Work Text:
A smell of smoke permeates my nostrils, which wouldn’t be weird if I smoked. And I don’t. I open my eyes and see an unknown ceiling. When my consciousness becomes more aware I go over to the mirror and suddenly understand. The only thing that passes through my head is: “Well it could be worse.”
Then I promptly go over to the closet and don’t move until I find the perfect outfit for today.
+++
I visited Anita. It was an okay meeting. Trying not to be a bitch is harder than it seems, especially when I am on a smoke withdrawal. For some reason I felt especially murderous towards the dalmatians, but I succeeded at controlling myself. Also, Roger is mega annoying, but I curbed my tongue. At least minimally. So, it turned alright. The wish for dalmatian coats will pass.
If it doesn’t, I have to find someone who makes fake fur or something. I really don’t want to roll in the mud, end up in prison, get hypnotized and then not and in the end become a big cake. It really doesn’t sound appealing. I have my hands full with fashion work and trying to navigate a world I am not from. So, I will let Anita, Roger and their puppies live a happy and Cruella free life with no dognapping and other shenanigans.
Now that I have mentioned all those things, I should visit Horace and Jaster and see what to do with them. And of course, there is also Alonzo. Joy.
+++
We came to an agreement. Hopefully they don’t bother me or my life anymore, and I don’t bother them. It really is hard to curb all the maliciousness that passes through my head, although I found a method. It works. Most of the time. When I am faced with those thieves it doesn’t really work. Maybe because the scale of power is more on my side? Whatever the reason, it doesn’t really matter anymore.
Alonzo also proved harder against my instincts. I offered him a better job offer far away from me. I was only mildly surprised that he accepted. I should find someone new soon. Oh, well. Cest’ la vie as the French say.
+++
Ugh babies. Anita is having babies. I picked my best outfit (That I still am not afraid to wash or throw away if they get dirty with baby goo or something) and rolled around to their apartment. Those puppies sure are as annoying as the babies. Seeing dogs act so humanly is still giving me more goosebumps than expected. I really don’t know how people eat animals here. (I became a vegetarian. It was also a good PR campaign and everything. I am really proud of it).
I somehow still became a villain in that game Roger was making. (I suppose the annoyance is mutual after all). It became a hit, and I am still unsure if I should be insulted or honored. Which doesn’t really change my relationship with Anita’s husband much, so I brush it off as everything else. I even started to go to therapy to try to work through my anger issues. It is going…… well in a way.
Anita says she is proud of me for working on myself. Still a bit conflicted at how to take that. However, considering I am still a very sought out fashion designer I decide to take that as a compliment. Though her questions about my love life are as miserable as ever. Being on the top I sometimes forget how sexist this movie really was at the core of it. (Or maybe how sexist this period generally was? Or how sexist society really is? Questions for pondering later).
Considering that I had a weak spot for those kinds of questions even in my world I blow up and make a scene. I only feel mildly guilty when I storm out. Though later it does make me question my sexual orientation. I should maybe try to explore that. All in good time, as they say. For now, let’s focus on work.
+++
I stand corrected. That game is the bane of my existence. I really hate it when people know me more from that game, than because of my own achievements from the fashion world. I now wish we had more strict laws for those kinds of situations than we do. I really wish I could just erase that game from existence; Anita’s friendship be damned. But hopefully the time and trends move fast and it soon gets forgotten as many other things do.
+++
I still sometimes find work for Horace and Jasper. I am just a bit smarter in my choices and execution. If anything turns out wrong, I can always plead innocence and unknowing. I have enough money and clout for that. Hurrah for independence. Those dalmatians still scratch my itch sometimes. Maybe I should get a couple of them for myself. No one will really care what I do with my own dogs. Still should be careful anyway. Fashion waits for no one.
+++
I still ended up in jail. I am not as good as I thought. Well at least I will look good while going there. My career may be over, but at least I am not arrested for kidnapping puppies. That is something. Hopefully. May this prison not turn out to be too bad. I really need some cartoon logic to work here too. Oh, Disney God please fulfill me this wish. Let’s go deal with this annoyance too.
+++
Anita visited me in prison. I suppose that is nice of her. Roger is still annoying as ever, and her dogs are as unnerving as always, but prison did not turn out as bad as I hoped. All in all, an 4 out of 10 experience, will not repeat again. Anita chatters away, while her dogs hang around. How the hell did they get past security? Better not to ask questions I don’t want the answers to. We finish our chat, so I return to prison and she returns to her family life. I wonder if she sometimes feels jealous of me, or if she only feels pity. Time will tell I suppose.
+++
I got out of prison. Legally of course. I was a good girl. No one waited for me outside. Anita basically forgot me in these couple of years. Can’t say I am surprised. Oh well let’s try to become a productive member of society again.
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The first thing I do when I return home is hug all my clothes and accessories. I missed my wardrobe in prison. Thank God, I could keep it, or this reality would be much harder to survive. At least that is something.
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I somehow became an art teacher. Don’t ask me how, I am not even sure myself. I learned that there is something I hate more than dalmatians. And that is kids.
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Anita becomes my lifesaver. We reacquaint ourselves again and she helps me find another job away from those brats. I now live a not-so-stress-induced life and praise her to high heavens. Her husband is still annoying though. But her dogs don’t really make me want to rage again, so that is a plus in my book. Her kids though……
(I will not become a child kidnapper. I promise that to myself. And to heavens. And to Disney too. Spare me please.)
+++
I do think I succeed at continuing a semi-normal life after prison. I am not a fashion designer anymore, however I am a productive member of society and that is what is important. Because of my not so stellar living conditions I did have to give up some of my clothes, which was the hardest thing in all of this misery, but considering this is still a deeply capitalistic society, when I have some money, I can buy more. So, I am not as desperate as I could be, and I think I am copying with it better than I could.
I avoided that hack of a doctor narrowly, however I still met Alice and Ioan in a weird turn of events. It seems that even with all my efforts some things just stay the same. Because I still see and talk to Anita these days, her and Roger met Alice and Ioan, and they all became good friends. Which I am not sure how to feel about. All my supposed friends are getting along with each other. This is all so surreal and if I hadn’t lived in this world for at least three years give or take I would start to question my sanity right now.
“Hey Cruella, maybe it is time for you to think about finding a companion for life you know? Or like maybe buy a cat? Or a dog, or even a bird?”
I look over to both sets of lovers, grimace exaggeratedly and huff in annoyance at those questions. “No thanks I am fairly good by myself.”
“But don’t you ever get lonely?”
Oh, these poor innocent unknowing souls. They really can’t phantom that a misanthrope does not want to be near any people if she can help it. “I barely stand you with your kids and your animals, do you really think I can bear any more than that?”
By the silence that descends upon our group, maybe they aren’t as clueless as I thought of them. “Well maybe you can still sometimes try to find some connections. Humans aren’t made for a completely singular existence as you well know,” Anita says this profound pearl of wisdom and I scoff in agreement. “Yes, pity for that. But oh well, I understand you just worry for me, so I do promise to try sometime to be sociable with a select group of people. Key word sometimes.”
They all look satisfied with that, which is good because I would not be able to promise anything more than that. Even this will probably make me regret it pretty quickly.
No one said I became a saint after exiting prison.