I think we probably have different definitions of what that entails (Tag-A pureblood) on Elective Hall

Killian Row

December 24, 2020 9:42 PM

Showing our best selves [All Ages] by Killian Row

Autumn term had gone, winter break had gone (which was really much more of a shame than autumn's passing as Killian had found winter break vastly more personally fun of course), and now it was back to work. It was rare that Killian would rather have been off work, as he had found that being off work led to thinking and/or rash decisions, and he was trying to avoid both of those most of the time. Plus, of course, Killian was exactly the sort of nerdy workaholic that sincerely enjoyed his job and wanted to do it basically all the time (and did exactly that; it was one of the dangers of living and working in the same place). Now, however, he had a task that he could work on that helped him set his mind forward a bit.

With only a few students having yet signed up for concert participation, Killian had volunteered to host a workshop of sorts. Same as the previous meeting in Cascade Hall, attendance was required (and indeed, the event took place during what would normally be class time for most students), even if students did not intend to perform. Performance was not mandated, after all, only collaboration was, and this was to be a collaborative effort. Storytelling, brainstorming, painting, magicking... it all required the brilliant minds of the students and staff at Sonora to make a concert possible and this year's concert was particularly interesting to Killian.

As students arrived and took their seats at round tables, square tables, on the floor, on top of desks, wherever suited their fancy, Killian greeted them with a scruffy grin and some kind words to welcome them back from break. He knew that he was not the only one who was feeling bittersweet about the return to Sonora, and some students had downright strong feelings about such things; he wanted to honor all of the minds in the room as best he could, as he always tried to do.

When everyone was seated or standed or whatever they chose to do - so long as it wasn't disruptive of course - Killian made his way to the front of the classroom and stood smiling at them. "Hello, students, and welcome back. As you know, today's workshop will be focused on collaborative preparation for the end-of-year concert. As Deputy Headmistress Skies has already told you all, the theme this year is folk tales, and we're looking at that as a pretty broad concept. Some students have already put forth ideas, but we need more of them! We also need more volunteers to help with stage design, and more performers. Basically, we need more of you!"

He waved his wand and sheets of paper flew to each group of students inasmuch as he could tell where the groups were divvying themselves up; extra papers were available at the ends of table should anyone need them. "Working in pairs or small groups, I want you to put your names at the top of the page and talk about your ideas with each other. Really just get it out there. Write down any stories you can think of that you'd like to see and put down what you'd like to do as far as volunteering. When you're done, go ahead and give those to me."

Killian gestured at a basket on the desk to show where they could do that if he was otherwise occupied at the time. Then, he gestured to the other side of the front of the room, where baskets of costumes and fabric were available. "If you have ideas or if you'd like to start working on one of the ideas that's already been given, you can come up here and start thinking of costumes, characters, etc., and maybe start working on that. Students who have already submitted ideas are encouraged to do that as well, and you can also use paper to write out some ideas about skits, songs, or other performances based on the folk tales you suggested.

Finally, if you are especially interested in performing, please get together with folks in this area," Killian said, pointing to the opposite side of the desk from the costumes, "so that we can get you paired up with a story, a song, a character, a costume, etc. You can work together to discuss those ideas, you don't need to wait for me."

Clapping his hands together, Killian beamed at the gathered students again. "I'm excited for this and I know that all of us on staff are looking forward to seeing what you all come up with. This is a collaborative process that we are happy to help with, but this is your show. Please let me know if you have any questions or need help, but otherwise, get creative and go for it!" Stepping away from the front of the room as the students began grouping up, moving about, and talking with each other, Killian did his best to be out of the way whilst also being as available as possible to as many people as possible.

OOC: Story ideas that have already been submitted can be found in the post linked above and new ideas are definitely encouraged. Feel free to take the reigns and make up groups as you see fit! I'm not going to make separate thread groups since this may become pretty organic and fluid anyway. Have fun!

Subthreads:

Experimenting by Zara Jackson with Augustine Reed-Fischer

Costuming by Hilda Hexenmeister with Quincy Wright, Jessica Hayles

Fey Tales Collection by Mab with Alexander Pierce-Beales

Oh the drama! [Ness] by Valentine Duell with Ness McLeod

I think we probably have different definitions of what that entails (Tag-A pureblood) by Caitlin Pierce with Katerina Vorontsov

You have gotta be kidding! by Beau Tate

Good luck with that by Allegra Brockert

22 Killian Row Showing our best selves [All Ages] 1450 1 5

Zara Jackson

December 28, 2020 9:18 PM

Experimenting by Zara Jackson

Unsurprisingly, given that they had an uncle with a PhD in folklore, the upcoming school concert had been a pretty hot topic in the Jackson-Tate households over Christmas. Zara had dutifully chucked some suggestions into the box before break to diversify the content, and had signed up to do effects/acting. She had liked being on stage for the first concert, and definitely didn't mind being in a piece, but she also thought the spellwork might be a lot of fun - she certainly had memories of an impressive amount going into the last show, and now she was old enough to do some of the bigger stuff herself.

She had arrived home to a well-curated collection of books and articles, although she had had to fight Bertie for access. He seemed to think that, as an Aladren, he took precedence, whereas she was sure that, as the person capable of actually casting this stuff, she should get dibs. They had eventually shared out the material based on whether it was more theoretical/story-based or practical.

Though 'practical' was for a given value. 'Ritual Magic in the African Diaspora' was certainly fascinating, and even had a whole chapter devoted to story telling. However, the methods were so alien to her that she wouldn't have known where to begin. A lot of the magic was wandless, channeling energy in other ways that she had no idea how to. There were some things that looked a bit like potions, and she planned to ask Professor Brooding-Hawthorne (the obvious-from-context-one) about it. It would be cool if they could not only tell stories from around the world, but also use worldwide magics to tell those stories. For today though, she was under the supervision of Mr. Row - qualified in filing systems, and only out White Guy Vibed by Professor Wright. Not that he'd ever seemed anything but open minded, and he was technically an immigrant but... But Zara didn't think she would get any support except perhaps enthusiasm from him. And maybe not even that.

She had found 'New Orleans Craft: Fusion Magic in the Melting Cauldron' much more accessible, and was keen to try out some of its spells. It wasn't clear how many of these were official MACUSA registered... All of them should have been. They had been part of the New Orleans culture for several generations and were widely used in performance arts within the city. She thought most were - the nineteen thirties had been a boom time for artistic innovation, and coincided with the organisation having a black, female president, and it had been a pretty good time in terms of progress and recognition. She just thought the magic might look unfamiliar to some of her classmates. She wasn't sure if she was meant to ask permission to cast things they hadn't been taught in class or whether it was good enough that an adult was present. She decided to assume that it was the latter, partly because it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission, and also because she didn't feel like Mr. Row's pasty Irish backside was gonna be better at evaluating this than she was, and it felt like stooping to ask his permission for something which was perfectly fine. She was also going to start with story dust which, given how widely it was sold, surely had to be licensed and approved. It was a key ingredient in any number of rituals and potions, but it could also simply be used like chalk, making a conduit that helped wand-based casting be channelled more effectively.

She sketched out a simple figure in black, reciting the story to herself as she did so. She checked the incantation, waving her wand over the page. Most of the dust lifted, forming a shadowy figure, which acted out the first step or two of the story she had chosen before collapsing back against the page.

13 Zara Jackson Experimenting 1444 0 5

Augustine Reed-Fischer

December 28, 2020 11:15 PM

Ayy, me too, baby. by Augustine Reed-Fischer

Gus had basically no idea what was going on, but class was huge today so that was fun. He guessed magic made it smell less like BO than a classroom this size would have in his old school, but he wasn't sure if that was because everyone wore magical deodorant or something, or because the professor put a magic HVAC system in the room somewhere. He was not supposed to be focusing on that stuff right now though - even if he was pretty caught up in wondering where he could get his own magical deodorant and if it would help with chafing - so he tried to focus on what was going on.

This teacher was pretty theatrical himself and Augustine thought he'd be alright on stage, but he wasn't sure if that was just because he liked the dude's accent and stuff. Stage did seem to be about the only place that he could see himself being helpful though too, since he didn't really have a good grasp on this whole magic thing yet. There were probably some stories he could dig up, especially ones his mom had told since they were probably a little less familiar to most of the students than Cinderella or something, but Jazz was in this class and she could take care of the braining part of this whole thing. Instead, Gus focused on his secondary goal: being cool as heck.

He had learned from school before this that the best thing a guy could do to be cool, especially a sixth grade guy, was talk to a girl, especially a high school girl. Stuff was different here, but he was still pretty sure that was the best way to fit in, and it couldn't hurt. His sister didn't count, but there was another girl that reminded him of his sister (granted, there were literally only four students at Sonora that looked like him, and he was one of them) except she was way scarier and prettier. Still, reminding him of his sister made her inherently less scary than some of the girls at school, like the one that he was pretty sure would stab him with her wand if he called her a girl to her face.

Since it was rare that the whole school was together, Gus took this as his opportunity to introduce himself to a highschooler and he had taken a seat next to her before the class kicked off. Now that it had, he was realizing just how wildly out of his depth he was, but he wasn't about to admit it.

"That was dope," he told her when the horrifying book shadow thing disappeared. He'd mostly spent the time she'd been working on that to try to write up what he did remember of the favorite stories his mom had told him, and of Cinderella too because why not, but now he turned to the older girl with no small show of awe on his face. "You're pretty good at magic, huh?"

22 Augustine Reed-Fischer Ayy, me too, baby. 1509 0 5

Zara Jackson

December 29, 2020 5:20 AM

Which of us is the baby? by Zara Jackson

Zara was pretty neutral on the fact that today’s class was all ages. She wasn’t one of those super squishy people who just loved hand-holding the littlies and showing them what to do. She would, if they needed it. She was a Teppenpaw, a prefect, and not (in spite of what some people thought) a total witch (with a B). She just wasn’t jumping up and down ready to Barney and Friends them. She had never been particularly that way inclined, and she was pretty sure sistering Bertie had cemented it. Eva tried really hard to do the sistering thing, which ironically probably meant that Bertie liked Zara slightly more. Bertie was best sistered by just being left alone.

It seemed that her company for this lesson was going to be fifty percent of the black students who weren’t related to her. She gave the boy a welcoming smile as he sat down, again, happy to help if needed but equally happy to just do their own things. She was probably a little more interested in hm and the fact he’d sat with her than if someone else had done so, but she wasn’t going to push it unless he did. He did seem to be in at least a small talk kind of mood though.

“Thanks,” she grinned, showing off the little gap between her teeth when he complimented her. “I guess,” she shrugged off the question about being good at magic. She wasn’t top of the class but she wasn’t atrocious either. “There’s quite a lot of neat stuff you can do by fifth year,” she promised him, both for the sake of making an honest report and encouraging him. First year wasn’t exactly a laugh riot of dope magic.

“You got something you’re putting forward for the concert, or still looking for ideas?” she asked, wanting to make sure she was showing an interest in return, but not totally sure what you asked eleven-year-olds – as noted, the one she’d had to practise on most recently had been kind of odd and, as evidenced by the fact that this one had come up and voluntarily started a conversation with her, not much like the one she was currently dealing with.

13 Zara Jackson Which of us is the baby? 1444 0 5

Hilda Hexenmeister

December 30, 2020 9:15 AM

Costuming by Hilda Hexenmeister

Hilda had already signed up for the concert, but hadn't specified to herself or anyone else, what it was exactly that she wanted to contribute to it. As she listened to Professor Row talk about the options, she gathered that the three options today were to come up with story ideas, figure out costumes, or to join the performers. She had performed last time - sort of - without having really any idea at all what it was she was doing. Her grasp of English was much better now, four years later, but the sense of confusion and frustration from her memories of the last concert left her feeling disinclined to try a performance role. Neither did she want to try brainstorming any ideas in English. So that left costuming.

She wasn't entirely sure that was her forte either, but she headed over to that group anyway. She was, if nothing else, a fifth year, and could probably lend some spellwork to whatever was going on with the people making things. "Hello," she offered to the others who were starting to gather in the indicated area with supplies for making costumes. "Know we the idea already made?" she questioned, not having submitted any herself, but Professor Row had said something about some suggestions having already been made.

1 Hilda Hexenmeister Costuming 1433 0 5

Mab

December 30, 2020 7:14 PM

Fey Tales Collection by Mab

Mab hadn't been planning on getting involved with the concert. The Headmaster had promised it wasn't mandatory, but here they were talking about it in Study Hall. Not just any Study Hall either. It was a Study Hall that defied the normal schedule and had every grade level attending it.

So here she was, sitting at a table writing down story ideas. She was perhaps going a bit literal on the 'fairy' tale side of the 'folk tale' theme, but this had been her thing for a long time. She went by a fairy queen's name to the point that most people here wouldn't even recognize her real one.

The paper in front of her, so far, read as follows:

A Midsummer's Dream by Shakespeare
The Tempest by Shakespeare
Arthurian Legend
A story about a wizard living in Chicago fighting werewolves and vampires, and getting mixed up with the fey courts. (I can provide novels by Jim Butcher) (probably won't work as a short play)
Sleeping Beauty

Currently, Mab was frowning at the last one on the list, unsure if she wanted to promote a story about a damsel in distress, and following classic Disney princess lines, but she did like the fairies in it, including Maleficent. She'd happily play Maleficent if they did that one.

She did not cross it out.

Because this was arguably supposed to be a group collaboration, she turned to address the person next to her, and shifted her paper so they could read it. "Do you know more stories about the fey?" If nothing else, she could maybe get reading recommendations for unfamiliar wizard tales about the Fey out of this workshop.

1 Mab Fey Tales Collection 1473 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

December 30, 2020 7:42 PM

I will probably disappoint. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Alexander knew he should make other friends and sit with other people but Valentine was apparently dating someone and it was just easier not to talk to people if he didn't have to. He was a bad Teppenpaw. Besides, he went into class with Mab, and sat with Mab, so it almost would have been weirder to make a point of not talking to her. Of course, they had done that before, as he generally sat with her anyway, but still.

He looked over her list, impressed by her knowledge of things and commitment to her own interests. He wasn't exactly sure he understood everything about Mab's connection to the fey but he knew it ran a bit deeper than his connection to comic-books. Still, since his own limited exposure to media and literature was all he had to go on, that's all he could do.

"I know a couple but don't laugh at me," he began, raising an eyebrow at his foster sister. "There's a fairy in Legend of Zelda who kind of has a backstory, but not anything detailed like these," he admitted, thinking of poor annoying Navi. "Then there's Tinker Bell and stuff." He pointed at Midsummer's Night Dream on Mab's list. "Neil Gaiman did one about that in The Sandman series. I don't have it though," he frowned.

He'd been working on drawing instead of list-making when they'd first been set to task and he showed his own meager contribution when he'd finished supplying what he could to Mab's more extensive one. He'd drawn a few quick sketches of Mab - she had seen his work enough to know that she often featured as a model for his practices - in different styles: retro pop art, political cartoon, chibi, superhero comic-book style, and a partial sketch of her in an anime noir style. "I dunno if this would be helpful for costuming or makeup or whatever, but I was thinking about different styles and stuff," he said with a shrug. If it had been anyone but Mab, he would've blushed too, but she'd seen his work and he doubted she was about to heap unnecessary compliments on his head, so he was more comfortable than he might have been otherwise.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales I will probably disappoint. 1475 0 5

Quincy Wright

January 01, 2021 4:45 PM

I guess we have to. by Quincy Wright

Quincy had some ideas for the concert because his dad worked in a bookstore, but he didn't actually want to share them with anyone. That was weird. Plus, everyone would think he was all into fairytales and stuff when he was actually into science. So he wasn't about to start brainstorming with his classmates, even if he did think that he had some awesome ideas. Really, his ideal situation would be to get involved with staging. He was only a second year so he wasn't too sure he could do a lot of the magic stage effects, but there was a lot that could be done with chemical interactions and stuff too. Still, that would have to wait until they knew what the shows were going to be exactly and he didn't know that yet. Since he wasn't about to perform, he figured his best shot at getting involved with staging would be to jump into costuming.

One of the older students, not someone he knew well although he was pretty sure that his prefect was her brother or something, approached and asked him a question in halting English which he thought was pretty cool. He didn't really know much about language or anything but he had always thought it was interesting that people could all know the same stuff in all different languages. His mom said that the languages people knew meant more than just words to them too, because it was culture and family and food and music and stuff. Still, he wasn't about to get into that with this girl who was just asking a question, so he shook his head.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I didn't submit anything. Maybe we should just see what costumes are already made?"

22 Quincy Wright I guess we have to. 1495 0 5

Augustine Reed-Fischer

January 01, 2021 4:58 PM

You. Uh. Me? by Augustine Reed-Fischer

Gus grinned at the older girl's grin and nodded. "I'm excited for it. I didn't know anything about magic until my sister came here, so it's all new to me." He was pretty sure that giving a kid a wand was a little like giving them a lighter and a box of fireworks, but he wasn't sure that describing his eagerness for pyromania was going to be the best way to get along with his classmate. "I guess that means it's all exciting though too," he decided, remembering the first time he'd said a magic word and made a ball of light come out the end of a stick. That wasn't something you were likely to forget.

He glanced down at the paper he'd been writing on, with bits of scribbled memories on it. "My mom's from West Africa," he told her for context. "My favorite story is the one about why tortoises are bald. There was a tortoise who was greedy and lied to some dogs to get them to leave the house so that he could go inside and eat their food. When they came back, he was trying to sneak food out and so he put it in his hat and put his hat on his head, but it was super hot. The dogs said he could stay and hang out and by the time he got to leave, the food burned all the hair off his head." Augustine rubbed a hand over his own shaved hair. "My mom said I look like a tortoise so I have to be careful not to get greedy," he grinned. "I think it's the best story ever and I'd totally play the tortoise, but I don't know if it's super exciting for the whole school, y'know?"

22 Augustine Reed-Fischer You. Uh. Me? 1509 0 5

Valentine Duell

January 03, 2021 11:36 AM

Oh the drama! [Ness] by Valentine Duell

Valentine was excited for this concert. It was going to be fun! It looked like everyone was here! She was going to have a class with some of the older students that she didn't get to hang out with nearly enough. She naturally gravitated towards some of her older friends and took a seat next to Ness. This was awesome!

Mr. Row began talking about what the workshop plans were, and she payed rapt attention. It sounded like they needed more story ideas. Val grinned and looked sideways at Ness, she had sat at the right spot. Then he mentioned that the performing people should gather in a different section of the room, she'd signed up for acting, should she go over there instead? The decision tore at her for a bit before she made up her mind. They had her signed up as an actress, so they knew that already and is sounded like they needed more story ideas. She would do more good for the concert here figuring out stories. It was like gaming, it didn't matter how many players you had, with no GM nothing would happen. You needed your stories first. However, once you had those.. you definitely needed players.

Once work was to begin, she turned to Ness with the sweetest devilish smile she could manage. "Okay Gaming President and master GM, what kind of stories can we come up with for this thing?"

2 Valentine Duell Oh the drama! [Ness] 1490 0 5

Ness McLeod

January 04, 2021 5:48 AM

You're never far from it by Ness McLeod

Ness was pretty interested in the upcoming concert. It certainly seemed to celebrate diversity, which was always good, even if it was more to do with cultural diversity than other kinds. Plus shows could be fun, and as a prefect, Ness probably was supposed to be leading by example and helping out a bunch. The Aladren just hoped that not all the fairy stories pushed crumby patriarchal agendas like waiting for a prince to save you.

There was also some fun to be had in the planning meeting, as they were mixing with other year groups. Ness had not been sure about Val upon first meeting, both due to the first year’s utterly ridiculous levels of perky blondeness, but also due to a teensy tiny maybe bit of jealousy/fear of being squeezed out by Val knowing what she was doing in a GM seat. However, that had paled quickly when Val had proven to be fun and useful, and Ness could claim credit for having brought her into the group, and when the rest of the group – Val included – seemed happy enough to follow Ness as leader. Now, being in class together, the sixth year Aladren would happily admit to having more in common with the second year Teppenpaw than with some of the other members of the advanced class, so it was a welcome breath of fresh air.

“I think they’re mostly looking for folktales,” Ness laughed, not sure whether Val was actually suggesting recreating their legends for the stage, or just addressing Ness thusly out of habit/fun. The prefect cocked an eyebrow, half wanting to be drawn down the road of suggesting stories they both liked better, but very used to sticking to the brief when it came to assignments. “How ancient and time honoured are the tales we tell?” Ness checked.

13 Ness McLeod You're never far from it 1419 0 5

Valentine Duell

January 04, 2021 6:28 PM

That is probably true enough by Valentine Duell

Valentine giggled along with Ness' laughter. "Sure," she responded to Aladren's comments, "but you have to admit that we did a fair amount of 'folktales' and such last year around the table." Ness had done a fun reworking of Romeo and Juliette while she had played around with the Robin Hood legend. Her eyes sparkled a bit mischievously, "As long as we don't try to put that last game of Gary's on the stage, we may be alright. I don't think the audience will stand for that much death and destruction. I really wasn't sure we were going to live." It had been a rough game, and she'd been curious afterwards so she and Papa did a little research. Gary had put them through the Tomb of Horrors, and if she'd read things right, he had pulled a few of the dungeon's punches.

"Hmm..." she pondered for a moment, "Evelyn's game last year was pretty ancient. Oh yeah!" She'd almost forgotten, she wasn't sure how that'd been possible given the nature of things and this class, but she had. "Over break I asked Aunt Giselle if she knew any ancient Greek myths that'd be good for the box. It turns out that's a required course when you're going to a magical school in Delphi." Val started rummaging around for her notebook. "I took some notes, but wasn't sure if any of them would work well." She flopped a notebook on the table and flipped quickly past a few pages that may have had Stanley's name written on them in the margins in what might have been an attempt at 'fancy' handwriting.

"Here we go," she pointed out, as she arrived at the desired page, "There are the common ones, the Iliad, the Odyssey, Hercules' tasks, Pandora..." she wave her hand in a dismissive 'meh' motion. "Then there is Arachne, or Atalanta, maybe Iphis and Ianthe?" She bobbled her head noncommittally, "Do you have any good thoughts?" she asked with a hopeful smile. "Think anyone would notice if we tried to pass that pirate adventure of yours off as a folktale? That was fun."

2 Valentine Duell That is probably true enough 1490 0 5

Caitlin Pierce

January 05, 2021 9:32 PM

I think we probably have different definitions of what that entails (Tag-A pureblood) by Caitlin Pierce

Caitlin was unsure about this whole concert thing. Not that the idea of being onstage made her anxious or anything like that but she didn't necessarily like getting involved in school-wide activities where she might have to associate with the wrong people. However, she was Head Girl and prefect and her family was probably coming to see it. She knew that Winston had this friendship with Kira Davison, some distant cousin of Emerald's, based on folklore things that they'd done together for some Midsummer thing when they'd been in school and Kira, not having a child or sibling currently at Sonora, would not be able to attend, so she'd probably want Winston to tell her about it. Still, Caitlin was worried her friends would not approve of her joining in with inappropriate types. On the plus side, at least nobody truly offensive was signed up at this point.

Regardless, despite the insistence that the concert itself was not mandatory, they kept doing these....related activities that were. Allegedly, the staff seemed to be promoting the idea that they wanted everyone's input. However, Caitlin didn't believe that for a second. Usually when they said they wanted "everyone's" input, they didn't actually mean it. What they meant was that they wanted everyone's opinion except for that of the uppercrust purebloods. The Crotalus was certain that if there were too many stories-which, as it stood, the issue seemed to be that there weren't enough-it would be the more traditional ones cut or if there were two versions of the same tale they'd go with the more "progressive" one. Or they'd even take a lovely traditional fairy tale and change it because people like Nessa McLeod would raise a stink about it. In that last case, Caitlin couldn't blame them for not wanting to deal with the sixth year's whining, but still, the Crotalus and people like her deserved to be heard as well. What the entire school did should not have to revolve around one student. After all, even the Headmaster's own grandchildren did not get that privilege.

And there were a number of issues with what Caitlin was sure was going to happen besides the fact that people like her were inevitably not going to be heard. First off, the point was classic folklore, not modern variations. That meant the original tales in all their glory. It was fine if they included, like stories from other cultures, but even that also meant the classic versions of fairy tales like Snow White and Cinderella-and the wizarding versions at that, as those were the original tales. Although she supposed they could edit out the more gruesome parts. There would, after all, be small children in the audience. Not to mention the inappropriateness of such things.

The second issue was that "progressive" stories meant making the heroines more...active, unladylike and Pecari-ish and cutting out the beautiful romantic love story. Progressive tended to mean women getting jobs-often very masculine ones like being an Auror or worse, a professional Quidditch player-and being childless spinsters. That life worked for some, such as the Anns, but they were a special case because they were weird and codependent and their mother had treated them like a single entity rather than as individuals. It wasn't their fault and even though the Crotalus generally felt sorry for her, Bettina was reaping what she'd sewn in this. Besides, in their case, fashion was a feminine enough pursuit and besides,Caitlin couldn't complain too much when she got custom dresses-and at least they weren't marrying and reproducing with someone of an inferior bloodline.

And while the seventh year legitimately did not care what some people did with their lives-and indeed, it was better if those sorts did not reproduce-such types also scorned those like her. Plus, such ideals put tremendous pressure on people like Allegra who was so not cut out for a career, especially a high pressure one and "invalidated them as human beings", to put it in terms that side would understand. As for Caitlin herself, she felt that she was personally strong enough emotionally for some types of work, but just did not want that lifestyle. She wanted love and marriage and children, thank you very much. She would not feel satisfied in life without love and while Caitlin did not especially care what some people did, she could not understand how anyone could feel differently.

It wasn't even as if she didn't think women could be strong and capable as the Crotalus could think of many examples, such as Sylvia or Topaz, it was just that some weren't and she didn't want them to feel like they were being pressured to be something they weren't or that they weren't okay as they were. While a large part of why Caitlin felt how she did was because she thought marriage and children and traditional femininity were better choices personally, she did also care a great deal about Allegra as well as the rest of Emerald's close relatives and knew that the lifestyles promoted by those people would not be at all right for some of them.

And yes, Caitlin was aware that there were women less fortunate than herself who had to work to make ends meet and she honestly felt sorry for them. Some of these women surely were of similar temperaments to her friend or wanted to stay home with their children. Or wanted to get married and have children but were too busy working to have time for these things. Caitlin felt herself very lucky to have the circumstances that she did.

Another thing she took issue with was the focus on physical strength and athleticism, things she found to be traditionally associated with masculinity in the first place. Some girls might be good at those things, but placing such value on that was both inherently sexist-as it suggested masculine things were superior to feminine ones-and even more unfair to people who didn't fit that mold.

Bottom line was that those people didn't want it to be simply acceptable to break out of the traditional mold, they wanted to change "the mold" to be what they wanted and fit and force those like Caitlin who didn't want to fit their way or like Allegra who likely couldn't into it and scorn them when they stuck with their more traditional choices.

The thing was, the seventh year didn't even want for the Concert to be political. She wanted this to be a simple, enjoyable activity like when Winston had looked up folklore for his Midsummer activity. To be honest, Caitlin didn't want politics or any sort of controversial issues-especially ones that shouldn't be- to be part of things at all . However, some people just couldn't seem to stop . It was like they were addicted to it. So then, Caitlin had to stick up for things she felt she shouldn't have to stick up for.
.
Also, if she didn't like it, she couldn't imagine how uncomfortable people like Allegra and Sapphire felt! After all, clearly neither of them seemed to have the stomach for such matters.

Caitlin sighed, resigned to her fate as Mr. Row gave them their instructions. The requirement to work with pairs or small did not thrill her given the relatively small selection of acceptable students available. This was more of an issue than usual given how she didn't want to end up arguing with someone about which tales were deemed acceptable so she looked around for someone appropriate. Spotting such a person, she approached. "Would you like to work together." Honestly, this was something that Caitlin was perfectly capable of doing on her own, especially given that she already knew what stories she'd prefer.

11 Caitlin Pierce I think we probably have different definitions of what that entails (Tag-A pureblood) 1415 0 5

Ness McLeod

January 06, 2021 6:24 AM

This is what happens when you involve boys by Ness McLeod

"Ah, the ancient and noble tale of trees that mess you up," Ness sighed with a fond grin, as Val mentioned Gary's game, "Truly a classic."

It was sort of weird hearing Val mention 'Aunt Giselle.' Well, not that in itself. A lot of people had aunts, and some of them had names as equally weird as 'Giselle', or weirder even. It was just weird thinking that was the divinations professor, cos divination was so bleugh. Everyone knew it wasn't proper magic, and wasn't the least bit reliable. And now Ness had to be super careful about voicing that opinion because it might offend Val. Logically there was nothing to be offended about. Ness wasn't doubting that Giselle Duell could do... something or other (okay, Ness did doubt it a bit because the idea of a branch of magic that was just inherent and unlearnable was incredibly frustrating and the natural reaction was to hope it wasn't actually real), but even if it was real and Professor Duell could do it, that didn't mean that she herself got much sense from what she Saw, much less could teach it to anyone else. However, Val was a Teppenpaw and was likely to take it emotionally rather than logically.

Val’s next suggestion was one Ness was really not qualified to speak on. Greek myths were one of those things the Aladren ought to have been well-read on – they were proper classics, and a cornerstone of civilisation and all that – but somehow Ness had never got beyond the general default level of information that one tended to absorb via cultural osmosis. Certainly, some of the titles Val suggested were unknown. Ness could have said as much, and learnt something new, but the thought of a much younger Teppenpaw being better versed in something like that didn’t exactly sit well.

“I’m sure any of them would be good. You got a favourite?” Ness asked, glad that Val had steered the conversation more broad in terms of what Ness might like to suggest – if the pirate game was on the table, Ness’ answer did not have to be limited to Greek myths. “I wonder if there are pirate myths. Like, pirates are very superstitious people, so they probably do have some good folklore.”

13 Ness McLeod This is what happens when you involve boys 1419 0 5

Katerina Vorontsov

January 08, 2021 7:25 PM

You and I might come close to agreement. by Katerina Vorontsov

Katya couldn’t decide where to turn first.

Partially, of course, this was due to the sheer amount of information, filled with fairly specialized terms, which had just been rattled off in her general direction in Monsieur Row’s heavily accented English. She could process it, make a modicum of sense out of it, but it took her a moment or two longer to do so than she regarded as ideal. More importantly, though, there were multiple things she could do to help with multiple projects, and to her dismay, she did not know any spells that could split her into four girls, so she could be everywhere at once. This left her with a choice, and it was hard to choose, without a single clear best option, and she felt close to fluttery – not a mood she relished – with indecision.

This made it something of a relief to be approached before she could make up her mind who she ought to approach. She smiled brightly at Caitlin Pierce, grateful for the rescue from her sped-up thoughts.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “Do you have ideas? Many ideas? I did think, art club, it can help make the…places for people to be in, while they show. Make the room pretty. And – “ she was a tad unsure about the wisdom of drawing more attention to the ways in which she was different from her classmates, but she had gathered from the speech that they did need more ideas, and anyway, any attempt she made to blend in was shattered the moment she opened her mouth. It would have been a futile effort even had she not suspected her parents were going to politely turn up despite their English being nothing like up to a full-scale English social event. “I know stories, too. Russia stories. You think maybe anyone would like to see these?” she asked.

16 Katerina Vorontsov You and I might come close to agreement. 1418 0 5

Jessica Hayles

January 08, 2021 7:42 PM

It's gonna be great! by Jessica Hayles

The previous year, Jessica had been too disheartened about more or less everything to get into the fair. At first, despite not being as world-weary as she had been the year before, she had not had much interest in the concert, either. The prefect’s badge on her robes made her suffer the occasional pang of guilt about this, but she tended to dismiss it on the grounds that she was probably only wearing it because her yearmates were all so very, very unsuitable. The staff hadn’t – likely – so much wanted her as been unable to justify giving even a glimmer of power to anyone else.

At Row’s meeting, though, she sat up and kept a polite, pleasant, attentive on her face as he spoke. However she had come to wear the badge, she was wearing it now, and that meant she had a responsibility to look the part of a prefect. As he went on, though, her dark gaze sharpened as it regarded the guidance counselor, her interest moving from ceremonial to genuine.

Jessica suffered – as she knew all too well – from a particular area of weakness in her imagination. She could create a decent response when shown a prompt, and she could always critique and make suggestions for how to improve other people’s work, but aside from writing verses during bursts of emotion, she found it difficult to come up with ideas on her own. She needed guidance, or at least starting points…which Row had just, sort of, handed her.

When they were encouraged to work with people in specific areas, she happily moved over to costuming and linked up with Hilda and a younger boy who she was pretty sure she had seen speaking to Mara before, even though he wasn’t in their class. “I can help with changing up any costumes they have if we need to!” she burbled enthusiastically, beaming at them and jumping in on Quincy’s comment. “And concept art, and stage make-up – I can order basically anything for anybody.” Except Zara, Zara’s group was on its own unless it got someone tangled up who Jessica really, really liked, but everyone else was welcome to her stipends, within reason.

16 Jessica Hayles It's gonna be great! 1442 0 5

Valentine Duell

January 09, 2021 8:56 AM

Are you speaking from experience? by Valentine Duell

Valentine looked back over her list again as Ness inquired which she like the best. "I'm not sure. Arachne was a lady that was really good at weaving, she and Athena had a weaving competition. Arachne's was better which didn't make Athena happy, it was also a tapestry depicting some of the terrible stuff the Greek gods did which made Athena less happy. So Athena turned her into a spider." That story had some message about hubris in there somewhere, but she liked how Arachne stood up to Athena... even if it didn't turn out great for her in the end.

"Atalanta was abandoned as a baby and raised by animals until they found her some people to live with. She became a fantastic hunter and athlete. The boys didn't want her along until she showed them all up and then they begged her to join them. She would only marry a man that could beat her in a footrace, and they all lost until one guy cheated. He went to Athena and..." she paused a moment, "Athena is kind of a jerk. Anyway, she gave the guy three irresistible golden apples. He chucked them off the track to distract her during the race and just barely won because of it."

"Iphis was born a girl but grew up as a boy. He was then promised to Ianthe and they fell in love, but Iphis was still biologically a girl and didn't like that he and his mother prayed to Isis who then turned him into a boy. He and Ianthe got married and lived happily ever after..." she trailed off a bit. She was pretty sure that was how that one ended, but that didn't sound like the normal ending of a Greek myth.

Valentine shrugged again, "We don't need to go with one of these, and we could always go ask Aunt Giselle about more stories. She knows lots of them. I don't know that I have a favorite." Then her eyes widened at Ness' mention of pirate myths, "Ooooo... I like that idea! They must have some fantastic ones! Where would we find them? Do you think the library has any?"

2 Valentine Duell Are you speaking from experience? 1490 0 5

Caitlin Pierce

January 24, 2021 1:36 PM

That's what I was hoping for by Caitlin Pierce

OOC: CW-A little bit of white privilege BIC:

"Not exactly, I mean, I know what sorts of tales I want to have told," Caitlin replied, "but I'm not really thinking about costumes or sets or special effects." She was pretty sure she wasn't signing up at all at this point. "I really like the classic fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White, basically the ones about princesses." As someone from an important family in pureblood society, she felt was sort of like a princess herself. Arguably, she even somewhat identified with Snow White, with the Other Alicia being the Evil Queen even though she wasn't Caitlin's stepmother. The seventh year could totally see that awful woman feeding her a poisoned apple, though truthfully she'd probably give it to Emerald instead. Or Winston and Emerald's future children.

And anyway, what little girl didn't want to be a princess? Oh wait, Nessa McLeod most likely handn't . But she was definitely not normal and most girls either wanted to be or identified with being one. For example, Amethyst, Emerald's youngest sister very much seemed to think of herself that way, even more than Caitlin herself. And poor girls probably identified with Cinderella. She knew Aunt Harmony had, because her aunt had literally grown up poor before finding out who her biological father was and later marrying Clifford Brockert's great-grandson.

So, her aunt literally lived basically a Cinderella-esque story. At least in terms of rags to riches though the allegory basically cast Caitlin's mother and grandmother in terrible light since for all Cora Anders' flaws-the biggest of which being her marrying and procreating with a Muggle-she'd never got the impression she'd abused Aunt Harmony and the evil stepsister and step-mother would be Mother and Grandmother Culhane whom Caitlin didn't blame a bit for being resentful even though it wasn't really Aunt Harmony's fault, it was Grandfather Culhane's. Her grandfather had always been good to her and her brother, as well as Bridget but the situation was still his fault.

Too bad Aunt Harmony's Prince Charming had turned out to be an alcoholic.

There was also the fact that for children who were abused, Cinderella put the message out that rescue was possible. That life could get better. Considering how many child abuse victims were out there, that was important.

"I think having Art Club make the set or design the costumes is a great idea." Caitlin told the sixth year. Even though she might not be all that warm and fuzzy towards improper people, she did care about her friends and try to encourage them. "And I'm sure they'd want to hear Russian tales too. I mean, I think the point is to do tales from around the world." Okay, Zara Jackson would probably whine that any European or American folktale was "too white" but whatever. While Caitlin was all for including tales from any culture-except perhaps explicitly Muggle ones, especially ones that portrayed magic in bad light-the Teppenpaw seemed to want it all her way, much like everyone on her end of the political spectrum.

11 Caitlin Pierce That's what I was hoping for 1415 0 5

Zara Jackson

January 26, 2021 4:40 PM

Yup, you by Zara Jackson

“That’s the spirit,” Zara grinned when Gus declared everything to be exciting. “I’m not sure if that ever totally goes away. My mom’s been around magic for what… twenty-ish years now and I’ll still occasionally hear ‘Wait, you can do that?!’ coming from the kitchen, or catch her looking at everything like it’s… well, magical,” she grinned, “Though maybe it’s different when you can’t do it for yourself,” she shrugged. She worried sometimes that Mom must feel left out but it didn’t seem like she minded most of the time, and there wasn’t much Zara could do if she was. Except appreciate their non-magical hang out time, which of course she did anyway cos it was Mom time.

“That’s a cute story,” she laughed. She had heard some of those growing up too, though she’d been a bit too literal as a child to appreciate them. Turtles were bald because they were. It hadn’t explained some great mystery or allowed her to peer into an unknown world, the way divine tales of the gods did. Still, Gus liked it and that was what mattered.

“I don’t know if the whole school is going to be interested in some handsome prince nonsense, but I bet it still gets suggested,” she shrugged, “Probably no single story is gonna appeal to everyone, but if you like it, that makes it worth suggesting.” She sketched a quick tortoise with a bad-ass afro, practising the spell again. It sat up strutting along and shaking its head proudly.

13 Zara Jackson Yup, you 1444 0 5

Ness McLeod

January 26, 2021 5:42 PM

Last year was all Gary's fault by Ness McLeod

"Iphis!" Ness jumped in, "I vote for Iphis! That sounds awesome!" Obviously they would have to make sure the way it was phrased and portrayed was appropriate, but there were literal trans myths and fairytales out there and no one had told Ness?! The Aladren was also kind of surprised that Val hadn't sensed that was an obvious winner.

"I'm not sure," Ness stated, when Val asked if the library had pirates' own stories. "It almost definitely has historical information about pirates, but that's most likely written by people who are anti-pirate. And it probably has some stories about pirates. As for the stories they told each other, as the waves lapped and the salt licked the air," Ness stated, putting on the best pirate voice possible, "Maybe you'd need to look at the bottom of the ocean, or ask the ghost of an old seadog. But we could try the history section first," Ness added, speaking normally again on the final suggestion. After all, that was a lot more available to then than ocean floors or pirate ghosts, and it might have some passing references to pirate culture and stories.

"Or we could work on something for the Iphis story, like writing it up as a proposal. I really like the sound of that one."

13 Ness McLeod Last year was all Gary's fault 1419 0 5

Katerina Vorontsov

January 26, 2021 8:53 PM

It's always nice to be on the same page. by Katerina Vorontsov

Sindella That…sounded vaguely Italian? Or what Katya imagined Italian sounded like. She knew little about the language, beyond that it was related to French. She had heard a handful of Italian words in music and dancing lessons, though, and read a bit about Italy in translation, though; if asked to guess, she would guess sindella might be an instrument, but though there were many stories of enchanted instruments, somehow she still suspected a wild guess was not going to be right. Snow White, though – she knew those words! Perhaps it was like a western version of Snegurochka?

“I know about stories with princesses also,” she said warmly, smiling at Caitlin again. “There are many stories of Tsarevna Vasilisa. We also have one with the snow princess – and princess who dance – the princess who does not smile – many, many,” she said, pleased to think that some things weren’t so different after all.

She beamed again when Caitlin agreed with her about the Art Club idea being a sound one. “I think we can do a good job,” she said. “I will…tell Monsieur Row,” she added, deciding that was the most logical course. He might not be in charge of the project overall, but he was certainly the person in charge of this meeting…another thought occurred to her, though, as her mind rushed through logistics faster than she could have done in any of her spoken languages, even Russian. “But I must ask the others first – see who will help – I cannot do all work alone, even with no Russian story,” she added, more to herself than to Caitlin for a moment. “I must have meeting, have votes. Do you think I am best to tell Monsieur I will do this now, and then tell him what they say after?” she asked. “And you will help me, yes?” she added hopefully. Even if she only had one project, it would be enough work to do; if she did both of the projects she had proposed, she’d have more than enough work for two pairs of hands, or probably six, for that matter….

16 Katerina Vorontsov It's always nice to be on the same page. 1418 0 5

Valentine Duell

January 30, 2021 10:58 AM

All of it? by Valentine Duell

Valentine tried to suppress a smile at Ness' exuberance and failed. She had thought that Ness might like the story of Iphis and Ianthe, but she hadn't been entirely certain. There were a few aspects to the story that she though Ness may not like as much. Best to get those out into the open quickly. Her smile took on a mild look of uncertainty. "Well, according to the story, Iphis' papa wanted a boy and his wife," she glanced down at her notes, "Telethusa, gave birth to a girl. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving her child to die on a mountain somewhere, so she said the child was a boy... also, Isis told her to." This wasn't quite the modern 'I was born a girl but I'm a boy' story, more of the 'I was born a girl and Papa is a jerk and would leave me to die so Mama told him I was a boy and I got used to it' type of story.

The younger girl shrugged, "Iphis did fall in love with Ianthe, and wanted to change, but..." There was something about the story that didn't quite line up completely right with the way she thought Ness saw the world, but she didn't know quite what the words were to describe it. "Was it Iphis' choice, or was it because Telethusa didn't want to lose her child?" Val screwed up her face in a minor expression of displeasure, "Would Iphis been perfectly happy as a girl if her Papa had been a decent person and hadn't been made to live as a boy growing up?" She sighed. "Maybe we'll need to see if Aunt Giselle has more details."

The Teppenpaw nodded at Ness' analysis of their options for finding out possible pirate stories. They did seem mostly unlikely. "True.. But they would probably be really neat stories. Maybe we'll have to dig some up some other time. Somewhere there has to be a pirate historian that knows these sorts of things."

2 Valentine Duell All of it? 1490 0 5

Beau Tate

February 01, 2021 6:23 PM

You have gotta be kidding! by Beau Tate

Beau had never really been into school activities. They seemed like extra work and he was pretty fed up having to put in with the even the bare minimum of effort he'd been putting in since his first year. He was tired of academics and just plain old tired of work . All that the Pecari wanted to do now was party and relax.

Which likely sounded like a contradiction to some people. First of all, there were people out there who didn't enjoy socializing and/or found it stressful and exhausting. That was fine but Beau was not one of those people. Then there were people like Mother and Arianna who took the business of socializing very seriously To them, parties were about making connections and schmoozing and sometimes, getting money for a charitable cause that they may or may not sincerely care about. Well, Mother might actually care about some things but Arianna was to sincerity and caring as Beau was to hard work. As in, it was an anathema. He was pretty sure anything that was genuinely good cause like Peyton's anti-child abuse thing people like his sister would only support because it made them look good. Either way, when they threw parties, perfection was expected.

Beau didn't really mean this sort of partying anyway. He more meant the kind that took place at nightclubs. Nor did he mean he was going to relax and party at the same time! He was going to sleep all day and party all night, maybe going to the beach sometimes. Of course, Father still had this idea that the seventh year was going to go work , which was an idea that Beau was continuing to resist.

Anyway, today there was some mandatory workshop thing about the concert for the entire school. Participation in the concert was supposed to be optional , so he greatly resented having to be here. Beau had never even found the concert a very interesting thing to attend. It was probably his least favorite Midsummer Event.

"Write down any stories you can think of that you'd like to see and put down what you'd like to do as far as volunteering. When you're done, go ahead and give those to me."

What the ****?! What the actual ****?! The concert was supposed to be optional and here Mr. Row was practically forcing them to volunteer! What part of optional did the guidance counselor not understand?

Beau took a sheet and wrote down,

I would not like to do anything as far as volunteering because participating in the concert is supposed to be optional. That means I have a choice not to participate and that's what I choose.
Beau Tate

He took it over and placed it in the basket on Mr. Row's desk. Beau looked around the room, contemplating just skipping out when someone approached him. "Oh, hey." He greeted them.

11 Beau Tate You have gotta be kidding! 1416 0 5

Caitlin Pierce

February 02, 2021 5:13 PM

And so rare too by Caitlin Pierce

"Great!" Caitlin replied. It was so nice to be on the same wavelength with somebody.There were so many people here that would just...dismiss that sort of story completely. Like there was something wrong with the desire to find true love. Wasn't love a basic human need? Then again, some of the people who were so critical of this idea were themselves completely unlovable so that might be why they told themselves that it was the lesser choice. Not to mention some of these people weren't as well off as Caitlin was and probably had to convince themselves a career was desirable because they had to work. Some people could make anything acceptable if they had to. Others were less able.

And, well, they had to do what they had to do, but there had to be a way that they could do it without putting down people like her or Allegra. Not everyone had the capability to be the one to slay the dragon themselves, to go with a fairy tale type metaphor. Or the desire to do so either.

"Do you mean the Twelve Dancing Princesses? And there's Snow White, which is the one with the seven dwarfs but there's also the one with the Snow Queen whose more the villain of the story." Caitlin wasn't trying to be condescending towards Katerina, she just wasn't sure which one the other girl meant. "And I'm not familiar with Tsarevna Vasilisa or the one with the princess that doesn't smile. Can you tell me more about them?"

"Of course I will." The Crotalus assured her friend. She really hadn't been sure that she'd wanted to do anything with the concert but Katerina really seemed to want to and seemed to need help. And it wasn't as if the Teppenpaw was asking her to work with people whom she'd find completely unacceptable to spend time with, just to do things in Art Club which Caitlin already participated in for the sake of helping her friend. Besides, she was prefect and Head Girl, so she probably should be involved. "Were you thinking of costumes and stuff too?"

In all honesty, while that was probably an overall more interesting area to the seventh year, she didn't especially want to go over to the costume area right now given the undesirables that were over there at the moment. Even though Caitlin and Katerina almost certainly had better taste regarding fashion than Hilda Hexenmeister. After all the fifth year hadn't exactly dressed to impress at the last ball. Although she wasn't the worst offender.

11 Caitlin Pierce And so rare too 1415 0 5

Allegra Brockert

February 09, 2021 8:44 PM

Good luck with that by Allegra Brockert

Allegra had no interest whatsoever in participating in the concert. She was not a big joiner as she tended to be worried that others who were involved in a given activity would not like her or listen to her ideas. She just generally tended not to want to put herself out there and risk getting hurt. Plus, Allegra was definitely not going to get up in front of the whole school and their parents and siblings and potentially humiliate herself or put anything out there- spell work, costuming,etc-to be scrutinized and potentially mocked by so many people.

And most importantly, Topaz had signed up to be the stage manager and Allegra was not going to put herself directly in her cousin's line of fire. She knew better than to do that. She knew full well that to sign up for any part in the concert was to basically end up being her cousin's lackey. Topaz would torture Allegra because she could . It had been the Aladren's thing for as far back as she could remember. So yeah,hard pass.

However, despite participation in the concert being optional, Allegra still had to attend the mandatory concert meeting. Which she was not the least bit enthusiastic about. Especially when Mr.Row said that they had to get into groups or pairs to discuss ideas. Even if Allegra had ideas...this was exactly what she did not want to do. She'd always identified far more with the heroines in traditional fairy tales than the more proactive ones of Beedle the Bard. She often felt weak and helpless and at the mercy of someone who was extremely evil with absolutely no way out whatsoever. For the time being anyway. Hopefully, some day, Allegra would get married and spend as little time around her cousin as she possibly could-and hopefully, she'd marry someone who would protect her and stand up to Topaz when need be....but was gentle and kind towards her .

She was sure that some girls could stand up for themselves and good for them, but that was not the sixth year's reality. It never had been and never would be.

Still, she could practically feel the disdain that would emanate from some of her classmates if she so much as suggested a story that had that sort of message in it. Never mind that this was how it was for Allegra. She knew how some of her classmates were, and that they would definitely make everything political and, in the process, make her feel even worse about herself than she already did by criticizing not just her taste, but who she was as a person. Their ideals were not ones she could ever possibly live up to. Allegra was never going to be a tough bold warrior type and that was all there was to it.

She sighed to herself and went to a stack of books, selecting one off the top. She went and sat in a corner of the room and opened the book, hoping to pass the time until the meeting was over. Before too long, a shadow fell over her and she raised her eyes up off the page to see who had approached her. Hopefully it was not Topaz or someone who would harass her about her opinions or who she was, which she supposed also applied to her cousin. Still, some of those others should be a bit more understanding about that.

11 Allegra Brockert Good luck with that 1426 0 5

Katerina Vorontsov

February 18, 2021 8:55 PM

It can feel that way sometimes. by Katerina Vorontsov

"Twelve princesses, yes," said Katya, excitedly, nodding. "I think we have the same story there." It was always possible that westerners had somehow made up another story with just enough similarities to be something completely different, but it seemed unlikely somehow. "I think Snegurochka, she may be a different story - do you know who Grandfather Frost is?" she asked. "Snegurochka - Snow Maiden, in English - she is his granddaughter."

She nodded when asked for more details. "The princess who does not smile - she lives in...a tall house, and she says she will only marry him who makes her laugh. But she does not laugh, until one prince falls off the horse. Then she laughs, so she must marry him." Somehow, Katya thought she was not really doing the story much justice, even though she thought her grammar was reasonably good this time. "It is better in a book," she excused herself. "I think I have a book about Tsarevna Vasilisa which has Russian on this page - " she held up her left hand - "and English on this one - " she held up her left hand. "I had it when I learned to read English. I will see if I have it, and show it to you," she promised.

Katya smiled brightly with relief when Caitlin assured her she'd help out. "Thank you," she said. "Costumes - I do not know," she admitted. "I sew, you know, but only small things - I know few spells for making the whole dress. And one thing is already very much work. Maybe, if it is needed. Do you think that if Papa will help it, that they would let my guvernantka come help? I do not know the English - she takes care of me and the sisters at home, can make our clothes better when they need to be better. Nadezhda would be much help, if we must help with costumes too."

16 Katerina Vorontsov It can feel that way sometimes. 1418 0 5

Caitlin Pierce

February 19, 2021 4:14 PM

It really does by Caitlin Pierce

"Oh that's a good one." Caitlin replied. "It has lots of parts, though I'm not sure we'd have enough people to go around for them." After all, lots of people didn't want to be on stage or be involved in the concert at all and they shouldn't be forced to just because someone wanted to tell a particular story. She herself was only now going to do anything to help her friend and only in an Art Club context.

"I don't think we have Grandfather Frost? " That didn't sound familiar to the seventh year, but it could have been something that Americans had that they called something else. "Is that like Old Man Winter?" Which she'd never thought of as an actual personification who had grandchildren rather than just a thing that people...called winter sometimes.Like a metaphor for how plants and stuff died in the winter and it being at the end of the year the way that elderly people were at the end of their life and died.

Caitlin nodded. "That's a pretty good story too, and it seems to need fewer people than the Twelve Dancing Princesses would." Okay, physical comedy wasn't really her thing although it would probably appeal to a more low-brow audience that included Pecaris and Muggleborns but it also had princesses which would appeal to little pureblood girls-and possibly even some non-purebloods girls as well. "All right." She agreed when Katerina offered to let her read the book she had about Tsarevna Vasilisa .

"No problem"." The Crotalus replied. "Governess is the word you're looking for. My cousins could help too and Allegra and Topaz have a cousin whose a writer and could do the scripts but I'm not sure that we're allowed to get people outside the school to help. I would not be surprised at all if Professor Skies wanted it to be all student labor, even if we have people willing to donate services which would make the production better."

11 Caitlin Pierce It really does 1415 0 5

Katerina Vorontsov

February 20, 2021 8:19 PM

Maybe rarity makes it nicer when it happens? by Katerina Vorontsov

"Yes," agreed Katya about the difficulties of staging the Twelve Dancing Princesses. "Many girls - all not too tall, not too short, all the same - and so much practice, for twelve girls to have a dance. This would be hard to do. It is too bad," she added as a reflective afterthought. "It would be easier to make the dresses like this."

Old Man Winter...that sounded like it might be something similar to Ded Moroz. She wasn't sure, though, and thought hard, finding the right words to describe the figure from her culture to her friend. "Maybe? I am not sure," she admitted. "Ded Moroz - that is his name in Russian - he comes to your house in December," she explained. "In secret, under the tree on thirty-first, he and Snegurochka leave gifts for you, if you are a good child." She smiled a little self-consciously. "It is only a story, but when we are small, sometimes we think Ded Moroz is real," she confessed. "Parents will tell you to be a good child so you can have gifts. Is this Old Man Winter?"

She smiled brightly, pleased and impressed, when Caitlin noted that the Princess Who Never Laughed would be an easier story to stage than the Twelve Dancing Princesses because it would require fewer people acting on stage. "I did not think of that!" she exclaimed. "It is a good thought. Even if only one boy plays - princes only come one at a time, one boy can be all princes, if he change clothes fast enough. Maybe two boys. It is something to think about."

Governess. Well, that would either be very easy to remember or very hard to remember, since it was very close - well, close enough - to the Russian word she already knew. Usually words like that were easier, since they came closer to what would come out of her mouth in her mother tongue, but sometimes she would still freeze up in uncertainty, thinking that because the word came readily to her, that it must necessarily be the wrong one.

"This is most likely true," she said, nodding, acknowledging the point about Professor Skies wanting them to do the work themselves. "Ah, well. It is good to use what we know how to do well, and we can practice our spells very much, that will help us for our exams," she added sensibly.

16 Katerina Vorontsov Maybe rarity makes it nicer when it happens? 1418 0 5