hello new players!

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

I've begun to feel badly about the fact that we got so carried away yesterday with the emergence of a brilliantly-played new Evil character that we overlooked this past week's bigger news: we have LOTS of new characters (and probably some new players, too).

Students:
I'm so glad for alt_hannah that she now has some companionship in our virtual Hufflepuff, and I've really enjoyed Susan, Ernie and Megan's entry into the game. They've fit right into this strange new world we're seeing where Slytherins are happy to study and play and create in-jokes with students from other Houses. (I wonder how long this will last? Will it be an important strength for the students in the days ahead? Or will we see them grow disenchanted and fall out so that someday they will dislike as strongly as they now seem to like one another?) For right now, though, I'm really enjoying that Slytherins can gently poke fun at Michael Corner's post about magical stuff he's dying to see; they are poking fun because they genuinely like him, and that's very cool.

Staff:
I've also enjoyed meeting alt_horace this week. He's already establishing his canonical brand of Slytherin personality type: he's inviting particular young people to chat with him (presumably, as in the books, to forge connections now with young ones he believes will grow up to positions of influence) and passing over others. I was amused to note that Draco had to assert himself in order to win an invitation. Poor Draco, even in this game, you aren't one of Slughorn's chosen! I note, too, that he's (so far) by-passed Sally-Anne. I assume that this is reinforcement of the game's subtle picture of the prejudice against half-bloods.

Order:
alt_frank arrived (more than a week ago? not much) with a bang of big news about Alice's pregnancy. I look forward to seeing what role they play going forward. Lots of potential for poignancy, peril, and pathos, I should think!

Death Eaters:
alt_crouch_jr is a welcome addition. I'm hopeful that he and his new house-mate, Regulus, will inspire each other to post more frequently than we've seen yet. I think that I'm looking forward to meeting Alecto Carrow if her part gets cast. (I had been sort of hoping the Carrows would remain uncast and off-stage, but now that we have such a beautifully horrifying Amycus, I'm changing my mind.)

Mudbloods:
I'm going to include Dennis here because his first week injected a new set of interesting issues and personality dynamics into the game, and I'm hoping to see much of him as we go along.

So, hi to all! (I hope I haven't missed any of you...!)

Comments

[longstrider.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to see Slughorn join up. Such an influential figure for so many involved in this whole story, particularly if he remains a professor through much of the story. And yes, poor Draco.

More students is also good :) I'm absolutely loving the student - student interactions in this game. Though it's clear that at least some of them have caught on that you can't post stuff willy-nilly without repercussions which limits our vision into certain unsavory and wonderful corners of their lives.

[brimtoast.livejournal.com]

I thought with Slughorn it was really interesting how he talked to Harry about knowing his Father in school. I almost thought he was going to talk about James and Lily for a second, but then it became clear he meant Tom Riddle. Does he know who Harry's real parents are? Is he actually interested in him because he thinks he's Voldemort's son, or is he interested because he is Lily's son? Harry has Lily's eyes; would that be enough for people who knew Lily to figure out who he is, in the absence of other evidence?

The other student he was immediately interested in is Pansy. Is it because he saw her posts from earlier and finds her interesting? Or, more likely, because one of her parents stood out to him as being special? I'm guessing her father, but it would also be cool if it were her mother who used to be particularly brilliant and talented before circumstances drove her to alcoholism.

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

I think this game could still do with some older student players (in addition to Fred/George and Percy). I realize that canon was always skewed to focus on Harry and his yearmates, but if this game is really going to go forward, it would provide plot opportunities and a way to flesh out our view of the world if we had a few students we get to know who move out into work over the second, third, fourth years. We have Nymphadora, who is showing us what hurdles half-bloods face (and how they are fostered, which is a creepy aspect of this AU); we will have Percy to show us what a suck-up's future holds; but it would be good to have a few other variants -- some, who might have more connections back to those still in school than Percy will or than Nymphadora seems to.

/telling game how to work

[longstrider.livejournal.com]

Don't forget Penelope.

The lack of journals for the other quiddich players leaves that as a hole in Harry's universe.

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

I did forget Penelope.

I haven't decided what to make of her, yet. At least she isn't google-eyed about Percy: that would be hard to take!

[wintercreek]

About Dennis: I've been looking at his userpic keywords, which are all names of trees, and I did some Googling for tree symbolism to see what would turn up as a translation. I pulled from three different sources (none of which are what I would call reputable, but they were top hits on Google) and got disparate answers. Links are provided in the first set of answers; the order of sources remains consistent throughout.

birch - meekness, grace; new beginnings, cleansing of past, vision quests; and growth, renewal, stability, initiation, adaptability.
rowan - Tree of Life, prudence; [no entry]; power, vision, balance, healing, mystery, connection, protection, divination, transformation
ash - grandeur; sacrifice, sensitivity and higher awareness; growth, expansion, and higher perspective.
alder - [no entry]; [no entry]; giving and nurturing.
willow - forsaken love; magic, healing, inner vision, dreams; imagination, psychic ability, flexibility.
hawthorn - contentment, hope; [no entry]; balance and duality, contradictions.
oak - hospitality, endurance and triumph; strength and courage, conjugal fidelity and fulfillment; life, strength, wisdom, nobility, family, loyalty, power, longevity, heritage, honor.
holly - [no entry]; protection, overcoming of anger, spiritual warrior; style, dignity and honor even in the midst of great challenge, protection.
hazel - [no entry]; hidden wisdom, dousing, divination; knowledge.
vine - [no entry]; [no entry]; regeneration, continuation, opportunity, connection, expansion, fertility, bounty.
ivy - [no entry]; [no entry]; growth, renewal, connection, friendship, opportunity.
reed - [no entry]; [no entry]; purpose, protection, purification, clarification, communication.
elder - compassion, zealousness, sorrow, death; birth and death, fairy realm; death, cycles, rebirth, renewal, creativity, regeneration, transformation.