A More Unusual Celebration Open to Ilvermorny Closed

Roleplaying as Phylicia Stanwood
@Opeila Winters [Theodore Duncain], @Simon Kincaid [Miles Thatcher], @Everly Charlton [Lucietta Adaleigh Thea Mahler], @Wyatt Starkey [Miles Parker]

School was monotonous. Long. Boring, a lot of the time. It made Phyllis long for summer, for free days in the sun. Why was summer so short? How was it still so far away, the calendar not even reading March yet? It wasn't like she couldn't do things she liked during the school year--hanging out with friends, flying on her broom--but homework crowded her time and the weather was gloomy. By this point, she could rarely be bothered to muster the energy to persist through the fog when it settled in between her ears and her teachers' voices, thoughts wandering to the afternoon's offering of Quidditch practice.

But life was not boring, and though Phyllis would absolutely be somewhere else if she had the option, she tried to make the most of it. The halls of school weren't such a horrible place for an extrovert, after all, stuffed with lots and lots of people her age that she could talk to. She'd finally joined the Quidditch team this year after her stint in broom racing, which had been plenty fun, just Quidditch was her real passion. She made new friends. She learned some cool new spells, so she could almost admit that lessons, sometimes, were okay. Things did actually make a little more sense now, so on the whole, she was doing better in her classes.

And sometimes a day would shine through, concentrated positivity rather than dappled sunspots. Quidditch games, weekends without homework, the culmination of a genius prank. This was one of those days, this time in the form of the birthday of one Theodore Duncain. Or, Theo, for any practical use, because extra syllables were not practical. Self-proclaimed gentleman, one-time Mr. Nickname Fail (that one actually sucked, thankfully she'd forgotten it). Nicknames aside, the point was that it was Theo's birthday, and it wasn't quite the same kind of exciting as your own birthday, but seeing friends happy made her happy.

Even a day full of classes couldn't wear her into exhaustion. It helped that it was Friday, a day already marked by eagerly waiting for the minutes to slip away. Excitement, frankly, did not help her concentration, but there were more important things than studying old wars and the physics of the universe anyway, like tearing a sheet from her notebook to turn into a birthday card. She managed to be pretty neat with that rip, neat never a word that really fit Phyllis but one that could be loosely applied when she was doing something crafty. Like Quidditch, it was something she could be bothered to put real effort into. Some discreet writing later (it wasn't that secretive, she just pretended she was doing homework) and adding a splash of color from her and KK's art supplies when she got back to the dorms, and voila, it was ready. Totally not last-minute, it was handed over as soon as classes were over for the day. Inside a folded sheet splattered with doodles, a lot of them flying-related, the origin of the paper obvious if he bothered to look what with the lingering uneven edge, was something just a little easier to read than Phyllis' usual scrawl:

Hey Theo! Happy birthday, I hope it's going great. You're a great friend and a great broom flyer. Speaking of which, we should race again sometime, just not today because I think we both know who would win and I would hate to do that to you on your birthday. But anyway, point is, you're pretty cool. Debatable on being a gentleman, though.

Cheers,
Phyllis : )

Now, she was lounging in on the Common Room's chairs, feet kicked up on its arm. Theo was opening stuff from other people, and while she waited for him to do that and direct them toward whatever he wanted to do after, she took to counting stuff on the ceiling. It wasn't long until Theo was exclaiming excitedly, which was good since she wasn't really getting anywhere with that. Perking up, it was mostly instinct that prompted her to catch the box tossed her way. Glancing at the package, she tilted her head. What...? "Uh, Theo?" But he was already gone, just outside of the door. There were some snappy sounds coming from that direction. Was that what these things did?

Swinging her legs off the chair to take her feet, she looked to the others Theo had thrown these things to. Lucietta and Miles were both teammates. Or, younger Miles was. Her-age Miles was a duellist, right? Maybe they knew what these things were? It was probably an American thing, curse living in Canada. Or a Muggle thing. Or she had just been living under a rock, that was honestly possible with how rarely her mother took her places. "Do you guys know what this is? Or, like, what to do with it? Because I have literally no clue." She peeked out the door. Theo was having fun, at least? Doing some sort of throwing thing?

[font=baskerville old face]Playing as Ilvermorny student Miles Parker[/font]

[font=baskerville old face]hex: #a76d48[/font]

[font=baskerville old face]As one does, Miles was vibing. Classes were done for the day so he was able to do so. It was his right. I'm not being defensive, you are. He had just passed the hallway that intersected that of the entrance hall when he'd heard determined stomping and the loud crackle of... those lil things that you throw on the ground to make noises that your neighbors hate? They had those in the wizarding world?

Well, of course, they did: they were hella fun. Plus, with all that other stuff they had, it made sense. Some of the toys that they give little wizards are just insane! Frisbees with teeth should absolutely be an 18+ situation, maybe even an unforgivable! Or maybe not, but they're certainly dangerous! Miles whizzed back around so he could see what was going on before inevitably adding to the chaos.

It was a kid Miles recognized who had been throwing the things, Theodore Something-or-other. A broom racer (not a duellist) and a Thunderbird, but in Miles's grade so he was aware of the kid. It also probably helped the recognition department of Miles's brain when searching for who this kid was that he went to almost every sporting event they had at Ilvermorny. The energy at those things was always unmatched.

Tracing Theo's footsteps back to where Miles had initially heard the noises, he saw the Thunderbird common room door wide open. It was just now beginning to drift shut to conceal the confused faces of a group of Miles's peers. From behind the door, Miles watched and listened as Phylicia, a quidditch player, asked what the things were, holding her very own box. For shame.

"Throw 'em!" Miles yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth for noise reasons. Human megaphone, Miles Parker. "Take them out of the box first though...! Like, throw 'em, but separately!"

Turning his attention to Theo, Miles asked, "Hey, Theo, you have any more? Those things are the best."[/font]

[font=baskerville old face]@Opeila Winters [Theodore Duncain], @Bridget Collins [Phylicia Stanwood], @Simon Kincaid [Miles Thatcher (or Miles 2)], @Everly Charlton [Lucietta Adaleigh Thea Mahler][/font]

Roleplaying as my iNPC Tina Parker

@Opeila Winters [Theodore Duncain] @@Wyatt Starkey [Miles Parker] @Everly Charlton [Lucietta Adaleigh Thea Mahler] @Simon Kincaid [Miles Thatcher]

There seemed to be something going on today as many students talked about something grand today. An unusual celebration took place, and Tina Parker, the rebel she was, wanted to find out. Before this, she had a lesson on Defense Against the Dark Arts; for Tina, it was her favorite subject due to her nature of being rebellious; however, she would get into trouble more often than not, as she heard the Brish's, Nymphadora Tonks. Tina was also a rebellious youth, though most of her inspiration was due to the efforts of two people, in particular, those being her own parents, as they were the pretty rambunctious bunch in their youth. This was something that Tina took to heart and had been rebellious ever since she was in her Second-Year at Ilvermorny; this led to several moments where Tina got detention over time. Tina was even threatened with expulsion for her behavior and backed off from her usually willful conduct. This, in turn, was the source of her wanting her rebellious nature kept under the radar, though she would take rebelliousness out on bullies where she would not be spotted in the slightest. Tina then walked in on the celebration by saying with a clearly enthusiastic voice "Heya, friends. Hope to see the celebration going up in the air?" She then asked, "So what are we celebrating"?

Ok, maybe Theo himself forgot from time to time that not everyone here was familiar with the absolutely awesome muggle stuff that existed. Like those little boxes that were piling up in his birthday box. He was reminded of that by Phyllis whom he had thrown one of those boxes at in his excitement. "Oh! Oh, you throw them! They're the best thing, my siblings and I always throw them at each other at new year. Firecracker battles are the absolute best.", he shouted back towards the common room.

Another person had also heard Phyllis' confusion as well as Theo's little surprise attack in the hall. "Here, my family sent me a whole bunch of them!" Theo grabbed one of the boxes and threw them to Miles. "One amazing thing about having grown up in the muggle world..." The twins used to be the best at firecracker ambushes, lurking in trees only to throw them at him out of nowhere, but attacking someone who had no clue what those things were in plain sight came pretty close to that.

Another girl proceeded to show Phyllis what to do with them, so Theo turned his attention to the next person approaching and asking what was being celebrated. "Birthday party but also not really, I guess! You want one?" Without waiting for her answer, Tina would also find a box of firecrackers thrown towards her.

Reducio

Roleplaying as Phylicia Stanwood @Opeila Winters [Theodore Duncain], @Everly Charlton [Lucietta Adaleigh Thea Mahler], @Wyatt Starkey [Miles Parker], @Jacob Harman [Tina Parker]

People were helpful. Phyllis was confused, the box and entire concept of whatever Theo was doing outside the door being foreign to her. But she would not remain confused for long, readily informed of two key details. One, that you threw these things. Cool, she liked throwing things. Two, that they were loud. Phyllis did, in fact, have ears, so she was working that one out, but it was appreciated nonetheless. It seemed like being loud was the primary function of these... things. Had Theo said something about firecracker battles? Firecracker it was.

The demonstration by Lucietta was also appreciated, for extra clarity. The explanations were pretty solid, she just did better with a visual. The Chaser seemed to regard the firecrackers with severe apprehension, enough so that Phyllis felt just a little concerned. Theo seemed to be having the time of his life, and loud had never really been an issue for her, but how would she know if there was something to fear in the little thing held between Lucietta's fingers? As her teammate moved to throw it, Phyllis shifted her weight onto her back foot, creating a little separation just to be safe, and it was probably the whole build-up that caused her to jump a little. It was indeed loud, and this was the loudest she'd heard it so far (basic rules of nature, the far-off projectiles would sound quieter than the one right next to her). But instead of joining Lucietta's club of mild dislike, Phyllis' face had split into a grin as she was possessed by her eleven-year-old self's drive to be a loud nuisance.

"Thank you!" she told Lucietta sincerely, and the gratitude extended to Miles and Theo for their verbal aid. And then she tore into the packaging, getting her first proper look at the firecrackers. They didn't look immensely exciting--kind of like those kiss... things she'd seen once--but Theo clearly associated fun with them and outside of their decided lack of broom sports, Phyllis was sure Muggles were fully capable of having a blast. Wizards could be pretty stuffy sometimes, honestly. She felt like she should open them, like you did with those kisses, but Lucietta hadn't done that so you probably weren't supposed to.

Her first throw. Taking a firecracker in hand, Phyllis threw it into the ground, hard--Lucietta said it wouldn't work if you threw too lightly, so Phyllis would now be overcompensating until told to do otherwise. She also threw it in a direction that was not Lucietta, since she imagined the girl wouldn't appreciate that very much. It gave its nice, satisfying little bang, and she laughed, running after Theo to keep up with the birthday person. "These are so cool!" Honestly, how had she lived without these little bursts of noise for fourteen years? There were wizard crackers, she supposed, but she rarely got to have those and there was something so much more fun about getting to throw the thing, too. She threw another one.