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Welcome to Charming, the year is now 1895. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.

Where will you fall?

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Braces, or suspenders, were almost universally worn due to the high cut of men's trousers. Belts did not become common until the 1920s. — MJ
Had it really come to this? Passing Charles Macmillan back and forth like an upright booby prize?
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the gap month
#1
June 27th, 1895 — Ruskin Residence

He was a graduate. It was a little odd to think about but then again, it had barely been a month since he had left Hogwarts on a boat never to return as a student. Now he was left with a question he had somehow gone a long time not pondering: what did he want to do with his life? He knew he wanted to help people but being a healer was probably not doable considering his poor grades in classes like Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration. Besides it did not really call to him. Nor did anything in the Ministry.

So, he was feeling adrift. Another thing on his mind was how crowded the house was. After living with just three sisters and his father for so long, it was a little much even for him. Not that he would EVER voice these thoughts. He adored his stepsiblings and half-siblings.

Dunstan sat in the Ruskin family parlor, idly reading a letter from one of his more wealthy friends who had gone on tour. Rich people really were on another level, weren't they?


open to anyone with a reason to be at the Ruskins.
2posts/2days if more than one person joins.




[Image: cTOqWJv.gif]
set gifted to me by kelly, mother of best girl Acacia Darlington
#2
Phillip always felt a little...awkward, when he visited the Ruskin home. It wasn't that he disliked the house, with its warmth and chaos. It was more that he honestly felt guilty. He'd swept Acacia into a world of glitter and glamour without the connections to go with it, almost like the fairies in the stories his nanny had once read him and his sisters. And now, with Aurora....

Without announcing his presence, primarily because he didn't expect anyone to be there, Phillip entered the parlor — and froze. "Dunstan," he greeted, his tone audibly surprised. "It's good to see you. I hope I'm not interrupting you?" He remembered his life just after graduation — he'd been thrust into muggle society face-first.

Not that Dunstan would know that. He didn't really talk about the circumstance of his inheritance.
Dunstan Ruskin



#3
The NEWTs grades were not yet sent out, but from Dunstan's letters home over the course of the year, Acacia had her concerns. It wouldn't be the end of the world if Dunstan did not enter into the same things as she did, but she did want him to find his place in the world. Feeling confident in his own skills and knowing that he was doing his part in the world. She believed in him.

The crowded household had been overwhelming, though Acacia was never one to let on. She was trying to help her siblings adjust to this big change. Tried to get to know her younger step-siblings, while also trying to not be too much though she could be, at times. She was used to be the main feminine presence of the house, after all. But she tried to not step on her step-mother's toes. Marrying Phillip had given the two ladies some slightly needed space. Given some room to grow. Now she had Aurora.

Darling was of a little help. Though not a socialite, she was a debut young lady of society on the marriage market. The two of them tended to stick together whenever it didn't aggravate Handsome too much. Acacia would offer to chaperone but knew that this might be pushing her luck so held off. Now that she wasn't working for the hospital, she would be making even more time for the social scene. Especially for what she had planned.

Making her way through her father's home, she had just spoken with her father and left Aurora with him for bonding time. Now she was looking for wherever her husband had wandered off to. "There you are, darling." She stopped herself before saying more when she noticed that he was in the middle of talking to someone else within the parlor. She walked in further from the walkway and gave an apologetic smile to Dunstan for the interruption.



A Blessing from Kit


#4
Dunstan looked up as his brother in law entered the room, noting the surprise with mild confusion. "It's good to see you, too and of course you aren't." After all, this was his home and Philip was family so ought to feel just as comfortable. At least Dunstan hoped he might feel that way someday.

He was just about to ask after his sister when she appeared behind her husband. "Acacia, my beloved," he said teasingly, thinking nothing of going over and giving his eldest sister a loving hug. "Where's my niece?"




[Image: cTOqWJv.gif]
set gifted to me by kelly, mother of best girl Acacia Darlington
#5
Despite the fact that her home with Phillip was new and unlike anything she had previously lived in before, although she had visited more well-off friends on occasion, it was feeling more and more like home by the day and having full run of the place made the transition easier. While she wasn't fully used to so many people to help run things, Acacia had been the 'mother hen' so to speak since her mother had left them. Despite his best efforts to not have Acacia grow up too fast, there was only so much their father could do as a working man.

Acacia's familiar smile flashed wide as she reciprocated her brother's hug. "Dunstan! Aurora is with daddy. You can't blame the man for wanting some bonding time with his first grandchild," she giggled before letting go to get a good look at him. So grown up, where had the time gone? A brief flash of the incident nagged at her, but she brushed that aside. "How have things been?" Of course father had his own perspective on the state of the household, anyone of them would have. Chrysanta would always be the most opinionated of the bunch. While she wouldn't mind hearing from each sibling, Acacia viewed Dunstan and Orinda to at least have a more levelheaded viewpoint on household matters.



A Blessing from Kit


#6
"A little odd. I can hardly believe I am finally done Hogwarts." He would have been done sooner were it not for the ban, he had been among the oldest of his yearmates ever since the ban had been lifted. It was still unbelievable though. Now, he had more adult thoughts to entertain such as his career. He would have to wait and see what avenues his NEWTs provided him with though. He didn't feel much of a need to rush though. It wasn't like his father would have him be homeless and he had only graduated a scarce month ago.



#7
'A little odd,' could be worse. Her little brother's mind was busy on Hogwarts and she decided that this was good. Home life was relaxed enough for typical adjustment concerns. Recent graduates were bound to feel that lack of direction. She had in some sense. Acacia had known that she had wanted to be a healer by the time that she was ready to be out of Hogwarts, yet not what field. She wasn't even sure if she would be accepted into the Hospital. Yet she had been. Finally, after delays that he had not deserved, Dunstan was finally at this crucial right of passage. "Any plans? Before your NEWTs come in... or after?"

There was no direct rush, of course. Yet with Dunstan being the only son, there was a hint of expectation that he would make some income for the family that would aid for future generations. And if something were to happen to father? Even with Acacia's position, their sisters were still unmarried and now they had a step-mother and younger step- and half- siblings to think about. The unexpected seemed to happen all of the time in the wizarding world. Merlin help them, it wouldn't come near their family again.



A Blessing from Kit



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