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05.24 @ 12:40pm Stamp requirements have been altered, making it possible to get all four National Quidditch Team stamps!
05.22 @ 8:37pm Posting Wizard Signups for June are open. The deadlines for Gossipmongering Hag applications has been extended to May 30th. The first IC quidditch match for the QWC begins June 1st - so don't forget to make an international quidditch player (or three!)
05.16 @ 12:42pm
We are now allowing members to play on up to threeinternational teams (including Britain).
05.15 @ 9:25am
Activity checks are in progress. If you need a character reactivated, please post in maintenance. The Gossipmongering Hags are hiring!
5.13 @ 10:25pm
A newsletter has been posted regarding some new policies that will be implemented in the future.
5.05 @ 11:00am
It is important that our occupation history records are up-to-date. Please take a moment to double check that all of your characters are on them and their data accurate :)
5.01 @ 12:16 am
We're now accepting summer temporaries! Got a few summer adoptable? They have their own list this year! We're also in the month of May! Congrats to Anastasia and Olive who won Posting Wizard for April with 306 and 209 posts respectively!
04.28 @ 10:58am
Information on the QWC countries has been reposted to assist in the creation of international players!
Group: Hufflepuff
Posts: 108
Member No.: 797
Joined: 31-December 11
Ismene took a breath to steady herself as she calmly undid several rows of stitching on the handkerchief on which she was working, having utterly botched the design. To do so calmly was certainly something of a struggle given her frustration, but Issie had ample practice maintaining some level of dignity at her parents’ home. Besides, needlework was supposed to be fun, and were the Hufflepuff to pitch a fit whenever it did not go flawlessly, she would lose enthusiasm for such an endeavour.
Life, for the Swift family, had returned largely to normal, her father having returned from the expedition and Ismene herself having adjusted quite easily to the presence of another young Gryffindor underfoot—her brother’s good friend Castor, whose young age made him not in the least intimidating to the fifteen-year-old. School had come to a close, her family was together once more, and there seemed to be little to trouble Ismene, for which she was grateful: the ordeal of her last months at Hogwarts no longer featured prominently in her nightmares, which was a blessing even if nothing else was.
The wet weather glimpsed through the parlour window was enough to reassure the girl that she had no desire to be out of doors, and so the going-on-fifth year sat instead on an old armchair, the room otherwise empty save for the housemaid doing the dusting. The quiet was perforated only by the steady click of the clock as the young witch worked furiously to fix her blunder on the project before her. The opening of the door and the appearance of her father immediately proved a welcome distraction, and Issie set the handkerchief and her needle neatly in her lap as she smiled in greeting to the man.
293 words | tagged for Ix <3
Backdated to June 30th
template by emily
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 107
Member No.: 794
Joined: 30-December 11
He was starting to miss the Hogsmeade Trail, though he never thought he'd be saying that. There had been things to worry about on the Trail, certainly, but they had been things like do I want to climb this mountain or follow this river, or things like can we outrun a dragon. They were exciting things.
Now, his life consisted of does Ismene need a new dress,is Myles getting along with his playmate,will Cassandra warm to her betrothed. Mundane things, for the most part. The last was particularly irksome; Cassandra had always been a model daughter as far as Ixion was concerned, but of late she'd gotten some absurd notion into her head that she could change her parents' mind about the man they'd selected for her. What she didn't like about him Ix could hardly imagine. Since Cassandra didn't really have any reasons for disliking him, Lettie had suggested that perhaps their relative lateness in arranging a marriage to her had given her the idea that she was the marry for love.
Ix really thought his eldest daugher more sensible than that, but, in the hopes to avoid more strife in the future, Lettie and he had decided that there was nothing preventing Ismene from being betrothed sooner, rather than later. She'd have some time to aclimate herself to the idea, and if by some chance she decided to behave like her willful sister--well, Letitia would have some time to fix that before the impending marriage. Or at least that was the hope.
"Afternoon, daughter," he said with a somewhat distracted smile as he walked in, his mind already thinking of what he would say and how she might take it. He glanced at what she had in her hands and smiled again, more genuinely. Ismene was such a good little girl; he really hoped that she didn't take this news as foul as Cassandra had her own.
"Enjoying your needlework?" he asked, with a gesture downward. "You always do the stitching so prettily. I have no doubt your home will be full of embroidered blankets and pillows and the like just a month after you marry."
Alright, so he hadn't gotten to it yet, but bringing up marriage was at least a step in the right direction. Maybe he should drop this and just write Ismene a letter, as he'd done with Cassandra... that seemed to be much easier than bringing it up out of the blue and having to worry about her response.
Group: Hufflepuff
Posts: 108
Member No.: 797
Joined: 31-December 11
Though she was thrilled to have her work complimented—that was the way when anyone took an interest, but when her father did, well, Ismene felt practically giddy—the Hufflepuff could not help but feel as if he was not as interested as he wanted to be. Mind, why should he be? Needlework was, after all, a feminine art, and he was a man with things such as quidditch and...other manly things to occupy his attentions. That he was paying any mind to something as trivial as her stitching was a compliment, and so she would not begrudge not having his full attention on the matter. “Oh, I am not half so good as mother must have been at my age,” she insisted modestly, though she would not go as far as to say—however modest—that her sister, Cassandra, was better than she. “But I should hope to leave my mark on any place that I call ‘home’.”
Not that that opportunity would arrive any time in the near future. True, Issie was only recently fifteen, and so would not be coming out into society for another two years, but the fact that Cassandra’s future was well in hand while Ismene’s own was so up in the air did tend to grate on her nonetheless. Though the fifth year had not yet made the acquaintance of her sister’s future husband, he surely must have excellent attributes for their father to have arranged the match. Meanwhile, the middle of the Swift children had been wasting her time and affections on Andren Lovegood, who, in retrospect, was not in any way a suitable match. Miss Bordeaux, sweet though she was, was welcome to such a future—Ismene would not be wasting attention on her peers when the school year resumed, that was certain.
And now Professor Rutlidge had married!
That, too, was a girlish fantasy. Ismene was a woman now, or at least she would be soon, and girlish fantasies were not a suitable occupation for a proper young lady.
A part of her yearned to ask simply if her parents had overlooked her, had forgotten her entirely in their quest to further the best interests of the family. After all, it would not have been such a stretch: with Cassandra the firstborn and Myles the only son, it would not be so strange to imagine that Ismene might fall through the cracks. Though she had always strived to allow her behaviour to recommend her, as the middle child she might have needed something more to attract notice.
“Is there something in particular you wanted, Father?” Ismene inquired, trying hard not to sound like she was prying. Though it was none of her business if he did not wish to share...whatever it was with her, he did not make a habit of seeking her out without purpose.
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 107
Member No.: 794
Joined: 30-December 11
tag: Ismene
place: Home
time: Sometime?
The flame rises but it soon descends
Empty pages and a frozen pen
You're not quite lovers and you're not quite friends
After the thrill is gone
Half the distance takes you twice as long
Ixion smiled a bit at his daughter's reference to Letitia's needlework. Yes, it was good, as it should be since she taught young ladies how to emulate hers, but that wasn't exactly why he'd decided to marry her. Nor was needlework what would primarily win over the heart of Ismene's future spouse, he knew, but it was something to at least keep women's hands busy. That was all the explanation Lettie had ever been able to offer him on the subject; needlework kept women busy and was industrious while still allowing time to think. Ixion thought much the same thing about flying, but to each their own.
Ismene was always so proper; she knew exactly what to say and, unlike Cassandra at times, seemed to mean it. She was really Lettie's daughter, which Ixion adored in her. "Any home would be blessed to have you, Ismene," he said kindly, laying an affectionate hand on her shoulder.
Her question, more direct that she was wont to be, made him withdraw his hand and move to take a seat opposite her in one of the armchairs, looking out the window briefly before glancing back at his daughter. "What do you think Cassandra thinks of her betrothed?" he said, half because it was a roundabout way to get to where he needed to go, half because he was actually curious. "I don't know how much you sisters talk, but you certainly know all the details of the arrangement, I imagine."
Group: Hufflepuff
Posts: 108
Member No.: 797
Joined: 31-December 11
Ismene did truly care for both of her parents, but much of her one-on-one time was spent with her mother, as was only right given her gender. As such, she relished the attention—and the affection—from her father, though she did her best to not seem to prideful on the matter. Unlike that of Letitia, Ixion’s presence had never made the witch feel ill at ease, and so it was entirely possible that the fifteen year old preferred her father’s company to her mother’s, a fact that she would never voice aloud, or even admit to herself. It would, after all, be cruel to be made uneasy by the company of the woman who gave one life.
“I do not think she has given terribly much thought to the arrangement,” Ismene offered carefully. Cassandra and Issie were not confidantes; though both adhered to the guidelines laid before them by their parents, Ismene had always done so more naturally, and the age difference was enough, when coupled with that fact, that they were not bosom friends. Still, she knew Cassandra well enough to suspect her sister was not thrilled to be handed off to what she no doubt viewed as an old man, but did not wish to hang her sister out to dry like that. Besides, it had been her father who had selected Mr. Donovan for Cassandra to marry, and it would be rude to suggest his selection was not a good one. “As such, I doubt she realizes the merits of such a marriage.”
There. The truth, but a gentle truth. Besides, it was probably true—Cassandra had likely been so distracted by her distaste for the setup that she had not realized how good it was for her, really. Idly, the badger wondered when her sister was to be wed. She hoped it was not too soon; she wanted a chance to properly overcome her jealousy that Cassandra’s future was settled so that she might be happy for her sister on the day.
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 107
Member No.: 794
Joined: 30-December 11
tag: Ismene
place: Home
time: Sometime?
The flame rises but it soon descends
Empty pages and a frozen pen
You're not quite lovers and you're not quite friends
After the thrill is gone
Half the distance takes you twice as long
Ix listened carefully, trying to pick out the hidden truth from Ismene's carefully worded response. Yes, that was all as he had expected; Cassandra wasn't thinking properly about her betrothal. He should have guessed as much; she was seventeen, and no doubt caught up with thoughts of romance, of flitting around her Coming Out ball and catching the eye of a dozen handsome young men. He remembered what it was like to be seventeen--he had had big dreams about his career and about his life, and it was only suitable that a woman's dreams would revolve more around her future husband than around a career of any sort.
"I fear you are correct," he said a little wearily. "We should have made the match much sooner, I think; she would have had plenty of time to think on it if she had been waiting to finish school before getting married. Your mother agrees, we waited too long to find a husband for Cassandra."
Shifting his gaze from the window back to his youngest daughter, he offered her a muted smile. "Which is why we decided to start looking for your betrothed a little sooner," he said, hoping, praying, that she would take the news well. But then, this was Ismene... what else would she do?
Group: Hufflepuff
Posts: 108
Member No.: 797
Joined: 31-December 11
“I do think she might have benefitted more if it had been arranged sooner,” Ismene agreed, hoping she was not out of place speaking as she did, “as doubtless, waiting so long allowed her to become seduced by the notion of marrying for love.” Cassandra had been all but finished her schooling when Mr. Donovan had been assigned to her as it were; it was no wonder that she had rebelled against the notion. Most girls, at least that Issie knew, were betrothed by their fifth year—usually sooner! Perhaps that was why, coupled with her sister’s own betrothal, she was so eager to have her future settled for her.
Her wishes, it appeared, were to be answered, and the girl’s eyes widened in surprise at her father’s news: she was to be matched quickly after all! She had not been overlooked! She would not end up an old maid! True, some girls might have worried about betrothals, but Ismene had little doubt that, were her parents to have a say in the matter, her future husband would be of both strong reputation and good character, the only two points upon which she herself would have been insistent—and so not a cruel womanizer of a husband who would leave her feeling a failure and unwanted, as some of her schoolmates had spent great amounts of time fretting about.
“Truly, Father?” Issie asked, not wholly certain if she had simply imagined his last statement. “I will admit,” the badger added, sheepishly, “I have been worrying that you and Mother might have forgotten about me.”
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 107
Member No.: 794
Joined: 30-December 11
tag: Ismene
place: Home
The flame rises but it soon descends
Empty pages and a frozen pen
You're not quite lovers and you're not quite friends
After the thrill is gone
Half the distance takes you twice as long
What a statement--seduced by the notion of marrying for love. It sounded insidious, like the very idea of marrying for love might have run away with his daughter's virtue. A fleeting thought crossed his mind, and he wondered whether Ismene perhaps knew more of her older sister's thoughts than she let on. Had Cassandra let herself become... seduced?
His daughter would never do that, never, he was sure. And if she had, what would his response be? Certainly not to cast her out, for all that it was proper and for all that it was what societal expectations would demand. No, he would probably try to hide her impropriety by arranging a marriage as soon as possible, and as quietly as possible--which was exactly what he had done, anyway. Best not to dwell on it, he told himself. Mr. Donovan is in Cassandra's best interest whatever her current relationship to her yearmates is.
Ismene's next statement brought him back where he should have been, back to the present moment, and he could not help but laugh at her response. "Truly," he assured her. "It would be impossible to forget such an angel, Ismene."
When his laughter had subsided, he turned to his middle child with a smile. Yes, this would be much easier than it had been with Cassandra, and easier even than Myles' engagement (which Ixion had not known of and had not been in favor of, and if he had been home instead of away on the Trail, it doubtess would never have happened at all, which was the main reason that Myles was still wholly unaware of it). "Well, I suppose you'll want to know to whom you've been promised?" he asked, thinking that perhaps the ease of this conversation was due to the age difference between Cassandra and Ismene, he might end up telling Myles about the recent engagement much sooner than he had anticipated.
Group: Hufflepuff
Posts: 108
Member No.: 797
Joined: 31-December 11
She thought it must have been vain to enjoy praise as much as she did, but Ismene could not help herself—the smile that had formed when her father announced that she would, in fact, be married only widened at his declaration that she was an angel. Issie could not believe her good fortune; how silly she had been to worry about her lack of a betrothal! How could she have ever suspected her father might forget about her interests, disregard them until her final year of schooling as he had Cassandra?
“Oh! Of course!” the Hufflepuff started. She had not even given the matter any thought, so excited was she by the sheer fact of being betrothed. Only for an instant, the fifteen year old deflated slightly—what if he was not handsome? Had no position to recommend him? She was not imaginative enough to believe her father might betroth her to someone unkind or lacking in moral character, but every girl dreamed of marrying a prince over a frog. “Do tell me, Father!” Ismene urged, rather dramatically. “I don’t believe I can handle the suspense anymore!”
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 107
Member No.: 794
Joined: 30-December 11
tag: Ismene
The flame rises but it soon descends
Empty pages and a frozen pen
You're not quite lovers and you're not quite friends
After the thrill is gone
Half the distance takes you twice as long
Ix couldn't help but smile, pleased by her eagerness. She was practically Cassandra's opposite, he reflected; he loved both of his girls dearly, but he knew that while Cass had continually been reigned in during her childhood, Ismene had instead had to be brought out. Letitia's worry about the girls was that Cassandra might forget herself and say more than she ought; with Issie, on the other hand, Lettie had been worried the poor girl might never open her mouth. They had both moderated out, with time, and he honestly thought hardly a fault could be found with either of them, but the stark difference in these two conversations proved that perfection did not always respond the same way.
"You may have met him," he told her. "He's in your house, though a few years older, as he should be. I can speak personally to his character, or at least what one can see through Quidditch. Mr. Eric Dudley--do you know of him?" he asked, genuinely unaware of whether his daughter would have made the acquaintance of Mr. Dudley or not; on the one hand, she had no reason to be fraternizing with boys several years older than her, regardless of their house, but he was the captain of the Quidditch team, and so was allowed a bit of inner-school fame for that. He hoped that, if anything, she didn't have a disfavorable opinion of the boy.
Group: Hufflepuff
Posts: 108
Member No.: 797
Joined: 31-December 11
Eric Dudley.
Eric Dudley.
The quidditch captain, Eric Dudley.
He was the housemate with whom she had been in love for as long as she could recall—well, half a year, really—and whose very presence was likely to make her swoon. And now she was to become his wife, by her father’s decree?! This was almost too good to fathom, far too good to be true. Perfection.
Ismene Dudley. Mrs. Eric Dudley. Captain Eric Dudley and his wife, Mrs. Ismene Dudley.
The excitement she felt was such that Ismene slumped backwards where she sat, having fainted.
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 107
Member No.: 794
Joined: 30-December 11
SWIFT FAMILY, ASSEMBLE.
Half the distance takes you twice as long
He had been expecting her to smile, or to acknowledge that she knew him, to be excited. If not that, then perhaps to make some sort of polite comment that she had not yet made his acquaintance, to inquire about what he was like, to ask when she might meet him, or perhaps if a dinner might be arranged before school began. There were any number of things that Ixion was prepared for; his middle daughter fainting on the couch was not among them.
"Ismene?" he asked as she slumped over, sitting up very straight and straining to try and see whether anything had actually happened to her. Ixion had no experience with this; Letitia was certainly not the fainting type. He knew it occurred, but it never affected him. He had a rather masculine profession, with his Quidditch games and bird breeding, and was generally surrounded by young men; when women were present, they were not the delicate sort.
Rising, he moved to the door of the parlor and peeked out into the hallway, to see whether anyone might have been about. Letitia would know what to do, surely? Or perhaps a servant might carry Ismene to her room? Was that the proper thing to do, or should someone simply fan her until she recovered?
"Letitia?" he called down the hall, not remembering whether she was in or out that day (her tutoring schedule was one he had never quite mastered). "Cassandra? Myles? I need--help--with Ismene."
Glancing back at his daughter, Ixion wondered if fainting was a good thing or a bad thing. He didn't want to have induced it with his words, but he supposed he would much have preferred that she was overcome with emotion than that there was something actually wrong with her.
Group: Inactive
Posts: 83
Member No.: 1,389
Joined: 17-August 12
Myles was just descending the stairs of his house when he heard his father. That almost made him trip at the last few stairs for his father's voice sounded rathr worried. And he needed help with Ismene. What kind of help would he need that would make him so paniced? Ismene was the more tolerable from his sisters so the thought of something happening to him scarred him.
He quickly jumped the last few stairs and then run towards the room his father's voice came from. "What happened?" he asked but before he could receive an answer he saw his sister, obviously unconscious. He walked towards her and then looked at his father. "Is she alright? What happened?"
Lettie happened to have not had any students to take care of that day as only a few days earlier she had finished with one and her schedule found itself somewhat liberated. As it was, she had been reading a new book she had found in Whizzhards the other day on etiquette. It was the first edition from a new author and she very much wanted to know what sorts of advice could be found within the pages. If it was good enough, she would recommend it to her future students.
With the book tucked under one arm, her intention to go read in a room with better light, she happened to just catch the sound of her husband calling out for assistance. With Ismene. What in heaven's name was wrong with her? Frowning to herself and forgetting she had left her spectacles perched on the bridge of her nose, she walked at a good pace towards the sound of Ixion's voice. "What in good heaven's name is the matter?" she exclaimed before walking into the room to see an unconscious Ismene. Was that all? Girls fainted all the time but then she supposed his working around boys meant he saw considerably less swooning than she did.
Sighing, she reached into a well-disguised pocket of her dress and took out a bottle of smelling salts. "You realize, Ixion, that you might have used a spell? Do not boys knock themselves unconscious in that rough sport of yours?" she was half-teasing and half-chiding him. Kneeling down next to her daughter, she held the bottle with the lid open underneath the girl's nose. "What in Merlin's name did you say or do to make her faint, anyhow?"
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 107
Member No.: 794
Joined: 30-December 11
Cass is still more than welcome to join. ^^
Half the distance takes you twice as long
Ixion was certainly glad for his wife's presence; Myles had been the first to arrive, but the boy clearly knew even less about fainting girls than Ixion did (as he should, being young and uninvolved with the opposite gender!) He frowned at her suggestion that he use a spell to revive Ismene; anything that was routinely used in a Quidditch game did not seem appropriate for use on either of his daughters. Besides, Ismene hadn't fallen off of a broom or hit her head. She had swooned.
"I was announcing her betrothal," he said simply, looking anxiously over his daughter as Lettie fetched out the smelling salts (a much more appropriate response, he thought, than anti-concussive spells). Perhaps if Myles ever reacted in such an extreme fashion, he might feel comfortable using a spell--but that was folly, he realized. If Myles ever fainted, Ix would probably just leave him there to recover on his own. No son of his would be the swooning type.
"I trust you'll not faint when we tell you of your betrothal," he said somewhat severely to Myles before turning his attention back to little angel Ismene. "Do you think fainting is a good sign?" he asked anxiously. He didn't know if he could handle another Cassandra-esque reaction to his plans for his daughters.
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