Selina Skies
April 18, 2023 9:46 AM
Museum Trip by Selina Skies
For today's field trip, the school was venturing outside the confines of the local area. There we're only so many interesting and educational opportunities in a given radius, and as they had been doing these trips, and travelling for Quidditch, for a while now, most of the students were at least somewhat used to magical travel. There would be plenty of pre-and-post travel sickness medication available, but they would all be taking Portkeys. Selina still took time to explain it, as they gathered in the hall, making sure everyone was holding on tightly, and that anyone who was nervous (or likely to make trouble) was near an adult. The objects in question were long planks of wood with convenient handholds, easy for groups of around twenty to hold. As they were sent direct to the school rather than hidden in a public place, there was no need for them to be subtle, everyday objects. The students were grouped by house, along with their head of house and an additional chaperone.At the appointed hour, they took off with a whoosh, propelling the students several states over with maximum efficiency and minimal gentleness. What they landed outside did not look worth the effort, although there was a clue that there was more to it than met the eye, in that it looked like one of the Painted Ladies from San Francisco but it was standing in the middle of a forest.
The students had already been told what awaited them inside - vast collections, ranging from the sublime to the strange; fine collections of animated porcelain in one room, stuffed bats from the year 1903 in another, all the way up to a room that contained a full scale carousel whose animals took off and cantered or flew about the room when the ride got going. In short, far too many things to fit within the house that stood before them, all of it gathered by one eccentric couple, then turned over to public enjoyment/bemusement upon their death.
Inside, the house was five floors, with the topmost being dedicated to the carousel, and every other a stretching labyrinth of mismatched rooms whose corridors defied all basic principles of architecture. The students would be splitting up, with one or two adults per floor, and would be free to wander that area for the alloted time so long as they stayed in at least pairs, before switching floors with another group. There were multiple collections on each floor, so everyone ought to be able to find something that held their curiosity.
They had a scavenger hunt too, vaguely aligned to both subjects and grade levels - for example, the beginners had to find and answer questions on the levitating tea trolley for charms, whist advanced students had to comment on the living dollshouse, though there was nothing to say students couldn't group up across age brackets, or take an interest in whatever they liked.
Having given out worksheets and instructions, and sorted the pairs or more into five roughly even groups, Selina dismissed them to enjoy wandering around the house.
OOC: The concept is based on the House on the Rock, Wisconsin. Feel free to invent content for the museum or backstory for the owners, so long as it doesn't contradict other posters. Please state your floor in your title for clarity.
Subthreads: Bats! (Hans) by Liesl Brockert with Hansel Hexenmeister
Trying to forget my worries (Verdillia) by Lydia Priory with Verdillia Scurlock
[Carousel] This would have been good to know about for Challenge 3 by Phil Carson with Christopher Brockert, Eben Sosna
[Floor: LFG] Bah. by Iris Cobb with Amethyst Brockert
This is going to be so cool (Rosalynn and Lorena) by Isla Brockert with Lorena Abernathy, Rosalynn Tellerman
{Second Floor} Hell is other people by Olaf Brockert with Tissena Randall
Let's be friends! [Tag: Charlotte or Ida] by Misty Brockert with Charlotte O'Malley
[First floor] That's some odd stuff by Fortune Ardovini with Yaniel Ayala Velez
Ready to Explore! by Xarryn Bavol with Gwendolyn Brockert
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Selina Skies
Museum Trip
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Lydia Priory
April 22, 2023 6:11 AM
Trying to forget my worries (Verdillia) by Lydia Priory
Lydia’s bout of pneumonia had been truly dreadful. She had been so incredibly sick and had honestly felt like she was going to die the whole time. Which might have been a relief, since she’d felt so bad. She’d had a dangerously high fever, which at one point had gotten up to 104.8, and had struggled to breathe on her own. The Teppenpaw had ended up staying in the Hospital Wing for two weeks, getting out just in time to go home for midterm, which she had spent mostly in bed, resting. Mom had insisted and Lydia had not minded a bit since she had not felt up to doing anything anyway.Besides, it was nice to be at home in her bed with her mom fussing over her, just like when she was little. It was what made her feel safe and happy and loved. Secure, Which was not something that Lydia felt much otherwise. At school, there were some people that were intimidating if not outright mean. There were nice people too, but in some cases it was complicated because they were interested in things that terrified her. Like, Hans was really nice and even got her a Christmas present, but he had that snake. Same with Liesl, she was nice enough but she just..embraced the creepy. And Lydia did not like creepy things.These were things that kept her from her fellow Teppenpaws.
It wasn’t just the mean people and the intimidating ones and the nice ones with creepy interests that made her less comfortable at school. It was…events too. Like the Challenges last year which had been awful and put her in a constant state of anxiety. Of course, part of that had been being terrified of her team captain but it was also the events themselves and worrying about what they would entail. Lydia was glad to have them behind her but she still had nightmares.
However, recently, her nightmares had more to do with CATS. Even though Lydia did just fine with classes, at least when she wasn’t behind from being sick for two weeks-although she was caught up now-and would never need to worry about getting into certain classes so she could have a career, she was still completely terrified. It was seriously hard to keep oneself in getting caught up in what was pretty much mass anxiety imposed on everyone by teachers who tended to make these tests seem like life and death. Especially when you had a very anxious disposition to start with.
So, therefore, Lydia was a nervous wreck, convinced she was going to fail everything. If she was a more logical person, like Gwendolyn was, she would know that was unlikely, but she was not like her cousin and was convinced it was going to be an utter disaster. Not only was she terrified of failure, she was afraid she was going to end up bursting into tears or throwing up or fainting or having a panic attack and the examiner would be mean about it and fail her.
Plus, Lydia knew that stress was bad for the immune system and she was terrified she’d get sick again. Half the time she was sure she was but it was actually severe anxiety over CATS.And life in general.
Today was supposed to be fun, however. The museum they were going to had some really neat collections and some that she really wanted to see. Like the carousel was supposed to be magnificent and then there were the dollhouses, including the living one. Lydia was interested in both of these, although she was a bit worried about there being scary stuff.
At least, though, the fifth year was pretty sure that she had someone that she could pair off. Verdillia was her friend and her field trip buddy. So, hopefully, she would want to hang out with Lydia today. Otherwise the Teppenpaw was pretty screwed, like if Verdillia was going with Christopher. Although she supposed she could hang out with both of them since her other alternative would be to hang out with Gwendolyn and her friends. Which would make her feel like she was intruding. Which she would also be with Verdillia and Christopher, she guessed.
Lydia approached the fourth year. “Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to pair up?” She asked Verdillia .”I hear they have a really large collection of unicorn stuff.” She added.
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Lydia Priory
Trying to forget my worries (Verdillia)
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Verdillia Scurlock
April 25, 2023 8:28 AM
Unicorns are a good way to do that by Verdillia Scurlock
Verdillia was... Intrigued by the field trip. On the one hand, it sounded like the house was absolutely bursting with magic, having belonged to a notable member of magical society and being choc full of intriguing things. In that sense, it was very like the historic homes her mother took her to. On the other... Well, the house and its owner sounded a bit mad.When the Portkey dropped them at the museum, Verdillia was pleased by the pretty house and its idyllic surroundings. Whilst she knew you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, it was equally true that first impressions mattered. This was a good first impression, and it swung Verdillia more towards the side of this being a good trip. Other points in its favour were the thought of the carousel (she hoped she wasn't supposed to be too old for that - she thought it would be okay given that it was both magical and a very special feature of this place) and the probability that there would be a little shop on the way out where she could buy something pretty.
The trip improved even further (even though they still hadn't even properly started) when Lydia approached and asked to be partners.
"That would be wonderful!"
The two of them were rapidly becoming trip buddies, which Verdillia enjoyed. She smiled as Lydia promised her unicorns. The day was looking better and better.
"Oooh. I looked up the place in the library when I found out we were coming on a field trip here, but it mostly talked about the history. I didn't know there was a unicorn collection. I was assuming there would be a lot of unicorns to find on things and I figured we could make a game of it, seeing how many we could find. I wonder if there still will be if they have their own collection. And, for that matter, where you would put a unicorn-patterned teapot if you collected both unicorn things and teapots. I suppose we'll find out!"
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Verdillia Scurlock
Unicorns are a good way to do that
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Lydia Priory
April 30, 2023 2:42 PM
Then let's go find some by Lydia Priory
Lydia breathed a sigh of relief when Verdillia agreed to pair off with her. Although it didn’t make sense logically, because the Crotalus had never really rejected her before, she couldn’t help but worry anyway. Anxiety was often not really rational to begin with, whether it was over whether or not someone who had always been nice to her wanted to hang out with her again-after all, Verdillia could have made prior plans with Christopher or Claire or just decided that Lydia wasn’t cool enough-or over CATS when she didn’t do poorly in school work for the most part and she would never need to worry about having to get a particular grade to continue with a certain class that she needed for her career plans, because she did not plan to have one.Still, she generally did not have much confidence in herself. Especially when it came to social situations. Which was unfortunate, given what her actual future probably would entail, which were a lot of fancy parties and making small talk with people. Which would mean that Lydia would be constantly worrying about whether or not she had done or said the right thing and if people liked her or not. Whether or not they thought she was weak or babyish and thought less of her for it.
Not to mention all the horribly nasty cutthroat bully types out there who were nothing but catty and cruel. Girls who were sort of like her cousin Arianna. Okay, Arianna specifically didn’t pay much attention to Lydia but girls like her who were closer to the Teppenpaw’s age might. And the Ariannas of this world, the Leonors, ate girls like Lydia for breakfast. So, therefore,the fifth year was definitely anxious about it.
Fortunately, though, Verdillia seemed to like her-which might not help her later but sure did right now- the fourth year even seemed fairly enthusiastic about hanging out with her. And that felt really good. It felt nice that someone wanted to be around her, that someone didn’t think Lydia was a drain and a burden.
And the Crotalus even was interested in the same things as her. Although lots of girls liked unicorns-although others…were Liesl-the fifth year still was worried that people might think they were babyish. As it was, Lydia was a bit worried about showing an interest out loud about the doll and dollhouse stuff for that reason.
“Actually, I think there’s both.” She replied. “Like, there’s a huge collection of unicorn figurines but then a lot of the stuff in the other collections have, like, unicorns painted on them or there are displays that have unicorns hidden in them.” Lydia smiled at the younger girl. “But we can definitely make a game of it too. As well as do the scavenger hunt that we’ve been assigned. Do we want to start on the first floor and go up or the top and work down?”
Another thought occurred to her as well. The Teppenpaw bit her lip. “Also, um, I was also wondering about the Bonfire, if you wanted to share a tent, I mean?” Once again, it was entirely possible that Verdillia had other plans and would be sharing with someone who wouldn’t want Lydia to share with them as well. Like everyone had to have at least three people but that didn’t mean they wanted to spend time with her .
Besides, Verdillia had agreed to hang out with her today. Maybe asking for any more would be asking for too much.
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Lydia Priory
Then let's go find some
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Verdillia Scurlock
May 03, 2023 6:57 PM
[first floor - glass figurines] by Verdillia Scurlock
"Excellent!" Verdillia beamed as Lydia agreed to her game of their own specific unicorn scavenger hunt. The charmed unicorn charm on her necklace reared and pranced its approval."Hmmm. Let's start at the bottom and work up," Verdillia said, after some consideration. The carousel sounded like the highlight, but she was of the school of thought that liked to save the best til last. They would just have to manage their time carefully, especially if lots of other people had the same idea. Of course, a huge crowd might run off to do it first - most likely the type who were impatient and liked to push and shove.
"That would be great!" she agreed as Lydia asked if she wanted to share a tent at the bonfire. Her other closest friend was a boy, so that wasn't an option. Though, given that she was hanging out with Lydia on the field trip and sharing a tent with her at the bonfire, she ought to find time to do something special with Christopher too. "Do you have any ideas for a third?" Lydia was well-connected so it oughtn't be an issue, or Verdillia could pull Claire in. She might ask to do that anyway because it seemed unkind and unwise to leave her roommate hanging.
She and Lydia made their way inside, starting on the ground floor. Verdillia gave a wide berth to the two Quidditch players looking at what appeared to be torture devices, settling instead on a case of animated glass figurines.
"There's got to be a unicorn in there somewhere," she said to Lydia. "Ooh. Could that be a horn at the back there? Maybe he's shy."
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Verdillia Scurlock
[first floor - glass figurines]
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Lydia Priory
May 04, 2023 8:59 PM
Ooohh by Lydia Priory
“Sounds like a plan,”Lydia replied. Honestly, she would have been equally okay had Verdillia had chosen the other way or wanted to start in the middle or something. Truth be told, the fifth year would do whatever the other girl wanted both because she liked making other people happy-there was a reason that she was in Teppenpaw-and because she really did not want them to be mad or annoyed at her . She wanted others to like her and was afraid that if she put up a fuss, they wouldn’t.The problem was that so many things scared Lydia or made her anxious. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case right now, since Verdillia also wanted to look at unicorns and probably other things that would also interest her rather than say, being like Liesl who probably wanted to look at the stuffed bats and other gruesome, gory things that scared the older Teppenpaw. Granted, the stuffed bats here might not be terrible, because they were stuffed animals and could not harm her, but nor did she have a burning desire to see them.
However, while it was not an issue today, sometimes it was. Therefore Lydia either then had to tell the person that she was with that she did not want to see or do the scary thing and risk them thinking she was whiny and a crybaby and not much fun and possibly making fun of her because of it…or she didn’t say anything, ended up panicking when faced with whatever she was afraid of and embarrassing herself in front of them with potentially the same results.
Freaking out in front of everyone was yet another reason why Lydia was dreading CATS. What if she started panicking or crying and her classmates saw? The seventh years who were taking their RATS would be graduating and she wouldn’t have to see most of them again, aside from maybe Lavender, Jasper and the O’Malley twins, but she still had to see her own classmates for two more years and they’d all think she was a massive crybaby and word would get around school about it and even Verdillia would distance herself from Lydia.
Even just breaking down in front of her examiner would be terrible. They’d probably get impatient and fail her outright or something. Or even if they didn’t fail her, which might very well be the case with DADA at least, they still probably wouldn’t be nice about it and that would make matters even worse. She could not just request to have a nice understanding examiner, if such a thing even existed, things didn’t work like that. It would be unfair and entitled to ask for that kind of special accommodation and anyone who tried would likely be not only turned down but also probably ridiculed among testing staff. Also, they might be remembered and it might count against them when it came time for them to take their tests. Not to mention that different people had different definitions of nice, surprisingly enough.
However, Lydia was brought out of her fears and anxieties when Verdillia also enthusiastically agreed to share a tent with her at the Bonfire, so at least, she didn’t have to worry about that. “Great!” She beamed, actually smiling. Although they did still need to find a third person. “I mean, I guess we could ask your roommate or maybe Connie or Liesl?” Okay, both of the Teppenpaw’s distant cousins were on the weird side, but they weren’t actually mean, and would likely need someone to stay with, especially since Liesl’s best friend was a boy and Lydia wasn’t even sure who Connie was actually friends with. She seemed more focused on her studies.
They came to a case full of animated glass figurines, thankfully skipping the torture implements, something that Lydia could most definitely do without seeing. “Oooh.” She marveled at the collection in front of her. “These are beautiful.” They were truly a sight to behold. All different sizes and shapes. A true menagerie
Verdillia called her attention to a potential unicorn sighting. Lydia squinted at it. “I think you’re right, that is a horn.”
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Lydia Priory
Ooohh
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Verdillia Scurlock
May 09, 2023 10:42 PM
Any blue roses around here? by Verdillia Scurlock
“Any of those sound good,” Verdillia agreed, when Lydia brought up a few options for their tent. Claire was probably her first pick, both because she was closer to her than the other two and because she wanted to keep their roommate bond friendly, but she would be fine with any of the other girls joining instead or in addition to Claire, so long as her roommate had someone to share with.Verdillia watched the animals, quite entranced. She had some similar figurines at home, and whilst this museum couldn’t exactly be described as ‘selective,’ it gave her a little swell of pride to think that something she collected could be museum-worthy. Several of her figurines did say they were collector’s items on the little cards that came with them.
She waited patiently, and when the crowd in the room thinned out a bit, the figurine poked its head out. She was careful not to react by jumping or squealing, not wanting to startle it.
“We were right!” she whispered to Lydia, as the finely wrought unicorn took a step forward. It sniffed the air, and lifted its hoof as if ready to move again, but a sudden noise startled it back into its place. “Aww… Okay, let’s find another one!” she said. “And… some preserved flowers with colour changing charms," she added, consulting her worksheet.
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Verdillia Scurlock
Any blue roses around here?
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Lydia Priory
May 11, 2023 1:42 PM
That sounds lovely by Lydia Priory
Lydia nodded. “All right, sounds like a plan.” She was glad Verdillia agreed with her ideas. Although she didn’t especially care who they shared with as long as they were nice. It would be pretty awful to have to share with someone who was mean. The Teppenpaw would spend the whole night anxious and miserable. Fortunately, the one person she could think of that seemed sort of mean and that kind of scared her was someone that Verdillia most likely would not want to associate with at all, let alone share a tent with.Not that she wasn’t a little bit worried still. Maybe none of those people would want to share with her though somebody would have to. And if someone was forced to join them who didn’t want to be with the fifth year then it would be uncomfortable. Someone might not necessarily be an overall mean person but they might not like her , because she was weak and frail. Lydia knew that she probably came across as fragile and possibly needy. Her sister thought of her that way and seemed resentful of her. And Iris had chosen Amethyst instead, though Lydia had nothing against her distant cousin and didn’t even blame Iris. Why would anyone else like her? She was amazed and lucky to have Verdillia as a friend.
Of course, all of that had naturally been eclipsed by her CATS related anxiety. The professors just kept talking about them and how important they were and reviewing for them which made it hard for Lydia to completely relax and forget about them. They were always there, lurking in her mind ready to attack her like a real cat would a mouse. The fact that her illness had made her fall behind on not just regular class work, but studying for them did not help matters.
However, for now, she really needed to concentrate on the museum and having a good time with Verdillia as she would not want to be a downer. People did not want to spend time with people who were sad and depressed or nervous and fearful. The fifth year supposed she was more the latter.
Of course, focusing on enjoying herself was much easier to do when standing in front of beautiful glass figurines. Lydia had some of her own but these were antiques. Although she did have antique ones too actually that had belonged to an ancestor of hers. She looked around to see if any of the ones that she had were in there,
She had just spotted one of them, a baby deer with its mother, when Verdillia whispered that they were right about the unicorn. Lydia’s eyes lit up. “He’s beautiful,” She whispered back.
Then the noise startled it back into place and the Crotalus suggested they go look for another-and mentioned preserved flowers with color changing charms. “They have those?” Lydia asked. “How lovely.” She was happy to realize that this museum was not going to be all torture instruments and shrunken heads. Although she was a little worried that there was going to be questions regarding such disturbing things on the worksheet they’d been given and that she would have to look at those things anyway.
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Lydia Priory
That sounds lovely
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