HOL

Welcome to the Module 04 and Module 08 "Mixing & Mingling" thread! This is about getting to interact with one another as classmates, particularly about themes from the lessons and your corresponding class work if that speaks to you. Those who post their Monologue/Manifestation or Media/Memories may provide helpful prompts for discussion points. While you're welcome to mix and mingle as much as you like, each of your first three 50+ word posts you will receive 5 points. When submitting your work, please let me know if you've posted once, twice, or three (or more) times so I can confirm participation. As a fun option, you may choose to Role-Play these interactions though are not required to. If you do, please take a look at this RPGuidelines page for some helpful tips.

The MS:HP class is down by the black lake, where a substantial section of the water has been magically given an extra deep freeze far enough out so that the hill nearby can be used for sledding down onto the lake by anyone interested, while others are welcome to grab a pair of ice skates and head out for some gliding around.

As Emily and Silvana help check sizes and get class members their appropriate skates or hand them a sled, Sindor addresses the group. "Hello, friends! This is one of my favorite places to enjoy chatting together toward the end of the semester. We'll be back in the classroom for final essays next go around, but here," Sin skates out and circles around, "We can soar about while touching base on this month's powers."

Come back so he doesn't have to project his voice so loudly, Prof. Aloyarc explains some of the expectations for topics people are welcome to touch on. "The powers of Love and Familiarity both to some degree can be seen as dealing with things from the past or which have been lost. Grief plays a large part in how we process the inevitable changes of life, but whether we're going through a tangible loss or not, we're constantly looking back and seeing losses we might not have even noticed along the way. Missed opportunities, perhaps which we wouldn't have known were opportunities to begin with until we were on the other side looking back. Familiarity comes from coming back again and again to the same thing, realizing that while the people, places, and things around us may constantly change over the course of our lives, we are still able to glean deeper messages from them the more time we spend together or looking back."

"For those of you in Part I of this class, why not share an instance where you've experienced grief from a situation of love. This could be anything from the feelings of disappointment when things haven't worked out the way you might have expected if you had high hopes, perhaps even losing an amazing job or living situation, or can also refer to something or somebody no longer in your life, whether they've passed on or moved away. For those in Part II, when has there been a time in your life where you feel a deep level of understanding with someone close to you, yet the more you've come back again and again you've discovered brand new elements of the relationship you never thought you'd find? We see this in people all the time, as well as in favorite books and movies revisited, but who in your life be they friend or family could you mention as a good example of how the power of familiarity has played its role in how you see them, and/or they see you?"

Will heads on out to the lake and takes a proffered pair of skates. Before putting them on, he carefully casts six Warming Charms: one for each of his feet, one for each of his socks, and one on the inside of each of his skates. He is pleasantly surprised to see the skates fit perfectly to his feet and begins skating just in time to catch Sindor's introduction. Racking his brain for examples of friendship that were made closer by the Power of Familiarity, he ends up not focusing on an individual but on a group:

"I live about an hour and a half away from where I grew up as a kid. A few years ago, I found that there was a new fall festival just a few miles away from my parents' house, put on by someone who had gone to high school with me. I made it out there and was amazed to see plenty of people whom I had known: it was a mini-reunion. I got to touch base with so many people I hadn't seen in a while, and the familiarity from the shared history made the conversation easier. I discovered various details that brought me still closer together to some of these people, whom I found ways to talk to after the festival. And when the festival proved to be a yearly event, I tried to attend in later years for the same experience!"

With that, Will continues skating (backwards) while waiting for others to arrive and give their stories.

Emerald arrives to join the rest of the group at the frozen lake, pulls hard at her white woolly hat to cover her red ears and pulls up the hood of her white, over- sized extra padded jacket.

She smiles, everyone looks so happy despite the bitter cold weather. Her eyes light up as she receives a pair of skates and laughs at herself. She has never ice skated before so this should be fun. She dons them while the fabulous Prof gives his talk on the power of familiarity and Will chats to the group.

" That is an interesting idea, Prof, and I can relate to that, Will. It seems easier to connect or reconnect to what is familiar to us. Where I live I have lived all of my life apart from a temporary move away. So many times in the past I have moaned about the local area, how there haven't been all that many changes to it over the years, how every street just feels the same as every other street, it's just the same old thing. Boring.

However, over the past couple of years my attitude towards the area has changed. Those streets, while there is nothing exciting or new about them, are no longer quite the bore they used to be. No matter how much I have changed, the area, the buildings ( mostly) are still there. Seeing the same old things brings a sense of security for they have always been there, they are there today and they will be there tomorrow. The area now feels more like a well- worn, comfy old slipper, so much so that whenever I leave the area I find myself missing it and I realize how unsettling the unfamiliarity of a new place make me feel."

Emerald steps on to the lake. If anyone needs to find her they will spot her easily: just look for a giant wobbly marshmallow skidding and falling on the ice.

Continuing to skate around (though eyeing the sleds for later in the lesson), Will takes in Emerald's description of the familiarity of her local neighborhood. Will responds, "Although I've moved around a lot over the years, I fully understand how valuable your description of geographic familiarity can be. My first few days in a new place I often have to reserve a significant amount of 'getting lost time' for everything I do as I try to get used to the new area. But after I've put in that time, the familiarity makes getting around so much easier and I no longer need to invest time or effort into orienting myself with respect to my surroundings!"

After hearing Will's response, Emerald skates towards him and the Prof who is nearby. She nods in agreement. " I see what you mean and gaining a familiarity does make things run more smoothly."

Em's jaw drops and she slaps a gloved hand to her forehead. "It's only just dawned on me that we have to get lost and face disorder in order to...well...gain familiarity and order. If we didn't experience unfamiliarity then we wouldn't recognize familiarity when we came across it. I think. ??? Or have I just confused myself again?" The Britney Spears song, 'Ooops, I did it again,' springs to mind as Em eye rolls at herself and scratches her head in puzzlement.

She begins skating towards the other side of the lake to grab hold of her bag. There she pulls out a family-sized bag of candy and shows it to everyone. Anyone want some mini marshmallows?"

Silvana pats the ice cat she made, smiling proudly at her creation. She stands up and starts to approach the others. Silvana wants to go skating but she is afraid of falling. She arrives beside Emerald who offers Marshmallow, she takes some of it then sits on a log there.

Prof. Will and the others are skating near them. She exhales before starting with her story. "I experienced some grief a few years ago. Maybe for some, it wasn't big though. Before I had a cat that I raised since he was born. I named him Draco. He was white with black fur on its head. I raised him with love and I know he loves me too. I taught him a lot, took lots of pictures of him." Silvana laughed for a moment. "But one day, at New Year's to be exact. When we came home, he wasn't at home. Usually Draco liked to play around the house but would come home at mealtime and of course come home in the afternoon or evening. But that day he didn't come home for days. I was very sad at that time, my sister and I looked everywhere for Draco. Sometimes I would cry at night or want to sleep for a long time so I could see my cat in my dreams. I have a photo of him that we put up in the dining room. Now when I see him again, there are no feelings of sadness or even grief. It feels like the memories with my cat are from a dream." Silvana finishes her story with a small smile, she really miss having a cat.

Swallowing a few of the mini-marshmallows offered by Emerald, Will casts a spell to swap out his skates for traditional wintry boots (again with warming charms inside) and heads towards the sleds.

Listening to Silvana's story about Draco the cat, Will thinks about what to say: "It sounds like you had some great memories with Draco at least! And I'm glad that your memories now seem to be happy ones at least."

Getting on the sled to ride the lake, Will turns to a different topic: "Now if only I had some hot chocolate that I could pair with these delicious marshmallows!"

As Emerald completes a couple of laps around the ice, she comes to a stop by the group and just in time to hear about Silvana's cat. It is a sad story but nods in agreement with Will. That's true, Silvana, you do have some happy memeories and I hope that knowing that Draco returns your loves brings you much comfort." Feeling emotional, she hugs silvana, as she herself knows how it feels to have a cat that does not return home, She sits next to silvana but doesn't say anymore because she doesn't quite know what to say but hpes that by beaing near her, Silvana knows that she is not on her own. <3

Silvana smiles and nods to Prof. Will and Emerald. She feels happy hears their words and says, "Thank you!" As she returns Emerald hugs. And then, she spends the rest of time eats her marshmallows while enjoys the sceneries. It is a happy and comforting.