Echo Elms
May 09, 2007 3:07 PM
Novelling Fury! Informational Meeting by Echo Elms
Midterms were over, and classes were back in full swing and with February in just a few days, it was definitely high time for an information meeting about Novelling Fury!. He'd tried to rally up some interest by posting fliars in the common rooms (or, at least, there were fliars in Pecari and Aladren), and spreading around his flying fliars again in Cascade Hall. His spellwork on that was better this year.All the posters and fliars said to meet here today for more information and Echo was once again hoping for a big turnout. Last year hadn't been too impressive, but he thought maybe the successful Charms Club was a sign that this year firsties wanted to be involved in stuff... stuff like novelling.
"Okay, guys" he said glancing at the time, "it's about that time. How many of you have written a 50,000 word novel before?" Not very many people. Well, duh. "That's what we're going to do here. 50,000 words in 30 days. That's like 2,000 words a day. We start on February 1st, and end on March 2nd. But don't get let it scare you. It's so much fun. Like, really, crazy fun."
"That's because you're insane," Brett Hodges called out, helpfully.
"Yeah, well," Echo grinned, "It helps. Anyway, so the point is not to like write the best novel in the world. In fact, it actually works best if no one ever reads what you write because then you're not worried about if it's good or not. And good is not what you'll be going for. Your concern main concern is your word count. Length. Quantity. So you can be verbose and use like 10 words where two will do the job. You can write complete nonsense. Drivel. It's all good, just so long as you hit 50,000 by the end."
"Okay, so, that's the main jist of what Novelling Fury! is all about. Just... writing. And it can be anything. Fiction, humor, nonfiction, screenwriting, you know, anything. Last year we had four participants: Zack Dill, Caedence Redoak, Saul Pierce and me. It'd be really awesome if we got more people this year. Does anyone have any questions?"
--
When the questions were over, Echo finished it off, "To kick off Novelling Fury! we're going to have a big writing sit-in, right here, all day on February 1st. I have these brochure things with more detailed information about the Fury, too. See you on the First!"
Subthreads: Okay, you got me. by Elly Eriksson with Saul, Echo Elms, Elly
Well, you seem hyper active... by Hikaru Kasuragi with Echo Elms & Brett Hodges
It <i>sounds</i> like fun by Hyana Kamiya with Zack Dill, Hyana
A drama queen and her cousin walk into a meeting... by Gwen and Amber Carey with Oliver Abbott, Oliver, Careys
looks like the crazy people are here... I'm not though by Stephen Baxter with Mia
21
Echo Elms
Novelling Fury! Informational Meeting
93
Echo Elms
1
5
Elly Eriksson
May 09, 2007 4:00 PM
Okay, you got me. by Elly Eriksson
Novelling Fury! Elly didn’t know quite why she’d decided to come. She had Quidditch practise, she had Charms Club, and now she had to write a novel in a month. She had to be crazy. On the other hand, Echo put such effort into organising and advertising this novel writing thing for two years now, and last year hadn’t been a very good turn out. As one of his best friends, Elly wanted to help out. She also had the tiniest smidgen of guilt about having helped Josiah with his club without having helped Echo last year, so now she was hoping to make up for that.So, not completely aware of what she’d gotten herself into (how long was 50,000 words anyway?), Elly headed to where they were supposed to meet. She lingered next to Brett, giving him her usual broad smile. Echo was pretty good at talking in front of people, which surprised Elly because he was often so shy and reserved. Well, not really with her, but with other people. But then when Echo said it was 2000 words a day Elly nearly choked. How in the same of all things sane and normal was she supposed to manage that? They were due to start their extra flying lessons with Coach Fox soon, too. With homework and eating, and Quidditch and Charms, that left Elly with very little free time. It now seemed all that would be taken up with writing a novel. Good grief.
Elly couldn’t help laughing when Brett pointed out Echo’s insanity. He had a point – you had to be crazy to want to do this. She liked the idea about never showing anyone what she wrote. She certainly wasn’t the most creative individual in the world, and had a strong suspicion that her 50,000 words – if she got that far – would be at least 80% tripe. She started to think what she could write about. Fiction, definitely; she didn’t know enough about anything real. She didn’t get much further than that, though.
Once the meeting was over, Elly headed over to Echo. “Hey, cool intro,” she said, grinning. “Did you mean that about nobody ever reading it? ’Cause mine’s gonna suck.”
0
Elly Eriksson
Okay, you got me.
92
Elly Eriksson
0
5
Saul
May 09, 2007 6:26 PM
Totally by Saul
Saul was here again. He'd gotten tricked into it last year, by Echo's rallying cry, but this time he had no such excuse. He knew what he was getting into. Still, it was immensely satisfying to be able to raise his hand, waving it enthusiastically, when Echo asked who had ever written 50,000 words before. Saul's had been exactly 50,000 words. Even if forty-six of those words were a little bit like cheating, Saul figured he'd been close enough for it to count as a success.He was pleased to see that Elly was here this year, and Brett, too. That Zack guy was present again, as well, but Saul noticed he had not raised his hand for the 50,000 word role call. Maybe he hadn't finished his last year?
Saul was distracted back to Echo's speech by Brett calling him insane and Echo shooting back that it helps. Saul stuck his tongue out at Brett, but refrained (with difficulty) from further interrupting Echo's introduction to the club.
Once Echo finished, Saul couldn't help but overhear Elly's comment, and this time he couldn't hold back his response, "I promise, nobody will read it. I've tried to get people to read mine, but nobody will. Neil started warding off evil every time he saw me carrying it around last summer. I think Simon told him I wrote it with a Quick Quotes Quill."
1
Saul
Totally
82
Saul
0
5
Hikaru Kasuragi
May 10, 2007 5:02 PM
Well, you seem hyper active... by Hikaru Kasuragi
Hikaru had seen the sign in Cascade Hall for the 'NOVELLING FURY!' contest and was minorly interested. He had been working on an interesting piece that was a mix between anime and Sci-Fi. The posters were certainly, interesting. As he wandered down to the Labyrinth Gardens, remebering his time hanging out with Hyana, Josiah, and Brett. It had been totally awesome!As he stepped into the Gardens, he noticed a small crowd of people and scowled as there was no place in front for him to stand. He wandered over to the hedge and sucessfully grabbed onto one of the branchs. It would just be pulling himself up that would be the hard part. As he did so he could see the interesting kid acting full of energytoday. I'm getting way too lazy He thought as the kid explained what 'NOVELLING FURY!' was about.
Hikarus eyes bulged when Echo spoke of the Word Count. 50,000? I can't write 50,000 words in a month! Thats ridiculous! He blinked a few times as he heard Caedence's name. So Caedence participated in it last year? He smiled to himself. Maybe if I win, Caedence will be impressed with me and... He never got to finish his sentance as the branch he was on let him fall down. "Ow!" Hikaru cried as he landed uncomfortably on the ground.
He stood up as Echo asked if anyone had any questions "Is there a prize to whomever wins?" He was being blunt, but darnit! 50,000 words was alot to write.
0
Hikaru Kasuragi
Well, you seem hyper active...
0
Hikaru Kasuragi
0
5
Echo Elms & Brett Hodges
May 11, 2007 7:34 PM
A prize? by Echo Elms & Brett Hodges
"A prize?" Echo repeated, dumbfounded. Wasn't having written 50,000 an amazing enough prize by itself? Maybe there should be a prize. He didn't know and with writing 50,000 words in a month he didn't think he'd have time to come up with anything. Maybe a party for the winners of some kind... or for anyone who at least stuck with it till the end, whether they made the word count or not. He could write home for something dumb, like buttons or patches declaring, "2nd Annual Novelling Fury! Winner," but he didn't know about anyone else, but he probably wouldn't even put it on his bag if he had one."Yeah, you get bragging rights!" Brett came to his rescue. Brett was majorly on top of things today with his verging on rude call-outs keeping Echo on track.
"And a party," Echo added, deciding on his first idea (which he'd kind of planned on anyway), "When it's all over, there'll be a post-Fury bash at the end in honor of the winners." The bash probably wouldn't be too cool... he would ask the house elves for cookies and juice if he could figure out where to find them, and then he'd get Saul and Brett to help make it more interesting. Parties weren't really his thing. Maybe Saul's uncle (or was it cousin?) Simon would be helpful there. And if it seemed like there were going to be a lot of winners -- like, more than five -- maybe he'd see about those patches after all. Patches could help advertise next year's Novelling Fury!...
0
Echo Elms & Brett Hodges
A prize?
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Echo Elms & Brett Hodges
0
5
Echo Elms
May 11, 2007 7:59 PM
Sweet! by Echo Elms
Echo beamed at Elly's compliment not so much because it was a compliment, but because she was here at Novelling Fury! He'd been a bit sad last year striking off on his own to do this weirdo club that not even his two best friends joined. But this year was different. Elly was here, and Saul was a better friend than just a potions partner, and Brett was even here too. Brett and some of the guys did the Fury last year, too, but they weren't here. Everyone was here!Well, not everyone. It could have been a bigger turnout, but Echo was satisfied with the meeting. He didn't fall on his face in front of everyone, did he? Not at all. And, best and most importantly, people seemed interested.
"Yeah," Echo collaborated Saul's answer about his brother warding off evil. "And I think if anyone tried to read mine... well, let's just say my handwriting wasn't always the greatest." It wasn't so much the handwriting, really, as his own invented abbreviations.
"Oh, hey!" he remembered, turning suddenly to Saul and then realizing Elly might actually be interested now too. He gestured wildly, "Did I tell you I found a wordcount spell? Oh man, it's so cool. You can put it on a journal or a scroll or anything! No. More. Counting! Hoo-wah!" It hadn't actually occured to him to look for such a spell, but he ran across it in a book of study aid spell in his endless search for transfigurations assistance. That was like months ago, but he just tried it out yesterday and, whoa, SCORE.
21
Echo Elms
Sweet!
93
Echo Elms
0
5
Hyana Kamiya
May 11, 2007 11:23 PM
It <i>sounds</i> like fun by Hyana Kamiya
Hyana was a little fidgety today. She didn't really know why. Maybe it was the fact that Caedence might come to one of these meetings. Maybe it was because she thought her friends might be there. She didn't really know. It was just going to be different. She never really wrote stuff before. What would she even write about?!She sat down on the grass, twirling her black hair around her wand. It wasn't really a nervous gesture anymore, it was just a daydream type thing. No matter what Hyana did, she ended up messing with her hair. Not like it mattered. Her attention was brought back to planet earth when Echo began to speak.
How many people had written how many pages?! Hyana's jaw almost dropped. She couldn't write that much! Maybe she should just stick with charms club...no! That was a bad way to look at it! Hyana was here to support Echo, and just try something new. Hey, maybe writing would be a way to vent. And anyway, Echo said it was fun. Of course, he agreed with Brett that you had to be insane. Hyana had that down. She hung out with Caedence who didn't want her around. That was insane enough.
So Hyana pretty much sat through the entire speech of Echo's, wondering if she should run or stay. It would be bad to run. But what if she didn't write well? She had ideas, but getting them down on paper...was just so difficult. It never came out right. With a sigh, she turned to the person next to her and said, "I'm not too sure what to write. What about you?"
0
Hyana Kamiya
It <i>sounds</i> like fun
0
Hyana Kamiya
0
5
Zack Dill
May 12, 2007 10:55 AM
What I'm going to write by Zack Dill
Zack sat through the informational meeting, feeling, and probably looking, a bit out of place. This year he was not the only non-Pecari, so that was good, but he again looked to be the only fifth year present. Of course, with Zack being still under five feet tall, this was less obvious than it might otherwise have been.He listened through the introduction to what the club members were expected to do, and disregarded most of it. He was here, as he had been last year, to tell a very specific story. Headmistress Marnett's had turned out to be 28,346 words long when Zack finished with it. He hadn't been about to nearly double it with pointless and extraneous drabble just because of an arbitrary word count goal. Stephen's would be however long Stephen's turned out to be.
Zack lacked the easy enthusiasm Echo, Saul, and even Elly, Brett, and Hikaru seemed to have for the activity. Zack, after all, was here for a very important purpose. He had an account that needed telling and nobody else was going to do it right. At least the newpapers admitted something had happened this time, though. Headmistress Marnett hadn't even gotten that much.
The girl sitting next to him was also an Alderaanian. Zack recognized her, as he did all the first years of his House, from the Opening Feast and subsequent Head of House Speech. It was his duty as Prefect to remember all of them. Her name, however, eluded him.
"I'm not too sure what to write. What about you?" she asked, after Echo finished.
"I'm going to write the true account of what happened to Stephen Baxter over Midterms," Zack answered without hesitation. He kept the description vague because he knew better than to talk about the aliens and the conspiracy to cover up their existence to strangers (or anybody really - not even Zoey or Guenther seemed to really believe him) but the account had to be made public sooner or later. He'd probably have to publish it under a pen name to keep from being hunted down by the government. Or the Mental Health people.
"It probably won't be 50,000 words," he added, because that seemed to him to be the most intimidating thing about Echo's speech. (Though not to him because he was ignoring it.) "What I wrote last year wasn't nearly that long either. There's no penalty for not making the word count. The point is to write. To get something on paper. Is there anything that you've ever wanted to just write down so you wouldn't forget? Like, I don't know," he thought about it and came up with another example that wasn't quite as out-there as the alien invasion of Sonora, "your first D&D campaign or something?"
1
Zack Dill
What I'm going to write
40
Zack Dill
0
5
Gwen and Amber Carey
May 13, 2007 12:11 AM
A drama queen and her cousin walk into a meeting... by Gwen and Amber Carey
"Uh, Gwen?" Amber whispered, not wanting to make more of a point out of her cousin than her cousin did just by being, well, Gwen Carey, "Do you think you're a little old to be, um, here?"Gwen looked down at her, wide-eyed, amused, and looking a little bit too innocent for Amber to fall for it. "Not at all, Amy Dahlin'," she said, not keeping her voice down. "I'm not fifteen until April, and that doesn't make me the oldest folks here."
Amber looked around critically. "All I see is first and second years."
Gwen laughed out loud, then, earning herself a few glances. She smiled at the onlookers; Amber turned red and tried her best to pretend that she didn't mind having cousins who had a thing for drama and public demonstrations. "So I'm one of the first years again, then? I wouldn't mind, really." Gwen looked momentarily bitter, and Amber was momentarily afraid that she was about to go into one of her notorious "moods". It only lasted a few seconds, though, before she smiled and shook Amber's shoulder a little. "No, I know what you mean. I'm just being stupid with you. Zack Dill's here, too. He's older than I am."
"Isn't he supposed to be nuts or something?"
"Yes, dahlin', but so am I." Amber found herself laughing along with Gwen reluctantly; the older girl's distracted, high-flung gaiety was almost as infectious as it was sure to be temporary. "We might get a third year, too - Anne's sure to send one of the Laynes as her proxy, because it's not her way to do what I tell her. I told Connor that I'm expecting him, but I'm not sure if he's completely gotten over his moral interlude yet."
"Only you could say that like it was a bad thing," Amber muttered, feeling like she was the elder for a moment.
"Hush, dahlin'," Gwen said. "I think that boy wants to talk or something."
"He's running it."
"Well, that explains it, then, doesn't it?"
Amber just shook her head and tuned in to listen to Echo. At least Gwen was in a good mood instead of...not. Happy, she just wore on people's nerves after a little while. It wasn't so easy to deal with when she was in a bad mood of some kind. Strangely, she couldn't remember Gwen flat-out crashing since term had started again; she'd only been at Sonora for two years, but she couldn't recall Gwen making it almost a month without hitting some little rough patch before it was over. She was moodiness personified.
There weren't too many questions afterward, and the meeting turned into a chatfest soon enough. This was, to Amber, the best part of a meeting: the coming down, when everyone sort of relaxed. Well, everyone except Gwen, anyway; she seemed, if anything, more hyper than she had been to begin with. "I declare," she said, apparently having a lot of fun with the whole 'southern belle' routine, "this is going to be fun." A faint frown flickered over her face, and she almost seemed to come off her high for a moment. "I hope I can get it all done around Quidditch practices. We might make it to the Championships this year, you know."
"Well, at least we don't have social lives to worry about," Amber cracked. Gwen laughed, too, but there was something a little strained about it, and she shot Amber a nervous look in the seconds before they were interrupted by someone else who'd come to the meeting. Her smile came back, and with it the over-strung, over-enthusiastic high spirits of her last turn.
"Hey," she said, too quickly for her to have any idea if she was addressing someone she even knew. "Nice meeting, don't you think? I'm already trying to work out what I'm going to talk about - er, write about. Come up with much yet?" Maybe Gwen really was crazy. Or maybe she was just living in some strange Scarlett O'Hara dream. Or she was just trying to freak someone out. Heck, maybe she'd made some kind of New Year's Resolution to be friendly and it was the only way she knew. Amber doubted the accuracy of that one in a big way, but anything was possible, right?
0
Gwen and Amber Carey
A drama queen and her cousin walk into a meeting...
63
Gwen and Amber Carey
0
5
Elly
May 13, 2007 9:23 AM
Yeah, we rock. by Elly
“I promise, nobody will read it. I’ve tried to get people to read mine, but nobody will.” Elly laughed. She didn't respond to his next comments because she didn’t know who Neil was, or what a Quick Quotes Quill could be. Echo said that nobody had read his novel, either. Elly thought that was a bit of a shame. She wasn’t sure she wanted anyone to read what she would write, because it was likely to be awful. But for others, like Echo and Saul, who’d put a lot of effort into their stories and actually wanted people to read them, it was unfortunate.“Aw, I’ll read your stories this year, if you like,” Elly said, grinning. “I don’t mind, and I can read your handwriting,” she added to Echo.
Then Echo got all excited about this word count spell. From the sound of it, it was like the word count of a computer. Well that was useful – Elly didn’t think she’d have much patience for sitting and manually counting all the words she had written, it would lengthen the process considerably.
“That’s great,” she joined in Echo’s enthusiasm. “You’ll have to teach us,” Elly said. She also though that maybe later she could ask Echo if it was okay with him for her and Josiah to teach the word count spell at charms club. Right now was his parade, though, so Elly would wait until later to mention it. For the mean time, there was one questions that needed to be answered.
“Whatever am I going to write about?” she asked in desperation, though her eyes were gleaming with excitement at the challenge she faced. “That’s a lot of words. Do you guys have any ideas? What did you do last year?”
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Elly
Yeah, we rock.
0
Elly
0
5
Stephen Baxter
May 13, 2007 9:55 AM
looks like the crazy people are here... I'm not though by Stephen Baxter
Stephen wasn't entirely sure what the main reason he was here was. He knew he was avoiding Sorrel and Ash and Mia. He knew he was avoiding most of his friends, really. He'd talked with Geoff a bit, but ... with Geoff and Ty, the people who probably knew the most about what he'd been through (not that he'd told that much to Ty either, but with the whole thing on the wagon and all.. well...) in different houses, well, he was sort of lost. It wasn't going away. He'd tried just... pretending nothing had happened, but he wasn't sure how many people bought the act, especially as he couldn't keep it up for long and would find an excuse to leave or have the other person leave.Well, there was a reason. If he was doing this writing thing - or people thought he was - then he would have an excuse for some more alone time.
It wasn't the only one though, especially as he knew exactly what the twins would say the moment that they heard he was doing this. But what other choice was there? He'd gone and played in the game, and it was a miracle that the quaffle had never made it up his end of the pitch and an even greater one that the beaters - and by default - the bludgers had left him alone too. That might have been pity though, much as he hated to consider it.
And another excuse came to light. He needed to get it all straight. Just burying it wasn't working - he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to get by without Ash catching on to the fact that he wasn't sleeping properly. A full night didn't seem to happen, either because he wouldn't let himself sleep for as long as possible or because he'd wake up after a... well, it seemed like he was a chicken or a little kid, but he was having nightmares. Nothing concrete, nothing that really stayed with him so he could make himself crazy thinking about it over and over again. This was worse, in a way. He couldn't remember more about them than vague terror, but just that was enough to deter him from wanting to sleep.
And all that was starting to show. His schoolwork was down - he was pretty sure he'd dozed through at least one lesson - and his marks were slipping. He couldn't see any real progress in his body getting back to its usual shape, but that could just be familiarity - seeing the same thing day in and day out the was missing the smaller changes that others would notice. And, he decided, if that meant that not thinking about it wasn't working... then maybe it was time for a reversal. And writing it down seemed as good an option as any, for all he was nervous about other people reading what he wrote. Writing it down, and then... he wasn't sure. Maybe burn it.
And, at least there wouldn't be much of a crowd in this writing thing if the stuff he'd heard about them last year was anything to go by...
Ok, maybe not. Stephen revised his opinion as he drew closer to where the meeting was supposed to be. He stopped midstride then changed his direction slightly before moving again. At least with it being in the Labyrinth Gardens there was plenty of places he could listen without either fully committing himself, or being seen.
Sitting with his back to a hedge, Stephen listened. He listened to the crazy second year Echo who was in charge of this whole stunt. He heard scraps of other people's conversation. He still wasn't entirely sure whether he was going to do this. Do it properly, anyhow. He wasn't going to be there for that sit-in thing though, that was for sure. He didn't want Zack to spot him for one, especially after he had heard his name mentioned. He'd also caught Saul's mention of how hard it was to get someone to read the whole thing, and felt a bit of relief about that, but wasn't entirely convinced that he wanted to take the chance regardless.
The brochure that was mentioned though... he'd have to go out there to get one of those. Stephen considered not bothering. He considered just waiting to grab one left around the Pecari commons, or even around here. He considered just throwing this stupid idea in.
And then he climbed back to his feet, walked back around to where he could get to the meeting proper and with his best show of nonchalance strolled up to where Echo was.
"I'll have one of those," he said, reaching out for one of the brochures. "Thought I might give this writing thing a go. I mean, I might not yet, just though it might be a bit of fun."
He didn't stick around, making his way back through the crowd with plans to make himself scarce as soon as he'd done so.
39
Stephen Baxter
looks like the crazy people are here... I'm not though
49
Stephen Baxter
0
5
Saul
May 13, 2007 12:11 PM
How to plan a story by Saul
Saul perked up in excitement as Elly asked what she could write about. He'd been wanting to tell about his Divinations/Runes class to Echo for a while, but somehow, he kept getting distracted into talking about something else every time he saw him. Now, though, he'd been given a straight invitation to talk about just that."It's easy!" he enthused. "Last year, I just wrote about you and Sir Echo and your adventures with dragons and saving the world and stuff and, of course, your wedding at the end, but this year, I'm gonna write a mystery about a missing pregnant lady! I cast runes about it in Divination class. It was way cool."
He pointed over to where Zack was talking to a first year girl, "Zack's got a set of runes. I'm sure he'd be glad to help you translate a reading, if you ask." Saul wasn't actually entirely sure about that at all, but the fifth year was all gung-ho about his CATS this year, so surely he'd want the practice, right? Besides, he was a Prefect, so he was supposed to help people.
"Anyway, I did a reading for my story, and by the time we finished, I had a couple of characters and most of a plot already, which is way more than I had when I started last year. The only reason I think I got anywhere with last year's story was because the Quick Quotes Quill kept writing what I said down wrong and I had to try to make the new version make sense."
1
Saul
How to plan a story
82
Saul
0
5
Hyana
May 13, 2007 2:34 PM
Has nothing at all to do with aliens by Hyana
Hyana gave a squeak of surprise when she realized that she wasn't talking to a fellow first year. She was talking to a fifth year! And a prefect at that. If she remembered correctly, this boy was Zack Dill, the seeker on the Aladren quidditch team."Th-that's good...that you're writing about Stephen...I guess." She said meekly. She didn't know Stephen, but from what she heard and read in the paper at Sonora, he had been through a tough time. And from what everyone knew about Zack, Stephen just might appreciate some comic relief.
Zack, probably unknown to him, was giving Hyana some much needed encouragement. Knowing that he hadn't written 50,000 words last time made her feel better. She wasn't the only one who couldn't do it. "Is there anything that you've ever wanted to just write down so you wouldn't forget? Like, I don't know, your first D&D campaign or something?" He asked her. Hyana thought for a moment.
"Well...y-yeah. I always want to write down what happens here at Sonora. I'm just lucky to be here." She replied. Then a sudden thought struck her. She knew what to write now! "Maybe I could write that." She said to Zack. "A first year's view on Sonora." She bit her lip, out loud it sounded like a really stupid idea.
0
Hyana
Has nothing at all to do with aliens
0
Hyana
0
5
Oliver Abbott
May 14, 2007 3:26 PM
To get to the other side? by Oliver Abbott
Oliver had heard about this novel writing club in the Cascade Hall; there had been a flier about it. With the lack of any other creative clubs at Sonora (there were very few clubs at all, really), he had decided to come along to the first meeting just to see what it was all about.There were a fair few students who’d come along, and some that Oliver recognised. That was a welcome surprise, because he had been starting to feel even more out of place than he had on his first day there, and that was really saying something. Seeing people he had spoken to before helped – it made him feel more secure somehow.
Doing his best to ignore his social insecurities for the moment, Oliver tried his best to blend in. It didn’t work too well seeing as he was the only one there wearing long sleeves, not to mention a floppy green sunhat, but the desert sun was shining in earnest again. It wasn’t worth it for Oliver to not cover himself up in the sun.
The meeting was brief – it was a second year (judging by they had shared some classes) basically telling the others what it was all about. It sounded like a fun challenge, and it wasn’t like Oliver had much else to do to distract him from writing. Okay so he was friends with Talitha now, but he spent a lot of his time in the Crotalus commons avoiding Lutece, and the two girls shared a room, so Oliver wasn’t quite sure yet how that was going to pan out.
When the questions had finished, Oliver was about to head off again. He passed Amber, one of the girls he had worked with in Defence class at the beginning of the year, and said, “Hey,” to her. He stopped though when the girl Amber was standing with said ‘hey’ back again. Did she think he’d been saying ‘hey’ to her? That was a bit embarrassing, and Oliver felt his cheeks start to warm. But then she kept on talking. Oliver was confused. He blinked a couple of times and nervously readjusted his glasses before trying to answer.
“Uh, I’m not sure if I’ll write anything,” he said, glancing between Amber and the older girl, who he now thought he recognised. She was in Crotalus too, yeah, on the team. Gwen, that was it, he just hadn't recognised her without her Quidditch stuff. Oh, well maybe she had meant to talk to him after all. They hadn’t said much, if anything, to each other in the past, but there was a first time for everything. “I just came along to see what it was about,” he added, shrugging. “You?”
0
Oliver Abbott
To get to the other side?
99
Oliver Abbott
0
5
Gwen and Amber
May 14, 2007 10:11 PM
That works. by Gwen and Amber
It was the hat that Gwen remembered. First years drifted in and out of her notice depending on whether or not they were right in front of her, but the hat stood out. He wore it to Quidditch practice, if she wasn't mistaken. He was a Chaser reserve...Oscar? No, not Oscar. Oliver. That was it. Oliver Abbott. He was a reserve Chaser. A blank look came over her face for a moment, then vanished as she smiled again. Being surprised was all right, but letting it become obvious that she was surprised wasn't."Oh, no," she said, regulating her tone a little. It seemed prudent to keep reports of her bouts of flightiness removed from Lily's notice. Gwen liked the older girl, but it was a liking tinged with a kind of fear. Not that she would ever, in a million years, let on about it. "I came on a whim, and those don't take much planning." She laughed, normally. The temptation to make some comment about leading a boring life that gave her no ideas was strong, but she wasn't sure that she would be able to say it with a straight face. It looked like a fine time to change the subject.
Taking a tiny step closer to the second year, Gwen put an arm around Amber in a sisterly fashion she knew perfectly well would get her hexed if attempted with her own little sister. Not that she even wanted to, she reminded herself immediately; she was still mad at Morgaine. "Amy dahlin', this is Oliver," she introduced, not quite properly. "One of the boys on my Quidditch team. Oliver, meet my cousin, Amber."
"We've met," Amber said. Ah. Well, that might explain why Oliver, who worked primarily with Helena and Geoffrey and Chrissy, had spoken to her, as he hadn't. "Me and him and Helena Layne had to go on a candy hunt for DADA." Yes, it did explain things nicely. Gwen had never gotten why Anne liked Helena so much. Amber smiled at Oliver, pushing her hair back behind her ears. "Been doing okay, Oliver?"
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Gwen and Amber
That works.
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Gwen and Amber
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5
Mia
May 16, 2007 3:56 PM
*points up* Nope, you're up there with me. by Mia
Didn't think we should get in the way of the young'ins so I posted up top.
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Mia
*points up* Nope, you're up there with me.
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Mia
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Oliver
May 17, 2007 3:39 PM
Good good. by Oliver
Gwen was an interesting person, Oliver thought. He knew some stuff about her, mostly from whispers and rumours, so he couldn’t be sure if it was true or not. He knew that she shared a room with Jordanna, but he didn’t think they got on all that well – if at all. He also knew she was a beater, so there was no way she was partial to this WAIL thing, which apparently said a lot about a person. Then again, Lutece didn’t agree with it either, and she’s absolutely insane.Gwen introduced Oliver to Amber then, and Oliver shuffled his feet and adjusted his glasses, hoping that Amber would say something about them having already met. Thankfully, she did. “We’ve met,” she said. Then Amber smiled, which was nice, because Oliver hadn’t been sure whether or not he’d made a good impression during the lesson; he hadn’t spoken to either of the girls since and maybe thought that his presence hadn’t been appreciated. Of course, it might just be politeness that encouraged Amber’s smile. But then she asked if he’d been doing okay.
“Yeah, I guess,” Oliver replied, looking at his feet before remembering that was rude and looking back to the Carey girls. “Lessons are alright, and stuff.” He knew he was being inarticulate but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t really know either Gwen or Amber, and he was still very shy with strangers, especially girls – he just didn’t know what to say to them. “I thought I’d do this novelling thing just for something to do,” he added, shrugging. “What about you? Are you going to write a novel?”
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Oliver
Good good.
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Oliver
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Zack Dill
May 22, 2007 4:32 PM
I never said <i>that</i> by Zack Dill
Zack nodded in agreement as the young girl said she would like to write about what happened here at Sonora. A first year's view, as she put it. "That sounds like a good plan," he agreed. "If you think it turns out okay, you can even maybe hand it around the new Alderaanian first years next September. They'd probably like to see how somebody else got through their first year."He smiled a little at her, "It'll probably be more interesting than the dry histories the library has about the school and more applicable, since some of those were written twenty years ago by people who hadn't set foot in the school for another ten years before that."
Imagination sparked, he continued, "And if you run out of things to say too quickly, you can interview some of the teachers or other students and get their opinions about Sonora. There are plenty of things you can include in your writing. Maybe add some maps or drawings, too, which you can count as worth a thousand words," he grinned at her as he said that part, hoping that whatever background she had, she caught that reference.\r\n\r\n
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Zack Dill
I never said <i>that</i>
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Zack Dill
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Careys
May 24, 2007 1:35 PM
Yep yep. by Careys
Seeing one of her own Housemates seemed to have calmed Gwen down a little bit. Amber was grateful for it; she'd thought Oliver and Helena thought she was stupid back when they had worked together, and it was bad enough to be the stupid one without being the stupid one from a nuthouse. Gwen insisted that she only pretended to be crazy, and did so, for the most part, because it amused her, but Amber had trouble believing that was especially healthy, either. There was something unnatural-seeming about it."That's good," she said to Oliver's brief account. "I'm not sure if I'm going to go through with it or not. I might, if I can think of anything to write it about." No babbling. It didn't matter if she got an idea, and it wouldn't matter if things got awkward. She was not going to start babbling. It was her New Years' Resolution. "What about you, Gwen?" Why, she wondered, was it always her luck to end up in scenarios involving multiple Crotali? They made her nervous, somehow.
"No idea," her cousin said promptly. Amber blinked. That was a turn. A minute earlier, Amber would have thought she meant to go straight back to her dorm and begun to come up with ideas. Now, it all seemed to be of no moment. "It's a busy season, you know. I might start something and forget to finish it." She seemed to notice that her arm was around Amber's shoulders for the first time, and removed it. "That can happen sometimes, you know?" She didn't wait for anyone to answer her. "So," she said to Oliver. "Do you think that we've got half a shot at the Championship this year?"
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Careys
Yep yep.
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Careys
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Hyana
May 24, 2007 6:12 PM
Yeah, what was I thinking? by Hyana
Hyana found herself giggle a little bit. Zack said Aladren really weird. It made her laugh. She missed being able to laugh. She needed to do it more often, and really mean it too.She found herself blushing, with his suggestion. "I...guess so. If someone had written a book or something like that, it would've helped me a lot this year." She looked at Zack with the most serious expression a first year could pull off. It turned out to be funny and adorable when she said, "I would've known to stay away from Caedence."
Zack continued to give her ideas, interview teachers and students and the like. Hyana liked Zack. He made her laugh. And he smiled a lot. But it wasn't the creepy child preditor smile. It was a nice smile. She missed those kinds of smiles over midterm.
"Yeah, I could interview. Those are great ideas Zack. Are you sure you don't want to write this?" She said jokingly after she finished laughing from his joke. "I could always write about Stephen. Even though I have no clue who he is."
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Hyana
Yeah, what was I thinking?
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Hyana
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Oliver
May 29, 2007 5:58 PM
Uh-huh by Oliver
Oliver nodded along politely as he listened to Amber and Gwen talk about their novel writing prospects. He was a little surprised by Gwen’s sudden question about the Quidditch championship and, not really having an answer prepared, he fumbled his reply.“Well, I… I mean, I’m not sure,” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose, realising they were uncomfortable and putting them back where they were again. His knowledge of the Sonora teams was limited. All he knew was that Crotalus had won in their game against Aladren, despite all the WAIL stuff happening around them. That indicated that they weren’t a bad team, but Oliver couldn’t really add to that. “I think we’ve got as good a chance as any,” he said diplomatically. “I don’t think Teppenpaw will win,” he said, and then remembered Amber was in that House. “Sorry,” he added hurriedly, “but they made a mess of the last game.” Oliver was getting uncomfortable and he wasn’t really sure what he was talking about anyway. “I don’t know,” he said, wrapping it up. “I guess we’ll see.” He hoped that was an acceptable answer and that Gwen wouldn’t tell Jen that he’d been unsure about them winning or anything. He really wanted to be on the team proper, and he hoped he hadn’t just messed up his chances.
“So, er,” Oliver said, feeling the situation couldn’t have got more awkward if he’d tried. “I’m going back inside now,” he said, glad that he had a solid excuse to leave – getting out of the sun was always a priority for him. “I’ll see you around, Amber,” he smiled. “See you later, Gwen,” he said, waving offhandedly as he walked away.
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Oliver
Uh-huh
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Oliver
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Elly
May 29, 2007 6:10 PM
I'll find my own way, thanks by Elly
Elly liked Saul a lot, despite his oddities and the fact that he couldn’t seem to get anything right in class. Though sometimes he was just so unusual that she had to laugh. Now was one of those times. She laughed as he told them his plot for last year, which Elly thought was pure genius, and she was disappointed to have not heard about it before now. She wondered if Saul still had the story somewhere so she could read it. “So when are you going to propose?” she asked Echo quietly, grinning and winking at him playfully.Then she laughed at how Saul had come up with his new plot. Elly didn’t know an awful lot about runes or divination, but somehow she didn’t think that the lessons had been designed to create Saul’s plot – especially as a mystery about a pregnant lady was a very bizarre plot choice indeed.
By the time Saul had finished talked, Elly was still giggling, highly amused, and she also had an idea about what that quill was. “Saul, you’re the most original author ever,” she said, still chucking. “And both of you are crazy,” she added. Shaking her head, she walked between the boys, heading back inside. “I need to go plan a story. Later!”
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Elly
I'll find my own way, thanks
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Elly
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Echo Elms
June 02, 2007 12:00 PM
I'll give it a go by Echo Elms
Saul wrote what for his novel last year? Echo was horrified. Not because of, uh, the whole Elly thing... like, it wasn't that, but... Saul knew. Saul wasn't supposed to know. He was supposed to be like whoa-fun-Saul and not getting in his business or teasing him about crushing on his best friend the way Brett always did. Saul was supposed to be all with the crushness under the radarness.Apparently not.
And he said it right in front of Elly, like it was fact. Oh no. Echo looked down and away and wiggled his toes in his shoes. Dude. Saul's a weirdo. Elly won't take it serious if you don't do something dumb. Make a joke, FAST.
He couldn't think of anything.
"So when are you going to propose?" Elly asked him in her teasing voice.
"Propose what?" he asked, his embarrassed grin freezing a bit as he tried to understand the joke. He was missing something important here. Propose...
“Saul, you’re the most original author ever,” she said, still chucking. “And both of you are crazy,” she added. Shaking her head, she walked between the boys, heading back inside. “I need to go plan a story. Later!”
"Good luck!"
Oh... Oh! That kind of proposing. His hand jumped to his mouth and he took it away and rocked up on his toes and pivoted toward Saul.
"Yeah, real original," he said as normally as he could. His eyes darted back toward Elly and he lowered his voice, "How'd..." I do it? How'd it happen, you know, like, the Elly and me thing? Ahem. Right. "How'd you use the runes?"
He, too, had a story to plan.
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Echo Elms
I'll give it a go
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Echo Elms
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