Fall Ball 2021 Matchmaking Booth

OUTFIT: Reducio

INTERACTIONS: ▪ @Mathias Pride ▪ MENTIONING: ▪ @ ▪

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Winnie would arrive at the tent, whether or not she was pulling her date Mathias along with her. She had taken notice of the dripping red paint and how grungy the tent looked on the outside, but she thought that was just to match the theme of the spookiest season of the year. Besides, it was a matchmaking tent, it had to be romantic, right?

Wrong. The tent seemed littered with creepy dolls. Winnie didn't mind dolls but there were... So many of them. Their glassy eyes seemed to follow her wherever she stepped. She halted in her tracks after a moment, glancing over her shoulder nervously to see if Mathias had followed her. "H-Hello?"

She cautiously stepped further into the tent, her eyes flickering down to the large leather tome that sat on the desk in the center of the tent. "... Is no one here? Is this a self-service tent or something?" She questioned the darkness, sighing as she approached the tome. 'The Matchmaking Tome.' Ah, so it was self-serve after all!

"I guess we're just supposed to write the information in here?" She would address Matt if he had followed her, if not... Well, the girl was talking to herself. "I swear to Merlin if one of these dolls starts to talk... We're running out of here." She flipped the tome open to a blank page, grabbed the quill provided for them and started to scribble down their names.

Your name: Winnie Harper
Counterpart’s name: Mathias Pride
What kind of relationship is your character hoping for?: We have been dating for a few months now and want to know if our relationship can withstand any test that life might throw our way! I (Winnie) believe that we might be soul mates and would love to have a confirmation of sorts!
(The rest of the page has hearts drawn all over it.)

Notes: At the matchmaker tent. thank god we have to wait for a mod!

Outfit: Pink Plaid Suit

Inventory: Wand, small lockpicking knife, wizard tight, corsage (for Winnie).

Action: Talking to Winnie, NOT writing a submission of his own.

Interacts with: @Winnie Harper

Mentions: @Flash Holmwood

As soon as @Winnie Harper finished drawing her last heart upon the page, a light breeze filled the tent, causing the hanging talismans to emit a bright tinkling sound as they knocked gently against each other. This signaled that the girl's quilled message was received by the Tome.

Words began appearing one by one in elegant cursive script, visible only to Winnie's own eyes. If @Mathias Pride thought to look over her shoulder out of curiosity once he caught his bated breath, he would only see their two names embossed with hearts upon the page. Nothing more.

The Matchmaking Tome's response is as follows:

"Now, dear, it seems like you feel you've caught quite the catch. From the way you drew those many hearts, I can tell you feel that you are meant to be soulmates. But be warned, you must shield your heart from the inevitable pain that one always feels at the end of a previously love-filled relationship. Your relationship with Mathias Pride will one day fall lukewarm and cold, and one of you will inevitably be drawn to another person... That blossoming field of love you feel today will one day fall barren and gray... From there onwards, friendship could be the most you would achieve."

And that was all the Tome was willing to offer. No more answers would be given.

At this point, the dolls' gaze would intensify -- if that were even possible -- watching and waiting for a response. Perhaps they were the guardians of the tent?

OUTFIT: Reducio

INTERACTIONS: ▪ @Mathias Pride ▪ MENTIONING: ▪ @Levi Drakos ▪

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Mathias was dragged behind her, wheezing as he attempted to keep up. Had she known he would be so out of breath while they were about to discover their happy future together, she would have simply carried him princess style towards the tent. It was too late for such a romantic gesture now. She couldn't understand what the boy was trying to say at first. He was going on about dolls. Aw, was her boyfriend afraid of the porcelain dust collectors? How adorable. Flash? Why was he bringing him up? Did he remind Matt of a doll? The boy was attractive enough, sure, but...

"Evil?" Winnie questioned as she drew a few more hearts. "No, I mean... Maybe a bit cynical, but not evil." She glanced up from the tome and turned around the face the Slytherin. "Are you okay, Mattie? I know that you're not fond of crowds," She took a step closer and smiled up at the bespectacled boy, "All I really want to do is dance with you, and then we can sneak away for the rest of the night." They could practice kissing, or read. Both would be equally thrilling.

She finished drawing the final heart and set the quill back down onto the desk. She almost dropped the tome when the breeze suddenly picked up. The chill of the Autumn air on her bare arms caused her to shiver. She gazed down at the tome as it began to inscribe a message only she could read.

It was not what she wanted to hear. The smile on her face fell as she set the tomb down onto the desk.

Shield your heart. From who, Matt? She didn't understand why she would need to, he was the person she trusted most in the world. Drawn to another person. How the hell would the tome know that? There was a person she was drawn to, but it was not for a good reason and she could not explain his allure. Levi. Had he somehow managed to hex the book? She was tempted to get out her knife and stab it over and over again, but she knew the dolls were present for a reason, so she would behave. For now.

"... The tome is basically a magic eight ball, it has no idea what it's talking about." She grumbled, turning on her heel and back towards Matt. "The dolls are creeping me out, let's go to the ball area." She would try to grab his hand again. If he allowed her to guide him again or followed her, she would walk slowly this time.

Dialogue: English - #1b087d | Russian - #8f0000 | Finnish - #00804f

Interacting with: Octavian (@Matthew Gray)

Her date was definitely a withdrawn, quiet type that much preferred listening to talking. Which suited Tarja perfectly, since she enjoyed chattering as long as there was anyone showing the slightest interest in her tales. At some point during the ball, however, she would have to get him talking as well. After all, she invited this enigmatic peer of hers to go together as a means of getting to know him better. Two full months into his presence at Koldovstoretz, and she still hardly learned a single fact about him. That was unacceptable.

To get him warmed up, she spent the whole way from the Samhain area to the Quidditch pitch giving him a summary of her existence.

''So my dad, of course, refused to leave my mom, no matter how much his family pressured him to cut his ties with proletariat and marry someone more 'noteworthy', whatever that means. After all, she wasn't even Russian, technically, and she was poor. That made them disinherit him, I think as a means of making him see that without their money he had nothing. Only that backfired, since dad moved in with my mom and her parents, and there he had much more than the cold empty rubles of the Blavatsky house could offer.'' That about summed up the story of her conception, which nobody had asked for. But she needed to speak of something, so why not choose some personal stories? That tended to work wonders in getting the shyer people to open their mouths, since they seemed to feel the inexplicable urge to return the favour.

''Oh, and most of my relatives on the Blavatsky side went to Durmstrang. Even dad. They say there's a lot of Dark Arts taught there, and that lures people down the wrong path. See my uncle, Lev Kirillovich. He rose to become one of the most prominent duellist in the whole Russia, only to lose all of his honours and be all but banished because he started utilizing dangerous curses in his duels. He was actually the only member of the Blavatsky house that stayed in contact with my dad after he was disinherited, and he sometimes brought me presents when coming to visit. But then he disappeared, and I only found out some years later that the law enforcement had chased him out of the country because apparently he had harmed someone pretty badly in an illegal duel. My parents didn't want me following in those steps, so they sent me to Koldovstoretz instead.'' A rather convoluted story, but then again, Tarja was not known for her consistency. As far as she was concerned, the story made perfect sense and fully explained the choice of the educational institution her guardians had made.

It would have been her turn now to ask him questions about his life and experiences, but they approached the odd little tent they had been looking for, so she had to hold back her interrogation. The exterior of the tent was... ominous. Would this be some haunted house adventure? Tarja slipped inside, pulling Octavian with her. The interior was not much better.

''Dolls? That's creepy,'' she declared after scanning the surroundings. Her eyes locked on the book placed in the middle of the space, clearly meant as the main focus of the activity. ''Do we need to read?'' she complained, approaching the hefty tome. ''Could this be an escape-room type of thing, with clues written in there?'' She wasn't sure she had the brain capacity for puzzle solving. The girl flipped it open at a random page. It was completely blank. Somehow, for some reason, an idea popped into her head. She let go of Tavi's hand, grabbed the quill that was located nearby, and began scribling.

[font=Lucida Console]Your name: Tarja Akimovna Blavatsky
Counterpart’s name: Octavian Kostyovich Červeňák
Desired relationship: Good friendship

[/font]
She was not sure why exactly she had written that, it was just an odd impulse the enchanted book seemed to have conjured in her brain. Tarja put the quill back, dissatisfied that she needed to write something on a day off from school, and turned back to the pages, moderately curious as to what would happen next. ''I think this will tell us something about ourselves, like a gypsy fortune teller or something. I wonder if a real seer composed this or is this just some party trick?''

Action: Arriving with Tavi, writing in the Matchmaking Tome.

Inventory: Wand, a 0.5l flask of water, a 100g bar of chocolate (all in the pockets of her specially-sown dress), a bouquet of slightly wilted wildflowers (in hand).

Outfit: Pink Plaid Suit

Inventory: Wand, small lockpicking knife, wizard tight, corsage (for Winnie).

Action: Following Winnie, leaving the booth unharmed. To the ball?

Interacts with: @Winnie Harper

Mentions: @Flash Holmwood

Two young Koldovstoretz students approached the Matchmaking Booth, hand in hand. Tarja Akimovna Blavatsky (@Liana Kerr) paid little attention to the dolls littering the tent, instead focusing on the tragedy that she would have to write in English to fulfill their matchmaking request. Although holding a quill was the least appealing thing to do during a night of festivities, the girl wrote down her entry within the Tome nonetheless.

A bone-chilling wind -- colder than the light breeze associated with Winnie Harper's message -- would circle the tent as soon as the quill was back in its holder, signaling the receipt of Tarja's message. One by one, cursive words began to appear on the bottom half of the page.

The Matchmaking Tome's response is as follows:

"Friends, eh? That is a far cry from what you two shall become, unless good friendship is meant to end in tears, anger, and heartbreak. Although the two of you may seem to get along for a while, ultimately, your destiny is not written to be so. How this will end will make both of you regret that you have ever had the misfortune of meeting."

And that was all the Tome was willing to offer. No more answers would be given.

If Octavian was interested in seeing what was in the book, he would only see their two names scribbled on the paper, nothing more.

The dolls blinked at the unfortunate message, and then refocused their eyes on the young pair. Did they show just the tiniest bit of remorse and sympathy for the two children?

[ @Henry Knight as Charles • @Valerie Laurier as Ayu • @Rose Moon as Drew • @Logan Baird as Ro ]

writing

English #26687E • French #72267E

It looked like the sort of place which had a clown waiting inside to murder everyone, which was perhaps exactly why it intregued Cassie so much. She had no intention of actually asking anything of course - woe to anybody who suggested that Cassie was interested in matchmaking of any form! - but she was Charles' friend. It was her job to stand behind him and snigger whenever he mentioned his boyfriend as though he were part of some large joke which he was completely ignorant about. No, it was not her job, it was her right! Nobody could take it from her! (Cassie didn't stop once to think that maybe this was why shy people didn't often like her all that much. What was wrong with relentless teasing?)

The moment that they entered the tent, however, the atmosphere changed completely. There was a sort of burning smell in the end which Cassie guessed was some sort of incense - she'd never had the time to bother much with plants; they just died whenever she forgot to water them, which was often. Random symbols hung from the walls and ceiling, along with dreamcatchers in all manner of sizes and colours. Cassie wrinkled her nose and looked over at anybody who'd entered the tent with her. "Well, this is cheesy." She squinted around the rest of the room, noting the random fabrics and the creepy dolls. "Looks like a scam."

Even so, her eyes were drawn to the book which lay open on a table in the middle of the room. "The Matchmaking Tome," Cassie read aloud. "Goshdammit, this is funny." She snorted. "Let's see how many people have been caught by whatever weirdo set this up." She stepped over to the Tome and flicked back through the pages. Funnily enough, there weren't many entries: one page which Cassie noted was covered in hearts and then immediately flicked pasg in disgust, and one less gushy one which was simple and to the point. Good friendship. "Huh." Cassie flipped over to a new page, a sudden urge to write something rushing over her. "So this is supposed to work for friendship too..." And, after only a moment of hesitation, she bent over and scribbled down her name, saying triumphantly to Charles, "Now we'll see if it really is a scam or not!"

Your name: Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin
Counterpart’s name: Scarlett Aden
What kind of relationship is your character hoping for?: Friendship, obviously! We've been countries apart before so it's not like we're gonna end up losing each other now. If you can't predict that, you're not much use, are you?

[ human • sixth sense • fearless • the muggle condition • sta 10 • eva 8 • stre 8 • wis 7 • arc 4 • acc 10 ]

[ wand • water bottle • 5 plasters ]

Your name: Charles Nako Alluring
Counterpart’s name: Valentin Everbone
What kind of relationship is your character hoping for?: Romantic. We recently met, I am unsure if I possess feelings over the French boy but maybe this mental book can give me the answers that I desire.

Another piece of paper woild be scribbled on the blonde hidden from Cassie and slipped into the book, wondering if both will come back or only one. If only one came back then Charles's wouldn't mind, he only wanted to see if this really is a scam using someome who he is already close with.

Your name: Charles Nako Alluring
Counterpart’s name: Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin
What kind of relationship is your character hoping for?: Good Friendship. Known each other for a bit, enjoy her company. What does the future hold if you tell the "truth" for us.