#Hannah's History Lessons

[hanban371213]

last book1 hooray

good evening Hannah nation, finaly i got to the last book necessary for the exam. which also happens to be the most boring to me personaly, since it covers a FUCK ton of topics but with not much depth, quantity over quality. full context on the first post, check the first tag

Book 9 - Geoestrategic changes, political tensions and socio-cultural transformations in the modern world

Part 1 - The end of the international system of the Cold War and the persistence of the North-South dichotomy

With the Soviet system deteriorating Mikhail Gorbachov decides to restructure the economic model of the USSR, decentralizing it and promoting the private sector. These measures are known as the perestroika, and they also had a political side to it, the glasnost, meant to mix Democracy and Socialism.

However these changes came too late, as the built-up tension of decades of supression, suddenly blow up with the slight opening of the USSR. The country implodes, with the various soviet republics declaring independence. The Eastern Bloc and the Berlin Wall both fall, and the Warsaw Pact and the COMECON are dissolved. Russia's transition to a capitalist market economy ends up being disastrous, with the economy rapidly deteriorating, with most of the population getting poorer, while a very small group becomes rich very quickly.

The fall of the USSR and the Soviet Bloc mark the end of the Cold War, and alongside the USA's economic prosperity, technological advancements and military supremacy, they become the sole hegemonic power. They went around militarly intervening on all conflicts, imposing and securing their own interests, becoming known as "cops of the world"

With the creationg of the European Union, Europe becomes a grand economic power, on par with the USA and China, making it very influencial and giving it a voice in international affairs. They expanded with the fall of the eastern bloc, created a single large unified market, a single coin, second most important, and a single unified European citizenship.

In Asia various countries, starting with Japan, rapidly developed, most notably China under Deng Xiaoping who, after the failure of maoism, liberalized the Chinese coastline and integrated the country in international economic organizations, turning China into the second world power. And with the anexation of the ex-colonies of Macau and Hong Kong, European dominion over Asia finaly ends.

After the Cold War, ethnic, religious and nationalistic tensions remained persistent around the world. Near the USSR, the invasion of Chechnya, the Yugoslav wars and the current invasion of Ukraine; in Africa, due to the made up borders by the Europeans, different religious and ethnic groups were grouped together, or split apart, leading to violence, civil wars and massacres; and in the Middle East, especialy due to British and unitedstatian intervention, instability only grew, leading to extremist groups such as ISIS.

Part 2 - The turning of a new age

Due to the oil crisis in the 70s, the "Thirty Glorious Years" officialy end, as inflation and monetary instability take place. As a result, the welfare-states and intervencionist policies no longer become financialy possible and a new economic model, neoliberalism, reducing the State's intervention to the minimum possible and heavily liberalizing the economy. This led to increased economic development, however it's also responsible for an increase in economic inequality, worldwide recessions, worsens the social situation, and is also blamed for climate change.

The world nowadays faces many problems. Migrations, caused either because of wars and conflicts, or due to natural disasters caused by climate change, that mostly affect third world countries. There are many issues relating with Security, be it due to terrorism, cyberatacks, or the persistance of nuclear threat. And in the Environment, such as polution, soil degradation, and global warming.

With multinational companies all over the world selling standardized products, and the development of technologies that facilitate international communications and the spread of information, interests and life styles become homogenized across the whole world. The rise of the internet affects all aspects of life, and also facilitate the spread of misinformation and fake news, making digital literacy very important.

Part 3 - Portugal in the new international framework.

With the Portuguese integration in the EU and the funds that came with it the Portuguese economy was able to develop for a while, but with the adhesion to the Euro, the single market, and with the following restrictions on agriculture and fishing, the Portuguese economy starts to decline. Portugal has had significant prestige and respect by other nations, having had 4 presidents of the European Council be Portuguese, and many Portuguese people being chosen for high level jobs at an European and international scale. Portugal also maintains good relations and cooperation with it's ex-colonies through the CPLP(Comunidade de Países de Língua Portuguesa).

and that is all, im done studying, if anyone finds any of these posts i hopeyou have fun reading about history

[calamitys-child]

Listening to a podcast discussing conspiracy theories and deconstructing the ideas behind them and it's reminded me of the coolest practical lessons in critical thinking I ever got, both in high school, both from the same teacher. One was a month long project on who killed jfk in which we could basically present any theory as long as we cited all our reasons and it got us really excited about research and interpretation, but it was the follow up that I liked best.

Our next project she brought us into class and showed us a documentary claiming the moon landing was faked. Gave us worksheets to do that sided with that stance. And at the end of class a bunch of us were like miss wait this doesn't seem right?? and she said okay, we'll discuss that next week. The next lesson, she showed us a mythbusters episode countering all the claims of the original documentary and gave us worksheets for that, and another bunch of people went wait miss you can't teach us two opposing things, which one is right? What do we put on the exam??

So she split the class in two and told us each to present a case based on each side, and to explain why our source was or wasn't the more reliable of the two. Got us to debate each other directly and use additional sources to back us up and explain why those sources were reliable and should be believed. And because they were randomly assigned there was no guarantee you'd agree with the stance you were presenting, but you had to present it like you did. At the end of the project she asked us all which stance we found more convincing and why, and the majority of us basically said "we think that the moon landing is real because most of the arguments against it seem like someone reacted to a confusing thing without testing it, but when you test it and ask the person running the test to explain the science it makes sense once you have more information. Also, one documentary was made with the help of scientists with qualifications and experience and the other was made by people who don't have that but like to write mystery books, which looks like a less reliable way to get an answer. But we still dont understand why you showed us both if one is wrong."

And she was like excellent. You've done exactly what you should do. At high school level, we as teachers are expected to filter for the reliable sources for you, so you know to repeat that to pass an exam, but if you want to be historians on your own, I won't be your teacher any more once you graduate. Lots of people have opinions and theories and research about times in history, and it's your job to learn how to look at them and decide who you want to trust. This won't be on the exam, but I need you all to know it. You all did a great job following the school's instructions to repeat information you were given, but for some of you, that information wasn't on a reliable foundation. I know you all know how to pass an exam. You're smart and you've been trained to follow these instructions. What you deserve to be taught is how to use all this once you don't have to do exams any more.

And then as a reward for us doing a good job at figuring out the value of checking your sources' sources she let us watch Bush get hit in the face with a shoe before we had to go to maths. Shoutout to you Ms Hannah you were a good'un I hope you're doing well ten years on from that class

[gnarkillluvr]

The Dunblane Massacre

The deadliest mass shooting in British history.

Trigger warnings; child murder, school shooting, suicide

Overview:

Date and Time: 13th of March, 1996 from 9:35am to 9:40am

Perpetrator:

Thomas Watt Hamilton

10th of May, 1952 - 13th of March, 1996

Born in Glasglow, Scotland

Weapons used:

9mm Browning HP Pistols x2

Smith and Wesson M19 .357 Magnum Revolver x2

[BOTH LEGALLY OWNED]

Attack Type:

School Shooting

Pedicide (Child murder)

Mass Murder

Murder-Suicide

Mass Shooting

Location:

Dunblane Primary School, Dunblane, County of Stirling, Scotland.

(A primary school holds children from four to six years old.)

Victims:

Victoria Elizabeth Clydesdale (5), Emma Elizabeth Crozier (5), Melissa Helen Curry (5), Charlotte Louise Dunn (5), Kevin Allen Hassle (5), Ross William Irvine (5), David Charles Kerr (5), Mhairi Isabel MacBeath (5), Gwen Mayor (45), Brett McKinnon (6), Abigail Joanne McLennan (5), Hannah Louise Scott (5), Emily Morton (5), Megan Turner (5), Sophie Jane Lockwood North (5), John Petrie (5), Joanna Caroline Ross (5).

Teacher Gwen Mayor and her class, 16 of who are listed as victims above.

Timeline:

8:15am

Thomas Hamilton was seen shaving ice off of his car at his house on Kent Road, Stirling. He left soon after and drove 5 miles to Dunblane. From Kent Road to Dunblane Primary School, the journey would take 16-18 minutes to drive, but Thomas Hamilton arrived at about 9:30am, which means he had 1hr15mins to reconsider, whilst on his way to the primary school.

Thomas Watt Hamilton, the shooter.

9:30am

Thomas Hamilton parked his car near a telephone pole and severed the phone line, cutting connections to several nearby houses. He could've done this so that there was no way civilians could raise alarms and call the police if gunshots were heard.

By this time, a class of 28/29 students along with Gwen Mayor; Teacher, Eileen Harrild; P.E Teacher, and Mary Blake; assistant teacher, were in the middle of a lesson.

Sophie North, a victim in the shooting, was having a PE lesson in the gymnasium.

9:30am-9:35am

The shooter headed towards the northwest side of the building to a door near the toilets and gymnasium. He entered and fired shots into the assembly hall stage and the girl's toilets.

Dunblane Primary School after the Massacre.

9:35am-9:38am

Thomas Hamilton entered the gymnasium and opened fire. Teacher Gwen Mayor was shot and killed immediately. PE Teacher Eileen Harrild was shot in the arms and chest trying to protect herself. She proceeded to stumble into an open-planned store cupboard, bringing four children and Mary Blake, the Teaching Assistant, who was shot in the head and both of her legs.

At the same time, Thomas Hamilton, moved to the east, firing six shots as he walked, Then firing eight shots at the opposite side of the gymnasium (west). Walking to the centre of the gym, he then callously fired 16 shots at the injured children he had earlier capacitated, at point-blank range. Potentially spotting an adult in the playground, he fired 24 shots in various directions (window next to the fire exit, southeast). Four more shots were then fired.

An adult and child potentially heard the loud bangs and screams, moving to check what was happening, causing the shooter to fire towards them. The child was injured by shattering glass.

Thomas Hamilton exited the gym through the fire exit, firing four shots into the library cloakroom, injuring member of staff Grace Tweddle, though not hitting any students.

Amy Hutchinson, a survivor, who was shot by Thomas Hamilton in the leg, was in the gymnasium.

9:38am-9:40am

Catherine Gordon, a teacher in the mobile classroom nearest the fire exit, saw Thomas Hamilton approaching and told the students inside to get on the ground mere seconds before he fired 9 shots inside, hitting school equipment, books and a chair a child was sitting in a few seconds before.

Thomas Hamilton then returned to the gymnasium, dropping one pistol and taking out his revolver placing the barrel at the back of his mouth, pointing it upwards and proceeding to pull the trigger, killing himself.

Dunblane Primary School after the shooting, possibly the assembly hall or the gymnasium.

9:41am

Assistant Headmistress Agnes Awlson alerted Headmaster Ronald Taylor, who called the police. Ronald said he "assumed the noises were from builders he hadn't been informed about".

Headmaster Ronald Taylor, who was the first to witness the aftermath, had to take control and identify the bodies.

9:43am

Ronald Taylor ran to the gym. Seeing what had happened, he told Deputy Headmistress Fiona Eadington to call the ambulance.

Dunblane Cathedral, where the memorial for the victims was taking place.

9:48am

Stirling Royal Infirmary was informed of a major incident having unfolded.

Isabel, Mhairi MacBeath's mother holding her picture. She had recently lost her husband to a stroke and was on her way to the memorial service when she got a call about the shooting. Her daughter was dead by nightfall.

9:57am

The first ambulance arrived.

Mothers comforting students after the massacre.

10:04am

A medical team from Dunblane Health Centre arrived. Both the Dunblane and the ambulance teams were involved in the initial resuscitation. Teams from Doune and Callender arrived shortly after.

Parents rushing to Dunblane Primary school after hearing about the shooting.

10:15am

Stirling Royale Infirmary medical team arrive on the scene.

Queen Elizabeth the 2nd and Anne, Princess Royale, placing flowers at the scene.

10:35am

Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary medical teams arrive.

Gwen Mayor, the 1st victim of the massacre. She was a primary school teacher.

11:10am

By this time, all injured had been taken to hospital.

Children outside Dunblane Primary School a day after the massacre.

Summary

743 rounds of ammo in total.

106 shots were fired.

105 by the pistol.

1 by the revolver.

32 gunshot wounds all between a three to four-minute time period.

16 were inside the gym.

Children with injuries were taken to either the District Royal Infirmary or the Royal Hospital For Sick Children in Glasglow.

One child died en route to the hospital.

The shooter, Thomas Hamilton, was wearing shooting earmuffs, showing inexperience, with his ears not yet used to the sound of gunfire.

Aftermath

Parents of the victims petitioning for new gun legislation, October 1996.

After the Massacre, a professional inquiry was held by William Cullen, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk, called The Cullen Reports. It focused on 3 significant events, Piper Alpha; an oil rig fire that killed 167 of the 229 people on board in 22 minutes, Ladbroke Grove; the deadliest train crash in British history and the massacre itself.

The public campaigned to ban handguns from being privately owned across Britain. The Snowdrop Petition was created to press forward the petition. It proved successful, helping to bring about new legislation, specifically two firearms acts. The acts prohibited the private ownership of most types of handguns in Britain. Licensed gun owners had to hand in their handguns in exchange for compensation.

[lovedrunkheadcanons]

Chapter Contents

Read on AO3

WARNINGS: Satoru x wife fluff. Cute oneshot. Couple issues. Cultural differences. But not for the reasons you think.

During the beginning stages of her Japanese lessons, Hannah’s knowledge of her future home was nominal at best. When she was a young girl in England, her first ever history lesson about the Land of the Rising Sun came at an unfortunate lecture on the United State’s dropping of the atomic bomb “Little Boy.” The city of Hiroshima was reduced to a heaping graveyard of cinders, following a second atomic bombing on Nagasaki three days after.    

She had come a long way since then, having acquired the Japanese language, and gained a brief, albeit comprehensive, education on the nation’s tumultuous and violent history, from the Jōmon period to modern day. 

However, culture was contextual, far more slippery to master than linguistics and history lessons; The deep filial piety one defers to senior members of a group, be it elder sibling or work colleague, bowing instead of shaking hands, scrubbing your body with soap and water before entering a public bath, and greeting a person with “Konbanwa” rather than “Kon'nichiwa” when it was no longer the middle of the day. Different as a circle was to a square, these were daily customs Hannah had to integrate herself with by way of experience.

Having a Japanese husband also helped. On top of putting her through a strict training regiment, Satoru was more than willing to give cultural advice when asked. He already introduced her to the internet and the wonders of a popular video website called YouTube. Whenever she was free, the young wife would spend her afternoons watching vlog after endless vlog of Japanese and non-Japanese YouTubers. This was also a great way to find new restaurants and activities to do in the country.

Although Hannah would later come to find not all these videos contained information she wished to know.

Which explained how Satoru found his poor wife alone one evening in tears.

“Is it true?!” she cried accusatively from their bedroom.

Satoru halted at the door amidst his confusion. Eh? He had just gotten out of the shower, torso wrapped in a clean bath towel, hair dripping wet. 

“That’d you’d prefer a prostitute over me?” she clarified.

Confusion turned into panic. Shit, what’d I do??!

Hannah answered for him, tilting her phone to wide-screen and holding it out. Satoru sauntered over as the video began to play. It consisted of a reporter walking around Tokyo, asking random people (mostly women) on the street this basic question: What would you think if your boyfriend or husband confided in a prostitute? The replies were as expected. 

“It beats him cheating on me,” said the first woman. 

“That’s difficult,” replied another, her boyfriend standing right next to her. “I wouldn’t mind if he went to let off some steam while I wasn’t able to be with him, but of course I wouldn’t like it if he had feelings for her [prostitute].”

 “As long as he doesn’t love her, I don’t mind,” concurred a third.

Only a handful of women admitted to disliking the idea of their significant other visiting a prostitute. Most, if not all, came to the easy conclusion that the action was not a mark of infidelity.

“Do you really think it’s not cheating?” said Hannah when the video was over.

Satoru merely shrugged. “Well…no.” 

Hannah’s lips began to tremble again, ready for a fresh onslaught of tears. She could hardly believe what she was hearing, as though her world and everything good in it was on the verge of self-combustion. 

For non-Japanese folks, this was where the nuances and cultural understandings between love and sex reached a noticeable divide. Despite living in the 21st century, many of the “old ways” were still practiced, meaning in Japan it was socially acceptable for a romantic partner or spouse to have sexual relations with another. Why? The answer was simple. If you don’t “love” the person you're having sex with, then it doesn’t count as cheating. Problem solved!

“But I’m not going to confide in a prostitute, sweetheart,” Satoru tried to assuage, registering her obvious distress. “I don’t want one.”

Tough luck, that.

“But you could if you wanted to,” she sobbed. “Just wait till I’m old and grey and need a walker to move around, or too fat from having babies. You won’t want me anymore.”

“Hannah, I’m gonna be old and fat too.”

She wasn’t listening by that point. The news was too much. Satoru was rather stumped. Never before had he seen his wife so heartbroken. Was this really something to cry over? It’s not like he meant to upset her. 

Satoru sat beside her on their bed.

“Hannah, sweetheart, look at me. Please?”

Hannah did as he asked, hazel eyes streaming lines of tears, sniffling helplessly. He switched to English in an effort to tamper her worries.

“You’re forgetting I love you, right?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she blubbered. “They just said it didn’t.”

“Well, I say it does. And you know what else I say?”

She blinked up at him, rheumy-eyed. “What?”

His palms cupped her petite face. “I say while I don’t think it’s cheating for a partner to confide in a prostitute, I also can’t bear the thought of causing you pain.” He swiped his thumbs soothingly across her hot cheeks. “Would it hurt you, Hannah? Would me ‘theoretically’ hooking up with a prostitute - or anyone else for that matter - cause you pain?”

There were few instances when Satoru sounded like the mature half in their relationship. This was one of them.

Hannah let out another tiny sniffle and nodded solemnly. “Mmhm.” 

“Then I’ll never do it,” he promised with the most sincere expression, Six Eyes heated like two blue flames. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d rather cut my own dick off, then be the reason for your unhappiness. You understand, sweetheart? Does that answer your question?”

She quietly mulled it over. “I suppose.”

He pulled her gently to him, running a calming hand down her back. “I’m not gonna cheat on you, Hannah — I mean, who would I have to cheat with?”

“Loads of people,” she simpered into his bare chest, his wet hair dripping on her forehead from his shower. “I see all kinds of men and women fawn over you when we’re together. They call me ‘busakiku’‘ behind my back.”

He chuckled, weaving his fingers through her silky autumn hair as he kissed her crown. “Sure, but do they know how to edge using only their mouth?”

Satoru couldn’t see her, but he could already tell she was flushing beet red. “W-Well, uh…um…”

Bless this woman.

“Thought so,” he declared triumphantly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, sweetheart, but if you were a prostitute, you’d have clients lining out the door for your services. Trust me, it’s a compliment.”

“Thanks.” She seemed lost for words. “I think?”

“You're my end game, babe. The only person I want ringing my bell is you.” He gave her a light squeeze, praying it was enough to dry her tears. “Alright?”

“Alright,” his wife relented, wrapping her own arms securely around him. “But, please, don’t cut your dick off. That sounds awful.”

“Yeah, would be kinda distressing.”

“And bloody,” she added.

He laughed. “That too.”

Japanese beliefs between marriage and cheating were likely not to change anytime soon, but at least Hannah could be comforted by the knowledge her husband had no intention of breaking his marital vows.

He did love her, afterall.

Chapter Contents

Read on AO3

[dadonbabysworld]

Skz older brother reactions: You got your heartbroken for the first time

Author's Note: Special shout out to @l-luvr for her big brother reaction that inspired me to make this. I hope you enjoy mine as well. Italics are thoughts as always :)

Warnings (?): mentions of violence, nudity, cursing, lots of crying, weight insecurities, discriminatory language

Word Count: 5,937

Chan 

Why did I have to go to Uni in America?

That thought has been running rampant in your mind as if it was some kind of enigma. You were in your second year of university when you came home for break expecting things to be just fine. 

It was not fine. On the second day of break, your boyfriend broke up with you. 

You were doing fine until someone mentioned he was talking to someone. Already?! It’s only been 24 hrs.… To say you were devastated wouldn’t even be enough to describe how you felt. You locked yourself away in your room fleeing from your parents and siblings – ultimately the world. 

“Go check on her” 

“You do it! I’m not going in there.”

The mumbles of sounds outside your room weren’t your first concern as you listened to heartbreak songs in the dark. Difficult is how you’d describe trying to find your appetite and motivation. The issue was you’d have to return back to school eventually and see him. A knock at the door took you out of your wallowing in self-pity. 

“Can I come in?”

You sighed before getting up and unlocking the door before opening it to reveal a concerned Chan. He looked down at you before hugging you tightly. Standing there in his arms reminding you of why you will always need him: comfort. Chan knew exactly what you needed, just silence reassurance that you’re enough. Your hands wrapped around his torso slowly as you sobbed into his chest. 

In silence, you both stood there not sure where to go from here. As scars played in the background, Chan sang along for you.  He rocked you both side to side slowly trying to calm down your crying. Surprised you watched him sing in awe, not sure when the last time you heard him sing in person was. Your heartbeat slowed to match his, eye heavy and heart heavier.

As the song ended, he asked “Are you ok?”

“Yes. Thank you for singing for me…” 

He smiled softly knowing his sole purpose for singing was to calm you down: it worked. Like you were a baby, Chan lulled you almost to sleep. He was your rock, and it would be helpless for him to try and fight the fact he was. 

“Do you want to lay back down?”

You nod slowly crawling into your bed as he sat next to you. You rested your head on his lap. “Can you sing to me again?”

“Only if you tell me what happened” 

He was very compelling, knowing you wanted to hear him more than anything right now. It was embarrassing to admit to him that you ruined this situation. You were too attached, making him unattracted to you. 

“I ruined it Chan... I didn’t give him enough space. He felt suffocated. I just thought- I wanted to do stuff more often.”

You stared up at his chin. Eye contact made you nervous, so he just stared forward, nodding. Chan had several situation ships in the past. No one in his life currently, but he has been here before. He rubbed your hair back.

“I feel like he just wasn’t ready for the level of commitment and love style you have. It’s ok. Some people are in your life for a season to teach you a lesson.”

Even though you were only two years apart, Chan was way more mature than you are. He had to grow up faster given that he had three younger siblings. Lucas and Hannah were much more independent and attached to each other. You and Chan were closer because of not only age, but you could go see him more often. Once Chan debuted in Straykids, you were already 18 years old. 

Spending time in Korea to be close to him, but also work in a new place to make your resume and work history more diverse. Also, despite being Korean, you had never visited the country before only understanding the language minimally. 

“Do you ever want to turn back the clock?”

You could see the gears turning on his face as he picked out his words very carefully. Not wanting to confuse you or sound stupid in the process of answering. 

“Actually yes. I would make a lot of different decisions, but it would change so much that I just accept the fact that life happens for a reason. What if I changed something then I died because I didn’t do something important.”

You laughed at his antics. Always the philosophical perspectives with him. He took everything literally, and his candor kept you grounded. 

“You know…”

Your words dragged on as he finally looked at you in anticipation. “I love you big brother”

He kissed your head and ruffled your hair teasing. 

“Cutee. You love me??”

“I regret saying that now.”

He wasn’t taking no as an answer. He pulled you up and snuggled you tightly like. It was suffocating but adorable. You patted his head trying to calm him. He plopped down on you content in his positioning. 

“Chan you’re heavy! Also, what about my song?”

He just hummed facing the other way to ignore you as he stayed on top of you. You pushed his torso trying to move him in any way before he got the idea: getting off you.

“Okay my little yeodongsaeng. What song would you like to hear?”

Minho

You immediately called him to come get you from the restaurant bathroom during your disastrous date. “Oppa” Your voice was barely heard as you sniffled trying to maintain your composure. After you were born, he was always protecting you. His adorable, sensitive sister – the one who constantly pretended there was nothing ever wrong. 

He was with the guys because you heard a lot of commotion. You didn’t want to interrupt their night – they were probably somewhere messing around. You sobbed into your hand; He was so happy meanwhile this is the worst night of your life. He stepped away by the sounds of it. 

“Are you okay?” His voice was low, and his concern was clear as day even over the phone. It was silence from both sides of the line as you thought on what to say. It’s too late to say nothing is wrong… also you need a ride home

“Kai broke up with me. He said he’d rather be with someone who was skinnier…” You couldn’t tell his reaction over the phone as it had gotten silent again. You heard footsteps before he tells the guys what happened. Sighs, gasps, and some murmured comments were made about the situation. The only person you didn’t hear was Minho himself saying something about it.

“Hyung…?” That was Jeongin. Minho had a fire in his eyes. Skinnier? How dare he insult you like that? Did he not understand the threat that Minho told him? On the year anniversary of you guys being together, you took Kai to meet your family. As expected, they liked him since you did. He appeared to be a good guy at the time. 

Minho was the only one weary of him – pulling him aside to talk when you went to the bathroom. His words were very blunt and passionate.

“Hurt my sister, and I’ll kill you”

Trying to grab his attention, you ask him to come get you from the restaurant. He nodded, grabbing his keys. Before you could say anything else, he hung up.

“Hyung, don’t do anything irrational.”

“Felix. Don’t worry. Does anyone wanna come with me to get y/n?”

“Yes, I wanna go!” Jeongin was bouncing off the walls. He needed to get this energy out apparently. 

“I’ll go” 

Minho, Jeongin, and Chan had come to get you. The only issue being that Kai was still there; he decided to actually have dinner. You had no appetite having cried and thrown up from a breakdown. How could you eat in front of him after he basically called you fat anyways?

Minho walked inside to see if he could spot you with Chan and Jeongin on his heels. His eyes scanned the room immediately landing on Kai facing the other way. Before Chan had any chances to grab him, Minho, basically, towards Kai punching him in the back of the head.

“What the fuck?” Kai spins around to see who the culprit was before getting up to fight back. As blows were thrown back and forth, Chan put Minho in a headlock. He tried to de-escalate the situation, but the next words out of Kai’s mouth made it very difficult. 

“Fuck you and that fat bitch” He spat trying to get closer and a rise out of Minho knowing he was being held back. He didn’t expect Chan to punch him in the face – it happened so fast. 

Minho – with a newfound freedom – beat him into the ground. The restaurant workers had no idea what to do; the commotion coming from outside made you wander out the bathroom curiously. Seeing your brother and Kai tussle, it warms your heart in a somewhat bad way. You shouldn’t enjoy his suffering, but he deserved the worst. 

Satisfied with the ass whopping he just gave; Minho grabbed your hand to leave with Chan and Jeongin following once again. Nothing was said on the way back to their dorms besides a whisper from you.

“Thank you Oppa. Can we stop and get food?”

Minho just nodded, changing the route to head to your favorite restaurant. “Anything for you”

Changbin

You were always all over Changbin when he came home from tour with that being the only free time he ever has. You loved your brother so much; calling, texting, and voice chatting while he was away any time you got any news to share with him. He was like your diary, and you were his – all skz news was never new to you. You were essentially all of the guys’ younger sister. 

They were very involved in your life with Minho, Changbin, and Chan being your favorite ones. They babied you in a way that made you satisfied. In your everyday life, your friends were all younger than you. Meaning you had to be a strong leader for them to look up to, it was the only way to maintain their respect.

It was nice to be the youngest around Changbin and the guys. Being 2 years younger than Jeongin, he was your happy place, your fashion consultant, and most importantly your best friend. Meaning he was the first one to know when you broke up with your significant other. 

They had called a house meeting over it. It was important to console you in these trying times. 

“Okay so what do you think she needs right now?” Felix asked. He was the most concerned being the sunshine boy he is; he hated when anyone else was upset.

“She needs nice words and a little bit of space to think. It’s a time for reflection on what she wants and truly is.” Chan was always the voice of reason.

“I think I’ll just ask her?” Changbin suggested.

Which led to this moment in which all the guys were at your front door. You in your saddened state looked like shit. Hair slick and greasy in a messy bun, pajamas on, and tear lines on your cheeks. 

“Heyy Y/N. Can we come in?” Chan asks. You nod letting them come in. Taking places on the couch and table, they sit before you lay on the floor in front of them. It was obvious you had been sleeping on the floor; the blankets and pillows as well as some stuffed animals looked comfortably spread out. 

“Can we help in any way? Have you eaten?” Minho asks petting your precious kitten: Mochi.

“I have because Mochi insisted. She kept screaming at me and going to the fridge. Also, I don’t think it’s anything you guys can do… I’m just not that confident. I was hoping it would work out regardless, but he wanted someone bolder than I am.”

“Good girl Mochi” Jeongin and Minho praised her as they pet her. Mochi was comfortable with their presence having been around them enough at this point.

“Well if confidence is what you need… I have a suggestion. The gym.” Jisung says knowing it was a shot in the dark. He didn’t know how you felt about that.

“Good idea! We can go together. The brother-sister duo that was meant to be.” 

You laughed at Changbin’s excitement. He has tried to convince you before claiming ‘Noona goes to the gym. You should go too’

“I’ll think about it. I don’t see myself going every day. I’ll burn myself out.”

“Then don’t. I suggest 4 days on, 3 days off. In any order. Also, you gotta eat right. No more chocolate ice cream at 12 in the morning.” Chan warned.

You pouted before nodding. Chan was such a father, but he just wanted the best for you. The next day you were at the gym with Changbin. 

“Noona gave me her workout for you to experiment with. Also, I bought you this.” He pulls out a water bottle. It was big, but it had writing on it. ‘Stay strong and healthy - Changbin’

You hugged him not wanting to let go as you tear up. In his embrace, you found yourself at home. With his help, you could do anything. Including building your confidence, you wiped your eyes and grabbed some weights for your first set.

Hyunjin

Hyunjin was never in the know about anything in your life, too nosey. He couldn’t keep a secret for anything; he was the new Tom Holland. All love to the old Tom Holland. Therefore, you didn’t tell him anything about your relationship and how it ended.

He couldn’t handle information like that. Everyone in your family would know. Kkami was the only one who knew anything. He was silently judging you every time you cried at least, so you could assume he knew.

“Hey Y/N. Let’s go out tonight.”

Outside... I haven’t been out in so long. The last time you went out; you were single, and it was Halloween then as well. Enjoying the sluttiest holiday of the year, sounded like a plan. 

“Okay let’s go out” You went to the stores to gather anything to make a makeshift costume settling on being boo from monsters inc. She was adorable and also had black hair: score!

At eight you began to get ready together, doing each other’s makeup and hair as well as pregaming. Tequila shots always get you drunk. It is tradition for you guys to have similar costumes. Hyunjin agreed to be Sulley. 

Entering the party already buzzed, you waved to the guys as you passed each of them. Chan, in the DJ booth, was playing a rather good mix because no one was sitting down. Minho and Jisung were playing beer pong; Minho, being the competitive asshole he is, was winning making Jisung look dejected. Hyunjin and Felix began tearing the dance floor apart with their moves. Literally taking this time to dance like loonatics. Seungmin was bartending as he was also listening to something in his earphones. Maybe a podcast. 

The only one not in the mix was Jeongin; he was dressed as a werewolf, and you had to admit his leather man had him looking good. He brushed back his hair as he sat on the couch sipping his drink. It is some type of jungle juice. You sat next to him with your cup.

“Hey y/n! How’s it going?” He asked, a gleam of happiness behind his eyes. Jeongin and you are the same age and always joked about how old the other is ironically. 

“It’s ok. I’m just trying to have a good time yk?” He nodded, not a care in the world about anyone else. He is so attentive. After finishing your drink and talking a little, you gathered yourself and went to dance with Hyunjin. 

“You good?” He asks, confused on why you came over. He thought you were having a good time with Jeongin. You guys looked good together. 

“Yes, I’m fine. Why? Do I not look okay?”

He leaned closer to not say this to any unwanted ears. “I thought you and I.N were having a moment” 

‘A moment?! Like flirting?!’ Hyunjin thought it was obvious y’all were flirting – apparently not.

“Hyunjin please!” You whine hitting him. You had slightly gotten over your crush on Jeongin by getting a relationship but being newly single meant you found him attractive once again.

He had got you outside to see if you could enjoy your night and find someone to finally date. Confused by your lack of love life — he was trying to be a good brother and set you up with Jeongin.

Jeongin continued to try and talk to you all night; he had a crush on you since he met you at their debut. He was considerate of your feelings, never pressuring anything or trying to boldly make a move. 

Today was more difficult than normal; you had on a very good costume which was ultimately just a giant shirt as you were boo from monsters inc. with shorts. He thought you looked adorable, and it fit your soft personality.  

“Soo... Y/N do you wanna dance?” 

You were dumbfounded to say the least. You just nodded and took his hand as he led you to the dance floor. You began to dance very closely to the slow song playing. His hands on your waist as he whispered. 

“I always thought you were gorgeous. I’m glad we’re having this dance.”

You blushed and looked off to the side where Hyunjin gave a thumbs up. ‘Did he plan this?’ You were almost furious at him, but he was a good brother to set this up. He made this break up, even though he knew nothing about it, way easier to deal with. 

Jisung

You were wrapped up burrito style because Jisung wrapped you up. He called it a ‘sadrrito’ and threw you over his shoulder. The last two days you’ve been crying and in bed. Jisung had enough of you moping around only leaving your room to get your boba deliveries and use the bathroom. 

He sat you on the couch and cut on the anime he was watching. He didn’t say anything to you about why he bought you out here or what he wanted. You slumped into the couch going on tiktok. Apparently tiktok hasn’t gotten the message you were single because your whole for you page was couples. It broke you to the core. 

Jisung slapped your head. “Watch the anime big head”

You sighed and put your phone on the table not wanting to deal with another slap to the head from Ji. Normally, you’d fight back, but you were so low energy having only eaten small meals and boba. The anime was obviously your type – Shonen. Haikyuu was your comfort anime. It’s all you’ve had for entertainment these last two days.

This was more violent catching your attention quickly considering the main character lost all his family in the first episode except his sister. By the time the sixth episode began, you sat up and pulled the blanket down some because it got too warm. 

“Did you just see that?!” You asked him when the sister came out her box to help the brother fight. 

He laughed and nodded. It only took six episodes for you to be seemingly back to yourself. In a lot of ways, you guys reminded him of Nezuko and Tanjiro. He would do anything to protect you. Also, he just wanted to be the main character so bad. It was the only role he considered “worthy” of him.

“She’s so strong” 

“Yeah, she’s a demon”

“I mean true. Would you still love me if I was a demon?”

“As long as you don’t try to eat or harm me, I don’t see why not. You're still my sister in that form. You have to protect me.”

You hummed in agreement. “I wouldn’t love you if you were a demon. I’d kill you without second thoughts.”

“You’re heartless Y/N. What if I agreed to protect you?”

“I can’t take any chances. I’d probably be a regular civilian in an anime world.”

He laughed looking over at you. Not you considering yourself too normal to be the main character or villain. He thought you had main character potential so like supporting cast 1. 

“I don’t think of you in that way. I think you could be like a supporting character to the main character or the love interest to someone deserving.”

You sighed thinking about love interests. ‘I rather be regular than a love interest’ You had accidently said that out loud gasping when you realized. Jisung just pulled you into a hug. 

“Listen my favorite yeodongsaeng. You are deserving of a love that is unconditional and understanding. Don’t let one bad situation stop you from ever loving again. If one person saw something in you, there has to be others out there. Also, you're like seventeen. You have a long life ahead of you.”

“I’m your only yeodongsaeng!”

“Is that all you got from that?”

You laughed, shaking your head. You heard him loud and clear. He was ever so bossy. You just laid your head across his lap as you continued to watch the anime. His words running through your mind: “there has to be others out there.” He was right; someone out there wanted you. When the time is right, they’ll have you. 

Felix

You were already depressed before the breakup, so it came as no surprise when you were suddenly more depressed now. It was already hard to manage a schedule and keep appearances. Right now? You could do neither.

As you laid in bed, you watched meaningless Minecraft builds for the fourth hour in a row. It was the only thing you could manage to not cry about while watching. It had no emotions, no music, and it was easy to follow. 

A knock at the door led to you pausing the video. “Come in!” You yelled at the unexpected visitor. In came Felix, he looked concerned but stared at the ground. 

“Hey. How’s it going?” His voice somber. He knew you were down right now. 

“It could be better. I'm so tired Lixie.” 

He came over to your bedside and sat down. He looked you in your eyes finally. He could tell you weren’t lying; you looked like shit. It pained him to see you so discouraged and disoriented. 

It’s been three days since you had a shower or eaten. Only water and vibes have been keeping you here. Hoping that death was soon, you didn’t care about those things. 

Felix had led you to the bathroom and since you were out of energy let you sit as he ran the bath. Normal sibling relationships weren’t something you and Felix knew anything about. You were connected to the hip as if y’all were twins.

Once he drew a bath fitting of his standards for you, he lit some candles. He wanted you to relax if possible, so he spread them around the room for some ambient lighting. He helped you undress and get in the tub; your body relaxed into the hot water as you laid back.

Felix always knew best; he was older and wiser than you most of the time. He knew given the circumstances you needed a push to do better and feel better. He could do this if he tried: motivate you but also help you physically. 

The feeling of water running down your head scared you, but you closed your eyes anyway. Felix began washing your hair; he was so gentle about it. This whole process was just soft and caring; he did this out of love not pity.

The tears that fell from your eyes as he rinsed your hair made him panic a little. His relaxation plan isn’t going well; you’re crying instead of laying back. 

“What’s wrong Y/N?”

“I’m sorry. You just reminded me-me of them. I thought they loved me, but they just did things because of their pity on me. It’s hard for me to- to do certain things on my own because I’m depressed. I don’t always care about my well-being, but I don’t want-want or need anyone’s pity.” You're stuttering from trying to talk while crying probably made you sound very dumb. The embarrassment on your face is obvious due to your blush. 

“Well baby sister. Some people don’t understand that pity isn’t caring or vice versa. I have friends whose parents taught them that pity isn’t a bad thing and that to pity the less fortunate. This is a bad mentality. It can be due to their growing up or just self-deflecting. They feel pity towards themself in the traits they share with you.” 

He helps you wash your body besides your genitalia and breasts not wanting to touch those areas understandably. He was still your brother even if he had somewhat seen them; he didn’t need to also touch them. He has found comfort in caring for you sometimes; it is good practice for having a child in the future. He won’t feel weird touching them if they’re of the opposite sex. 

Eventually, Felix stepped out to allow you time to wash your private areas. In this time, you tried to think of ways to thank him for doing this. The first being to put on your robe before he came back in. The second is to say it and possibly hug him. Physical touch was not your love language, but Felix loved hugs and hand holding. Literally vibrating in your arms when you give him the monthly hug. 

You stepped out of the tub after finishing your shower and put on your robe. You practiced the speech in your head a million times as you did so. A simple ‘Thank you Felix. I love you.’ It should be so easy. Anything longer and you would’ve choked up. Anything shorter and it isn’t saying anything. 

The door swung open revealing a waiting Felix on his phone. He immediately put his phone away, smiling at you softly. You went up to him and hugged him resting your head on his shoulder. 

You were too choked up to say anything. Tears warm your eyes and cheeks. This time from happiness. Felix rubbed your back mumbling an “I love you too.”

Seungmin

Seungmin was a very rational person, usually. This was not one of those cases. After hearing about your breakup, he wanted this man to suffer.

You were relieved when Daehyun said he was going on vacation. You loved your boyfriend, but you just needed some time alone. Spending every moment not at work at your shared apartment meant he was home when you got there. 

He was in university and you decided to go into your career beforehand. You determined that being a successful writer did not require a degree. You worked at an office every day because writing at home was too much. 

You didn’t know he also felt the same about you being around too much considering he only had one hour alone every day at home. He decided to go on vacation to hopefully give you some peace.

You didn’t expect to get cheated on and lied to. He had posted pictures and called while on vacation. The only issue came when you checked his friend's snap and saw him in the back kissing another woman. 

You had decided to play it smart and move out your stuff then. By the time he arrived, you only had a mere bag of things. With the apartment and furniture being his because of his parents, he wouldn’t notice anything big missing. Maybe the blender or toaster, but he didn’t use them much anyways.

“Hey Y/N! I’m home!” His voice boomed through the apartment. You made your way out the kitchen and to him. You hugged him gently. 

“Welcome home babe.” The words — bitter on your tongue and weighing heavy on your mind. Did he call her any names? Was she just a one-night stand? Who is she?

His voice snapped you out of your overthinking, “Damn that wasn’t exciting did you not miss me?”

“I did. Trust me just didn’t wanna overwhelm you. I know you’re tired from the plane ride.” Mentally rolling your eyes as he pulled away finally sitting on the couch.

“Yeah, I had fun. Lots of liquor, fun, and good food. You should come next time. I was lonely.”

Ahaha. Lonely?! I saw you kissing a bitch!

“Yea for sure. I just wanna make sure I have the right clothes for the trip. Did you meet any interesting new people?”

“Nope, not that I can think of. I really didn’t interact with a lot of people.”

“So, who was the woman you were kissing?”

“Huh?” He looked like a deer caught in headlights

“Who. Was. The. Woman?” You said clearly stopping after every word.

“There is no woman. Idk what you’re talking about?” 

“Okay well when you remember.. Call me.” 

That led to now: you sitting at home watching anime on your laptop as you laid across the couch. Seungmin was confused as to why you were home so early. It wasn’t a holiday or someone’s birthday.

“Hey Y/N. What are you doing at home?”

You took that chance to explain everything to him. You showed him the video and had an audio recording of him saying he didn’t do it. 

“Okay so is he at home right now?” 

“No, why?”

“Let’s go destroy his shit.”

You liked his idea, but you worried about getting sued. Seungmin reminded you that he would have to explain the reason an ex would do such a thing. With a family as respected as his, he would never. 

You arrived at a quiet apartment; he wouldn’t be home for another two hours. Seungmin made quick work of being petty and taking the batteries out of every remote or thing he could think of and submerging them in a cup of water.

You cut the butt out of some of his pants with scissors. Just small enough that he couldn’t notice if not paying attention. Hopefully everyone likes looking at his cheating ass, literally. 

Seungmin put chocolate syrup all over his bed and couch. You gasped when you saw the couch. He was busy pouring glitter in his shampoo and body wash.

“Min that is so evil!” You hit his arm laughing. 

He just smiled evilly and shrugged. 

“Are you ready to go?” 

“Yea let me just put this back in the bathroom.” He walked back to the bathroom leaving it in the shower as he found it. You both left and you slid your key under the mat not wanting any connections to him anymore. 

This was a very mind clearing experience. You let out your anger, made him feel worse in the process, and got to spend time with your brother.

“Min why did you come with me?”

“Because you’re my sister, I’m the only one allowed to mess with you. He doesn’t get to be off the hook. Actually, he still is on my shit list. If I ever see him again, it’s an ass whooping for him.”

You laughed at his statements. You laid your head on his arm. “Is there anything you wouldn’t do for me?” You questioned.

“The dishes.” 

You whacked his arm laughing. So basically any and everything.

Jeongin

Jeongin often came to your house given that it was closer to JYP than your parents' home. You had become a big-time model being scouted at 16. Now at 18: you have a fancy apartment in Seoul. 

The only ones in said apartment being you and your cat Mitty. Mitty was the reason you begged Jeongin to come over. You had been confined to your bed with a heart ache, and Mitty just wanted to play with someone. 

“Y/N! I’m here!” His yell alerted Mitty who wasted no time to bolt towards his voice.

He arrived with ingredients in a bag to cook, possibly. He stored it away before coming into your room. 

“Heyy… How are you feeling?” 

“Like shit. Can you give Mitty some water? It’s a fountain that holds a liter of water so you can just pour two cups in it.”

He did just that and fed her a can of cat food he found in the cabinet petting her gently. He washed his hands and began to make your favorite: bibimbap. 

You had quickly fallen asleep after crying. Your life, career, and apartment were all a mess. You had no scheduled shoots for a week now. The state of your apartment was a mess from you just crying and eating take out everywhere. Your partner decided that having a girlfriend that was more successful wouldn’t work. There was too much going on.

Jeongin played some low music as he helped clean up a bit. He successfully cooked at the same time. He knew you deserved it, and your giant heart will be appreciated one day. 

He tasted the food once it was done before turning the heat off. It was delicious, and it would be great once you wake up. He decided to finish cleaning and take out the garbage. What a nice oppa he was being to his yeodongsaeng!

After an hour, you woke up from your nap and slowly stretched. You went and used the bathroom before heading to the living room. You squealed, forgetting Jeongin was there scaring the both of you. He was simply watching YouTube on your living room tv. 

“I’m sorry Oppa. Did you really wait here for me to wake up?” 

“Yea just wanted to spend time together. Also, I made your favorite, let me reheat it. Sit down at the table please.”

That you did. Sitting in the seat you always chose. The one looking at the door. You waited patiently as he went to the kitchen and returned with the food.

“Thank you oppa. You really didn’t have to do this.”

He nods, “I did have to. You are my only sister. I care for you.”

Never saying I love you; always I care for you. I love you is for goodbyes. At the end of the night, he will say it before leaving in case it’s the last time. Never before. 

You began to eat and smiled when he watched in anticipation. Maybe he didn’t think he cooked it well, or maybe he just wanted the praise.

“It’s really good, Innie.” 

“I’m glad you like it. Did you wanna play a game or something today? I understand break ups are hard, but I’m here for you.”

After finishing your meal, you both played minecraft together. You had a shared world where you spent most of the time killing each other, but you both liked it that way. He distracted you from any pain at least for that night.

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[flamboyantly-incompetent]

OoTP, Chapter 5 - Something Rotten

Draco Malfoy x Hufflepuff!Reader

Warnings: hints of child abuse, death mentions

Masterlist

Word Count: ~5,800

Note: Cedric's death should have affected more people imo. I also had a couple blogs in my taglist that no longer route to anything, so if you've recently changed your blog name and still would like to be tagged let me know!

Halloween went by with the usual fanfare: Jack-O-Lanterns lined the walls of the Great Hall and bobbed lazily under the levitation spell, the ghosts even seemed more chipper and some made a habit of spooking unsuspecting first years. Peeves was especially insufferable this time of year, though you somehow managed to scrape by with only one encounter, during which he'd juggled far too many burning Jack-O-Lanterns above your head as you sprinted for the safety of the common room.

October bled into November, which lasted a single day before it was renamed 'Quidditch Season.' The first game was, as usual, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. You didn't go, but you heard from Herbert that Gryffindor won, and Slytherin (meaning Malfoy) were still dirty players and sore losers. That next week especially you avoided contact with the whole Slytherin house. They were in poor spirits and had a tendency to lash out at the nearest person with a cursable face, though by Saturday your lessons with Draco went smoothly enough.

Monday morning found the Great Hall abuzz with excitement. You sat down to breakfast across from Donna, who turned immediately to Hannah Abbott, and said, "What's everybody talking about?"

Hannah grinned. "Hagrid's back! People are taking bets on how soon Grubbly-Plank goes back into retirement.

The doors to the courtyard flew open with a bang to reveal a snow coated Hagrid. His reception was mixed. Several Gryffindor students leapt from their seats to greet him, but others seemed to turn one or several shades of green. You yourself smiled happily, ready for more interesting Care of Magical Creatures lessons. Then you remembered Umbridge, and your smile faded into a grimace.

Yvette met your eye from across the table. Apparently the same thought had crossed her mind.

"I wonder," you began slowly.

She finished, "What he has planned? Me too.

Donna gulped down some pumpkin juice and got up. "Let's go ask him." You followed Yvette and Donna, cutting him off before he could reach the teacher's table.

His eyes lit up from under bushy eyebrows when he saw the three of you, his cheeks already ruddy from the heat of the Great Hall's gargantuan fireplaces. "Well, if t'isn't me favorite fourth years!" He put his giant hands on his hips. "Where's Herb?"

Donna answered, "Hospital wing. Said Peeves dropped something on his head." You shared a look with Yvette, knowing for a fact he was just trying to get out of a History of Magic exam and had dropped a pumpkin on his own head with the levitation charm.

Hagrid chortled. "Madame Pomfrey will have him righ' as rain for the afternoon then. No doubt about that. How've you all been holding up?"

"Good," Yvette said, "but we're happy to have you back, Professor." Hagrid beamed.

You interjected, "We were also wondering when you'd be back to teaching, and what you have planned. Whether it's something..."

"Dangerous," Donna finished.

Hagrid laughed and patted your shoulder, you swayed under the weight.  “Don’t you worry, I've got somethin great lined up for this afternoon, you'll love it.  In fact, you should come down a little early, if you’ve got the time.  I’ve got a surprise.”  He said nothing else, and moved past you to take his place at the teacher’s table. 

That had not, at all, answered your question and had only led to more.  Which was unsurprising.  The three of you shrugged at each other and went back to the Hufflepuff table to eat and cram from A History of Magic before slumping off to Binn’s classroom.

When you got there, Herbert was already sitting at his desk, a bump the size of a snitch on his forehead, grumpily flipping through his textbook.

After slogging through a dozen and a half questions about goblins and goblin rebellions, you pulled Herbert along to the Great Hall, filling him in.  He was, unsurprisingly, less than thrilled at the news that your favorite professor (perhaps a close second to Professor Sprout) had returned and would be resuming his curriculum immediately.

He groaned, stuffing sausage rolls into a pocket in his robes.  “We have to go now?”

“Yes, Herbert,” Donna implored, doing the same, “we can eat later - let’s go!”  She grabbed him by the wrist and began pulling.

“Alright, alright.”  He pulled himself from her grasp and walked along with the group willingly.  “I just hope this surprise of his doesn’t singe my school robes again.”

You laughed, “Oh, come on.  With any luck it’s either something cute or something deadly.”

The four of you hurried down the snowy path, clinging to each other in random intervals to keep from sliding and giggling wildly all the way, to Hagrid’s hut.  It was good to see smoke rising from the chimney again.  The door was open, Fang lay asleep on the threshold, so still if you didn’t know better you’d guess he was dead.  He snored loudly as you stepped over him first.

“Hagrid?” you called quietly.  He looked up from his woodstove, a tea kettle sat over the fire.  In this lighting, you noticed he looked a little worse for wear.  His face was puffy in places, and discolored, but when he saw the four of you he beamed.  Same old Hagrid.

“Come in, come in.  Oh don’t mind the old lug, he’s been asleep for hours.”  He gestured at the chairs crowding a tiny dining table.  “Want a cuppa?”

“Where have you been?” Yvette asked before settling herself into a chair and crossing her arms.  “We’ve missed your lessons.”  Herbert made a noise; Donna stamped his foot under the table.

Hagrid chuckled and set tea cups down in front of each of you.  In his giant hands they looked minuscule.  “I’ll have ye know it’s none of your business, but I was in France.  Visiting a friend.”  You shared a look with Yvette.  “And you’ll all like what I have planned for today.  It’s perfect timing.”  He didn’t elaborate, but the tea kettle began to whistle.  “Just a mo’.”

Herbert cleared his throat.  “So, Hagrid.  About that surprise?”

“Right, right, o’ course.”  He turned back around and put the kettle back on the stove, which started whistling again immediately.  He picked it back up and poured the steaming water into the cups before opening various cabinets.  “Now, where did I… ha!  The ministry had these enchanted for the tournament last year, and Dumbledore convinced them to leave em with me.”  He sat down between Yvette and Donna, a velvet pouch in his hand.  It was squirming.  “You’ll like this especially, Y/N.”

You gasped.  From the bag emerged four tiny but incredibly lifelike dragons.  Dragons.  The green one took to the air at once, flitting around the hut above your heads, while the one you recognized as the Hungarian Horntail let out a wildly adorable roar and a tiny jet of flame.

“I figured these’d be close enough to the real thing, for Advanced Care of Magical Creatures.”  He looked at you pointedly.  

The Welsh Green had settled in a hanging pot of basil, observing from above, while the Swedish Short-Snout lumbered towards your hand and tried to take a chunk out of your thumb.  It pinched a little, but the tiny dragon did not let go.  You laughed weakly, in shock, as you held the thing in your hand.  “Count me in,” you said.  

The Chinese Fireball had snuck up on the Horntail and tackled it, but was no match for the other dragon’s strength and tenacity.  Hagrid pulled them apart before permanent damage could be done.

Herbert whistled.  “This is cool, Hagrid.”

“Well don’ sound so surprised!”

He stuttered, “It’s just that, well you know, I just hoped, oh nevermind it.”

Hagrid herded the three dragons on the table back into the bag, you had to coax the Short-Snout to release your hand, and then stood up to be eye level with the Welsh Green.  He held the bag open, close to it, and pointed.  The tiny dragon leapt up into the air, tucked its wings, and dove into the bag.

“There,” he said, smiling contentedly, “I thought you bunch would get a kick out of that.”

Yvette, who had also not stopped smiling, said, “Thanks, Hagrid.  It is good to have you back.”

“Yeah, but we’d better go,” Donna said, peering out the window.  “There’s already a crowd by the forest.”

Hagrid picked Fang up and put him by the fire, the dog did not wake up but began to snore louder, and led the four of you out of his hut and out into the cold, carrying a bucket full of something absolutely putrid.  He waited until all the other students had arrived, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw shared this class and chatted among themselves to speculate what was to come, and then asked the class to follow him.  He did not take a turn into the forest as you expected, but continued along its edge for several minutes, and only stopped at the shore of the Black Lake.

You exchanged confused looks with several classmates.  Hagrid looked entirely too pleased with himself.

“Now, how many of you’ve heard of the giant squid?” he began.  Most students raised their hands.  “And how many of you think it’s a prank pulled by older students?”  You raised your hand sheepishly, along with a handful of others.  “Not surprising, he’s a reclusive creature, but this time o’ year, if you offer him something yummy he usually shows himself.”  Your jaw hung open.  Hagrid waved again, and led the class to the pier.  He had everyone stand in a line at the edge, held the bucket above his head, and shouted out across the waves, “C’mere Squish!  I’ve something for ya!”

“He named the squid Squish?” Donna muttered.

“Are you surprised?” you muttered back.

For several minutes, nothing happened.  Hagrid pulled an oily fish out of the bucked and dipped it in the black water.  Still nothing.  The students around you began to murmer again.  Then, there was a ripple.

You elbowed Donna.  “Look,” you said, pointing out at the line being drawn in the waves.  Something big was moving under the water.  “Uh, Professor?” you called.

He waved you off.  “Here he comes!  Get ready!”  The line drew closer and closer until it was almost to the pier, and then.  It was gone.  Hagrid deflated just a bit and reached again for the bucket.  Before he could touch it though, two huge, jet black tentacles erupted from the surface, spraying everyone with frigid water, and grabbed the whole bucket and disappeared back under the water.

Donna looked at you, mouth agape, then turned to Herbert.  “Do you still have those sausage rolls?”

“Yeah, but I was gonna-”

“Can I have one?”

“But-”

“Oh, come on.  I’ll proofread your Divination assignment?”

Herbert sighed heavily, and reached into his pocket.  Donna beamed.  You, Yvette, and Herbert followed her as she elbowed her way to the end of the pier next to Hagrid.  She held the roll above her head and called, “Uh, Squish?  I’ve got somethin else for ya!”  The Ravenclaw next to you looked at Donna in horror.  Hagrid only egged her on.

You watched, enthralled, as a gigantic, black shape glided out from under the pier.  The Black Lake, murky as it was, left much to the imagination, but if you had to guess you’d say that Squish was at least ten meters long.  Donna held the sausage roll out like you would feed a horse a carrot - on the palm of her hand, fingers well out of the way.  A smaller tentacle reached out slowly, much gentler this time, and plucked the roll out of her palm.

The class was speechless.  If there hadn’t been the constant thrum of water against shore, you could’ve heard a pin drop.

Hagrid clapped again, grinning ear to ear, and said, “He’ll be happy now, he’s had dinner and desert.”  He clapped Donna on the shoulder.  “Right, let’s move back onto shore and we can finish up the lesson.”  

The class gathered around Hagrid on the stony shore in stunned silence.  Clearly, even if they believed the rumor, no one expected the creature to be so big, or get so close.  A majestic creature, sure, but what was it doing in a freshwater lake?

Hagrid seemed ready to answer your question, as he began, “Who can tell me the typical stomping grounds of a giant squid?”

A Ravenclaw, a muggleborn you’d met through the DA, raised his hand.  “They’re deep sea dwellers.  So what’s this-”

“One doing here?  An excellent question Mr. Goldstein.  A normal giant squid is only expected to live five years or so, but this one’s been living in our very own lake for at least a century.  So, what’s special about this one?  Ordinary creatures, when they interact with existing magical traces in unexpected ways, can turn magical.”

A thought occurred to you; you raised your hand.  “Like the magical barrier surrounding Hogwarts?”

“Exactly!  That is my own theory, Dumbledore agrees it’s likely.  And ever since then, his lifespan has increased, and he’s far more intelligent than a typical giant squid.”

The Ravenclaw spoke up again, “But what about the other things in the lake?  Don’t they get territorial?”

“Another excellent question - five points.  Now the funny thing about that, we learned from the merfolk last year.  Apparently, they’re able to share because they’ve established hunting grounds, and Squish hunts a number of nasties the merfolk don’t like, like Grindylows, which he’s only able to do because he’s been changed by magic somehow.”

The class continued to pepper Hagrid with questions, apparently the idea of a magically mutated animal fascinated most of the Ravenclaw students, right up to the chime of the bell echoing from far away.  The castle was a long walk away and by the time you got back inside, in front of a fireplace, you excused yourself to skip a trip to the library and went to go lie down for the hour before dinner.  About five minutes in, Wilbur found you and began kneading into your chest.

The week trudged on, Donna proofread an assignment for Herbert as promised - an essay comparing Herbert’s astrological sign to his older brothers’ - and on Saturday morning, instead of going straight to the Quidditch pitch, you actually joined your friends for breakfast.  It was the last Quidditch match before the holiday break - Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw.  Yvette had been a vibrant cluster of nerves and excitement all week and by the time she sat down in the Great Hall she was practically bouncing off the walls.  Luna Lovegood was wearing a cloak that looked like raven’s wings, along with a large hat with a protruding beak.  When you asked her about it, she opened the beak, which promply played the Hogwarts’ anthem in a series of caws.

The match did not go well.  Wanda Clemm had apparently just been dumped by her girlfriend, and was even more inconsolable after what she called the worst performance of her life.

Your tutoring sessions with Draco Malfoy continued in relative civility into December - Professor Sprout had the class preparing the fire-breathing snap dragons for hibernation over Christmas break - and you were loathe to admit it but you’d grown rather comfortable with the arrangement.  The Dumbledore’s Army meetings continued as well, and before break, you planned to ask Harry Potter about your friends possibly joining.  The more you learned from him, the more you believed the urgency of the threat.  

The last week of term, you sat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall, surrounded by sparkling evergreen trees topped with stars that twinkled and sent out tiny flying reindeer at odd intervals.  Donna and Herbert were discussing their holiday plans next to you; Yvette had been in a perpetually sour mood since losing to Ravenclaw and was angrily flipping pages through Intermediate Transfiguration pretending to study.

A gentle thrum signaled the arrival of at least a hundred owls prepared to drop off mail.  The first few dropped in to circle the tables, and as more and more joined them you spotted your mother’s owl - Bertha.  She settled on the table and held out her leg casually while she began preening.

Dear Y/N, I hope your year is going well, we all of course miss you at home and are excited to see you for Christmas!  The shop is doing well, we may have to expand next year but that’s so long as the prices at Apothecary in Diagon Alley stay so inflated.  It’s been a boon to have so much of their business transfer here.  Your Screechsnap misses you, so does Buttercup, and so do we!  We’ll pick you up at Kings Cross at noon? Love you, Mum & Julien

You smiled to yourself; you missed the family’s King Charles Spaniel called Buttercup too, and you could already smell your step-father’s homemade cauldron cakes.

Ezra Roberts sat down next to your group.  “Hey, Yvette.”

She looked up, surprised.  “Hey.”

“I’m writing a Christmas card for Mr. Diggory; I wondered if you wanted to write one too.  Any of you.  I’m asking most of the house.  Nothing too fancy, just… you know.”  You nodded without thinking.  Before you could take it back, Ezra clapped you and Yvette on the shoulders and grinned.  “Great - I’ll need them before term ends.  I really think he’ll like hearing from people.  See ya later!”

What had you just agreed to, exactly?  Yvette saw the look on your face and burst out laughing.

“What do I even say?” you asked, incredulous.  “I barely knew Cedric.  Oh stop laughing at me, you’re on the Quidditch team at least, you can talk about that.  I’ve got nothing.”  You groaned and put your face in your hands.

Yvette patted you on the head.  “There, there, I’m sure you’ll think of something.”  You shot her a look.  “Yeesh, fine, just write about what you do know and wish him a Happy Christmas.  You don’t have to pour your heart and soul out for every single person on the planet.”

“But if she didn’t she wouldn’t be the Hufflepuff we all know and love,” Herbert snarked through buttered toast.

There was a sudden hush as across the room a bench screeched against the stone floor.  Draco Malfoy stormed out of the hall, shoulders slumped, not at all his usual haughty gait.  During your tutoring session two days ago, he’d sounded perfectly normal.  As normal as ever, anyway.  The silence broke in a growing thrum of whispers.  Ernie and Hannah sat down, gossiping quietly; you leaned over to ask, “What’s going on?”

Hannah laughed, embarrassed.  “It’s really not funny, I almost feel bad for laughing.”

“Oh, come on,” Ernie interrupted.  “It’s kind of nice to see him knocked down a peg.  I heard that his parents don’t want him home for the holidays.”

“What?  Why?” you asked.

Ernie thought for a moment.  “I’m not sure, I think they had some kind of row or something.”

“Huh?”

“Malfoy and his dad,” Hannah said.  “I heard from Justin, who heard from Padma Patil, that Dean Thomas overheard him complaining to those thugs who follow him everywhere that they had a spat about the family’s ‘rightful status.’”

You grimaced, wondering if they were arguing about Draco working for the Ministry.  

Donna weighed in, “Yikes.”

“Oh yeah,” Ernie said, spewing toast crumbs across the table, “a gem.”

You excused yourself to hurry after him, spurred on by some unidentified sense of duty, and caught him on the dark stone stairs to the dungeons.  “Hey, wait!”

He turned and looked at you coldly.  His face seemed paler than usual.  “What is it?”

“Are you really staying here for Christmas?”

He scowled and crossed his arms.  “How did you know about that?”

“Everyone is kinda talking about it.  How come?”

“Because you gave me the bright idea to disobey my father.”  He jabbed a finger at you as he said it, and his sleeve pulled back just enough to show a hint of discoloration.  Your heart sunk to your feet.  “And then he asked where I got such an idea, and then-”

“He found out about-”

“Me being tutored by a Hufflepuff, my undignified career goals.”  He crossed his arms again.  “So I’ve been banished.  So if you’ll excuse me, I need to unpack.”  He turned on his heels and disappeared down the stairs.

After forcing yourself to listen to Professor Binns all morning, you spent the break before lunch in the library, either staring blankly at a card with a glittering poinsettia on the front, or starting blankly at the shelves hoping you’d happen across one called An Idiot’s Guide to Greeting Cards.  You had no such luck.  Draco never showed up to lunch.  Hagrid had the afternoon Care of Magical Creatures class pick strips of paper out of a bucket, yours said “Flobberworm,” and when you learned the purpose of them you were wildly jealous of Anthony Goldstein who had picked the strip labeled “Unicorn.”  Hagrid handed everyone their own buckets, and said that whoever created the best treat basket for their given creature would win ten points.  It was not his best lesson, but it seemed like everyone understood that after Umbridge’s visit to the fifth years’ lesson, it was better for everyone to play it safe.

You’d planned on trying again to write Mr. Diggory after dinner, but the common room had been decorated with garlands and the fireplace had been enchanted to burn red and green and gold, and through the enchanted windows blew sparkling snow and the scent of hot cocoa, and you immediately forgot all about  writing a Christmas card in the revelry.

The next morning, though, you remembered.

Draco wasn’t in Herbology, either, though Crabbe, Goyle, and that sycophantic Slytherin girl had shown up to class.  The three of them seemed to be having enough trouble handling their snapdragons on their own, so you waited until everyone else was done, and quickly tended to Draco’s.  Just to keep it alive over break.  After potions, Donna, Yvette, Herbert and yourself all ate a hurried dinner and went straight to the library to get some last minute work done.  You scribbled away at a chart for Astronomy, which was due in an hour, until Yvette brought up what she’d put in her Christmas card to Mr. Diggory.

“I thought he’d like to know that the whole house came out for Quidditch tryouts.  Left out how badly we were demolished by Ravenclaw of course,” she said nonchalantly.  She was only trying to be helpful, but it still felt like nagging.  “I really think once you get started-”

“Look, right now, the only thing I wanna think about is where Ursa Major is relative to Cassiopeia on my birthday.”

“Fine,” she said coldly.  “I’ll see you in Astronomy.”  She swiped her books into her bags and flounced out of the library.

Herbert and Donna were staring at you.  “What was that about?” you asked.

“Well,” Donna started slowly, “it’s just that you’ve been so… absent, lately.  I think she, I mean, we all just kind of… miss you?”

“What?” you asked, incredulous.

Herbert rolled his eyes.  “Come on, you’re all over the place these days.  Most evenings we don’t even see you.  You never come to breakfast on the weekends, and you’re behind in every class.”

“Am not!”

“Name one.”

You smirked.  “Herbology.”

“That one doesn’t count and you know it.”  You huffed and crossed your arms.  “You’re hiding something, Y/N.”

“Guys,” Donna interrupted, bent over her own assignment, “can we talk about this later?  This is due for Ancient Runes tomorrow morning.”

“Am I the only one in this friend group capable of finishing work on time?”

“It will be on time so long as I finish it before Astronomy.”

“You know what?”  Herbert picked up his own stack of books.  “I’ll see you in Astronomy as well.”  

You watched him leave, shocked.  “What is going on?”

Donna did not look up, “You have been a little distant lately.  Otherwise you’d know that Yvette’s granddad was killed in a freak accident last week.  It was all over the muggle newspapers, her mum sent a letter.  Dangerous things have been happening in the muggle world, lately.  Not that you’d have any reason to know about them.  But with how Defense Against the Dark Arts has been going, it would be nice if we could all talk to each other for more than ten minutes at a time.”

The tension in your shoulders deflated.  Maybe you had been less than attentive to your friends.  How were you supposed to know about any of this if she didn’t tell you?  It wasn’t like you didn’t see them everyday.  But then again, you wouldn’t want to talk to someone you felt pulling away.  “And Herbert?”

“Herbert’s been into Yvette since last term.”

“What?”

She smiled into her parchment.  “He never would’ve tried out for Quidditch if he wasn’t.”

“Does she know?”

“Ha, nope.”

“Does he know you know?”

“Nope.”

“Well how do you know then?”

She set her quill down and looked at you knowingly.  “Because I pay attention.”

“Oof, ok.  Point taken.”

You finished the chart with ten minutes to spare, which was just enough time for you to follow Donna to the Astronomy tower; you thanked her three times on the way for sticking around for you.  Yvette didn’t speak to you, and she and Herbert left you and Donna behind on the way back to the common room after class.

Just as you followed Donna through the round painted door, Yvette nowhere in sight, the Galleon in your pocket began to heat up.  Tomorrow night, two hours before curfew.  You bid Donna goodnight and sat down in an armchair before the fireplace with the pretense of finally writing that Christmas card.  Instead, you wrote a quick note to Harry Potter, figuring you could send it discreetly by owl in the morning.

To do so, though, you had to wake up at the crack of dawn.  Across from you, Donna still slept soundly, and with the curtains pulled tightly shut on Yvette’s bed you weren’t even sure if she was there or not.  You left some treats on your pillow for Wilbur and snuck out through the common room to the Owlery.  Donna and Herbert joined you for breakfast; Yvette sat at the other end of the table.  You watched for the owls, when one swooped down next to Harry Potter with your note, you saw him read it, and immediately show it to Hermione Granger, who in turn looked up to make eye contact with you from across the Hall.  Transfiguration was your only class of the day, after lunch, so when your friends excused themselves to get to their own electives, you met her, Harry, and Ginny’s brother in the courtyard under the clock tower.

“You know Ginny, right?” Ginny’s brother, Ron, asked.

You nodded.  “And Luna.  But Ginny’s the one who told me about the, uh, study group.”

“And you want to invite some people?  For tonight?” asked Harry.

“Yeah, if I can.  They’re just friends from my house.  Two of them are muggleborns, and they’re going home for Christmas, and even their families can tell something’s off.”

Hermione nodded.  “They’ll have to sign up, but the room shouldn’t have any problem scaling for a few extra.”  She and Ron both looked to Harry to confirm, who nodded.  “We’ll be by at dinner.  It’s still a secret until then.”

“Thank you.”  A weight lifted from your shoulders.  “See you then!”

You hung out in the library until lunch, nestled in between two bookcases in front of a window, trying once again to write a Christmas card.  Snow was falling gracefully outside, and you were content to watch it idly until something black, moving fast, caught your eye.  Someone on a broom, high above the Quidditch pitch.  You wondered for a moment if it was Yvette, if she’d skipped Divination for an end of term practice, but the glint of silver on the figure’s head disproved that theory.  Even from a distance, the black blur of Malfoy as he buzzed around the pitch, when he stopped and just hung in the air, seemed a bit lost.

You cursed under your breath and put a piece of parchment over the blank card.

Hi Mum!  And Julien! Do you think I could stay at Hogwarts for break?  I think I may have given a friend some bad advice, and I don’t want to leave them alone on Christmas.  Give my love and apologies to Buttercup, please. Happy Christmas, Y/N

You read back through the letter once, shocked you’d called Draco a friend without a second thought, but you could deal with that later, and headed for the owlery for the second time.

Yvette broke her silence at lunch, asking about an essay on the Shrivelfig due for the fourth year Herbology class the next day, so you took the opportunity.

“So, Herbert said I’ve been hiding something,” you started.  Donna, Herbert and Yvette leaned in, listening, so you could speak quietly.  “He was right.  I’m sorry, I realize this isn’t amazing timing, but if none of you have plans after dinner, I can show you what I’ve been doing.”  They all wore the same dumbfounded expression.  “It’s kind of a secret, so that’s all I can say until then.  Just, come to dinner and then if you want you can go back to not speaking to me.”

Yvette leaned back, her arms crossed.  “Have you written that Christmas card yet?”

“Not yet, but I will,” you said through gritted teeth.

“Well then I guess we’ll have to see.”

Transfiguration went better than you’d ever dared to hope - you successfully transformed your cat Wilbur into a white marble drinking goblet and back again.  Your friends joined you for dinner, and, as promised, Hermione came over after most other students left to pack for the holiday.

She sat down across from Herbert and placed the DA member list on the table, glancing around for teachers, particularly Umbridge.  “We’ve been meeting sporadically, training in defensive magic.  Y/N’s vouched for you if you want to join.”

“Who’s been teaching?” Donna asked, “You?”

Hermione shook her head and said quietly, “Harry’s the only one with the qualifications-”

“Harry Potter?” asked Yvette.

“Well, yes, he’s the only one who’s fought with You-Know-Who and lived, so-”

“Last year, you mean?” asked Herbert, who was side-eying you.

She huffed at the second interruption.  “Last year, and two years before that, and a year before that!  Do you think he’s unqualified?”  Herbert shrugged and looked at his shoes.  “Anyway, we’re meeting tonight.  Y/N can take you, but you have to sign this first.”  Yvette signed without hesitation, which meant Herbert signed next.  

You looked at Donna.  Donna looked back.  “You’ve been learning from Harry Potter, and you didn’t think to tell us?”

You smiled sheepishly, “It was a secret!  And, up until just now, kind of… invite only?”

She rolled her eyes at you and signed the parchment.  Hermione, seemingly satisfied, rolled it up and slipped it back into her robes before departing.  None of your friends had heard of the Room of Requirement before, and when they walked in to see their prefects, among several other Hufflepuff students, surrounded by touching but gaudy Christmas decor, their jaws dropped open.

Harry was chatting with some of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but waved politely at his new pupils when he saw you.  He addressed the room, “Okay!  I think this evening we should just go over the things we’ve done so far, we’ve a couple new people and since this is the last meeting before term, we may as well just get them acquainted-”

Zacharias immediately began complaining, “If I’d known that I wouldn’t have come…” until Yvette shot him a withering look.

Everyone divided into pairs; yourself with Yvette, Ernie with Donna, and Hannah with Herbert.  Starting with the Impediment Jinx, Yvette was a quick study; even with your experience with the DA she managed to hit you more than you could manage to stun her.  Then, the group got out the cushions to practice Stunning, and you watched as your friends held their own, though with varying degrees of success, against some older students.   After a while, Harry called a halt.  He seemed impressed with the progress everyone had made, and mentioned trying the Patronus Charm after break, earning a ripple of excited whispers from everyone.

Grinning and out of breath, Yvette clapped you on the shoulder.  “This is great!  I think I learned more this past hour than a whole semester with Umbridge.”

“Yeah,” Donna said, looking markedly less pleased.  “It’s a wonder it took you so long to invite us.”

You sputtered, “Well I just, like I said it was all very secret, and it is technically against the rules according to Educational Decree something or other.”

Donna waved a hand dismissively.  “Who cares about that old toad?”

“My mum, for one,” said Herbert, grinning, “she’d be livid if she knew I was disobeying someone from the Ministry.”

All around you, people were filing out in twos and threes.  Hannah turned to wish Harry a Happy Christmas, but before she could say anything, her face fell and she tapped Ernie on the shoulder.  The four of you turned around as well; it was Cho.  Standing in front of Cedric’s picture that had been taped under some clippings from the Daily Prophet on the mirrored wall.  You all tapped the other Hufflepuffs as they passed you, and they all stopped, except for Zacharias Smith, who simply rolled his eyes and left.

Her shoulders shook; Hannah flinched.

“Cho?” she said, tentatively, the rest of you moving up carefully behind her.

Cho startled, and turned around, sniffling.  “Oh, Hannah.”  She hastily wiped her eyes.  “I thought you’d already-”

“We just, sorry, we just wanted to tell you that, um,” Hannah looked around at the rest of you, “we’re with you.  We miss him too.”  A few students around you affirmed this quietly.

“Thanks,” she said quietly, still patting her puffy cheeks.

“He was a good person,” Ernie said.

She nodded.  

Yvette added, “Who deserved better.”

Cho let out a choked sob.  You, eyes burning, reached a hand out and patted her lightly on the shoulder, which only made her cry harder.  “Sorry,” you said, embarrassed.  Cho’s friend sidled up to her, looking at all of you suspiciously.

“Have a Happy Christmas, Cho,” Hannah said quietly, before herding the rest of your house back to the common room.

Later, you sat before the fireplace in the common room once again, knit woolen blanket draped over your legs, quill in hand, looking at a blank Christmas card.  Then, you started to write.

~~~ Taglist ~~~

@jemomgershippingco

@snickersmee

@lafrone

@cillshot

[characterassassination-at-9am]

@obsessedwithdavrick wanted my top 7 reads of 2023 and I'm a sucker for book recs, so I'll play along ;)

Looking over my list, I read a lot of mediocre shit this year, including some books that get a lot of hype, but fell flat for me. However, there were some highlights. In no particular order:

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah never fails to evoke emotion and doesn't always give you a happy ending, which is hard, but real.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

See above description. Maybe times two for this book.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

A quick easy read. One of the more popular books that I read that actually lived up to the hype (IMO)

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

In a sea of WWII historical fiction, this one stands out.

Why Fish Don't Exist by Lulu Miller

This is a non-fiction book that definitely isn't for everyone. While I didn't love the authors attempts to relate everything to her own life, I loved the rest. Science meets history meets a real life suspicious death.

Now for the MM portion of my recs:

Power Plays and Straight A's by Eden Finley and Saxon James

This is the first of a series of 5 MM hockey romance books. They were just good, easy reads with a nice balance of spice and plot.

How to Say I Do by Tal Bauer

I love almost everything I've read by Tal Bauer. Again, a good balance of sex and investment in characters and storyline.

In progress:

Pictures of You by Leta Blake

I'm cheating and including an 8th one, which is a 3 book series. But actually a series....like it's one continuing story for all 3 books and you won't be able to stop between books. I'm almost done with book 3 and have read them all in the past few days. So, I guess my opinion could change if the ending lets me down, but it's totally sucked me in. It's a queer coming of age book set in the early 90's and it's not all unicorns and rainbows. There's a lot of talk about HIV/AIDS. There's a lot of time spent on dissecting a first love and how it can be all consuming, good and bad and everything in-between. There's secret relationships and coming out and first times and finding your tribe of people; enough sex scenes, but that's not the focus really. It's also fun to revisit a time before cell phones and internet.

I won't tag people, but I'm always up for good book recs! Send them my way!

[petervintonjr]

Lissete Denison Forth was born enslaved sometime in 1786, in Detroit in the then-unincorporated Northwest Territories. Forth was unfortunately born three years shy of the adoption of the Northwest Ordinance, which prohibited slavery in what would ultimately become Michigan. In 1805, Lisette's parents, Peter and Hannah Denison, were freed upon the death of their owner --but Lisette and her five siblings were transferred to the ownership of that owner's brother. Peter and Hannah were encouraged to sue for their children's freedom and while the territorial courts ultimately ruled only in favor of the four Denison siblings that had been born after 1789, it further asserted that the unincorporated territories were under no obligation to honor the tenets of the Fugitive Slave Law (see Lesson #123 in this series). Following the letter of this ruling, Lisette and her older brother coincidentally crossed into Canada and established residency there, returning to Detroit as immigrants in 1815.

Lisette took a job as a domestic servant for famed Detroit entrepreneur (and future mayor) Solomon Sibley, and invested her pay in land ownership, eventually incurring enough money to buy four lots in Pontiac, Michigan --making her the very first Black property owner in the city. She later leased the lots to her brother and eventually sold the property. In the meantime she took on another job in the household of another well-known Detroit figure (and another future mayor!), John Biddle, and continued her practice of investing her earnings into property and stock ownership, to include a steamboat and a bank: unheard-of ventures for a Black woman at that time. The Biddles moved first to Philadelphia and then to Paris, imploring Lisette to come with them, who by then had become a close family friend, particularly with John's wife Eliza.

Upon her return to Michigan in 1856, Lisette had accumulated enough capital to build a chapel, and after her death in 1866 her estate (administered by the Biddles' son William) hired famed architect Gordon Lloyd to design and build St. James Episcopal Church in what is now Grosse Ile township. The church was completed in 1868 and stands to this day as a dedication to Lisette's memory and life.

Teachers: Need some resources to engage your students this Black History Month? I'll send you a pile of these trading cards, no cost, no obligation. Just give me a mailing address and let me know how many students in your class. No strings attached, no censorship, no secret-relaying-of-names to Abbott or DeSantis or HuckaSanders. #blackhistorymonth

[tabithaelicot]

Walking through the picturesque streets of Cardinal Hill, you find Tabitha Prior, the 29 year old owner of Shadow’s Curiosities originally from Cardinal Hill, WA. Living alongside them in such a small town, you know that they're affectionate and a perfectionist, but what you might not know is that they are a witch, and that they’re hiding something… ― Hannah Dodd, bisexual, cis woman, and she/her.

Basics

Name: Tabitha Elicot Prior Birthday: 4 March 1961, 9:02pm Natal Chart: Pisces sun, Libra moon, Taurus ascendant Positive Traits: affectionate, responsible, dedicated, sociable Negative Traits: perfectionist, anxious, self-blaming, self sacrificing Likes: family, antiques, history, fashion, magic, dancing, math & numbers Dislikes: being criticized, down time, trends, change Hobbies: cooking & baking, furniture restoration, sewing & quilting, piano

Appearance

Hair Color: platinum blonde  Eye Color: hazel Height: 5’6” Build: willowy Tattoos: tbd sisters inspired tattoo(s) Piercings: several ear piercings, nose ring Clothing Style: feminine and casual, lots of jewel and earth tones, likes paisley and floral patterns  Distinguishing Characteristics: tall forehead, mole above upper lip, high cheekbones, expressive face

Quick Facts

Everything about Tabitha screams delicate at first glance and, unless you’re unfortunate enough to cross her (usually by messing with her sisters), you probably won’t realize just how wrong that first impression is. 

Tabitha is the prototypical eldest daughter, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She loves her sisters, is very involved (possibly too involved) in their lives, and takes her responsibility of setting a good example for them very seriously. She sees no difference between her two full sisters and her three half sisters and she won’t tolerate anyone trying to insist that there is one. While Tabitha’s never had trouble getting along with people and making friends, her best friends always have been and always will be her sisters.

Tabitha loves all things magic and collects mentors like a magpie. She is always looking to learn new things and hone her craft; as a result she’s fairly powerful for her age. Her favorite form of magic is enchantments, but she’s proficient in all except for dark magic.

While she doesn’t share her mother’s outright distrust of humans, Tabitha is wary and reserved around them, unless she’s certain they already know about magic.

Tabitha is deeply connected to Cardinal Hill and hasn’t ventured terribly far outside of it. She’s never lived anywhere else, and the furthest away she’s ever traveled is visiting her sisters [details dependent on where they went to school and if any of them ever moved out of Cardinal Hill].

Tabitha started taking ballet lessons at the age of 7, and continued dancing all the way through high school. She wasn’t good enough to consider dancing in college or professionally, but she loved it. Even though it’s been more than 10 years since her last class, she still moves like a dancer.

Tabitha currently lives at her parents’ house in an apartment over the garage, ostensibly to give her some privacy and independence. In reality, her door is always open to her family, and she probably spends more time in the house proper than her apartment.

History

As the oldest Prior sister, Tabitha has the clearest memories of her birth father, and how things changed when their mother married Dorothy’s father. Because of this, Tabitha never fully warmed to him.

When Tabitha was 9, her powers started manifesting. Sometimes it was a new skirt that changed its color, sometimes it was a colored pencil that had fallen off the table reappearing in its proper place, sometimes it was the pictures in little Dorothy’s favorite book moving while Tabitha read it aloud.

In school Tabitha was something of a teacher’s pet, not because she was at the top of the class but because she was polite and helpful and always did her work on time. 

Tabitha briefly considered going to college after high school graduation, but ultimately decided that she was needed at home, especially with all 5 of her sisters still in school.

She started working at Shadow’s Curiosities because she’d always been interested in objects with stories. The owner warmed to her, and soon began training her to take over the shop upon his retirement.

After a few years of working at the shop, Tabitha decided to get an associate degree in business administration at the local college, reasoning that it was a practical choice if she was going to be the owner of Shadow’s Curiosities one day.

Tabitha has been the official owner of the shop for a little over a year now, since her old boss decided to retire and spend his time traveling.

[a-solitary-sea-rover-backup]

The Greatest Sailing Movie (N)Ever Made

Discussions of sailing movies online tend to circle around the same dozen names or so. How many errors did you spot in All is Lost? Was Master and Commander just too jargon-heavy to be a hit? Wind— love it or hate it? And just how bad is Waterworld?

But a recent discovery in the archives of Universal Studios revealed how close we almost came to having another name— or two?— in Hollywood’s somewhat dubious pantheon of the sport. While sorting old personnel files for digitization, archivist Tasha Durak discovered extensive material in the files of now-retired Universal screenwriter Avril Debile related to a project called Sunny Sets Sail. The documents suggest that Debile first got the idea for the story when visiting San Diego in 1991, during preparations for the following year’s America’s Cup competition.

Sunny Sets Sail (some documents use the title Sunny: America’s Pup) was to be a children’s sports comedy in a style common in the 1990s, combining cameos from real pro athletes with the hilarious antics of a fictional group of children— and, naturally, their adorable dog.

The story centered around Hannah, a young Navy brat recently moved to then-contemporary San Diego after spending most of her life overseas. Trying to help her feel more at home, Hannah’s parents give her a Newfoundland puppy named Sunny for her birthday and enroll her in lessons at a local sailing club. When Sunny tags along with Hannah to her first lesson, the instructor reluctantly allows the dog to accompany Hannah and her friends Jenny and Robby, noting the Newfoundland breed’s famous swimming abilities.

As the weeks pass by, Hannah, Jenny, and Robby discover Sunny is a natural crewmate, following commands to shift weight and pull on lines with her mouth. As there is nothing in the sailing club’s rules to prevent canine crew, the three compete in a junior racing series with Sunny onboard, and end up winning.

The prize is presented by Robby’s parents, Frank and June Arnold (apparently based on Peter and JJ Isler), who are both sailors for an American syndicate preparing to defend the America’s Cup. Sunny and the kids are invited to come watch the racing. They meet both the American team and the challengers, the usual sports movie band of villainous rivals, this time wearing an Australian coat of paint. (One draft which badly attempted to write out their dialogue phonetically was rejected by an editor for its potential to cause an international incident, as it sounded closer to a hideous mix of Cockney and Bostonian accents.)

The worst of them, of course, is challenging skipper Charlie “Crusher” Mackenzie, a bleach-blond meathead in sunglasses, introduced stepping on Sunny’s tail during a visit to the American compound and barking “Bloody mutt, I outta throw you overboard to the shahhks!” when she whines.

(Although few concrete references to the history of the America’s Cup are made during the script, Robby’s comment “The Australians. They won once before and they want it back.” seems to indicate a recent history vaguely like the real world’s.)

After Sunny jumps onboard the American IACC boat during a practice session and proves to be as adept at following commands as big boat crew as she did on the kids’ dinghy, Hannah and Robby suggest she become part of the American crew. At first, the skipper says no, but after losing the first two races of the match to the Australians, he relents.

Sunny, in a dog-sized windbreaker and ballcap with earholes, assists the Americans in the Cup match, and performs a traditional Newfoundland rescue when Mr. Arnold falls overboard during a maneuver. (In the first draft, she improbably swims fast enough to bring him back to the racing boat itself, in later drafts she more realistically drags him to a chase boat.)

As we might all hope, there indeed is a protest room scene where a white-haired old yachtsman adjusts his reading glasses, clears his throat, and declares “Nowhere in the America’s Cup Deed of Gift does it state that a dog cannot be part of a racing crew!”, followed, according to stage directions, by “swelling, triumphant music”.

Champagne being not-quite G-rated, the final victory scene features the spraying and guzzling of orange soda, and Sunny being showered with kibble poured out of the America’s Cup.

Avril Debile visited the 1992 and 1995 America’s Cups while researching the script, making connections with most American teams involved. The file contained a transcript of a research interview with the Islers and an educational brochure from the PACT 95 syndicate. Both Dawn Riley and Dennis Conner expressed interest in playing themselves in the film, although Conner wrote to Debile to request more lines.

While the commercial failure of Wind initially caused Universal to doubt the project, eventually Sunny Sets Sail was set for a tentative Summer 1996 release, a year after the America’s Cup, to help keep enthusiasm high for the next edition in San Diego. However, with Team New Zealand’s victory in the 1995 competition, the plot suddenly seemed dated, and production was shelved. A story with the heroes traveling to New Zealand as challengers was judged too complex for young audiences to understand. This was still the pre-Lord-of-the-Rings era in which American knowledge of New Zealand, among both children and adults, was judged to be nil. Avril Debile moved on to other projects, but the only one of note to sailing fans was the similar Tsunami: Extreme Cat. This film, created with input from Cam Lewis, would have covered a cat named Tsunami who stows away aboard a trimaran attempting the Jules Verne Trophy in her owner’s seabag. Although charming and with fewer scenes that strain belief, this script had the misfortune of being submitted to the studio in August 2001, just weeks before the 9/11 attacks changed national concerns. With the 90s extreme sports fad now out of fashion, Tsunami was also cancelled.

It’s easy at a distance of a quarter-century to look on these projects with regret, thinking of how they might have raised the public profile of sailing in the USA. As cheesy and corny as the plots sound— surely if they had been made, “Sunny the dog” and “The Deed of Gift does not forbid dogs!” would be as much of a running joke on Scuttlebutt as “The Whomper”— they could have made the sport of sailing part of the childhood of an entire generation of young people.

Our cold comfort is that it is widely suspected that the scripts for Sunny Sets Sail that were passed around Hollywood in the early-mid 90s could have inspired other films of the era about improbable animal athletes, such as Air Bud, Racing Stripes, and MVP: Most Valuable Primate.

“Avril” is of course French for “April”, and “Débile” means “Stupid” or “Foolish”.

[hanban371213]

hello hannah nation, finaly the end of the second to last book! context in the first post, find it through the first tag, have fun!

Book 8 - Portugal and the world, from the Second World War to the start of the 80s - internal options and international context.

Part 2 - Portugal, from Authoritarianism to Democracy

The end of the Second World War was seen as a "victory against fascism", also made Salazar have to, at the very least in apearence, "democratize" the country. The government was dissolved, opposition was allowed to form(the MUD - Movimento de Unidade Democrática), and elections were announced. However, these elections end up being a total farce. The MUD removes their candidacy, and their members are captured and repressed.

Afterwards in the presidential elections the people rally around the candidate Norton de Matos, but he was severely repressed and ended up giving up. The Democratic Oposition fragmented and weakened as time passed, until 1958 with the candidacy of Humberto Delgado, known as the "fearless general", due to his strong position as the one who's not gonna give up from the elections, and for publicly declaring that he would "obviously fire Salazar" once in charge. He created a massive popular mobilization around him, but when the results came he lost with only 25% of the votes. Américo Tomás won and the election system was abolished. But, the results of were put in doubt and the regime lost a lot of credibility, and in the following years the Democratic Oposition only increased in strength.

Economicaly the country was in stagnation. There was a huge lack of infraestructure, farms in the North were too small to mecanize, farms in the South were way too big and wasted, and most farmers lived in total poverty. This led to a lot of emigration, from the rural interior to the coast, but mainly outside of the country, mostly illegaly.

Salazar was forced to rethink his anti-industry policies, and allowed some limited industrialization, but with the sole purpose of replacing imports. The country integrated in the Marshall Plan and elaborated Fomentation Plans, and as such the coastal regions urbanized. This city growth led to a cosmopolitan style of life and aproximation of the country to European standards.

As the old colonial powers decolonized, Portugal remained stubborn, declaring that their colonies were actualy just "overseas provinces". This eventualy led to the colonies revolting, starting the colonial war, which alongside the increased number of ex-colonial nations in the UN, and the hostility of the unitedstatian administration, led to the country becoming even more isolated.

In 1968, Marcello Caetano replaces Salazar, and considering his frequent and periodic oposition to Salazar's ideals while in government gave a sign of hope to the Democratic Oposition. However, in the next elections the União Nacional(party of the Estado Novo) wins 100% of the seats, and increases it's repression on the opposition, showing that Nothing Has Changed. Another topic in which nothing changed was the colonial war, that Marcello Caetano insisted in continuing.

All of this only increased the internal and external oposition to the regime. Internaly: maoists groups, catholics, pastor D. António Ribeiro, the III congress of the Democratic Oposition, the army, specificaly general António de Spínola. Externaly: the Pope Paulo VI, the UN, protests in London during Marcello's visit.

The colonial war led to a lot of unhappiness in the army, who formed the Movimento das Forças Armadas(MFA), who planned a coup. In the 25th of April 1974, the end-of-regime operation begins. After the siege at the Quartel do Carmo, Marcello Caetano surrenders to general Spínola. The Junta de Salvação Nacional is created, that dismanteled the structure of the Estado Novo, and promissed to begin elections one year from then.

Immediatly after the fall of the Estado Novo, known as the "pre-constitutional period", Portugal lived in extreme instability, with the Provisional Governments progressively turning more to the left, with Vasco Gonçalves, associate of the PCP(Portuguese Communist Party) in charge of the Provisional Governments. General Spínola tried to stop this with a coup, but it fails, and in response the government radicalises even more, and creates the Council of the Revolution. The country undergoes multiple nationalizations and massive colectivization, and the African colonies are let go with no concessions. With a lot of pressure from the Socialist Party, the promissed elections take place, on the 25th of April 1975. The far-left loses, but they refuse to leave the government, during a period known as "hot summer", until one final coup on the 25th of November. The new Constitutional Assembly works on elaborating a new constitution, but due to the chaotic and radical conditions they were going through, they signed the MFA-Parties Treaty, that guaranteed the persevation of the revoltionary achievements in the new constitution (such as the nationalizations and the Council of the Revolution). The new constitution enters into effect on the 25th of April 1976.

As time passed, the country underwent multiple constitutional revisions, to democratize the country, and better integrate with the rest of Europe.

[sapphicbookclub]

Author Spotlight: Hannah Miyamoto

Hannah Miyamoto is on a mission to stop the spread of fascism in the United States by reminding people of the humanistic values that William Shakespeare spread through his plays. We are thrilled to present this essay about her series of novellas about “The New Countess” (written under the pseudonym “Lady Vanessa S.-G.”), based on the characters in Shakespeare’s gender- crossing romp of Twelfth Night; the first book, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia is out now, and second book, If I Should Tell My History, will be released in May. Note: article contains a brief, explicit quote from the book

We do not need to laminate a lesbian presence onto Shakespeare’s texts; once we begin to think historically about desires and practices, we can draw homoerotic meanings out of them… it is less a question of queering the past than of discovering the terms by which the past articulated its own queerness.

Valerie Traub, The Renaissance of Lesbianism in Early Modern England (2003) [https://a.co/d/f8hDruz]

With its pretensions of erudition, the “Western Civilization Movement” is the most dangerous and least-dismissible part of the extremist MAGA white supremacist movement. The goal of “Western Civilization” radicals is clear: Establish that all important cultural contributions are the work of Christian men from Western Europe. For example, Bill Lee, Governor of Tennessee has called for altering public education to encourage “informed patriotism” and combat “anti-American thought,” as if open-minded inquiry were itself an enemy of American democratic values. Former President Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis, and Tucker Carlson are just some of the other prominent neo-fascists attempting to pervert history education.

Properly written, fiction can achieve what history can never do: Explain the thoughts and describe the actions of people that did not dominate past discourses.

By corollary, critical analysis of so-called “Western Civilization” sources is one of the most effective ways to fight the spread of fascism in America. Right-Wing Extremists can ban every book written by a woman, a racial, ethnic, or religious minority person, an LGBTQ person, a foreigner, a socialist, a liberal, a labor leader, an environmentalist, or any other writer to whom they object, but they cannot attack Shakespeare, because even the least cultured American knows that Shakespeare is the epitome of “Western Culture.”

The great beauty of Shakespeare is the depth of the lessons within them. For example, Merchant of Venice reminds us that “the quality of mercy is not strained” while Othello illustrates the evil of racial prejudice. Henry VI, Part 2 relates the importance of lawyers in preserving human rights. Two Gentlemen of Verona and Othello ridicule male chauvinism, while As You Like It suggests that women know more about love than men. At the end of his career, Shakespeare even left us with the starkly existential The Two Noble Kinsmen, in which a wholly sexless heroine accepts marriage rather than seek it.

Seven Shakespeare plays feature cross-dressing, and some of the sweetest depictions of a woman in love with another woman are by Celia in As You Like It and Olivia in Twelfth Night. One British intellectual has gone so far as to dub The Bard “[t]he biggest Liberal campaigner there ever was!”

Knowing that Shakespeare is inviolable in the United States, I have used his work to advance and defend progressive ideals for nearly 20 years. I began in 2004, by writing a play highlighting the love of a woman for a woman to answer calls for banning same-sex marriage. That play, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia, merging ideas from minds as diverse as Virginia Woolf and absurdist playwright Luigi Pirandello, became the basis of my Master’s thesis in Women’s Studies.

Two years ago, I created a three-season story arc (24 episodes) for a limited television series based on the characters of Twelfth Night. Starting this year, I started turning what would have been episodes of this television series into a series of novellas.

The first book in this series, adapted from the pilot screenplay, was published last month as Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia. The second book, If I Should Tell My History, is in production. Overall, the series is entitled “The New Countess.” All these books are written under the pseudonymous “Lady Vanessa S.-G.” to emphasize how recently books like these would have been illegal in Great Britain and the United States, while providing a narrator that can subtly describe events that occurred between the 20th and 16th century, including the writing of William Shakespeare.

Properly written, fiction can achieve what history can never do: Explain the thoughts and describe the actions of people that did not dominate past discourses. For example, “The New Countess” series features an intersexed character named Adriano, one of the first-ever accurate portrayals of an intersexed person in literature. Although intersexed people have always been part of humanity, the earliest account written from the perspective of an intersexed person is the extended suicide note of Herculine Barbin, an intersexed French woman who died in 1868 at age 30. Only fiction can fill this gaping hole in history.

Even the voices of European noblewomen, however richly draped and pampered, have been effectively silenced by being denied access to printing presses. The closet drama writing of Lady Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673), is one of the few documents that reveal how many noblewomen may have felt about how men treated them due to their sex.

Olivia reached down with her right hand to stroke the hairs near Maria’s thighs. Maria shivered and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations that Olivia gave her. Maria pulled away and applied her lips and tongue to Olivia’s pre-maternal breasts as the countess pushed back her head to enjoy the sensations her gentlewoman gave her. Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia

With her parents and only brother dead, Shakespeare’s Olivia enjoys much more freedom than a typical young woman in 16th century Europe. Curiously, the parents of all the other characters in Twelfth Night are also absent. Although Olivia’s uncle “Sir Toby” is a potential parent in Twelfth Night, Shakespeare emphasizes that Toby is drunk too often for Olivia to rely upon him. Indeed, Countess Olivia acts more like Toby’s mother than he her surrogate father.

“The New Countess” series expands on Olivia’s character, focusing on how she negotiates her way around powerful men to achieve her goals, while keeping secret her love for her bed-chambermaid Maria. Later books will show Olivia working with the men around her to improve the military defenses of her region, to guard against invasion from both land and sea. In these ways, Olivia will fulfill her duties as a countess within her obscure little duchy.

As well as Olivia, Maria, and Adriano, the queer characters in “The New Countess” series include two of Olivia’s female servants, Olivia’s husband Sebastiano, and his best friend Antonio. The two male characters are taken from Shakespeare’s play.

By combining fictional narratives with historical research, “The New Countess” helps to literally write queer and disadvantaged people into history. Keeping with Dr. Valerie Traub, “The New Countess” series does not make Shakespeare’s characters gay, but shows how certain aspects of his stories are more logical if we accept that some of his characters have intense desires for others of their sex.

One charming feature of “The New Countess” series is that its characters live in a world where queerness is described in terms that we can still understand, despite their unfamiliarity: “Tribade,” “Fricatrix,” and “Unnatural Girl,” are some of the terms used for 16th century Sapphists. Poor intersexed Adriano, a feminine man, is publicly denounced as a “Catamite!” or a male prostitute. Meanwhile, gays are “men that would fain have the love of others than women.”

More than history ever can, fiction has the potential power to show how “the past articulated its own queerness,” as well as how people in the past confronted issues of race, religion, and politics much like their counterparts today. Through well-crafted historical fiction like Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia, we can refute the “Western Civilization” pseudo- intellectuals that would pervert history and literature to accomplish their goals of social repression and cultural destruction. -----

Hannah Miyamoto is a retired attorney managing Pacifico Press, a nonprofit publisher in San Luis Rey, California that produces LGBTQA-focused books and media. Hannah holds a law degree, master’s degrees in Women’s Studies and Sociology, and has been a leading advocate for intersexed people for 25 years. info@pacificopress.com

[fandomsaligninstories]

Year One: Day Three

Chapter List WC: 1,811

3rd September, 1991, Late Afternoon

"You have got to be kidding me!" Violet grumbled to her friends Hannah and Aimee. 

They were entering their second to last class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Violet had been excited for it, having started her readings for the upcoming lesson during her free period that morning, but the second she stepped into the room and saw students in the familiar green-and-silver colours, she wanted to ditch. D.A.D.A would make the third class they shared together, including History of Magic and Astronomy.

"It'll be fine," Hannah tried to reassure, "We'll just avoid them, right? Can't cause trouble if they don't exist to us."

"Right!" Aimee agreed, pulling Violet by her arm to the only empty desk in the middle of the room. They pointedly ignored the white-blonde boy a few tables away, who was staring at Violet. He'd been doing that ever since she'd apologised. In the Great Hall, in passing in hallways, anytime they pass each other, he'll be staring at her.

It was uncomfortable at first, because she wasn't sure if it meant he was going to try something to hurt her, or if he was just that awkward. Having spoken to some of the older Hogwarts students, Violet had learned that the Malfoy's weren't the type of people you treat kindly. You stay away from them, and if you interact, you keep your mouth shut. So, Violet decided, Draco must not be used to being treated kindly, which meant she would need to be nothing but nice to him in any future interactions. 

D.A.D.A was taught by Professor Quirrell. The position had been cursed, according to a fourth-year Ravenclaw, so every year there was a new D.A.D.A professor. The curse caused the professor to either die or leave at the end of each year, which made it hard for Dumbledore to keep the position filled. 

As expected, the first lesson was just an introductory one, and started in on their first topic: werewolves. Though Herbology would remain her favourite subject, D.A.D.A would definitely be a close second. 

Most of the other students had already left by the time Violet and her two friends packed away their belongings. As expected, Draco and his friends were standing at the door, harassing the kids leaving. Unexpectedly, however, when he looked up and saw Violet coming towards him, he tilted his head down slightly and let the girls leave unscathed. 

On the way to dinner, she couldn't help but wonder what that was about. Evidently, her friends felt the same way.

"What did you do to him?" Hannah asked, glancing behind them towards the boys. 

Violet shrugged, "Nothing! I just apologised. Weird, right?" 

"Very odd." Aimee agreed, "Maybe you're just the first person to ever show him kindness. I hear his family is awful. Full of You-Know-Whos most loyal subjects."

There was that name again, You-Know-Who. The man who had tried to kill baby Harry, and had killed his parents. After her first night at Hogwarts, Violet got tired of hearing people talk about Harry and not understanding what the big deal was, so she asked. And she'd gotten the full, terrible story. She finally understood why they called him "The Boy Who Lived", and how he got the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

"Scary, that lot. Malfoy is bound to follow in their footsteps. There's rumours, you know. That he's back..." Hannah whispered conspiratorially.

Aimee huffed at her friend, "Don't start with that again! He's dead. People are just saying that to scare you."

"Well, it's working!" Hannah urged. Violet nodded. In her little bit of free time over the past few days, she'd done plenty of reading on the Wizarding War. What it was, why it happened, and how many people died. It was awful, and she pitied the students she'd met that had lost family members in the war. She couldn't imagine ever being able to survive such a thing. 

By the time dinner was finished, Violet was exhausted again. A nightly occurrence, she noticed, with all of her lessons and coursework she'd been given in just those first days. But she had one more class to attend, Charms with the Ravenclaws. Not the most riveting subject, but not as dreadful as History of Magic. 

As she was entering the classroom, she noticed a boy a ways down the hallway waving. She paused a moment, looking around her to see if he was waving at someone else, but no one else was paying attention. When she looked back at him, he was moving towards her. She realised it was the second-year that had stopped her from attacking Draco the other day, Eddie something-or-other.

"Hi, Violet!" He smiled, leaning on his shoulder against the wall, "Alright? How's Hogwarts treating you?"

She smiled back, "Hi Eddie. Yeah, alright. Been busy, but it's been exciting! This is a whole new world for me, you know." 

"Ah, muggle born, were you? My father's a muggle, but my mother's a witch, so I knew what to expect. I couldn't imagine coming into this without any clue what to expect!" He laughed warmly, his eyes focused only on her. 

"Yeah, it's been something." She turned as the bell started to chime, alerting her to the start of class, "I've gotta go, see you later!" She waved as she rushed into the room, finding the empty seat beside Aimee. 

━━━━━━⊱༻ ༺⊰━━━━━━

By Friday evening, Violet was ready to drop. The most frustrating thing about the entire school, aside from the sheer size of it, was that her schedule wasn't consistent. Every day was different, with different classes at different times. The only thing that kept her relatively sane was that it would always remain the same week to week, and that she had her friends with her. She'd be carrying around a copy of her timetable for at least a few weeks before she would be able to memorise it.

Luckily she had three free periods on Fridays, with her last class ending by 4pm, leaving her with plenty of time to get started on the piles of homework she'd already been given. 

She arrived to dinner late, having been caught up in the potions paper she was working on. Most students had already finished the meal and left for the evening, turning in to work on their own homework or hang out with friends. She was disappointed to see none of her friends remained, the tables clear except for a few students at each. 

Most of the plates and platters had already been cleared away by whatever magic the house-elves used. She made a mental note to look into that later, she was rather curious how the food knew where to appear. Actually, she decided, she'd ask Hermione. That girl seemed to know everything. 

She was picking at her meal when a shadow moved to loom over her. She turned her head slightly to see who it was. She nearly choked on the food she was chewing.

"M- Malfoy?" She coughed, clearing her throat with some water, "What do you want?"

"Why'd you do it?" He asked roughly.

She turned to face him fully, looking at him confused, "Do what?"

"Apologise!" He hissed, eyes darting around the room before repeating, "Why'd you do it?"

"It was the right thing to do?" She hadn't meant for it to sound like a question, but she was thoroughly confused. This wasn't the boy so many people had warned her about; he was being strangely open and vulnerable. She continued, "It's not right to hurt other people just because you're hurting. I was hurting, because you hurt my friend, but I shouldn't have retaliated. It wasn't right. You might be a prat, Draco, but you deserve some human decency." 

His eyes widened before he scowled at her, "Well, don't do it again. Just stay away from me, freak!"

He rushed off before she could form a reply. 'You came to me,' she wanted to shout. Instead she silently turned and finished her dinner, dragging herself back to her dorm for the night. 

It was nearing 8pm when she entered the common room, but being as there weren't any classes the next day, many students were hanging out. 

She dropped down onto a couch beside Cedric, who was listening to Tamsin tell a dramatic story about a previous quidditch game the Hufflepuffs had competed in. Anthony and Cedric were shaking their heads at her obviously overdramatized story, but Aimee, Hannah, Caroline, and Susan were all listening attentively. 

"Hey," Cedric whispered, looking at Violet with concern, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just had a run in with Malfoy." She whispered back, rushing on at his even more concerned expression, "Oh no, it wasn't anything bad, he was just being a drama queen." 

"Okay. Let me know if he gives you any more trouble, I'll have a talk with him." He nudged her with his elbow, smirking. She held back her laughter, knowing full well there wasn't a single thing Cedric could say to stop Draco. 

"Thanks." She curled up on the couch, turning her attention back to Tamsin, who was still going on about quidditch. Violet didn't understand the love of the game, in fact she found it a bit boring. She soon started to doze off, so she bid her friends a good night before heading to bed. 

Despite her exhaustion, she found herself unable to sleep, tossing and turning under the covers for what felt like hours, but was only a matter of minutes. Finally she sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, looking down at the purple quilt spread out on the bed. She blinked back the sudden rush of tears, the homesickness she'd been feeling the last few days overwhelming. 

She missed her parents. She missed her room, with its lilac purple walls and pink rugs. She missed her friends from down the street, her teachers at school. She even missed the neighbours dogs that she'd often go over and play with. 

She knew she would miss them when she left, but she had expected to be able to talk to them whenever she felt like it. So call her mother when she was sad, or to tell her father a funny story that had happened that day. But, as she had learned, there was no electricity or technology at Hogwarts. Someone had tried to explain it to her when she asked where a telephone was, but the only thing she got out of it was that the magic surrounding Hogwarts was so great that any technology went haywire if it got too close. She'd been told she could write letters home, but she had yet to find the owlery to send one. 

Tomorrow, she told herself, reaching out for that small teddy and clutching it to her chest, crawling back under the covers. Tomorrow she'd write her parents a letter, and she'd find the owlery to send it. 

[sebsxphia]

Jeebus Lord, Sebbie, that governor!rhett thot!!!! I AM NOT WORTHY!!!! I AM NOT WORTHY!!!!! (lol).

I know it's not the smuttiest thought in the world but I was reading about what Teddy Roosevelt's family was like when they lived in the White House in the early 1900s and can totally see the similarities between that and when Rhett becomes governor of Wyoming (if you ever want I'd totally be down to give a free history lesson, literally anything, it's what I majored in at my uni here in the states, lol).

Your kids are always bringing stray animals into the governor's mansion. Your youngest daughter literally woke up one day and wandered into Rhett's office while he was meeting with two of his cabinet members and was like "Daddy look a kitty!!" It was the black cat that somehow found her way to the front steps and when she took to Rhett, she'd curl up in his lap during meetings and he'd pretend to be the bad guy from James Bond (lol).

As soon as Rhett took office, you and him took immediate custody of Amy when she was born. There was no fucking way that Rhett was gonna allow his low-life brother to raise that baby and as she grew up, the newspapers called her "Princess Amy" because technically she was the oldest child in the family.

Oh but when your boys put in appearance, they too were always sneaking animals into the governor's mansion. One day a really nasty land developer had come to try and bargain with him about some land close to Wabang, but Rhett was having absolutely none of it. Tatum and Tanner snuck their pet bullfrog into her purse and she ran out of the place screaming. Needless to say and much to Rhett's relief, the land deal was off the table. Their frog was ok but the poor thing ended up peeing out of fright when Tatum put him back on his little rock in the garden pond.

Alot of your down time is spent traipsing about the woods, camping, horseback riding and such. The one photo of you that Rhett keeps framed in his office at all times is one that was taken by Joy and Martha (Joy ended up becoming police commissioner for the state of Wyoming). It was a photo of all of you on horseback, Rhett in front, you behind and Amy, your daughter, Hannah, Tatum, Tanner, Kaya and your last set of twins, Harvey and Frankie, all on horseback while Dallas (your youngest baby who you adopted) is strapped to Rhett's back and your all riding in a line through the river.

Sebbie, I could go on for hours about this, but there's too much to pack into one blurb (lol).

aaah yes! i’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed the governor rhett abbott thoughts! and i loveeee this so much too! 🥹 i think, regardless of the au or concept, rhett having feral children with you absoutely is a common theme.

oh what i would give to go horseback riding with governor abbott and our kiddos 🥹💌

[mariacallous]

Two of the most iconic thinkers of the twentieth century, Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) and Isaiah Berlin (1909–1997) fundamentally disagreed on central issues in politics, history and philosophy. In spite of their overlapping lives and experiences as Jewish émigré intellectuals, Berlin disliked Arendt intensely, saying that she represented “everything that I detest most,” while Arendt met Berlin’s hostility with indifference and suspicion. Written in a lively style, and filled with drama, tragedy and passion, Hannah Arendt and Isaiah Berlin tells, for the first time, the full story of the fraught relationship between these towering figures, and shows how their profoundly different views continue to offer important lessons for political thought today.

Drawing on a wealth of new archival material, Kei Hiruta traces the Arendt–Berlin conflict, from their first meeting in wartime New York through their widening intellectual chasm during the 1950s, the controversy over Arendt’s 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem, their final missed opportunity to engage with each other at a 1967 conference and Berlin’s continuing animosity toward Arendt after her death. Hiruta blends political philosophy and intellectual history to examine key issues that simultaneously connected and divided Arendt and Berlin, including the nature of totalitarianism, evil and the Holocaust, human agency and moral responsibility, Zionism, American democracy, British imperialism and the Hungarian Revolution. But, most of all, Arendt and Berlin disagreed over a question that goes to the heart of the human condition: what does it mean to be free?

[themculibrary]

Hurt/Comfort Masterlist 2

Links Last Checked: May 20th, 2024

part one

5 Times Ned Gave Peter His Sweatshirt (ao3) - red_to_black ned/peter T, 6k

Summary: Five times Ned Leeds gave Peter his sweatshirt, and one time Peter returned the favour.

(AKA Ned is a dork in love and Peter's a mess but someone has to take care of him. That someone is Ned.)

AKA the Greater New York PTSD Support Group (ao3) - triedunture bucky/steve/sam E, 12k

Summary: They’ve successfully completed what might be the most dangerous mission in history: the recovery of the Winter Soldier.

Now comes the recovery of Bucky Barnes, which is turning out to be even more difficult.

A story about Bucky coming back to the surface with the help of Steve, Sam, pancakes, video games, the city of New York, assorted Avengers, and beds that–really, let’s be honest here–are too soft to sleep on.

A Marriage of Inconvenience (ao3) - WhinyWingedWinchester loki/tony, natasha/thor, odin/frigga M, 80k

Summary: Forced into an arranged marriage with Prince Loki of Aysgarth, Tony knows that he is not the ideal husband to the son of a king, but he still hopes that he might find true love with his husband like the stories he loves to read of adventures and happily-ever-afters.

Prince Loki, however, does not wish to be married, and he makes this clear to Tony even after their vows have been said before the priest. Life is no better for Tony in Castle Aysgarth than it was back in Iron Reach - he is as unwanted by Loki as he was by his father.

But slowly, things change. There is a steadily growing affection between them, something that might, perhaps, grow into more and Tony can only hope his love for Loki might one day be returned.

But then an assassin strikes unexpectedly, pirates attack, and Tony very well might be living an adventure from one of his books, but it looks like happily-ever-after might be too much to hope for.

At The End Of All Things (ao3) - It-is-the-Hannah (carry_on_my_wayward_outcasts) pepper/tony T, 32k

Summary: In which Peter survives the snap, and that changes everything.

Bend Around the Wind (ao3) - Scyllaya loki/tony E, 403k

Summary: A few months after the battle of New York the God Loki appears back on Stark Tower under chaotic circumstances. This time however he is on the run. Tony Stark gets caught up in the crossfire and is taken along with the Aesir. Can the two of them ever make truce in order to get away? And even if they do, how does one escape from such a dark corner of the universe, when they are so very far away from the Nine Realms, that not even Loki knows the way back home. But first, they need to survive.

Be Still My Foolish Heart (Don’t Ruin This On Me) (ao3) - thiccbuckybarnes steve/bucky E, 15k

Summary: Bucky Barnes ends up at a house party that he really shouldn’t be at on a Saturday night.

– Or, the super angsty high school au I’ve always wanted.

Branded (ao3) - KandiSheek bucky/steve/tony M, 40k

Summary: Every child is born with two marks, one from their mother and one from their father. They say that each mark represents a lesson your soulmates will teach you, that you can gain more and more as you go through life.

Tony was born with four. They said he was destined for greatness. If this is what greatness looks like then Tony doesn’t want it.

Build you up, while fixing myself too (ao3) - marvels_blue_phoenix T, 3k

Summary: Clint let the visions of his nightmare slip away as he sat with the teen until he was done before helping him shakily get to his feet, flushing the toilet before helping Peter swill his mouth out and brush his teeth. As they turned to walk out the door Peter’s knees went weak, Clint held him and slowly lowered him to the floor feeling his heart break as Peter curled around his arm. The man held the shaking teen close to his chest. ~ After the fiasco with Mysterio, Peter is broken. Clint is there to help the kid and promises to build him back up

Bullying (ao3) - xMarrrvelx steve/tony T, 4k

Summary: Steve finds out that Tony has been a victim of bullying for ages…so, naturally, he wants to help.

catching feelings (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor clint/steve, bucky/clint/steve N/R, 3k

Summary: Clint thought that he would be okay when Bucky came back, and he and Steve started spending more time together, because he understood that Bucky was Steve's best friend from the past. Then, the two started getting closer and Clint feels left out, and worries that Steve will leave him to be with Bucky, so he starts distancing himself from his boyfriend to avoid conflict.

Five Times Clint Saw His Teammates, and One Time They Saw Him (ao3) - rohanrider3 clint/natasha T, 15k

Summary: Everyone runs on something. Clint is better than most at seeing at what that is.

And people–especially the Avengers–are full of surprises.

Or, don’t underestimate the “least powerful” team member just because he fights evil with snark and a weapon from the paleolithic era.

Like an Arrow Through a Flock of Doves (ao3) - arsenicarcher (Arsenic), hoosierbitch clint/phil E, 63k

Summary: When he takes the rap for a crime committed by Barney and the Swordsman, Clint is charged as an adult at 17 and spends the next four years of his life without protection in prison. Enter one Neal Caffrey, who knows how to charm his way to whatever he wants or needs, and Clint’s life gets a lot more interesting. Pretty much, the story of Clint in prison, Clint getting out, and Clint, like always, finding his way to SHIELD, and Phil.

Managing (ao3) - ImBadWithWords T, 5k

Summary: Peter Parker is a mess. Clint Barton is too, but that doesn't mean he won't try to help.

me and you +1 (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor steve/tony N/R, 4k

Summary: Steve discovers that he's pregnant after the events of Civil War, but he doesn't get a chance to tell Tony because Team Cap is currently in hiding, and Steve can't risk calling Tony and getting the others in trouble. Steve is trying to get through the pregnancy, but it's hard when he doesn't have Tony around. He's grateful for Natasha and Sam's support, but it's not the same.

Out Of The Void (ao3) - Lynds loki/tony E, 43k

Summary: Tony goes to help out with the Battle of Greenwich and ends up stuck on Svartalfheim with a half-dead Loki. He’s tempted (very tempted) to leave him there, but the screams are kinda getting to him. He takes him home and patches him up…and then realises that there’s way more to the Trickster than meets the eye.

Pineapple Pizza and how it Saved Peter’s Life (ao3) - Ficbunny T, 8k

Summary: Peter’s being bullied. That’s definitely a problem that Tony will be confronting someone about, but is there more going on?

Publicity Parent (ao3) - Bowtiez G, 36k

Summary: Tony's losing his credit with the public. Pepper's got a plan to fix it.

Enter Peter Parker, eight-year-old orphan from Queens, New York.

Tony has no idea how children work, so why is he so drawn to little Peter Parker?

Spider-man vs. The Avengers (ao3) - flashbulb_garden G, 28k

Summary: Nick Fury and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D find out that Tony Stark has a powerful weapon that he made before becoming the Iron Man. Tony refuses to give it over to S.H.I.E.L.D, so seeing no other option they decide to steal it. And the only way to find the weapon is by capturing the 15 year old Spider-Man and convincing him to tell them where it’s hidden. The other Avengers are sent out to find and kidnap Peter Parker, before deciding to save him.

Stolen Relics (ao3) - Kadorienne loki/tony T, 79k

Summary: The only way the Avengers can save Loki from Odin’s torture chamber is to invite him back to Midgard to fight alongside them.

The Evidence (ao3) - StrivingArtist bucky/tony T, 16k

Summary: Didn’t notice. Right. Sure. Two brilliant minds, two super spies, and a god didn’t notice when the chattiest man they knew stopped making sound. They just seemed happier than before. Brighter and more cheerful than before. They just seemed like they were more comfortable with him around when he was stone silent.

Fuck it.

He knew they noticed.

And he knew they liked him better this way.