#lyell bone

Harold B. (1955) - attended Bloor's, but not because he was great at it. Mostyn was probably around his age since they attended school together. Also not here for any good reason. None of them canonically DEFINITELY went to Bloor's, but neither did they canonically not so I'll decide on a fic-by-fic basis

Paton Y. (b. 1957) - oldest and, kind of technically belongs to the older generation but befriends Lyell because their family pressures them into hanging out with each other and therefore he's the only guy he knows; and later becomes friends with Jack Silk once the age gap shrinks because they get along so well

Dorothy d.V. (b. 1957) - she might have been a musician at Bloor's. We don't know where she grew up or how she met Harold.

Sparks senior - on the older side because Samuel is like 10 years older than Ollie. anyways the father was endowed, and he may or may not have attended Bloor's. just consider his rivalry with Venetia or Paton, if they attended. also, Paton and co. spending a week at Sparkling Castle may hint at them having some more-than-passing familiarity? But Paton would not have dared call him a friend because of his family lol.

Nancy I. - Julia was described around Amy's age, but Nancy probably was older if she was anywhere near Mostyn's. Julia didn't attend Bloor's, but I could say Nancy was an artist like Emma and perhaps met Mostyn there. Somewhere

Jessamine S. - I don't remember if it's explicitly stated that she's comparably old, but she has the oldest kid (her oldest daughter is ~two years older than Lysander, who is among the oldest kids in Charlie's generation, after Zelda, Beth and Asa and Manfred). Judge Sage is around here but I don't think he went to Bloor's. Jessamine might have if she'd lived in the region around the time, because she's endowed, and it kinda makes sense to me that she'd send her endowed son to the same school she went to

Lyell B. (b. 1962) - on the older side imo. definitely somehow befriends every good boy in the school, kind of like Charlie. Paton's a given. Friends with Rufus and Jack for a good while. Gets along well with Mr. Sparks and Christopher, kind to Orvil once he joins. Civil with Jessamine, Katya and Alice.

Katya K. - she might have grown up in Feromel's house, attended Bloor's, married and left the city, then become widowed and returned. But who knows?

Alice A. - I just think she might be around Chris' age. I think it would make sense to say they could have attended Bloor's together. She didn't really have anything to do with Rufus and Ellen though, so not quite that young. I guess she also couldn't have known Vivienne at this point. But very well Mrs. Silk because of the amulet thingy!

Christopher C. - explicitly unfamiliar with Paton, and I don't think he's even younger because then how did he know Rufus and Ellen? Well, family of course, but. yeah. I think he should've been young enough to have to have babysat them at family gatherings, and 40-50 is a reasonable enough age to have white hair. He could totally be Bartholomew's generation too though, just reasonably far from Paton if he went ro Bloor's. that'd be 1947 or earlier (Barty is 1930, Maisie 1935, Grizzy and Monty 1937.)

Titania T. - somewhere between Amy and Lyell for me. If she went to Bloor's, it explains how she knew Lyell but opens up the question of why none of the Bloors recognited Miss Chrystal.

Vivienne V. - somewhere in the middle. if she attended Bloor's as a drama student, that would of course make Olivia even more exceptional at it. Somewhat on the older side *concerning the mothers, because Jenny loved age gaps for some reason*. Mr. V. MIGHT have been at Bloor's and may have lived in the city if the endowment Olivia inherits came from his side? But I'm not giving him a paragraph for it lolol

Jack and Alan S. - twins so one paragraph. definitely younger because Alan does have a daughter 6 years younger than Gabriel, but that does technically depend more on Kate's age They are descendants of Timoken but unendowed, so they may not have attended Bloor's at all whatsoever until Gabe came along, but I like putting everyone in one place. Kate may have been a musician (singer?) just for fun. Anyways Jack and Paton became friends (fellow recluses) in my headcanon so there.

Mrs. Silk (Sadie's mum) - could have been endowed, could have not been. we know little

Natalia D. - young-ish concerning this generation, but definitely older than her husband, Bogdan, who I don't think I have any reason to place at Bloor's. I don't like to make them too unrelated so she's cousins with Zelda's dad (who is older) and evil besties with her mum. who might've also attended around the same time as her

Mr. Torsson - not younger than the Ravens because Tancred is that old, but on the younger side: he didn't attend that event (mentioned in Phantom Sleepers) with his dad. his wife isn't endowed whatsoever. (If I ever do their parents' generation: both of Mr. Torsson's parents might've been endowed or descended from the red king. source: she told him stories when he was a kid LMAO)

Orvil O. - definitely endowed, definitely too young to be friends with Paton but young enough to have spent like. 1 years attending Bloor's together. If he did, and Orvil was endowed. unsure about his twin or Onoria, Onoria makes more sense to have been unendowed (at most like.. a drama department kid. but she reads as a wonderful and beautiful normie). the twin... I'll leave it open, but probably won't write him in anywhere as endowed

Rufus R. (b. 1968) - didn't necessarily go to Bloor's. but. might've. because family and shit. like the other Silks yk. just bought in or sth forced to attend style

Ellen R. (b. 1970) - same as Rufus. I just think she might have been there

Mrs. Shellhorn - definitely on the younger side, considering Eric's youth. I think she could have been a very kind woman, the type that gets with a pushover like Arthur for reasons very unlike those of Natalia getting with Bogdan lolol. She may have been endowed, just unprepared for Venetia, which Could have earned her a spot at Bloor's. or the magic skipped one or multiple generations ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Fangirl brain: Angel Coulby as gender-swapped Paton Yewbeam??!!

Logical brain: You can’t just fan-cast Angel Coulby in everything...

Fangirl brain: Watch me.

But seriously, I do want a COTRK adaptation. If live-action, then done by the BBC because the UK setting is pretty important. A cartoon might be more plausible though, especially when it comes to casting the kids and retaining the books’ fairly compressed timeline.

Somebody pretty awesome needs to be cast as Paton because he is awesome. He has his flaws but as I reread COTRK it’s clear that he is as vivid of a character as I remembered.

I suspect my brain suggested Coulby since she has proven to handle a character that switches between diffident & outspoken with ease due to her role in Merlin. Paton’s arc is all about him growing more willing to speak up & push back against his sisters & the Bloors. Whoever plays Lyell would have to be capable of similar range due to the state he’s in for the first 5 books.

They kinda knew each other before Charlie arrived, but after going on adventures together they become good friends. 

However their closeness takes on a whole new form when they start playing sonatas together.

Their favourite piece to play is Beethoven spring sonata

The reason they start playing together is because Fidelio's practicing for this big competition and he needs to rehearse with piano

And Gabriel is in the practice room across the hall so he asks him to play

They end up doing the competition together instead of having Mr Pilgrim accompany him 

Mr Pilgrim doesn’t really give an answer when Fidelio asks him if Gabriel can play but he doesn’t seem to mind so Fidelio takes it as a yes

After the competition, they decide to work through all the Beethoven violin sonatas together

But they always return to the Spring Sonata because it’s the first one they played

Gabriel talks about his growing crush to Mr. Pilgrim during his lessons

He mostly says nothing in response but it’s just what he needs and is relieved to have someone who just listens without judgement 

Not that his friends would judge him, but he’s just not ready to tell them and he doesn’t want anything to change just yet

And he doesn’t want to be forced or encouraged to do anything about it just yet as he’s still figuring everything out

Once Lyell is no longer under Manfred’s hypnotic controll, Gabriel asks him if he remembers any of the things he told him 

He says he remembers the general gist of things but a lot of the specifics were still very hazy 

Gabriel is relieved but also a slightly disappointed 

In truth, he does remember about Gabriel’s crush and creates lots of opportunities for them to be together 

For Christmas he gives Fidelio an arrangement of Beethoven Symphonies for piano four hands

They love playing it together

Just

B e e t h o v e n 

They both secretly like the piano duets as it’s an excuse to sit really close to each other

One time they can’t find an extra chair so they have to share a really small piano stool

When their relationship happens, it happens super organically

Over time they find themselves spending more time together, walking closer to each other, having their own little injokes

And one day they find they're holding hands

They don't even notice it happened bc it feels so natural

One day Gabriel has to rush off after practice and quickly kisses fidelio on the cheek before quickly exiting, mumbling to himself about gerbils

Fidelio can't contain his happiness and starts dancing and singing round the practice room

Mr Paltry comes and tells him off, but he doesn't care bc he’s HAPPY 

Also

C L O T H E S  S H A R I N G

It happens one time after lights out

Gabriel can't sleep, and he finds himself being drawn to fidelio's cape

He's suddenly super curious, so he goes and touches it and he gets this warm fuzzy feeling of being in love that's very similar to his own

He's never felt happier, knowing just how real their closeness is

He snuggles up with the cape and falls into a peaceful sleep

In the morning he wakes up early to put the cape back but instead he decides to keep it just a little bit longer so he switches them, putting his own cloak in place of Fidelio’s 

He ends up wearing it for weeks

Fidelio actually notices quite soon but doesn't say anything and just watches to see how long it goes on for

Eventually he brings it up and Gabriel is so embarrassed 

Fidelio kisses him on the forehead and says it’s sweet

Gabriel just buries himself in the cape