Updates
Welcome to Charming
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?

Featured Stamp

Add it to your collection...

Did You Know?
Did you know? Jewelry of jet was the haute jewelry of the Victorian era. — Fallin
What she got was the opposite of what she wanted, also known as the subtitle to her marriage.
all dolled up with you


See Inside
People Help The People
#1
March 29, 1888 — Auguery Beak Cafe

Open to someone who would, you know, have a reason to be there!

Things had taken a turn for the worst that evening after work. Rumors had apparently been circulating about her and Mr. Reuben Crouch following the Celtic Fair the previous week, and she had to admit her memories of the event were minimal and seemed almost unreal due to the nature of their conversation. Whispering passersby were something she usually dealt with, though, so everything was alright — at first. It was only when she took to the streets that things got bad.

She'd gone around the corner, and, with her coat wrapped tightly around her robe-clad body, began walking past a group of drunken individuals. She'd almost passed them completely when one of them shouted, much to her embarrassment: "Hey whore!" Perhaps they didn't know who she was and she was just more upset by what today's rumors had insinuated than she'd managed to convince herself. Nevertheless, her cheeks were now flushed fully red and everyone was staring, so Bella hurried into the nearest building: a really shady-looking pub.

She barely bothered to look up at the group of people inside before heading into a corner with her face practically shielded by the strands of hair that had fallen during work. She placed herself in a corner and sat for a few moments, only looking up when someone interrupted her silence by approaching.



MJ is MAGICAL
#2
Kieran would not have cared that the girl had come in here, except that she was in his usual corner. He supposed it was his fault, because he hadn't yet claimed it, except she definitely hadn't been in here before. And trying to find a new vantage point from which to sketch Finn really didn't suit his fancy. So he ordered a pint from the bartender, and then thought about it, and ordered two pints.

He walked towards the corner with the two pints in his hands and his sketchpad tucked under his arm. Kieran pulled out the barstool across from her with a twist of his foot and sat down, setting the extra pint down in front of the girl.

"You've never been here before," Kieran said, factually.



#3
Bella did not recognize the man, and he made it fairly obvious that he didn't recognize her either. Was this a private pub she should know about? A single glance past him sent the message that it didn't look like a very upscale pub, which should have been obvious given the location on the street, but she was too spooked to even recognize the possible danger. Only this guy didn't look dangerous; he'd even brought her a drink, and that was saying something because he seemed poor.

"I have not," in the same factual tone. She stared him dead in the eyes for a moment, wondering what had prompted him over here in the first place. Was she intruding on a - er - meeting? It didn't look like there was a gathering of specific people. Maybe this place was used for a cult, or maybe it was a secret underground black market. Or maybe she should stop jumping to conclusions, because she was now staring up at the man with wide eyes.

"Where... exactly is here?" she asked quietly, biting her lip nervously.



MJ is MAGICAL
#4
"This is the Augurey Beak Cafe," Kieran said. He made a vague, handwaving gesture to the grungy bar around them. "It's a bar regularly frequented by leftists and other political outliers."

He suspected that the last sentence would cause her to leave. She seemed wealthy; wealthy people did not like weirdo communists, unless they were weirdo communists like Jude. At least if she left, he could finish her drink for her.



#5
Bella had been educated on as much as she needed to know in her youth, much of which did not include politics, and the Scrimgeours had definitely avoided giving her any tutoring on subjects that they thought would make her think about anything besides acting like a respectable young lady. Nevertheless, she knew the bare basics about politics and knew her own beliefs were left-leaning, but his tone suggested there was another meaning besides "purebloods shouldn't be superior" to the words.

"Political outsiders?" she questioned with a quirked brow. She didn't want to provoke a rant, but she also was the inquisitive sort, oftentimes asking questions she really didn't need to know the answer to. Besides, she couldn't imagine political outsiders were too different from her — a certified Social Outsider™ — and therefore was even more curious.



MJ is MAGICAL
#6
So that wasn't enough to scare her off. Kieran was surprised, and took a sip of his drink before elaborating. "You know, like progressives, but socialist and communist progressive, not I-guess-half-breeds-shouldn't-die progressive," he said, "Have you ever met a real progressive before? Or even a fake progressive?"

This was the sort of conversation which Jude was supposed to have.



The following 1 user Likes Kieran Abernathy's post:
   Bella Scrimgeour
#7
Bella blinked at him, fairly sure she didn't know the proper meanings of at least half of those terms. How could someone be a fake progressive? Socialists sound like people who banded together because they hated socializing, and communists sounded like they went to communion every Sunday. Finally, Bella shook her head.

"I ... I have no idea what you mean. I met a half-vampire once and she was really sweet?" she answered, followed quickly by: ".. and what is a commune-ist? Commy-nest? Whatever you said."



MJ is MAGICAL
#8
Oh sweet Merlin, where had this once crawled up from?

Kieran was not equipped to give introductory talks to progressive politics. He was fairly certain that he had once or twice been banned from doing exactly this. But today - today - he had been given a gift, and it was a gift that would not be spoiled by having his more optimistic friends steal an opportunity from him.

He was going to teach this stranger about communism.

"Commune-ist," Kieran said patiently, "A person who believes in communism, which advocates for the redistribution of wealth."



The following 1 user Likes Kieran Abernathy's post:
   Kingsley Wells
#9
Redistribution of wealth was a phrase she'd heard before, but likely in passing and definitely never in an actual conversation. It sounded like someone physically picking up galleons and placing it somewhere else, but it was an ideology, so it must have been relating to people.

"What does that mean? Taking people's money, and- um, giving it to...?" she questioned, her brows raised. She hoped she wasn't making a complete fool of herself, but he didn't seem to tease her when she was wrong, so.




MJ is MAGICAL
#10
"You're thinking Robin Hood, which is close," Kieran said cheerfully. "Specifically Marx identifies the proletariat - the working class - and the bourgeois, who own the means of production." He gestured, generally, in her direction, because he did not expect that she would dispute it, and if she did it would be funny, besides.



#11
Those were all big words, and ones Bella wasn't quick to grasp. Best to start out at the basics, she supposed.

"So this Marx — do you know him? Is he a friend of yours?" she asked with raised brows and a questioning glance behind him. ""And the bourgeois, they're the rich people, right? Like-" Like me. Like the Scrimgeours, she was about to ask, but quickly decided against it. Did the people in here burn rich people? Hang them?

(Not that she could imagine this one hanging anyone. He seemed to friendly.)




MJ is MAGICAL
#12
Kieran snorted. "No," he said, "He's dead. And German. He wrote books."



#13
Bella let out a giggle at how ridiculous that sounded. "So you're telling me you follow... a dead guy... who wrote a book... and was German? You can't even ask if you're doing it right," she countered.




MJ is MAGICAL
#14
Kieran laughed. Phrased like that, it really was funny - and Kieran was generally inclined to find Marxism funny. He might ask Jude about his dead German friend later and see what happened.

"I never said I was a communist," Kieran said, because he wasn't, "But some of my friends are."



#15
"Oh?" Bella asked with a raise of her brow. "Why not, then? Are you the lone die-hard capitalist of your friend group? How's that working out?" she teased, a good-natured smile finding its way to her face.




MJ is MAGICAL
#16
Kieran shook his head. "I didn't say I liked your lot either," he said mildly, "I'm an observer. Or an Irish republican, if pressed."




Possibly Related Threads…
Thread / Author Replies Views Last Post
Last Post by Beatrix Burke
August 8, 2018 – 5:50 PM
View a Printable Version


Users browsing this thread: 2 Guest(s)
Forum Jump:
·