#honesty ask

Our boy Bobby retires first after a lengthy discussion between them (bc they’ve been over this Tim):

He leaves Tuesday evenings free and all the fire kids who are still school age are treated to amazing snacks while they do their homework then play board games and build forts in the family room. Athena is appreciative for the small miracle that is every thing cleaned up by the time she’s home.

He joins an outreach ministry at his parish (I’m guessing possibly visiting folks in the hospital) and drives a caravan of other volunteers who can’t drive themselves any more.

Though Athena still loves to dress up and go out every once in a while, she’s more likely to request they stay home since Bobby has taken to rotating through different types of cuisines to try every month and she feels like his efforts are so elaborate, it’s like having a pretty skilled personal chef.

Athena does worry not so much about boredom but resentment since Bobby retires first but he assures her that just taking care of their errands, the house, their family and her is not only incredibly fulfilling but a dream.

It is an injury that does eventually inspire Athena to retire. She has to have surgery and finds that her recovery is slower than she’d like and actually she prefers being home with Bobby, the fire kids, and honestly her days are a lot fuller than she expected.

Her gardening becomes next level and all of their friends are envious of the many varieties of veggies, flowers and other plants she grows. She has a pretty good time making arrangements for the people Bobby visits in the hospital and the community she finds with other gardeners she meets at the local nurseries they visit.

They never set foot on a cruise again but they do travel. Athena refuses to brave snow no matter how much Bobby reassures her so when they do finally make their way to Minnesota, it’s in the summer. Athena still comments that she shouldn’t need a light jacket in the evening in June but it just makes Bobby laugh and she loves the way his face lights up sharing happy memories of his home.

After joining and quitting three book clubs, Athena huffs that she’d just have better luck with reading a list with Bobby who brightens at the idea. This leads to sweet evenings curled up reading passages to one another and discussing their current reads.

Athena starts to sew and Bobby has never smiled as big as he does when chimney asks him where he got his shirt and he says “Thena made it.”

When they both hit their late 60s, they take free senior college courses and when they take the same ones, they pretend not to know one another and have too much fun coming up with different stories of meeting and falling in love as strangers. A few fellow students catch on but just find it amusing and never say anything.

Azura flitted her hand about the grass, a few thorns and roses growing in the path. Her tone was much lower and a tad more offended.

Aydri blinked, about three times into the void. A snort of amusement echoed out with a shake of her head.

"Maybe a few years ago, if someone got lucky. Naw, unless this is the man I share my bed with...It's a no from me, shadow. That ship has long sailed, sorry~"

I hail from the west coast of the United States and here on the net I go by Shailye. Would like it to be my author’s name when I finally publish a book.

Although my name in real life starts with an ‘N’.

[Carewyn considers this.]

Carewyn: “Hmm...I really like going to Hogwarts, so choosing another school would be hard for me. Maybe Beauxbatons? From what Aurelie and Madame Maxime said, it sounds like a nice place -- though I admit, the traditional ‘Beauxbatons walk’ is a little...’sparkly’ for my taste. (giggles)”

[Jacob, in contrast to his sister, is absolutely thrilled by this question -- he don’t need no stinkin’ Veritaserum, he’s going to geek out x 10, okay?]

Jacob: “DUDE! You win the award for best question, mate! Right on!”

[He leans forward slightly in his seat, his hands gesturing animatedly in front of him as he gabs on.]

Jacob: “So, like -- it’s one of my biggest goals in life to visit every single magical school on Earth -- taking a class there, teaching a class there, just stopping by for research or breaking a curse or afternoon tea -- don’t care. I want in. Beauxbatons’s definitely one I’ve been itching to visit for its history with Nicholas Flamel and its reputation of producing talented alchemists...but there are a good hundred magic schools in Africa alone, and not one of them is sub-par. The library at Hekanwit College in Egypt is supposed to contain some of the oldest magical texts ever discovered, and Uagadou School in Uganda has more registered Animagi among its alumni than any other school in the world. There’s also Durmstrang Institute in eastern Europe -- I’m telling you, if it’s the last thing I do, I am getting my butt in that place. Did you know it’s so heavily guarded that even its own students have their memories modified upon graduation so they can’t reveal its exact location? I mean -- dude! That is a school I absolutely must see for myself! Then of course there’s the smaller academies like the Salem Witches’ Institute and L’Ecole Laveau -- North American schools are particularly interesting since they often have a lot of different cultural influences in their architecture, and thanks to how underground the MACUSA is in the United States especially, a lot of schools often have to be mobile in some capacity, so they can location-hop before any Muggles catch wise. That’s actually part of the reason why quite a few communities in America prefer to have magical tutors or teach magic at home rather than send their kids to full private schools, so that those magical children can still go to Muggle school and live more ‘normal’ lives. Then of course there are cultural reasons for those decisions too.”

[Jacob grins broadly.]

Jacob: “So to answer your question -- I pick every single one!”

((OOC: Okay -- commentary time.

Hekanwit College and L’Ecole Laveau are not officially part of the Potterverse -- they’re names I invented. I’ve tried to be sensitive with the cultures represented, but if I have been tactless, please let me know: I have never lived in Egypt or in New Orleans, and I tried my best to research both areas before writing anything like this, but I am not above acknowledging my own ignorance and potential for blind spots. “Hekanwit” is a combination of two Ancient Egyptian words, “heka” meaning “magic” and “nwit” meaning “city” -- my thought is that it’s also one of the oldest magical schools still open today, though it is much smaller than the “more well-known” (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling-official) Uagadou School. L’Ecole Laveau literally translates to “The Laveau School,” and is named for the “Voodoo Queen of New Orleans” Marie Laveau.

The ideas of Africa and America having so many schools and Americans often teaching their kids magic at home rather than sending them to private schools are also completely mine. J.K. Rowling herself has only discussed one school on the entire continent of Africa (the aforementioned Uagadou School) and only two -- the Salem Witches’ Institute and the heavily criticized Ilvermorny -- in North America. As an American myself, I can’t help but feel as though having only two schools for everyone in my country is kind of farfetched, let alone for my entire continent (I mean, seriously, do Canadians not have any schools of their own?!). And we Americans can be so individualistic when it comes to state identity and have so much real-world historical baggage attached to our native population being carted off to European-style boarding schools that the “Hogwarts” model really doesn’t fit here as well as it does in the U.K. (And honestly, even in the U.K., it seems weird at points. Scottish kids really have to yank their butts all the way to London just to take a train that’ll take them back to Scotland?? XD;;;)

But yeah, so a lot of Jacob’s response comes from my own headcanons, but I’ve tried very hard to make sure those headcanons come from an informed place, and hopefully they’re not too intrusive. 💚))

My muse has to tell nothing but the truth for 10 asks

14/10 

“If yer tryin’ ta get me all broken up over this one, yer not tryin’ very hard. There’s too many unanswered variables. I’d let myself die ‘fore I ev’r killed my bro’her so that’s out - but I mean do i hafta do it with my own hands ‘er is more a cliche ‘at the mercy’a a bad guy pick yer fate’ kinda bullshit? 

So I pick my bro’her then a whole city gets wipe off the map? Do I see the city? Does Al? Is Al even there with me? Do I see him die? ‘er we separated?  Do I know the city but no one in it? ‘er have I nev’r even hearda it before?

How long do I have’ta decide? Is this a pressured situation? Is it timed? Is someone holdin’ us hostage? How is this city gunna be destroyed? Are the people just gunna die but not the city it’s self be destroyed?

Its funny but itd probably have to be Charlotte, ik she was super minor and i do wish Arthur could have met her b4 getting sick. I just think shes so sweet as a character and very strong for living on after Cal died, and when you do see her again as John you can tell how much shes grown from when she last saw him.