Module #2 - "MINGLING" - Fall 2020

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

Welcome to the Module 02 "Mingling" thread! This is about getting to interact with one another as classmates, particularly about themes from the lesson and your corresponding class work if that speaks to you. Those who post their Monologue or Manifestation may provide helpful prompts for discussion points. While you're welcome to 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.

Sindor has brought in a great many pumpkins which are settled in various places all around the classroom. "Allright, class," he says while placing the last few (more yellowish-orange) ones in what he views as the most visually pleasing locations, knowing full well they might be getting snatched up at any moment. "Why don't you all pick a pumpkin for carving! February, would you help pass out some of the carving utensils? We can all chat while making some decisions about what kind of picture or design we might want to do. If you need any help gutting your pumpkins, feel free to snag me or another buddy for help" He grins, "It's one of my favorite parts of the process!"

[February Fortescue]

February looks around at all the lovely pumpkins. "Oh, I hope we get to carve some jack-o-lanterns!" she wonders to herself. When Sin asks her to help pass out some carving utensils, she knows that's definitely the plan! "Certainly! I'm on it!" Feb responds. She walks around the classroom, handing out the utensil of choice to any class member who needs one. She then starts eyeing the pumpkins and plotting her design. This is going to be fun!

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

Professor Aloyarc has been contemplating for a while now what he would be interested in carving for designs into his pumpkin ...PumpkinS??

He has almost narrowed it down to a few options, but is still somewhat torn. There's a Halloween Costume idea that he's been toying with since well over a decade ago that is more of a two-person thing, but Sin has yet to bring the concept into fruition. At this point, he's almost thinking it might conjur some influential magic if he carves his jack-o-lanterns to match that same idea, in hopes that perhaps it will stir up enough enchantment to force the idea to come to fruition in the NEXT Halloween or few!

With this in mind, Sindor begins working on his Heat Miser and Snow Miser Pumpkin creations, based off of Rankin and Bass's The Year Without A Santa Claus.

"What are you working on over there, Feb??" he calls over to his friend while gutting the pumpkins in front of him, placing the seeds into a bowl of their own for baking at another time. One batch will be made covered with salt, another covered with cinnamon and sugar!

"Feel free to collect your seeds in this container, everyone. If you've never had baked Pumpkin Seeds before, they're super yummy."

[Brianna Caedmon]

Brianna takes some utensils from February and settles down to start carving. Like last time, Orion has refused to get off of her shoulder and is once again joining her for the class. Another black cat with white socks and a white belly is sat in her hood.

"This is Cleo, Orion's sister." she says to the room in general "She wanted to come too I guess. Sorry. These two really don't like me to leave them alone. I hope you don't mind.". Cleo purrs in response and Orion nibbles her hair. It's almost as if they know exactly what they're doing.

Brianna turns her attention to the pumpkin in front of her, and starts wondering what to carve. "Did you know they used to use turnips for this? They look absolutely terrifying.".

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Tarma already has a knife and selects a nice medium sized pumpkin with a stout stem at the top. (She is glad to hear Professor Sindor say that about saving seeds; she was thinking, before he said that, about going around, herself, and collecting them from people!)

While listening to the others talking, she doesn't look at them as she carves her pumpkin. It's good to have focus while using sharp objects and Æsahættr is very sharp. First .... off comes the head and she puts the knife into the top of the pumpkin at a bit of an inward-slanting angle and cuts in until the feel tells her that she is through the meat of the pumpkin and can start carving it around.

Now she can look around and does. "Hi February, Brianna!" she smiles. "Sindor, do you use just salt when you roast the seeds or add in other stuff?" she asks the Professor, when he has paused in his carving.

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

Sindor snuggles the second feline friend, Cleo, a new addition to the group. "Look at that sweet little face! I love having some animals around with us. Glad you brought them along!"

Hearing her question, he turns to Tarma and answers "After throwing some oil on top, I have really only explored the cinnamon/sugar option, and otherwise stuck to straight salt and/or pepper. But now that you're asking," Sin goes on, a contemplative look crossing his face, "I kinda think I should experiment with some other choices!"

His first pumpkin is completely gutted, so he starts working on the second one now.

"I'm more of a savory flavors kinda person, so I'm thinking of a particular Cajun blend of seasonings I like --to put on everything, really-- that could go nicely on the seeds, but I'm also starting to think of some additional sweet options that would probably be amazing! Anything you tend to go for, or wanna try in the future?"

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Tarma very carefully edges her knife around the top of the pumpkin, making a complete circle. She listens to Sindor and nods, to show she's listening, and thinks about his question.

"I have a tendency to love salty things, so mostly what I've done when roasting pumpkin seeds is to put on a bit of oil and roll them around it in and then salt lightly. The flavour of the seeds is just incredible by itself, even raw, so roasting them adds a bit of crunch. Then ..." she grins a little bit. "I like to eat them shells and all, so the bit of salt enhances the whole thing."

Grabbing the handle (the stem of the pumpkin), Tarma firmly pulls it upward and lifts it away from her pumpkin. She continues talking "But then, I love barbeque potato chips so there you are. I think I'm up for a variety of flavours."

She grins and gets up to go to the tools. Looking, she spies what she wants, a long-handled spoon that has a large bowl at the end, and little teeth at the far end. She picks it up, along with a large bowl, and returns to her pumpkin, with glances at what the others are doing and nods if they look up.

[February Fortescue]

"Awwww.. another cat! She's lovely, Brianna! Thank you for bringing her " February smiles broadly. She can't stop herself and wouldn't want to.

"I'm going with a Cinderella theme this year, and I'm turning my pumpkin into a mouse, similar to a companion she had. Hey, wait a second. Brianna, did you just say they used to use turnips instead of pumpkins? That would be a sight!

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Having scooped out the inside mass of seeds and loose flesh from her pumpkin, Tarma takes the bowl over to the container that Sindor indicated and dumps the stuff in. Then she looks around again, this time giving more attention to everyone.

"What pretty cats!" she says, looking at Orion and Cleo. "You say they are siblings, Brianna? Which one is older? Or do you know..."

To February, she says "You going to make your pumpkin into a coach?"

[Brianna Caedmon]

Brianna concentrates on her pumpkin and very carefully begins to carve a circle around the top, copying Prof. Tarma. She turns to February as she does "Yes, I've seen some pictures of it. It's honestly terrifying! I can only imagine turnips must be harder to carve than pumpkins too, they tend to be a bit more irregular in shape. By the way, if you want, you're welcome to take one of these two and cuddle them for a few minutes, they're a little bit too curious for this.". As she speaks, Cleo attempts to enter the hole that she has just created in the top of her pumpkin. "Also a Cinderella theme? That sounds amazing! This is my first time really carving a pumpkin, so I'll be lucky if I can even manage a basic face.".

She turns to Tarma. "Professor Black, that goes for you too! If you like cats, please feel free to pet or play with them for a bit. As for which one's older... well they're littermates, so I suppose technically they're twins, but I sort of think of Orion as being older. He's bigger and seems to be the quicker learner too- he learnt to climb first, and how to get to a thread that's under a rug first, and things like that. He's sort of like the big brother. I'm quite lucky in that they get along really well, and one thing I find particularly cute is that whenever anything they find scary happens, Orion will run to Cleo to check she's safe and look after her. It's really adorable!".

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

“Aw!” Sindor responds to February “Yay for Cinderella themes! I always loved those little mice friends. Jaq and ‘Gus-Gus’ are so precious!”

Then he laughs, “I hear you, Brianna!” Sin uses his arm to scratch at an itch on his face since his hands are covered with pumpkin insides. “I’ve carved my fair share in my day, and I’m still not sure I’d call myself particularly good at it. Which is somewhat surprising, ‘cause I’m fairly creative/artistic with lots of things, but this just isn’t my medium! Hence why I often wind up gutting our pumpkins at home and letting my partner do the carving.”

[Brianna Caedmon]

Brianna chuckles as she continues her attempt at carving, and turns slightly towards Sin. "To be fair, I do think that carving a pumpkin is quite difficult compared to a lot of mediums. Which is a shame, because they do look so nice... and it is always lovely to be able to eat the seeds too. What type of art to you usually do?".

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

“I grew up doing musical theater and dance, so for me being on stage as a performer is one of my favorite ways of expressing myself creatively.”

Sindor pauses to figure out how he’s going to work around a mistake he carved into the Heat Miser pumpkin. “I also love working as a choreographer. The first time I set the dance numbers in a show was such a cool experience. I was so used to being in the forefront that I never knew until seeing that musical in front of an audience how fun and gratifying it would be to watch people who have put so much time and work and energy into presenting something you‘ve personally conceptualized. I was so proud of them! And proud of myself,” Sin winks, “But for me it really was like being a parent and seeing your child on stage.”

He finishes smoothing over his previous pumpkin-design misstep. “Otherwise, I also like to draw sometimes or write poetry here and there. Lately I’ve been mostly making graphics and writing as a creative outlet.”

“What about you/you all, any favorite ways you gravitate to artistically, as a creator or maker of any kind?”

[February Fortescue]

"Oh, thanks, Brianna, I'd love to!" February picks up Cleo and cuddles the adorable kitten as Cleo begins to purr. "I can really imagine Orion being protective over this smaller one. She really brings that out in you!"

February looks at her mousy pumpkin. It's slowly coming along. She never was particularly skilled with her hands, but she has always enjoyed the process anyway, regardless of the results. "Nah, Tarma, I can't see me attempting a coach. I'll be lucky if this pumpkin ends up anything even vaguely resembling a mouse! Maybe I should have tried a turnip and gone with a scary theme. Sounds like a can't miss!"

February turns towards Sindor. "You sound like an artistic Renaissance Man! I'm so envious. I enjoy fantasy in general, but through no particular medium. I'm more of a mental rather than a physical being. Sometimes I enjoy writing, sometimes I prefer graphics. I loved reasoning out my Astrology and Patronus classes. Those were me being creative."