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Pureblood Society

 

pureblood.SOCIETY by sherlock and aliciadances • Blood status Muggle - nonmagical person with nonmagical parents Squib - nonmagical person with at least one magical parent Muggleborn - magical person with muggle parents Halfblood - magical person with a muggle in one of the last 3 generations (parent, grandparent, great-grandparent) Fullblood - magical person with no muggles in the last 3 generations Pureblood - magical person with no muggles in the last 7 generations • Pureblood names The following are the only pureblooded families as far as played characters are concerned. A fullblood, halfblood, or squib may have relations that are pureblooded and from families not listed here, but we are limiting purebloods in play to: Avery, Bagman, Black, Bletchley, Bones, Bulstrode, Burke, Crabbe, Crouch, Dolohov, Flint, Gamp, Goyle, Greengrass, Higgs, Lestrange, Longbottom, Macmillan, Macnair, Malfoy, Mulciber, Nott, Parkinson, Potter, Prewett, Rookwood, Rosier, Selwyn, Smith, Travers, Weasley, Wilkes, Yaxley, Zabini Any character can, obviously, be full-blood, half-blood, or muggleborn, within reason. • Pureblood "society" We define pureblood society as the social structure that exists among those purebloods (and others who care about blood purity) who consider themselves above the rest of the wizarding culture. The isolation heavily implied in canon of purist purebloods is fairly extreme, and it is sensible, therefore, to expect there to be a shared culture and social atmosphere that is highly structured and also highly judgemental (given the denouncement of blood-traitors and any who sympathise with them). We here expand upon the principles suggested by canon (wealth, purism) and we expect characters who consider themselves members of "society" to conform to these standards, within reason. These are not hard rules - but they are the societal expectations. Obviously, blood traitors and disowned family members would be aware of society, but no longer considered part of it or bound to its rules. 1. Social Status There are several factors which determine a family's status in society - blood status, purism, money, and antiquity.  Blood Status: Blood status is the most important factor in determining a family's position on the social ladder, and is looked at in terms of generations of pure marriage. Rather than snub society members of lesser blood, many purist families consider themselves magnanimous supporters of fullbloods who wish to better their family lines. Purism: While being pureblood is not necessary to be considered a member of society, members should either support the purist cause or be silent about their objections to purism. It is possible, however, for families to be purist and not members of society (e.g., the Carrows) Money: While not nearly as important as blood status, the amount of money a family has affects day to day interactions with other members of society, and can become a point of personal frustration for those considered poor.  Antiquity: Old money is valued over new money, but older family lines ('old blood') is a more important factor. 2. Family lines, courting, sex, marriage, children, and women's rights  Pureblooded children are expected to carry on the family line with other pureblooded children, and arranged marriages are a common, but not overwhelming, occurrence. Procreation is considered an essential means of securing the culture against infiltration, so if your character is fervently anti-child or anti-marriage, (s)he must either be subtle about it or catch a lot of flak from relatives. While there exists a staunch conservatism that often parallels Victorian England in pureblood society, it has long been understood that complete adherence to societal rules is impossible in the Hogwarts environment. It is generally considered acceptable for pureblood children to date and show limited affection towards members of the opposite sex while in school, with the understanding that they will abide by society's more stringent rules after graduation. Purist society is a sexually subtle society; though not necessarily sexually repressive, it certainly does not encourage its young people to experiment, or even openly discuss sexual behaviors, and all young people are expected to be 'innocent' upon their wedding night (though the reality of that expectation has waned slightly over the past centuries, particularly with long-engaged couples). In terms of womens' rights, purists in 1943 reflect the times and take on primary duties as wives as mothers, with the occasional volunteer work to aid the war effort. It is widely believed that being a mother is the most important duty a woman will undertake in her life, as mothers play a crucial role in preserving purist values and passing them on to the next generation. While the wealthier families may have nannies, mothers are still expected to play an active role in their children's upbringing - pre-Hogwarts education, culturalisation, and 'finishing.' Fathers are also expected to maintain a level of involvement in the education of their sons. Family ties are the backbone of pureblood of society, and it is expected that parents will continue to encourage a family-oriented lifestyle, which extends to arranging or at least approving marriages for their children. Before attending Hogwarts, children in society are educated at home, either by parents or tutors. Responsibilities and chores are present in society upbringing as well. The tasks of wealthier children might include, for girls, looking after younger siblings or cousins and helping to plan social events, or, for boys, assisting their fathers with financial papers and learning to oversee the caretaking of their property; children of families with less income will likely have more menial chores.   3. Money and career Not all society members are fabulously wealthy. There are a few families that are annoyingly well off, but there are others that fall across the rest of the spectrum; some purists are upper-middle 'class' (in terms of income), but some will be poor - in parallel with the financial situations of the English (muggle) upper class. Family name is more important than wealth in purist society, and the purity of one's lines is what makes a family name worthy. We would like to see purebloods with a range of fiscal backgrounds. Careers for men can be in nearly any field, though there are obviously some professions that are more desirable than others. Ministry work, diplomacy, consultations, investing, practising law or medicine, etc. would be on the more acceptable end of the scale, whereas 'blue-collar' work would be frowned upon. Women primarily focus on life at home and in society, but in recent times contribute to the war effort in a much lighter manner than their male counterparts. Any work undertaken by women must be charitable in nature to be approved of by society - working for money is viewed as both declasse and desparate, regardless of the family's financial situation. Because the lifespan of wizards is so long,  inheritances are gradually passed down as children grow into adulthood. Heirs (males in order of birth, then females in order of birth) may lay claim to family lands and larger inheritances upon intent to marry. Families distribute dowries as they see fit. 4. Etiquette, decorum, dress, and hobbies Society members are expected to live up to societal norms of behavior when in public with their peers. Most purists have received training of some sort or another on proper etiquette, speech, and decorum. The majority of society purebloods will have been schooled in received pronunciation (more details below)  Purist society is relatively unaffected by the trends and fads of muggle culture; dress is typically conservative and the styles have changed very little over the past fifty years. Families of the uppermost class (old money or old blood) place great importance in maintaining an appearance of affected humility, viewing flashy displays of wealth as bad taste. Those of newer money may be more prone to breaking this unwritten rule.  Purist adolescents have the same sorts of hobbies as any young person, but we should not see pureblooded characters,  with the exception of blood traitors, with an overabundance of muggle references in their journals or interactions with others for two reasons. First, pureblooded families have very little understanding of muggle culture and objects (think Weasleys) and purist families have no desire to dirty themselves with muggle ideas or things. In order to draw a line, we are going to ask that anything after ~1850 in literature, music, and art be considered contemporary 'muggle' - anything before that is fair game for purists to reference (because we don't expect you to make up references to imaginary wizard texts unless you want to). We will live under the assumption that prior to ~1850, it is difficult to discern whether artists had magical lineage or not. Obviously if you'd like to make up references to text and music that is wizard only, we are thrilled for you to do so and ask that it be added to the game canon page.  5. Speech  Pureblood society, with some exceptions, of course, ought to sound well educated, and would thus speak with received pronunciations, sometimes called 'standard english' or 'the Queen's English' (though it isn't, necessarily). The following differentiates which form of RP your society character might speak.   Conservative RP - The uppermost class (old blood/old money) Mainstream RP - The well educated middle or upper-middle class (newer blood) 6. Society Debuts   In pureblood society, a young lady's formal debut occurs the summer directly after her graduation from school, though the date may shift due to individual family preferences. A debut is the lady's introduction to society as an adult, and symbolises her eligibility for marriage. Families prepare for the event years in advance, teaching daughters the deportment and responsibility necessary to become a productive woman of society. Debuts are most often held at the home, though poorer members of society may choose a different location, and the lady traditionally wears a gown of ivory or off-white, either new or passed down from a sibling. She is presented to those in attendance by her father or another male relative, and the evening continues with dinner and dancing. Pureblood families with eligible children try to attend as many debuts in a summer as possible, to scope out competition and possible matches. Over the last few years due to economic hardships, debuts have become low-key affairs, with dresses more and more frequently passed down from older siblings (a habit billed as 'keeping tradition alive'). Families in more dire economic straits have resorted to combining debuts between siblings of close age.    • Effects of the war Pureblood society is patriotic by nature (or at least puts on a very good appearance of patriotism), and rations have been responded to with a surprising willingness to adapt. While the deficiency of luxuries certainly hurts some more than others, plain, unadorned clothing and simple food have become fashionable - with even the wealthiest members of society making sacrifices to assure Britain's victory. It should be noted that a family's wealth has no impact on the number of rationing coupons it gets. Wealthy or not, many society children are forced to have clothing mended and altered as they get older, as cloth is rather hard to come by. Extra food may be available for families with large amounts of land and pre-established local food-sources, but many of the poorer families are truly suffering during war-time, and cannot afford food or cloth even with the coupons. As it is considered extremely poor taste to discuss money, some wealthier families with access to extra food on their lands will invite other families over to supper, in the guise of unity, to make things easier for those struggling.