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reiven2017 · 3 years

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From ridicule.

Chapter 3.

Rachel heaved a sigh as fatigue crept up on her again. She never considered herself an ACE in French, but he gave in to her and she even had an excellent in this subject. Until this moment. Roth sat alone in the empty library of the Academy, fiercely wrestling with a French essay, cursing herself once again for mispronouncing a sign or an accent. Damn that French guy. Rachel closed her eyes wearily, putting down her books and leaning on her hands in shock. It was late in the evening and she had lost count of how long she had been here. A thin ribbon of annoyance was already creeping up her throat, and she let out a startled sigh. She was tired again, the walls of the library were crushing her, and the oppressive silence was no better, and for a moment she thought she was delirious. She wasn't supposed to think about things that seemed delusional and didn't make sense to anyone. She was just a stupid girl. Rachel shook her head, rolling her eyes in exasperation as unnecessary thoughts began to creep into her head one by one, making this evening even more annoying and unbearable. She shouldn't have thought about him. It's only been 5 hours since their first "meeting"...not that it bothered her, but the itchy feeling in her chest prickled uncomfortably, making her turn back again and again to the boy with the dark skin and those inviting eyes ...

But...He's just a normal boy. He's just an ordinary person. Yes. It has nothing supernatural or magical about it. Right? He just pushed her, even though he accidentally bumped into her and they didn't say ten words to each other, so why did HIS name stick in her head? Why did her cheeks turn so treacherously red and her heart sink at the mere sight of those predatory emerald eyes? She didn't understand herself, and she didn't understand why her body responded so responsively to his warmth. She could and did control her emotions while remaining calm. But in that incident, near the office with Damian, all her calmness went to the pussy and she stood like a fool with her hands on the floor, redder and aleeya like a first-grader. Was she ill? Or maybe it's just her mind playing tricks. Were these normal feelings? When in one moment, literally the entire universe exploded into a million bright stars in her eyes and the images in her head blurred, when only his silhouette was visible in this light and when she was unable to look away from him? She was sick and she was sure it was bad. Goosebumps ran over her skin and her Scarecrow firmly stated that this is bad. Damian Wayne was a danger. Solid danger demolishing everything in its path and invisible obstacles. She heard the girls whisper breathlessly about his "bad guy" reputation and the big cough behind his back, and how they dreamily imagined themselves in his girlfriend's shoes, giggling happily. She had heard from Gar about his expulsion from the previous school. And from other schools, too. Rachel Roth was a good girl in every sense of the word. Like a good girl, she should have stayed away from him, not looked in his direction, and erased his name from her memory. From her mother's sad experience, she knew what it was like to get involved with bad guys and had no desire to repeat her story. Rachel Roth lifted her head, pulled her textbook closer, and puffed hard. She pushed the image of him out of her mind, sealing it forever in the back of her mind like a bad dream. Rachel Roth was a good girl, and Damian Wayne was a bad guy. And she was still going to write a damn paper.

Rachel gave her cousin a quiet smile, glancing across the room and giving her a thumbs-up. In response, Layla sent her a haggard look and a frowning smile as she let out a weak moan at the elated Mouth. Rachel giggled and turned to the Board, leaving her cousin to her mourning. This was the first class of the week in literature, and her love for this subject was not selfish, so Leila took a back seat. There was no annoying green spot, and Rachel sat alone at her Desk in complete silence for once. Bliss. She sighed with satisfaction when the bell rang and the old teacher, Miss Smithers, came into the classroom with her usual limp on one leg. Miss Smithers was an elderly woman, with a high gray hairdo and always in a clean, pressed pink suit. She was meticulous as hell, but she was also a soft and fun woman. Rachel always liked her bright pink suit. Or when she put in her hair, kakoenibud jewelry and podderzhala the Empress. Miss Smithers was one of her favorite teachers for her kind nature and Rachel was also one of her favorite students. As soon as jenna entered the classroom, she looked at everyone sternly, then smiled cheerfully and began her story in her only French accent. She liked to say a little French, which always seemed funny to Rachel when there was a knock at the office door and the headmaster came stumbling up to Miss Smithers. They were whispering about something and after a minute of meetings, Mister ........he turned to the class and solemnly adjusted his tie.

- "Dear students, I want to introduce you, your new classmate Damian Wayne." - a wave of whispers passed through the class, and then the voices faded as, slowly, like a hunter inspecting his prey, he entered. Fuck. Rachel felt like she was falling and she wasn't sure if she was on the ground anymore. Her blush returned as she gazed shamelessly at his figure. Damn it, he was a fucking model! No, of course they'd met before, but then she wouldn't even have had the courage to look at him. Now she was blushing and Alea thought it was a good thing, or her own feet would fail her. The gray school jacket clung to his broad, elaborately sculpted shoulders, and he was wearing it over a black shirt that wasn't buttoned with the first two buttons. His dark skin was not just beautiful, but perfect, kissed by the sun and shrouded by God. His plump lips curved beautifully, and his cheekbones courageously emphasized his appearance, adding even more charisma to the image. There was a noticeable scar above his left eyebrow, and now his charisma was mixed with something dangerous. She gripped the edge of her skirt sharply, hoping to stay on this earth with a clear mind and a firm memory. It couldn't be true. It doesn't have to be true. She had just made up her mind the night before to forget his name like a bad dream, and lo! Here it is! She tried to calm her breathing, counting to ten and ignoring everything. She doesn't need to worry. He probably didn't even remember her name? Isn't it? Of course, why would he remember her? As soon as she calmed herself by letting go of the irreparably ruined skirt and finally looked up, she was met by emerald eyes that were unabashedly scanning her figure. Oh, she wasn't sure she wouldn't be dead by the end of the day.

She was paralyzed again, and as for the first time, she stared at him, frozen, unable to move or tear herself away. Her heart thumped in her chest, and her blush deepened when Damian gave her a predatory wink, ignoring everyone else. Fuck. No, she was definitely dead. He continued to stare at her, oblivious to the sidelong glances and the words the headmaster said to IMU, focusing only on her. And of course, the only thing she had the brain for, if not the cynical brain, was to quickly look down at the floor, again clutching her hands to her school skirt and pretend to Shine, Rachel! Just wonderful! She was grateful for the opportunity, since all her classmates were busy with Wayne and the rumors about him, and her mood changes were not unnoticed by anyone. There were ragged voices behind her, and a curious gaze was boring into her back. Leila, she won't leave her alone. The voices faded and Rachel didn't seem to notice, too stunned by what was happening. Someone next to her pushed back a chair and someone's things fell on the Desk next to her.

His voice, dangerous and hoarse, filled her entire body from the tips of her fingers to the top of her head, and she clenched her knees together convulsively. She took a deep breath and looked up at him timidly.

- "Hello". she answered, hoping he wouldn't notice the tremor in her voice. Damian tilted his head slightly to the side, a faint smirk playing on his lips, and his eyes flickered lasciviously toward her lips. Rachel's stomach clenched like a coiled spring, her mouth went dry, and she swallowed involuntarily.

"I didn't expect to see you here. Before she could think, the words came out of her mouth and She bit her lip in confusion. Damian's lips curved in a wry smile and he just as unceremoniously continued to stare at her, sitting half-sideways. Rachel turned away from him, hiding her confused gaze in her book, and tried to concentrate on what Miss Smithers was saying. He was just an ordinary boy. She shouldn't react to him like that. "And so, Rachel Roth."Just Rachel," she said quickly, without looking up. Just don't look at him. Just don't look at him. Just don't look at him. She knew that if she met those emerald eyes again, all the words would just lose their meaning, and she would look like a weak-willed doll. "So, Rachel, what are you doing tonight?" Rachel drew in a sharp breath, blinking in confusion. Just don't look at him. Just don't look at it. "Forgive. What?" Damian moved a little closer, so that Rachel could feel his hot breath on her skin, and said, " I'm sorry. "I want to invite you to a party." Roth's hand was frozen over the notebook and she stared at it blankly. Her brain was overheated, unable to figure out what to do with it or how to behave under the gaze of those emerald eyes. Just don't look at him. Just don't look at him. Just don't look at him. Damian's eyes narrowed dangerously, and in one sharp, quick movement, he slid two fingers under her chin And turned her face toward him. "I don't like not being looked in the eye. he hissed threateningly, and it could be interpreted as an order that required no reservations and that Rachel didn't have the strength to disobey. She looked at him warily, without any second thought, biting her lip between the rows of snow-white teeth, and was momentarily startled when Demian's eyes flashed with something dark and the pupil in his eyes widened. "I'm still waiting for an answer, Rachel."..I da agrh...don't know."the thoughts in her Golva were tangled up in a huge tangle and all that she managed to put together was a pathetic sentence. Wayne chuckled, and gently, almost imperceptibly, traced the line of her chin before removing his hands from her face and speaking calmly. "I think it is-Yes." Miss Smiter coughed indignantly, drawing attention to herself. "Am I bothering you, young people?" Damian stood up easily, his impenetrable mask falling back into place and a cold aura enveloping him. He picked up his bag from the Desk and walked calmly over to Miss Smithers. "I'm sorry." he said as he left the classroom, just as the bell rang for the end of class.

#damirae #damian wayne #fanfic #raven #demonbirds

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darkpoisonouslove · 4 years

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“The Destiny of Bloom” Thoughts

I decided to watch the Winx specials because I have never done that before and I got curious as to how different they are from the episodes (because they are kinda recaps of the first two seasons from what I gathered.)

- This one is over forty minutes? I thought they would be 20-minute long. Okay, let’s do this!

- Why is everything so pink in that shot of Gardenia? It has never looked pinker, ever.

- Oh, no! They replaced Bloom’s crop top and bell bottoms with her season 3 outfit. Why would you do that? It completely changes the feel of the whole thing.

- I don’t like the fact that Vanessa is not supportive about Bloom’s interest in fairies. I think she said something similar in the original season 1 but it didn’t come off this way. And that whole interaction with Mike and Vanessa also feels different. There is more edge to it and it comes off as if they are a dysfunctional family instead of a loving one that just has some issues to fix. The changes are subtle but they amount to a very different end result and I am not a fan of it.

- And that continues with the bike thing. In the original Bloom expected a scooter but got a bike. In this one it is bike instead of a car which just ups the disappointment and makes for a bigger divide between her and her parents. It has been about two minutes and I already don’t like where this is going. Also, the whole aesthetic is off when Bloom is riding the bike in that outfit.

- What is wrong with Stella’s scepter? It is so much uglier than the original one. They didn’t have to go and change everything! Especially the things that were working.

- Is it me or does Knut look more vicious? Also, I can’t remember if he originally had a hold of Stella’s scepter before Bloom appeared. I sure as hell know that the Dragon Fire never showed up like that before the season finale, though. But that change I can understand. If they’re trying to recap half of season 1 in 40 minutes, they will have to speed it up.

- Stella passing out was kind of out of nowhere here. She looked just fine and then the next second, boom! She just fainted. It would’ve been better to just stick to the original and have her use all her power to chase Knut and the remaining goblins (were they?) away.

- Wow, the Trix really remind of the Ancestral Witches in that scene where you can only see their eyes. I like that!

- What have they done with Stella’s hairdo? Why does she have those extra strands of hair at both sides of her face. It looks weird.

- Mike (and Vanessa)’s disbelief here was stretched out past what was in season 1 and it just doesn’t make sense since Mike saw the magical shield around baby Bloom when he first found her. Unless there’s no time for that and they’ll just leave it out but still. This keeps making Mike and Vanessa less supportive of Bloom than they actually are.

- How is the troll tracking them without a piece of Bloom’s bell bottoms? They should have kept the original outfits!

- Stella being impressed with Bloom’s drawings is the perfect place for me to mention that thought I had the other day. We know Bloom can draw and Stella certainly can as well since she wants to be a fashion designer so I was thinking of how cool it would be if they’d shown them drawing together. It would’ve helped further showcase their friendship and I think it is such a missed opportunity.

- Stella just mixed differently colored crayons to make a shade of pink and I love that. I bet she just messes around with shades and colors all the time.

- I guess Mike will have to believe in magic now that a troll attacked his home.

- Ouch! Stella just got thrown out the window? Why aren’t there any rips in her dress and scratches on her skin? Because she should certainly have those after crashing through a glass and having that rough landing.

- The troll also looks more menacing than it did originally. (I just now realized that the scene with Mitzi was cut from this special. Not that I am complaining. I am doing just fine without Mitzi.)

- XD Riven with his overconfidence in himself. At least they are nailing his character.

- They dropped Sky and Brandon’s identity swap? Wow! I am shocked. Or rather what could be described as pleasantly shocked and hopeful that that means the whole drama with Diaspro will not be in any of these either.

- I don’t understand why Mike refused to have all that damage to their home magically fixed. Forget time and effort, fixing it “the traditional way” looks like it will cost a bit. And I doubt they had “attacks of goblins, a troll and an ogre” on their budget.

- Why is there a barrier that keeps non-magical creatures out of Alfea when magical creatures are surely more dangerous? I know that was in the original as well but it was stupid back then and it is stupid now. It does confirm my headcanon that Kiko is magical, though, since he has no problem going through the barrier.

- Okay, Mike and Vanessa are being supportive now. That’s better.

- What happened? Did Stella call Faragonda or something? How does she know Bloom otherwise? Don’t get me wrong, I am glad there won’t be the whole “pretending Bloom is another girl” thing but this is kinda suspicious and it will keep being so until they explain how Faragonda knows about Bloom.

- Magix world? That means just Magix, right? For a moment there I thought they were trying to say there were only three schools in the whole magical dimension but that doesn’t make sense. Also, “scary old miss Griffin”? Both Saladin and Faragonda look older than Griffin. Why would you say it like that? But at least there wasn’t the whole implication of “the witches might maim you but we ain’t gonna do shit about it” that angered me so much in the original. And, “some of those witches are really mean.” I like that. It means that not all witches are like that.

- Bloom apologized for stepping on Flora’s plant and Flora was like “No, don’t be sorry”? What have you done to Flora?! She would never imply “be less careful with the plants”. And I was just starting to like this despite the aesthetic being off.

- And we keep following into the bad changes. I always loved the fact that Magix had pizza and pizza was a universal thing but here the girls don’t seem to know what pizza is. That is so sad. There should always be pizza everywhere.

- Darcy’s powers look so cool! I think there is a slight difference to how they’re animated but they always look cool! Her voice is kinda grating on my nerves, however.

- Why did the Trix all just refer to themselves in the third person? I know why - to introduce who they are. But it just sounded so cringy. Wasn’t there a better way to do that? Like, maybe them calling out each other’s names instead of their own? It would’ve been pretty easy to figure out who is who considering their powers even if you haven’t watched the show.

- Magic Charmix? Say what now? And I really don’t like the change in the transformation sequences. The original ones looked so much better. These look like they’re borrowing from the Believix sequences, I think (and I never really liked those). Please, bring back Musa’s original transformation sequence with the disco elements! It was so much cooler than this one! At least, Tecna’s isn’t so bad.

- I liked the original way of them deciding the name. You know, when Bloom had a logo made before she suggested it. That was a cool detail. Also, Musa’s short hair is totally giving me whiplash combined with her s3 outfit. These are not supposed to go together, please!

- I hate how they tried to segue right into episode 7 without any of the things in between. It looks like Griselda is targeting them for no reason and I don’t like it. There were some wrong things with how she proceeded in season 1 as well but this is much, much worse. Although, it’s good to see Winx have fun together.

- I prefer Whisperian Crystals to Vacuums, thanks.

- Darcy said Riven has the same level of negative energy as them? Wow. It would’ve been interesting if he’d had magic. He might have been just as powerful as the Trix.

- Well, they took the monster down... and destroyed half the school in the process.

- There is not much to comment on this whole arc, except that it doesn’t make sense when we haven’t seen why their powers were taken. And the vague explanation they tried to give was not working. This time at least they mentioned that it was forbidden to go in Faragonda’s office when she’s not there (because they somehow missed that in 1x07).

- Oh, at least the dreams look different. And they are finally introducing Daphne. I like the aesthetic of this dream. But damn, we already reached the Magical Reality Chamber part? Wait, Bloom’s powers haven’t come in yet? So they’re gonna use the MRC to have them awakening then and that’s how the Trix will learn about the Dragon Fire.

- And Palladium looks like his s2-onwards self. Not to mention that Domino wasn’t supposed to be the simulation, was it? I think in the original it was a place that they didn’t want any of the students to end up during a simulation. But I guess they had to introduce it somehow and this was the most logical way. Plus, it could have something to do with her powers awakening while she is in her own planet. Edit: At first I couldn't tell why the fact that they were calling the Magical Reality Chamber a simulator was bugging me but now I got it. Simulator implies that what is happening is not real but in s1 Palladium warned them to be careful in the MRC because if they get hurt, it will hurt. Aka that's why it's a Magical Reality Chamber. It's real.

- Yeah, the Trix somehow magically deduced that it was Bloom they were looking for and they also knew at what precise moment she would be in the simulation. That... just doesn’t make any sense. (And I hate the voice over that just informs us about the time and place which we can very clearly see.)

- Didn’t she say her magic hadn’t come in yet? Because she is using it now and she doesn’t look like it is happening for the first time.

- Thank god, everyone can see that the Trix are inside! In the original they were there but no one seemed to notice which always bugged me because it was obvious that Bloom wasn’t alone and yet, somehow, that fact seemed to escape everyone who was watching. They have fixed it here!

- “Junior fairy”? That is supposed to be “freshman”. Unless they changed it to junior because the special that deals with season 2 will be the “senior” stuff and then there are no more specials.

- Darcy’s magic looked a lot like Musa’s sound waves there.

- Bloom dived in the lava for Kiko? Wow! I actually feel... bad for her but I also like that she was ready to do that for Kiko. Weren’t the Trix just pushing her to make her use her powers, though?

- Well, she transformed. I think that out of all the transformations they have fucked hers up the most. Her Winx transformation was so amazing and this one isn’t even anywhere close to that. Why was any of that necessary?

- Why did the Trix end up in an auditorium in CT when they started out in their room? They should have gone back there!

- It is really cute that all the other fairies were so happy for Bloom and her newly found winx, though! I liked that!

This had an overall plot that continued throughout the whole episode and it generally managed most of the important elements of the story. There were a couple of things that didn’t make sense thanks to the way more than 10 episodes were compressed in 40 minutes but there weren’t any major mishaps. The ongoing plot made enough sense and carried well enough throughout the whole thing. And it would probably stand even better on its own if not being compared to the original way of doing things in season 1. Considering the time constraints, I’d say this works surprisingly well. I am only uncertain as to what was the idea of these specials but that does not weigh down on the quality of this one. It was pretty good, all in all.

#winx club #winx bloom #winx stella #winx flora #winx musa #winx tecna #trix #winx icy #winx darcy #winx stormy #winx knut #winx specialists #winx specials #the destiny of bloom #thoughts #review

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growingstronglikeahighgardenrose · 4 years

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The Greatest Gift

The last part of my ‘The Holiday’ series, and with it also my last entry for the 12 Days of Sanditon challenge (albeit four days late). It’s been a wild ride between past and present, I had a blast exploring all characters in all kinds of settings, and I hope you did too!

Pairings: Charlotte/Sidney, Esther/Babington, Georgiana/Crowe

Characters: Charlotte, Sidney, Esther, Babington, Crowe, Georgiana, Susan, James

Prompt: The Gift/Tis the season to be jolly, for the 12 Days of Sanditon hosted by @sanditoncreative

Synopsis: Charlotte finally arrives to the holiday home as everyone is preparing for the New Year's Eve Party. She realizes with shock she has much catching up to do.

Available on AO3 (please drop a like if you enjoyed)

Over mountains cold, and rivers frozen, lay a house amidst the woods. The house was neither large nor small, it was just perfect for the amount of occupants who spent their days there. Before they’d entered the house, they’d been two separate groups of friends, acquainted but not familiar with the other. But after spending days together filled with fun excursions to Inverness and the surrounding woods, and nights drowned in alcohol, friendships were established, and relationships blossomed underneath the star filled sky.

When the missing link, one part of the reason as to why these friend groups had come together, Charlotte Heywood arrived on the thirtieth of December, she had a lot to catch up with. In just eight days, Esther, who had always been keen on keeping her personal space, had shed her old habits which had been developed through years of living in a cold household devoid of love, and was now always touching Babington in some way. She rarely sat on a chair anymore, finding the lap of her newly acquired boyfriend much preferable. Charlotte had sometimes wondered how her friend would be if she were to enter a relationship, but never had she thought that she’d dive into a relationship after just a couple of weeks of knowing someone, and get comfortable with being in a relationship so easily. But then again, no one was aware of how Esther and Babington had regarded each other with certain fondness and interest since Esther’s first year at Sanditon Uni.

James, Georgiana and Crowe boasted it had been their ‘Mistletoe Madness’ scheme which had brought the mom friend and dad friend together. Babington and Esther didn’t care to tell them anything about how it had actually happened.

But then Sidney and James laughed how Georgiana and Crowe had used their mistletoes a lot as well, always accidentally finding themselves underneath them, and regularly disappearing together. Susan smirked that James, despite mocking the four new lovers, had actually appointed her as the official proof-reader of all text messages he sent towards a girl she was interested in.

Sidney had sorely missed his girlfriend, and couldn’t be parted from her for any prolonged period of time. Now nine, the group revelled in the haze of the period between Christmas and the New Year, happy and relaxed despite the approaching finals.

It was the season to be jolly, and no sadness or dark thoughts were allowed in their holiday home.

December thirtieth passed, and everyone was looking forward to celebrate the start of the new decade. Was it to be the sweet ten years in which the world would recover from the past decade? Would stocks reach record peaks, and Wall Street boom a steady golden roar as everyone celebrated life?

The next decade was as much a mystery as the paths their lives would take after this year. Within less than a year, they would all graduate. They would never be students again. The era of absolute freedom came to an end. The real world was quickly approaching. The twenties were the decade of their twenties, and they would end ’29 in their thirties: they would find employment, get engaged, get children and pay taxes. It was a bittersweet day as they accepted the prospect, and some were more heavily affected by nostalgia for years gone by than others. But united they stood strong, encouraging each other with smiles, hugs and words of kindness.

They had no clue what would happen to their friendship in the next decade, but they were determined to at least celebrate the last day of the year, sliding into the new year Gatsby style, clanking crystal and dancing with reckless abandon. The day was spent with ice-skating, a snowman competition and preparing appetizers and desert for the festive meal. There was little work to be done for the main meal since they’d all be using the electric grills on the table to bake their own pieces of meat and vegetables, yakiniku style, the only thing they had to do was to chop some vegetables and prepare a pot of pasta salad.

After all was prepared, the girls took two bottles of fizzy martini to their bedrooms to prepare for dinner together. The men remained behind, deciding to watch the new Witcher series and start drinking as well. If the preparations for the Christmas dinner were anything to go by, the girls would take up to two hours to get ready.

Make up your mind sweet baby, right here, right now's all we got

A little party never killed nobody, so we gon' dance until we drop

A little party never killed nobody, right here, right now's all we got

In the largest bed chamber, The Great Gatsby soundtrack was playing. Esther was in the shower, Susan was doing her makeup, and Georgiana was doing Charlotte’s hair. Esther returned, starting to paint Susan’s nails a deep red, but putting a golden topcoat over her ring finger. Afterwards, the favour was returned. They all kept changing places, drinking martini and laughing, until they were all washed, their nails painted and their hair was done up in some kind of 20s style with decorative glittering hair combs and lacey headbands.

The playlist was switched to one of Georgiana’s after the album was done.

We go together

Better than birds of a feather, you and me

We change the weather, yeah

I'm feeling heat in December when you're 'round me

‘Oh, that’s our song’, Georgiana sighed happily as she plopped down on the bed, Esther crying out that she had to be careful with her hairdo.

‘That shall be one hell of a opening song on your wedding’, Susan laughed.

‘You have a song already?’ Charlotte asked with amusement.

‘Of course, don’t you?’ Georgiana asked, turning onto her belly to look at Charlotte.

‘Well, we’ve only been together for a month.’

‘And honeyboo and me have only been together for a couple of days, yet we have one. Was there never a song you two had a moment to, or which reminded you of your relationship?’

Charlotte bit her lip. Was there a song which reminded her of him? She could still remember the song they first danced to years ago. But it wasn’t representative for their relationship. Yet, yet she couldn’t help but think of him every time she heard it in the years since.

‘I have one’, Susan admitted to give Charlotte some more time.

‘Oh, which one?’ Georgiana asked.

‘It’s a bit cliché, but it’s Waterloo. It’s the song I chose as my swan song on the evening my achievements as a student representative were celebrated. It’s always been one of my favourite songs, and well, he was always there with me when it was put on. And, after all, he did have a hard time conquering me.’

‘How long have you been together with Alexander?’

‘Almost my entire studies. I think I can expect an engagement before I turn twenty-five at the pace we’re going.’

‘And you’re of course going to accept’, Georgiana smiled.

Susan nodded.

‘How… do you know? It’s easy to know you love someone, but when do you know it can be forever?’

‘When, even way past that first sweet period has passed, you still feel butterflies thinking of them. But that’s not all, that’s how you know you’re still in love. But I knew we had a real chance at staying together when, amidst all the craziness of the year in which I combined seven councils, simply receiving a text or a hug from him felt like a good night’s rest after a particularly exhausting day. All my worries and all my burdens still lay heavy on my shoulders, but he made me feel calm and strong.’

‘Oh, that sounds so wonderful. He sounds so sweet’, Esther breathed.

‘It does’, Charlotte admitted.

‘He isn’t sweet by no means. He never says everything will be alright, he never says it’s okay if I fail. He tells me what I have to hear instead, but he’s a good, supportive and capable man, and he understands that I need someone who encourages me, not someone who tells me sweet things. But I love him.’ She shook her head, as if, after all these years, she was still amazed by the love she felt.

‘I have a song, by the way’, Charlotte admitted.

‘Tell!’

‘It’s the song that played at least thrice the evening we first met. Halsey’s song: Closer.’

‘Oh, that’s cute! And it fits as well!’

‘It does?’ Charlotte asked as she put on her red velvet dress. Esther snuck to her room to get her dress and shoes.

‘Yeah! You look as good as the day I met you. I forget just why I left you, I was insane… And four years, no call… And then you met and hit it off again!’ Georgiana smiled.

‘Well it’s only been about three years and we only hit it off again after a month of weekly meetings.’

‘Details!’ Georgiana cried before finishing her glass.

‘So, Esther, how bout you and Babbers hmm?’ Georgiana asked as Esther entered the room again, glittering 20s style Mary Janes and blue flapper dress in hands.

‘Why so curious?’

‘So you have one’, Charlotte smiled.

‘Maybe I do.’

‘Oh come on Esther, you already keep secret how you two have gotten together, you can at least tell us the name of the song.’

‘Fine. I Want To Know What Love Is, satisfied?’

‘Why Esther, I never took you for a Foreigner fan’, Susan exclaimed.

‘Coincidence. Can we now stop discussing love, I’m not planning on being emotional before midnight.’

Georgiana laughed and handed Esther her glass once she’d finished zipping her dress.

‘Alright then ladies, let’s go to the living room and have some fun.’

In dark suits the men sat gathered on the couches, hair groomed and smelling good. But their preparations didn’t compare to the flurry of glittering glimmering festival to their eyes the girls presented as they descended upon them with their curled hair and sparkly jewellery and bright red lipstick. Their cheeks and beards were covered in bright lipstick, and champagne was popped.

‘You all really came prepared’, Princey laughed as he trailed his fingers down Susan’s long white gloves.

‘We agreed upon celebrating Gatsby style. We simply did as agreed upon.’

‘I’d say you did more than just that’, Crowe breathed as Georgiana rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. He wasn’t sure he’d make it till midnight without a short heated intermezzo.

She jumped upright with a smile. ‘Excuse me as I try to capture the moment.’

She photographed him like that, sat in the couch with arms raised in question, a glass of champagne filled with water in hand – he wanted to remember every minute, at least until midnight.

‘Do you like it?’ Esther purred softly as the others were occupied.

‘You have no idea.’

‘Enlighten me.’

‘You look extraordinary… Magnificent.’

‘Do I?’ she smirked as she traced his stubble with her gloved hand.

‘Miss Denham, I must beg you to spare me. I’m not afraid I’ll last the night otherwise.’

‘Who says I intend you to?’ she laughed as she readjusted her weight on his lap. He could only just supress a groan and press his lips against hers.

A flash went off, the screen presenting a figure with flaming red curls with her arms around the brown haired man she sat on top off, his hands almost reverently placed on her upper back.

Another flash captured James and Princey pointing their tongue at each other in mock disgusted of the kissing.

There's glitter on the floor after the party

Girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby

Candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor

You and me from the night before but

‘I’m still so confused as to how it all happened. I don’t know what to think about it’, Charlotte confessed to Sidney as they gazed at their friends.

‘I think this would be a so called… Christmas miracle’, he laughed.

‘I believe the entrance of this house must have been a portal to a Hallmark movie. It all just went so quickly.’

‘Didn’t we go quickly as well?’ Sidney asked, burying his nose against her sweet smelling neck.

‘It was different.’

‘How do we know they’re not different as well?’

‘Well, with Esther and Babington I dare not judge, but Georgie and Crowe?’

‘Hmm, two dramatic extroverted personalities seeking enjoyment together? I don’t think they’re that odd together.’

‘Perhaps not.’

‘Let us not worry. Before we worried it would be awkward introducing our friends to each other. Our fears turned out to be utterly unfounded. Let’s just enjoy this.’

Charlotte agreed, pressing her lips against his.

‘Let’s. I just can’t believe it all. I’m so happy, this is perfect. I just… Look at everyone having fun and being happy and laughing so much! And it isn’t just because they’re drunk. I’ve never seen all my friends in such a pure state of happiness for so long. I haven’t seen any of them smile so much. I think no one has gone half an hour without smiling once I arrived.’

Don't read the last page

But I stay when you're lost and I'm scared and you're turning away

I want your midnights

But I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day

The night was filled with laughter, and the hours slid past at record speed.

Heels were kicked off and dancing took place. It really wasn’t good, and they would be divided between loathing their embarrassing postures in the pictures, and loving the photographs because of the memories they contained.

You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi I can tell that it's going to be a long road I'll be there if you're the toast of the town babe Or if you strike out and you're crawling home

Midnight was approaching. Shoes were put back on again, and the girls were provided with the blazers of the men. The Final Countdown was put on – James’ final joke of 2019 – as the group started counting down. The new decade was approaching, and they all stood outside united in the snow, bottles of champagne in hand.

Ten seconds to go and the bottles were shaken, ready to be popped at midnight. They screamed and laughed their way through the countdown, and then the moment was there.

Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you And I will hold on to you

Corks went flying and lips were kissed as firework shot into the sky. Streams of champagne reached for the sky as friends embraced. They could see the explosions of gold, red, purple, green and blue from the nearby city perfectly above the lake, it was even reflected on the lake. Champagne was drunk from the bottle, and group pictures were taken of all of them in the snow, with fireworks artfully exploding in the distance.

All loneliness and heartache of the past years, and all insecurity about the future was left in the old year, obliterated by the happiness of the past few days.

A new era in their lives was approaching, and they were ready for it, together, united.

Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

They would always remember the first New Year they celebrated together. Even as responsibilities started entering their lives, they always fought to keep the week between Christmas and the New Year free for each other to capture the feeling of old, and create new ones.

Slowly, people were added to the celebrations. Susan and James brought their partners with them the following year, and Princey his first serious girlfriend the year after. And then, a ring was added to the company around Susan’s finger. Esther and Babington were up next, at the ages of twenty-seven and thirty, to tie the knot. Then followed a round belly for Charlotte, who was surprised when Susan announced her flat belly contained a baby as well. And at the end of the decade, Esther announced her pregnancy and Georgiana and Crowe who hadn’t been meant to last the first time around, reunited after finally accepting all that came along with growing up, and this time they decided to put in the serious work. Crowe admitted himself to an AA program the day after New Year, they were wed the day after he got his One Year degree.

They exited the decade with a big Gatsby Party, and though they had indeed had a bigger financial strain on their backs and uncorked non-alcoholic champagne like they would’ve had it been the 1920’s, they were all still just as happy and rich in friends as they had started the decade. Their friendship had been the best gift they could’ve ever received.

____________________________________________________________

71263 words, 12 works, you guys! I'm 4 days late (10 if we count the official deadline of December 25) but I've finally wrapped up the 12 Days of Sanditon.

I want to thank everyone for reading, liking and commenting! It has been such a delight and your words of encouragement kept me convinced to persevere and wrap up the challenge even as I found myself uninspired or tired. It hasn't been my best work, I probably skipped over a lot of typo's and grammar mistakes, and the wordings and stories probably weren't always as good but I haven't written as consistently as this since I was 15! I could've probably spared myself a lot of trouble by not making my works as long (some are well over twenty pages on word), but I had a blast and I hope you did too! I love this fandom, tiny and young as it is (and it won’t get a lot better since the show’s been cancelled) and all the active people in it <3

Much love, Lynn

#12 days of sanditon

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atmilliways · 5 years

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((fic)) Hello, How Are You

One devastating turn deserves another, so this fic is brought to you by @calliopinot‘s Noon On A Tuesday (which you have to read in order for this to make the right amount of sense), plus these headcanons and also this one (thanks @spaceviking), and Hello by Adele but with a nicer ending.

Oh, and an all day wine and food event with 40 participating wineries. Don’t worry, I only made it to 8. That’s not even my record, and I actually remember the end of the day. That’s a serious accomplishment in Zinfandel country.

Anyway, the end of this fic is sappy as hell and I’m not sorry at all about that.

Hello, How Are You

It had taken him years to come here because, really, he wasn’t a dumb kid anymore. With time and therapy, he’d outgrown the idea that his love and existence was so flawed that it destroyed anyone he cared for.

Ironically, he now stood on the doorstep of the man who had first made him believe that, simply by being the first to be left standing.

Toki checked the paper in his hand for probably the tenth time, wondering if he had misread Pickles’ messy scrawl — the house was just so ordinary. He had lived this way himself for decades now, of course, but somehow hadn’t expected it in connection with today, with the man he was hoping to see. It was only one story and modestly sized, with a bay window looking into a sparse but cozy living room. The yard was filled with ornamental grasses instead of a classic lawn and had a winding stone path through blooming roses and perennials. Real colors, when he tended to remember the place’s owner exclusively in grayscale and blond, as so much of their life had been back then. A part of him regretted ringing the doorbell as soon as he did it, but the sound of guitar arpeggios echoing through the house made the corner of his mouth twitch.

Little touches, like that and the miniature wolf statue peering watchfully out from amidst the bushes by the door, assured him yes, Skwisgaar did live here.

As Toki waited for someone to come to the door, absently twisting the wedding band he still wore, he heard the thumps and whines of various dogs jostling around inside. A muffled voice scolded them briefly and then the door swung open to reveal the same Skwisgaar that he remembered, black shirt and faded jeans and all, except for the silver at his temples and the lines that had crept into his face around the eyes.

“Oh. Uh,” Skwisgaar said, staring.

That was as far as he got before three huskies swarmed out from behind his legs. They milled around Toki’s legs, nosing at his hands and crotch inquisitively — so unruly compared to the golden lab mixes Abby’d had over the years, but those had all been well-trained service dogs. At least no one was trying to jump up and lick his face.

“Nej, gets back heres you dumb goofballs...” Skwisgaar shooed the dogs back inside before shooting him a look that was both sheepish and curious. “Sorry. They gets, uh, pretty exciteds when people comes by. Don’t gets a lot of visitors here, you knows.”

“Yeah, it was kind of hard to find.” His mouth felt so dry. Why was his mouth so dry? He also felt unaccountably stupid showing up in a button down shirt and khakis like this was some sort of job interview or something. Toki rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, wondering if this was how Skwisgaar had felt during that one visit years ago, so... thrown, by memories versus reality.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment until Skwisgaar cleared his throat, still trying to hold back the tide of dogs. “So, you wants to come ins or something? I could meet you arounds on the back porch if you don’ts want to deals with these dildoes.”

“Oh, it’s fines,” Toki said, then felt his face redden at the slip. All those years of Leah helping him with his English, the kids playfully teasing and correcting him on the occasional misplaced a plural or mispronunciation, apparently didn’t hold up to facing this fragment of his past. “I mean, I don’t mind dogs, as long as they don’t try to hump my leg or anything.”

“That... Well.” Skwisgaar shuffled backwards, grabbing onto the collar of one of the huskies. “I just puts him in the music room for yous. The others am okays, come on ins.”

Toki followed him inside, pulling the door shut behind himself and looking around. The entryway was fairly bare, just white walls and dark wood floors, about what he would have expected. “So you still play? I wasn’t sure, after you stopped doing that masterclass thing.”

“Oh, you watched that?” Skwisgaar called back distractedly from deeper inside the house.

“Luke did, when he was learning guitar.” Toki couldn’t help smiling a little, with no one there to see. “He got into metal for a while after he saw some pictures of me from the old days. I think it was the long hair. He never did want to cut his short.”

There was the sound of a door slamming, and then the lanky blond reappeared with the remaining two dogs crowding at his heels. “Wasn’ts all you had was girls, last time I heards?”

“Oh... Sorry, I forgot you wouldn’t know.” Toki shrugged. “He changed his name from Leah Jr. to Luke before college. It’s not a big deal. The hormone therapy is going really well, he’s starting to grow a beard now. It’s coming in the way mine did though, remember that time I tried growing it out? And it came in all patchy? I told him he might be better off with just a mustache, but who knows if he’ll listen to me, I’m just his dad or whatevers.”

It occurred to him that he was rambling and that Skwisgaar was giving him a weird look — not one of the looks that meant Toki would have to punch him in the face in defense of his son, just one that wanted to point out they hadn’t spoken in almost fifteen years but, like, didn’t at the same time. It was an unexpectedly hopeful look, shuttered away after an instant as though it hadn’t been meant to be seen, and the implications tugged unpleasantly on Toki's insides. His mouth snapped shut and he followed the other man down the hall into a spacious and, again, mostly white living room. He could see a river winding past through the sliding glass door on the other side of the room. It was nice.

“Have a seats, huuueeeeuuugghhhh, anywheres,” Skwisgaar said into the awkward silence, gesturing to the white couch. Or, the mostly white couch with a liberal dusting of husky hair on it, even in places where Toki wouldn’t have thought a dog that size could or would climb. It was probably also the reason there weren’t any of the plush fur throw rugs Toki remembered him preferring. “You want some coffee or anythings?”

“No, I’m fine thanks.”

“Okay. Uhhhhh... Anyways, ja, I plays,” he continued while Toki made himself comfortable. “Don’t really does much with its now, but sometimes Nathan wants a thing written for ones of those shows he ams working ons, he gives me a calls, Charles sends the checks in the mails, all thats. But it ams, you knows. A goods hobby.” Once his guest sat down in a tall but well-padded easy chair, he took the couch and immediately had two dogs happily vying for control of his lap. “What abouts you?”

Toki looked down at his hands. “I still play sometimes. More since the kids all left home, but less than... since Leah.”

Skwisgaar sighed. “I heards about that. Thoughts about going to pays my respects, but...” He gave a pained grimace that was, maybe, intended to be an apologetic smile. “Didn’ts really knows her, and Pickle tolds me it was probablies not the best ideas.”

“Oh,” Toki said blankly. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Pickles had never mentioned Skwisgaar wanting to come to the funeral. But would he have remembered if he had? That had been, to put it mildly, a bad time. Juggling all the funeral arrangements, hospital bills, and suddenly being a single parent to a teenager and two preteens — it had been a lot. He’d barely kept it together for the first few years, and still felt bad that Juliette had taken it upon herself to help look after her siblings and grown up so much so quickly.

“...You lets your hair grows out somes,” Skwisgaar blurted out.

“I did,” Toki agreed, grateful for the change of subject. He swished his fingers through it, a fall of brown that came down to around his chin, just like when they’d first met. “Two girls and a gender fluid kid in the house, we used to have some wild hairdo parties, let me tell you.” He laughed. Kind of forced, but close enough to real. “And it worked out. Juliette is doing really well in cosmetology school.”

“That’s greats, Toki.”

The smile on Toki’s face was a brittle one. He was proud of his kids — hell, proud of himself for producing three non-fucked up human beings, considering his own bleak childhood, homeless adolescence, and raucous early adulthood. Things really had turned out for the best.

Mostly. Because while he’d had a loving, supportive partner to help lay the groundwork for his wonderfully normal new life, it hadn’t turned anything like what he’d imagined. She’d died and he’d found out that there were even worse things than having his heart broken, like having to decide whether to keep all of her old things around as a constant, heart-stabbing reminder or carrying overflowing boxes out to the curb past his crying children, pleading to hold onto the memories of their mother. Impossible choices.

The conversation had hit another lull, both of them just looking at each other over a canyon of decades.

“So,” Skwisgaar said awkwardly, “why... ams you decided to visit todays? Nots that I minds the companies,” he added quickly, unwilling to drop the strained pretense of gracious host. Clearly he didn’t want to be as blunt as Toki had been when he’d visited, all those years ago. No attempt had been made to flaunt his carefree, unattached lifestyle out here in the countryside, with no neighbors for miles and no real obligations to speak of save for occasional songwriting favors. He hadn’t gone for the jugular with, to name an example completely at random, a #1 Guitarist mug.

Toki’s smile cracked. On the couch, the two dogs raised their heads and looked at him inquisitively, approximately one second before he sucked in a breath like a man afraid of drowning and sank his face into both hands. For a long time he’d been able to keep his old life and live locked up tight, separate from his newly constructed family. He’d stopped discussing it in therapy years ago, long enough that his therapist never thought to bring it up anymore. Long enough that he hadn’t realized the parallels for a long time.

And it all came pouring out a torrent of word vomit that tasted all the more bitter for how long he’d been holding it in. A family of five? The way Leah had died, carving a chunk of his life big enough to leave him broken — what was he supposed to do, let it? And then the kids moving out. Little Abby had been the first to go and the last he had expected to lose so soon, a blow out of nowhere just like Murderface lapsing without warning into a coma. Luke had developed new interests, decided on a far more ambitious musical ambitions than his old man, and gone off to school at a fabulous conservatory half way across the globe, echoing Nathan’s departure for new and interestingly brutal pursuits. Juliette, like Pickles, had stuck around the longest, but now she was finally getting into cosmetology full time and living with her girlfriend, fostering an endless stream of troubled kids that the system had failed because her heart was just that goddamned big. There were visits, and phone calls, and occasionally even meeting up for lunches or dinners, but they had their own separate lives to get back to. Toki had... nothing. Just like after Dethklok.

Nothing but this ghost from his past who, before he realized what was happening, was kneeling in front of his chair and pulling him into a rough hug. Toki let himself be pulled. The dogs crowded around him and licked helpfully at the tears and snot boiling out of him before it could land on Skwisgaar’s shirt, though it caught its fair share of slobber and stray fur instead. Thumps and distressed dog noises from elsewhere in the house suggested that the third had some idea of what he was missing out on and resented being excluded from it, but oh well. Special persons invite club cry-a-thon, no leg humpers allowed.

Because Skwisgaar was crying too. First it registered as a growing dampness on his shoulder. Then Toki realized that the other man’s hands were gripped onto his shirt in big handfuls, and what had seemed like a comforting rocking motion was the Swede shaking with the effort of keeping his own tears silent and unobtrusive.

“Skwisgaar, what’s…” More alarmed than he would have expected given his own simmering breakdown, Toki managed to disentangle himself enough to pull back and get a look at his face. There was no hope of passing it off as ‘just gettings high’ today — not that it had ever been very effective ruse, Skwisgaar was an ugly crier and always had been. “What’s wrong?”

“Because,” came the choked up reply. “You saids you was happy. I s-stayed aways because you was happy. You didn'ts…” Skwisgaar was squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to not totally lose it, but his grip was clearly slipping. “You didn’ts deserve for it to all falls so much to shits that you comes to see me."

“Oh…” Toki slid to the floor as though his bones had been removed and replaced with cooked spaghetti, because that was exactly it. Skwisgaar had dumped him and it had been devastating, but he’d reinvented himself, met a girl, made a new life for himself without him.

It had taken so long to decide to come here precisely because he had been happy. Ecstatically so, and in the new life he’d made, even after Leah, there had been no room for Skwisgaar in it. But to see that Skwisgaar had known that — hell, actually respected that enough to leave him be for all these years — made him realize.

“Skwisgaar,” Toki said, sniffling and reaching to smooth some of the other man’s tears away. Skwisgaar startled at the touch, blue eyes flying open.

“Whats?”

“I don’t regrets anything about my family,” Toki told him earnestly, “but it was always supposed to be you.” And kissed him.

They were both still crying so it was wet and clumsy and messy, but their lips fit together just as perfectly as Toki remembered. Sure, he’d repressed that memory for a long time, but he’d had to.

For so long they’d been spun around in a dance of wanting different things, never on the same page, perfectly compatible but just off somehow. Then there had been Leah and it had felt impossible to reconcile those dual loves, so Toki had always told himself that his first choice had never been right or good for him. And maybe that instinct had been spot on, maybe Skwisgaar back then had been all wrong, a pentagonal peg that Toki had desperately fit into a round hole — but things had changed. So much was different now, about both of them. Here in this modest house, sitting on the floor with dogs trying their best to cheer up two idiot humans with even more slobbery kisses than the one they were currently sharing with amazed enthusiasm, they fit together in ways that was far more than just physical. It finally felt like they were on the same page, older and wiser but still head over fucking heels for each other.

A third furry body crashed into them and Skwisgaar broke away with a cry of, “Fucksdammit Morderface, if you brokes another door you ams sleeping outskied tonights I swear to fucking Odin!”

Toki laughed and rubbed his face on his sleeve and stood, despite the (pudgier, more blunt-nosed) husky immediately going for his leg as he did so, offering Skwisgaar a hand up that he accepted without hesitation. “You named him Murderface?”

“Ja,” Skwisgaar said sheepishly. He didn’t let go of Toki’s hand once he was up, instead threading their fingers together. “Uh, ands the other two ams Nathan and Pickles. Makes me feel less, eughhh, lonely out heres, you knows.”

“Huh.” Toki looked down at their entwined fingers. Smiled. Squeezed. “Just those three?”

“There ams only one Toki Wartooth,” Skwisgaar told him seriously, then pulled him into another kiss that lasted much, much longer.

#metalocalypse #my fanfic #my fanfiction #skwisgaar skwigelf #toki wartooth #postklok #idiots in midlife crisis love #skwistok

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agirlinjapan · 5 years

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Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars (Week 9)

Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara A Translation

Miss the last piece? Read it here!

Check out the RDG Translation twitter!

Help me pay for my next translation project on Ko-fi.

This week’s RDG is short again. To make it up to you though, I’ll be posting an extra (regular-length!) installation of RDG next week. I had a great month of literary abandon as they put it at NaNoWriMo, but now it’s time to get back to RDG.

Happy Hanukkah to all my readers who are celebrating tonight. Happy holidays to everyone else! Let the season of giving begin!

Red Data Girl: My Wish on the Night of the Shooting Stars By Noriko Ogiwara Chapter 2: Reexamination Part 1 (2 of 3)

This was the first time she had seen Takayanagi since the end of the festival. Like so many other male students, he was wearing a blue button up shirt, a pinstriped tie, a white vest, and uniform pants. However, his clothes seemed so starched and well ironed that everything he was wearing had to be new. It made him stand out from the other students. The uniform fit his average height and frame perfectly which only made him stand out more. It was unusual to see such a well-tailored new uniform. Most students’ uniforms had been altered more times than they could count.

As for Takayanagi’s hair which he had recently cut, the look would have been more appropriate on the historical figure Shirou Amakusa than a student. Seeing him like this after the festival and out of his Warring States era clothes was equally strange as his new uniform. If it had been anyone but Takayanagi, the hairdo would have been strange enough to make the wearer a social outcast, Izumiko thought to herself. However, Takayanagi was unaffected by the students’ reactions. Izumiko could see that there was an old fashioned elegance to his look. At least that point would afford him some approval with the other students.

Izumiko stood in front of Takayanagi, her face stiff. “Are you sure you want to talk with me? I’m most likely going to say some things you don’t want me to.”

“That’s fine. I will most likely do the same. I can explain what happened the other day. I don’t believe you saw everything that occurred.”

I have to let him have it…

Izumiko took a deep breath, but she could not make the word “dog” come out of her mouth.

After a few seconds of silence passed by, Takayanagi said brightly, “Here. I bought something I thought I could give to you. It’s a souvenir from Kyoto.”

Takayanagi pulled a hand from behind his back and opened it to reveal a small box sitting on his palm.

“It’s a lesser known Kyoto confection. During the Nara era, the Japanese envoy to China brought it with them just like this as an offering to the Buddhist deity Nandikesvara. At the time, the confection was so valuable that only nobles ate it. They called it a Chinese deep fried pastry. Now, there’s only one shop in Kyoto that makes it.”

So Takayanagi went back home… Izumiko thought as she gazed down at the paper wrapped box from the old shop. She understood a little better now why Takayanagi was acting so relaxed. He had probably received a lot of support when he had returned to his family.

“I can’t accept this.”

“It’s not enchanted or anything of that sort. The confection is made with purity in mind. The craftsmen even purify themselves before they make them. So please, have a taste of thousand year old Kyoto,” Takayanagi said.

Still, Izumiko did not take the offered box.

“What are you playing at?”

“It’s strange that you’ve forgotten already. Didn’t I make myself clear after I found you in the woods?” His voice remained bright even as he said this. It seemed like this wasn’t a bluff, and that he meant what he was saying. “I have my family’s permission as well. I believe you and I need to talk further, Izumiko.”

Izumiko’s mouth might have been open, but there was no way she couldn’t have gotten any words out of it. She could sense that students from Class C were listening attentively from a distance away.

At the end of the festival while Takayanagi had still been in his dog form, he had apologized to Izumiko and asked her to turn him back to the way he had been before. He hadn’t made the request in his usual arrogant way either.

Before Izumiko could respond though, a decisive alto voice cut through the air.

“How the hell did you find the nerve to come over here, Takayanagi?”

Izumiko looked down the hallway to see the scowling figure of Mayura standing there with her fists on her hips. Miyuki was standing there next to her as well. The two of them had noticed Takayanagi’s disappearance from their classroom, and had come to help. Izumiko let out an unconscious sigh of relief.

“You shouldn’t speak like that, Mayura. It’s uncouth.”

“Well, I’m shocked beyond words to find you here. Are you still not going to admit that you lost even now?”

Takayanagi gave a quiet chuckle. “Heh. So you think your win’s already decided? Because you won the first match? Nothing’s settled yet. I plan to make a formal complaint saying that there’s been a misunderstanding. As a judge, Hodaka Murakami made a mistake.”

Unlike Izumiko, Mayura had no restraints holding her back.

“Even though you got turned into a dog?”

“I wish you wouldn’t speak about things you know nothing about. There were a number of hallucinations during the school festival due to the field tests the diviners and I were conducting that day. The abilities Izumiko demonstrated were also due to those tests. It would be correct to say that I was the one who performed a great deed.”

When Mayura did not respond to this right away, Takayanagi continued. “I’ll be visiting the student government after school today. I’ve been promised that I can speak directly to President Hodaka. You’re welcome to sit in on our conversation.”

The real reason why Takayanagi hadn’t been in school the day before was because he had been seeking out the shadow president. Somehow, he had managed to overwhelm the top student government members surrounding him and get what he wanted.

“Well, I’ll see you around.”

They watched as Takayanagi’s hand shot out, forcing the souvenir from Kyoto into Izumiko’s hand. Then he turned on his heel and walking away. However, neither Mayura nor Miyuki were fast enough to stop him.

After watching him go, Miyuki said to Mayura almost questioningly, “What just happened?…”

“Don’t worry. We all made sure none of the students around here could hear what we were talking about. Even Takayanagi’s self-preservation goes that far.”

“You’re probably right, but you never know,” Miyuki said carelessly. Then he turned to Izumiko who was still holding the box, and grimaced.

“You shouldn’t have taken that, stupid.”

“But—”

It wasn’t as if she could just throw the box in her hand down the hall and away from her that very instant. Besides, Takayanagi’s story about the confection had been intriguing, and now she was uncomfortably curious over the contents of the box. She felt a little ashamed of herself.

“…He said there wasn’t any magic on it.”

“He could bind you to him with just one bite of whatever that is,” Miyuki said through gritted teeth.

Mayura, standing next to him, intervened. “Calm down. I’ll make sure it’s not dangerous. Izumiko, here. Give it to me. Finding out if food is unsafe is Masumi’s specialty.”

Miyuki turned to look at Mayura, his expression somewhat surprised. “He can do something that useful?”

“That’s rude. He can do even more in Togakushi.”

As Mayura and Miyuki bantered back and forth, Izumiko’s ears were drawn to the conversation some of the girls from Class C were having behind her. They had stopped talking about Takayanagi, and were looking at them and whispering to each other instead.

“Those two from Class A are always together. I think they’ll become an actual couple sooner or later.”

“With them standing so close to each other like that, it sure makes it look like they’re together.”

“They’d really make a good pair.”

“I don’t want to say it, but they might be the best couple in the grade.”

“It’s like they came out of nowhere and knocked all the other couples aside. It’s a little frustrating, isn’t it?”

Surprised, Izumiko looked at the two in front of her, and saw that she too agreed with what the girls were saying. Anyone who looked at Mayura and Miyuki would most likely see the connection between them. Even some part of Izumiko had already noticed it.

She thought back to the conversation she had had with Mayura that morning.

There’s no rumor about me and Miyuki. I didn’t know it, but what Mayura said before about me and Takayanagi wasn’t wrong. She didn’t say anything about a rumor that had to do with herself though…

Of course, Izumiko knew that in truth. There was nothing between Mayura and Miyuki. All the same, something deep down in her chest still hurt. The more the Souda siblings, Miyuki, and Izumiko did things together, the more everyone around them would naturally mistake Miyuki and Mayura for a couple. That was also clear to Izumiko as she stood there, looking at the two of them.

There was no way for her to be happy about it with that reality thrust right in front of her, though.

Keep reading!

#rdg #red data girl #rdg 6 #rdg 6 week 9 #rdg my wish on the night of the shooting stars #translation

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afaithy · 5 years

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A Crinkle of Fate; Ch. 9: Paroles under the moon

“Sometimes it's the crazy people that bring out the best in us” ― Aishabella Sheikh

Christmas and New year went by in a blink and spring came by soon after. The snow in the school grounds melted away and the plants started growing once more, bringing cheer and life to the cold scenery. Little by little Hogwarts was coming back to life once more after a brief period of ice and loneliness.

“Very well done, Ms. Tonks…” Professor McGonagall nodded in approvement when Tonks switched herself back to her original form. The girl smiled. With McGonagall’s careful tutoring, metamorphosing herself was becoming easier each day. She could hold her body changes for longer periods of time, but even though morphing her hair was becoming easier, the change was still unstable and at the minimal change of mood her hair but switch into another color or length which clearly frustrated the young Metamorphmagus. “Patience, Ms. Tonks. Your improvements are already very satisfactory. There’s no need to rush, we have time to work. You’re still young, for a child your age, separating feelings from your powers can be really difficult, but I’m content with your improvement. You should be proud…” the stern teacher said pushing a cup of steaming tea in front of her. Professor McGonagall was a very strict witch, so receiving a praise for her was a whole achievement. Tonks nodded and smiled in gratitude as she picked up the teacup and sipped the amber liquid. Suddenly, there a was aloud knock on the door and McGonagall pushed herself up from her desk and opened the door. Tonks couldn’t help but feel curious about who had been knocking the door so insistently, so the girl peeped from over the chair and looked over McGonagall’s shoulder. Filch was standing at the door dragging some familiar faces on his rear and Tonks had to bite her lip to contain her laughter. Filch’s head was covered by what seemed to be a mane of bright yellow feathers that reminded her of a canary. Sirius and James waved enthusiastically at her, while Peter tried to hide behind them and she saw Lupin covering his face with his hand. “Professor McGonagall…” Filch growled. “Mr. Filch...Do I want to ask?” “Caught this pair trying to hex Tavis Boreas…” “Ah...and I reckon the hex got diverted…” McGonagall said with a frown, but Tonks was sure that the older woman was hiding a smile“Reparifarge…” With a wave of her wand, McGonagall undid Filch’s hideous hairdo and stared sternly at the four boys with a raised eyebrow. “You can leave now, Mr. Filch. I will handle this…” Filch let out an angry growl as he walked away glaring at the four Gryffindors and mumbling something about nasty students and their nasty spells and Tonks just wondered how someone who disliked kids as much could be a school’s caretaker. “Ms. Tonks, I think we can call it a day. It seems I have some business to take care with my...students. I’ll see you next week…” “Yes, professor McGonagall.” Tonks jumped out of her seat and it was then that she realized that she had forgotten to put on her hood and she rushed pull it up before any of the boys could notice her hair turning brightly magenta. She smiled at them and rushed out of the office before any of the boys could say something. McGonagall closed the door behind her and turned to the four boys with a stern frown that would have terrified the bravest man, but Sirius and James were already too used to it by now. The pair gave the teacher one of their most charming smiles and Lupin had to shake his head to not laugh. “Well, I expected this from Potter, Black and Pettigrew; but Lupin?” “Well, can’t help it…”Sirius shrugged “Considering what they were saying, professor?” “I see. Was Mr. Boreas saying something about you, then. I’d expect you to know better than to listen…” “It wasn’t about me…” Lupin shrugged. “Yeah, not us…” Black nodded “I can take the hit. I couldn’t care less about what that miserable git has to say...but...he was going and going about my cousin and that I couldn’t tolerate it. Muggles or not, they were her family and we weren’t going to let him talk so disgustingly about the death...” And Lupin had agreed. Usually, he was the voice of reason in the quartet trying to stop his friends from taking things a little too far, but when he had heard Boreas talking about the murder of the Tonks with such pleasure, he had gotten pretty mad. Perhaps it was because of the upcoming full moon, but he was a little less tolerant of the Slytherin’s sick sense of humor. When Sirius had said he’d hex him, Lupin didn’t try to persuade him otherwise. McGonagall’s face seemed to soften when she heard their explanation. The Gryffindor teacher seemed to quite sympathetic to Tonks, despite not being a student from her house. “I just regret that the hex got Filch instead of Boreas…” Sirius pouted “But I don’t regret the original target…” James hadn’t said a word, but he was nodding in agreement. “We just didn’t want him talking about it when Tonks is around…”Lupin sighed “She says she’s better, but...it’s still a sensitive topic.” “Boreas is an ar….bad person. So the only way to shut him was to teach him a lesson…” James threw in matter of factly. McGonagall’s brow was raised. The woman pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a soft sigh. She could see the noble intention in the four Gryffindor’s actions, but rules were rules; and there wasn’t a reasonable excuse to hex another student. “You will serve detention for three weeks I will owl you when the time comes. For now,10 points less for Gryffindor...I do hope you will refrain yourselves from acting like this in the future…” she said firmly “You may leave now…” The four boys nodded and thanked the professor before leaving the office discreetly. Sirius was particularly annoyed about the unfairness of the situation, but Lupin reasoned that McGonagall had actually gone easy on them. When the quartet turned around the corner and found Tonks sitting at the stairs with her chin resting on her hand and playing with a furry cat. “Waiting for us, cous?” Sirius said with a grin. “Nope...just got distracted with him…” Tonks replied pointing at the cat “Of course I was waiting for you. So...how did it go?” “We have detention for the next three weeks…” James answered “I think this is the first official detention that Remus gets...haha...how does it feel, mate?” “Should I be feeling something?” Lupin replied. “Well, you’re the good boy. I expected you to feel all disappointed and all..” “I honestly don’t regret what I did…” Lupin replied “so if I was feeling like that it’d be hypocritical..” “And what exactly did you do?” Tonks asked tilting her head. “Hah...Remus, is a genius. While we distracted everyone with the canary head hex, Remus used the Furuncle Hex on Boreas. He’s going to be in a hell of a pain, he’d never know why…” Sirius smirked. “And this is the first time that Remus takes initiative to hex someone. Usually he’s just trying to persuade us not to do it…” “ I think we should celebrate that…” Peter said with a smirk “I can go pick up some snacks in the kitchens.” “I might have been a little...annoyed. “ Lupin smiled. “He...was...brilliant…” Sirius said putting his arm around Lupin’s shoulders “By the way cous, I just saw you without your hoodie back in McGonagall’s. You have a pretty nice head, why hide it?” “Well, that’s none of your business….ha….” she said sticking her tongue at him “Hoodie’s are my style, leave me alone…” “I just say it is a pity to hide it …” Sirius chuckled “What were you doing at McGonagall’s anyway?” “Oh,..I have special transfigurations tutoring with her…” Tonks replied. “What? Why…?” “Because I’m a talented girl” Tonks replied winking at them. “I never got special classes in first year...and I was top in Transfigurations!” James said indignant. “Actually, Remus was top. You were second…” Peter snorted. “Irrelevant…” Tonks seemed a little conflicted and Lupin guessed that she was probably worried about what explanation she should give them, so he was quick to come in her aid. “Well, James. I don’t see why you care. It’s not like you’d have liked to have extra classes…” he said with a smile. “Good point. I’m alright with quidditch training instead.” “So...what are you doing now, cous?” “Well, I have got ingredient gathering with Slughorn. I’m going to pester Severus while he collects tubeworms, of course…” “Aren’t you a little too clingy at him?” Sirius frowned “Don’t tell me you fancy Snivellus…” “What? Of course not. THe thing is, the more he’s annoyed the more fun is too pester him…” she laughed “You can tag along if you have nothing else to do. I doubt Slughorn is going to complain…” “Well, we can do that…” Sirius shrugged “Lead the way, Tonksie…” ***

“Ah...more students I see…” Slughorn smiled when Tonks arrived with the boys and she saw Snape roll his eyes. The boy had taken off his robes and rolled the end of his pants many times as he prepared to step into the shallow pond. Tubeworms were aquatic, so it made sense that they’d have to get a little wet to get them. “I reckon there’s little chance that there are leeches in there, right?” Tonks said looking at the swampy water with apprehension. “Scared of leeches, Nymphadora?” At the use of her name, she rolled her eyes and splashed Snape in annoyance. “Excuse me if I dislike the idea of worms sucking my blood…” “Ah don’t worry, Ms. Tonks. There are no leeches in this pond, a few tadpoles perhaps….but no leeches.” Slughorn said cheerfully. “Ah, well...I can deal with tadpoles…” she replied removing her shoes and socks. The water felt cold around her legs and she shuddered. The rest of the group had gotten into the pond as well and she saw Sirius and James kicking water at each other between laughs. She could hear Snape’s annoying sighe a few feet from her and she snickered. Peter seemed slightly dubious about getting into the water and -always caring- Lupin was coaxing him to get in. “All right, children…” Slughorn said clapping his hands to get their attention “Tubeworms aren’t difficult to find, but the trick is in catching them. They are quite slippy so make sure to hold them right. We need the red ones, so if it isn’t red you can release it!” Catching a tubeworms was much easier said than done; at least for Tonks who had to struggle not to lose her footing every two minutes. Slughorn hadn’t been joking when he said that Tubeworms were hard to hold, she thought as she lost the grip of the one she’d been trying to catch for the past 5 minutes. Tonks let out an annoyed sigh and looked around her. Snape was in full focus mode, she could have been dying and the boy would probably not even notice it; James and Sirius were enjoying themselves chasing after the worms and splashing anything on their way; Peter seemed to be having fun on his own, too, even when he was evidently not fond of getting splashed by the other two...and Lupin… Tonks suddenly realized that she couldn’t see him. He was nowhere to be seen, but she was sure that he’d been there just a minute ago. Lost in her thoughts about Lupin’s whereabouts, Tonks feet got stuck between a couple rocks and with a lot of noise -and splashing- she fell into the water dragging Snape along with her, when she grabbed his shirt, or at least she thought it was Snape. “I was wondering when that would happen…” someone laughed by her side. Lupin’s shoulder were shaking in laughter. His brown hair was covered in plants and his clothes were completely drenched. “Remus! Where did you come out from?” “What are you talking about? I was behind you the whole time haha…” “Why in Merlin’s beard where you behind me?” Tonks said wide eyed. Well that, at least, explained why she hadn’t seen him “Do you have a death wish? Now you’re all drenched because of me…” “Haha...it’s not a big thing. Just some water...it’s not going to….” Tonks would never know what it wouldn’t do since his words were interrupted when hundreds of Tubeworms began jumping around them. She wasn’t scared of bugs, but the sudden appearance of hundred of worms ready to hit her was a sight that could scare anyone and she wasn’t the only one panicking. “Children ...children…!” Slughorn voice cried loudly above the sound of screams, laughter and splashing “Children, please calm down! It’s alright, tubeworms aren’t dangerous. This is their normal reaction to stress...!” After the whole panicking part had passed, the situation was actually rather amusing and after a few minutes, all of them -Snape included- were chuckling at the absurdness of the situation. By the end of the afternoon, the red tubeworms had been collected and the six students were soaked and exhausted, but very amused. None of them would ever look at tubeworms the same way anymore.

*** Full moon arrived a couple days after their misadventure with the tubeworms, and like other nights, Tonks was anxious and restless. She rounded the edge of the forest with her hands tucked inside her pockets until she reached her usual sport. She had sneaked some meatballs from dinner with the intention of feeding Mr. Wolfie when she saw him that night; at least, she hoped she’d see him. She rested her back against the large rock that she usually used as seat and stared at the sky. The moon was particularly big tonight: round and shiny. It was a breathtaking sight, but to her it was just sad. There was no reason in particular, the moon just made her feel like that. The sound of a broken branch made her turn her head. “Mr.Wolfie...is that you?” she said. Two amber eyes stared at her from the shadows and Tonks smiled pushing herself up, but the moment the wolf stepped out from the shadows, her heart froze. It wasn't Mr. Wolfie. This wolf was bigger, with a thick coat of black fur; its eyes were threatening and it’s mouth showed some sharp teeth leaking on saliva. Tonks didn’t need to look twice to know that, unlike Mr. Wolfie, this wolf was ready to attack her without mercy and she took a step back. The unknown wolf was growling as he got closer and closer and Tonks was mentally debating whether to run or not. If you face a wild animal, don’t run...Nym. Sudden movements can scare them and trigger their aggressiveness...you must move slow and quiet… Her grandfather’s words echoed in her head as she took another step back: slow and silently. The wolf was staring at her threatening as it moved closer and closer; then suddenly it jumped over her. Forgetting about been quiet and careful, Tonks let out a screech and managed to dodge the wolf barely by a few centimeters. The wolf turned around in a quick spin and jumped at her once more. Tonks threw herself aside to avoid the animal; this time she wasn’t as lucky and the wolf managed to scratch her leg leaving a long deep cut. She moaned in pain and tried to get back on her feet before it attacked her again, but the pain in her leg wasn’t letting her move. The wolf seemed to understand her situation and Tonks could almost swear that it was smirking. The wolf readied itself to attack and the girl closed her eyes awaiting the impac; but it never came. When she opened her eyes she saw Mr. Wolfie standing between her and the wolf. The difference in sizes was evident, but Mr. Wolfie didn’t seem to care. He was showing his fangs and growling angrily. What happened next was so fast that Tonks could barely understand it. Mr. Wolfie had jumped over the wolf sinking its fangs on a spot on its neck. The wolf had let out a groan and shook Mr. Wolfie off from himself. The two wolves struggle against each other and Tonks was terrified for Mr. Wolf’s safety. She had brought out her wand, but as the two canines were now too close to each other, she was afraid that if she tried a spell, she would hit Mr. Wolfie by mistake. A few minutes of despair passed, and finally the wolf seemed to give up. It growled at Mr. Wolfie one last time before running off into the forest with its tail tucked between its legs. Tonks let out a sigh of relief. Mr. Wolfie had won the fight, but to her horror, he hadn’t made it unscathed. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her leg, Tonks rushed to the limping wolf. He seemed startled by her sudden presence, but after sneezing the air he seemed to recognize her and the wolf relaxed. “Oh, no...Mr. Wolfie….” she cried “You’re injured!” Mr. Wolf was limping, his right front paw had a nasty gash that was bleeding; the rest of the injuries were minor scratches, much to Tonks relief. However the injury on his paw was worrying; it was bleeding to much and if it got infected, Mr. Wolfie could get very sick. She had to do something, but she wasn’t a healer and she knew nothing of healing spells unlike her dad. Tonks looked around desperately trying to think of something when she noticed a bush a few meters from them. She recognized it immediately. “Wait here...I’ll be right back…” Snape’s christmas gift was doing honor to its name, she thought as she limped to the small patch of plants. The plants had a soft, woolly covering of white-grey hair on its stems and round green leaves with tiny rose-pink flowers surrounded by brighter purple-pink bracts: Dittany. The book had said that the plant had very powerful healing properties even in its raw state. Tonks pulled out a few of the plants and hurried back to where Mr. Wolfie was licking his injury. “All right...let’s see…” she said to herself “What did the book said….” Tonks did a great effort to remember the entry on Snape’s book: macerate the plant and apply directly over the wound. Secure it with bandage making sure to apply pressure. “Ok...Macerate first…” she said picking a couple rocks and starting smash the plants between them “then...apply on the injury….I’m sorry Mr. Wolfie...this might sting a little…” A little was probably overrated, considering the growl that Mr. Wolfie had made when she had put the green paste on his paw. Tonks waited for the wolf to calm down before proceeding. “Apply pressure with a bandage….but I don’t have bandages!” she cried in panic “Ok...no, Tonks...you gotta calm down and think. There has to be something you can use instead…” The girl began poking into her pockets searching for anything useful until she stumbled with her white handkerchief. It had been her grandmother’s. Tonks stared at the piece of cloth; it was a memento from her beloved grandmother and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t reluctant to let it go, but Mr. Wolfie had gotten injured because of her; he had saved her. Her grandmother would have prompt her to do it. Tonks shook her head and used the handkerchief to bandage Mr. Wolfie’s paw making sure that it was tight enough to ensure contact with the plant, but not too tight to harm him more. “There...this...should do, I think…” she said looking at the wolf. His amber eyes were stuck on here “I’m so sorry...you got hurt because of me…” Mr. Wolfie nudged her hand in a gesture that tried to tell her it was alright. The wolf then turned to look at her bleeding leg and turned back to her with stern eyes. “It’s nothing...it’s a scratch…” she replied understanding the meaning behind those stern eyes “I will put the rest of the dittany on it and it should heal without problems…” The wolf was staring at her with something that Tonks could only interpret as concern. Why was he so worried, she wouldn’t know. After a few minutes she looked at her leg and the gash was gone leaving only a faint mark. “See? It’s gone. I’m alright. It wasn’t that deep…” she said scratching his head “it could have been worse, but...you saved me…” The wolf closed his eyes enjoying the girl’s touch;he leaned his head on her lap and letting it rest there. The fight with the other werewolf had left him exhausted and he could sense the worry, panic and terror from his human side, but there was nothing that he could do until tomorrow. For now, all he wanted was sleep.

Lupin woke up back in the Shrieking Shack the next morning. His muscles were stiff and in pain making him groan in discomfort as he pushed himself up from the ground. As he looked around himself to assess the damage done by his misadventures he noticed Tonks’s white handkerchief was still tied on his arm as a friendly reminder.. Tonks! She’d been attacked by a werewolf last night. Why and how it was there, he had no idea; but he didn’t want to think what could have happened if he hadn’t made it on time to interfere. His memories were fuzzy, but he could remember the important parts. Tonks had been injured, but it had been a scratch and not a bite and besides that and the evident panic in her, she’d been unharmed. For the first time in his life, he was grateful to his wolf for protecting her. Lupin stared at the handkerchief. The white cloth was soaked in his dried blood and putting aside his worries, he was amazed by Tonks actions. She had just been attacked by one of his kind, and yet there she was, panicking and almost crying because he’d been hurt. Lupin smiled faintly; the boy waved his wand and the blood in the fabric vanished, leaving the item clean. Lupin folded the piece of fabric carefully and put it inside the inner pocket of his robe. He would figure out a way to give it back to her. Madam Pomfrey wasn’t too thrilled with his scratches, but as usual, the nurse didn’t ask how he had gotten hurt and devoted herself to heal them as best as she could and force feed him a pain easing potion. Almost two hours later, the woman had been satisfied enough to release him. Lupin wanted to check on Tonks and make sure that his memories hadn’t fooled him and that the girl was indeed okay, but he needed to speak to professor Dumbledore first. The boy gave to gargoyle the password hoping that it hadn’t been changed and was relieved when the statue moved aside and let him pass. Dumbledore was pacing around his office when he knocked. The old wizard a smiled at him from behind his half moon spectacles with a welcoming look. “Ah, Mr. Lupin. What an unexpected surprise. I would have expected you to be in bed after a rough night of full moon…” Snuggling in bed was definitely something that Lupin wanted, but priorities had to be addressed before he could spoil himself. “Yes, professor. It was a rough night…” Lupin answered “but...there was something I needed to tell you and...well, it was important…” “Then please take seat, Mr. Lupin. I am sure you’re barely able to stay on your feet…” Lupin accepted Dumbledore’s offer and sat down in front of the headmaster’s desk. Dumbledore paced around the room for moment before coming back and sitting down. Soon a cup of tea had been poured in front of Lupin and some chocolate biscuits appeared magically in a plate. “Please, I don’t reckon you have had breakfast yet…” Dumbledore smiled “So...what’s this important thing you need to tell me about?” Lupin took a bite of the biscuit as he tried to think how to phrase it. He didn’t want to get Tonks into troubles for walking around during forbidden hours. “Yesterday…” he began “There was another werewolf in the school grounds…” Dumbledore looked at him silently. He was waiting for the boy to continue. “It attacked a student; I …” “You don’t need to worry about it. Ms. Tonks wasn’t bitten…” Lupin was frozen. His green eyes looked at Dumbledore with a mix of confusion and horror. “Hagrid found her asleep in the pumpkin orchard with some scratches and a partially healed laceration on her leg this morning. Naturally, we had to address the situation…” “Is she…?” “Her leg will heal properly as long as she doesn’t trip in the next few hours…” Dumbledore smiled at him. There was a small glint of amusement in his blue eyes “I don’t remember her parents to be so clumsy and accident pron. Makes you wonder where she might have taken that from, don’t you think, Mr. Lupin?” Lupin didn’t answer…. “Her story was quite...interesting. She was quite concerned about a certain...wolf that had gotten himself injured trying to protect her from another one.. I believe she called him...Mr. Wolfie?” Lupin chuckled weakly. Why she had come with such a silly name, he had no idea, but somehow he found it cute from her. “Am I right to assume you are Mr. Wolfie, Mr. Lupin?” Dumbledore asked. His smile had gotten bigger. “I know I shouldn’t have...I’m dangerous to her and…” “Well, Mr. Lupin...judging by the events from last night. I am actually glad that you did. If it hadn’t been for you, I’m afraid that Ms. Tonks would have more than a injured leg…” And he knew Dumbledore was right. If his wolf hadn’t had the instinct….no, the necessity to make sure Tonks safe, she could have been killed. Wasn’t it the whole reason why the wolf had made a habit of accompanying the girl during her Full Moon strolls? And then, the unanswered question that kept popping in his head after every full moon came once more: why? “I don’t understand it professor…” Lupin said “Werewolves...we are dangerous creatures. We live to kill and hurt people, it doesn’t matter who...but...with her...it’s different. It’s like ...I still know her, even if I’m a wolf…” Dumbledore stared at him with his usual inquisitive look that made Lupin feel as he was being carefully examined. “Some things in this world are too complex to be explained…” Dumbledore finally said “It is, indeed, unheard of a werewolf that could recognize his friends and family in his transformed form, however… Mr. Lupin, unheard doesn’t mean it is impossible…” “I just...don’t understand it. Why her? I can’t even recognize my parents…” “Yes, but perhaps because Ms. Tonks seems to be a very special case…” “Special...case?” “Yes, she might have something that no one that has seen you in your transformed form ever did…” “I don’t know what, sir.” “Think of it, Mr. Lupin. What’s the first thing anyone who sees you as a wolf think? Feel?” Lupin stared at the amber liquid in his cup. What would anyone feel? Hatred? Disgust? ….Fear? “Fear…” he finally said “Tonks wasn’t scared of me….even when she saw I was a wolf.” Dumbledore smiled in approval. “Yes, Ms. Tonks is quite a special young lady in more ways than one. I was warned beforehand, by her parents, about her difficulties to stay put during the Full Moons; so I was keeping an eye on her during her night strolls…” Lupin was now staring at the professor with confusion. “I must admit I was a little worried the first time you two met…” “You….saw that, sir?” “Oh, I did. I originally intended to interfere, but I am now happy that I didn’t. It’s been rather interesting to see how the relationship between her and her werewolf friend evolved.” Lupin thought Dumbledore was crazy. Hadn’t he thought about the dangers? But then again, a part of him was thankful that he’d allowed Tonks to stay with him in those horrid nights. “Tonks...is a strange girl…”he sighed “ people would say she’s crazy for some of the things she says…” “And yet...sometimes the crazy ones are the wisest ones. Ms. Tonks certainly can be quite wise for her age, wouldn’t you say so Mr. Lupin?” He didn’t answer, but hadn’t he thought the same thing a few times before? “From what I’ve heard from Professor McGonagall. You and your friends have become quite protective of hear, so I wouldn’t say that it is only the wolf who seems rather attracted, and she seems fond of you as well…” “She doesn’t know what I am, professor.” “And do you think that would make a difference?” Of course it’d make a difference. People was different when they knew, but somewhere in his head a little voice told him that she wouldn’t care, and he wanted to believe it. Dumbledore chuckled. “I reckon that only time will tell. Thank you for telling me about the werewolf. I shall look into this matter to prevent any future incidents. In the meantime, Mr. Lupin...perhaps you will want to take a well deserved rest…”

#ACrinkleofFate #Remadora #Fanfiction #Nymphadora Tonks Lupin #Remus Lupin #ronks #remus x tonks #Sirius Black #James Potter #peter pettigrew #Lily Evans #severus snape #marauders era #marauders au #harry potter #harry potter reimagined

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ladystylestores · 4 years

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That Old-School Runway Is Looking Pretty Good – WWD

https://pmcwwd.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/couture-stills-fall2021-1.png?w=640&h=415&crop=1

A thought crystalized clearly, before 9 a.m. New York time on Monday, less than five hours into haute couture’s first digital fashion week: The runway can’t reopen for business soon enough. The real, physical runway walked by real, live models in venues open to — hope against hope — live audiences.

This couture season was destined to be a learning curve, one necessitated by an unforeseen, cataclysmic global pandemic that attacked without notice, and certainly without respect for institutional events we once held sacrosanct, like fashion weeks. Thus, to critique fall 2020 haute couture’s creative output at all negatively may seem unfair and even small. But sometimes, “small” is reflected in the job description. The point here isn’t to criticize — Oh, Lord, how pretentious are some of these film shorts (but, oh, Lord, how pretentious are some of these film shorts) — but rather to note that, early on, this digital fashion week is making the live show model feel plenty relevant, and even essential.

“I think [the week] won’t have the same splendor as a normal haute couture fashion week,” Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS, told WWD on Monday. He nailed it.

Technology has changed our lives with more power, speed and wonder than we could possibly have imagined 20 years ago. But fall’s early couture showings indicate that digital has a long way to go — light years — before it can replace the live fashion event. Oddly, watching these short films under the current forced intimacy — home alone — one was reminded of the genuine, enjoyable intimacy of actually “being there,” an intimacy borne of the gathering of a finite number of people in a finite space watching a one-time-only event, shared communally. It doesn’t get much more intimate than that.

To expect the short-films construct to substitute fully for fashion shows, immediately and seamlessly, is ridiculous; film and live performance are not the same, and this inaugural digital fashion week was orchestrated in haste. But who expected to be over it midday through Day One?

Since March, the haute houses have had to shift gears on a dime to try to make compelling brand statements for fall — perhaps inclusive of a real collection, perhaps not — in a medium not previously utilized for that specific purpose in a major way. At the same time, as a genre, fashion film/video is no longer special. It’s everything and everywhere, a 24/7 onslaught, from high-minded to cheesy and from mega-brand messaging to influencer/editor musings on topics from red-carpet winners to the best summer t-shirt. To be memorable, a fashion film must resonate with power. But watching back-to-back on Monday, the viewing got dull.

For some reason, fashion seems to have decided that “interesting” house-messaging must be capital-A artful, with moods registering between soulful and downright dark, sometimes to the point of skin-crawling pretension. That was the case with Monday’s first seven offerings. One by one, they’re fine; some are even beautiful. One after the other, they made for an exhausting litany of heartfelt, ethereal, introspective and sober — in too heavy a dose for one workday morning.

Schiaparelli opened the couture film festival with a mini feature on creative director Daniel Roseberry’s “Collection Imaginaire” — so titled because the collection won’t be produced. Rather, from his favorite outdoor perch — Washington Square Park in Manhattan, far away from the house headquarters on Place Vendôme — Roseberry sketches out the collection that’s in his mind. No words, just intense drawing scored with intense music against (happily) a beautiful blue-sky day.

Next on the schedule, Ulyana Sergeenko’s film takes the respect-for-craft route, highlighting the outside Russian lacemakers with whom the designer works before shifting focus to her atelier in Moscow. Reverential scenes of busy workers are spliced with photos of the Forties Hollywood sirens who inspire Sergeenko’s work. The film closes with a fast-moving take on a fashion show, a Busby Berkeley-type kaleidoscope of models, only digital, and one of Monday’s few overtly upbeat elements.

Maurizio Galante’s film is seven minutes of a woman walking downstairs. Stairs that appear to be elegant Haussmann-era Parisian stairs, but stairs nonetheless. She descends to voiceover incantations of color names delivered with great passion by a female speaker: “Bleu! Bleu! BLEEEU!” (Add 12 more “bleus.”) “Mauve! Mauve! Mauve! (Add nine more “mauves.”)

Iris Van Herpen enlisted filmmaker Ryan McDaniels and “Game of Thrones” actress Carice van Houten for her film, a mesmerizing study of a single dress — white structured petals with black center filaments — in her signature oeuvre of poetic high tech. Despite some dense accompanying show notes, the film itself is dialogue-free, a creative treatment shaping up as couture’s first bona fide trend.

Through much of the morning, the clothes’ screen time varied, from no real clothes at all at Schiaparelli (though Roseberry’s illustrations project a distinct power-woman attitude with dashes of house-proud surrealism) to Van Herpen’s single dress to Sergeenko’s mini collection, each look shown in full focus. Galante’s stair-walker has numerous costume changes which look lovely — what you can see of them, anyway. Given the moody-broodiness of it all — including the blurs of those passionately identified hues — the clothes were hardly the point.

By the time Maison Rabih Kayrouz and Ralph & Russo aired at 10 and 11, one couldn’t help but delight in sightings of their orange and hot pink dresses, respectively. Like Van Herpen, Kayrouz focuses on the creation of a single dress, his crafted entirely from strips of orange ribbon. The film highlights the dress’ journey from Beirut to Paris, against captivating music by the singer Shadia, which offered distinctive relief from the morning’s more tedious soundtracks.

Ralph & Russo’s Tamara Ralph provided a different kind of relief. She opted off the film artistry path in favor of speaking — yes, words — straight-on into the camera, for a while at least. She discussed her inspiration — the Seven Wonders of the World — before introducing her brand’s new avatar, Hauli, whose name “symbolizes strength and power.” Born of the necessity to find new ways to show clothes in the COVID-19 era, Hauli flaunts several form-fitting gowns against those Seven Wonders backdrops.

Yet, as always during couture, Monday was “Dior Day” — and a curious one, to boot, as once or twice the house’s visually exquisite film veered toward fashion satire. (See preening Narcissus, below.) Maria Grazia Chiuri commissioned Matteo Garrone — he directed last year’s Pinocchio — for “Le Mythe Dior.” In it, two handsome young porters carry a Dior dollhouse filled with miniature dresses through an enchanted woodland populated by magical creatures — nymphs, giant snail, living statue, mermaid, Adam and Eve (or some such naked couple kissing in a tree), Pan (or some such beautiful horned fellow) and Narcissus, whose Sophia Petrillo-meets-Horshack hairdo should have been rethought.

Along their route, the porters stop to allow the mythic types, some in states of semi-undress, to admire and select clothes. Now, the unwoke reality is that most of us look better in clothes than naked. But these young beauties are earthy goddesses (not to mention gorgeous young women in real life). The idea that they’d be so smitten with dresses from the human realm suggests unbecoming self-reverence by the house. Maria Grazia likely didn’t think of that, and she didn’t make the film, Garonne did — oh, well. A more difficult issue: the surprisingly un-diverse casting.

A fashion matter is less troubling. For this collection, Chiuri created 37 miniature looks — doll-size clothes, done to human scale. WWD’s preview featured mostly Fifties-inspired ball gowns. But the dresses chosen by the woodland lasses are more of the Mount Olympus peplos sort, a favorite of Chiuri’s, and nymph-appropriate. They’re beautiful, but the dichotomy makes the focus of the collection unclear. Film-wise, Garrone worked the no-dialogue approach, setting the non-verbal, spritely goings-on to the strains of monotonous music, with a running time of about 10 minutes. Though not at all sober, the lyrical-ethereal vibe at times flirted with tedium.

In aggregate, this sequence of films lacked a fashion “wow” factor, a film-short version of that instant when, at a live fashion show, a collection — or a single dress — just takes your breath takes away. Apart from that, while the productions weren’t downers per se, none delivered something that would feel great right now — a moment of full-on joyful fashion distraction from life’s current larger grim realities. Oh, for some haute joy. Or intrigue. Or something where the mind doesn’t wander for the duration. Or dialogue.

Still, be careful what you wish for. Morning session over, the time came for afternoon viewing. First up: Antonio Grimaldi’s film by Asia Argento, who also co-stars as the elder in an abysmal mother-daughter relationship. The work opens upon the ghostly daughter, clutching a bouquet of dreary flowers against her blood-stained white dress. She’s polite. She introduces herself: “My name is Ælektra, the Unhappy. My companion is grief.”

The runway can’t reopen for business soon enough.

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There are 3 dogs in a veterinarian clinic: a Poodle, a Chihuahua, and a Great Dane. The poodle asks the Chihuahua," What are you in here for?" The Chihuahua says," Well usually I’m a good dog...but I have a huge problem with my mail man. I don’t know why, I just always have to bite him, and I gave him a serious injury. So... they’re going to put me to sleep today. What are you here for?" he asks the poodle.

The poodle says, "Well usually I'm a pretty good dog, but my owners son always sticks his finger in my food while I'm eating. And when he does that...I just got to bite him I don’t know why. And I really hurt him. So there going to put me to sleep today."

The two dogs look at the Great Dane, and the Great Dane is like 20 times bigger than them. And they ask," DAMN MAN!!! What are you in here for? You never see Great Danes in the pound." And the Great Dane says," Awwww, you guys wouldn't believe me if I told you." And they said, "JUST TELL US!"

So the Great Dane says, "Well usually I'm a pretty good dog, but you see I have like the hottest owner in the world. She’s a beautiful woman with a HOT RACK and SEXY ASS. One day when she got out of the shower, she bent over to get a towel. When she did, I totally lost all self-control. So I mounted her and started GOING AT IT!!!"

The two dogs say, "DAMN MAN!!! So they’re going to put you to sleep too huh???” And the Great Dane replies, "HELL NO, I'M JUST HERE TO GET MY NAILS TRIMMED!"

"It's just too hot to wear clothes today," Jack says as he stepped out of the shower, "Honey, what do you think the neighbors would think if I mowed the lawn like this?" To which she replied "Probably that I married you for your money."

One day my housework-challenged husband decided to wash his Sweatshirt. Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted to me, 'What setting do I use on the washing machine?' 'It depends,' I replied. 'What does it say on your shirt?' He yelled back, 'OHIO STATE!' And they say blondes are dumb!

A woman arrived at a party. While scanning the guests, she spotted an attractive man standing alone.

She approached him, smiled and said, "Hello. My name is Carmen." "That's a beautiful name," he replied. "Is it a family name?"

"No," she replied. As a matter of fact I gave it to myself. It represents the things that I enjoy the most - cars and men. Therefore I chose "Carmen". "What's your name?" she asked.

He answered "B.J. Titsengolf."

Man, I'll tell ya, women are cold until the end!

The doctor, after an examination, sighed and said, 'I've got some bad news. You have cancer, and you'd best put your affairs in order.'

The woman was shocked, but managed to compose herself and walk into the waiting room where her daughter had been waiting.

'Well, daughter, we women celebrate when things are good, and we celebrate when things don't go so well. In this case, things aren't well. I have cancer. So, let's head to the club and have a martini.'

After 3 or 4 martinis, the two were feeling a little less somber. There were some laughs and more martinis. They were eventually approached by some of the woman's old friends, who were curious as to what the two were celebrating.

The woman told her friends they were drinking to her impending end, 'I've been diagnosed with AIDS.' The friends were aghast, gave the woman their condolences and beat a hasty retreat.

After the friends left, the woman's daughter leaned over and whispered, 'Momma, I thought you said you were dying of cancer, and you just told your friends you were dying of AIDS! Why did you do that??'

'Because I don't want any of those bitches sleeping with your father after I'm gone.'

And THAT, my friends, is what is called, 'Putting Your Affairs In Order'

Right in the middle of lovemaking, the husband dies of a heart attack. As the funeral arrangements are being made, the mortician informs the widow that he cannot get rid of her dead husband's rigor mortis hard-on which is sticking straight up in the air and if they don't do something, it will look odd in the coffin at the funeral.

The widow tells the guy to cut it off and stick it up her dear departed's behind. The mortician can't believe his ears but the widow is adamant, so he does it. During the funeral, friends and relatives of the dead man were concerned to see a tear in the corner of his eye, but the widow assured them that there was no cause to be alarmed.

Just before the casket is closed, the widow leans in and whispers in the dead man's ear, "It HURTS, doesn't it?"

This is something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade. So remember this story the next time someone who knows nothing and cares less tries to make your life miserable.

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband..

She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:

" Rome ? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty..

You're crazy to go to Rome . So, how are you getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. " That's a terrible airline.

Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late.

So, where are you staying in Rome ?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River called Teste."

"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump."

"We're going to go to see the Vatican and maybe get to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant.

Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome.

"It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot.

And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million re-modelling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."

"Oh, really! What'd he say?"

He said: "Who fucked up your hair?"

While making love, a guy says to his wife "Darling, let's do a 68!" to which the wife asks, "68??? What's that?". So the husband replies "You do it to me and I'll owe you one."

Politically correct women descriptions...

She is not a BABE or a CHICK - She is a BREASTED AMERICAN

She is not a SCREAMER or a MOANER - She is VOCALLY APPRECIATIVE

She is not EASY - She is HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE

She is not DUMB - She is a DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

She has not BEEN AROUND - She is a PREVIOUSLY ENJOYED COMPANION

She is not an AIR HEAD - She is REALITY IMPAIRED

She does not get DRUNK or TIPSY - She gets CHEMICALLY INCONVENIENCED

She is not HORNY - She is SEXUALLY FOCUSED

She does not have BREAST IMPLANTS - She is MEDICALLY ENHANCED

She is not a SLUT - she is SEXUALLY EXTROVERTED

She is not a TWO-BIT WHORE - She is a LOW COST PROVIDER

Q. What did one saggy boob say to the other saggy boob?

A. We better get some support or people will think we're nuts.

After being away on business, Tim thought it would be nice to bring his wife a little gift.

"How about some perfume?" he asked the cosmetics clerk.

She showed him a bottle costing $50.00.

"That's a bit much," said Tim, so she returned with a smaller bottle for $30.00.

"That's still quite a bit," Tim complained.

Growing annoyed, the clerk brought out a tiny $15.00 bottle.

"What I mean," said Tim, "is I'd like to see something really cheap."

The clerk handed him a mirror.

This 80 year old woman was arrested for shoplifting in a supermarket.

When she went before the judge he asked her, 'What did you steal?'

She replied, 'A can of peaches.'

The judge then asked her why she had stolen the can of peaches, and she replied that she was hungry.

The judge asked her how many peaches were in the can.

She replied that there were six.

The judge said, 'Then I will give you six days in jail.'

Before the judge could actually pronounce the punishment, the woman's husband stood up, and asked the judge if he could say something.

The judge said, 'What is it?'

The husband said, ‘She also stole a can of peas.’

Two high school sweethearts who went out together for four years in high school were both virgins; they enjoyed losing their virginity with each other in 10th grade. When they graduated, they wanted to both go to the same college but the girl was accepted to a college on the east coast, and the guy went to the west coast. They agreed to be faithful to each other and spend anytime they could together.

As time went on, the guy would call the girl and she would never be home, and when he wrote, she would take weeks to return the letters. Even when he emailed her, she took days to return his messages.

Finally, she confessed to him she wanted to date around. He didn't take this very well and increased his calls, letters, and emails trying to win back her love. Because she became annoyed, and now had a new boyfriend, she wanted to get him off her back.

So, what she did is this: she took a Polaroid picture of her having sex with her new boyfriend and sent it to her old boyfriend with a note reading, "I found a new boyfriend, leave me alone." Well, needless to say, this guy was heartbroken but, even more so, was pissed. So, what he did next was awesome.

He wrote on the back of the photo the following, "Dear Mom and Dad, having a great time at college, please send more money!" and mailed the picture to her parents.

A mature lady gets pulled over for speeding...

Older Woman: Is there a problem, Officer? Traffic Cop: Yes ma'am, I'm afraid you were speeding.

Older Woman: Oh, I see. Traffic Cop: Can I see your license please?

Older Woman: Well, I would give it to you but I don't have one.

Traffic Cop: Don't have one?

Older Woman: No. I lost it 4 years ago for drunk driving.

Traffic Cop: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please..

Older Woman: I can't do that.

Traffic Cop: Why not?

Older Woman: I stole this car.

Traffic Cop: Stole it?

Older Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.

Traffic Cop: You what!? Older Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk if you want to see

The traffic cop looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car while calling for back up. Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

Officer 2: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle please! The woman steps out of her vehicle.

Older woman: Is there a problem sir?

Officer 2: My colleague here tells me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner.

Older Woman: Murdered the owner? Are you serious?!

Officer 2: Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car, please.

The woman opens the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.

Officer 2: Is this your car, ma'am?

Older Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers. The traffic cop is quite stunned.

Officer 2: My colleague claims that you do not have a driving license.

The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse and hands it to the officer.

The officer examines the license quizzically.

Officer 2: Thank you ma'am, but I am puzzled, as I was told by my officer here that you didn't have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner!

Older Woman: Bet the lying bastard told you I was speeding, too.

2 doctors are laying in bed after having sex. The guy says "You must be an OBGYN because you can work that pussy." The woman says "You must be an anaesthesiologist because I didn't feel a thing."

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.

After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said; "I'm sorry, your duck (Cuddles) has passed away."

The distressed woman wailed; "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. The duck is dead." replied the vet.

"How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around, and left the room.

He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table, and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room.

A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly, and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said; "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."

The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman. The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!" she cried; "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!?"

The vet shrugged; "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but... with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150."

It is August in a small town on the South Coast of France, holiday season is in full swing, but it is raining so there is not too much business happening.

Everyone is heavily in debt.

Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel.

He asks for a room and puts a 100 eruo note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the third floor.

The hotel owner takes the banknote in hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes 100 euros.

The butcher takes the money and races to his wholesale supplier to pay his debt.

The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay 100 euros for pigs he purchased some time ago.

The farmer triumphantly gives the 100 euro note to a local prostitute who gave him her services on credit.

The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she owed the hotel for her hourly room use to entertain clients, and lays the 100 euros on the counter.

At that moment, the rich Russian is coming down to reception and informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his 100 euros back and departs.

There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and the small town people look optimistically towards their future.

The man: "God, how long is a million years?" God: "To me, it's about a minute." The man: "God, how much is a million dollars?" God: "To me it's a penny." The man: "God, may I have a penny?" God: "Wait a minute."

A husband and wife are shopping in their local Wal-Mart.

The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in their cart.

'What do you think you're doing?' asks the wife.

'They're on sale, only $10 for 24 cans,' he replies.

'Put them back, we can't afford them,' demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping.

A few aisles further on along the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket.

'What do you think you're doing?' asks the husband.

'It's my face cream. It makes me look sexy and beautiful for you when we're making love,' replies the wife.

Her husband retorts: 'So does 24 cans of Budweiser ... at half the price.'

A nervous taxpayer was unhappily conversing with the IRS auditor who had come to review his records. At one point the auditor exclaimed, "Mr. Carr, we feel it is a great privilege to be allowed to live and work in the USA. As a citizen you have an obligation to pay taxes, and we expect you to eagerly pay them with a smile."

"Thank God," returned Mr. Carr, "I thought you were going to want cash!"

One day, three men were hiking and unexpectedly came upon a large raging, violent river. They needed to get to the other side, but had no idea of how to do so.

The first man prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength to cross this river." *Poof!* God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across the river in about two hours, after almost drowning a couple of times.

Seeing this, the second man prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength ..and the tools to cross this river." *Poof!*

God gave him a rowboat and he was able to row across the river in about an hour, after almost capsizing the boat a couple of times.

The third man had seen how this worked out for the other two, so he also prayed to God saying, "Please God, give me the strength and the tools...And the intelligence... To cross this river." And *Poof!* God turned him into a woman. She looked at the map, hiked upstream a couple of hundred yards, then walked across the bridge.

Q. Why do all Pascal programmers ask to live in Atlantis?

A. Because it is below C level.

Murphy's Laws of Computing

When computing, whatever happens, behave as though you meant it to happen.

When you get to the point where you really understand your computer, it's probably obsolete.

The first place to look for information is in the section of the manual where you least expect to find it.

When the going gets tough, upgrade.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite malfunction.

He who laughs last probably made a back-up.

A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine.

The number one cause of computer problems is computer solutions.

A computer program will always do what you tell it to do, but rarely what you want to do.

Last Tuesday, as President Obama got off the Helicopter in front of the White House, he was carrying a baby piglet under each arm.. The squared away Marine guard snaps to attention, Salutes, and says: "Nice pigs, Sir." The President replies: "These are not pigs. These are authentic Arkansas Razorback Hogs. I got one for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and I got one for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi." The squared away Marine again snaps to attention, Salutes, and says: "Excellent trade, sir."

The 13 things that PMS stands for...

1. Pass My Shotgun

2. Psychotic Mood Shift

3. Perpetual Munching Spree

4. Puffy Mid-Section

5. People Make me Sick

6. Provide Me with Sweets

7. Pardon My Sobbing

8. Pimples May Surface

9. Pass My Sweatpants

10. Pissy Mood Syndrome

11. Plainly; Men Suck

12. Pack My Stuff

13. Potential Murder Suspect

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