Day 5: 12,173 words and I got bored
I didn't feel like writing today but I managed my 2,000 words. Now that they're at school there's lots I can do but it feels like still too much exposition! Maybe tomorrow I'll just sketch out a couple of scenes that are probably necessary but get to something I find more interesting. As usual, it's hard for me to come up with conflict but I'm working on it.
Here's your first hint that this Feminist School for Magic might be a bit shady...
“Wait, professor?” It was Marcy again. “Are you saying that computers are all actually magic? That what we have in this room is basically the same as what they have out there? That all my life I’ve been using magic without even knowing it?” Her purple eyes glittered with excitement.
“That’s right, Marcy. Now, the next task-“
“Wait, professor?”
Silence. This professor’s feminist pedagogies didn’t include continued interruptions by excitable teenaged girls.
“Then why aren’t the computers out there, well, better? Why do they have to type on keyboards, use a mouse, look on a tiny screen? Why not give them what we have here?”
“That was going to be in the next module, Marcy, but since you ask now, perhaps one of your classmates can give a brief response. Annalucia?”
Annalucia, a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair and glasses, nodded officiously, took off her glasses and cleaned them, then put them back on. In the meantime, Twigglesby looked as if she regretted her choice.
“You have to remember that this is a feminist school and in fact, Technological Sorcery is almost entirely a woman’s branch of magic. It’s not in need of a revival, or anything-“ here she paused and looked smugly around the room while everyone else, except Twigglesby, Stella and Marcy, tittered. Annalucia looked pointedly at Stella and Marcy in their purple pantsuits that were the Incantations uniform. “Not like our precious Incantations, I mean. We Technologicals are feminists and we want to support women’s professions. One of the fastest growing jobs for women in the 21st century is massage therapist. Why do you think we need so many massage therapists? Because people are hunched over those Stone Age computers all day long. If we gave everyone the good stuff, then all those women would be out of a job. As feminists, we could never do that. We want to keep the RMT’s employed, and that’s what we do.”
Now, for those new to NaNoWriMo this year, if you're reading, you'll know that we Esmondes (and our friends, that we politely call the Wannabes) love to add silly images to our blog posts. We often find them by appending the word 'drunk' to whatever it is we were searching for. This is truly a genius way to find good images because here:
When you google 'purple pantsuit drunk' this is one of the images that comes up. And that, my friends, is how Hilary Clinton, esteemed feminist politician, became the inspiration for the uniforms at the Hermione Granger Feminist School for Magic.
What do you get when you google 'piglet pantsuit drunk'? Not much. That's because piglets don't wear pantsuits. Instead, they wear rainboots, or sometimes little jerseys when they enter races.
Here's your first hint that this Feminist School for Magic might be a bit shady...
“Wait, professor?” It was Marcy again. “Are you saying that computers are all actually magic? That what we have in this room is basically the same as what they have out there? That all my life I’ve been using magic without even knowing it?” Her purple eyes glittered with excitement.
“That’s right, Marcy. Now, the next task-“
“Wait, professor?”
Silence. This professor’s feminist pedagogies didn’t include continued interruptions by excitable teenaged girls.
“Then why aren’t the computers out there, well, better? Why do they have to type on keyboards, use a mouse, look on a tiny screen? Why not give them what we have here?”
“That was going to be in the next module, Marcy, but since you ask now, perhaps one of your classmates can give a brief response. Annalucia?”
Annalucia, a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair and glasses, nodded officiously, took off her glasses and cleaned them, then put them back on. In the meantime, Twigglesby looked as if she regretted her choice.
“You have to remember that this is a feminist school and in fact, Technological Sorcery is almost entirely a woman’s branch of magic. It’s not in need of a revival, or anything-“ here she paused and looked smugly around the room while everyone else, except Twigglesby, Stella and Marcy, tittered. Annalucia looked pointedly at Stella and Marcy in their purple pantsuits that were the Incantations uniform. “Not like our precious Incantations, I mean. We Technologicals are feminists and we want to support women’s professions. One of the fastest growing jobs for women in the 21st century is massage therapist. Why do you think we need so many massage therapists? Because people are hunched over those Stone Age computers all day long. If we gave everyone the good stuff, then all those women would be out of a job. As feminists, we could never do that. We want to keep the RMT’s employed, and that’s what we do.”
Now, for those new to NaNoWriMo this year, if you're reading, you'll know that we Esmondes (and our friends, that we politely call the Wannabes) love to add silly images to our blog posts. We often find them by appending the word 'drunk' to whatever it is we were searching for. This is truly a genius way to find good images because here:
What do you get when you google 'piglet pantsuit drunk'? Not much. That's because piglets don't wear pantsuits. Instead, they wear rainboots, or sometimes little jerseys when they enter races.
Wow that was a great excerpt. I love the names of the characters in your novel. I am looking forward to reading more... perhaps you could include a brief post detailing the different 'schools' that have the different colours of pantsuits? I'm really interested.
ReplyDeleteI really, really loved those pictures accompanying your post.
I agree that it's kind of eerie that we independently thought to put in references to Hillary's pantsuits. They are so glorious and I love the idea that the students dress like Hillary Clinton. What a hilarious touch!
ReplyDeleteI am very unimpressed with the feminist ideologies at the school. I can't wait for more!
That montage of Hilary Clinton pantsuits is incredible. How disturbing to have a school uniform based on such pantsuits. And Annalucia, I hope that she gets a failing grade for that so-called feminist explanation for poor computer technology!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jill on getting an explanation about what colours go with which schools. I love everything about the pantsuit uniform and the collage of Hillary Clinton. Can't wait to hear more about Marcy and especially her tiny pig friend! Thanks for the two pictures. Adorable.
ReplyDelete