24 Jun 2020, 01:59
Sink Your Teeth Into This
Date: June 12th, 2020 | Second Break
Where: In a quiet hallway near the Headliner Office
Interacting with: @George Henry and @Jake Morris
It had been almost two weeks since the launch of their most recent Headliner issue. Of this year, to date, it was one of best ones they had produced. At least in Evelynn's opinion. It was such an invigorating experience to see the written word from student fingertips making out into a mass print to be distributed among the students. In some ways, their word was law. Unless students were very much in the know or had access to resources to be able to fact check, they would only be able to guess or assume at the validity of the paper's contents. Most, she assumed, would take it at face value.
Even the obviously satirical pieces were likely to be taken literally. Which was actually a touchy subject for the lion given the particularly inciteful (not insightful) piece written by none other than the Editor in Chief about the Gryffindor's supposed involvement in whatever nonsense it was she had stated the Slytherins had had to deal with. Given that Evelynn was actually the editor of that particular article, there had been a moment that had lasted longer than she would care to admit where she had been sorely tempted to alter the context of those prose. Fortunately for her, and her continued career upon the team, she had exercised self-restraint. How she would love to be able to have her own work and investigations published though. O, to be one of the writers and have an excuse for a direct line to the thoughts, experiences, and stories of her peers.
One day, perhaps. Next year, maybe. But not today.
Much to her disappointment, this was the last month for the paper, and they would be taking a break over the summer. Naturally, of course. There was little use in writing and publishing if you had no one to distribute to, and no efficient way to communicate over the project. In fact, there was little use in visiting the office at all these days. And yet, she did anyway. It had become something of a habit, really. Gossip was one thing. Enticing all unto itself. Although it had to be taken with a grain of salt at times, there were always little truths to be found by those willing to pick at the trail and source them. Office gossip was another beast. And the office gossip of a club whose business it was to pick apart and write about everybody else's was a dire beast. The best sort.
Quiet and unassuming, Evelynn loved that particular trait of the job. It wasn't hers to write or source material — just read over, fact check and correct those to whom she'd been assigned. She faded into the furniture there, a constant fixture in the room. Noone batted an eye at her existence while she worked, and so she could be left to eavesdrop on all the "spilling of the tea" as she had learned was a term of expression. It had greatly diminished over the past few weeks, but she went anyway. Today, however, it was pretty dead. She had taken advantage of that tranquillity to get some progress done with her latest assignments and studies between class during second break, but with the bell to toll to signal the return to the grind at some point in the near future, she had packed up. Best to call it quits during a natural pause in the work than to have to interrupt a deep train of thought. Or so she told herself, anyway. Closing the door behind her, she made her way down the hall heading unhurriedly in the direction of her next class.
And promptly encountered a familiar face completely in line with her current train of thought. And a second who she knew only vaguely as being a fellow classmate.
"Hello, Henry," Evelynn greeted, offering a smile and slowing her steps to a stop. "And a good day to you as well," she added, addressing the second, smaller blonde. "We haven't been formally introduced. I am Decipio. Evelynn Decipio," she continued, holding a hand out to the second.
It's funny how the world sometimes acts as though it actually knows what's going on, manipulating the pieces of its inhabitants in such a way that they would cross paths when most or least convenient for them. In this case, it was the former. Exiting the office, her mind had been on a think-piece of another sort. In the collection of her papers, she had been reminded of an article that had been stored in the office archives for some time. Something that had been submitted to the Headliner After-Hours segment, but never published. Although a controversial article, it was one she thought could be thought-provoking, and hadn't understood why it had lain hidden and unaddressed. Perhaps this could be a chance to change that...
"How are you?" she wondered, glancing back to George. "You're not on your way to the office, are you?"
1 Jul 2020, 19:33
Sink Your Teeth Into This
George never lied in his articles intentionally, but he was prone to straying from the truth, adding embellishments and exaggerations to catch the attention of the reader and make things a bit more interesting to write about. A quill did more work than a wand in the hands of a newspaper writer, it seemed like. Although he couldn't make things fly or turn things into teacups or what have you, he could make people believe things, which was illegal if you did it with a wand, he thought.
Walking in the hallways with @Jake Morris by his side brought peace to George's mind, giving him space to think while his little friend trailed along beside him. He was a baby, but a pretty thoughtful one, which meant there was often time to enjoy the silence in the quieter corridors. The routine was a welcome change from all of the excitement. George was a bit upset about the lack of writing to do over the summer break, though he was sure he would adjust, and if all else failed he could just write some articles in his journal for Jake to read, since the smaller badger served as his proofreader most of the time. He spent all day with his nose in books - George figured a few of his own articles would make a welcome change of pace for the boy.
"Hello, Decipio," George returned the greeting, mimicking her intonation as he too slowed to a stop. He stuck out an elbow to nudge Jake's side as Evelynn stuck out her hand, nodding forward to encourage him to accept the handshake. The training wheels had come off, now - he was going to let the young boy speak for himself, somewhat. "Introduce yourself, Jake."
At the question, the boy nodded. He didn't see the encounter as any sort of twist of fate, however. The stars did not align for this. One person was leaving the office, and the other was going there. "I forgot my lucky quill in the office, so I'm going to go get it." Not a believer in fate, but luck? Well, that had to be real, if what happened to the students at this school meant anything. They had luck. Lots of it.
"outlandishly gay for boys"
Stamina: 10 / Evasion: 12 / Strength: 3 / Wisdom: 13 / Arcane Power: 7 / Accuracy: 12 [color: #632d0b]
10 Jul 2020, 08:35
Sink Your Teeth Into This
Evelynn was not particularly familiar with most of those with whom she worked on the Headliner team. Many of them were her senior. Many others, in one of the other Houses. In fact, she could only think of a select few individuals who were even members of her own pride, Silmataurea being one of them. The prefect, Alexander, another. As a result, although she would see faces come and go from the office, and others in class, she really didn't have any foundation of understanding on how they knew each other or with whom they socialised. She had never seen Henry and this other boy — Jake, apparently — together much. Not at so close a distance, anyway. Perhaps she'd seen them coming or going from class together, but had never really had the opportunity to see how they interacted on a first-hand basis.
That was obviously remedied now in this moment, and as she say the way that Henry addressed him, she couldn't help of loft a brow. It was as though he were a parent or a guardian addressing an ill-behaving child. One that required behavioural correcting and prompting to function appropriately in a social setting. Introduce yourself, Jake. For a moment, her gaze flickered between both of their expressions in an attempt to pick out the subtle nuances of their interaction. To determine what exactly was meant by it. Eventually they came to still on Jake, roaming his features to try to note any of the physical signs often associated with some of the more common manifestations of cognitive delays. Perhaps he was special in a way?
This sort of situation was one nearly entirely foreign to her. She'd been raised with the understanding that such children were no different from her, even if they might act differently, but to treat them as anyone else. So, her hand had remained outstretched in the event that he chose to take her up on the introduction. If enough time passed without his response, however, she'd withdraw her appendage, still with a smile, and simply offer, "Well, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jake."
After whatever introduction had been made, Evelynn turned back to Henry again, her attention drawn by his comment about his quill. "You have a lucky quill?" she inquired, lips pulled into the hint of a quizzical smile. "I have a few pens that I prefer over others, but that's mostly just because I like the way that their inks flow, and the clarity of their lines. I'm not sure I'd call any of them lucky, though. What makes your quill lucky?"
"And actually, I'm sort of glad I ran into you…" She'd been debating on whether or not to actually go through with handing out the article or not. And if she did, to whom. Her hands dropped to hang, folded, against her lap where she stood. "I know we're done releasing new issues for the year, but I was wondering if I could talk to you about next year. I'm assuming you're staying on the paper, yes? Do you know what sort of articles you're going to be focusing on in the coming school year? I've been itching to do some writing myself, but as I'm an editor, I was thinking perhaps I could help some of the writers with collecting material for their journaling.."
[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH @George Henry and @Jake Morris[/font]
13 Jul 2020, 05:55
Sink Your Teeth Into This
@George Henry @Evelynn Decipio
Jake was thinking about gillyweed.
It seemed like every week Jake learned something in his classes that astonished and amazed him, and this week it had been gillyweed. He had just been writing about it for his herbology homework (homework he really had to concentrate on because it was almost the end of term and his ability to care about his grades had started to slowly return to him). Gillyweed kind of turned you into a fish, except one that could still walk and talk. What did it feel like, Jake wondered, to breathe through gills? Imagining it was just impossible. Wasn't it hard to not try to breathe through your lungs instead, or did you just breathe like normal and your body knew to use the gills somehow? Who had been the first person to see gillyweed and think it was something they wanted to put in their mouth, and what had they done when it had started to work? They must have been really shocked. But gillyweed only lasted an hour... had they known when it was going to wear off, and what happened if they lost track of time?
Those were the types of things Jake was mulling over quietly as he walked down the hallway. George had left his lucky quill behind, and Jake had come along for the ride. It was a quiet walk, but Jake didn't mind quiet. He didn't really need to speak to feel the presence of his friend. Sometimes it was nice to just be with George, even if they weren't doing anything. In the common room, the little badger could often be seen by the side of his friend, even while just quietly drawing a picture or reading a book. Just being next to him was nice. Maybe it was feeling that presence that gave him the peace of mind to think about things like gillyweed, and not other types of thoughts that had been plaguing him.
A voice took him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see a girl with red hair and an outstretched hand. He had seen her before - she was a first year like they were - but he couldn't remember her name. She had a sort of funny way of speaking, and she mentioned the office - if it was the office they were on their way to, that meant she was maybe one of George's friends from the newspaper. The small boy eyed her hand for a moment, shyness creeping in until he felt a nudge from George and an encouragement to introduce himself. George wouldn't be speaking for him today, and Jake didn't want to be rude.
"Um, hi," Jake mumbled, sticking out his own hand. "I'm Jake Morris. I'm a Hufflepuff." He shook her hand gently, and though his wary face gave away his discomfort, he did manage to make it through the introduction without a stutter and with a voice that projected enough to be heard. He was getting a lot better at this, though talking to other kids was still hard. The key to introducing yourself was to just practice until the words felt automatic and to force yourself to say it loud enough that you felt a little uncomfortable. With Jake that usually meant it ended up at a regular volume.
George told her about how he forgot his lucky quill, which was one of his secret weapons for tests and homeworks and writing his articles. It seemed to have some kind of magic power which made him luckier - a magic so sacred that Jake had never even been allowed to touch it. It was probably better that way though, because if he did touch it then his own bad luck might rub off. He didn't know if George really needed that kind of magic. George was maybe the smartest kid Jake knew. But it did make him do better on tests. Jake had read a lot of his writing too, some with the lucky quill and some of them without them, and he thought that they were all really good and hadn't been able to tell the difference. George could tell the difference though, and he was the one of them that was a good writer.
Luckily, Evelynn's attention returned to George. Jake watched the two of them, and looked up curiously to see how George was going to answer. What was George going to write about next year? Sometimes he knew what George was writing about when he was writing it but he hadn't asked him what he was going to write next year. He didn't think George would tell him anyway until it was ready. That was alright, because Jake was often the first person to get to read it before anybody else did. He still wondered what was next though.
Jake was thinking about gillyweed.
It seemed like every week Jake learned something in his classes that astonished and amazed him, and this week it had been gillyweed. He had just been writing about it for his herbology homework (homework he really had to concentrate on because it was almost the end of term and his ability to care about his grades had started to slowly return to him). Gillyweed kind of turned you into a fish, except one that could still walk and talk. What did it feel like, Jake wondered, to breathe through gills? Imagining it was just impossible. Wasn't it hard to not try to breathe through your lungs instead, or did you just breathe like normal and your body knew to use the gills somehow? Who had been the first person to see gillyweed and think it was something they wanted to put in their mouth, and what had they done when it had started to work? They must have been really shocked. But gillyweed only lasted an hour... had they known when it was going to wear off, and what happened if they lost track of time?
Those were the types of things Jake was mulling over quietly as he walked down the hallway. George had left his lucky quill behind, and Jake had come along for the ride. It was a quiet walk, but Jake didn't mind quiet. He didn't really need to speak to feel the presence of his friend. Sometimes it was nice to just be with George, even if they weren't doing anything. In the common room, the little badger could often be seen by the side of his friend, even while just quietly drawing a picture or reading a book. Just being next to him was nice. Maybe it was feeling that presence that gave him the peace of mind to think about things like gillyweed, and not other types of thoughts that had been plaguing him.
A voice took him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see a girl with red hair and an outstretched hand. He had seen her before - she was a first year like they were - but he couldn't remember her name. She had a sort of funny way of speaking, and she mentioned the office - if it was the office they were on their way to, that meant she was maybe one of George's friends from the newspaper. The small boy eyed her hand for a moment, shyness creeping in until he felt a nudge from George and an encouragement to introduce himself. George wouldn't be speaking for him today, and Jake didn't want to be rude.
"Um, hi," Jake mumbled, sticking out his own hand. "I'm Jake Morris. I'm a Hufflepuff." He shook her hand gently, and though his wary face gave away his discomfort, he did manage to make it through the introduction without a stutter and with a voice that projected enough to be heard. He was getting a lot better at this, though talking to other kids was still hard. The key to introducing yourself was to just practice until the words felt automatic and to force yourself to say it loud enough that you felt a little uncomfortable. With Jake that usually meant it ended up at a regular volume.
George told her about how he forgot his lucky quill, which was one of his secret weapons for tests and homeworks and writing his articles. It seemed to have some kind of magic power which made him luckier - a magic so sacred that Jake had never even been allowed to touch it. It was probably better that way though, because if he did touch it then his own bad luck might rub off. He didn't know if George really needed that kind of magic. George was maybe the smartest kid Jake knew. But it did make him do better on tests. Jake had read a lot of his writing too, some with the lucky quill and some of them without them, and he thought that they were all really good and hadn't been able to tell the difference. George could tell the difference though, and he was the one of them that was a good writer.
Luckily, Evelynn's attention returned to George. Jake watched the two of them, and looked up curiously to see how George was going to answer. What was George going to write about next year? Sometimes he knew what George was writing about when he was writing it but he hadn't asked him what he was going to write next year. He didn't think George would tell him anyway until it was ready. That was alright, because Jake was often the first person to get to read it before anybody else did. He still wondered what was next though.
20 Jul 2020, 02:05
Sink Your Teeth Into This
George seemed pleased with Jake's introduction. He gave his name and shook her hand, like a grown adult, rather than waiting in George's shadow for the taller Hufflepuff to take care of things for him. The question about the lucky quill caught him by surprise. It was just a quill that was lucky, like a lucky coin, or a lucky pair of underwear, or any other mundane object that could impart luck. There was no explanation behind it. "I don't know," he said, with a helpless shrug. "Same thing that makes anything else lucky?"
They didn't dwell on it long. Evelynn had some kind of use for him, judging by how quickly she segued right into what had actually been on her mind. He wasn't bothered by her dredging up Headliner topics while he was off-duty (not that they had shifts). It was rare for anyone to so openly say they were glad to see him, so he took the pleasant words as they came and was prepared to pay the cost for them. "I'm staying on the paper unless they kick me out," George said. "And I don't think they will. You wanted to... collect material for my journaling?"
That was a vague way of putting... whatever she meant. "I'm not sure what I'll write about. Probably stick with the news and history I've been doing, but I mean... there's always new news." When news got old, it became history, so really he just specialized in writing about new news and old news. The fresh stuff was always better for front-page material, however.
"Do you mean you'd write something and I'd look at it instead of the other way 'round? Could be a nice change of pace. Although, if you spell anything wrong, I don't think I'll catch it..." he admitted, with another helpless shrug. There was a reason he'd been put into writing rather than editing. He didn't have the firmest grasp on every grammatical rule. But he had style, and enough brave stupidity to say just about anything that would get a reader to pay attention.
"outlandishly gay for boys"
Stamina: 10 / Evasion: 12 / Strength: 3 / Wisdom: 13 / Arcane Power: 7 / Accuracy: 12 [color: #632d0b]
22 Jul 2020, 07:09
Sink Your Teeth Into This
Contrary to what might have been, the shy boy was actually rather forthcoming with introductions. A brow had quirked slightly at his initially mumbled introduction. Perhaps there was actually a valid reason for Henry having urged him to speak. He almost looked as though were it not for the prodding, he might have sunk into the ground altogether like one of the school's ghosts. To his credit, however, he'd put out his hand, one that Evelynn had eagerly grasped and given a firm (but not too firm) shake that stood in contrast to his own gentle one. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Morris."
Perhaps she'd been just a bit too quick to judge. He seemed like an average student.
Of course, shortly after that, her attention had drifted to Henry and the commentary she had spoken had been sounded. The return response was less than satisfying, however. How could he possibly mean he didn't know? How could something be declared lucky if there was no basis for the luck? At her previous boarding schools, Evelynn had heard of some of the students wearing lucky socks or lucky hairclips to tests under the belief that somehow it helped them perform better, but she'd never understood it then, either. In her mind, the only thing that impacted such results was the effort one had invested prior to the event in question.
She let it pass without further commentary. It seemed to be a superficial notion anyway, although she supposed it was something to take note of at least, that he had a lucky quill. A little detail to tuck away into the back of her mind just in case such a time should arise where it might be useful to remember that.
"Well, I can't imagine they would do that," she chuckled, somewhat amused by the notion that the Headliner might kick anyone out. Although, after another moment's thought, she could actually see the Editor in Chief doing just that if someone crossed her badly enough. It was one of the reasons why Evelynn had never confronted her about the blatantly prejudicial things she'd written about Gryffindor in one of her recent articles. And no matter how much Evelynn might have been tempted to alter the content entirely during her editing, she had refrained for fear of the repercussions.
Before she could elaborate on what had seemed to be a question, however, he had continued to explain what he intended to write about. News. Old and new. Her favourite kinds of articles, insofar as they were related to the Wizarding world and at least somewhat recent events, at least. None of the history about the muggle world had been particularly interesting to her, but then again, she was fairly certain Henry hadn't authored any of those.
"In a sense," she finally responded, tilting her head back and forth slightly. "What I mean is… as an editor, I can't submit any of my own work. Not really. It has to come from a writer. But a writer can write about anything. You could even do what was done recently, with the transcript of a conversation being submitted for publishing. So it doesn't technically have to be your own words. So… You could, in theory, take something that someone else has written and submit it for publishing. That's what I meant. And I assure you," she added, flashing a smile, "that you wouldn't have to worry about editing it. That's what we're for."
[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH @Jake Morris and @George Henry[/font]
12 Sep 2020, 01:00
Sink Your Teeth Into This
@George Henry @Evelynn Decipio
The girl said it was a pleasure to meet Jake's acquaintance. Jake blushed and nodded in response. He then took a step back to let the other kids talk. feeling a little proud of himself for introducing himself so clearly but happy to let George do the talking now, since he was the one who seemed to know her.
He watched curiously as the two talked. George's newspaper job was a life all of its own that Jake didn't know all that much about. He sort of picture it like George walked into the room and then somehow popped into a suit and tie with some coffee like a grown-up, sitting down and typing away on typewriters, even though he knew it wasn't REALLY like that at all. It was just so hard to imagine having a job and what it was like to write for a newspaper. The friends and people that George knew there were part of a whole separate world far outside of Hufflepuff house that Jake hadn't seen very much of. This was a chance to get a glimpse.
This girl sounded like a writer. That was the first thing Jake noticed. She sort of talked like the shows his Dad watched, with a lot of big words all strung together really fast. He thought he knew most of them when you said them alone but put them all together and it flew right over his head. She talked sort of like how George wrote, except you couldn't go back to the beginning of the sentence if you started to get lost.
It sounded like she wanted to get George's help because she wasn't allowed to write something for the paper, but the world of editors and publishers wasn't one he knew a lot about, and so some of it was lost on him. Jake didn't say that, because he didn't want to look stupid next to the two of them, but perhaps those who saw his face would see the blank way he looked up at Evelynn for a moment, and the slight squint of his brow, his eyes flickering to George for a moment to see if he understood what Evelynn was asking him and why.
The girl said it was a pleasure to meet Jake's acquaintance. Jake blushed and nodded in response. He then took a step back to let the other kids talk. feeling a little proud of himself for introducing himself so clearly but happy to let George do the talking now, since he was the one who seemed to know her.
He watched curiously as the two talked. George's newspaper job was a life all of its own that Jake didn't know all that much about. He sort of picture it like George walked into the room and then somehow popped into a suit and tie with some coffee like a grown-up, sitting down and typing away on typewriters, even though he knew it wasn't REALLY like that at all. It was just so hard to imagine having a job and what it was like to write for a newspaper. The friends and people that George knew there were part of a whole separate world far outside of Hufflepuff house that Jake hadn't seen very much of. This was a chance to get a glimpse.
This girl sounded like a writer. That was the first thing Jake noticed. She sort of talked like the shows his Dad watched, with a lot of big words all strung together really fast. He thought he knew most of them when you said them alone but put them all together and it flew right over his head. She talked sort of like how George wrote, except you couldn't go back to the beginning of the sentence if you started to get lost.
It sounded like she wanted to get George's help because she wasn't allowed to write something for the paper, but the world of editors and publishers wasn't one he knew a lot about, and so some of it was lost on him. Jake didn't say that, because he didn't want to look stupid next to the two of them, but perhaps those who saw his face would see the blank way he looked up at Evelynn for a moment, and the slight squint of his brow, his eyes flickering to George for a moment to see if he understood what Evelynn was asking him and why.