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
13
Selina Skies
Museum Trip
26
1
5
Liesl Brockert
April 20, 2023 12:46 AMLiesl Brockert
StudentHouse: Teppenpaw
Year: 7
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 14
Birthday: November 9
Bats! (Hans) by Liesl Brockert
Liesl was really excited to go to the museum today. She had never been there before, since the museums that her family traveled to tended to be more on the traditional side. Which was not surprising considering what her family was like. Also, they tended to be in places in other countries visiting famous artwork and things like that. Although, they hadn’t actually done anything like that in quite awhile, because while Father liked museums because of their educational value, Mother preferred the socialite stuff. Liesl had to side with Father on that one, big time.Also, it didn’t seem like they had much interest doing things as a family that way. Actually, the Teppenpaw didn’t think they ever really had. She remembered going on those outings as a kid because of Father’s academic interests. Which had been fun, but sometimes it seemed that Father hadn’t really wanted to take her along, just Desmond. Liesl-and Krisalyn, when she got older-were just intruding on Father and Desmond’s bonding trips. The fourth year had never been sure whether her father and brother were bonding over being intelligent or being male or both.
However, Father must have thought it was important for Liesl and Krisalyn to have educational opportunities and life experiences and took them along anyway. For all that he favored Desmond and was condescending towards Uncle Cory, Father could be reasonable. He was the one who had decided that it was all right for Liesl to go to Hans’ snake ranch during the summer, afterall and she did have some good memories of going to museums and other educational outings with Father.
Of course, it was more fun for Liesl and Krisalyn to go on outings of all kinds with Uncle Cory and his family. First of all, Uncle Cory was a much more fun person than Father, obviously. Secondly, her uncle made them feel wanted and included. Also, Jason and Sam were close to Krisalyn in age, so that was fun for the younger girl.
Anyway, this museum was a little more on the offbeat side, which was what was why Liesl was intrigued. For one thing, they had a collection of stuffed bats from 1903. Which was an oddly specific collection. Just from that one year? Were stuffed bats a huge trend back then? If only the fourth year had been around then, she had her own stuffed bat named Lucille that was her favorite stuffed toy. Liesl loved bats.
Also, perhaps she could hang out with Hans. Nothing like sharing this experience with her closest friend. (Who happened to think she was pretty. Which was irrelevant at the moment but still made her exceedingly happy.) Once they had arrived at their destination. Liesl turned to her friend and asked . “Do you want to pair up? I don’t know if there’s snake stuff here, but then I’ve heard this place has, like, the most random collections, so it is very possible. I do really want to see the stuffed bats though.”
11
Liesl Brockert
Bats! (Hans)
1537
0
5
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.
11
Lydia Priory
Trying to forget my worries (Verdillia)
1533
0
5
Phil Carson
April 22, 2023 9:31 PM
[Carousel] This would have been good to know about for Challenge 3 by Phil Carson
Portkeys were weird. As a muggleborn, he hadn't used them very often, and this, he thought, was to his benefit. Sure, the near instantaneous travel was nice, and the three and half hour trip from Dad's place to Mom's during the summer and over the Christmas holidays was tedious, but he wasn't prone to carsickness and he could spend the time reading. The drive was definitely more of a hassle for his parents than him, but they were the ones who decided to divorce and live three and half hours away from each other, so that was on them. Once he became old enough to drive himself, he'd also be nearly old enough to apparate himself, and he hoped that didn't feel quite so nauseating and disorienting as portkeys did, or he would be just driving that whole way when he wanted to travel between them. Ideally, though, being a wizard would make keeping in touch with both parents a lot easier and cheaper than it would be if he hadn't lucked out and developed magic.But today there was a Whole-House portkey, and he grabbed onto his hold on the Aladren one, and they all transported to Somewhere Else; he wasn't even entirely sure what state they were in when his stomach stopped heaving. Whatever kind genes protected him from carsickness were not able to cope with portkeys. He gratefully accepted the anti-nausea potion someone handed him and chugged it down, not allowing himself think about what kinds of ingredients went into potions. He was almost all right now with the idea of drinking pumpkins as a juice. He had not yet reached the point where he was comfortable with the idea of ingesting anything in his potions kit.
He moved with the others toward the house that was actually a museum. He'd gotten separated from Eben during his nausea bout, and he was looking around at the other students as much as the building, trying to find either his Housemate, one of his gaming buddies, or one of his Challenge teammates because, dude, this was a magical museum, and that had been his team's final challenge assignment, to design one. (He was really missing Gabriel in this moment, as the older boy had met all of those criteria and would have been a great person to explore this place with.) He was curious to see how an actual wizarding world museum compared to the one Team Three had made, but also slightly worried he was going to realize they had missed really important things that they should have included now that they were actually at one.
Like a giant flying carousel. Theirs hadn't had any rides. Even if it had occurred to him, he would have thought that was outside of a museum's scope, but clearly the creators of this one were not bound by arbitrary rules like not having amusement rides inside institutions of learning.
He found himself on the top floor, staring at the room sized carousel with a variety of different creatures sitting sedately in a circle during the loading process, and made himself close his mouth and stop looking like a noob who'd never seen a magical carousel before. "Seriously, if I knew magic museums had things like this, I definitely would have suggested it for our museum challenge last year," he remarked to the person he'd ended up standing beside. "I mean, the water table was interesting, but this . . . wow. I think I want to ride a hippogriff! Do you think I need to bow to it first, or won't it be that true to life?"
1
Phil Carson
[Carousel] This would have been good to know about for Challenge 3
1536
0
5
[Floor: LFG] Bah. by Iris Cobb
Iris had been looking forward to the museum trip, right up until they arrived. She was getting used to the portkey travel system, it wasn't great, but it did work. That wasn't the problem though. The small odd building that the landed in sure didn't look very impressive, but they had been warned about that. It wasn't the problem either. No, her problem was of course the same problem she'd had for a while now. Liesl. They hadn't been here for more than a few moment before the girl had thrown herself upon Hans. Again. Part of the problem was that she couldn't really blame Lisel for doing it, it was Hans after all. But she had beaten her to it. She should have made arrangements ahead of time, but she'd kinda been hoping that Hans would have asked her. He hadn't.So, where did that leave her now? Alone, or to go and find Amethyst maybe. Somehow alone sounded better at the moment, but that wasn't allowed. She had to have a partner. If she couldn't have Hans though... what was the point? Without Hans... a brief shudder ran through her. Without Hans would she actually have to follow Aunt Emily's plan? Would she get stuck with.. ugh. She didn't want to think about that. She'd lock herself away in the Cobbson estate and never come out again before that happened. What other options were there? Bring home the boy she'd been telling folks back home about, or... ugh.
As for the day's activities, she looked around a bit listlessly and decided she didn't feel like hunting someone down. If they wanted her, they could find her. If no one did... well, that may just be her lot in life and she should get used to it. To pass the time, she looked over the worksheet that she had been handed. Nothing on it really registered in her mind though.
2
Iris Cobb
[Floor: LFG] Bah.
1526
0
5
Christopher Brockert
April 23, 2023 3:41 AM
I don't think it would have helped me much. I had an escape room. by Christopher Brockert
The end of the year was quickly approaching and as usual, Christopher was dreading going home.As much as he wanted to see his parents and sister and everyone else, he still felt safer at school, away from Uncle Eustace. (And Topaz, but his uncle had personally traumatized him more than his cousin)He really wished it wasn’t like that. That he could look forward to time off from school and time with the rest of his family without the dark specter of his uncle’s bullying presence lurking. Even when Uncle Eustace wasn’t actually around him during the summer, the fourth year was anxious, worrying about when he was. He hated that Uncle Eustace somehow managed to ruin everything from his ability to enjoy his summer break to his self-esteem and ability to form friendships.
Still, Christopher was going to try his very best to enjoy the rest of the school year. He was especially looking forward to seeing the museum today. First of all, he was kind of a nerd and just generally enjoyed museums. Of course, this was yet another thing Uncle Eustace had bullied him about, preferring museums to things that were a little more active and/or adventurous so Chris was admittedly a tad worried about others thinking the same way and making fun of him. So, he was going to have to pair with a known friend or a known nerd. Well, a known nerd who also happened to be nice, he knew there were some that weren’t but none of them were around his age so he probably wouldn’t have to worry about it.
Anyway, the thing about this particular museum was its unique architecture. Christopher wanted to be an architect himself, so checking out all the weird twists and turns and interesting designs and magical features of it sounded absolutely fascinating. He also, and this was something he would never admit out loud, since he could only imagine what people would say about him, was interested in seeing the dollhouses for the same reason. The architecture on them. They were basically miniature houses, so, while Chris had never had any interest in playing with dolls-if he had, he was sure Uncle Eustace might have actually beaten him up for it-he honestly appreciated the beauty of a nicely designed house or other building even one for dolls.
Although, since there was no way that Christopher was telling anyone that, even Verdillia or Cole for fear that they wouldn’t like him anymore. Well, he could tell them that he appreciated buildings as art work, but not the part about that including doll houses.
That said, he was unsure, exactly, about how he would be able to see them. The easiest thing would be to find a female partner who would be into doll stuff. Not that it was something all of them would and there might even be some guys who were more interested in those than girls. Chris couldn’t be one hundred percent sure but, for example, he could more easily see Lenny being into them than Yarielis.
Of course, his obvious choice for a female partner was Verdillia and she was already pairing off with Lydia Priory. Christopher sighed to himself and looked down at the scavenger hunt sheet he’d been given, as perhaps there was something about it on there.
As it turned out,the first question happened to be about the carousel so Chris joined the group that was going up to the top floor, making sure to steer clear of anyone that was on his Avoid list, if they happened to be among this particular bunch of people.
He ended up standing next to Phil in front of the carousel. It was truly a sight to behold. Of course, the Crotalus had seen one before, even ones where the animals did similar things, but none of them were on this level. Or jammed into the top floor of a museum in a house where that certainly did not look big enough from the outside to fit such a thing.
Christopher nodded when the other fourth year spoke to him. “It might have done pretty well. I know Olaf thought the one you did should have placed better than it did though. It might not have been this but it was still pretty cool.” He considered Phil’s next question. “Honestly? Not sure but I would just to be on the safe side. “ But then Chris was the cautious type. He looked at the carousel again, “I think I’ll try the six legged panda pig.”
11
Christopher Brockert
I don't think it would have helped me much. I had an escape room.
1539
0
5
Hansel Hexenmeister
April 23, 2023 10:07 PM
Neat! by Hansel Hexenmeister
Hans was looking forward to the museum trip. He'd enjoyed the zoo one, and he had no reason to think the museum wouldn't be just as good. There'd been a pretty interesting challenge design around a museum the previous year, and he was eager to see if a real thing had any of the same elements, though obviously, it probably wouldn't have a Sonora themed water table (unless, of course, the creators had also gone to Sonora and were into water tables, but that seemed somehow unlikely).He portkeyed over with the rest of the Teppenpaws, finding the experience no worse than any other portkey trip he'd ever taken, so he was right next to Liesl already on arrival and it seemed entirely natural when she turned to him to ask if they wanted to explore the place together. "Sure!" he agreed enthusiastically. They'd made a good pair for the zoo trip, and she was his favorite human at Sonora (he was sure Cori would be offended if Hansel liked Liesl better than his little green roommate, but it was a very close call there and he was glad there was an easy way to not have to decide).
"It's okay if there isn't anything snakey," he promised. "I do have other interests," he added, giving her a smile. Bats were not necessarily one of them, but he had nothing against them, and he would be happy to check them out if it made Liesl happy. "To the bats, then!" he declared, gesturing toward the building that looked entirely too small to contain everything it was supposed to have, but that was magic for you. They must have made extensive use of extension charms.
He collected his scavenger hunt sheet for his grade level as they passed by the professors, then a map as they entered into the building, and he checked both for the mention of the bat room. "Oh, we've even got a question about the bats!" he declared, showing it to her. "Name one magical ability of the Yellow Nosed Fruit Bat. Do we want to start there or save it for last?"
1
Hansel Hexenmeister
Neat!
1524
0
5
Liesl Brockert
April 24, 2023 7:43 AMLiesl Brockert
StudentHouse: Teppenpaw
Year: 7
Written by: Allegra Brockert
Age in Post: 14
Birthday: November 9
Very! by Liesl Brockert
OOC: CW-Emotional abuse BIC:
Liesl beamed when her friend agreed to hang out with her. As much as she knew that she should expect that Hans wanted to hang out with her, because he usually seemed to, it still often surprised her. Admittedly, she was not used to most people wanting her around, given that her own parents didn’t seem to. So that she’d connected with Hans, that anyone liked her at all, made her feel pretty good-but, still surprised.
Granted, Liesl might be better off not being around her parents. She was already terrified that her mother was going to drag her away from the snake ranch-where the Teppenpaw much preferred to be-for a repeat of the dreadful ball she’d been forced to attend at midterm. Where she had been made to wear a gown and make-up and jewelry that did not suit her personality and were indeed anything but. Mother might even use the snake ranch as a bargaining chip where in order to go, Liesl had to wear pink and endure uncomfortable small talk and just plain feel wrong .
Although, that would be better than not going to the snake ranch at all. She would not put it past her mother at this point to tell her she couldn’t go to a place where she belonged to go somewhere that she didn’t. Because Mother cared more about propriety and appearances than Liesl’s happiness, comfort and psychological well being. Basically, she wanted Liesl not to be Liesl .
She wondered if it was just her whose feelings didn’t matter to her mother. Mother didn’t act this way with Desmond or Krisalyn, at worst her sister got scolded for showing sympathy to her and was told that it was for Liesl’s “own good”, but that was all. Was that because Mother actually cared about them or was it because they fit within her narrow view of acceptability. The fourth year was pretty sure it was the latter and the moment they tried stepping out of those parameters, Mother would force them back in.
Also, there was quite a huge difference between what her mother thought was for Liesl’s own good and what actually was. What would truly be good for the Teppenpaw was to let her be herself and stay with either Hans or Uncle Cory when she was not at school. Honestly, she was so close to just asking if she could officially move in with her uncle but while she was sure he’d say yes, Mother would say no, just because of “how it would look.”
Liesl wished she could just forget about this today and have fun at a really kooky offbeat museum with her best friend but the end of the year was coming closer and so, it was a very real worry that was getting more immediate every day. And every day she felt her anxiety growing about going home, about the balls, about Mother, about the whole situation.
Despite all that though, she smiled back at her friend. “Well, there’s a lot of weird collections here, so hopefully we’ll find something to interest you. But first..bats! I think they’re stuffed bats like stuffed toy type rather than the taxidermy kind like my cousin Topaz makes. I don’t think she’s ever made a bat but she does taxidermy.”
The fourth year considered his question. “Let’s go look at the bats first. I’m actually really interested in seeing different varieties of bats as stuffed animals. And we can go find the answer to that while we’re there.”
11
Liesl Brockert
Very!
1537
0
5
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!"
13
Verdillia Scurlock
Unicorns are a good way to do that
1541
0
5
Isla Brockert
April 26, 2023 12:45 PM
This is going to be so cool (Rosalynn and Lorena) by Isla Brockert
Isla was so totally excited about going to the museum. First of all, this museum had a huge collection of marionette puppets, one that was even larger than her own fairly extensive one. However, these were antiques created by one of the most famous puppet makers of all time, Giuseppe Carisi and some of them were animated to perform on their own in exquisite dioramas. Of course, the Aladren preferred actually operating her puppets but it was still going to be totally awesome.What was more important though was that this time, she would have her friends. Last time, when they went to the zoo two years ago, Isla had been on her own while her friends went with their boyfriends.Well, not on her own, because she couldn’t do that. They had to be in at least pairs, just as they did this time, much to Olaf’s chagrin. And Isla had really appreciated Gus stepping in and hanging out with her.
However, while she had truly enjoyed hanging out at the zoo with the Pecari, there was no real substitute for hanging out with her friends. And even if Rosalynn decided to go hang out with Tommy for a while, Isla would still have Lorena.
Admittedly, she did feel a little guilty for being glad that Lorena and Oz had broken up. Obviously, she had not wanted her friend to get hurt, even though they had been a terrible mismatch and Lorena deserved so much better. Still, she had truly hated being the odd one out among her friends and having nobody to hang out with at the Ball or having to worry about finding a decent partner for a field trip. Because while Isla had been lucky last time, she might not have been. Also, nobody wanted to be one of those left over people that nobody wanted to hang out with. It made you feel bad, like nobody liked you and there was something wrong with you, even though the sixth year knew that the former wasn’t true.
Still, it had been more or less the issue with the Ball last time. And why, besides the fact that balls just were not that fun or interesting to begin with, the Aladren was dreading it next year.. Any of the other events, she would get to just spend time with her friends but this was a big couple thing where Rosalynn would be with Tommy and someone might ask Lorena and nobody would ask her and everyone else would be paired off, if it was anything like last time. Which had not even been remotely fun and not at all how Isla wanted to spend her last night at Sonora. Or any night.Ever.
Why, of all the events, did that have to be the last event for her? Especially since it was the one that would have been happy to have only had to go through once, and that was arguably one time too many.
At least, though, this year was the Bonfire, which would be a billion times more fun and so would the museum today. Once everyone had arrived at the museum, Isla turned to her friends. “Where do you guys want to go first?” Of course, she wanted to go see the puppets but she was up for anything her friends wanted to see, so long as she got to see them eventually.
11
Isla Brockert
This is going to be so cool (Rosalynn and Lorena)
1521
0
5
Amethyst Brockert
April 27, 2023 4:28 PM
Humbug? by Amethyst Brockert
Amethyst was incredibly shocked that her petition had not generated more signatures so far. She had assumed that most students would be in favor of less restrictions. Who wanted stricter rules? Who wanted to have less personal freedom?She really wanted to believe that people just hadn’t gotten around to signing yet, or that people were merely apathetic and she didn’t go to school with a bunch of fascists. Amethyst understood that it didn’t personally affect some people, that they might not have had friends that were the same house and gender as them,but that still didn’t mean it wasn’t important. Olaf was a gigantic misanthrope and he had signed it. Because he understood that it wasn’t just about their social development and bonding with others, it was about not living under tyranny.
Besides, it was Grandfather who would look like a tyrant to the outside world. And while he was a grouchy old man generally speaking, he was much more the hands off type-which probably explained Father, come to think of it, perhaps he had inherited this characteristic, while Mother had been emotionally neglectful because that was what happened when an emotionally immature person had too many children in too short a time -not the type to make a bunch of unnecessarily strict rules that prevented innocent activities in order to prevent the ones they actually wanted to keep from happening.
So, in a way, Amethyst wasn’t just standing up for student rights, and trying to get elected Head Student, she was also standing up for her grandfather and the reputation of Sonora. Because while Grandfather was a lot of things-cantankerous, misanthropic, apathetic…succinct-he was not a fascist. And she did not want people to think he was. Nor did the fifth year want people to think Sonora, a school that her family had gone to since its inception and was now run by a member of her family, was an authoritarian state. How would that help anyone’s image, the school’s, her family’s or that of Grandfather personally?
Although, Amethyst did have to admit that it was possibly Grandfather’s apathy that had let this happen in the first place. Like, he only fought so much before he just said ‘screw this’ and now it was hers to fight against. She was sure that was not his intent, or anyone’s, but this was where they were. And besides, maybe he had thought they were going to have the spell work the same way as the ones on the beds in the Bonfire tents. Again, more or less what Amethyst was now fighting for.
She had to wonder why, however, the professors had let someone’s parent push them around.And if they would allow themselves to be bossed around like that again. Like if some vegan or health nut decided that they should not be able to have meat or dairy or sugar or have to play sports. Or if say, Uncle Eustace pushed for mandatory Quidditch for all the boys-which would honestly made no sense, because he only had Honora and only ever would, whether or not he liked it, so demanding a rule that would not affect the only child he’d ever have attending Sonora would not make sense, but then Uncle Eustace never did.
Granted, Amethyst was pretty sure these suggestions would be shot down out right, especially when it came to anything affecting food options, since it would be pretty unfair to ban anything that Miles could possibly eat-and even with all the…adjustments that would be needed to be made in order accommodate him, others would not be prevented from eating all the things that he could not.Also, they would have to pry a steak out of Grandfather’s cold dead hands, before he gave them up.
And preventing them from sitting on their beds was pretty much the same as banning everyone from eating dairy and wheat and everything else Miles couldn’t eat because he couldn’t eat them. It was overkill. Also, Amethyst was pretty sure her cousin wouldn’t want that and would feel even worse if everyone had to give up things they enjoyed eating for him. Also, he would likely worry that everyone would hate and resent him. She had to wonder if the child (or children) of this overbearing parent felt that way too.
Actually, Amethyst had to feel a bit sorry for whomever it was that they had such a strict parent. She had to imagine how…restricted they must be and that sounded unbearable. Of course, the Crotalus had been raised in sort of an opposite environment which probably wasn’t the best either-especially since that in combination with Topaz being a psychopath created a perfect storm of chaos-but there was a happy medium. Maybe like Uncle Ben and Aunt Shannon. They could be a little strict and protective but not unreasonably so.
And, also, they weren’t asking for rules at school that affected other people’s children. Actually, other than accommodating Miles’ allergies-which was pretty reasonable, it was a life and death situation after all since he could literally die if accidentally ate shrimp or a peanut or something-nobody in her family really ever asked for anything from Sonora beyond the education it promised them.
At least this fascist parent had not made a move to ban field trips.Amethyst did not know why someone would do such a thing, but who knew with some people? Maybe they would want to prevent their child from going off school grounds because it was “unsafe” and might expose them to “unwholesome” things that these parents didn’t want their precious little babies to see! (This would never have been an issue for her own parents given they didn’t ship Topaz off to some home for criminally insane children. It would have been massively hypocritical of them given how unsafe and unwholesome everything involving the Aladren alumna was.)
Fortunately that hadn’t happened. Not yet anyway. Today they were visiting a museum. One that was odd and unique. One that Liesl and Isla were extremely excited about, both because there were specific collections that appealed to them-Amethyst had already heard quite a bit some puppet maker that her cousin seemed to think was among the greatest artists and people of all time, the price she paid for
On that note, Amethyst went off to find a partner of her own. As they were in the same house, she found Iris before Alexei. She approached, noting that her friend looked a little off. “Iris,are you okay? Is it the portkey?” She was used to portkeys but some people got sick from them.
11
Amethyst Brockert
Humbug?
1532
0
5
Olaf Brockert
April 27, 2023 6:24 PM
{Second Floor} Hell is other people by Olaf Brockert
Today they were going to the museum-and Olaf generally actually liked museums.Not as much as libraries or bookstores, but he still liked them because they were educational and mostly interesting unless it was something dull like a Quidditch museum or something like that. Honestly, why someone would dedicate a museum to something so banal and uninteresting and unimportant as that was beyond him. However, it existed and it was an affront to museums and their purpose.Fortunately, that was not the museum they were going to today. This was a museum of odd and diverse collections that should most likely have something that interested all but the most anti-museum anti-education Uncle Eustace-ish neanderthal jock types. Whose opinions and feelings Olaf generally did not care about except that he was worried about those people getting out of line and causing trouble.
Trouble that might end up ruining things for everyone. If they could not behave themselves, they might never get another field trip again, might not get to see another museum. Okay, yes, the Aladren was sure he could go to them with his family but the point was still there that this was a respectable and interesting place and when someone like Leo could disrupt potions by dumping frogs on everyone-fortunately, nothing had happened to Olaf’s book, or Charlotte O’Malley would be getting prefect by default, instead of hopefully getting it someday because she actually knew how to behave in public unlike her year and housemate-who knew what sort of havoc he could wreak here? It was already apparent that he didn’t respect educational environments. Olaf was going to make sure to stay far away from him today. Or anyone whom he thought might behave in a similar manner or was just otherwise annoying.
Well, more annoying than the average person, that was. Because Olaf was not allowed to walk around by himself the way that he would have strongly preferred. Honestly, why did they have to ruin a perfectly good museum trip by forcing him to have to be around another person? This was supposed to be fun . How in Merlin’s name did they expect Olaf to have fun when he had to put up with another person? Someone who would yammer on about stupid things and irritate him when he was trying to learn about random weird collections and their origins and history and why the owners had collected them and how and where and just all the other interesting tidbits.
Unfortunately, Olaf had to. Because if he didn’t, it would be him who ruined everything, not Leo or one of the Pecaris. And he didn’t want that , both because he wanted to keep going on field trips and because he didn’t want to be a hypocrite. Although, the Aladren was unsure if that was exactly hypocritical, because what he would have an issue with was someone being disruptive and disrespectful, not someone else breaking a rule about going off on their own. Olaf would understand someone doing that because it was really what he wanted to do. However, he still didn’t want to ruin the opportunity to go on more trips.
Still, well, this was a rule imposed on them that he found far worse and restrictive than anything that had been done to their beds. Olaf sighed and, after making sure that Leo was not in the group, decided to vaguely follow a group going up to the second floor, finding himself in a room full of antique chamber pots with animated pictures on them.
He was just reading about the history of the animator when he heard someone beside him speak.
11
Olaf Brockert
{Second Floor} Hell is other people
1564
0
5
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.
11
Lydia Priory
Then let's go find some
1533
0
5
Lorena Abernathy
April 30, 2023 4:16 PM
Friends and museums? What's not to love?! by Lorena Abernathy
Lorena had been practically counting down the days for the school trip this year. She absolutely loved museums! Her parents used to take her to the children’s museum all the time until she had outgrown it. Sonora had gotten in the way of visiting more mature places, but Dad had mentioned maybe a family trip this summer, so she had that to look forward to as well.But this was a magical museum, which anything she saw at home was sure not to be, or else Mom probably wouldn’t want to go. Lorena and her mother had made a lot of strides over the years, to the point now that Mom’s magical aversion didn’t really come between them or prevent Lorena from sharing her school stories. Still, magic wasn’t something her mom was really comfortable with experiencing, so Lorena was extra grateful for this opportunity now at school.
She was especially glad to get to go with her two best friends, Isla and Rosalynn. Lorena figured either Ros might split off at some point to hang out with Tommy, or else her boyfriend might tag along with the group, but either way, that was okay. Even if they left, she could still hang out with Isla. The longer their relationship went, Lorena did feel a little bit of involuntary jealousy - she’d only had one boyfriend, Oz, and that hadn’t really worked out. Ros and Tommy had found each other from like literally day one, it was such a storybook romance! Mostly Lorena was just happy for her friend, but there was still a little voice in her head that wanted something like that for herself. And for Isla, too, obviously, but internal voices tended to be a little selfish.
After they arrived, Isla was first to ask where the trio should begin. “I don’t have a strong opinion - I’m sure we’ll get to most things at some point,” Lorena replied with a knowing grin. “I have a feeling I know your vote, though. Rosalynn, any complaints starting with the puppet section?”
12
Lorena Abernathy
Friends and museums? What's not to love?!
1510
0
5
Misty Brockert
April 30, 2023 4:32 PM
Let's be friends! [Tag: Charlotte or Ida] by Misty Brockert
Despite a purely magical upbringing, Misty had still never really gotten used to the sensation of Portkey travel. Most people seemed to use floo more often, and that one, she had learned to stomach. Portkeys, though, were different. She was used to the sensation of spinning quickly - after all, she was pretty good at turning on her ice skates - but there were two larger factors: one, that she was not in control of the motion, and two, that too much of the experience felt more like falling. Ideally, when you skated, you tried not to fall. Like, that was kind of the whole thing.So upon arrival, Misty took a moment - perhaps a little longer than other Pureblooded kids - to steady herself again and regain her land legs. After that, though, she remembered her mission. As much as she wanted to hang out with her (cute) new friend Donovan some more, there were two other first years she wanted to find. Misty had not established any other serious friendships thus far into the year, but she had to figure out who to share a tent with for the bonfire coming up. There were two other first year girls - Ida Stanton and Charlotte O’Malley - who were probably in the same boat as her. All three girls were in three different Houses, so none of them were likely to have any default plans for roommates. Misty wanted to make a connection with them mostly because she was an extroverted and friendly young girl, but also, more pressingly, she kind of needed to figure something out for this bonfire thing. She did kinda know Charlotte because they were somehow related, but not super well.
Once she was steady enough, as kids began pairing or grouping up, Misty made a beeline for the first of the other two girls she saw. “Hi!” she beamed as she approached, hands clasped on the straps of her fluffy owl backpack. “Do you want to explore with me?”
12
Misty Brockert
Let's be friends! [Tag: Charlotte or Ida]
1567
0
5
Charlotte O'Malley
May 02, 2023 9:25 AM
I'd like that by Charlotte O'Malley
Charlotte was really really looking forward to going home for the summer…because she could not wait to actually see her new baby sister Cassidy in person! She was so excited to get to hold her and play with her. The Teppenpaw was sorry to have missed getting to do so when her sister was first born, but she guessed it might be more fun now that the baby would be a little older when she got home. Although she would still be pretty small.Either way, Charlotte was super excited. She hadn’t gotten to really spend time with babies of any age before. She had thought she would have to wait until either one of her dad’s cousins had one or Aunt Peyton and Uncle Connor did. She had never thought she’d have her own younger sibling.
So, naturally, she was looking forward to vacation. Plus, she was looking forward to seeing her parents and the rest of her family too. It might be the only time for a while that Charlotte would get to be with her parents, her brothers and Cassidy before Stanley and Wally moved out and away for good. The first year was going to miss them really bad too.
And she knew that she should not mind, that she shouldn’t be sad that they were not going to be around, because until this year, Charlotte had not been around them all the time since she was five and they went to Sonora for their first year. And she knew that they would never abandon her or their parents and probably would love Cassidy and want to be as amazing big brothers to her as they were to Charlotte. And that a huge age difference between siblings didn’t mean they wouldn’t be close because Dad and Aunt Peyton were close although there wasn’t quite as big of an age gap between them as there was between her brothers and Cassidy.
Still, Wally and Stanley graduating and being real adults was just…different from them being at school while she was at home with their parents. It was hard to explain and she was honestly just hoping for a lot of family time this summer.
Anyway, it would not be too much longer before school ended for the summer and today would hopefully be a lot of fun. Charlotte had heard a lot of cool things about the museum that Sonora was visiting today for its field trip. The carousel was supposed to be amazing and she was looking forward to telling Kira about the dollhouses. Plus, she generally liked museums anyway.
They arrived and Charlotte looked around. She was about to go see what Quillan’s plans were for the day when Misty approached her. “Sure!” She replied. It would be nice to get to know her cousin a little bit better and maybe become friends too. Especially with the Bonfire coming up. The first year was pretty sure that Piper would be sharing a tent with her own friends and Charlotte really needed to make some of her own. She considered Quillan to be one but obviously she couldn’t share a tent with him. “What do you want to see first?.” She asked the other girl. “By the way, I like your backpack.”
11
Charlotte O'Malley
I'd like that
1573
0
5
Fortune Ardovini
May 02, 2023 6:16 PM
[First floor] That's some odd stuff by Fortune Ardovini
This museum trip sounded fun, mostly because Fortune got to leave the school for a bit. Not that he didn't like the school, but a change of surroundings was nice once in a while. This would be a new place to explore, and from the sounds of it, there would be plenty to see.The arrival wasn't anything he hadn't done before, but Fortune still preferred other methods of travel over Portkeys. Flying here on brooms would have been awesome, but probably would have taken longer. He steadied himself until the aftereffects of the Portkey passed, then he listened to Professor Skies, got a worksheet and headed into the museum with whatever group was around him at the time.
It occurred to him that this might be a good chance to figure out his bonfire plans. Maybe some people from Quidditch? Maybe the gaming club? Well, maybe he'd just see who he bumped into today while he explored.
So Fortune kept his eyes open while he wandered about the strange and somehow fascinating collections on the ground floor. Some of the things just seemed like junk, but there was something about the stuff once it was in a collection like this. Something that made it… more than just junk?
"What do you make of that stuff?" Fortune asked the closest person. As he gestured at the large collection of archaic, outdated cooking implements. At least he hoped that's what they were.
2
Fortune Ardovini
[First floor] That's some odd stuff
1549
0
5
Yaniel Ayala Velez
May 03, 2023 4:29 AM
What, me? by Yaniel Ayala Velez
Yarielis felt anxious and lonely as the school headed out on the museum trip. That was how Yarielis felt every day, so the museum trip could hardly be blamed, though it did exacerbate those feelings.It had been hard enough to extend on-the-field friendships to real friendships even when Yarielis had been playing. Having quit -or at least, gone on a break- it felt all but impossible. Cole was a real friend, but he would probably want to hang out with his Teppenpaw friends because he was closer to them. They would be nice and let Yarielis tag along, but the Crotalus didn't want to impose, or have to spend the day with Lenny. It wasn't fair to put Cole in the middle though, and Yarielis was worried about leaning on him too much. He had already helped with all the conversations with the coach. Those conversations had involved a lot of the coach agreeing with Cole, though without as many specific words, and making Yarirlies talk to another adult. The coach had also figured out a way to talk to the team. Not directly, but the two of them had worked out a wording, to make it clear that Yarielis hadn't just up and bailed, and to leave the door open... The Crotalus was taking a break for 'personal reasons'and hoped to come back to the team 'in the future.' It was simultaneously so vague as to seem utterly unhelpful but personal enough to be mortifying. Yarielis hated the thought of being talked about, but everyone thinking the worst, and thinking Yarielis had just bailed without caring was even worse.
As they touched down at the museum, Yarielis' stomach turned, in a way that had nothing to do with the Portkey. It was time to find a partner.
Fortune was nearby. Yarielis hovered on the periphery, trying to work out how you asked someone you'd ditched whether they wanted to hang out with you now... Yarielis was still considering this as they were swept into the museum. Oh no. That was a mistake. Now Yarielis was rule-breaking, albeit unintentionally, and whilst Fortune was in the same boat, he seemed determined to flat out ignore Yarielis. Apparently, he'd take getting into trouble over speaking to the Crotalus. This had all been a mistake.
Yarielis tried to hover near enough the other people to not be in trouble but not so near as to be bugging them, and was busy running through any spells that might make the ground open up, when Fortune struck up a casual, friendly chat. Yarielis checked over both shoulders to confirm he wasn't talking to someone else and, on finding he wasn't, tried to come up with an eloquent opinion on the creepy medical implements he was looking at. 'Fine' or 'good' didn't seem like an appropriate response.
"Uh. Puts potions with bugs in them into perspective?" Yarielis offered.
13
Yaniel Ayala Velez
What, me?
1554
0
5
Misty Brockert
May 03, 2023 6:35 PM
Me too! by Misty Brockert
Misty was glad it was Charlotte she saw first. Nothing against Ida, but Misty had a bit more to work off with Charlotte since they were related. Even if she didn’t know Charlotte that well yet, it at least gave them that sort of common ground and understanding. There was a stronger incentive to get along with your own relatives than strangers, so people often gave their family members certain benefits of the doubt that you might not give someone else. So at a base level - not even factoring in any potential differences in personality between Charlotte and Ida - Charlotte was more likely to accept if Misty was a little weird or awkward.“I’m excited to see the carousel,” Misty answered when Charlotte asked where she wanted to begin. “So we could either start with that, or save it for last. It’d be a fun way to end things, but if we take too long other places, we might not get there, so maybe we should start with it?” It wasn’t really a question, but Misty ended her sentence with an upward inflection to let Charlotte know that none of the things she said were set in stone.
“Thanks!” she beamed when Charlotte complimented her bag, spinning around so her new friend could get a better look. “My mom gave it to me for Christmas,” she added over her shoulder. Sometimes Misty wondered if she’d grow out of stuffed animals and cute things soon, but so far, she still liked them. “You can touch it if you want to - it’s really soft!”
12
Misty Brockert
Me too!
1567
0
5
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."
13
Verdillia Scurlock
[first floor - glass figurines]
1541
0
5
Charlotte O'Malley
May 04, 2023 5:26 PM
Excellent by Charlotte O'Malley
“Oh, me too!” Charlotte replied “I’ve heard so many amazing things about it . It’s supposed to have so many different types of animals represented both magical and mundane. And I’m really looking forward to the dollhouses too. My-well, our-cousin Kira has this really big one and I want to see if they measure up.” Maybe it was for the best that she had partnered up with Misty, as she didn’t think Quillan would be all that enthused about anything having to do with dolls.Okay, she knew that there was no hard and fast rule saying, for example, that girls had to like dolls and boys had to like Quidditch and not like the other-her mother liked Quidditich a lot and her dad didn’t like it much at all-but most of the time, boys were not into them. Just because some people did not fit into gender stereotypes and that was okay, it still didn’t mean it was all that common not to and even boys who didn’t fit into one part of a stereotype didn’t necessarily mean they didn’t fit into another. Like, Dad wasn’t into dolls or Quidditch, though he was incredibly patient if others talked about these things.
Thinking about it made Charlotte wonder what Cassidy would be like when she got older. Like, not necessarily if she would conform to gender norms, because that really didn’t matter but like whether or not she’d be more like Mom and Stanley or like Dad and Wally or in the middle of that spectrum, like the Teppenpaw was. Although Charlotte supposed she was a bit more like her dad than her mom, since she was quieter and not into sports, but then she felt she was more…confident in herself than her dad was.
Though that was probably because of growing up in a happier, more loving environment than he had. Not that he hadn’t had anyone who cared about him as Grandpa Jeffrey did and so did most of their family, but his biological mother hadn’t and just having someone who tore you down on a regular basis really got into your head and destroyed your self worth. Especially, Charlotte imagined, when it was your own parent. Between her father’s own background and the families he dealt with as a social worker, she could not be more grateful for having parents who loved her and her siblings all equally-which mattered, arguably, parental favoritism was a form of emotional abuse-and unconditionally.
Charlotte thought for a moment. “Maybe we should start with it. To make sure we get to see it. Then we can work our way down.” She nodded in response to Misty’s thanks.”You’re welcome. That’s really nice. It’s such a cute bag.” The Teppenpaw still really liked things that were cute. She had yet to really outgrow stuffed animals and things like that and she didn’t think she really should have to either.
11
Charlotte O'Malley
Excellent
1573
0
5
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.”
11
Lydia Priory
Ooohh
1533
0
5
Rosalynn Tellerman
May 04, 2023 9:33 PM
We can love everything! by Rosalynn Tellerman
Rosalynn joined up with her housemates for the portkey. It wasn't her favorite mode of travel, but it was more convenient that most muggle means, and it could take a muggle along, so it was one of ways Dad had gotten them around when he couldn't side along a muggle wife and an underage daughter, and they didn't want to spend hours in a car. This particular form of one was particularly convenient for moving large groups, and she was actually a little impressed by it. All of Aladren popped out next to the odd little museum together, which meant her roommates were who she'd already been standing beside when papers were handed out and they were invited to go inside."I'm good with puppets," Rosalynn agreed with a smile when Lorena suggested it on Isla's behalf. "As long as we make sure Tommy's group is going to the same floor," she added, since it sounded like they'd be with the same cohort of students throughout the museum, and couldn't leave that group once they were in it, though they could mix and match amongst themselves within the same floor as they liked. "But that shouldn't be too hard."
She checked the puppet exhibit against the map to find out which floor they were going to, then looked around for her boyfriend. They were among the oldest students now, and he wasn't hard to pick out. Catching his eye, she held up that many fingers so he knew where to direct his group to. "Okay, message passed along. Shall we go in?"
1
Rosalynn Tellerman
We can love everything!
1520
0
5
Maybe by Iris Cobb
The portkey? Iris glanced at her roommate and contemplated the idea. It would be easy enough to brush it off on that, but she didn't think her current mood would shake off as easily as travel sickness. Amethyst would probably get suspicious and perhaps insist that she should see the medic or something if things didn't improve. That wouldn't work. Nothing would. "No," she responded, "It's not the portkey." How much did she want to explain? Not much really, that was probably why being alone sounded so good. But, here she was with Amethyst and she couldn't just brush her roommate aside.Iris made up her mind. Why not after all? She gestured towards Hansel and Liesl, merrily heading into the museum together. "I'm loosing Hans to Liesl. I don't know what to do. I try to spend time with him, try to get to know him... but she is always there, ready to pounce and drag him off on her own." Her gaze lingered on the museum into which they had disappeared. "I don't care if they're friends, but she doesn't seem to give him any time with anyone else. From what I hear, she even hounds him over the summer." The explanation had turned into a bit of a rant. "If he prefers her to me, or anyone else, that's fine. But it would be nice for him to be able to make that choice on his own."
She finally pulled her gaze back to Amethyst, "What do I do?" Iris asked with pleading in her voice, "I like Hans, I think I like him an awful lot." Her expression soured a bit as she shot a quick glance back towards the museum, "And to be perfectly honest, I'm beginning to have some unkind thoughts about Liesl."
2
Iris Cobb
Maybe
1526
0
5
Fortune Ardovini
May 04, 2023 9:59 PM
Nope, the stuff over there by Fortune Ardovini
Fortune grinned at Yarielis' response. "Well, that's certainly true I guess. What do you think they're used for?" He'd missed Yarielis at Qudditch, and it was great to hang out again. Hopefully she'd be back soon and the reasons weren't anything to dire. He'd debating asking about them on occasion, but figured 'personal reasons' were usually personal and if she wanted him to know about them, he'd know.Unfortunately, he also wasn't very sure what Yarielis thought about the whole 'missing Quidditch' thing at this point. He'd be glad to tell tales of things that had happened on the pitch since she hadn't been around, but wasn't sure how well that would go over. Maybe she wanted to hear them and maybe not. He figured it really sorta depended on those 'personal reasons'. So that was another thing he figured he wouldn't talk about, at least until the topic came up without his help.
Granted that really only left class stuff to talk about, which wasn't new or terribly exciting. Or the bonfire, but he wasn't sure what exactly there was to talk about there. Or there was the museum that they were currently visiting. That seemed the most logical. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to see here? We've also got this sheet to fill out," he waved the worksheet gently, "Think we can get it done before anyone else?"
2
Fortune Ardovini
Nope, the stuff over there
1549
0
5
Xarryn Bavol
May 04, 2023 10:06 PM
Ready to Explore! by Xarryn Bavol
Xarryn was excited about the museum. Sure some of it sounded kinda boring, and there'd probably be a lot of things Xarryn wouldn't bother to read, but there was supposed to be an awesome carousel (not that he'd ever been on any carousel before nevermind an awesome one) and some of the stuff sounded really cool, like the bats and the swords!He was ushered over to stand next to Professor Carter-Xavier for the portkey trip. He'd used a portkey once or twice before but his actual home literally moved around the world, so he and Dad hadn't had much occasion to use them unless they needed to be somewhere urgently enough that they couldn't just set it into the ship's itinerary. His stomach was pretty well used to being tossed about - by choppy seas, broom flying, or just Xarryn throwing himself out of trees or something - so he had no ill effects caused by the dislocation from one state to another.
Once in the front yard of the museum - which looked disappointingly like a normal house, if a colorful and fancy one - Professor Skies spoke briefly then handed out worksheets. Worksheets! Ugh. Way to take the fun out of a new experience.
Xarryn looked around, not sure now if he should pair up with one of his gaming buddies, one of his quidditch buddies, Leviosa - because swords! - or try to find an Aladren who could do most of the worksheet for him and then he wouldn't need to worry about it. He spotted Olaf but quickly decided for both their sakes that he didn't want to inflict himself on the all together too serious Aladren, nor did he want to drain all happiness out of his life by spending an afternoon with the Headmaster's reincarnated twin (Xarryn didn't know if the Headmaster had ever had a twin, but it was the only explanation he could come up with for how the Headmaster had reincarnated without dying).
He about faced and walked the opposite direction. Catching the eye of somebody more compatible with Xarryn (which was admittedly a very low bar), the second year waved and grinned. "Hey! Do you have a partner yet?"
1
Xarryn Bavol
Ready to Explore!
1560
0
5
Tissena Randall
May 06, 2023 1:08 AM
Ain't that the truth. by Tissena Randall
Tissena didn't want to be around other people. She hadn't wanted to be around other people for a very long time. Even though it had all been a misunderstanding and blah blah blah, and even though she hated the Wright family (student ones, not professor one) less now, it was hard not to hate them anyway. Soprano wasn't here, even if she was okay. It had been a long time since Tissena had felt okay.That being said, this was basically the best place she could imagine spending time and even other people being part of it wasn't quite enough to ruin it for her. She was immensely interested in something on most every floor, but she knew that the further up she went, the greater risk she ran of either being caught out on her own, or passing by so many people that one of the especially annoying ones was bound to follow her around. Instead, she followed a group up to the second floor and waited until she spied someone on their own.
She didn't know this dude but she knew he was younger than her and he was either as desperate as she was, as curious as she was, or both; he was reading one of the blurbs of information about the animator of the chamber pots, which was dangerously close to being interested in a person but at least it wasn't an alive person.
"Trying to avoid people by chance? I don't have a buddy but I don't want to chat," she said flatly. Everything she had said for a long time was flat, not that she said much. Her voice almost felt rusty. "We can probably find something other than chamber pots to not chat about, unless you're particularly keen on these."
22
Tissena Randall
Ain't that the truth.
1534
0
5
Gwendolyn Brockert
May 06, 2023 11:22 PM
Me too by Gwendolyn Brockert
While Gwendolyn had enjoyed going to the zoo on their last field trip two years ago, she was even more excited about going to the museum today. Because she was basically a major nerd-and she was absolutely not at all ashamed to admit that-and she loved museums of all kinds. Whether it was a museum that celebrated different world cultures and history or an art museum or one that was sort of niche and weird-like this one-they were all totally awesome.Gwendolyn would even find a Muggle one interesting.And the museum they were going to today was supposed to be pretty cool. There was the carousel that they’d heard about, of course, but also things like the stuffed bats and a collection of animal skeletons that danced around and a miniature circus that moved around, like with the figures doing little performances and whatnot and a collection of shrunken heads, which didn’t do anything, but…were shrunken heads. Actual shrunken heads. Which Gwendolyn was sure would terrify Lydia and delight Liesl.Which would probably be the case with the dancing animal skeletons
Then there were sculptures of odd things that were made from odd materials. Like marbles. Not marble, like the stone, but marbles like the toy. Plus, there were probably all sorts of things that Gwendolyn hadn’t heard about yet but could not wait to discover.
They arrived in front of the house where the museum was via portkeys, a form of travel that had never bothered the Aladren, but she knew that Misty wasn’t fond of. She glanced towards her sister, double checking to see if the first year was okay. Once Gwendolyn was sure that she was, she looked down at the worksheet that she’d received and rolled her eyes. Was it really necessary to give them an extra task instead of just letting them have fun and enjoy the museum without having to worry about finding these specific answers? People would be so busy looking for them that they might miss something really cool. A field trip should be fun, not involve extra work.
She sighed and looked around for a partner, maybe either someone from the gaming club or one of her former Challenge teammates. Honestly, Gwendolyn was not that picky, so long as the person was fairly pleasant.
Fortunately, Xarryn came up to her. “Not yet.” She replied. “I’d be happy to walk around with you, if you’d like.” After all, that was generally what one meant when asking if another had a partner. They weren’t just asking, they probably were asking if you would partner with them, even if that was not literally what they said.
11
Gwendolyn Brockert
Me too
1555
0
5
Isla Brockert
May 07, 2023 9:31 PM
Or most things by Isla Brockert
Isla beamed when Lorena mentioned going to the puppets first. Even though she would have been perfectly okay with not doing so, just so long as they got to see them eventually. However, it felt really good to have a friend that knew you,that knew what you liked and disliked, accepted you for it and actually cared about you enough to want you to see something you enjoyed. That was something really special and rare in life and she appreciated her friends so much.Which was why she hoped they would be friends the rest of their lives. Isla hated the thought that they’d graduate and never get to see each other again. After all, they came from very different backgrounds from each other, her in particular. She had serious doubts about how she’d make friends like them again in the future because it was hard to have deep meaningful conversations or even interesting ones at society balls when everything was reduced to shallow banal small talk and mentioning your real interests could be awkward and off putting.
Unfortunately, Isla would all too soon be obligated to attend them once more. Last summer had not been fun and this one probably would not be either. At least, not the parts where she was at balls. She did like seeing those in her family that weren’t in school with her. Most of them, not Topaz or Uncle Eustace of course, but she was happy to see everyone else. Isla just wished balls weren’t part of it.
And after next year, well she’d have to go to them more often. A thought that filled the Aladren with nothing but dread.Honestly, there had to be a better way to meet people, to find friends that she could connect with once she graduated. Isla wanted to make friends like she had now. Plus, she wanted to meet someone special, like how Rosalynn had Tommy and she honestly didn’t know how she could go about that if she couldn’t be herself and get to truly know anyone and have them truly know her.
Granted, she knew it could be worse. At least Isla was allowed to choose what she wanted to wear to balls. At least she didn’t have parents who constantly told her that who she was as a person was unacceptable, unlike poor Liesl.
And Isla had good friends now, at school. Some people weren’t so lucky, some people spent seven years away from home feeling all alone and unlike Olaf, did not want to be.Most people wanted to be liked and accepted by someone, Her brother was…well, not one of a kind since he was a lot like Grandfather, but…unusual. Not because he was an introvert, which was perfectly normal and acceptable but because he did not seem to care a bit if people liked him. And, while Isla herself wasn’t really willing to change to please others, she did want to find people who, if not having the exact same interests-although finding a guy who loved puppets as much as she did would be nothing short of amazing-at least accepted her and liked her, the way Rosalynn and Lorena did.
Rosalynn agreed to go to the puppets too and signaled to Tommy what floor they were going to. Isla didn’t mind a bit if the Teppenpaw joined them. He was a really nice guy and she was glad that her friend had met someone so nice. She deserved it. And if she wanted to go off with just him, then Isla still had Lorena.
“Let’s go!” She grinned .”Thanks! I really appreciate that you’re willing to look at them with me. Hopefully we’ll find things you guys are interested in too.” Isla turned and began to walk towards the building.
11
Isla Brockert
Or most things
1521
0
5
Olaf Brockert
May 08, 2023 12:57 AM
Glad someone gets it by Olaf Brockert
Olaf suppressed a groan. Why, if someone had to speak to him, did it have to be a bloody Pecari ? Granted, Tissena Randall was one of the less offensive ones as he couldn’t think of anything specifically that she’d done that was annoying and the more offensive ones were of course obvious in how obnoxious they were. If the older girl fit that description, Olaf would be able to name a particular example of how she had been so.Still, Pecaris in general tended to be loud and talkative and totally in love with the sounds of their own voices. Someone yammering in his ear the entire time obviously was the last thing Olaf wanted to have ruining his museum experience. Especially as they probably weren’t saying anything interesting. Which, to be fair, was not a behavior unique to Pecaris. Olaf generally found most people annoying and uninteresting and preferred doing his own thing.
Except that he wasn’t allowed to do his own thing, to walk around the museum on his own like he wanted. Now here was a rule that he found far more restrictive than one that wouldn’t let more than one person sit on a bed at a time. As much as that did infringe on personal freedoms, so did this. Olaf could think of no greater torture than forced socialization-which was basically the only kind for him since he didn’t voluntarily spend time with other people. Maybe some of his family, occasionally, but mostly that was just not something that the Aladren did.
Although in this case, he did understand the rationale behind this rule, which was likely safety and liability. The school was responsible for them, and most likely did not want to be sued or somehow be held criminally responsible for negligence if a student went missing. Although, Olaf didn’t think that exactly made sense either, because two students could run off or get kidnapped just as easily as one. Two could even sneak off to do the sorts of things the bed rule was meant to prevent, which was unlikely for something to happen with someone walking around by themselves.
Though the idea that someone would do that here was a truly revolting thought. Not because-or at least not only because-he didn’t want to think of others doing that but because he hated the thought of them defiling such a sacred place as a museum. That was almost as bad as doing that in a library . Although to be fair, Olaf could not imagine why they’d want to be doing such extremely private things in a public place.
As for Tissena, he took in what she had to say, and raised an eyebrow. ‘ I usually am. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can completely today.” She didn’t want to talk either? That…was a tiny bit surprising given how she had been Sorted but fine with him. Better than fine. He smirked, understanding what she was proposing, which sounded perfect“Nah, I’m good. Let’s go.”
Honestly, who-other than original collectors apparently- was that into chamber pots? Or would bother to go to the trouble of animating them, come to think of it.
11
Olaf Brockert
Glad someone gets it
1564
0
5
Amethyst Brockert
May 08, 2023 4:14 PM
Probably by Amethyst Brockert
When Iris spoke, told her it wasn’t the portkey and what the actual issue was. Amethyst had the most sinking feeling of having stepped in it. That she had just put herself in the middle of a situation between her friend and her cousin. Of course, she wanted Iris to be happy and not get hurt but well, she couldn’t help but think Liesl and Hans were sort of…right for each other.More importantly, she actually thought that they might actually like each other. The fourth year had been elated with her new snake bracelet and the fact that the older Teppenpaw had called her pretty. And Amethyst knew that her cousin also generally had a pretty hard time of it with her mother. Not that that entitled her to have someone special necessarily , but from the fifth year’s perspective, well, as weird as she personally found Liesl, most people deserved to have someone who loved and accepted them for who they were. And Hans did that for the younger Teppenpaw.
And she was pretty sure that it would be easier for Iris to find someone else than it would be for the fourth year to be honest. She was so much more….mainstream and normal than Liesl, though that was a pretty low bar. The other Crotalus just had to get away from Sonora and her insular community and find a larger pool of available guys. Or consider someone younger, Phil and Eben were both available options. Age was just a number-within reason, she wouldn’t suggest that iris should go for someone old enough to be her father or anything-and no indication of maturity considering she knew adults who demonstrated far less of it than some teenagers.
Or Winston or Henry were possibilities, although the latter hadn’t seemed like a great ball date, so maybe not him. Gus was a Pecari so he probably wouldn’t be Iris’s type either.
However, she didn’t want to hurt her friend. Even though Amethyst did not especially like what Iris was implying about Liesl. Now, maybe she personally wouldn’t spend a lot of time with the other girl if they weren't related, and the Teppenpaw tended to have more in common with Isla anyway, but that didn’t mean…that nobody would want to spend time with her. Like she wasn’t Topaz , for Merlin’s sake!. Or Uncle Eustace either. She was a nice girl who just happened to like macabre things. Hans was a nice boy who had a pet snake. Amethyst could see how they’d naturally gravitate to each other.
The thing that actually bothered her though was that Iris seemed to be implying that Liesl was being…aggressive. Like ignoring what Hans might actually want and being…predatory or something. Even though most signs indicated that Hans did not feel that way about Liesl at all, that she was forcing herself on him. Most signs seemed to point to him wanting to spend time with her and enjoying her company.
And, if Amethyst was Liesl, she’d probably seize on that opportunity. The fourth year was… different and when you were different and you managed to find someone you connected with, that was something special and hard to find. “Um, I really don’t think that’s the case.” Amethyst said gently, “That she’s forcing him. I think he actually likes spending time with her.”
She hated doing this, she was worried that she was going to break Iris’s heart. It wasn’t really her fault, and she could definitely see how and why Iris would think it was Liesl’s, because in a similar situation Amethyst definitely would feel the same way but here the Crotalus was, stuck. “It’s perfectly normal and acceptable to be jealous and to have bad thoughts about people. I know I have.”Granted, most of those were about her psychopathic sister, her toxic uncle, occasionally some of the Pecaris and recently, whichever parent wanted to impose draconian rules on children who weren’t their own. “I am pretty sure nobody”” except maybe Valentine Duell “is one hundred percent free of having bad thoughts about anyone all the time.”
11
Amethyst Brockert
Probably
1532
0
5
Yeah by Iris Cobb
"Well of course he does," Iris responded a bit sharply. "He hasn't gotten the chance to spend much time with anyone else." She crossed her arms and glared off towards the museum. When Amethyst kept talking about everyone having mean feelings, Iris couldn't help but roll her eyes. Fortunately perhaps, she was facing away from her roommate at the moment. Had Amethyst really missed the point by that wide of a margin?Wasn't Amethyst her friend? There wasn't even a hint of feigned comradery, no support that Hans might like her back if only he got the chance to... but no. Amethyst might be her friend, but Liesl was family. She was another Brockert. In the end, the big powerful people stuck together and got what they wanted while the little mountain folk from nowhere Kentucky could just deal with it. Fine. Whatever.
"We're falling behind." Iris said flatly and she started walking towards the front door. Once again she liked the idea of just being by herself, but that was against the rules. She needed Amethyst for this, even if Amethyst didn't care for her at all. Maybe she'd find Ray inside. Ray would be with Billy, but maybe she could just follow them around and be ignored, that would be about the same as being alone. She could even now begin to feel the anger burning off and leaving something else tearing at her insides. She liked the anger better. Billy might make her angry again, Ray might actually sympathize with her plight, unlike some people. Still she needed Amethyst to find them, and Amethyst might need her as well for the moment. Stupid rules. Stupid... everything.
2
Iris Cobb
Yeah
1526
0
5
Yaniel Ayala Velez
May 09, 2023 5:28 AM
Oh, right. That. by Yaniel Ayala Velez
Fortune was smiling! At Yarielis' comment! Okay, maybe this was salvegeable. Of course, they needed something to talk about... Now that there wasn't the glue of Quidditch to hold the conversation together, it was hard to say what Yarieis and Fortune had in common. Right now, there was the museum, and Fortune was gesturing back to the things in the case. Yarielis skimmed for an info card, which seemed the most reliable way of answering that question, and found one... Facedown in the bottom of the case."Could be anything..." Yarielis said, aware that wasn't quite as sparkling a response as the opening quip. For all Yarielis knew, they were beauty implements. Those sometimes looked like they could take your eye out rather than just curl your eyelashes or whatever they were supposed to do. Those things made Yarielis want to scrunch up in self-defence. Which was normal, when something looked painful. Right?
"Getting the work done sounds like a good plan." It was hard to think of a specific exhibit of interest when the house allegedly contained everything you could think of, plus a few things you never would. Yarielis was more interested in seeing what fitted into that last column than like... Looking at really old vases. "I don't know if we can beat out two Seekers but we can try."
13
Yaniel Ayala Velez
Oh, right. That.
1554
0
5
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.
13
Verdillia Scurlock
Any blue roses around here?
1541
0
5
Fortune Ardovini
May 10, 2023 9:05 PM
Is there something else? by Fortune Ardovini
Ha! He knew it. Yarielis wasn't done with Quidditch yet! He grinned wide, "Bah, Seekers. They're just good at moving quickly, accurately and finding things. How could that possibly help them?" He let out a small chuckle. "Besides, we're not up against them, they're up against us!" He gave his companion a conspiratorial wink. That minor inversion was critical, they were not the ones trying to catch up to the other. Nope, they were in the lead by default and merely had to maintain it. "Now what all do we actually gotta find?"Fortune moved to stand next to Yarielis and held the sheet out so they could both see it easily. "Now, we're on the first floor, I suppose we should see what is on the list for that first." It wasn't super brain level of strategy, but it was good and somewhere to start. He scanned the list and read aloud, "Which charms and what purpose do they serve on the gardening implements displayed on the first floor?" He glanced around at the displays nearby.
"Have you seen any gardening implements yet?" He questioned his partner. "I assume they won't look much like the ones the Professor Xavier keeps in the greenhouse. That would make this to easy." He turned his back on the strange things they had been investigating to peer around their current room better. "I don't see anything that looks like shovels or cutters or anything, do you?"
2
Fortune Ardovini
Is there something else?
1549
0
5
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.
11
Lydia Priory
That sounds lovely
1533
0
5
Yaniel Ayala Velez
May 11, 2023 6:40 PM
Nope by Yaniel Ayala Velez
Yarielis couldn't help but smile at Fortune's comment, even if it got directed more at the floor than him. Not that smiling needed to be hidden, because that was a good emotion, and one others liked seeing but... At this point it was just force of habit.They were supposed to start with gardening implements. Yarielis wasn't convinced that them looking like they expected would make it too easy, given how crammed to the seams the house was (and how much more extensive its insides were than its outsides suggested) but it wasn't necessary to say so... If they saw any obvious gardening tools, Fortune would be smart enough to stop, and his point about looking beyond what they expected was a good one - Yarielis didn't want to seem argumentative, especially when applying Fortune's definition wasn't something the Crotalus disagreed with.
"Nope." Yarielis cast another glance around the room to make sure. Most of it seemed to be kitschy little ornaments, with a side of cookware thrown in. "Plenty more rooms to go though. Maybe let's find one that's a bit more outdoorsy?" If there was a logic to the layout at all... Which seemed doubtful as there was a series of stained glass windows at the end of the room.
13
Yaniel Ayala Velez
Nope
1554
0
5
Eben Sosna
May 13, 2023 9:22 PM
I don't know if I'd love escape rooms or hate them or have a love-hate relationship involving blasting charms with them. by Eben Sosna
In general, Eben tried to ‘play it cool’ in public, and not act like too much of a weirdo. He was a teenager now, after all. It wasn’t just a matter of how stupid other people would think he looked if he got enthusiastic about something, or rambled, or whatever – it was a matter of how he actually would be...something? (This was one of those concepts he struggled with a little; he knew it just would be bad, and had had this confirmed by his brother back home, but he couldn’t put it into words, which annoyed him.) Anyway, it was important.
The only problem was, he wasn’t very good at it. He just couldn’t focus that long, really. Even if something so stultifyingly boring that he had nothing better to do with himself, his attention would still...wander. When something was interesting at all, though, well, one ended up with the situation he had now with the gaming people: that was, there were now several people running around the school who he could not make eye contact with, because he had made up a character at random by rolling some dice, had ended up with someone who was far too cheery and optimistic by nature to be portrayed without the portrayer looking...kind of like an idiot. Nevertheless, he’d gotten kind of into it and now had to avoid all of those people (except Phil, anyway, for obvious reasons) for the rest of his life in any and every other possible context.
Compared to that, going to a magic museum didn’t seem like it could end in anything too bad...but it was still cool enough that he forgot to be cool about it. Instead, he kept catching himself bouncing on his toes as they waited for the Portkey – something that ended semi-poorly when it activated while he was on his toes, which made his landing even more awkward than it necessarily had to be. He caught himself short of landing flat on his face, but it was a close thing, and he wished he’d thought to take his glasses off before the thing had activated. As it was, they ended up at a really uncomfortable angle, with one side pushing down the tall part of his ear, and the world therefore had to go blurry while he removed them and put them back on. Once that minor inconvenience was addressed, though, he was able to look around and see what he thought he might want to be when he grew up, if he somehow ended up becoming really, really rich when he was old.
On paper, this place was extraordinarily weird and therefore, was supposed to be extraordinarily awesome. It was possible, of course, that it could be a massive disappointment, but if first glances were anything to go by, he didn’t think that was going to be a problem.
Moving between small groups, he caught up with Phil at the Carousel. Christopher Brockert was there, too, but they had hung out at the zoo and Christopher wasn’t one of the people who he could never make eye contact with ever again due to cursed dice, so he joined them in time to hear the end of what Chris said.
“Is that a real thing?” he asked. “Uh – a six-legged panda pig...thing, I mean,” he explained. “I know I recognize some of these from the Care of Magical Creatures book, but I don’t think I remember that one.”
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Eben Sosna
I don't know if I'd love escape rooms or hate them or have a love-hate relationship involving blasting charms with them.
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Amethyst Brockert
May 15, 2023 8:25 PM
I think I concur. by Amethyst Brockert
Great, now it seemed as though Iris was mad at her when all Amethyst had done was point out that Hans liked spending time with Liesl. Which was true. And not because he allegedly hadn’t had the opportunity to spend time with other people. She was pretty sure that he had including with Iris herself. He wanted to spend time with the younger Teppenpaw because they were friends and actually had things in common.And really, what else did Iris think Liesl was going to do? Nobody could walk around at the museum by themselves and it was normal for someone to expect to walk around with their friends. Hans was Liesl’s best friend. Did the other Crotalus just expect her to hang out with family members? Honestly, Amethyst hated when people thought they would just be okay hanging out with each other. It was essentially saying that people didn’t want to be around them while also framing them as being stuck-up purebloods.
Did Iris actually honestly think that Liesl would tell Hans “No, let’s hang out with other people today.”? Literally nobody did that. Nobody ever was going to decide to hang out with random people when they had perfectly good friends already. It would likely never occur to someone to do that. Especially someone like Liesl who was…different and did not feel like she was going to be accepted by most people. Hans did accept the younger Teppenpaw and Liesl was, quite reasonably, going to take hold on to that. She wasn’t going to take a chance, tell a person whom she knew liked and understood her to go hang out with other people and then spend the time struggling to find someone else who would want her around, possibly ending up with people that she wasn’t even sure liked her and feeling anxious and unable to enjoy the field trip. Honestly, it was bad enough that Liesl would have to go through that during the Bonfire, since she obviously couldn’t share a tent with the older Teppenpaw.
There was also the fact that Liesl most likely had no idea that Iris liked Hans and even if she did know that, why on Earth would the fourth year suggest that he go hang out with the competition? Liesl might be a Teppenpaw, but that didn’t mean that she was going to sacrifice her own best shot at happiness. Hans was pretty much the best thing in her life.
Never mind that Amethyst was pretty sure he liked Liesl. And while Iris said she would be okay if he decided that on his own-which he very well might have already-Amethyst doubted that she actually would. And nothing that Amethyst could say would probably be right either aside from telling Iris that Hans was obviously madly in love with her and that he would or did absolutely prefer her company to Liesl’s. In short, the only thing that she could do to please Iris would be to lie to her. Which would only hurt her more in the long run.
The other Crotalus started to walk away and Amethyst scurried after her, scanning the area for Alexei. He might be a better option right now. “Iris, wait! Look, I’m sorry. I do think plenty of people would be interested in you.” That wasn’t even remotely the issue at all, Iris was a lovely person with a lot of good qualities. It was just that Amethyst was pretty sure Hans liked Liesl. “ There’s a huge world out there. You don’t have to find someone at school or go back to your community.” Not to mention that there actually were other options here.
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Amethyst Brockert
I think I concur.
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Xarryn Bavol
May 15, 2023 10:05 PM
Great! Adventure awaits! by Xarryn Bavol
Gwendolyn would be a great partner, Xarryn thought. Not only was she a gamer, and therefore one of his friends and an interesting person to explore a museum of weird things with, but she was also an Aladren! When he inevitably had trouble with his worksheet, she could help him!"That would be great!" Xarryn enthused cheerfully when Gwendolyn said she'd like to walk around with him. "Where do we want to begin? Start at the bottom and work our way up, and have the carousel as our finale? Or start somewhere in the middle because everyone's gonna do that? Anything in particular you want to see? I'm excited about the sword exhibit!"
He gave his worksheet a sour look. "Also, just so you know what you're getting yourself into, you're probably going to have to help me with this." He gave it a slight disgusted shake. He had enough trouble reading his character sheet at gaming club and that was mostly numbers. That was why he played an easy class like rogue, where he didn't need to fumble through spell definitions or anything. He just threw his knife around and rolled sneak attack damage. This had a ton of questions on it and it was intimidating just looking at it.
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Xarryn Bavol
Great! Adventure awaits!
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Gwendolyn Brockert
May 16, 2023 6:48 PM
Let's go then by Gwendolyn Brockert
As predicted, Xarryn responded fairly enthusiastically to the idea of walking around together. She had predicted this, based on the fact that someone didn’t typically ask if someone had a partner unless they wanted to pair off with you and that Xarryn seemed to be a fairly enthusiastic person in general. Gwendolyn would think Divination was paying off, but that actually seemed to be more common sense and profiling than anything mystical.“Hm.” The Aladren considered. “I think starting in the middle and avoiding the crowd is a pretty good idea. We could look at the swords first if you’d like though. I sort of want to see the shrunken heads myself.” Gwendolyn sort of tended to be more on the Liesl side of the spectrum than the Lydia one. While growing up she was interested in wand lore and Chinese culture and she still was-she also had developed an interest in true crime and criminal psychology. While shrunken heads were not exactly the same thing, they were closer to that end of the dark and creepy scale than, say, fluffy unicorns or something. Actually shrunken heads might be creepier than dark wizards and serial killers to some, at least visually. Though shrunken heads couldn’t hurt anyone, so in that respect, they were less terrifying.
Although Gwendolyn wasn’t actually scared of them at all. She had never seen a point in being scared of things like that, of visual stimuli. Or like, fictional situations in books or on the wireless. They weren’t real. She guessed she was too logical to be bothered by it. “Although those would be so much cooler if they sang or something.” A shrunken head choir? Gwendolyn was pretty sure that Liesl would die of glee and Lydia would die of terror. Not that she wanted either of them to do that, but she still thought it would be cool. “Also the dancing animal skeletons and stuffed bats. “ She added.
Xarryn mentioned the worksheet and the Aladren rolled her eyes. “Of course I’ll help you. Honestly, it’s ridiculous that we have to do one at all. Like, why can’t we just enjoy the field trip? Why do we have to do pointless busy work?” It was a total waste of time. A scavenger hunt might be a way to make a study hall more fun or something that would be cool for a Challenge event but a museum was already fun on its own. They did not need this extra thing that, quite frankly,seemed a little childish. They were teenagers and with probably a few exceptions, did not need something extra to keep them from causing trouble.
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Gwendolyn Brockert
Let's go then
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