Katherine Frances's Blog, page 246
March 7, 2016
Kim Shimmers and the Black Prophecy
A Harry Potter Fanfic by me (and the 3rd installment of the Kim Shimmers series)
This Harry Potter fan fiction (as long as all goes according to plan) will be posted every weekend. The pictures above are not mine, though I edited some.
Chapter 2
The Girl Who Has Been Kissed
Sunday crawled by. Kim was left alone with her million thoughts because Sunday was a day when all the andasoe village met in their village square for meditation. They met in the village square twice a week, though Wednesday was for a council meeting with the elders where issues of the tribe were brought up. On these days, the interns were not invited, which Kim respected but was regretful of now. At least it would give her something to do other than play tug of war with a piece of string against Strix.
And there popped up another one of her worries that she usually tried to trunk but often failed. Strix. What was she? Kim still had the book,Creatures that Don’t Exist, tucked in her bag. Sometimes she would thumb through it, searching for any morsel of information about The Strix that she might’ve missed. But she knew by now there was only one entry in that entire book about the strange beast, and it was minimal, seeming to be half made up, like the rest of the book. How did Kim even know if any of it was real? Certainly it was possible it was all a silly myth and she was simply reading into it far more than necessary. But then, there was the feeling in her gut that said no. This is real. Strix is something… else.
But what?
When Monday came, Kim left her cabin during breakfast to try and steal a bath while everyone else was enjoying their food. She was pleased to find that this was a clever idea, for the bath house were thankfully empty. She quickly disrobed and protected her exposed body by dipping quickly into the bath, which was always kept far hotter than Kim liked. She washed herself uncomfortably, on edge the whole time with the fear that someone would walk in and see through the murky water to her body beneath. Thankfully, no one interrupted.
Afterwards she hurried to catch the last morsels of the group breakfast. As she ate, most of the other andasoes cleared out of the large dome shaped sitting area, rising from where they sat on mats on the floor. When she caught sight of Cane walking in her direction, her heart leapt uncomfortably.
“What’s your assignment today? I’ll help you with it,” he said, apparently willing to partner with her before even hearing what she was in for. Fortunately for him, it was nothing as bad as fields tilling.
“I’m to go hunting, actually,” Kim said, a bit nervous, about Cane in general, and for the hunting. She’d never killed anything before, animal or not. She’d been working with a craftswoman in the village to forge her own bow. It was really bad, according to the woman, but not any worse than expected from someone who knew absolutely nothing about wood working.
“You’re first hunt! Should be a spectacle,” Cane said with a wry smile. Kim shot him a warry glance.
“I doubt I’ll find anything to shoot at all. I’m not quite like you andasoe’s,” she said. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find something to shoot, not that she could hit it if she did. She knew it would feed people, people she had grown to like very much. This was how they survived. But still… watching her arrow tip pierce a creature… did she have the stomach for it? Was she brave enough? She wasn’t really a Gryffindor, after all, merely a wannabe. And not even enough of a wannabe to land herself in the house, so it seemed.
“You’ll see. Doesn’t much matter how you do. All your food is served to you on a platter,” he remarked. Kim pursed her lips, but didn’t have a comeback. Once she was finished eating she and Cane walked through the town until they reached Dawn, the woman who had been teaching Kim to shoot and make her bow.
She was older than Cane, as could be told not just by the faint age lines around her eyes, but also by the many more points she had on her antlers. They fanned out on her head and had a speckled ivory coloration.
“You commin’ along?” she asked Cane, looking up from the arrow head she was fixing to a shaft with thin grass-like rope.
“I thought so, if you don’t mind.”
“You take her,” she said.
“You’re not going to come?” Kim said, trying not to sound offended. She’d tried, over the past week to gain Dawn’s appreciation, but since Dawn really only appreciated the hunting crafts, and Kim was evidently no good at them, she’d had very little success in her endeavor.
“I’ve got hundreds of arrows to make, I haven’t got time to show the ropes to someone who isn’t our own,” she scoffed. Kim looked at the dirt.
“I don’t mind,” Cane said, but his voice wasn’t light anymore. “I’ll just take her myself.” He gave Kim a sorry look and led her through the trees.
“I didn’t ask to be placed here, you know,” Kim snapped, though it was quite unfair. Cane was obviously on her side.
“I know,” Cane said. “Don’t let Dawn’s attitude get to you. She’s just… overwhelmed with work. It’s not you. There’s something else going on that you don’t understand…”
“Well, what is it? I’d like to understand.”
He grimaced and looked at her, studying. “I- can’t explain it. There aren’t words in English. You see many things. Maybe you’ll see it on your own,” he added, almost to himself. Kim took this as the cue to be quiet. They were supposed to be hunting after all, which required careful foot placement and watchful eyes through the forest.
It was a surprisingly short time before they spotted a dear in the distance, ears flicking about for sound, grazing in a small clearing. Kim moved to draw an arrow from the small quiver she’d picked up from Dawn’s shop, the one she’d crafted herself. Her fingers were just finding the feathers when she caught sight of Cane, holding up his hand and shaking his head. He mouthed the words too far.
She looked back to see he was right. She would need to creep quite a bit closer to the deer if she was to have any hope of shooting it. It was a small female, one that wouldn’t do for much meat but that was still fully grown and worth the kill, or so Kim thought. She felt sure Cane would stop her if she was wrong.
She scanned the forest floor and was careful to place her foot between leaves and on rocks that wouldn’t tumble and clatter. Cane followed in utter silence just behind her. His ability to do this was quite eerie, and if she hadn’t already gotten used to practicing with Dawn, she would be checking over her shoulder to insure he was there at all. Finally she thought she was close enough to the deer, which hadn’t moved from its grazing spot. They were luckily up wind, so it had yet to catch the scent of human, not that such issues were ever a concern for the andasoe. They had a sent different than the animals, but it was much harder to pick out amongst the natural smell of the forest. Not like Kim and her Cherry Berry shampoo, which she had swapped out for a natural remedy an andasoe shaman had suggested to her after hours of Dawn complaining about the sent. Earth worms could smell your damn hair, she’d said. You know fruit doesn’t really smell like that, don’t you?
Kim grimaced at the memory as she pulled out an arrow slowly, steadily, and lined it up with the bow in her other hand. She drew in a long and silent breath. She raised the bow and pulled it back to its full length. She could barely see the grey blur of the arrow tip. Beyond, she focused on the deer with full clarity. She was about to shoot.
Its weight shifted, making Kim pause as its head lifted lazily up from the dirt and turned. Its head rotated slowly to look directly at Kim, but its eyes. Its eyes were all wrong, they were blood red, blood red and almond shaped, placed too far forward to belong on the head of a deer. Kim felt a dark swirling energy swallow everything up. It leapt from the shadows, as if it had been awaiting there, creeping in the darkness, counting the moments until dusk. She gasped and blinked, and just as swiftly as the scene had shifted into one of her darkest nightmares, it was returned; once again a sunny summer day, mid-morning, fair breeze…
"If your words taste bitter rolling off the end of your tongue, think how it would taste to the one..."
- Michelle L (via wnq-writers)
lyesmyths:
marblecoeur:
actually terrifying covers for Lolita:...
actually terrifying covers for Lolita: Max Temesu & Linn Olofsdotter
“Lolita is not about love, because love is always mutual; Lolita is about obsession, which is never, ever love, and Nabokov himself was so
disappointed that people did not understand this and take away the
right message… For how could anyone call this feeding frenzy of
selfishness, devouring, and destruction ‘love’?“ - Vanity Fair’s Gregor von Rezzori
this is the only lolita post I will ever reblog.
March 6, 2016
culturenlifestyle:
Dainty & Exotic Butterfly Accessories by...
Dainty & Exotic Butterfly Accessories by Derya Aksoy
Istanbul-based artist Derya Aksoy created stunning, ethereal jewellery based on the beauty of winged insects, particularly butterflies, moths and dragon flies. Featuring a range of colorful and exotic butterflies, they wrapped beautifully around the neck. The thin fabric construction gives the illusion that that the butterflies are fluttering and resting on the skin.
Composed of brass-colored and antiquated chains, each piece is made by transferring real butterflies and moth wings images onto organza fabric, then they are cut and choreograph to resemble a cluster of stunning life-like insects.
Aksoy’s quixotic and feminine creations beautifully complement the colors, textures and shape of each insect. The necklaces remind us of dainty creations fit for a fairy queen. You can find her entire collection in her Etsy shop.
h/t: My Modern Met
Kim Shimmers and the Black Prophecy
A Harry Potter Fanfic by me (and the 3rd installment of the Kim Shimmers series)
This Harry Potter fan fiction (as long as all goes according to plan) will be posted every weekend. The pictures above are not mine, though I edited some.
Chapter 2
The Girl Who Has Been Kissed
Sunday crawled by. Kim was left alone with her million thoughts because Sunday was a day when all the andasoe village met in their village square for meditation. They met in the village square twice a week, though Wednesday was for a council meeting with the elders where issues of the tribe were brought up. On these days, the interns were not invited, which Kim respected but was regretful of now. At least it would give her something to do other than play tug of war with a piece of string against Strix.
And there popped up another one of her worries that she usually tried to trunk but often failed. Strix. What was she? Kim still had the book,Creatures that Don’t Exist, tucked in her bag. Sometimes she would thumb through it, searching for any morsel of information about The Strix that she might’ve missed. But she knew by now there was only one entry in that entire book about the strange beast, and it was minimal, seeming to be half made up, like the rest of the book. How did Kim even know if any of it was real? Certainly it was possible it was all a silly myth and she was simply reading into it far more than necessary. But then, there was the feeling in her gut that said no. This is real. Strix is something… else.
But what?
When Monday came, Kim left her cabin during breakfast to try and steal a bath while everyone else was enjoying their food. She was pleased to find that this was a clever idea, for the bath house were thankfully empty. She quickly disrobed and protected her exposed body by dipping quickly into the bath, which was always kept far hotter than Kim liked. She washed herself uncomfortably, on edge the whole time with the fear that someone would walk in and see through the murky water to her body beneath. Thankfully, no one interrupted.
Afterwards she hurried to catch the last morsels of the group breakfast. As she ate, most of the other andasoes cleared out of the large dome shaped sitting area, rising from where they sat on mats on the floor. When she caught sight of Cane walking in her direction, her heart leapt uncomfortably.
“What’s your assignment today? I’ll help you with it,” he said, apparently willing to partner with her before even hearing what she was in for. Fortunately for him, it was nothing as bad as fields tilling.
“I’m to go hunting, actually,” Kim said, a bit nervous, about Cane in general, and for the hunting. She’d never killed anything before, animal or not. She’d been working with a craftswoman in the village to forge her own bow. It was really bad, according to the woman, but not any worse than expected from someone who knew absolutely nothing about wood working.
“You’re first hunt! Should be a spectacle,” Cane said with a wry smile. Kim shot him a warry glance.
“I doubt I’ll find anything to shoot at all. I’m not quite like you andasoe’s,” she said. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find something to shoot, not that she could hit it if she did. She knew it would feed people, people she had grown to like very much. This was how they survived. But still… watching her arrow tip pierce a creature… did she have the stomach for it? Was she brave enough? She wasn’t really a Gryffindor, after all, merely a wannabe. And not even enough of a wannabe to land herself in the house, so it seemed.
“You’ll see. Doesn’t much matter how you do. All your food is served to you on a platter,” he remarked. Kim pursed her lips, but didn’t have a comeback. Once she was finished eating she and Cane walked through the town until they reached Dawn, the woman who had been teaching Kim to shoot and make her bow.
She was older than Cane, as could be told not just by the faint age lines around her eyes, but also by the many more points she had on her antlers. They fanned out on her head and had a speckled ivory coloration.
“You commin’ along?” she asked Cane, looking up from the arrow head she was fixing to a shaft with thin grass-like rope.
“I thought so, if you don’t mind.”
“You take her,” she said.
“You’re not going to come?” Kim said, trying not to sound offended. She’d tried, over the past week to gain Dawn’s appreciation, but since Dawn really only appreciated the hunting crafts, and Kim was evidently no good at them, she’d had very little success in her endeavor.
“I’ve got hundreds of arrows to make, I haven’t got time to show the ropes to someone who isn’t our own,” she scoffed. Kim looked at the dirt.
“I don’t mind,” Cane said, but his voice wasn’t light anymore. “I’ll just take her myself.” He gave Kim a sorry look and led her through the trees.
“I didn’t ask to be placed here, you know,” Kim snapped, though it was quite unfair. Cane was obviously on her side.
“I know,” Cane said. “Don’t let Dawn’s attitude get to you. She’s just… overwhelmed with work. It’s not you. There’s something else going on that you don’t understand…”
“Well, what is it? I’d like to understand.”
He grimaced and looked at her, studying. “I- can’t explain it. There aren’t words in English. You see many things. Maybe you’ll see it on your own,” he added, almost to himself. Kim took this as the cue to be quiet. They were supposed to be hunting after all, which required careful foot placement and watchful eyes through the forest.
It was a surprisingly short time before they spotted a dear in the distance, ears flicking about for sound, grazing in a small clearing. Kim moved to draw an arrow from the small quiver she’d picked up from Dawn’s shop, the one she’d crafted herself. Her fingers were just finding the feathers when she caught sight of Cane, holding up his hand and shaking his head. He mouthed the words too far.
She looked back to see he was right. She would need to creep quite a bit closer to the deer if she was to have any hope of shooting it. It was a small female, one that wouldn’t do for much meat but that was still fully grown and worth the kill, or so Kim thought. She felt sure Cane would stop her if she was wrong.
She scanned the forest floor and was careful to place her foot between leaves and on rocks that wouldn’t tumble and clatter. Cane followed in utter silence just behind her. His ability to do this was quite eerie, and if she hadn’t already gotten used to practicing with Dawn, she would be checking over her shoulder to insure he was there at all. Finally she thought she was close enough to the deer, which hadn’t moved from its grazing spot. They were luckily up wind, so it had yet to catch the scent of human, not that such issues were ever a concern for the andasoe. They had a sent different than the animals, but it was much harder to pick out amongst the natural smell of the forest. Not like Kim and her Cherry Berry shampoo, which she had swapped out for a natural remedy an andasoe shaman had suggested to her after hours of Dawn complaining about the sent. Earth worms could smell your damn hair, she’d said. You know fruit doesn’t really smell like that, don’t you?
Kim grimaced at the memory as she pulled out an arrow slowly, steadily, and lined it up with the bow in her other hand. She drew in a long and silent breath. She raised the bow and pulled it back to its full length. She could barely see the grey blur of the arrow tip. Beyond, she focused on the deer with full clarity. She was about to shoot.
Its weight shifted, making Kim pause as its head lifted lazily up from the dirt and turned. Its head rotated slowly to look directly at Kim, but its eyes. Its eyes were all wrong, they were blood red, blood red and almond shaped, placed too far forward to belong on the head of a deer. Kim felt a dark swirling energy swallow everything up. It leapt from the shadows, as if it had been awaiting there, creeping in the darkness, counting the moments until dusk. She gasped and blinked, and just as swiftly as the scene had shifted into one of her darkest nightmares, it was returned; once again a sunny summer day, mid-morning, fair breeze…
March 4, 2016
"Scientists say we are made of atoms but a little bird told me we are made of stories."
- Eduardo Galeano (via observando)
