Magic Under Construction: TOMU 2-18
Jun. 9th, 2011 01:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinStarted: 6/9/2011
Status: Underway
Word Count: ~800
Hours Writing: 1
[1 hour in]
Professor Stone had technically given us permission to leave as soon as we had completed a very simple and bare bones assignment that wouldn't even be turned in for a grade, and a lot of students did just that. I hung around for a bit after I'd completed my lists of threes, out of a mixture of wanting more time to fondle the magic items and a desire to not appear like someone who would ditch class at the slightest provocation.
I'd managed to miss a few classes due to various reasons beyond my control in my first year. While some of those had been crazy, once-in-a-lifetime things, they'd taught me that once-in-a-lifetime experiences happened more often than one might expect. Making a good impression on my new teachers now might help them forgive any regrettable absences that happened later.
At a certain point, though, it became clear that the class was over. No one who was left in the room was actually working on their assignment. There was still a cluster of mostly guys around the professor, and knots of design students standing around and talking about fashion and other things. I was the only one who was alone, and I felt really exposed. This wasn't just random social anxiety... okay, part of it was that.
A lot of the G&D students gave off the same vibe that conventionally pretty, well-put-together girls always gave me. They might have been nice girls. They might have been as insecure as I was. They might even see themselves as nerds. Maybe if I'd sat down with them and talked about something not involving clothing or colors of things or whatever I would see them as fellow nerds. But they looked like the sorts of girls that registered to me as pretty and popular and petty, and I shrank from their attention
Professor Stone's class feeling fairly good about things... about having chosen to take the design class and about the coming year in general. I wasn't yet done with classes for the day, and we weren't even halfway through the first week, but there was a sense of accomplishment that came from being able to tick off the last of my new classes. I'd been to all my classrooms, met all my professors, had a chance to get a sense of what everything was about...
I was trying not to feel too cocky on the basis of one session in each of my classes, but I felt like I was on solid footing. In a small but real way, the sense of being a sophomore... or rather, of not being a freshman... had solidified around me. It wasn't enough for the old year to be over... the new year had to have begun, as well.
I also felt good about how things had gone with Twyla. I hadn't blurted out anything stupid or insensitive. The conversation had been friendly, in the way of conversation between people who aren't exactly friends. It occurred to me that I hadn't had a lot of
"Mackenzie Jo Blaise!" she said. "I cannot believe you followed me into the design program... what did you think it would accomplish?"
"Hello, Sooni," I said wearily... I hadn't spoken to her in months and I already felt tired of her. "Did you look up my middle name just so you could say that?"
"No," she said. "I heard it on the news."
"I was on the news?" I said.
"Last year," she said. "I remembered your middle name for just such an emergency as this."
"What emergency?"
"That you are throwing away your future as an enchanter to follow me into the difficult but glamorous world of design," she said.
"Sooni, I'm not following you anywhere," I said. "I'm only here because I need crafting credits for the applied enchantment program. You should know that, since you were in it."
"And I suppose you would have me believe it is just a coincidence that you ended up in the same class as myself?" she asked.
"I can't do anything about what you do or don't believe," I said. "But yes, it's a coincidence. I needed crafting credits and this seemed like the easiest option..."
"Design is not easy!" Sooni said, raising her voice and her foot... though she just managed to stop herself from actually stomping, which kind of impressed me. Maybe I wasn't the only one who had grown over the summer. She lowered her heavy sandal gently to the floor and forced her outraged face into a smile. "It takes a lot of hard work... or a lot of natural talent."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the obvious implications of the second alternative. Sooni had produced some fairly stunning original outfits along with some ridiculous ones that were nevertheless high-quality replicas of things her favorite characters wore. For some reason, it was easier for me to believe she'd lucked into the kind of affinity that made such things come naturally than it was for me to believe that she put in a ton of hard work.
[0.5 hours in - just beginning. Some of the Sooni dialogue is from an earlier draft of a previous chapter, but was re-written without directly referencing or copying/pasting, so I'm counting it in the productivity for today.]
I left Professor Stone's class feeling fairly good. I wasn't done with classes for the day, and we weren't even halfway through the first week, but there was a sense of accomplishment that came from being able to tick off the last of my new classes. I'd been to all my classrooms, met all my professors, had a chance to get a sense of what everything was about...
In a small but real way, the sense of being a sophomore... or rather, of not being a freshman... solidified as I considered this. It wasn't enough for the old year to be over... the new year had to have begun, as well.
[]
"Mackenzie Jo Blaise!" she said. "I cannot believe you followed me into the design program... what did you think it would accomplish?"
"Hello, Sooni," I said wearily... I hadn't spoken to her in months and I already felt tired of her. "Did you look up my middle name just so you could say that?"
"No," she said. "I heard it on the news."
"I was on the news?" I said.
"Last year," she said. "I remembered your middle name for just such an emergency as this."
"What emergency?"
"That you are throwing away your future as an enchanter to follow me into the difficult but glamorous world of design," she said.
"Sooni, I'm not following you anywhere," I said. "I'm only here because I need crafting credits for the applied enchantment program. You should know that, since you were in it."
"And I suppose you would have me believe it is just a coincidence that you ended up in the same class as myself?" she asked.
"I can't do anything about what you do or don't believe," I said. "But yes, it's a coincidence. I needed crafting credits and this seemed like the easiest option..."
"Design is not easy!" Sooni said, raising her voice and her foot... though she just managed to stop herself from actually stomping, which kind of impressed me. Maybe I wasn't the only one who had grown over the summer. She lowered her heavy sandal gently to the floor and forced her outraged face into a smile. "It takes a lot of hard work... or a lot of natural talent."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the obvious implications of the second alternative. Sooni had produced some fairly stunning original outfits along with some ridiculous ones that were nevertheless high-quality replicas of things her favorite characters wore. For some reason, it was easier for me to believe she'd lucked into the kind of affinity that made such things come naturally than it was for me to believe that she put in a ton of hard work.
Status: Underway
Word Count: ~800
Hours Writing: 1
[1 hour in]
Professor Stone had technically given us permission to leave as soon as we had completed a very simple and bare bones assignment that wouldn't even be turned in for a grade, and a lot of students did just that. I hung around for a bit after I'd completed my lists of threes, out of a mixture of wanting more time to fondle the magic items and a desire to not appear like someone who would ditch class at the slightest provocation.
I'd managed to miss a few classes due to various reasons beyond my control in my first year. While some of those had been crazy, once-in-a-lifetime things, they'd taught me that once-in-a-lifetime experiences happened more often than one might expect. Making a good impression on my new teachers now might help them forgive any regrettable absences that happened later.
At a certain point, though, it became clear that the class was over. No one who was left in the room was actually working on their assignment. There was still a cluster of mostly guys around the professor, and knots of design students standing around and talking about fashion and other things. I was the only one who was alone, and I felt really exposed. This wasn't just random social anxiety... okay, part of it was that.
A lot of the G&D students gave off the same vibe that conventionally pretty, well-put-together girls always gave me. They might have been nice girls. They might have been as insecure as I was. They might even see themselves as nerds. Maybe if I'd sat down with them and talked about something not involving clothing or colors of things or whatever I would see them as fellow nerds. But they looked like the sorts of girls that registered to me as pretty and popular and petty, and I shrank from their attention
Professor Stone's class feeling fairly good about things... about having chosen to take the design class and about the coming year in general. I wasn't yet done with classes for the day, and we weren't even halfway through the first week, but there was a sense of accomplishment that came from being able to tick off the last of my new classes. I'd been to all my classrooms, met all my professors, had a chance to get a sense of what everything was about...
I was trying not to feel too cocky on the basis of one session in each of my classes, but I felt like I was on solid footing. In a small but real way, the sense of being a sophomore... or rather, of not being a freshman... had solidified around me. It wasn't enough for the old year to be over... the new year had to have begun, as well.
I also felt good about how things had gone with Twyla. I hadn't blurted out anything stupid or insensitive. The conversation had been friendly, in the way of conversation between people who aren't exactly friends. It occurred to me that I hadn't had a lot of
"Mackenzie Jo Blaise!" she said. "I cannot believe you followed me into the design program... what did you think it would accomplish?"
"Hello, Sooni," I said wearily... I hadn't spoken to her in months and I already felt tired of her. "Did you look up my middle name just so you could say that?"
"No," she said. "I heard it on the news."
"I was on the news?" I said.
"Last year," she said. "I remembered your middle name for just such an emergency as this."
"What emergency?"
"That you are throwing away your future as an enchanter to follow me into the difficult but glamorous world of design," she said.
"Sooni, I'm not following you anywhere," I said. "I'm only here because I need crafting credits for the applied enchantment program. You should know that, since you were in it."
"And I suppose you would have me believe it is just a coincidence that you ended up in the same class as myself?" she asked.
"I can't do anything about what you do or don't believe," I said. "But yes, it's a coincidence. I needed crafting credits and this seemed like the easiest option..."
"Design is not easy!" Sooni said, raising her voice and her foot... though she just managed to stop herself from actually stomping, which kind of impressed me. Maybe I wasn't the only one who had grown over the summer. She lowered her heavy sandal gently to the floor and forced her outraged face into a smile. "It takes a lot of hard work... or a lot of natural talent."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the obvious implications of the second alternative. Sooni had produced some fairly stunning original outfits along with some ridiculous ones that were nevertheless high-quality replicas of things her favorite characters wore. For some reason, it was easier for me to believe she'd lucked into the kind of affinity that made such things come naturally than it was for me to believe that she put in a ton of hard work.
[0.5 hours in - just beginning. Some of the Sooni dialogue is from an earlier draft of a previous chapter, but was re-written without directly referencing or copying/pasting, so I'm counting it in the productivity for today.]
I left Professor Stone's class feeling fairly good. I wasn't done with classes for the day, and we weren't even halfway through the first week, but there was a sense of accomplishment that came from being able to tick off the last of my new classes. I'd been to all my classrooms, met all my professors, had a chance to get a sense of what everything was about...
In a small but real way, the sense of being a sophomore... or rather, of not being a freshman... solidified as I considered this. It wasn't enough for the old year to be over... the new year had to have begun, as well.
[]
"Mackenzie Jo Blaise!" she said. "I cannot believe you followed me into the design program... what did you think it would accomplish?"
"Hello, Sooni," I said wearily... I hadn't spoken to her in months and I already felt tired of her. "Did you look up my middle name just so you could say that?"
"No," she said. "I heard it on the news."
"I was on the news?" I said.
"Last year," she said. "I remembered your middle name for just such an emergency as this."
"What emergency?"
"That you are throwing away your future as an enchanter to follow me into the difficult but glamorous world of design," she said.
"Sooni, I'm not following you anywhere," I said. "I'm only here because I need crafting credits for the applied enchantment program. You should know that, since you were in it."
"And I suppose you would have me believe it is just a coincidence that you ended up in the same class as myself?" she asked.
"I can't do anything about what you do or don't believe," I said. "But yes, it's a coincidence. I needed crafting credits and this seemed like the easiest option..."
"Design is not easy!" Sooni said, raising her voice and her foot... though she just managed to stop herself from actually stomping, which kind of impressed me. Maybe I wasn't the only one who had grown over the summer. She lowered her heavy sandal gently to the floor and forced her outraged face into a smile. "It takes a lot of hard work... or a lot of natural talent."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the obvious implications of the second alternative. Sooni had produced some fairly stunning original outfits along with some ridiculous ones that were nevertheless high-quality replicas of things her favorite characters wore. For some reason, it was easier for me to believe she'd lucked into the kind of affinity that made such things come naturally than it was for me to believe that she put in a ton of hard work.