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qveensbury · 6 years

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ch1: here’s a curse for you

AO3 | ko-fi

a Howl’s Moving Castle college AU

“That’s what you’re wearing?” Lettie’s voice slid up an octave.

Sophie turned back to look at her younger sister. She shrugged, her face neutral. She ignored her sister’s gaping mouth and the flush creeping onto Lettie’s face.

“I like it.”

“Sophie, you have the style of an 80-year-old woman.” Lettie flicked her sister’s braid and tugged on the green dress she chose.

“With my luck, I’ll transform into one.” Sophie in turn examined what her sister wore, a blue dress with a fit-and-flare. It accentuated her curves and made her blue eyes pop.

Sophie’s dress was an emerald green. It was the only color she felt she wear that didn’t emphasize her ghastly, pale skin was. It hung on her boyish figure like an oversized t-shirt. But, Sophie loved the ruffle that ran at the empire waistline. It was fancy enough for her.

“Mother won’t like that.”

“She can’t critique what she can’t see,” Sophie shot back, pulling on her peacoat.

“Won’t you at least let me do your makeup?” Lettie asked, pouting as her older sister shook her head.

Sophie was only going to their university’s formal so their stepmother would let Lettie go. She didn’t want to put in any more effort than was necessary.

“You look beautiful,” Sophie added smiling at her younger sister, the beauty.

Lettie smiled back, knowing why her older sister chose that moment to compliment her. She reapplied her lip gloss and smushed her lips to even the application. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Oh, are you girls off?” Their stepmother looked up from the television as they walked past the living room. “Have fun. Be safe.”

Sophie was mindful not to spill her drink.

The music was too loud and the lights kept changing.

Of course, she didn’t pay enough attention to realize the formal wasn’t a dinner. It was a dance.

There were a handful of tables. But, they were awkwardly set up with an odd number of chairs so she would always be the fifth or seventh wheel.

Not an option.

Sophie hoped that standing back and away from the dance would make it more bearable. It just meant she was at the open seas.

And, sharks were on the prowl.

“Looks like a little mouse has lost her way.”

Sophie snapped to attention. She registered two guys looming over her.

“I-I’m fine.” She jumped back.

“Do you want to dance?” His friend, the brunette, asked, leaning forward.

She shook her head, “I’m looking for my sister.”

The blond looked to his friend, smirking, “Your moustache scares all the girls.”

“C’mon, I don’t bite.” He stooped down to be at Sophie’s eye-level.

“There you are, starlight.” Someone placed his arm around Sophie’s shoulders and pulled her towards him.

Sophie looked up at him. He had tousled blond hair and tiny hoop earrings.

“Hey buddy, we were talking.”

“Ah, yes. But, I owe this lovely lady a dance and I don’t think she said she wanted to dance with you.” He caught her looking and winked.

His eyes are so blue.

The blond opened his mouth again, but Mr. Starlight had begun leading her to the dance floor.

Sophie couldn’t think of a thing to say. Her gait felt awkward, taking two steps for every one of his. She should do something. Whisking her away from two creeps didn’t mean he wasn’t one himself.

“I--”

“We should get lost in the crowd in case they’re following us.” Mr. Starlight turned, “Do you see them?”

Sophie looked over her shoulder and saw the one with the moustache. “Yea.”

“Guys like that are trash. They lure girls away and assault them. You said you were looking for your sister. Do you know where she is?”

Sophie shook her head, pulling out her phone. “She’ll text me as soon as she gets the message.”

Mr. Starlight waited for Sophie to put her phone away. “Do you want to dance?”

Sophie gaped at him like a fish in oil. Why on earth would someone so beautiful want to dance with me? “I don’t know how.”

“I could teach you.” He extended a hand towards her.

She tentatively placed her hand in his.

“You’ll take a step forward, then bring your feet together. Take a step back, bring your feet together. Forward, together. Back, together.”

They started to move in that rhythm and Sophie begged her legs to comply.

“Look! You’re a natural!” Mr. Starlight exclaimed.

Sophie looked up at him and smiled. He spun her and she laughed as her dress flared in the motion.

Who was he? Why was she so comfortable?

Her phone chirped.

“That must be Lettie.” She let go of his hands and pulled her phone out of her purse. “She’s by the photographer.”

“That’s this way.” Mr. Starlight motioned and followed Sophie after letting her pass.

The stiffness from earlier was gone and shyness had taken its place. She felt Mr. Starlight’s hand ghost over her back.

Was he going to trail her as protection?

“There she is.” Sophie pointed, and Lettie waved after the flash went off. Sophie turned back to her dance partner. “I’ll wait here for her.”

He nodded, a smile crawling onto his face. “Well, I guess this is goodnight.” He bowed and Sophie bit back a laugh. “Farewell, then starlight.”

“Sophie!”

Sophie turned towards her sister for a moment and when she turned to say goodbye he was gone.

“Sophie!” Lettie took her sister’s arm. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” The daze in her own voice surprised Sophie.

“Were you talking to Howl?”

“Who?”

“Howl Pendragon? You should be careful around him?”

“Howl?” Sophie tilted her head. “How do you know him?”

“How are you so clueless? Haven’t you heard the rumors about him?”

“You know I don’t care about rumors.”

“He’s a heartbreaker. He preys on nice girls who don’t know any better like you.”

A frown planted on Sophie’s face. “He wouldn’t bother someone as plain as me.”

Lettie scoffed, “What are you talking about, Sophie? I think we should go home.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yea. I’ve had enough fun. And you’ve had enough excitement.”

Sophie kept thinking about what Lettie said.

Howl didn’t look like a bad guy. Why would he bother with someone like her?

Heartbreaker?

Sophie paused. She thought of how he handled her while they danced like she was fragile. And, how he looked at her while he said goodnight. There was something about his expression that reminded her of a baby bird. The fear to approach another creature. Surely, such a frightened boy couldn’t break a heart.

But you felt his magnetism, she argued with herself. You felt how willing you were to give him your heart.

How many hearts were broken because of cowardice?

“I saw you flirting with Howl. You’ll want to watch your back.”

Sophie didn’t catch that girl’s name. She just brushed it off. High school wasn’t so far away that she’d forgotten empty threats.

‘You’ll want to watch your back.’

Sophie stared at the damage in her on-campus studio. There was black paint everywhere. Sketches and models were marked. Canvases smashed. An easel in pieces.

Tears warred with the light blurring her vision.

She gripped the door knob. I must be dreaming.

Lettie gasped carrying their lunch. “Sophie, what happened?”

Sophie fell to the ground and sobbed. “Everything’s ruined.” She stumbled over her breath. She looked at the pieces of her projects.

Structures 2.

Studio

Oil Painting 3

Advanced Visual Storytelling.

“It’s all ruined.”

“Should we clean-up?”

Sophie brushed off tears. Her voice croaked. “...I-I don’t know.”

“I’m getting Dr. Jones.”

Sophie should have been recreating her pieces. She knew it would be rude to work in the middle of this meeting. But, the deadlines had no manners. She tuned back into the conversation to hear her stepmother go for blood.

“Retaliation! For what?”

“Well Mrs. Hatter, it seems that’s what Dr. Jones --”

“What kind of security do you have at this school?”

Sophie looked at whatever dean drew the short straw and had to deal with parents. Security was a dangerous word after two cars were stolen on campus.

“W-well, did she lock the door?”

“Lock her door?” Mother scoffed at this. “Are you trying to put the blame on Sophie? What if she was in her studio still? The damage would have been far worse than some projects.”

He stuttered again before promising to find a solution. “But with exams coming, I’m sure Miss Hatter would understand if we conduct the appropriate next steps over Winter Break.”

Mother crossed her arms. “See to it that you do. Rest assured, my next meeting will be with your boss.”

Sophie thanked the dean and followed her stepmother to the car. Her stepmother glanced over and gasped.

“Sophie, don’t use an X-Acto knife as I drive!”

“This project’s due in two weeks. I have two others due three days apart and another in three weeks. I have six weeks worth of work. I. Don’t. Have. Time!”

“Your professors aren’t giving you extensions?”

“That’s with the extension. The projects were due this week.”

“Sophie, don’t use the X-Acto knife in the car. If you cut yourself, we’ll have bigger problems.”

Sophie put the cover on the knife and gripped it against the material for her model. She could feel the seconds slipping between her fingers.

She couldn’t tell you how she finished her assignments other than coffee and cat naps. The two weeks after the meeting with her dean felt like a lucid dream.

Sophie closed her eyes as she waited for Lettie to pick her up from campus.

“Sophie,” Lettie shook her sister awake.

“You didn’t have to park. I would have found you,” Sophie mumbled half asleep.

“I called and you didn’t pick up.” She picked up her sister’s portfolio. “Let’s go. The security guard gave me ten minutes.”

“Mkay.”

“Sophie, you sound like a 78-year-old woman. Looks like you got your wish.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t you remember before the dance?”

The dance? Blinking hurt. Ugh, Sophie was looking forward to blacking out. The dance. She remembered the sparkle of gold earrings and blue eyes.

“I probably wouldn’t remember my name if you asked me.”

“Oh my g---Why did we let you leave the house by yourself?”

The dean’s solution was a new studio.

A fresh start was probably for the best.

Lettie looked at the email. “They put you in the Waste,” she whispered so their stepmother wouldn’t hear.

“What?” Sophie responded.

Lettie rolled her eyes. “Do you even go to this school? The Waste? It’s where all the science labs are. You had to have a class there freshman or sophomore year.”

“Hampshire?”

“Everyone else calls it the Waste, Sophie. It’s on the other side of campus.”

Sophie returned to her magazine. “It’ll get Mother off the dean’s back.”

“We might as well put a mattress in your studio.”

It took Sophie fifteen minutes to get to Wilshire Campus Center and twenty minutes to get to the Arts building from her new studio.

Somehow, my punishment continued, she thought bitterly. She barely saw her classmates and soon stopped receiving invites to grab coffee or restock on art supplies before a Studio assignment.

Lettie started to call it her exile.

Sophie didn’t mind.

Her studio window ran along the length of the room. Lettie guessed it was an old office facilities staff converted. There was a desk mounted along the window and one stool that was joined by two other.

“Where did you get these?” Sophie examined the bright orange stools.

“Don’t worry about it.” Lettie put the original stool next to the door and put her bag on it. She looked around. “At least this studio gets light.”

“I like it. It’s grown on me.”

“Apparently, Howl’s a chem major.”

Sophie looked up from her lunch and frowned. “So?”

“Remember, this is the building for the science labs. You’ll probably run into him soon.”

“When did you become such a gossip? Are you sure you don’t want to switch to a journalism major? You’d be great as the anchor for Lettie News Network.”

“Ha ha, Sophie. I’m perfectly happy as a business major. Just giving you a warning. STEM majors are weird.”

“I’m taking a stupid math requirement. I’m very aware about the oddities of the practical majors.”

“Oh boy, sounds like they found out you’re an arts major.”

Sophie slammed down her fork. “Can you believe them? Those snot nose little freshmen. ‘You don’t look like an arts major.’ Can you believe them?”

Lettie’s mouth was a tight line. She played with her hair. “Well, Sophie. There are all types of art students. But you look,” she turned her head to the side, “frumpy?”

Sophie looked down at her turtleneck and the midi corduroy skirt she wore. She frowned. How dare those snot-nosed freshmen corroborate what her sister had been saying for years.

“What do those nerds know about style anyway?”

“Well…,” Lettie drawled her eyes sparkling. “We could always change your look.”

Sophie’s eyebrows drew together in suspicion. “What do you have in mind?”

Sophie turned her head from side to side, examining her features with her new hairstyle. The Hatter sisters got their eye for aesthetics from their late father. Sophie created and Lettie styled.

The silver Lettie picked for her sister was gorgeous. Some strands seemed to glisten and the color made her brown eyes pop.

Their stepmother quirked her mouth after Lettie finished. “I know we always joke about it, but she really does look like Grandma Sophie now.”

Lettie gasped. “Oh, no,” dread threaded through her realization.

Mother gathered up hair off Sophie’s shoulders. “How about we cut it?”

What had Howl called her?

Starlight?

That’s what her hair looked like now.

A/N: This is based on the Miyazaki adaption. To all the design majors who know what it’s like to sprint to the end of the semester. Heavily based on my experiences having only design and stem friends at an engineering school.

Sophie’s hair next ch.

#HMC: he saved me first you know #howl's moving castle #howl's moving castle fanfiction #so much for not writing other multi chaptered fics #saturday night also seems to be the only time i can force myself to type/edit fics #howl's moving castle au

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arctic-selkie · 6 years

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Autumnal Asks

Just a little autumn-y something for fun :)

(From buckleuplads)

lantern - how did you meet your best friend? What were your first impressions of each other? We met at a tiny RenFaire where she was wearing a chainmail bikini and I thought she was the most beautiful goddess I’d ever seen. I decided right then and there that we were going to be best friends. We then continued to meet via modeling stuff and mutual friends. Now she is my forever boo bear and I love her to pieces.

frost - if you could give some advice to your younger self, what would you say? Enjoy everything. And don’t worry so much, you’re stronger than you think; everything will be okay.

maple - is there a hobby / skill that you’ve always wanted to try but never did? So many! I’d love to learn weaving. And blacksmithing (though I don’t think I’m strong enough for it...). I’d also like to learn how to do Fancy Knitting (cabling, sweaters, etc.) and lace-making. Mosaics (like on a bathroom floor) would be fun too. And how to make house things (like building cabinets, laying hardwood floors, making pretty banister rails). Basically I’d like to try making whatever I can! There are so many creative adventures in the world, I want to try as many as I’m able.

harvest - what fictional character do you most identify with? Why? Hm, that’s a tough one, because I tend to identify most with landscapes and seasons in books, more than characters. Weird, huh? I like Vasilisa from Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale, and I think I would’ve identified with her a lot if I read the book when I was younger. I’m also quite fond of Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle, and share her feeling of being an old woman in a young woman’s body.

fireside - if you had your dream wardrobe, what would it look like? Think elegant Snow Queen meets comfy nap ghost.

cider - a food that you disliked as a child but now enjoy? Seafood. As a child I loved The Little Mermaid and felt too guilty eating fish, because I thought I was eating Ariel’s friends.

amber - share an unpopular opinion that you may have. I have so many. Where to begin?

fog - how well do you think you’d do in a zombie apocalypse scenario? I’d be the first one to go.

jack-o-lantern - if you could look like any celebrity, who would you choose? I’m happy to look like me. But I do think Cate Blanchett is beautiful.

spice - have you ever encountered a house that you believed to be haunted? Oh yes, many times. I’ve even played a game of Cards Against Humanity with a ghost. The ghost won.

orchard - share one thing that you’d like to happen this autumn. I’m content with whatever happens, but I would like to spend as much time as I can in the forest. In terms of professional things, I’d like to finish a draft of one of the novels I’m working on and paint a few more spreads for my picture book.

crow - which school subject do you wish you had an aptitude for? Math. Math seems so terribly useful, it would be nice to be good with numbers. But I’m quite happy with art, history, and literature (they’re much more interesting and fun, I think).

bonfire - describe your dream house. Witch cottage in the woods. Or a rorbu (cabin) in Lofoten.

cinnamon - if you had to live in a time period different than the present, which would you choose and where? That’s a tricky question, because while there are many historical periods I find fascinating and aesthetically beautiful (Viking, WWII, early 20th c.), I am also quite fond of modern medicine, green energy, education, women’s rights, etc. So I am content to live in the present and read about other periods.

cobweb - (if you’ve graduated) do you miss high school? Not a bit. I didn’t enjoy school until I was in graduate school studying art. I loved the academic side of school before that, but the social aspects etc. were a nightmare.

cranberry - what’s one physical feature that you get complimented on? My hair. I have snow white hair down to my waist, which I often braid. Little kids call me Elsa and adults call me Khaleesi, both of which I take as great compliments.

maize - share the weirdest encounter you’ve had with a stranger on the street. Weird good or weird creepy? Because I’ve experienced plenty of both. Unfortunately more of the latter, since I’m female.

quilt - how do you take your tea (or coffee)? I love hot tea. Usually I drink it black, but herbal teas I’ll have with a bit of honey.

pumpkin - do you think that humans are inherently good or bad? I believe that at their core, the vast majority of people are good. But I also believe that they usually don’t act on it, preferring to act out of self-interest and greed instead.

moonlit - are you a neat or messy person? Is your room / house orderly? I am messy and cluttered, but very clean. So my desk is always covered in books, papers, art supplies, etc., but I like deep-cleaning my house (especially giving the bathrooms a good scrub!). My husband, however, is very neat and organized, so I imagine living with me drives him crazy.

flannel - have you ever gone on a bad date? Oh so many. I dated a lot of people (and lived alone for a long time) before I met my now-husband.

cocoa - if you could have any type of hair, what colour and cut would you have? Exactly what I have now :)

ghost - is there someone that you miss having in your life? I miss my grandmother a great deal, but I know that she’s in a better place now, and I’m thankful for her to be happy and free of pain. I enjoyed her company and friendship while she was alive, and now I cherish her memory.

#autumn asks #autumn #just for fun

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