(please correct if necessary)' fairly sure that his English, if not perfect, was substantially better than anyone else who might request that, and thus whoever read that was fairly likely to know it was his. Still, outing himself to a member staff semi-on purpose was preferable to outing himself fully to the school by accident.

He would find Professor Brooding at some stage and assure her that he was fine. That he had applied Professor Skies' advice and he knew the answers. That there would always be people who loved him and supported him. That things would be alright in the end.

He sat, watching as the fire was lit. He appreciated its semi darkness. He appreciated the shadows he got to sit in, as he hoped to Maugris that people were looking at the words not each other's faces. That, if there were, his was hidden enough or neutral enough, as the confessions rolled by. Some sounded familiar, as Professor Skies had said, the background noise of teenage angst that they all felt really. Others were more specific, sometimes so much so that they were confusing. I worry that Blake Brize-Norton will not be punished for what he did to me. The name rang a bell but he didn't know it, though he felt his stomach twist both at the implication that this person had done sonething unforgiveable and that someone now wanted him punished. Though the staff had mentioned not being threats to themselves or others. Maybe it didn't mean it the way he thought, or not so directly. He was all too familiar with how it felt when someone hurt you, but he had never wanted to punish Matthieu. He didn't want him or the people he cared about to sully themselves by sinking to that level. There was one he thought might be Tatya's What if I'm never good enough at being a girl? but whilst it sounded like a similar problem, it didn't sound like the way in which she worried about it. He felt beads of sweat trickling down the back of his neck, as he watched for his own. And when it came, he felt like his heart stopped, frozen in fear for the moment that it hung in the air.

I'm in love with my best friend. And I worry he'll hate me if I tell him.

He knew that the words were less damning the second they were out of his hand. That using 'I' and 'him' didn't immediately spell out the fact that it was two boys. Except, why would any boy hate a girl for being in love with him? Most of the time, that was a nice thing to find out. And seeing those letters, holding the pronoun of the person he loved, down in black and white, even for a moment had felt huge and dangerous and wonderful. He still felt it said enough. Maybe too much. But then the words drifted. He watched their letters stretch and elongate, at first legible but disrtorted, before slipping beyond all recognition and into the ether. And now he couldn't take it back but nor did he want to, and it was true that he felt a little lighter.

13 Dorian Montoir I mouth the words I think I wanna speak 1401 0 5

Emerald Brockert

November 27, 2019 1:52 AM

Me too by Emerald Brockert

So this was it. Emerald was done with her time at Sonora more or less and she wasn't all that sentimental about it either. She had a lot to look forward to, mostly marrying Winston. She wasn't looking forward to having babies any time soon, as she'd had enough of them growing up, and besides child birth was painful. Nobody looked forward to that. Not even Ruby who adored babies.

Of course, Emerald was going to have children some day but right now she just wasn't ready. When the time came, they'd have a small, well spaced out family. Not six or more, every two years. She really hoped she had a boy quickly when the time came but even so she and Winston were a good deal more sensible than her parents.

The other thing she was looking forward to was getting away from Topaz. Whereas her other sisters and Allegra could get away from the younger Aladren when at school, Emerald had the misfortune of being in the same house as her.Of course, she was the one who tended to fight back and it was better that it was her than the others. As it was, the soon to be alumna was a bit worried for Ruby. Usually Topaz preferred terrorizing Sapphire and Allegra-and to a lesser degree Jasper and Amethyst -but the Teppenpaw had beaten her at the Challenges and while the rest of them were going to be subject to gloating, Emerald sort of feared for Ruby's safety. And Ruby was too sweet and kind to fight back.

Thinking about this brought her back to the graffiti she'd seen on the bathroom wall. It could have been about any of them or Tatiana Vorontsov. Generally speaking, it wasn't very...accurate. Acquiring might have pointed to her and Winston or the Pecari but neither she nor Tatiana was passive. Nor was Topaz. Topaz only thought it was about her because she was incredibly self-centered and looking for an excuse to torture her roommate. Sapphire was more passive but she wasn't being "acquired" yet. Ruby wasn't passive , she was good but maybe someone else knew Dean McLachlan and had a crush on him and was annoyed he liked Ruby instead.

Also, it wasn't something that was very insulting. There were so many better words one could use to insult someone. The intent behind it was worse than what was said but if it was about her, she really didn't care now. Aside from Winston and possibly a few others who wouldn't do such a thing-some of whom because they were male and couldn't enter the girls bathroom-Emerald wasn't going to see these people anyway and besides, she couldn't picture any of her classmates doing such a thing. Even Kir McLeod who didn't get on with Winston would probably not do that and even if he would, he would attack Winston rather than her. Plus, he was male, no matter what Uncle Eustace would think of him.

After Grandfather announced the House Cup, Professor Skies began talking about rituals surrounding fire and cleansing and mentioned they had the option to write things down and release them. Emerald really had nothing to share. Her life was good minus having too many siblings and one of them being Topaz. Still, she had no real secrets she needed to release and make her feel better.

And speaking of her good life, here was her fiance now. Emerald smiled and took his hand. She considered his question. "Maybe somewhat. They are generally fun but I'm really looking forward to our future."

11 Emerald Brockert Me too 358 0 5

Sapphire Brockert

November 27, 2019 6:02 AM

A good one or a bad one? by Sapphire Brockert

Sapphire smiled when her roommate approached. "Hi." Jezebel seemed like a perfectly nice girl even if she wasn't in the same social class that Sapphire was. She was so glad to be spared the miserable situation that Topaz had with her roommate. Of course, any situation involving her sister was going to be miserable, even if Nessa McLeod was the most wonderful kind sweet person in the world. Allegra was a kind sweet person and look what Topaz had done to her over the years! She ate that sort of person for breakfast. Metaphorically of course, but Sapphire would not put anything past her, given that she'd been on the receiving end of her sister's "experiments" and bullying even more than her cousin had.

Her face lit up when Jezebel asked her to share a tent "I'd love to share with you!" Someone actually wanted to share with her. That was great. Maybe not everyone was having a laugh at her expense.

Then she realized that maybe she wasn't Jezebel's first choice. That stung a little. Like maybe she couldn't think of anyone better so she decided on Sapphire. And that hurt because she really did want to be better friends with her roommate. She knew she was supposed to make friends with purebloods but there really weren't any in her class. And the society pureblood girls in the year ahead of her were two distant cousins of hers-which would seem clannish- and a Pecari girl who'd likely want nothing to do with Sapphire. She honestly didn't see herself finding much in common with people in Pecari and feared them making fun of her.

It was also depressing to realize she didn't already have people to tent with. "I don't have anyone else to share with though." It occurred to her that maybe Jezebel would think of things that she just had about herself. "Not that I don't want to share with you, it's just we need a third person." And I can't think of anyone else who would want to join a tent that contains me. Emerald and Ruby were so much older, she didn't want to share with Topaz obviously, and Sapphire assumed Allegra would share with her group of friends, even if that meant sharing a tent with Topaz.

Ruby had suggested sharing with Ellie who'd been on the older girl's team, but Sapphire didn't have the nerve to approach her. She was about to suggest this to Jezebel-who must have more confidence than Sapphire did as she couldn't possibly have less and could therefore do the asking-when she spotted the Aladren talking to Anya Delachene. Someone else who likely wouldn't be interested in Sapphire in any way. Ellie was probably as girly or girlier than the Crotalus was but Ruby had given her the impression that Jasmine and Ellie had gotten close and maybe Jasmine had the same idea as the Teppenpaw had. Except Anya obviously was much braver than Sapphire.

The only other person the first year could think of was Johana Leonie. Those were the people she'd gotten to know, the ones on her team. Except Johana Leonie would likely share with her roommates and/or Hilda and Hilda was another Pecari. She looked over at her roommate "Do you have any ideas? I'd like to find someone close in age to us so we don't end up with a random older student or pair who couldn't find people." That would be so awkward and intimidating.

11 Sapphire Brockert A good one or a bad one? 1459 0 5

Winston Pierce

November 27, 2019 7:24 AM

Glad we agree by Winston Pierce

Winston smiled as her hand moved into his and he enclosed her fingers in a gentle squeeze of greeting and affection. It was too public here for a full-on affectionate hug to be proper, so the hand squeeze was going to have to suffice.

As they were engaged, he was allowed to stand closer than he would otherwise be permitted to, and he took advantage of that. Her answer to his question was accurate to his own opinion as well, and he smiled again at how well they understood each other. “I agree on all points. We can make our own midsummer celebrations in the future. You were always the best part of them anyway.” And that was horrendously corny. He knew it was horrendously corny as soon as the words left his mouth, and he winced a little, but they were to be married soon, so maybe she would forgive him and take them as the compliment he’d meant them as.

“Though, I expect our actual engagement party will be the first celebration on our agenda, followed by our real wedding.” As they had just finished planning faux versions of those parties not all that long ago, he felt the need to clarify he meant the real things now. “Do you have any thoughts on our timeframe? Was there anything you wanted to happen before we are wed?” Some couples waited until after their college schooling was complete, and while Winston did intend to further his education, he did not feel it necessarily precluded the possibility of being married before graduation. “Did you want to go to college at all or take some classes in art or literature or something else you enjoy?” He did not expect her to work, but if she wanted to learn for the sake of learning- she was an Aladren, after all- he did not intend to stand in the way of that.

1 Winston Pierce Glad we agree 370 0 5

Hilda Hexenmeister

November 27, 2019 11:15 AM

Any Welkomme to Deutsch Tent by Hilda Hexenmeister

Hilda was surprised and delighted to see Professor Schmitt at the bonfire. She ran over to him and asked, in German of course, what he was doing there. He told her, also in German, that Professor Skies had invited him and some other portraits to do some translating for her. Hilda was even more surprised and delighted by that. She was going to actually know what was going on without depending on Heinrich to tell her! Then she laughed as Professor Schmitt thanked her for making this his most interesting year since he’d been painted.

She chatted with him a little longer and then Headmaster Brockert began speaking. Hilda cheered when Professor Schmitt translated that Pecari was one of the House Cup winners, which was slightly belated to when the rest of her House and Teppenpaw were cheering, but she joined in before they all finished which was way better than looking baffled the whole time people were cheering. And it was awesome that both Hilda and Johana Leonie could cheer together because they both won! Heinrich looked a bit put out though.

Then Deputy Headmistresses Skies took over talking, and Hilda was incredibly glad for Professor Schmitt being there. What she was saying wasn’t all that complex, really, but there was a lot of build up, and Hilda’s vocabulary was limited at the best of times.

She appreciated the offer to help her not sound like a foreign speaker, but when she dropped her paper into the box it only had two words, and her X, and she didn’t think fixing her spelling was going to help protect her anonymity. In fact, she didn’t want her spelling fixed. It was part of her message.

But she was soo going to enjoy seeing the words “Englisch Sucks” float over everything and everyone later today.

Then she headed over to the tents. She had some luggage that she didn’t really want to carry around all day and figured coming over earlier would give her a better choice, though a closer inspection showed they all looked more or less the same, and Professor Schmitt had said they were enchanted to change and accommodate the people who chose it. So she picked one at random.

Upon tossing her bag and her pillow inside, it didn’t immediately change colors to have a German flag on it, so she used her wand to add one to the left entrance flap. She had already planned to share with Johana Leonie but they needed at least one more. So she pulled out a sheet of parchment and wrote “Any Welkomme to Deutsch Tent!”

With a bit of transfiguration, she turned the paper to a wooden sign with a stake. The sign bore the same words as she’d written. Then she stabbed its stake into the ground next to the tent. Satisfied, she looked around to see there were any takers, or people she could wave down as potential tent mates. Preferably, she hoped for Sophia or Evelyn or Jessica or Katerina, as she knew they knew some German already, but as long as whoever came didn’t mind her and Johana Leonie speaking it, she would be fine.

1 Hilda Hexenmeister Any Welkomme to Deutsch Tent 1433 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

November 27, 2019 11:32 AM

Oh good! by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

OOC - Italicized dialogue is in German.

Johana Leonie had been as glad of the interpreting portraits as Hilda, and joined her friend by Professor Schmitt's side. They were able to cheer together, which was wonderful, and then Hilda went off to find a tent and Johana Leonie took a moment to just look around. She wanted to make sure that Hilda had time to write something for the box if she wanted to without Johana Leonie necessarily knowing about it, and she wanted to think about what she would be writing.

She and Friederike Albert had both availed themselves of Professor Schmitt's services, but hardly needed him when it was just the two of them, so they walked away together when the speeches were done.

"Are you going to write anything?" Johana Leonie asked him, trying not to be emotional over the fact that he was growing up and she was growing up and maybe her little brother had things he wanted to get off his chest too.

Friederike Albert replied with a shrug and a characteristic grin. "Do you have any secrets, Hana?"

It was Johana Leonie's turn to shrug. "If I did, I don't know that I would want the whole school to see them," she decided. Following another train of thought, she looked sideways at her brother. "Who are you tenting with?"

"Not Anya or Ellie," he replied in English, frowning. Johana Leonie wondered if he associated school with English and thus preferred it for talking about classmates. She did her best to follow suit.

"Because girls."

He nodded. "Heinrich maybe? He might not want to tent with someone younger."

As far as Johana Leonie could tell, Heinrich wouldn't want to tent with anyone or talk to anything. He hadn't been cold to her exactly, but nor had he been friendly, and she wasn't sure whether that extended to her family members. It would be nice if Hilda and her brothers were friends, though.

"Just be safe," she smiled. "Und fun have!"

Friederike Albert rolled his eyes, but kept his grin as he turned to run off into the crowd of students bustling about. Johana Leonie picked up her bag from the ground and followed, moving towards the tents to see if she could find Hilda again. A tent with a welcome sign in German made her light up and she poked her head inside.

"Anyone home?" she teased. "Now we are roommates!"

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen Oh good! 1432 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

November 27, 2019 11:56 AM

Now that one I don't know. by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe took the offered seat and smiled at Jessica. She seemed more comfortable than she had recently, and that was good. She was also writing, which could be good or bad.

"It depends on the rest of the line, right? Syllables and such?" he asked, fairly confident that he knew at least that much about poetry. He also couldn't think of a good reason to use the word 'members,' but he wasn't sure if it just wasn't something he needed to say a lot or not. "I like 'remembers' better, though I think," he decided, looking towards the bonfire. Something about burning coals that just barely sputtered, but could be whipped into a flurry of heat and light again seemed very in line with memories, although he didn't have very many memories that would cause such a reaction himself. He suspected he was making them on nights like these.

"I am looking forward to seeing my family," Felipe agreed carefully, not sure that he was exactly excited to go home. He missed it certainly, but excitement was another thing. He didn't miss being the heir, being the De Matteo representative, being the good kid, being everyone else's but his own. Those were things he liked much better about Sonora, as they were largely absent. The thought made him feel guilty. "I'm not sure how long nail polish will last on Leonor's fingers, but I am sure she will like the gift," he smiled. The thought of Leonor coming to Sonora in the Fall with painted nails made him happy because it would make her happy. "And I will pass on your greetings to my parents. Please do the same for me."

They had talked some about him coming to visit Atlanta in the summer, and the thought made him nervous now. He pushed that aside in favor of the conversation here and now - the conversation he would have with his parents about the proper way to leave doors open for future courtship was not one he wanted to dwell on right now.

"Are you excited to go home?"

22 Felipe De Matteo Now that one I don't know. 1434 0 5

Sophia Priory

November 27, 2019 12:00 PM

Danke by Sophia Priory

The school year-and more importantly, the Challenges-were over and Sophia was sort of glad. She liked her classes but had not enjoyed the school wide competition. It seemed to her, given the first two events, that they were clearly favoring a certain type of people who didn't need more favoring. The third event, which on the surface seemed to counteract the other two, and favor pureblood girls, had been rather a trick seeing as most purebloods used house-elves for cooking, didn't have budgets and had more that a day to plan an event.

So really, it was as if the staff was taking sadistic glee at seeing pureblood girls suffer through the first two events and tricked them into getting their hopes up for the last one. And while it was unlikely that the Headmaster had wanted to do something that would negatively impact his granddaughters, it was likely that he'd not been involved much. He seemed rather so in general.

Not to mention, the fact that her team had been specifically given Chinese New Year when none of them were Chinese. A Russian holiday maybe would have been somewhat fair.

There was also the fact that Sylvia had seemed to be having issues in general and Martin just plain not contributing much. She didn't fault them, really, Martin was the youngest person on the team along with her-though she had tried more than he had- and Sylvia was obviously not..okay. Some sort of family issue according to the rumor mill.These things could not have helped matters and all in all, it wasn't surprising they'd done so poorly. Though she blamed the staff more than her teammates. It was like they'd been set up to fail and the staff was actively favoring athletes-when they did not need their egos built up-and actively seeking to humiliate pureblood girls and mess with their heads. Not that pureblood girls didn't have a fair amount of things in their favor when it came to society in general but the staff should have been more fair and professional.

After Headmaster Brockert announced the House Cup winners, Professor Skies began talking about fire cleansing rituals, which was relatively interesting, and went on to say,

"We did not want to mimic a ritual that belongs to someone else, but we did want to take the idea of celebrating fire."

Really? She had a lot of bloody gall saying that they didn't want to take a ritual that belonged to someone else after having Sophia's team do Chinese New Year for the last Challenge. A holiday that clearly didn't belong to any of them. One where they'd had to worry about being seen as either racist or inauthentic or just plain not knowing what to do. The hypocrisy was stunning.

As for releasing their secrets up in smoke or whatever, why on earth would anyone want their private thoughts released to the entire school in such a way? People sitting there, trying to figure out what belonged to who? People figuring it out and mocking people for what they shared? Sophia was glad it was optional. Not that she had anything to share anyway, especially when the staff could trace things back to her since all she was inclined to do was call them out.

Sighing to herself, the Aladren began walking towards the food, when she noticed something over by the tents and turned that way instead. "Hallo" Sophia greeted the two German girls. "Würde es dir etwas ausmachen wenn ich mich dir anschließe?" She felt a momentary pang at abandoning Bridget but on the other hand, her cousin didn't speak German and would feel left out joining this tent.

OOC-Translation -"Hi, mind if I join you?' Bear in mind that the author's German is from Google translate.

11 Sophia Priory Danke 1447 0 5

Jessica Hayles

November 27, 2019 6:36 PM

You may need a Guiding Light. by Jessica Hayles

"Gosh yes," said Jessica at once upon being asked if she was looking forward to going home. She was not as totally miserable as she had been here in the past, but she still preferred going home. "No offense, you're great, but I can't wait to see everyone there, and have...all this technology stuff that we have at home that doesn't work here, and just...being at home," she smiled.

Eventually, she supposed, this would have been a problem in her old life, too - it had been understood she'd attend a boarding school for high school anyway, probably in the Northeast, so she could be better prepared for one of the top-tier universities. Georgia had some decent universities, but none of them quite had the cachet of the northern schools, and anyway, she wouldn't have wanted to come across as a provincial who couldn't leave her own cozy corner of the world. Now...well.

"It's kind of what I was thinking about, actually," she said. "If I should just burn a paper about the schools I was supposed to go to.. Know when to fold 'em, right? Look at options. I could live off dividends and write poems and be a hermit. Or maybe a globetrotter - go wherever there's something slightly interesting happening for a while. Marry a president and wear Givenchy in the White House. So many options, right?" she chuckled. "But it's weird to actually write it down after all these years"

16 Jessica Hayles You may need a Guiding Light. 1442 0 5

Gary Harper

November 27, 2019 7:41 PM

And so begins a bigger one by Gary Harper

Gary trekked out to the bonfire loaded with everything he would hope he'd need tonight. This would, hopefully, be a night to remember. He'd been planning various aspects of it for a while now and with some luck, all would run smoothly.

He spotted his secondary target first in the crowd of students. Good, so far everything was going according to plan. Kir spotted him as he approached, but his greeting caught Gary off guard. 'Cannot tarry long?' That didn't sound good... was Kir not staying the night? Did he have to leave early? That would not work with the plan... what's he going to do?

Stop. Will save. Ok. Gather more information, then panic, if necessary. He smiled a little uncertainly at the older boy. "Hail and well met to you as well." Then with just a hint of worry betraying him, "Please do not tell me you must quit these festivities before they've fully run their course? I sense a need of your skills before the dawn breaks."

2 Gary Harper And so begins a bigger one 1404 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

November 27, 2019 8:02 PM

Is this about soap? by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe laughed at Jessica's enthusiasm and adjusted his seat into something more comfortable. "No offense taken," Felipe promised. "I don't know much about technology, but I think that home always offers something nowhere else in the world can."

When the topic turned to Jessica's old school plans, Felipe felt guilty and defensive, and he wasn't sure why. He felt like he was probably a beacon of a world that had stolen her away from the only life she had ever wanted, and even if she could learn to be okay with it, she might not ever learn to love it. To love herself. It made him sick to think about and he thought again of what he'd put in the fire. Was Jessica not who she wanted to be either? Did she want to be a witch?

He couldn't blame Jessica for that when he didn't want to be who he was either. It seemed like the same logic should apply to them both. That's what Kant said, right? Studying philosophy was a must for any growing young leader and he had probably been far too young for it but the Age of Enlightenment was important and Kant was one of the bigs. Felipe didn't love to read but he did like to figure things out, and philosophy was sort of like math and art and science all got together and decided humans might just make sense. If Kant was right, then Felipe's problems and Jessica's problems should have the same answer. Either they both had to accept their positions, or they were both justified in rebelling against them. But that didn't seem right. Their situations were different. Or not really very different.

Felipe pushed the thought aside and cocked his head at Jessica, confused on one point she'd made. "I'm not sure you have to fold your papers to put them in the box. Do you not want to? Do you think it will be too long to fit in the slot if it's not folded?" He thought that would be rather too long for the fire if that was the case, but maybe Jessica just had strong feelings about origami that he didn't know about. "As far as the future goes, you have lots of options." More options than me. "You're going to be somebody and do something." More than me. "You're going to matter." More than me. "Because you already matter."

More than me.

22 Felipe De Matteo Is this about soap? 1434 0 5

Gary Harper

November 27, 2019 8:13 PM

Going out on a limb (Tag Jasmine Delachene) by Gary Harper

Gary wandered through the crowd of students looking for his primary target for this evening. This was his second bonfire, and he wanted to spend it in much the same way he had spent the first one. Or, at least in the same company.

He wasn't entirely sure how to go about his plan for the evening, so he had started with his attire. He was wearing his traditional jeans and tshirt, but along with that he had a pair of cowboy boots and a 'not over the top' cowboy hat. As usual, he was also wearing his loaded backpack.

He passed by the box and contemplated what he could write to toss in. It hadn't occured to him to try and throw something nefarious into the mix, but after all of the warnings and such mixed into the directions he was now contemplating if he could get something underhanded past the 'censors'. It'd also be kinda cool if he could get the opening scrawl of Star Wars to drift up as smoke... 'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....' heh. They wouldn't let that happen though.

In the end he decided to just stick with the exercise as it was presented. He wrote 'a lack of self-confidence' and scrawled his X below it before putting it into the box. He turned back into the crowd and continued on his mission. It wasn't more than a few moments later when fate smiled upon him. He spotted her.

A smiled spread across his face without him realizing it. He steeled his resolve and walked over to her. He swept off his hat and gave her an attempt at a regal bow. "Miss Jasmine, would you do me the incredible honor of allowing me to accompany you for the festivities this fine evening? Our time together at the previous bonfire is a memory I still hold dear."

2 Gary Harper Going out on a limb (Tag Jasmine Delachene) 1404 0 5

Ellie Alperton

November 27, 2019 8:42 PM

Really? Eee! by Ellie Alperton

CW: dysphoria, transphobia

Ellie had every right to be in a girls' tent because she was a girl. She tried to keep that in mind as she surveyed the tents nervously. On the one hand, it wasn't like she didn't already share with another girl, on a whole corridor of other girls, none of whom she had told. And it shouldn't be anyone's business but hers. It wasn't. She knew it wasn't. No one else felt like they were under preasure to disclose personal information about themselves to screen their tent buddies and find out if they found them acceptable. She knew there was no burden on her to go around outing herself until she found people who weren't bigots. She knew it all in theory. All the right answers to who was in the wrong. She was not sneaking or lying and she wasn't something dirty. It was just hard not to feel that, just a little bit, when you knew that opinion existed. Even when she was able to swallow it down and ascribe the fault entirely where it belonged, it was still scary because it could still hurt her. If her tent mates found out and rejected her or worse; they were the bad people but she was still the one that got hurt.

The theme of the bonfire gave her plenty to think about. A full school year of being Ellie had been wonderful. She felt more confortable than she ever had before in her own skin, but new situations still kind of freaked her out. There was still the weight of living feeling like she had a secret. It was better than living a lie, and she would have had the same secret even if she had carried on under her dead name, it just would have been buried deeper. She thought it might be nice if more people than Jasmine knew though. It might feel easier. There were still moments when she caught sight of herself in the mirror and wasn't sure why everyone couldn't see it. This was entirely in her own head, of course. There was nothing about her pre-pubescent features to suggest boy or girl, but she coded herself as the latter, with long hair, sparkly clothes and pierced ears. There was nothing to see except Ellie, except when Ellie herself was the one looking.

On the former note, she supposed she could use the bonfire's theme to good advantage. She wasn't going to declare herself to everyone but perhaps she could nudge that door open just a little...

She had just done slipping her carefully worded worry into the box, when Anya approached her. She was a little surprised when Anya came bouncing up to her as they had never really spoken much. They seemed kind of different, to put it mildly. Anya was sort of rough and tumble, a bunch of things that Ellie had never been inclined to be anyway but also felt, in a sense, that she couldn't afford to be. Anya had been given a pass on being a girl the moment she was born, so she could treat it how she liked and bend as many rules as she wanted. Ellie was always going to have to earn hers. And she liked pink and butterflies. She genuinely did. She just had no idea what it would look like if she didn't...

"She did?" Ellie replied, looking both wide-eyed surprised but also deeply honoured at the idea that Jasmine had called her 'cool.' A slight flicker crossed her face. The look of someone wondering what exactly has been said about them out of earshot. What did it mean for Jasmine to be setting her and Anya up together? Had she told? There were two possibilities; either Jasmine had told Anya and Anya was fine with it, or Jasmine had not told Anya but knew she was someone who could be trusted to be fine with it. Ellie was not sure how she felt about the idea of Jasmine telling. That wasn't a thing you were supposed to do. She pushed the thought aside because she had felt bad for her traitorous thoughts about Jasmine last time she had had them. And if Jasmine had wanted to know if she needed a hand, she could have just come asked her, and probably would have. After all, Ellie was like... the definition of non-threatening and Jasmine was a fifth year. She was allowed to come and just talk to Ellie if she wanted. But she clearly was still trying to look out for her and that made her feel fuzzy and warm.

"I'd like that," she smiled gratefully at the idea of sharing a tent. "If you want to as well?" she added. She sort of got the feeling that Anya wouldn't be over here asking if she didn't want to - after all, Anya did not even seem to really follow things that she was very much required to do, like wear her uniform and stay in her seat. But she had said it was Jasmine's idea, so it had seemed polite to check though now she had said it out loud it just sounded kinda dumb. "You sister's really nice," she added, instead focusing on the piece of common ground they had, outside of being first years.

13 Ellie Alperton Really? Eee! 1456 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

November 28, 2019 12:37 AM

Just the same one I think. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel smiled and let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath but she sure had a lot of air to let out anyway. "Thanks," she said. "I'm excited to share a tent with you."

She realized as she said it that it was true. Although her options were limited, she actually didn't mind the opportunity to get to know Sapphire better. They'd spent the whole year together and never had any particularly meaningful conversation. It was clear from Sapphire's... everything . . . that they had spent their lives in different worlds. If the blonde hair and blonde skin weren't enough of a difference, the last name "Brockert" made up for it. Jezebel was a nobody at Sonora. She hadn't even spent that much time with her own cousin since coming here.

"I was thinking about asking Bridget," Jezebel said, trusting that Sapphire knew all the other Beginners. "But I wanted to see what you thought first."

Again, it was another truth but one that would hopefully go a long way towards assuaging any doubt that Jezebel really did want to tent with her roommate. Once this was accomplished, they could approach Bridget together and show the second year that more than one person wanted to tent with her and that they were excited, and everything would be great. Jezebel was a planner and it wasn't hard to look ahead with some optimism in that case, although things rarely turned out like she expected. Take literally the entire wizarding world for example.

"Do you already have a tent picked out? If not, we could find Bridget first and ask her."

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer Just the same one I think. 1454 0 5

Kir McLeod

November 28, 2019 3:58 AM

Here's to that by Kir McLeod

Kir broke character slightly with a grin as Gary fell into role-play speak with him. He would have expected no less from their DM, of course, but it still made him happy that they could connect like this. This conversation was a reflection of the things that Gary had brought into Kir’s life, and that was a nice note to end on. He hoped Gary was proud of how far Kir had come from stuttering ‘am I doing this right?’ and ‘wait, what’s this number mean?’ to being pretty fluent in D&D. The hamming it up part had always been the bit that came most naturally though.

“Fear not,” Kir assured Gary, readopting his ‘mysterious adventurer’ style. “I plan to take full advantage of these festivities. In fact, I sought you out for just such this purpose - to make merry, and perhaps propose we share lodgings. Do I have to roll persuasion, or is this a logical plot development at this point?” he checked.

“It is when morning comes that I must depart these lands. Seven years is the maximum anyone may linger here. Unless the screw up their exams or dedicate their life to teaching,” he added with a laugh. “But I’d rather go questing with one Amber the Valorous, fighting the many injustices that lie beyond these walls, whilst she kicks butt with magi-science.”

13 Kir McLeod Here's to that 366 0 5

Hilda Hexenmeister

November 28, 2019 7:45 AM

Genial! by Hilda Hexenmeister

OOC: Following the convention that German is written in italics.

Hilda smiled as Johana Leonie arrived. "Just me so far," she answered in German. "But yes! Come in, be my roommate!" She waved at the blankets she had just finished setting up as her sleeping area, "I was just setting up my bed for tonight."

She poked her head back out of the tent, and spotted Sophia approaching. "Possible tentmate alert," she told Johana Leonie. "Sophia speaks passable German." She left the tent and smiled again as Sophia joined them.

"Ja," she confirmed, in answer to Sophia's question. "Und hallo! Come in," she invited, trying out English for a sentence as she held the tent flap open. "We were just setting up our beds." She frowned, uncertain if Sophia would know what that meant, and she tried again in English, "Make beds?"

She sat down on her blankets, then checked her clock - she didn't want to miss the smoke messages, but they still had some time - "Do you think Professor Schmitt will be translating smoke messages, too?" she wondered. Her reading comprehension was better than her listening comprehension, but she still wasn't sure how much she'd get. Fearing the same for Sophia, and feeling bad, she asked, "Verstehst du uns? Understand you us?"

1 Hilda Hexenmeister Genial! 1433 0 5

Natalie Atwater

November 28, 2019 8:01 AM

The End by Natalie Atwater

Natalie was so ready to leave Sonora. She was sick of classes and studying and magical theory. She hadn't studied that hard for RATS as she just couldn't take doing that much, especially with the Challenges going on. However, there was still final papers and projects and studying for school exams and Natalie was very much the sort to wait until the last minute to do things she did not want to do. Honestly, she was worn out and had Seventh Year-itis bad . All she wanted to do was float in a pool for several hours.

However, the Pecari was sure that was not what was awaiting her at home. Her parents wouldn't exactly be mad at her, her team had tied for fifth overall which was way better than Kelsey had done and they hadn't cared then. They weren't like Aunt Jillian who would have thought second place was unacceptable. Plus, Natalie had been Head Girl. Truthfully, Mother had always been fairly encouraging and supportive, but getting Head Girl had finally made Father say that he was proud of her rather than asking her why she couldn't be more like her sister. Because Natalie had beaten her. Finally.

What she rather expected though was several lectures on the fine art of party planning. Yawn, but hey at least she wouldn't have to cook or use a budget.

The seventh year listened as Professor Skies talked about fire rituals and people having a rough year. Yeah, that didn't apply to Natalie. She'd had a pretty good one, well, aside from having the odds stacked against her team from the beginning. And they'd tied for fifth despite it, even beating Luke's Beginner-less team.

She had nothing to write for this exercise. Even her feelings about her sister were more that she found the older girl super annoying than that she doubted herself because Kelsey was more of a "perfect lady" than Natalie was. That was how Kira was. Doubting herself. Even though the Pecari felt Kira beat Kelsey too, since Ned really loved her cousin. Natalie didn't get the impression Malcolm loved her sister because that would require him to have more than the emotional range and personality of a statue.

Anyway, she was hungry and set off towards the food.

11 Natalie Atwater The End 371 0 5

Beau Tate

November 28, 2019 10:23 AM

Escape plans by Beau Tate

CW-It's probably not too awful but to be on the safe side it does talk about nudity, peeping and objectifying women.

Ahhh school was over for another year. That meant a summer of hanging out on the beach, going to parties, and basically doing whatever he wanted. Beau was looking forward to it. He could pump iron, get a tan and spend copious amounts of time scoping out girls in bikinis. Well, scoping out girls whose parents allowed them to wear bikinis. Things were usually more relaxed down on the islands but obviously some parents still disapproved. Still, even a girl in a one piece was appreciated. Hey, maybe he'd even sneak over and peek at the nude beach. The fourth year was too young to actually go to it but there were ways to get around that.

The only thing that sucked about going home for the summer was having Arianna around. Beau really could not wait until she got married and moved out, even if he wasn't looking forward to the wedding preparations. He'd received a letter the other day that his sister was now engaged to Preston Davenport VI. Beau could only imagine what Preston was like if he was going to marry Arianna. He had to be either an insufferable blowhard or completely spineless.

If it got too bad, if-okay, when-his sister turned into a diva-more of one than usual-and his mother likely became just as intolerable,he was going to escape. Not to the nude beach or the clubs but to the home of a relative. In fact, Beau would even camp out on the-regular-beach to get away from all that. He had a feeling they'd plan Arianna's wedding with the seriousness of generals planning a battle.

Or maybe he'd just go to one of the many many Brockert owned properties on St. Berylla's and squat there. They more or less had something of a compound, even though those of appropriate status were welcome to visit and anyone could come and go as they pleased. That was what happened, the houses had a rotating batch of his family throughout the summer. Someone would come for a few weeks then go home or vacation somewhere else and someone else would arrive.

And if relatives showed up wanting to use the house he was staying in, that was fine with Beau. There'd still be room for him somewhere.

Headmaster Brockert opened the fire and announced the House Cup winners. Beau was pleased to see Pecari had won, even if they had tied with Teppenpaw. Nice consolation that after placing eighth overall in the Challenges. That last event had really helped them though or it would have been worse. Even Simon who'd generally been sort of a grouch had been happy with them for their placement in the the third one.

Professor Skies then took the stage to talk about fire rituals and went on to spout some touchy-feely crap about it being a difficult year and wanting to help people with patience and love. Beau was one of those people who didn't have secrets and fears and things that weighed him down. He didn't have problems other than his sister who was going to be more impossible than usual when she was planning her wedding. And Beau had already come up with a solution for that. Plus, Professor Skies said they could be traced back to people. No thanks, even if there were only two circumstances where they would.

Instead, he walked over to the food and grabbed himself a burger. "So, got exciting plans for the summer?" Beau asked the person standing next to him.

11 Beau Tate Escape plans 1416 0 5

Jessica Hayles

November 28, 2019 11:09 AM

In Another World. by Jessica Hayles

"Yes," said Jessica, thinking of home. It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it was hers. "Do you care if I write that down? It's a nice line. Not for a poem, just for - a nice line."

She tilted her head, too, as he started talking about folding the paper. "Fold...oh! No. No, the saying 'know when to fold 'em' - it's about poker. A gambling card game. I've never played it, but everyone says that - about knowing when to admit things aren't going according to plan and to make a...strategic retreat."

Though if Jessica did put a piece of paper in a box like that, she thought she would fold it in in half first no matter what, and that made her wonder about herself. She had always thought that was just what everyone did. It was a thing, hiding what one wrote - folding it up before putting it in a box - though now that Jessica thought about it, it was a little silly. Nobody was likely to be able to read anything she put in a box while she slid it into a box, and anything that had to be read would have to be unfolded to be read, so she wasn't concealing information. She was just doing what they had always been told to do when casting secret ballots or the like in class back in Atlanta, following a convention without thinking about it, running smoothly through the grooves which had been carved out for her....

Felipe's sudden intensity about the future made her look away instinctively, rubbing the back of her neck. "I know," she said. "I mean - " that sounded arrogant as hell and she wished she hadn't said it that way. "Even if I never work, like, a job - I'll still be able to do a lot of things. Help people and stuff. Philanthropy." She would, after all, even without any sort of direct power, have more money than most people ever thought about. She had been clicking around on Arvale's website once and had found a bunch of information about being an employee, and had thought something was wrong at first - it looked like people were living on about what Mommy spent on Chanel alone each year. She knew from church outreach events and company fundraisers and campaign ads and Carmela and her sisters, of course, that most people weren't as rich as she was, but she still had no idea what the points between being one of the poor people who came to the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals her family sponsored at their church every year and being Jessica Hayles really looked like, for the most part. "Kind of like you, actually. We'll always have that, won't we? We can help people. Even if I can't make Daddy proud anymore," she sighed.

16 Jessica Hayles In Another World. 1442 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

November 28, 2019 11:43 AM

Felipe of the Future by Felipe De Matteo

"By all means," Felipe said softly, flattered and a little amused. It was the sort of platitude his mother would use to remind him how important it was that everything he did was for the sake of Los Jardines de Plata and Ciudad de Matteo. That was, of course, part of why he wasn't looking forward to this summer as much as he might have been otherwise, and why trips to see Jessica and trips to see Zara felt painfully two-faced.

Jessica's explanation about folding made Felipe grimace but he appreciated her patience. "Ah, it is an idiom. I did not realize," he said, hating to admit it. His English was unaccented, his vocabulary was extensive, and his knowledge of American culture was fairly thorough. Still, he couldn't know every little phrase people used and shouldn't blame himself for that, even if it was a weakness. A flaw in the hard shell of bilingualism for trade.

He wondered at what it said about a culture that gambling metaphors were prevalent, even among youth who had never done so. Perhaps it didn't say too much, and there were certainly idioms in other cultures and languages with equally questionable backgrounds, but still. He also wondered whether Jessica applied the full meaning to her own situation. This was something he felt reasonably sure he could ask, though. They were well beyond polite civilities with each other.

"Do you feel like you've lost a bet with life because you're here instead of at a non-magical school?" he asked quietly, trying not to let his eyes bore too much into hers.

He knew what he wanted the answer to be, but he also knew that his life was about to make her life more complicated and he didn't like that much either. Maybe it would be better for her if she hadn't come to Sonora, or met him, or met his family. Wouldn't that just be easier? But then it would leave Zara, and that was probably worse. Of course, Zara wouldn't ever be put into the position he was so afraid Jessica was going to be, because her family wouldn't let that happen. Jessica's family just might.

The conversation turned to the future, and philanthropy, and making parents proud, and Felipe wanted to scream. These were the topics he was trying to avoid, and he hadn't meant to bring the conversation there by encouraging his friend that she was important.

"Your father should be proud of you," he bristled, angry with any man that would make his young girl feel like this. Then he released the pent up energy with a sigh. "But I understand. I don't . . . I don't think that I make my parents proud yet." It felt like a botched surgery to admit, like a splinter had been his heart and tearing it out had left a gaping wound and shrapnel of surgical instruments. "This summer, I will be thirteen," he grimaced, looking away from Jessica with a blush and running his fingers through his hair. "That is significant to them, but I don't know if I am ready for it."

22 Felipe De Matteo Felipe of the Future 1434 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

November 28, 2019 11:55 AM

Rauch und Spiegel by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Johana Leonie looked around the tent with a growing sense of wonder. Magic was used in such fascinating ways here, and it seemed very magical in the way that the people in her village would say so. Somehow, it also seemed a bit isolating. Johana Leonie had grown up sharing a room with her brother, even sharing a bed on particularly cold nights. They were children, and it was never an issue. Over the past summer, their parents had discussing moving them into separate rooms, but that wasn't an option if they wanted to keep the sick room operational, which was more important. They had discussed splitting the room into two halves so each child had more privacy, but that seemed like a bulky solution to what was hardly a problem. Here, though, there were warming charms and conjured blankets and space for everyone. There was no need to share quarters or warmth. Johana Leonie would have been perfectly happy to add her blankets to Hilda's pile and snuggle with her best friend, but she knew that wasn't normal for everyone and the last thing she wanted was to make others think she was even weirder than she was. She knew not everyone was nice behind her back.

Before she could say anything, Hilda alerted her to an incoming tentmate, and Johana Leonie set about finding her own spot as quickly as possible. At least she could choose her second favorite option. Besides, Hilda said the coming student spoke passable German, and that was exciting. This night would probably be a pretty good one if that were the case, because Hilda's English was not yet as good as her own and she didn't necessarily want to spend all their time together on this last night with a grumpy friend, trying to play interpreter.

"Welcome! Glad to have you. Your German is good," she added, a bit surprised. She knew Sophie from class, but hadn't spent much time with her otherwise.

Hilda wanted to make sure she could understand, so Johana Leonie thought that perhaps she wasn't the only one who wasn't sure what Sophie's German was really like. Maybe she only knew a few things. That was just as well.

"Ja, would you not understand, that you tell us," Johana Leonie said, smiling. "I hope he does," she added to Hilda. "I can sort of read English, but I definitely can't read it fast enough to understand it all before the smoke blows away."

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen Rauch und Spiegel 1432 0 5

Ivy Brockert

November 28, 2019 12:40 PM

Let it go by Ivy Brockert

Ivy could not stop worrying about Head Girl and the night of the Bonfire was no exception. And she was going to have the whole summer to continue doing so. She did not want to feel this way. Being anxious was no fun and besides, Ivy was worried that it made her look bad to care so much about this. Like she was being a sore loser over prefect. Or like she was power hungry and egotistical.

It wasn't that though, it was just that Ivy wanted people to like her. She had wanted the staff to like her too. Now she was on the ballot which was great, but they had such a small class so maybe they'd had no choice. Though that still wouldn't explain why she was on the ballot and not Cleo. Something had been off with the other sixth year but they'd obviously thought she was good enough before when prefectts were picked. Were they punishing her for having a difficult time of some sort? That hardly seemed right. Of course, if Cleo had been on the ballot they might have-and probably would have-left Ivy off but it was still wrong to rub salt in the wounds of someone already going through something.

Now Ivy just had to worry about how much her classmates liked her. Great. She appreciated the support of Vlad and Peyton but the entire rest of the class might very well vote for her roommate. Eden was likely more popular among the rest of the ones who weren't friends with either of them because she'd been a Quidditch player.

After Headmaster Brockert mentioned the House Cup winners-Ivy was happy about her house winning and didn't mind sharing the honor with Pecari-Professor Skies took the stage, arousing a bit of curiosity in the sixth year as to what else was going on. Challenge results had already been announced, Head Student wouldn't be until next year. Maybe their had been a mistake regarding scoring in the former? It likely wouldn't change anything for her team, they'd done well in the last one but hadn't finished that great.

The the Deputy Headmistress began talking about fire and cleansing rituals and then explained what they were going to do, with writing down their worries, putting them in a box and having them released in smoke letters. Ivy frowned. She was worried and this was a way to let it go. However, the staff would know it was her but they said they'd said they'd check in two circumstances, neither of which applied to her. Still, she was also afraid of the students figuring out it was her. Ivy had to make it vague enough that it could be anyone.

She wrote on a slip of paper I'm afraid I'm not good enough and that people don't like me . There. That was something others worried about. She knew Peyton did and it was likely there had to be others. Though in the case of the sixth year, this had only been an issue the last few years. Ivy signed it with an x and put it in the box.

11 Ivy Brockert Let it go 394 0 5

Jessica Hayles

November 28, 2019 1:07 PM

Naturally, Jezi by Jessica Hayles

"Lost a bet?" Jessica mused. "I don't know if the analogy really applies. It's not like I tried something and I couldn't pull it off, or like someone else had a better hand and outplayed me - things just happened that mean I can't go to the game table anymore. My chair fell in or something. I don't know," she said with an embarrassed laugh. She hadn't cheated, after all. She had been prepared to do everything exactly properly, to get on an assembly line staffed by master craftsmen so they could shape and mold her into a perfect product, one without flaw or deviation from the parameters laid down for its construction. But then...things had happened, through no fault of her own. Faulty materials the craftsmen couldn't work with, or at least a case of someone who was used to working with soft wood being delivered a shipment of maple, which took a different skill set to use.

"I feel like I could do more with the education I would have had, though. I mean, a lot of this stuff could be great, for taking care of myself...or I guess if I ever want to take over the world or something. But I don't even know so much stuff about wizards yet, and I know I can read about it, but that's not the same as having a teacher. It makes everything a lot harder, learning anything - did I tell you I took up German over Christmas? But without classes, it's harder. And I think I can work out a plan to at least learn what I would have learned about literature, even without getting credit for it, but...life would be easier if I could just take two days of classes every day, so I could take the other stuff too," she said with a shrug. "But it's way too late now. I'm two years behind. So it doesn't really matter now. You guys are pretty much stuck with me now," she joked.

She listened sympathetically as he talked about worrying about not making his parents proud, either, and how they for some reason thought turning thirteen was significant. "The worst I expect my parents to say about that is stupid jokes about how now I know everything because I'm a teenager," she said, with a slight hair flip. She hated the very word for that reason. She was acutely aware of how much she didn't know, but the fact there were adults dumber than her was related in no way to the fact she'd turned thirteen back in February. There had been adults dumber than her when she was still twelve, too. "But yeah. Parents. Definitely have their pros and cons, yeah?"

OOC: Since it's a bit more obscure, Jessica's title is an allusion to "Naturally Sadie," the title of a show her faceclaim starred in as a child actor)

16 Jessica Hayles Naturally, Jezi 1442 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

November 28, 2019 1:23 PM

Ah, I've run out. by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe tried to understand, but it was just unfathomable to him. For one, he had parents and tutors who made sure he knew every little thing about the wizarding world. For another, he hadn't been thrust into the non-magical world with no information. That would have been equivalent, he supposed.

"I can help if you want," he offered, trying to think back on the lessons he'd received. "I don't know everything, but I know some stuff. You can ask me about stuff in this life of ours."

He also tried not to stare. He really tried. He tried not to gawk, or look as though he'd just swallowed something foul. It was good that Jessica didn't have the same fears or responsibilities for turning thirteen. It was good that she was going to get to be a teenager, while he was . . eligible. It wasn't as if he were going to get married tomorrow, and his family would certainly want him to marry a witch, so the entirety of Cuidad de Matteo was safe. But that didn't mean anything else was off limits. If Jessica didn't understand that, then maybe they could just enjoy being teenagers together for a while.

Truth be told, Felipe was never meant to find a bride in the United States. There were other important families around Mexico who would be perfectly happy to have him marry their daughters, and that would all be arranged in the proper way as he got older. Thirteen was just the stage lights and a red curtain; he didn't have to put on a show just yet. And for Jessica and Zara, maybe he never had to put on a show at all.

"Yes," he agreed wholeheartedly. "Pros and cons indeed."

22 Felipe De Matteo Ah, I've run out. 1434 0 5

Ness McLeod

November 28, 2019 4:47 PM

Who wants to chaperone? (Tag Tatiana or Lyssa) by Ness McLeod

Ness supposed there was one good thing about the tent arrangements, and that was not having to choose between people. Evelyn might not have wanted to share with a bunch of DnD players, and Ness didn’t want to ditch Evelyn – they were best friends and it was cool that they would get to share. Still, it was highly unfair that all the DnD players (minus Amelia) were going to get to hang out together and possibly play and Ness was going to be excluded on the spurious basis of them all being genetically weaker (presumably – the majority of cis males having an X and a Y chromosome, and a Y chromosome being basically an X with a piece missing which was why AMAB people were more susceptible to all genetically inherited conditions; they were missing a string of back up files. There was, of course, some variance in chromosomes and without genetic screening, it was impossible to know for sure, but it was highly likely that that was what they had. Ness was also assuming that none of them was a trans male because she thought Sonora would probably lose its mind over having a trans student and be utterly clueless how to treat them/him/her). Anyway, the whole setup was stupid because it wasn’t like Ness was going to make out with anyone in a tent full of other people and especially not one with Kir hanging around in it, even if Gary really was the coolest person ever. If anything, Ness was more likely to make out with Evelyn, except the school apparently had enough queer awareness to require that they essentially had a chaperone.

In protest at the whole thing, Ness was sporting a very favourite t-shirt, which had a picture of an owl with a letter on, and the slogan ‘Owls have no gender, only mail.’ It was funny. Not everyone got it but the fact that you often had to explain the joke did not make it not funny – it just made it clever.

As far as chaperones went, Ness had two ideas, both of which Evelyn seemed fine with. Lyssa was not someone Ness knew well but this was vaguely surprising, given how much time Lyssa spent in Ness’ library. And Lyssa was Parker’s sister, and he seemed nice, even if Ness was pretty sure he wasn’t going to win intellectual of the year. Lyssa’s roommate was also one of the stuck up girls in the clique of super racists, so was probably clamouring to get away from her as quickly as possible. Maybe Lyssa would be sharing with Cleo, but it was worth a shot. The other option was Tatiana. Ness knew her from challenges, and apparently Evelyn knew her from just… being Pecaris. Tatiana seemed pretty nice and interesting, and all her friends were male, so she was kind of screwed. Unless she planned to join the clique of super racists with her sister. Ness kind of hoped she was better than that.

Spotting one of these targets, the Aladren approached.

“Hey,” Ness smiled, cutting straight to the point, “Do you have tent buddies yet?”

13 Ness McLeod Who wants to chaperone? (Tag Tatiana or Lyssa) 1419 0 5

Gary Harper

November 28, 2019 6:59 PM

And many more to come by Gary Harper

Gary sighed in obvious relief, excellent the plan was still on. "Proper lodging arrangements will be required for tonight's endeavours, and I'll need you to make those arrangements. Gather what companions you can, whether they be experienced or not, for tonight will be an experiment in something a little... different." He finished with what mysterious flair he could manage.

He glanced around conspiratorially, "As I understand things, we will be missing two of our standard number due to... 'arrangement restrictions'" he glanged around again and lowered his voice again, "Unless someone knows someway around such... details."

He straightened up and resumed his standard volume, "Regardless, I have some other matters to attend until the time comes to retire to our shelter. I wish you good fortune on locating a few fellow adventurers, that may not mind getting much sleep this night." He grinned and gave Kir an elaborate bow before wandering off into the crowd.

2 Gary Harper And many more to come 1404 0 5

Simon Mordue

November 29, 2019 9:22 AM

Letting go and holding on. by Simon Mordue

It was getting dark, but Simon was not inclined to go in search of a tent. For one thing, he didn’t see the appeal - if he had to share living space with other men, he supposed Winston and Victor were the best roommates he could have asked for, but on the whole, he would not regret returning home for good after tonight. It wasn’t, after all, as though he wasn’t as likely as not to see the fellows fairly regularly anyway, though it might be awkward for a while if Winston married immediately after they left school, as Simon could hardly imagine his own prospects had been improved by first the scandal with his aunt and then his new, unwelcome acquisition of Jeremy as a brother….

Of course, it wasn’t that he couldn’t get married now if he wanted to, he thought. He was still an heir, and there was still no shortage of fish in the sea. Hell, he could probably have a Brockert girl, too, if he wanted one - Emerald had, what, four sisters? He was content enough, however, with the opportunity to actually enjoy some of his youth before he got tied down with some frigid little thing who would expect him to take an interest in her tea parties and kick him out of bed if he didn’t. Truthfully, he thought Winston was arguably in a worse fix than he was, getting stuck with a wife before - Simon assumed - he’d even had many opportunities to figure out the finer details of why women outside their social class were supposed to be entertaining company, at least in proper venues - oxymoron though that statement was in context.

For now, though, he was just enjoying a rare moment of feeling that no eyes at all were upon him. It was nearly dark, but instead of making the forms walking and sitting and talking on the Pitch clearer, the fire simply threw everything into a chaos of shadows more opaque than the actual night ever did. Or at least it did at this distance. And watching the sparks and stars was rather relaxing, in its way….

His eyes moved back to Earth, however, when he heard footsteps near him, and he squinted, seeing green stars as he looked away from the lights and toward the nearby figure. And then, quite possibly the last thing he had expected to happen, happened: a familiar voice said his name.

“Simon?”

“Nathaniel?”

16 Simon Mordue Letting go and holding on. 369 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

November 29, 2019 9:25 AM

Holding go and letting on. by Nathaniel Mordue

Nathaniel could hear the incredulity in his cousin’s voice clearly, and wasn’t surprised by it. Until the moment he had actually said Simon’s name, he had not been completely certain that the two of them would ever speak again.

“Yes,” he said. “It’s me.”

His stomach was churning with a mix of fear and disbelief that he was actually going to do this. He didn’t think it showed, but under his skin, he felt as though he were shaking to his fingertips. His palms felt sweaty, but that wasn’t surprising, given that they were outside in the summer and, perhaps even more to the point, Nathaniel had his hands clenched in fists, his nails digging into the fleshy parts of his thumbs.

He couldn’t see Simon’s expression clearly, but he thought he could imagine it clearly enough, and his impression was only reinforced by the tone with which Simon finally chose to respond to him. “What do you want?” his cousin asked, sounding wary.

“I want - “ his mouth was so dry that he coughed and had to start again. “Sorry. I want - I want to ask you for a favor, if I may.” He tried to take a deep breath, but had to stop to swallow the bile trying to rise in his throat, the panic winding around his chest like a boa constrictor, squeezing until he was sure his heart would stop from the pressure even if a rib didn’t go right through the thing. “I want to ask you to intercede with Uncle for me. With your father. To ask him if - if his offer is still good.”

16 Nathaniel Mordue Holding go and letting on. 1412 0 5

Simon Mordue

November 29, 2019 9:29 AM

We all have a few choices. by Simon Mordue

He was dreaming. There was no other plausible answer to what was happening here. He had to be dreaming.

“His offer?” repeated Simon, still hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. “You mean - “

“Yes,” said Nathaniel, tersely, sounding as though he was forcing the word out between his teeth. “I want to come home.”

Simon stared at the person-shaped lump of greater darkness which was his cousin. “You’re joking,” he said, and could not figure out whether to pitch his words as a question or a statement; the final result came out as something in between the two.

“Would I joke about this?” asked Nathaniel. “After everything that’s happened?”

Simon laughed incredulously. “No - no, I suppose not!” In the back of his mind, he noticed that Nathaniel did not actually sound happy, or eager, or anything that he would expect from someone who had decided to come home, but he dismissed it. Considering how appalling the whole situation had been for all of them, it was only happy news in a relative sense. Understandable that Nathaniel would still have mixed feelings - for one thing, he was effectively losing his mother even as he did this, and for another, Simon still hadn’t actually agreed to try to help him. He really ought to fix that, he thought.

He pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his cousin - his cousin still - by the shoulders. “This is wonderful,” he said. “I mean, of course, yes, I’ll talk to Father - if he even needs talking to. I doubt he’ll even ask any questions if you just come with us at the wagon stop,” Simon laughed, clapping Nathaniel on the back. The slighter boy flinched slightly. “Sorry, sorry - goodness, you left it long enough didn’t you, you dramatic jackass?” he said. “Have you told Sylvia yet? No - stupid question, she’d be singing it from the rooftops. Let’s go find her and Jeremy, tell them the good news!”

Objectively, this was not actually good for Simon. Another new brother might spare him a certain amount of looking after Jeremy, and would definitely spare them all a great deal of worrying about Sylvia, but an only son was simply in a better position than one with a lot of brothers. However, he didn’t even think of this as he pulled Nathaniel along in his wake. His whole attention was occupied with relief that for the first time in months, it seemed something good would actually happen to his family.

16 Simon Mordue We all have a few choices. 369 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

November 29, 2019 9:33 AM

And the ashes in our wakes. by Nathaniel Mordue

Nathaniel was glad of the darkness as Simon happily dragged him off by the shoulders to look for Sylvia and Jeremy. It hid his face and, accordingly, gave him time to try to organize his expression into something appropriate for someone who had just found out that his life might not be over.

He did not think he had really managed it by the time they found Jeremy, but he supposed he had a good excuse for that. He could look anxious, at the very least, at the thought of what kind of reception he might get from his brother. It was Jeremy, after all, whom he had told outright that he was going. How was his brother going to react to him coming back? Would Jeremy ever trust him again? Would Jeremy be the one who looked too closely…?

Well, that last one, he had to admit, was unlikely. Jeremy was infamously lacking in subtlety. But it was a problem. Just not the one Nathaniel was most worried about as Simon called out, “Jeremy! Come here!”

There was, Nathaniel thought, something genuinely touching at least about Simon’s enthusiasm for the prospect of having him back. Of all the family, he had thought Simon would be the least bothered by his loss - which, admittedly, might still be true, but it did not seem at all that it was something Simon had wanted. Which was a nice thought, even if it did make Nathaniel wonder again if he had the problem of having gone mad on top of everything else, since just the thought that his cousin didn’t want him dead was almost enough to move him to tears, again....

“Good news,” said Simon. “Your brother’s come to his senses!”

Nathaniel managed a weak smile. It wasn’t incorrect, he supposed. To a point.

16 Nathaniel Mordue And the ashes in our wakes. 1412 0 5

Emerald Brockert

November 29, 2019 10:27 AM

Agreeing is a good way to start a future together by Emerald Brockert

Emerald smiled. Contrary to what was probably popular belief, she was not immune to affection, either giving it or appreciating it when she received it. She was simply a more reserved person than some. In some ways, Emerald felt she and Winston had this in common. He obviously had a kinder gentler side that he showed those he was fond of while showing the world a veneer of propriety and dignified masculinity. He was not the openly sensitive sort that Owen was but neither was he the, well, a boorish chauvinist without a kind bone in his body like Uncle Eustace. Of course, most men surely fell on a spectrum between the two.

"I'm sure we can work something out." She replied. Whether that meant some sort of ball for the members of society to attend or something more private and personal, Emerald wasn't sure. Part of her rather hoped for the latter but she knew she was going to have to throw parties sometimes. That was just part of the territory.

And speaking of which. "Well, I'd definitely like more than a day to plan the engagement party." Emerald joked. "And with the wedding itself, my cousin has been engaged to his fiance for a long time so I feel we should let them go first and not...steal their thunder more or less. I mean, I'd hate to take away from their nuptials." She went on. "I don't feel we need to finish school first like they did but I would like to take some college classes. Nothing in particular, just whatever looks interesting. "

Emerald thought for a moment. "And for our real wedding....I don't want Topaz anywhere near the planning."

11 Emerald Brockert Agreeing is a good way to start a future together 358 0 5

Sophia Priory

November 29, 2019 12:38 PM

smiles and nods by Sophia Priory

OOC-I'll continue the trend then.

" Thanks " Sophia replied as she entered the tent. It would be a lot of fun to spend the night practicing her German with native speakers and maybe in turn, she could help them with their English. Plus, maybe she could make new friends. It wasn't as if Sophia didn't want them, she was just...picky. In a different way than people usually thought purebloods would be. It wasn't about blood for her, it was about personality.

Which of course was what it was supposed to be about but the Aladren was bothered by a lot of types of people that usually boiled down to some sort of ego or entitlement issue ie Anya Delachene thinking she was just so cool and special because she was an athletic adventurous type that she didn't have to wear her robes to class, even though the Headmaster had made it clear that wasn't the case. If the Headmaster's granddaughters had to follow the rules, if she, as Clifford Brockert's great-great-granddaughter had to follow them, so did some Pecari of not of their social standing.

Hilda and Johana Leonie threw up no such red flags, though Sophia supposed that could be just that she hadn't spent much time with them. Or they were throwing them up in German that was above her skill level. Still Johana Leonie was Bridget's roommate and she seemed to think that the other Teppenpaw was pleasant.

And right now, both girls were being perfectly friendly. Sophia smiled and nodded. She took her belongings and plopped them down in a remaining spot. " Some " She was trying to use German as much as possible, " I'll let you know if I don't."

The other two second years exchanged some words that Sophia didn't quite get. "Like that. Something about Professor Schmidt? He's one of those portraits right ?" She tried to speak her English slowly and clearly. " I can understand more when you speak slowly " Sophia added. " I'll try to do the same in English "

11 Sophia Priory *smiles and nods* 1447 0 5

Connor Priory

November 29, 2019 2:32 PM

One last hurrah by Connor Priory

Connor couldn't believe this year was finally over. It had been a long one and he was glad, more for the sake of others than for himself, that it was done. He applauded for Teppenpaw and Pecari as Professor Skies began to speak. Apparently, she too recognized that it had been a rough year for some people.

He supposed that was going to happen when you took people, put them in groups with those they didn't know well and had them do things that they were unaccustomed to doing and, in some cases, never would want to do. And made it into a competition to boot. Allegra had felt completely incapable in the first two events and blamed herself for their poor finish. Peyton had had to work with the one person in the entire school she truly felt uncomfortable with and wasn't any more a fan of the physical aspects inherent in the first two challenges than Allegra was , then had not come out first in an event that had showcased a talent of hers. Bridget had been embarrassed by having to discuss her traditions-or lack thereof-surrounding her team's particular holiday. Sophia's team had come in last and she'd been irritated by the favoring of, in her words, "people who didn't need their egos fed" and having a holiday that nobody on her team celebrated. So, the idea of releasing worries into the fire was a good idea though Connor wasn't sure having them appear in smoke was.

Still, he wrote down I worry a lot about my friends and family and signed it with an x. People would likely guess that belonged to a Teppenpaw and as far as secrets went, it wasn't even embarrassing if someone else did figure out it was him.

With that Connor set of to find his fellow DnD adventurers, whom he hoped to share a tent with for the evening, well at least the males among them. He spotted Kir first and approached. "Hi, I was thinking that our party could share a tent for the night and was wondering if you'd be up for it?"

11 Connor Priory One last hurrah 395 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

December 03, 2019 6:27 PM

Rise from the Ashes by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Professor Hawthorne had said it. Professor Brooding had said it. Now Evelyn said it, too. Heinrich did know that he was not his parents. He was his own person. He could make his own choices. He knew that. Mom was not Dad, and neither of them were him. They were three separate people, each responsible for their own lives. Two of them had made very bad choices in those lives and were in prison for that. Heinrich was not. Heinrich was here, in America, going to school, with people who had never heard the name Hexenmeister other than as the brother and sister pair who spoke poor English upon arrival. In many ways, they had been spared the consequences of their parents' actions by that very anonymity, but not completely. They still were thrust into an unfamiliar country, forced to speak in an unfamiliar language, and sent to live with an uncle they had never met before they arrived at his front door. They'd had to leave everyone and everything they'd known before and start over.

And there was the constant fear, the terror that someone might break that anonymity.

It wasn't exactly broken now, but Evelyn knew. One more person was in on the secret. But that was okay. It was. He trusted Evelyn. He told Evelyn. On purpose. And she still wanted to be his friend.

He breathed a little easier at that assurance.

And then. And then she. She hugged him.

He went stiff, more from surprise than anything else. As a rule, people did not touch him. Hilda did, but she was Hilda, so she didn't count. Hilda had been through everything he had so it was okay. Hans hugged him, too, but that was Hans. Hans was little. Karl tried a couple times, but it was really awkward and neither of them liked it so he stopped trying.

Evelyn was not Hans or Hilda, or Karl, and he didn't know what to do.

Apparently standing there in a panic was the wrong thing because she pulled away and apologized for hugging him.

"I," he started but didn't know how to finish the thought in any language. He didn't know what he was thinking, nevermind how to put it into words. "It was," he tried again to the same result. "You hug better than Uncle Karl," he told her honestly. "It is," he faltered again, this time because he wasn't sure how to say what he wanted to say without sounding like an emotional idiot.

You are an emotional idiot, Hilda's voice spoke in his head, and she wasn't wrong, exactly. Heinrich preferred to ignore his emotions rather than understand them. He acknowledged worry and very occasionally expressed it verbally. Sometimes he admitted to himself (and once to Professor Hawthorne) that he was terrified, all the time. Anything other than that . . . was better pushed aside and never identified, never mind discussed. Even the good things. Especially the good things.

Acknowledging the good things meant maybe they would go away.

He shook his head, deciding this would be easiest if he just answered her question instead of trying to come up with his own words. "I am not okay." Realizing how that might sound to her, he added quickly. "It is not you that made me not okay."

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister Rise from the Ashes 1414 0 5

Evelyn Stones

December 03, 2019 7:00 PM

You're beautiful like a phoenix. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn smiled a little when Heinrich said she hugged better than his uncle. She wasn't sure how high a bar that was, but she was glad to have surpassed it. She was also glad that Heinrich didn't seem exactly angry or anything. He was maybe confused, which was sort of heartbreaking.

"Thank you," she chuckled. "I... I like hugs. Not from everyone. But if you want a hug other times, you can hug me." It felt like such a stupid thing to say out loud and she ducked her head to hide a blush on her cheeks. At the same time, she did want to reassure Heinrich that she was a safe person and that he didn't have to be ready for hugs and stuff right now, but that he could if he wanted to. But it felt so stupid to say out loud, like she was the Queen of England, granted permission to hug her. Ugh.

Heinrich was having a hard time with words tonight, although he kept up with English, which was impressive. Evelyn didn't want to pressure him, or push him, or scare him, or hurt him, so she made herself as small as possible and just waited. She was quiet, and unimposing, and - hopefully - safe.

Growing up, she had often wished that she could disappear. There were times when she almost thought it was possible, too, but it never happened. Since magic wasn't on her side, she had learned to disappear just by being small. That hadn't really worked either, but it was a habit now. When the world felt very big, Evelyn wanted to be small. Tonight, it wasn't the world that felt big necessarily, because it seemed to have vanished in the crisp spring air. It was just a couple teenagers, trying to figure everything out together.

I am not okay.

Evelyn wanted to scream, and hex everyone who had ever hurt Heinrich. She also sort of wanted to scream because a very heavy secret was in her pocket and she didn't want it anywhere near her. She wasn't okay either, but that was not important right now, so she pushed it aside again. She had to be okay right now. It was reassuring to know that it wasn't her fault this time; that Heinrich would have not been okay even if she had not been around.

Evelyn considered her options carefully, using a bit more of her thinking skills than she usually did. One time, someone asked her how they could help, and she felt worse because she didn't know. Another time, someone just tried to help, and that was no good because it was just another decision being made for her. Sometimes people left her alone, and that was okay, but it didn't really help anything. It just made her not have to think about it.

The happiest she'd been was when she was safe, with Ness, Ms. Heidi, with Ness' family . . . with Heinrich. She was pretty confident that she was safe and that was important. But Heinrich wasn't afraid of being hurt on the outside like she was, he was afraid of his insides getting hurt again. There was no balm for that, she thought, except perhaps time and constancy. She couldn't prove that she was going to stick around unless she actually did stick around.

"If I can help, I want to. But it's okay if I can't help, too," she said quietly. "I know that sometimes other people can't help at all."

Despite the din of students in the distance, and the roar of a big fire, it felt very quiet with Heinrich. Like if they stopped talking for just a moment, even the noises of the night time would go away and it would just be their own breathing as they inhaled the stars.

She thought that it was very important that Heinrich had told her his secret. It meant that he didn't want her to go away, because he wouldn't have trusted her with it if he did, and maybe it meant that he didn't even think she was going to go away, because he wouldn't have trusted her with it if he did. She didn't want to go away. What did that mean about her, when considering their roles reversed? Bile rose in her throat and she pushed it away. She pushed everything away. None of that mattered.

"Thank you for telling me," Evelyn said again, offering a little bit of a smile.

22 Evelyn Stones You're beautiful like a phoenix. 1422 0 5

Jasmine Delachene

December 06, 2019 8:32 PM

Anya is the one who likes climbing limbs by Jasmine Delachene

Jasmine blinked in surprise as Gary approached and bowed to her. She wasn't even wearing a princess dress tonight (she'd been afraid it would get dirty and smell like smoke). Then he talked weird. She didn't know all the words he used (specifically 'festivities' though it sounded like 'festival' so she could guess what it meant) but it clearly meant to be flattering, and she was a little. Just also confused.

He was acting a part, she was pretty sure, but it wasn't one she was familiar with. Or rather, she was. He was acting like Sir Kirby in Doc McStuffins. She just wasn't sure what role she was supposed to play back. Probably not Doc, since he wasn't actually a broken toy. Lambie, maybe, when she played the damsel in distress? Except Jasmine wasn't in distress.

She had been, a little while ago, when Anya had left her alone on top of the stupid broom shed, but the first challenge had come in handy by teaching her how to get down from high places, and she'd managed it on her own. And before that she had been distressed by the realization that Ellie might be in a pickle in regards to finding someone to tent with and Jasmine had already planned to share with Peyton, Ruby, and Ivy, and a little first year would be out of place in that group. But she'd gone to Anya with that problem and Anya had agreed to handle it, so that wasn't distressing her anymore either.

Even the problem of what to write for the smoke message wasn't much of a problem. Jasmine figured your problems were pretty insignificant if the biggest one facing you was not having any problems.

So he couldn't be thinking she was a damsel in distress. There was also Little John who talked like that when he was buttering up Prince John, but she hoped Gary didn't think she was like Prince John. Wait, did Robin talk like that to Marian, too? Maybe. Robin Hood wasn't one of her favorites. The main character was not a princess. So she had only seen it once or twice.

Best guess, it was how medieval people acted respectful. Why Gary was pretending to be medieval, she had no idea. She had less of an idea how to reciprocate.

So she just had to talk like a normal person. She smiled, hoping it took the sting off of her not playing along, "That's fine with me." She'd get to spend all night with Peyton, and while she did want to check in with Cleo before curfew, she had plenty of time to spend with Gary, too. As he'd said, they'd had fun at the previous bonfire. "Did you put a worry into the box yet? I haven't figured out what to say."

1 Jasmine Delachene Anya is the one who likes climbing limbs 1397 0 5

Gary Harper

December 06, 2019 10:00 PM

Perhaps 'Wishing upon a star' is better? by Gary Harper

Gary couldn't help but grin. She actually said 'yes'! Well, mostly, she hadn't run away screaming so he counted that as a win. Now what? His plans past this point hadn't gotten fleshed out very well. It wasn't that he didn't figure on her agreeing to the proposal, he hadn't been sure he'd actually have gotten the never to ask. As such, to much time had gone into planning and replanning the actual asking, that he hadn't worked on much past that for either end result. Well, other than the game he was planning with Kir and the others in the tent.

Step one of this should be easy, she asked a question and thus he should answer it. On his initiative count, he should respond in kind as well. Then she would have something to do when her turn came up again. So how to respond?

"Yeah," he began, "I tossed a question in just before I saw you. It was..." his voice died off as he thought about telling her what he had written, "Eh, I guess it doesn't really matter." He gave a her weak smile, "I guess that kind of stuff is hard to talk about. Especially..." his voice died out again before it could add 'when your talking to someone you really like and want them to like you as well.' Probably for the best. "I guess that's why we're just feeding them to the fire. If you need more time to think, we can swing by the box after we visit the food table if you want."

Success! He hoped. Question answered and the action dice were back in her hands. Now he just need to pay attention to her, while working out the next part of his plan for attempting to convince her that hanging out with him is a good thing.

2 Gary Harper Perhaps 'Wishing upon a star' is better? 1404 0 5