InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "A little bit Alexis!"

Accio Goblet! mods (gobletmods) wrote in goblet_ooc,
@ 2012-10-07 14:22:00

Entry tags:

! friend button, ! mod post

Yet another mod post.
Firstly, run the button, as Katie adds to the game her second character, Ruby Robins (laal)!

Secondly, the club rosters have been updated at the Classes & Clubs page. Flying Club is the only new club with an established meeting time so far - I went for Saturdays since that seemed to be the preferred date when Angelina posted about it, but it can be changed to any other time if people decide a reschedule is better. As before, we'll be more than happy to reschedule. We're also open to suggestions to when the other clubs should have their meetings - weekdays at 5pm, weekends, or any other idea you might have. And as before, spots are still open for student heads on several clubs (Emily, would you want Angelina to head the Flying Club since she made all the preparations?). And since I'm bound to have missed something while organizing the rosters, if I've missed any name just let me know!

And finally, I'd like to announce that the info pages for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are unlocked and ready for your perusal. They are yet to be linked to this journal's main page as we're hoping for some feedback from you on how clear and informative they are, as well as our take on the schools.
We're adding these pages to the game because in about a week (October 15th, to be more precise), we'll be opening holds on the foreign students, with a dozen characters (six boys and six girls) for each school. Once these holds are available, the character limit will extend to five per person - three from Hogwarts, one from Beauxbatons, and one from Durmstrang. We already have 2 ½ early holds for Beauxbatons, though, so if you want to request someone before the 15th feel free to do so! The only thing you have to keep in mind is that all foreign students need to be 17 by the time they arrive at Hogwarts, since they are all volunteers for the tournament, and also that Durmstrang will have no muggle-born students.

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	argentumvir 2012-10-08 07:40 pm UTC (link)
	Yay for character apps for the foreign schools! I'll definitely be doing both :) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	argentumvir 2012-10-08 07:47 pm UTC (link)
	BTW Patricia, I may or may not already have started down jotting down ideas, ha ha. You know who my BB option will be, and my Durmstrang student will be a Polish boy, if that's all right? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	littlepharaoh 2012-10-08 07:49 pm UTC (link)
	I'm all for jotting down ideas - and I love the idea of a character from Poland. The more variety, the better. :D (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

argentumvir
2012-10-08 07:55 pm UTC (link)

I've only skim-read the school pages so the stuff I already had down will probably need a factual edit at some point. It's the Polish character who'll need the most work, mostly because I know Anais so well already (and she's basically done anyway, game tweaks asides), and because I need to re-visit my WW2 knowledge and the stuff about Grindelwald from canon before deciding fully on his character history. Poland just seemed like a good bet because of the size of the Polish population in the UK, really!

(Oh, and if anyone's nosy - BB gal and Durmstrang boy. Apparently, I don't do things by halves when it comes to names and native languages ;) )

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littlepharaoh
2012-10-08 08:04 pm UTC (link)

Oh, very likely, as I redid all the school info from zero rather than follow what I've seen in previous games. Durmstrang for example might feel particularly strange to some as I've set it in Scandinavia (I don't usually follow the info from the HP Wiki, but I rather liked this particular theory of them) and made it a mixed school (founded by a woman) from the very beginning.

(And as always, I'm impressed by how quickly you arrange these things!)

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argentumvir
2012-10-08 08:11 pm UTC (link)

I prefer a Scandinavian setting, personally, due to the references to being in the far north and glaciers. Could be any of them, but Norway works :) Plus, with one of the ideas I had for Anzelm (again, need to revisit my knowledge of WW2 history) it might help explain how he ended up there rather than, say, a Polish school. I'll think on it :)

Ha ha, when you work part time and have to spend most of your time online for application purposes, apps make a handy distraction ;) Though you have NO IDEA how long it took me to do the BB and Durmstrang colour co-ordinated coding, oh my god.

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	littlepharaoh 2012-10-08 08:18 pm UTC (link)
	According to the Wiki, Rowling suggested in an interview that Durmstrang is somewhere in Sweden or Norway, but I prefer to think of it as being in the Norwegian/Finnish border - more because I'm a silly fan of Monty Python and Conan O'Brien than because of actual historical or geographical details. Plus Krum's description fits that region better. I can imagine. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

argentumvir
2012-10-08 08:24 pm UTC (link)

Obviously it has linguistic roots in German, but Durmstrang sounds more Norwegian than Swedish to me... not that I speak either language (Scandinavian languages are HARD, people), but Norway always seems more cold and dramatically landscaped in my imagination. Of course, I could have just made that up ;) I'm reading up on the Nazi occupation of Norway (it'll be relevant, if I can make it make sense), and it's pretty interesting. I can feel something of an idea in there for how it'll link up, so I'm going to let the idea brew a little and see how it ends!

What can I say, Catholic school applications are really boring and about 22 pages long. Procrastination is welcome...

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	littlepharaoh 2012-10-08 09:20 pm UTC (link)
	That's the idea I have about Norway too. Oh dear yes, what I know about the Nazi occupation has more to do with the experiments in eugenics they did there, but it's enough to know the amount of material you might have found there. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

argentumvir
2012-10-08 09:27 pm UTC (link)

My knowledge of Norwegian history is pretty minimal, really. Our history education was pretty much limited to countries we ruled or had wars with (which is admittedly a significant part of the world, but still, not much of Norway!), so...

My vague current plan is that his family will be considered blood traitors due to the fact his father specialises in human rights law, particularly relating to the atrocities committed by Grindelwald and his ilk. They chose Durmstrang to educate the children because of Norwegian resistance in the Muggle war, but that seems a little tenuous at the moment. Or perhaps, Durmstrang would seem like more of an elite option, given a distaste for wizarding politics at home (yeah, a lot of thinking out loud here, so I'm trying to decide upon something more concrete XD)

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	littlepharaoh 2012-10-08 09:30 pm UTC (link)
	Thinking out loud and throwing ideas is all part of the fun, plus you've still got plenty of time to find the perfect idea. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	audrey_elise 2012-10-09 01:43 am UTC (link)
	Anais! :) I miss Feinted. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	astellaidea 2012-10-09 12:14 am UTC (link)
	My Durmstrang girl muse, Elena Gregorovitch, is German. So, more diversity! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	littlepharaoh 2012-10-09 01:37 am UTC (link)
	With a name like that, I'm guessing she was born from Russian parents? If so, you'll have some interesting background options - given that the Berlin Wall fell only five years before GoF begins, her parents could either be Soviet representatives in East Germany, or have defected to West Germany. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

astellaidea
2012-10-09 01:47 am UTC (link)

She's the granddaughter of the Wand Maker, who we know lived in Germany at least at one point because Voldemort kills the Muggle family that he stayed with there. Since I just got back from Berlin and will be going back this month (apparently??), I thought he could have settled there with his shop. I haven't decided on the East/West part of the equation yet, but I have been pondering.

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	astellaidea 2012-10-09 01:52 am UTC (link)
	I'm also not sure how much I think the Wall and the GDR would have influenced Wizarding life. When you have a different government and you can Apparate/Floo/Portkey from place to place, I'm not sure that it would have mattered very much. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	gobletmods 2012-10-09 01:59 am UTC (link)
	Political factors from the Muggle world always seem to influence wizarding geography, so I'm trying to think of a reason for her name and your desired nationality for her to fit with those factors. As far as we know, that German house could have been just a former hiding place for Gregorovitch. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

astellaidea
2012-10-09 02:07 am UTC (link)

Elena, at least, can be a German first name as easily as a Russian one. I guess I don't feel like there has to be a Big Reason for it, personally? People immigrate all the time. My mother did, my best friend's father did, so I sort of think of that just being part of life. Perhaps Gregorovitch met a German witch and decided to settle there with her. Or maybe he just liked Berlin.

Obviously I think that the Muggle situation would have some influence on day-to-day Wizarding life, but not to the point where I feel like they would consider themselves part of East Germany or West Germany. I can't think of a reason why the German Wizarding Government would have split just because the Muggle one did--I realize Grindlewald's rise to power reflects Hitler's and what not but I don't imagine they had identical fallout. But that's just my opinion.

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gobletmods
2012-10-09 02:22 am UTC (link)

Most of my uncles and aunts have immigrated to France, so I guess I've grown up with the idea that immigration tended to follow a specific pattern within Europe during the '70s and '80s. As for the Muggle situation, I'm sure the two Muggle rulers at the time would have been quite hostile if they realized they were dealing with the same Minister of Magic, so it would have to require some very clever omissions and lots of political/geographical knowledge of the Muggle world to be able to balance things without them knowing - though, of course, that's the sort of thing you don't need to know for your character. :)

(Also, can you tell from the way my brain is working that it's 3am over here? :P)

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astellaidea
2012-10-09 02:37 am UTC (link)

Hahaha, yes, I think things probably were very complicated from a governing standpoint, but luckily my 17 year old doesn't have to worry about that ;)

(It happens to the best of us, dude, you're way more cognizant than I am when I hit 3am. I'd be like... "BUT... GERMANS LIKE SAUSAGE" if it were me :P )

Also, her PB is Aubrey Plaza, if that is important information!

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gobletmods
2012-10-09 02:46 am UTC (link)

The reason why I'm trying to mention all of this (besides my brain deciding to overwork itself when I should be asleep ;)) is because background information can always be useful when building a character, even when you end up not mentioning it or they have no need to worry about it.

(Ha!)

I'll keep a mental note of it. I'm sure I'll remember it, but right now I'm only listing down the character names on the table, so you might have to mention it again once you're able to make an official hold request later on.

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	astellaidea 2012-10-09 02:58 am UTC (link)
	No, I totally get that and I appreciate it! That being said, GO TO BED. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	gobletmods 2012-10-09 02:59 am UTC (link)
	As soon as I finish something rather important, if you know what I mean. ;) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	astellaidea 2012-10-09 03:01 am UTC (link)
	Squeee!!!! (Reply to this) (Parent)

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