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last online Mar 28, 2024 23:40:48 GMT -7
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Aug 6, 2018 7:56:17 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2018 7:56:17 GMT -7
Susan smiled, eager to share her experience with her friend. “You know, I’m still not one hundred percent sure how it all works,” she admitted with a small shrug. “I just...hear their thoughts, and can understand them as if they were speaking to me inside my own brain. Almost like telepathy I guess, but different. It feels like I’m connected to them on a whole different level than when I was just their rider. They were wary at first, of course; the two that watched me transform in front of them were positively terrified! The one I’ve had a bond with since I was young, Rosebud, she seemed to be the most intrigued by this new form I had.” Susan paused, smiling fondly at the memory of first hearing Rosebud’s voice penetrate her mind, as clear as day. She had always hoped that the nudges and gentle whickers coming from the bay colored mare were friendly, and she had been elated to hear the grave but gentle voice proving her right. She had run around the pasture with them that evening, the feeling of her hooves carrying her faster than her human feet ever could wildly freeing. “Sorry if that’s not the best of explanations, the communication just happens so naturally it’s hard to go into more detail than the fact that it just makes sense,” she added apologetically. Susan listened to Cara describe the plot of her novel, a romantic fantasy dealing with two star crossed lovers. If Susan didn’t know any better, she’d think that Cara was writing from experience. Not her own; Susan had only ever really seen her around Dominic Dippet and he followed her around like a puppy dog. Dom didn’t really seem to have much when it came to ulterior motives, but perhaps she was wrong. She did have a lot of siblings though - mainly sisters, who were easily all old enough to have romantic relationship woes. “Oh? And what is this suitor up to?” she asked curiously. She wondered if Cara’s elaboration of the plot would help her narrow down which sister (or even her brother) she was writing about. cara june bainbridge
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Aug 21, 2018 20:24:56 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Aug 21, 2018 20:24:56 GMT -7
@susanvictoria Talking about animal telepathy was way more fascinating than Cara had thought it would be. From the way Susan explained, this understanding animals had between each other was phenomenal, and something humans would probably never figure out on their own. Obviously some witches and wizards managing to invade the minds of others via magic, but that wasn’t natural; it was invasive and often times gross. People could keep their thoughts to themselves, regardless of how clean or filthy they were. Enough of them tried to put words in their stead and simply sounded stupid doing it. “No, that makes sense. Strange to think that it comes naturally with the transformation, and not as a learned language or sense.” Cara tapped her finger on the table a few times as she thought about it more. The average magical person would never be able to achieve an animagus form, and then there were scores of adept folks who didn’t have the desire to do so, herself included. That meant only a tiny portion of the population could pull off the ability, making the sample size of research on animal communication smaller than that even. If writing her book failed, hunting down animagi to study them sounded like a good idea. “Is it only horses you understand? Or do other animals make sense as well?”
What was the suitor in her story up to? That was an excellent question. Based on first-hand experience, Cara would say that her real life subject he was based on was a fraud; a habitual liar that got off from trying to analyze people with his perverse interests. No one liked those kinds of people. She especially didn’t. “Well, he’s engaged to start. Not to the main character of course, that would be silly. It’s that cliché where he tells the girl that he was forced into it by his family, and that he truly loves her, though his emotional manipulation knows no bounds,” she shrugged. “The real trick is molding it into something unique. It’s too average currently. Maybe a mystery arises somewhere in there, and our girl discovers her lovers true intentions. I don’t know though. It’s still the early stages.” That was what talking it all out and writing ideas down was about. Without either of those, she would still be scrambling for something, like she had been right after graduation. Drowning in stress and anxiety to get something, anything, down on paper. At least there was some headway these days.
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last online Mar 28, 2024 23:40:48 GMT -7
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Aug 27, 2018 15:01:23 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2018 15:01:23 GMT -7
Susan nodded. “Honestly, I thought it’d be a whole new thing, like learning French or Latin with one of the royal tutors,” she said in agreement, trying not to shudder at the memory of her horrible Latin teacher. He had been very strict, only speaking in Latin and responding when Susan spoke in Latin. She protested on more than one occasion that Latin was a dead language they shouldn’t be speaking, which had earned her no merits from him. It had been her fathers’ wish for her to study the language, and it was the only reason she put up with his odious teachings for so long. She had been immensely relieved, when after returning from her first year at Hogwarts, to learn that he had moved to Italy and would not be coming back to tutoring the royal children. “Only horses, I think. I haven’t really had much contact with any other animal to know otherwise,” Susan admitted, shrugging a little. That would be on her to do list; perhaps the family dog would magically be around the next time she transformed to try it out. Susan’s eyebrows raised when Cara mentioned this fictional suitor had a fiance already that was not the main character and how he had been forced into it by his family. Susan was no stranger to arranged marriages, being royal, but she also knew it was still done by a few of the Pureblood families who still upheld the rigid tradition that they must keep their bloodlines pure. Her best friend, Braelynn Rousseau after all had been engaged to marry a fellow pureblood before she had faked her own death and married Zander Lloyd. Thinking back, Susan wondered what would have happened if Desirae had not tried to murder her own sister, forcing the chain of events that had transpired to happen. “There are still some pureblood families that believe in keeping their blood pure. Muggles too - though theirs is a much more aristocratic view than being magical of course,” Susan reasoned slowly, her eyes not leaving Cara’s. She wondered if she was taking some inspiration from a real situation, though she did not want to come out and bluntly ask her about it. Cara would tell her if she wanted to. cara june bainbridge
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Sept 24, 2018 20:06:51 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Sept 24, 2018 20:06:51 GMT -7
@susanvictoria The animal languages must have been part of the magic then. The fact that it was just there still had Cara slightly confused, but if Susan said so, then it had to be true. And if it was only between animals of similar species, then it had to be closer to how human languages functioned. “That makes sense,” she mused in response, though she was still trying to understand how this worked exactly. Obviously if she had chosen to study transfiguration more in depth she would have figured it out at some point or another. “I’d like to know if different animals have the capabilities to learn other animal languages, if they can even be considered that.”
But all of that was for another day. Cara was more interested in how she could pick Susan’s brain when it came to her story idea. The bit about pureblooded families still arranging marriages in that manner was exactly what she had thought about when it came to her characters. Not everyone at school was hush-hush about them. She nodded her head in agreement. “That’s kind of where I wanted to go with it. Or start and end, really. Everything else in the middle is the real important, juicy bits. It’s just a love story surrounding it.” Hopefully that made sense. It kind of did in her head and when she placed all of her notes into a semi-formal timeline to create the plot. That was still very different from having a reader understand what the hell was going on, but once she got past that point it would be smooth sailing. She hoped.
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last online Mar 28, 2024 23:40:48 GMT -7
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Oct 3, 2018 11:54:08 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2018 11:54:08 GMT -7
Susan laughed. “It doesn’t really, but I appreciate you pretending it does,” she said with a smile. She was still figuring out everything that came with her new form, including the sheer exhaustion she felt after running around the fields with her horses for hours. As a horse, she hadn’t felt the exertion taking its’ toll, but once she transformed back it would hit her like a tidal wave. “I sort of get the sense that there’s more of an...understanding than a conversation between animals. I’ve noticed it for years between the dogs and the horses in any case.” She shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. “Maybe you should turn your studies to Magizoology with interspecies communication as your thesis...er, focus,” she suggested with a small giggle. Susan actually wasn’t well versed in continuing education post-Hogwarts, just that there was a drama school, and that Professor Flitwick had focused on dueling spells post graduation before coming back to teach Charms. Susan listened as Cara explained that her story was really a love story, with a big juicy middle full of drama to tie it all together. “So, let me ask you a question - do you know how the story ends yet? Is the love interest going to follow his family’s wishes and marry his arranged betrothed? Or is he going to say damn it all and be with the main character?” she asked curiously. Personally, she’d love to read a story with a happy ending, and the main character getting what she wants in the end. However, she had read plenty of stories where the ending wasn’t so perfect - the girl doesn’t get the guy, and it could provide a sad but interesting twist, depending on the character development. Hopefully, it didn’t end like the original Little Mermaid, with the heroine killing herself by going back into the ocean and turning into seafoam. cara june bainbridge
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Oct 29, 2018 22:18:47 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Oct 29, 2018 22:18:47 GMT -7
@susanvictoria Her shoulders relaxed when Susan laughed. Cara forgot that she didn’t always have to take the intellectual high ground with everyone. Her siblings and younger students were one thing – Susan was another. She was the one that had practiced to become an animagus and knew the best on what one could and could not do as a transfigured animal. Pretending, or even thinking she understood what her friend experienced, wasn’t really the best move she had come up with. With most people it was easier to say something made sense that to continue to push it over and over again. As for the root of their conversation, Susan seemed to think that animals could understand one another, more than having separate languages. “Can’t say I haven’t thought about Magizoology before. But maybe that’s for another time. I’ve already dug my own grave with this stupid book of mine…” She couldn’t even sigh anymore. It had taken the ability to do that away from her.
“He’s going to off himself before making a decision,” Cara said straight-faced, sipping on her drink gently as a small grin broke through. “Kidding. He’s going to end up following through with the arranged marriage because he’s scum that’s too afraid of breaking tradition.” Describing her male lead as ‘scum’ made it seem like it was coming from her own point of view. Unfortunately she didn’t want her real life concepts following any of the routes she had detailed so far. Kinsey didn’t need the Fudge boy, and he certainly didn’t deserve her sister at all. He didn’t deserve anyone, really. He was creepy, always trying to figure people out with his psychology or whatever. “If it’s a hit, and I really hope it isn’t, then that leaves it open for a sequel. Don’t you think? Keep the readers wondering what if? Or maybe their kids fall in love and it works out that time. Who knows? Thinking of a sequel before I even finish the first one isn’t the smartest thing in the world…”
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last online Mar 28, 2024 23:40:48 GMT -7
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Nov 12, 2018 14:56:40 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2018 14:56:40 GMT -7
Susan laughed, shaking her head at her friend. “Don’t think of it as digging your own grave, Cara!” she exclaimed, taking another sip of tea. “You’ve always been a writer, ever since I met you, all the way back when we were eleven. This is what you were meant to do. I know it, and deep down you know it too. You just are hitting a little snag in the creative process. It happens to the best of us,” she told her, trying to sound as encouraging as possible. Susan knew first hand how it felt to have a block in her writing, seeing how abysmal she had been at Potions during their school years. Fortunately, some of her friends had been better at the course, and she’d been able to go to them for help, just as they would come to her for Transfiguration assistance. Susan almost choked on her next sip of tea as Cara joked that the object of the protagonist’s affections would off himself before making a decision in his romantic life. “Cara!” she exclaimed, then laughed a little as her friend smiled. It faded a little as Cara said the boy would decide to follow through with his parents wishes, likely leaving the protagonist feeling absolutely heartbroken. “Wow, a romance with an unhappy ending, that’s rather bold of you,” she mused, raising an eyebrow at Cara. “Sounds like you’re not much of a fan of this romantic interest of the protagonist; perhaps she will have a revelation that she’s better off without him? Give the ending some hope, with the possibility of a sequel?” she suggested, setting down her now empty teacup. “ It’s not bad to think of what happens next; it means the ideas are there, they’re just having trouble manifesting properly,” she reasoned, signalling for the waitress to bring her a glass of water, looking quickly away as the girl did a double take when she saw Susan. She thanked the girl quickly, and took a large gulp, in which time the girl had gone back to her job at the counter. “That was a close one,” she said with a nervous chuckle. “So...do you have a title yet?” The title of a novel was usually the first thing to draw a person into reading a book, so it needed to be a good one. cara june bainbridge
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cara june bainbridge
HOGWARTS ALUM AUTHOR PART TIME CASHIER AT FLOREAN FORTESCUE'S ICE CREAM PARLOUR PART TIME EMPLOYEE AT SPELLBUCKS
279 posts
played by Colin
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last online Mar 28, 2024 19:39:31 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Nov 27, 2018 23:57:54 GMT -7
Post by cara june bainbridge on Nov 27, 2018 23:57:54 GMT -7
@susanvictoria Everyone kept saying the same thing – that she was a great writer and always had been. Except that if she was truly great at it, she would have already written the damn story and publishers would be looking at it. The argument could be made that everyone got stuck in creative holes, Susan said as much herself, but this was more than that. This was Cara realizing that she needed to set her bar as low as possible so that in the off chance she did succeed with the book, it would be that much more worth it. “No, I need to think of it that way. It’s the only way I can motivate myself to keep writing. Because if I stop, I’m starting at square one somewhere else with a job I won’t care about at all. I know that sounds messed up and probably isn’t healthy at all, but it really helps me…” she trailed off, picking up her drink as she did so. Taking a long sip would save her from having to go into more detail for a few seconds.
The content of her story was more important though, seeing as that was where the majority of her struggles lay currently. “No, I absolutely hate it. Maybe because I don’t understand it myself or that I think it’s a sham that people try to convince themselves of. Not that I don’t think true love exists somewhere out there and that it isn’t impossible, just that people are more caught up in the what-ifs and the glamorization of living in the moment,” she explained, hoping that would make more sense with the plot of the story. She was setting everything up for the protagonist as if it was going to be the norm, but that wouldn’t make it any different from the dozens of other romance novels sitting on the bookshelves. The ones that never sold and were collecting dust. “It’s all bullshit anyways. I think having the main character lose can teach a lesson as well. About learning how to take the rose-colored glasses off and seeing what people are really like.” As she spoke, Cara watched Susan finish her tea and ask for a glass of water. It was a strange interaction, and it took her a few seconds to realize that the waitress had probably recognized her friend. Cara continued to stare after the girl as she returned to work, blinking back to reality as Susan asked her if the book had a title yet. “Uhh…not yet, no. Do we need to leave? I don’t want you to have paparazzi breathing down your neck for the rest of the day.”
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last online Mar 28, 2024 23:40:48 GMT -7
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Jan 2, 2019 10:51:14 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2019 10:51:14 GMT -7
Susan wasn’t as good of a writer as Cara, not by a longshot. But she did have a semblance of an idea as to where she was coming from. “My mother expected me to rejoin the Muggle world when I graduated Hogwarts,” she admitted, slowly stirring the spoon in her cup of tea as she thought back to the conversations, as there had been quite a few. “I think she thought of this...this wizarding experience, as just a breather between being a royal child and a royal adult. It didn’t help that my brother Will also decided to go back into Muggle politics,” she let out a sound that was halfway between a laugh and a sigh. “But I knew I wouldn’t be happy, and I know I wouldn’t have put my all into it because of how I felt. As much stressful as the department I’m in can get, I know I’m making changes for the betterment of animal treatment. That’s all I can ask for really.” Susan smiled, then giggled. “So in a very odd way, I can relate.”She listened to Cara’s explanation as to why she wanted her main character to not get a happily ever ending at the end. It made sense; Susan had read countless romance novels that ended with the couple back together in the end, and after awhile it just got so mundane. “It’ll be an interesting read, and hopefully spark some lively debate,” she said, perking up a little at the idea. “Team Couple or Team Solo, could definitely get interesting,” she added with a snort. She watched with hawklike precision as the waitress walked away a little too quickly for her liking. “No, we don’t have to leave…” Susan trailed off as she saw the waitress pick up her phone and snap a photo of her. “Bloody hell. I’m sorry Cara, we do have to be off,” she said, sounding apologetic as she threw a ten pound note onto the table. She put on her coat and sunglasses and sighed. “I wish they’d find something else to be so fascinated in,” she said grumpily. She reached over and gave Cara a hug. “Stay, please. I think they’ll leave you well enough alone now that I’m leaving. We’ll catch up soon, and I expect a title for your novel when we do.” She smiled and waved before hurrying out of the coffee shop. She would have like to have stuck around a bit longer, but she had been discovered, and it would be all too soon that the paparazzi would be swarming the place - she didn’t want that for anyone. Still, it’d be nice if one day she could just be with friends in a public place without worrying if anyone recognized her. To be... normal. SUSAN OUT
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