Charming is a Victorian Era Harry Potter roleplay set primarily in the village of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the non-canon village of Irvingly. Characters of all classes, both magical and muggle — and even non-human! — are welcome.
With a member driven story line, monthly games and events, and a friendly and drama-free community focused on quality over quantity, the only thing you can be sure of is fun!
"Are you always this forward?" He asked teasingly since it would be a very short thread if he just ignored her entirely. — Tobin Cartwright in Take A Peek
Did you know? Churchgoers and worshippers had to endure a foul stench during prayers due to the amount of bodies often stored within the vaults of churches and chapels.
It's not me. It's not me. Those three Wise Men, they've got a semi by the sea. Got to ask yourself the question, where are you now? Got to ask yourself the question, where are you now?- - - -
It was a pretty sort of day, the sun had been clear in the sky from early in the morning. There had been no clouds to obscure the mornings beauty. Yue was astounded every day when she woke in this country - it was so different from China. She had watched as the landscaped had changed from the orchid beauty of her home to the wild forests of central Europe to the pastoral beauty of the green and pleasant land of England. While there would be many that would say that her home was the exotic and beautiful land, for Yue this place with its trimmed fields, lush green valleys and delicate coloured flowers that only bloomed for a few weeks in a short spring was all that and more. In the short weeks since she had arrived she had marvelled over every aspect of its culture and sought out 'english' experiences.
She found the temperature the hardest part, she wore traditional garb from her own country which she could never help but notice were so much more form fitting than what woman of this country seemed to wear. She did often wondered how they managed to get around and do things in such bulky clothing. However, the ability of her own clothing to guard against the chill was limited and she did find that she spent rather a lot of time wrapped in shawls and capes. Today she had dressed in a hanfu dress of deep red satin with a yellow sash. they were cheap by the standards of her own country but the drab colours of English fashion meant they looked all the more vivid along side them. Her modest caravan had proved rather effective in keeping her warm at night. The manager of the circus, with which she had travelled to England had allowed her to keep the run down caravan in liu of her final wages, a deal which she was only too happy to take.
Despite this however, the caravan was mostly junk! The previous circus had not been magical and she had been forced to keep her own magical usage under wraps lest it get her into trouble, and while she had been able to do small pieces of magic in private, repairs and alterations to the caravan which might have made it more comfortable had not been possible. Now she was in a magical carnival she would be able to alter the inside and live less like a squib once more.
There was however a problem. She had left the rundown caravan that morning to get a few things from the town, things she could use to transfigure and alter to create the space she wanted and upon her return she found that the ancient wooden door was stuck closed. She swore in chinese rather loudly, realising that her wand was still tucked safely inside the caravan where she had hidden it for months. She forgot now and again that this town was magical and that she didnt need to hide here, still the habit was hard to break and after all she had only been here 2 days. She kicked the dorr with a small satin covered foot and immediatly regretted that deicsion, drawing another flurry of mandarin curses from her lips.
Englandà He supposed he ought to be glad to be home. Though, it never really felt like home. He'd grown up in London, in the slums, along with all the other dirty, normal, supposedly-muggle children. He'd not known any better than to be happy and he'd liked his existence. Though, when he found magic and then again when Mr. Hammond found him, things had changed drastically. He hadn't seen his parent since he was nine, nor the slums. He'd left and gone on to be with Mr. Hammond and the circus, to grow up with Russ and learn the ways of the carnie life.
He'd loved it and he wouldn't have traded it for anything. Mr. Hammond was a good man who had sent him to school on his own cost, and, in return, Teddy û over the years as Theo û had earned it all back and then some. He liked this life. He liked seeing new places, meeting new people, having things be different nearly everyday. Though, one thing he liked best of all was bringing new performers into the æfamily'. Teddy was 32 and he'd been here since he was 9; he knew everyone and everything about the carnival, and he liked to help the new workers and new performers find their place.
So, it was, that Teddy heard about their newest act û an Asian lady who did acrobatics in silk? Sounded amazing, intriguing even. His own act had an exotic Far East feel to it, though his was decidedly more Middle Eastern, Moroccan to be exact. He asked about where the girl was and if anyone had shown her around yet. Of course not. Carnies û even though a traveling troupe of misfits û were wary of new recruits. Teddy found the girl in no time and just in time to see her kicking her caravan door. Teddy lived in a tent himself, but the charm of the traditional caravan could not be denied. Though, it seemed the girl was rather fed up with hers.
Teddy jogged forward, holding out a hand towards her caravan door as he approached. "Whoa, whoa there. I'm sure the door is thoroughly sure of who is the boss now. Stuck, is it? Mind if I help?" Teddy was, as usual, shirtless. His costume was comfortable, from the waist down, but his breastplate and bracers were cumbersome when not doing his act. He reached over and put a knee to the door, giving it a good hard shove with his shoulder. One good hard push and it was opened. "There we go!" He stepped out of the way before giving her a little bow. "Teddy Bagman, at your service. My posters say Theo the Mystic, but everyone calls me Teddy after hours. I've been with the carnival over twenty years now and I'm sort of the unofficial welcome wagon. Just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that if you need anything, I'm your man."
It's not me. It's not me. Those three Wise Men, they've got a semi by the sea. Got to ask yourself the question, where are you now? Got to ask yourself the question, where are you now?- - - -
Yue could barely remember her parents, the only memory she possessed were of a smiling woman in a jade green mandarin blouse smiling at her, and a man, with warm brown eyes, who looked at her with unmistakable fondness. It was a vague, dim and distant, like the last visitants of a dream that vanished as soon as she tried to look closer at it. Instead all of her young life, she accepted the memory as a fragment of comfort and tried, most of the time, to banish it from her mind. It felt like her training for the circus had gone on forever, all of her childhood, all of her teen years until she had led China had all been taken up with training and utilising her skill for their less than savoury intentions. Her life now was the perfect opposite of that rigid control, all that was expected of her was to perform at night- nothing else - except for this bloody door!
As she was about to loose what remained of her patience, a man's voice spoke behind her and she turned to face the speaker. He was a man, of probably 25 to 30 years of age. His features were dark and angular, with longuish dark hair and impossibly dark eyes. He did not seem to be as pampered and prim as many of the men in England, who seemed to spent more time at dress than most women she knew. His state of dress was not altogether so alarming, perhaps to delicate English women it was a little startling but she had seen more than one man shirtless in her life.
Yuà took a deep breath struggling to reign in her annoyance and her temper. She was not used to expressing her anger but her temper when it was expressed was formidable. With the Tong, especially when addressing the General or one of the leaders she was expected to be polite, reverent and deferential, bowing her head to listen to their abuse or their anger without complaint and in complete resignation. She found now, that her ability to swear, to yell, to scream and shout her fury to the skies was oddly liberating.
His enquiry was polite and decorous and Yuà offered a slight and polite bowing inclination of the head. He proceeded to make short work of the door that had caused her so much trouble. 'Thank you,' she greeted, her cheeks flaming in embarrassment at being caught out. 'I appreciate it very muchly' she said after he introduced himself. 'I am ZhiZhu Niao, The Bird Spider...but most people simply call me YuÃ' she said with a pleasant smile. She remembered the English custom of hand shakes and stuck out her hand very rigidly and perhaps a little formily. 'and what is it to be a mystic among the magical?' Yue enquired, cocking her head to one side, so that her long night black hair fell over one shoulder.
Appreciate it very muchly? Oh, Lord, she was precious! Teddy raised his eyebrows in alarm at her name. He'd never be able to say that right! Oh, well, but shortening it down to Yue was something he could handle. "Yue, it's a pleasure." He looked at her handshake and smirked. He just wanted to put her in his pocket and feed her peanuts. Bless. He stepped forward and took her hand, kissing her knuckles. He'd no more shake her hand than any woman's. Just didn't seem very ladylike, but perhaps he was a little old fashioned. Besides that, she looked fairly delicate when not kicking doors; he didn't want to break her.
'and what is it to be a mystic among the magical?'
"Decidedly dull today, but you're helping tremendously. Has anyone shown you around yet? Not much to see really. But I can give you tour, if you like. Though, seems like you need some help here." He motioned to her door. "I'm not much of a handyman, but I'm fairly useful." She seemed like a nice girl. And, of course, she was very lovely, but Teddy knew better than to follow that line of thinking very far. The carnies were more of a family than a love-fest; it made working together much simpler. Though, he had tried his hand at an in-carnival romance. It had ended badly. They always did. She'd ended up going to another carnival and his boss hadn't been too pleased with him for making them loose a performer. He'd gotten over it, but Teddy knew not to go down that road again.
It's not me. It's not me. Those three Wise Men, they've got a semi by the sea. Got to ask yourself the question, where are you now? Got to ask yourself the question, where are you now?- - - -
When he stepped forward and kissed her hand Yue could not help but blush desperately, her pale cheeks flaming in shyness. She had limited exposure to the opposite sex - while in China, and in the Tong, the only people she had ever been around were members of the Jade Dragon, one of which had been her brother, the other was the general, and any other of the men in the group had been in no way sexualised to the extent that she had never been encouraged to think of men as anything other than co-workers and they had done nothing to indicate that they thought of her as anything other than a co-worker. It had been odd on the boat when she had been in France and a young man had attempted to flirt with her. It might well have been effective on any other young lady but Yue had been slow to interpret his singles. Since then she had learnt that such actions were associated as interactions between men and women and since she didnt know how to behave she defaulted to blushing and stumbling.
She had seen the advertising for his act, it looks very interesting, similer in a fashion to the act that her sister had performed in their old troop, she had been the mystic, Huan had been the escape artist and weapons expert, while she had done all of the contortion and acrobatic work...of course that had been the official line at any rate. Their darker purpose had been known only to the Tong leadership and their fellows.
'Thank you Te-Dee' she said, aware even as she said it that she was stressing the sounds wrong. She knew that her name was odd on these English tongues but she could no more manage their names than they could hers. She rolled his name around in her mouth a few times trying to get the feel of the syllables. 'Sorry Tay Di' she furrowed her brow in annoyance at not being able to get it right. Giving up she gave an apologetic look 'I would appreciate that to a great degree. I know little of England, neve'mind this place and this troop.'. She gestured to the assorted other tents and domiciles. 'My p'evious employahs were a little dif-erant from this' she admitted, leaving the details scant.
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