The Useful Advice from Home

[sythyry]

After four more slices of Nihondras Day Cake, thanks to Floooosh in the Bakery of Transcendent Doom -- that's not precisely what the sign says, but after the poptaloops and the cake I know it to be true -- I think I shall vow never to have Nihondras Day Cake again.

My ~mother~'s letter expresses some limited pleasure that I am finally taking Enchantment, and demands with considerable force that I take three or preferably four classes in applied magic next term. If I take four, she will arrange my allowance through the Bank of Teleporting Hexagons rather than through Hezimikkinen. Banks are very mild-tempered, compared with siblings; I daresay whatever qualms they do have (on any sort of topic) are easily satisfied by a few lozens.

I suppose that the only thing worse than being bribed is not being worth bribing.

I obviously can't take four courses in practical magic; I have only so many cley. Second-term enchantment is clear enough, and not nearly as tedious as it sounds even if I will have to get to the workshop by dawn every day for a month or two. Perhaps Illusidor would be fun. Magic Theory was mentioned by name in ~mother~'s letter. I wonder if a Historical Survey of Magic would count? Or a course in Notable Magical Catastrophes?

Also zie blessed me with zir advice on Dubaille and Lady Quissenden. She recommends that I cultivate all noble contacts, as an assistance to Hezimikkinen if nothing else. (Not my favorite task, especially in this case; I count this as another strong argument in favor of taking the bribe.) Zie recommends that I supply the replacement teapot. Zie recommends that I befriend the children, on the grounds that (1) they are easily influenced in such a time of distress, and (2) will eventually be in a position to do favors, even if the parents are wholly useless and unpleasant.

Zie has clearly decided that I am going to become a spare Hezimikkinen, mighty in magic and politics by the time I am three hundred. (As I understand the history, Hezimikkinen's single greatest advantage is the fact that zie is Glikkonen's first grandchild. I am the third, which is not much help.)

I suppose I should decide, once and for all, what I will do with myself for, well, forever. I expect I shall do this once a year whether I need it or not, just after I swear off Orren and Nihondras Day cake. Actually making that be part of my Nihondras Day celebrations will give me a good chance to remember it, if nothing else.

[Poll #153437]

Comments

When in doubt, tick all boxes

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I would be disappointed if you did not do all (or at least most) of the things you suggest at some point. Forever is a long time, after all . . .

Courses might be a good idea for now, though. They're a good way of getting to know people ((OOC: *thinks Sythyry needs a _lot_ of learning in this respect*)), and knowing people will be useful for all the things you mentioned.

[pobig.livejournal.com]

I obviously can't take four courses in practical magic; I have only so many cley

I wonder what your ~mother~ has in mind, since I assume zie (She? I notice you use both terms; I don't mean to pry) knows this. I suppose it's just a bit of wishful thinking on zir part?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Oh, I daresay zie's forgotten what it is like to have fewer than thirty or forty cley a day. Most people get half a dozen to a dozen, I suppose; but she has been practicing for ages.

[OOC: *sigh* more pronoun mistakes.]

[tempralisis.livejournal.com]

Forty cley?! What does one do with forty cley? Hammer cast Dawn at Mid-Afternoon every evening?

-Tau

[kelbesque.livejournal.com]

I have, myself, pondered taking courses for a few more years and seeing what happened when that got boring. Granted, I have a significantly shorter lifespan in that I am mortal, but I wonder if you couldn't make your livelihood as a professional student for a century or two. Or perhaps that is your idea of "a few" more years? ;)

[wave-cannon.livejournal.com]

"Pornographic tapestries"?
*snort*
A company in my world, known as "Playboy" would be quite interested in acquiring, and manufacturing such objects...

[sianmink.livejournal.com]

Well, leave it to an older zi ri to to look at things in the long term. Much of what zie says does have merit, though I don't know how you can take 4 practical magic courses in one term. I suggest you wrangle something to get a few courses that won't cause you to use up cley deemeed as practical.
befriending the children of nobles is certainly a tactic I hadn't given much thought to, (minks and orren apparently have trouble planning more than about 2 hours ahead) but if done right, in a few hundred years, you could have a whole clan of loyal (And possibly powerful) friends. Machiavelli never had it so good. (Unless you take the theory that he was turned into a vampire some time ago and is still kicking around)

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

The cani would be duke. You'd be the manipulative grand vizier. Like Hezikimieminem.

[lediva.livejournal.com]

Take it from a fellow student, Sythyry.

Stay in school as long as huma--er, Primely possible. Besides, as much as people like to say they've got "all the time in the world", it's pretty true in your case.

Oh, and as far as money goes, perhaps a small job somewhere near/on campus? Surely some professor would like a research assistant, or there's some odd job you can do on a regular basis for some department or another. It wouldn't be a king's ransom, but it'd be a few lozens in your claw each week that didn't require wheedling out of Hezimikkinen.

[evidenceremains.livejournal.com]

I adore baked sweets and goodies! Especially savory muffins, which I cannot find well made anywhere.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Cheese muffins with cream! Dried-shrimp muffins with scallion butter! Onion muffins with cream and scallion butter! Try Flooooooosh's bakery, which is alarmingly good considering it's run by an Orren and in the middle of student district.