#irish are an exception of the western

[aengelren]

life after seeing people start waking up and stop idolizing elitism and celebrity culture, feeding their pockets while the working class and third world countries suffer..is the human revolution near?

[antiqua-lugar]

I know I REALLY need to stop beating up a dead horse but words cannot express how that first conversation between Garak and Julian annoys me at times because on one hand it makes sense that Julian as someone centered in the anglo-imperialist USAian perspective of the Federation who doesn't have a particular interest in literature before meeting Garak is there going wow, a family saga used to make a political/social/cultural point, groundbreaking. propaganda? in my fiction? it's more likely than you think.

but like if they wanted to make a thing about it they could have made a thing about it and just have Julian being like so I have been on Space Wikipedia, I think we should try out One Hundred Years of Solitude (or Radetzky's March) and this thing called socialist realism, or like maybe some Brecht?

but they never do, Julian instead throws at him some Shakespeare which tbf is a stroke of genius if it's intended as Julian going "Shakespeare is truly universal so he's gotta like something about it (which also conveniently suits my Federation sensibilities)" (whatever the fuck that means in this context) except he only throws Julius Cesar at him and like maybe I am supposed to see Julian's refusal to fling The Merchant of Venice or Othello or The Tempest at Garak as the fact that he is ultimately uncomfortable on some level with Garak's Cardassian pride which definitely has imperialistic and xenophobic connotations whether Garak personally believes in them or not

but like no one else does either and this is somehow the postcolonial show where Miles and Kira don't have ONE single conversation about how they both fought Cardassians and come from similiar colonial histories

Like girl, you want to be the postcolonial Star Trek show and then decide (correctly) that literature debates are a good way to make a point and then you can't make any points as all of human literature apparently ends in Shakespeare. "space, the final frontier" girl you don't even know where Europe is.

[summercomfort]

in my pursuit of ever-increasingly niche comics, I drew a 13 page comic about Tape v Hurley, a court case about Chinese-American school segregation in 1885. The rest of the pages are after the readmore, as well as on AO3 here. More obsure Chinese American court case comics are there, as well.

Historical Notes

Mary and Joseph Tape were not born in America, but their names and identities were very much formed in America. Joseph Tape was born Jeu Dip in Guangdong, China, immigrated the America when he was twelve, and spent his teenage years working as a house servant in an Irish household. Mary arrived in America at the age of eleven, and was found and raised as Mary McGladery in a Protestant orphanage as the only Chinese child amongst ~80 children. Both Mary and Jeu spent their formative years amongst White Christian families, so when Jeu Dip and Mary married in 1875, little wonder that Jeu picked the English name of Joseph Tape -- Joseph to match with Mary, and the German last name Tape as a nod to his former name of Dip.

The Tape family lived about 14 blocks outside of Chinatown, in a primarily white neighborhood. They dressed in Western clothing, spoke English at home, and Mamie grew up playing with non-Chinese kids. Naturally, they wanted their children to attend the local elementary school, a mere 3 blocks from their home. The principal, Ms. Hurley, denied her entrance, claiming that she was “filthy and diseased.” At the time, there was no public school option for Chinese children -- the 1870 state law stipulated separate schools for “African and Indian children” only, not Chinese. The Tape family, with the help of the Chinese Six Companies, their church, and the Chinese consulate, decided to sue, claiming that the 1880 California school code guaranteed everyone a right to public education and that this was a violation of the 14th Amendment.

They won.

But this was 1885, three years after the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act and six years before Plessy v Ferguson. Regardless of what the California Supreme Court might decide, public sentiment was on the side of the San Francisco school district. Determined to keep out this “invasion of Mongol barbarism”, the California State Legislature passed a law permitting separate schools for Chinese children, which then allowed Principal Hurley to reject Mamie Tape once more.

While Mamie was rejected from the Spring Valley Elementary School for being Chinese, she also had a hard time fitting in to the Chinese public school. The Chinese merchants saw Western education as something primarily for boys. (Their girl children learned from their mothers at home.) Mamie, a girl dressed in Western clothes, would have stood out like a sore thumb. The final panel of the comic was based on a photo from three years later, and even then, Mamie was the only girl.

Places where I fudged the history: Frank, Mamie’s younger brother, was actually six years old and should have been more present in the comic, but I wante to keep the focus on Mamie and Mary. Also, Mamie had actually shown up to her first day of school in Western clothes. An earlier draft of the comic had a separate arc involving Mamie feeling rejected at school and Mary buying her some Chinese clothes, but that got too long and complicated.

Much of this was drawn from Mae Ngai’s book about the Tape family and their experiences as 2nd and 3rd generation Chinese Americans, titled “The Lucky Ones.”

----------

Here is Mary Tape's letter to the San Francisco School Board, 1885:

1769 Green Street. San Francisco, April 8, 1885. To the Board of Education - Dear Sirs: I see that you are going to make all sorts of excuses to keep my child out off the Public schools. Dear sirs, Will you please to tell me! Is it a disgrace to be Born a Chinese? Didn’t God make us all!!! What right have you to bar my children out of the school because she is a chinese Decend. They is no other worldly reason that you could keep her out, except that. I suppose, you all goes to churches on Sundays! Do you call that a Christian act to compell my little children to go so far to a school that is made in purpose for them. My children don’t dress like the other Chinese. They look just as phunny amongst them as the Chinese dress in Chinese look amongst you Caucasians. Besides, if I had any wish to send them to a chinese school I could have sent them two years ago without going to all this trouble. You have expended a lot of the Public money foolishly, all because ofa one poor little Child. Her playmates is all Caucasians ever since she could toddle around. If she is good enough to play with them! Then is she not good enough to be in the same room and studie with them? You had better come and see for yourselves. See if the Tape’s is not same as other Caucasians, except in features. It seems no matter how a Chinese may live and dress so long as you know they Chinese. Then they are hated as one. There is not any right or justice for them. You have seen my husband and child. You told him it wasn’t Mamie Tape you object to. If it were not Mamie Tape you object to, then why didn’t you let her attend the school nearest her home! Instead of first making one pre tense Then another pretense of some kind to keep her out? It seems to me Mr. Moulder has a grudge against this Eight-year-old Mamie Tape. I know they is no other child I mean Chinese child! care to go to your public Chinese school. May you Mr. Moulder, never be persecuted like the way you have persecuted little Mamie Tape. Mamie Tape will never attend any of the Chinese schools of your making! Never!!! I will let the world see sir What justice there is When it is govern by the Race prejudice men! Just because she is of the Chinese decend, not because she don’t dress like you because she does. Just because she is descended of Chinese parents I guess she is more of a American then a good many of you that is going to prewent her being Educated. Mrs. M. Tape

[dizzymoods]

During the Troubles, Civil Rights Leaders went to Ireland to learn about the plight of the Irish people and to support their fight against colonialism.

Standing on the success of their nonviolent principles which led to civil liberties here (to whatever degree the CRM was successful) and in their ignorance of the history of Ireland, they tried to get the IRA to adopt nonviolent, peaceful civil disobedience.

At the end of their tour of Belfast, where they learned the history and politics of Irish resistance, all of them come to the conclusion that here violence is necessary. The Irish have exhausted all other means including nonviolent ones. Even if some of the CRM leaders maintained nonviolence as paramount, they understood that certain exceptions must be made because — regardless of if they approve of violence or not — their job is to support colonized people and follow their lead.

There is a lesson here that we should apply to the Palestinian struggle.

I’ve seen people pearl clutch over seeing so many dead Palestinians as part of the colonial violence of the camera. This misses the point of why those images are being shared.

Last decade many Black americans, myself included, talked about the commodification of Black death. videos of state murder plastered on every news channel 24/7, going viral across social media platforms connected to the legacy of lynching postcards and gator bait. We demonstrated that those videos rarely got an indictment and only once a conviction. Many of the families of these victims of police murder made it clear they don’t want the image of their loved one to be of death. The reason why we share Michael Brown’s graduation photo instead of the photo of his corpse is because Lesley McSpadden demanded it. With all this in mind, we understand that in most cases the sharing of those images are antiblack.

The Palestinians do not have that history. The Nakba never happened, despite israelis calling this the second Nakba. genocide joe said 40 israeli babies were beheaded after it was found out that the story was some wingnut footsoldier’s lie, not even official israeli hasbara. It was like 2 weeks ago that genocide joe said the number of murdered Palestinians (at the time around 5,000 Palestinians were martyred — the number is now over 10,000) was a Hamas lie.

Linguistically there is no murdered Palestinian. All the headlines read “x amount of israelis killed and some palestinians died”. visually there is no dead Palestinian. official israeli hasbara is trying to flood social media with videos of patient-actors getting into place in Indonesian medical training programs to “debunk” the countless videos of martyred Palestinians.

The denial of the scale of israel’s genocide of the Palestinians is so bad that reporters in Gaza are holding dead children in front of press cameras because Palestinians do not die and are not murdered.

The profit motive of these images is actually in their absence. not their over saturation like with Black americans. The west needs israel as a destabilizing force in the middle east. The strategy of the western media then is to bury these images, to not give them a second of attention. So logically the Palestinian strategy is to proliferate these images to show just how horrifying israel’s crimes are.

Two things can be true at the same time; what works for you doesn’t necessarily work for me etc.

The other thing i’m seeing are liberal frameworks to understand genocide. Of particular ire is desirability politics. *jujubee voice* just say white supremacy.

Desirability is tertiary at best. israel is genociding Palestinians because they want control over Gaza and the West Bank (and Lebanon too). They are not genociding Palestinians because Palestinians are “undesirable.” They make Palestinians undesirable to justify taking their land. Talking about this psychoanalytic bullshit distracts from the primary reason for the displacement and mass murder of Palestinians: the taking of their land.

~*desirability*~ is just one way that israel tries to justify its crimes. Desirability is a circular logic that can only make sense once you manufacture its premise irl. It means nothing without the material conditions it claims are true. Its super easy to call someone an animal after you put them in a cage. It’s super easy to call a people dirty savages after you restrict their access to water. It’s super easy to call someone violent after you sequester them in small, barely livable spaces and stress them with bombings and check points.

It’s also — there’s a way in which opposition to something reifies the very thing that you oppose. Toni Morrison continues to beat everybody’s ass. What does it do when you see a baby with half a skull and say “this happened because she is undesirable”? Undesirable to whom? Not me.

Palestinians are not so passive as to oppose white supremacy and desirability. The Palestinian people are a proactive people. Palestine is the issue. Palestine has a people. Palestine has an ecology. Palestine has life. Palestine is life. Palestinians fight for life. life can neither exist nor blossom under white supremacy.

Any analysis that does not begin with this is a distraction. And distractions only benefit the colonizers.

[wrishwrosh]

hey, i find your posts about historical fiction pretty interesting, do you have any recs?

anon this is the most beautiful and validating ask i have ever received. absolutely of COURSE I have recs. not gonna be a lot of deep cuts on this list but i love all of these books and occasionally books do receive awards and acclaim because they are good. in no particular order:

the cromwell trilogy by hilary mantel. of course i gotta start with the og. it’s 40 million pages on the tudor court and the english reformation and it will fundamentally change you as a person and a reader

(sub rec: the giant, o’brien by hilary mantel. in many ways a much shorter thematic companion to the cromwell trilogy imo. about stories and death and embodiment and the historical record and 18th century ireland. if you loved the trilogy, read this to experience hils playing with her own theories about historical fiction. if you are intimidated by the trilogy, read this first to get a taste of her prose style and her approach to the genre. either way please read all four novels ok thanks)

lincoln in the bardo by george saunders. the book that got me back into historical fiction as an adult. american history as narrated by a bunch of weird ghosts and abraham lincoln. chaotic and lovely and morbid.

the everlasting by katy simpson smith. rome through the ages as seen by a medici princess, a gay death-obsessed monk, and an early christian martyr. really historically grounded writing about religion and power, and also narrated with interjections from god’s ex boyfriend satan. smith is a trained historian and her prose slaps

(sub rec: free men by katy simpson smith. only a sub rec bc i read it a long time ago and my memory of it is imperfect but i loved it in 2017ish. about three men in the woods in the post revolutionary american south and by virtue of being about masculinity is actually about women. smith did her phd in antebellum southern femininity and motherhood iirc so this book is LOCKED IN to those perspectives)

a mercy by toni morrison. explores the dissolution of a household in 17th century new york. very different place and time than a lot of morrison’s bigger novels but just as mean and beautiful

(sub rec: beloved by toni morrison. a sub rec bc im pretty sure everyone has already read beloved but perhaps consider reading it again? histfic ghost story abt how the past is always here and will never go away and loves you and hates you and is trying to kill you)

an artist of the floating world by kazuo ishiguro. my bestie sir kazuo likes to explore the past through characters who, for one reason or another (amnesia, dementia, being a little baby robot who was just born yesterday, etc), are unable to fully comprehend their surroundings. this one is about post-wwii japan as understood by an elderly supporter of the imperial regime

(sub rec: remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro. same conceit as above except this time the elderly collaborator is incapable of reckoning with the slow collapse of the system that sheltered him due to britishness.)

the pull of the stars by emma donoghue. donoghue is a strong researcher and all of her novels are super grounded in their place and time without getting so caught up in it they turn into textbooks. i picked this one bc it is a wwi lesbian love story about childbirth that made me cry so hard i almost threw up on a plane but i recommend all her histfic published after 2010. before that she was still finding her stride.

days without end by sebastian barry. this one is hard to read and to rec bc it is about the us army’s policy of genocide against native americans in the 19th century west as told by an irish cavalry soldier. it is grim and violent and miserable and also so beautiful it makes me cry about every three pages. first time i read it i was genuinely inconsolable for two days afterwards.

this post is long as hell so HONORABLE MENTIONS: the amazing adventures of kavalier & clay by michael chabon, the western wind by samantha harvey, golden hill by frances spufford, barkskins by annie proulx, postcards by annie proulx, most things annie proulx has written but i feel like i talk about her too much, the view from castle rock by alice munro, the name of the rose by umberto eco, tracks by louise erdrich

[zvaigzdelasas]

Several tech leaders have publicly withdrawn their attendance from a top industry conference in Europe next month after the summit's CEO criticized Israel in a tweet. Paddy Cosgrave, an Irish entrepreneur and the co-founder of Web Summit, an annual technology conference held in Lisbon each November, stoked outrage among his colleagues after he accused Israel of committing war crimes. "I'm shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders & governments, with the exception in particular of Ireland's government, who for once are doing the right thing," Cosgrave wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday. "War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are."[...]

Prior to his tweet about war crimes, Cosgrave had previously praised the Irish government for rejecting a bid to suspend European Union aid to Palestinians before EU foreign ministers reversed the decision to cancel the assistance. Israel's ambassador to Portugal, Dor Shapira, announced Monday that his country would no longer participate in the Web Summit conference as a result of Cosgrave's "outrageous statements."[...]

Shapira said "dozens" of companies had also pulled out of the event and he encouraged more to do so.[...]

Several industry leaders have since said they will also cancel their appearances and attendances at the upcoming Web Summit conference, including Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator; Ori Goshen, co-CEO of AI21 Labs; Ravi Gupta, a partner at Sequoia; Keith Peiris, CEO of Tome; Adam Singolda, head of advertising company Taboola; and David Marcus, CEO of Lightspark and former PayPal chief executive.[...]

On Sunday, two days after Cosgrave accused Israel of committing war crimes, he added an addendum to his original tweet, condemning the Hamas attacks as "outrageous and disgusting." "Israel has a right to defend itself, but it does not, as I have already stated, have a right to break international law," Cosgrave wrote.[...]

A couple hours later, amid news of increasing Web Summit cancellations, however, Cosgrave appeared to double down on his original remarks. "To repeat: War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies & should be called out for what they are," Cosgrave wrote. "I will not relent."

Cant even handle the most mild condemnation couched in #bothsides [16 Oct 23]

[alicentsgf]

i do sometimes forget most white americans cant necessarily tell what version of white someone is. and to be very clear this is not me at all criticising - homogenous whiteness is part of american culture and that has an impact on how european features are percieved, it makes total sense they have a different perspective. But like personally i can look at most white people and take a pretty good guess what region of europe their familys from, and so can most other europeans. I remember studying in america and finding out the girl i was sat with was irish american and saying 'oh i could tell. you look irish' and her being shocked, saying she was surprised i could tell. like girl you are the most sterotypically irish looking person i've ever seen. There are always exceptions obviously, but as a general rule you can at least take a good guess.

I think maybe this why some movies seem so badly cast to me sometimes. They'll be casting for a movie about ancient greece or something and it'd be fine if one or two actors looked more western or northern european... but all of them? I just cant concentrate. It takes me tf out. I'll be sitting there like "that is an anglo saxon i can tell just by looking at him". I remember being so not okay with logan lerman getting cast as percy jackson when i was a kid, because the book described him as mediterranean. And i felt gaslit because everyone else was calling him the perfect percy, when he looked so british/irish to me. Like e.g. I can tell Emma D'Arcys heritage is likely scandinavian, just from looking at them. They have a mix of features you can pinpoint on a map somehow. Its just something I know immediately upon looking at them without having to even think about it.

Maybe this is why some americans seem confused by where 'tall, dark, and handsome' comes from, and the concept of dark features in general. "Olive-skinned" as well. Like these terms dont really work very well with a culture that enforces homogenous whiteness. My cultural experience with the term "olive skinned" has always been that its used as a way of referencing the green undertone (i.e. has nothing to do with the depth of colour) usually seen in the countries around the Mediterranean. It suggests that that person's skin tans easily, but it doesnt necessarily mean it IS tan. It can go very pale without sunlight, but even when its pale its yellow/green tinted. But seriously, where does that term fit in when it comes to homogenous whiteness? It just doesnt really, it wasnt made for that.

All i can think is Europeans dont really have a concept of overarching whiteness amongst ourselves the way white americans do (please dont think this is me saying we dont benefit from whiteness, we do). Im not saying this is better or worse than the american concept either btw, Im really not making any kind of moral or political statement here. I just think its kinda fascinating how much culture affects our ability to categorise certain traits. Our perception of stuff like this depends sooo heavily on culture/how we're exposed to it, and I think maybe this is something we need to keep in mind when we're having cross-continental conversations, instead of assuming our way is the only way to percieve something and the other person is stupid for seeing something different than what we see.

[lunarubra]

So, here we are. This chapter is shorter than the others, but I wanted to wrap up the first part of the story in a sweet way, and this is what came out. It's pure fluff—I hope you like it! :) More will happen in the next parts, I just need to get back into writing and feel good about it. Thank you for being patient with me, and I’m sorry for the long wait. Comments make me very happy..

Pairing: Cillian x OC (Jiyan Fabris)

Summary: The end of the first part of the story, where they both finally found their balance.

Warning: English not my First Language, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort.

Words: 2266

Previous | Masterlist

Chapter 9 - Glow of the Water

“You know, I always expect the worst from this island, but I’m glad it surprises me sometimes,” Jiyan said with a playful smile.

Cillian, who was driving, shot her a mildly offended look. They had just left Galway, where the night before he’d celebrated the 35th anniversary of the local theatre with fellow actors and screenwriters. It was also where she finally met his famous friend Enda—the one he couldn’t stop talking about.

The event had been incredible—watching all the interconnected plays was engaging, and Jiyan finally got to see Cillian perform on stage, which was one of the most special things he shared with her. Afterward, the actors gathered at a local pub for a lively, traditional Irish night. It was the most fun Jiyan had had in months, especially watching Cillian and Enda get tipsy a bit too quickly, something she found endlessly amusing. Teasing her drunk boyfriend might have bordered on cruelty, but she had enjoyed it far too much to care.

The following morning, after a couple of Bloody Marys for Cillian—and tea for Jiyan, who still couldn’t understand why anyone would want to drink tomatoes (tomatoes were for cooking or salads, not for juice)—and a hearty breakfast, they set off for the coast. Jiyan hadn’t seen much of Ireland outside Dublin, except for a visit to Cork with Cillian, but she’d never explored the western coast or the countryside, which Cillian found hard to believe. She’d been in Ireland for nearly five months, as he reminded her while planning the trip, and still hadn’t visited some of its most beautiful spots. To him, that needed immediate fixing.

“What do you mean?” Cillian asked, frowning slightly.

“Well, you have to admit, as lovely as it is, it’s always raining. And when it’s not, the sun plays hide-and-seek with the clouds. I almost cried last week when the weatherman said we were in for a ‘nice week.’ You know why? Because that ‘nice week’ meant sixteen hours of sunshine. Sixteen hours. For the whole week! That has to violate the Geneva Convention or something.”

“The ‘weatherman’?” Cillian asked, amused.

“In Italy, we’d call him uccello del malaugurio—someone who only brings bad news and somehow makes it happen.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s not actually controlling the weather, love.”

“He’s bringing bad luck, I swear! I know you Irish are used to this, but I’m not. The other day, a woman probably thought I was lost. I kept weaving between buildings, crossing the street a thousand times, trying to chase the sun!”

Cillian stifled a groan, well aware of how frustrating it was to walk with her on sunny days. He almost preferred when it rained, because Jiyan would prepare like a marine about to head into battle—wrapped in two scarves, a beanie covering most of her face—and would march through the streets, efficient and fast. But on sunny days? It was like following an overexcited child with no sense of direction. She’d zigzag across the street, dodging every shadow cast by buildings, street lamps, anything that blocked the sun. She’d jaywalk without hesitation just to stay in the light, and sometimes she even abandoned the sidewalk to walk in the middle of the road. Needless to say, the neighbours had become extra watchful whenever Jiyan was out and about.

The playful banter faded naturally, giving way to the soft sound of Nina Simone’s voice, setting a relaxed, comfortable mood in the car. They were driving along a coastal road where the cliffs met the ocean, the peaceful day mirroring the calm inside. Unlike the stormy days before, the sea was serene, and the sun hung lazily on the horizon. Even with the windows closed, Jiyan could hear the distant calls of seagulls, blending perfectly with Nina Simone’s soothing voice from the speakers.

Cillian’s hand had unconsciously found its way to her leg, drawing lazy circles with his thumb, while Jiyan absentmindedly caressed his forearm. She felt more relaxed than she had in a long time, simply enjoying the scenery and the warm sunlight spilling through the window.

“So why do you say it surprises you?” he asked.

“Well, even though this isn’t exactly my kind of weather, it’s really beautiful—and I’m kind of surprised by that,” she joked, then turned toward him and took his hand. She smiled softly and paused for a moment. “Thank you for today.”

Cillian glanced at her, returning her smile as if trying to capture the moment forever—Jiyan with her wild hair escaping the messy bun, gazing out toward the ocean, her eyes reflecting the different shades of the water.

“We’re almost there,” he said, holding her hand and kissing it.

The trail seemed to fly by as they walked along the cliffs, the beauty of the landscape unlike anything Jiyan had ever experienced. She thought, if there was a place where the colour green had been invented, it had to be here.

They spent most of the hike chatting—getting into lively talks about European and American cinema and even a passionate debate over The Beatles over the Rolling Stones. But once they reached the Cliffs of Moher, the conversation faded, and Jiyan just stood there, quiet, taking in the stunning view.

She leaned back against Cillian’s chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Her hands rested on his, holding him as she soaked in the moment, lost in the scenery and the peacefulness surrounding them.

She snuggled deeper into Cillian’s embrace, letting out a contented sigh.

"I love this," she said softly, her voice barely louder than the wind. "It’s beautiful. I don’t think I’ve felt this at peace in... I can’t even remember when."

Cillian hummed in agreement, pulling her even closer. Her hair, tousled by the breeze, brushed against his chin as he pressed a soft kiss to the side of her head.

They stood there for a while, wrapped in each other and the wild beauty surrounding them. The cliffs stretched out endlessly, meeting the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean below. The sea, dark and restless, crashed against the rocks, but the horizon was calm, the late afternoon sun casting a golden light over everything.

"I’m glad you finally got to see this," Cillian murmured, his voice low. "I’ve been wanting to bring you here since we were in Cork."

Jiyan smiled, her gaze still fixed on the ocean. "I get it now. It’s... overwhelming in the best way. It feels like time just stops here."

Cillian chuckled softly, resting his chin on her shoulder. "That’s Ireland for you. It has a way of pulling you in, even when you least expect it."

She tilted her head slightly, looking up at him, her eyes warm and bright. "Thank you for bringing me here," she said, her voice softer and more intimate this time.

"Anytime," he whispered, giving her a gentle squeeze. "It’s moments like this that make all the rain and cloudy days worth it."

They stood together in comfortable silence, both lost in the tranquillity of the moment. Finally, Jiyan broke the stillness, her tone light but playful as she glanced up at him.

“If I had told Samyah last year that I’d find peace—and a whole new life—in Ireland, she probably would’ve staged an intervention,” Jiyan chuckled.

Cillian stiffened slightly, unsure of what to say. He hesitated for a moment before speaking. "You’ve never really talked again about... about what happened, about her. I didn’t want to pry."

Jiyan tightened her grip on his arms around her waist, as if steadying herself. She let out a soft breath. "I never really talked about what happened—before that day when I had the panic attack. It was too painful, and I just hoped I could forget it, lock it away. There are still things that happened after, but I'm not ready to talk about them yet. I don’t even know how to explain it. Then I met you, and I thought I could move on, be happy, and leave everything in the past. But it didn’t work like that. After we got back from Cork, after your sister’s birthday, the panic attacks started again."

"You didn’t tell me..." he said softly, his concern evident.

She turned in his arms to face him. "I know. I’m sorry. I just hoped that if I ignored it long enough, it would disappear."

Cillian cupped her face gently, his thumb brushing her cheek. "I don’t think it works that way, love."

"No, it doesn’t," she replied with a half-hearted smile, sadness lingering in her eyes. "That’s why I started seeing a therapist. And it’s helping… it’s helping a lot."

"You started therapy? When?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"Not long ago, I swear. I’m only on my third session," she said quickly. "I know I should’ve told you sooner, but I wanted to keep it to myself until I felt more comfortable. Honestly, I haven’t been the best patient... I’m not great at asking for help, and it took me a while to figure it out," she admitted. Her voice softened then, her eyes searching his. "Are you... is it okay?"

Cillian’s gaze fixed on her, and he gently placed his hands on her arms. "Am I...? Jiyan, of course. This is good. This is really good." He paused, trying to find the right words. "You’re one of the strongest people I know, but I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been dealing with everything that happened. I want to help, but sometimes... I'm really not sure how."

"Therapy is good—it’s so important," he continued, hesitating for a moment as he glanced around, almost like the scenery might give him the words he needed. "There were days when I could tell something was off. You seemed distant, and I thought giving you space was the right thing to do... that maybe you didn’t want to be pushed. I’m sorry if I wasn’t there when you needed me." he concluded lowering his gaze.

Jiyan shook her head gently, her eyes softening. "Cillian, you’ve already helped more than you know. You didn’t need to fix everything. You just had to be here, and you were. That’s all I needed."

He exhaled slowly, relieved by her words but still carrying a hint of hesitation. "I just... I hate that you went through this alone. I should’ve said something or done more."

She smiled, placing her hand over chest, just above his heart. "I’m working through a lot of things, but one thing I’m sure about... You came into my life exactly when I needed you. I wasn’t ready before, and I don’t think I would’ve let anyone in." Her voice softened as she continued, "But you made it safe for me. I know I shut down sometimes, but you’ve always been patient. You gave me space when I needed it and support when I couldn’t ask for it."

Cillian lowered his head, resting his forehead against hers. "I’m glad, but... I’m here, Jiyan. It’s not just you—I’m here," he emphasised again. "You don’t have to carry it all alone."

"I know," she whispered. "It’s not easy for me, but I’m learning that it’s okay to lean on people again."

They stood there for a moment, forehead to forehead, the gentle sound of the ocean filling the quiet between them. The weight of her words seemed to settle around them, but instead of feeling heavy, it brought a sense of lightness, as if a burden had finally been lifted.

Cillian stepped back slightly, gazing at the person who had entered his life like a hurricane and somehow filled every gap, every empty space inside him. He thought about all the times his friends or brother, after yet another failed relationship, had told him he’d just know when he met the right person. They said it would feel natural, intense, and effortless—he wouldn’t even have to think about it. And they were right. Before he realised it, he was completely connected to her.

“Tá mé i ngrá leat,” he murmured, feeling Jiyan stiffen slightly.

"You..." she started.

"You don’t have to say anything," he said gently. "I just... Tá mé i ngrá leat, Jiyan," he repeated, cupping her face.

“Ez jî ji te hez dikim,” she whispered back.

"What?" he asked, baffled.

"What, I know what you told me in Irish, and you don’t understand Kurdish?" she teased, a playful smile spreading across her face.

Cillian laughed softly, his expression warming. "I think you’ve got the advantage when it comes to languages, Aji."

"I love you too," she said again, this time more softly, and then kissed him slowly. She poured all her emotions into the kiss—all the love, gratitude, and vulnerability she had held inside. Cillian responded in kind, holding her even closer as the moment deepened.

When the kiss finally ended, they stayed like that, forehead to forehead, breathing heavily, as if they’d both come up for air after diving deep into something profound.

"Okay, this was amazing—I love you, and the place is beautiful," Jiyan said with a teasing tone, "but it’s freezing, way too cold for tiny Mediterranean me. Can we go back?"

Cillian laughed softly, kissing her forehead “Yeah we can go back, come on”.

As they began to walk back along the cliffs, the salty breeze tousled their hair and the distant sound of waves crashing against the rocks filled the air. Jiyan leaned into Cillian’s side, feeling warmth radiate from him despite the chill of the weather. They exchanged smiles, sealing their pact in that beautiful moment, the ocean and the cliffs standing as their witnesses.

Previous | Masterlist

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this chapter. Your feedback, in any form helps me to continue write this story; and comments makes me happy. See you at the next one :)

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

i know why they don't do this but i would love if in fe all the characters had accents based on what irl country their nation is based on. like-

everyone raised in bern has a german accent, everyone from ilia has a russian accent, everyone from the western isles (except lalum, echidna and elffin) has a accent from the british isles or ireland etc.

it would really only work for the elibe games and hoshido cuz the rest of them are less on the nose, but i think it'd be neat. irish fir and german dorcas would heal my soul.

-🦴

.

[panvani]

Tokyo districts we've visited RANKED:

14. Akibahara: inhospitable for human life. only place in Tokyo where they not only spelled out why they specifically had 24hr surveillance on escalators but they felt the need to put signs reminding you on every available surface. so many signs telling you to Speak Up if you think someone has been molested. genuinely felt like an insane person there but at least my girlfriend found a Transformer there (we did discover that Akibahara is vastly more approachable when you get off the main roads)

13. Harajuku: this one also felt inhospitable for human life but in like an extreme gentrification way instead of like Literally Not Made For Humans way. very weird walking through THe Clothes District and finding no clothes I wanted. almost all of the food vendors were selling extreme overpriced meme foods but we did find a surprisingly good katsudon place

12. Shibuya: the Scramble ! nowhere else in Tokyo played as much Western music. clothes were either Y4k for some shit that looked like it would disintegrate in 5 days or Y20k for like. some canvas with stains on it. a robot served me a mid as fuck highball

11: Asakusa: It was insanely fucking hot the day we happened to be in Asakusa so maybe I'm not judging it entirely on its own merits but kind of an insane area in which to exist. Very touristy (largely towards people natively from Japan/Tokyo) ergo very expensive. Maybe if we had spent longer there I would have liked it more but for now my most vivid memory is of the rickshaws which my girlfriend pointed out were almost exclusively used by Japanese people

10. Ginza: This was not unexpected in any capacity but everything is so expensive here. Ginza was the only location we visited in urban Japan where we could walk for an hour and not encounter either a vending machine or a convenience store. "Do rich people not need to drink" - my girlfriend

9. Kichijoji: We bought Blue Ham Ham here and then ate at one of those restaurants that lets you pick from a selection of raw eggs to eat with rice which was good as fuck

8. Akasaka: kind of nothing here but bars, office buildings, and an entire block dedicated to Harry Potter so we didn't do anything of note here. Yu Gi Oh Curry !

7. Nagano: Pretty unremarkable except for having a mall full of old stuff but we went to some shitty hole in the wall where we were served by someone my girlfriend described as "definitely transgender" the moment we left the restaurant

6. Shimokitazawa: We saw some cool clothes here and like 15 seconds of an indie band playing in a building. Kind of the most insanely hipstery area in Tokyo by a huge margin like astonishingly so. Only time I saw anything be specifically marketed as vegan in Japan

5. Shinjuku: Shinjuku, or at least my personal experience with Shinjuku, is sort of hard to describe. It was the first district in Tokyo that I'd seen after leaving the airport and it imposes this vision of a city that is incomprehensibly vast and dense. I don't think other districts dispelled this image but Shinjuku is by far the most successful at affirming it

4. Ikebukuro: Kinda like Akibahara lite which makes it a lot more tolerable. I could not stop saying "are you inspired with lust for Irish women yet" any time we encountered a location that was even slightly notable. I don't think either myself or my girlfriend ended up buying anything here but we went to a nice restaurant so it all worked out. There's something charming about the police outposts that seem to be present on every 2 blocks and the number of cameras randomly scattered about

3. Ueno: We rly only saw the zoo here (it was mid) but upon stepping out into Ueno park we discovered a Pakistan-Japan Friendship Festival where we watched some women dance and bought some good as fuck sweets

2. Sumida: Quite cutes :) we spent a lot of time wandering around residential areas which always make me feel way more amiable towards an area. Skytree was cool though I probably wouldn't pay for it again. Katsushika Hokusai museum was very cool.

1. Jimbocho/Ochanomizu: We went to the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and walked around for 1 million years looking at books and posters and various other items and got some lovely coffee. Wonderful place

SPECIAL MENTION: Chiba: I got a really bad sunburn here

[sweaterkittensahoy]

i would love to hear more about jack being bribed. this is the most undisciplined bomb group after all, they have to clean up their record somehow (read: lying and bribery)

The only way to do this justice is to explain the crimes that led to the bribes. And the best way to do that is to call out each man by name.

Bubbles Payne:

The Crime: Being chipper every goddamn morning no matter what.

The Bribe: Jack hasn't sewn his own buttons in two years. Bubbles can sew a button in about two minutes.

Harry Crosby:

The Crime: Doing navigation equations out loud. Including all math symbols needed to complete them.

The Bribe: Two books for every one equation Jack has to hear out loud. Westerns are worth 1.5 other books, as they're Jack's favorite genre.

Curtis Biddick:

The Crime: Thrice-weekly bar fights (average).

The Bribe: A subscription to Jack's favorite muscle magazine. He totally reads the articles. Totally.

Robert Rosenthal:

The Crime: Trying to sing.

The Bribe: Being the best fucking pilot Jack's ever seen and fucking humble about it. Seriously. No bribes necessary, just keep doing what you do, Rosie. Except singing. Which you cannot actually do.

Douglass:

The Crime: Loving puns.

The Bribe: Helps Jack write letters that don't feel stilted or dull.

Blakely:

The Crime: Camp champion for number of penicillin shots needed for VD.

The Bribe: Cold hard cash. Fifty cents a shot.

Brady:

The Crime: Reminding Jack entirely too much of his kid brother.

The Bribe: Accepting Jack's hugs but pretending like he's never been hugged by Jack ever.

Hambone:

The Crime: Wise ass.

The Bribe: His mother's chicken soup. Which reminds Jack of his own mom's chicken soup.

Bucky:

The Crime: Existing.

The Bribe: Existing (Jack admits this one only makes sense if you really get how he and Bucky work.)

Buck:

The Crime: Being secretly feral and convincing everyone except Jack he's not.

The Bribe: Stopping Bucky from singing sometimes.

Demarco:

The Crime: Being a Chicago Italian (Jack's got Irish family in Chicago; it's not a Mob thing, just a neighborhood thing).

The Bribe: Knows how to properly cook cabbage.

Ken Lemmons:

The Crime: Using his hick accent and big blue eyes to convince RAF pilots he's never seen a real British pound and pocketing several dollars a week.

The Bribe: 1 out of 5 pounds ends up in Jack's pocket.

Harding:

The Crime: Not going to the goddamn doctor for his fucking gallstones and nearly dropping dead*.

The Bribe: Visiting Jack every chance he gets and apologizing for, oh, six months.

Helen:

The Crime: Letting people think she's the Colonel's daughter because they have the same name and everyone just assumed**.

The Bribe: Telling Jack the truth (Harding DOES have a daughter named Helen, but she's four) because she can see he has a crush and likes him enough to give him a nudge.

Meatball

The Crime: Being a fucking Husky.

The Bribe: Being a fucking Husky.

(*Actual reason Harding had to leave the 100th. Having had gall bladder surgery, I literally do not know how he ignored it long enough to nearly fucking die.)

(**In actual fact, Actual!Harding had a daughter named Helen who is meant to be the Helen in the show. But for fandom purposes, no she's not, and yes, she is totally playing people about it. It keeps the worst of the flyboys away from her.)

[luimagines]

Hey Pinky I am back with my Lynel Farm something that came to my mind because of irish!Reader but it has more with the mythology that kicked my brain. I am ancient compared to most people for the category of Anime. I watched Beyblade Metal Fusion as a kid but it's not about that even if it would be funny. But I write about another childhood series I saw, Inuyasha. As I don't know if you know this Anime I make a little headcanon. This is Inuyasha!Reader.

They lived in the feudal lands of Japan.

Reader may look young, like 15 to 17, but they are actually over 200 years old.

They are a Hanyou, which means they are half human and half Youkai, a half-demon.

Even though their mother had a title that is the same rank of a princess, they were treated horribly with only their mother as support.

But demons didn't accept them either as they were still part human.

Their father was a dog demon, a strong one at that, with the title of the Lord of the Western Lands.

And his blood is strong which is why Reader has white silvery hair with golden yellow eyes.

Except it's a new moon, in this phase of the night they lose all their abilities they have as a Hanyou, don't worry I will list them later.

At the new moon they have the hair colour of Reader with their eye colour as it's their human part and they hate the new moon as it also makes them vulnerable.

They wear the Robe of the Fire-Rat, it's from their father, with a white hadagi undershirt. And with this they are fireproof. They can walk through a forest fire and come out alive and without a scratch. And they always go around barefoot.

Their abilities are enhanced jumps, they can jump from a one story house up to the roof of a four story high house. They have superhuman strength like Reader punches through solid steel. Superhuman speed, they can outrun a horse without problems and as their stamina is inhuman as well. They can run through the whole day and still make it through the complete nightshift. Their agility and reflexes are nothing to brush off either, they can catch and destroy arrows mid air even if they stand with their back to their opponent or opponents. Their durability and accelerated healing will shock the Chain, especially Hyrule. They can get impaled through their stomach and survive it while fighting! And within a day the wound is gone without leaving a single scar.

As a dog demon they have enhanced senses of smell and hearing. They can smell the hints of blood from kilometres away and can hear what people were whispering from a great distance away. They also have dog ears which are very fluffy like the ones from an Akita Inu.

Their fighting style is unorthodox to say at least as they are extremely stubborn and refuse to back down, even when their life is in danger. As they won't back down and fight with their claws if their sword isn't available or they don't want to use it and they can solidify their own blood and make it into flying blades.

Now to their sword. It's called Tessaiga which is the sword that can "kill a hundred demons in a single stroke" and it looks like a Katana that's about to break until they draw it to protect someone, who is dear to them. Then it looks like an overgrown dog fang and its cross guard has a large patch of fur also similar to the one of a dog. But it only changes into this form by Reader's hand only.

But their demon blood is also their weakness. You see Tessaiga is practically suppressing and sealing Reader's demon half away to a certain content. When they are in life danger and don't have Tessaiga with them they can become a full-fledged demon and attack every living being they deemed as a threat.

They also have an older half-brother and they hate each other. A deceased wife and a daughter which is a quarter part demon.

Now to the group. They will be so suspicious of each other. Reader is half demon but not with Ganon, they don't even know who that is and they don't understand one word from each other. Reader will be confused with them as in their home people with pointed ears are normally demons but the Chain don't look, smell or fight like one.

But after they learned the language I think they will tolerate each other but begin to trust after a while. Well except for Wind he loved to be carried by them as they are fast and jump far away. Four screams at them because of Tessaiga's broken form until they show him the real one. Then he is all over them and their sword as it's made out of the fang tooth of their father and its attacks are very destructive. They also can fight through an army of monsters and even without breaking a sweat and without injuries on them.

But also can find traces far easier than Twilight as they have a more sensible nose than him. But they can't stand him, they have bad experience with wolves, one tried to court and kidnapped their late wife. So they often say to him "Wolf-Cub", it was an insult for the wolf demon back then.

But Reader and Legend will have so many fights as Reader is pretty hotheaded and got betrayed the worst possible way. Their first love pinned them with a seal and an arrow onto a tree. They were hated by humans and demons alike so they are harsh. Hyrule still wants to heal them after they encounter a tough opponent even if Reader can lift a Lynel and can bite through the neck of a Gleeok. Time will be impressed as he is not half as nimble as they are. Yes, Wild is technically 117 years old but he slept 100 years but Reader was only sealed away for 50 years until they were back kicking and screaming so they have his respect.

Sky will be the most suspicious one at first as they are a half demon after all. But he will notice that they are really protective over the people they care for and see as their friends and family. And as he asked about their life, after they trust the group. They talk about their daughter, their late wife, the adventures they went through, their deceased friends, their half-brother, how they met their wife and so on and Sky as the true romantic he is will ask more about the missus. Wars tries to get them to stop being so reckless even if they eliminate 100 monsters alone he can't allow that. Wild will ask about recipes from their homeland and they have some, which their mother shared with them when they got sick, which is a very rare occasion.

But they definitely disappear when it's the new moon until dawn so they don't see their human form. It's stuck with them since they were a child, to hide when its new moon as they are vulnerable at this time and feel pain. Or have their abilities anymore but if one of them saw that they will threaten the Link with his life.

I've got no notes. XD

I think you've covered most, if not, all of the bases. I know what anime you're talking about but I've never seen it. I have the faintest suspicion that this is more or less the timeline/backstory of the dog man half demon from the show. XD

Actually, I lied. One note.

I don't know if Twilight would register "Wolf-Cub" being an insult or not. He'd probably think it was just a nickname and that Reader just straight couldn't care less about him. Kinda like "Yes, I am a wolf. Thank you for noticing. Why say it like that?"

Unless he starts to think that it's actually a term of endearment because Reader is a dog demon and also calling him pup/cub from time to time like Time does (in fics- I forgot if that's canon or not.)

With all of this in mind, I think that it would lead to a funny one-sided hate/tolerate relationship where Twilight just doesn't register Reader hating his guts for literally no reason. XD

[lesbianchemicalplant]

Paddy Cosgrave, chief executive officer and founder of Web Summit, one of the biggest technology conferences in Europe, has resigned from his role as CEO after comments he made about Israel received pushback. On Oct. 13, Cosgrave tweeted that he was “shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders & governments, with the exception in particular of Ireland’s government, who for once are doing the right thing. War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are.” He doubled down on his thoughts two days later, while also clarifying that what Hamas is doing is “outrageous and disgusting,” and an “act of monstrous evil.” But, he added, that Israel’s response has gone too far. “Israel has a right to defend itself, but it does not, as I have already stated, have a right to break international law,” he tweeted on Oct. 15, explaining that Ireland found a path to peace during its war between Ulster Freedom Fighters and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Cosgrave’s resignation comes on the heels of several major tech companies including Google, Meta and Amazon, reportedly pulled out of the technology summit following his comments. He announced he was stepping down from his role on Saturday, with a statement that was accompanied by a spokesperson’s noting the company will appoint a new CEO as soon as possible. Web Summit’s Lisbon conference will continue as planned in November. “Unfortunately, my personal comments have become a distraction from the event, and our team, our sponsors, our startups and the people who attend,” Cosgrave wrote in a statement. “I sincerely apologise again for any hurt I have caused.

(October 22nd 2023)

all he did was note the colonizers' war crimes against Palestinians—he still toed the Zionist line about “Israel having a right to defend itself” (read: a “right” to colonize Palestine)—and that was still too much for Zionists

see also

(October 19th 2023)

[sixminutestoriesblog]

pumpkins

Halloween just wouldn't be Halloween without large pumpkins grimacing and grinning at us from steps and railings, glowing from within with a ghastly light as the night falls thick around the neighborhood. The pumpkin jack o' lantern has become almost synonymous with Halloween, from the grinning pumpkin head worn by Ichabod Crane's Headless Horseman to Pillsbury's ready to bake tubes of colored pumpkin faced cookie dough. The pumpkin isn't just for jack o' lanterns either! The second the weather gets the first sharp bite of autumn to it out comes the pumpkin spice everything! Pumpkin coffee, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie - its not even just for food. Pumpkin candles and tiny decorative pumpkins everywhere! If there is one overwhelming symbol of autumn, at least in most of the Western world, surely it must be the pumpkin. In fact, the pumpkin is so overwhelmingly 'autumn' themed that both Halloween and US Thanksgiving claim it as a vital part of the party.

So would it surprise you to learn that the pumpkin we recognize these days is a North American plant and its autumnal rein of power is fairly new?

Would it surprise you to learn that the jack o' lantern once looked very different than it does today?

(not if you spend time in certain circles of tumblr but we're going to dip in anyway)

Once upon a time, so the Irish story goes, there was a very lazy man called Stingy Jack. If he had only been lazy, this story would be shorter but he was also desperately clever. There are quite a few versions of the story but the basic of it follows a familiar route. Man has done something that either puts him in a spot of trouble with his neighbors or else is just feeling so lazy that he can't even fulfill one of his wants. Either way, the Devil sees an opportunity and shows up, offering to help Jack with his problem. Jack, like most folklore heroes, agrees. The Devil then turns himself into a silver coin, or climbs an apple tree or something of the kind, fulfilling his part of the bargain. Jack, however, has the power of God and anime crosses on his side and proceeds to use them to trap the Devil in his shapeshifted form or up a tree. Jack keeps him there until the Devil agrees to never bother Jack again. The Devil agrees, life goes on for Jack as per normal and one day he dies. He's been a shifty, stingy Jack so Heaven won't take him but now, pride still bruised or promise still in place, neither will Hell. All Jack gets from behind the closed fiery gates is a single thrown coal and the order to 'get lost'. And so, rejected by the afterlife yet still very much dead, Jack must wander the Earth forever, the single glowing coal the only light to guide him where he's put it in a carved vegetable to help light his way. Traditionally, people put out jack o' lanterns each Halloween or Samhain or All Saints/Soul's Day to both ward off evil spirits and to help guide the friendly dead, like wandering Jack, home.

Thing was, this story is older than the European discovery of the New World. Jack and his will o' wisp lantern, and the subsequent 'lanterns' left out by others later on, was a carved turnip.

Yep. That would scare me away too if I saw it left outside someone's house. Anyway, the carved turnip, or other useful tuber, stayed the go-to vegetable when it came to carved jack o' lanterns lighting up the late October nights until the mid 1800s when the Irish Famine drove many to immigrate to the United States. Traditions are adaptable and who would bother with a turnip when there were great, round, bright and easily hollowed out pumpkins right there? In no time at all, the idea of pumpkin jack o' lanterns had spread across the US and bam! A new king of autumnal vegetables was born.

Except the pumpkin is a fruit. A berry in fact.

Yeah, I had to wiki that one too.

The jack o' lantern isn't the only superstition around pumpkins.

In Appalachian tradition, if a cow eats pumpkin seeds it will stop giving milk. Pumpkin seeds are also used to get rid of tape worms in a process that involves fasting, milk and castor oil.

Pumpkins should always be planted on Good Friday for the best results.

Pumpkins are seen as signs of fertility, prosperity and abundance.

and finally, eating a pumpkin stalk will make you foolish (because eating it in the first place wasn't already proof)

[curioushabitforarivergod]

Harry Potter and the Case of Scotland, An Essay

Or; Scotland is independant, Hogwarts is a completely fucked up and the witches are dying by the dozen. 2700+ words.

Anyone who knows an inkling of British politics or history understands the tension between Scotland and England, an underlying issue that dates back to at least the Roman Conquest. Scotland is more progressive than England, with a strong focus on transgender issues, much to JKs fury. More than that, every council in Scotland saw "remain" majorities with Brexit, as compared to England and Wales. An independent Scotland is not far from the realms of possibility, although in Harry Potter, it seems Scotland has always been independent.

It's odd to imagine this. From what we've come to understand of the Wizarding World, magical boundaries and borders follow muggle ones. We see references to individual countries, including Bulgaria, France, and of course Albania. Ireland also features prominently, although it's not clear how seperate the country is — the Troubles is certainly a prominent part of Harry Potter, inspiring Voldemort's actions and also characterising Seamus, the only prominent canonical Irish character as a pyromaniac. Yet, conversely the clues about Scotland and the truth are hard to find.

When looking at Fantastic Beasts — the fake, graffitied textbook, not the movie — I found something odd. Scotland seems to be a seperate entity from the rest of the Ministry of Magic, or at least what counts as a 'country' within the sense of the Wizarding World. It's not explicit by any means, rather it's more implicit, but it piqued my interest and inspired this essay.

The International Confederation of Wizards has had to fine certain nations repeatedly for contravening Clause 73. Tibet and Scotland are two of the most persistent offenders. (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, 2001. pg. xvii.)

I highlight here "nation" and "Scotland".

Note: I'm ignoring Tibet as the book is meta and supposedly written in the 1920s-30s by Newt Scamander. Tibet existed as a country during this time.

Scotland is not a nation. It has not really been a nation since 1603 when James the VI of Scotland became James the I of England, although this wasn't really premeditated. Also, the two crowns, although united in the Stuart family, weren't really the same country. At least not in the way we understand it today. It wasn't until 1707 when Scotland and England were legally unified beyond just sharing a king.

The Statue of Secrecy, however, was signed in 1689, during this odd time where Scotland was joined by crowns but not by law. I wonder then, how possible it would be for Scottish wizards to have expressed the same disdain for the English and refused to join with England.

As I will discuss later, it makes sense with Scotland's population and history. Additionally, we know that schools in the Wizarding World transcend our own borders — Beuaxbaton seems to take French, Swiss, Belgium students, and I imagine (based on the bad world building) would take most of Western Europe. Similarly, Durmstrung takes students from most of Eastern Europe. This does make sense in some ways — WWI and WWII dramatically altered the borders of Europe. Scotland could easily take students from the rest of Britain, even if it itself is not a nation within the UK and is its own seperate entity.

Further, time and time again, we see that the Ministry has little no influence over what actually occurs within Hogwarts, with the exception of Umbridge. There is no set curriculum by teachers — each teacher is very different and teaches what they want, which we see both with Hagrid and the multitude of DADA professors. This makes little sense; within a state school, or a school that has government involvement, you would expect some centralisation of what should be taught in schools. Even private schools have some sort of organisation along this basis, though I will be discussing more of this later.

Additionally, the Ministry have no role in appointing people for jobs or firing people within Hogwarts — Dumbledore is not removed from power until after he has broken a law against the ministry, which makes him appear to be the result of long-armed jurisdiction. Umbridge's power then, comes not just from the ministry, but from being an international agent, likely granted under something similar to an extradition treaty by the Scottish government.

Researching online showed nothing else, but I think from conjecture we can say that Scotland is independent, based too on its real life history (which is something I'll explore momentarily). This being the case, and its close proximity to England plus (largely) shared history, I imagine Scotland has a system similar to the rest of the UK, if more feudal.

It's likely Scotland's government is an oligarchy, run by barons and old families. There is only one name within the Sacred 28 which has Scottish origins, which could suggest the Macmillan's had a monopoly over this, but also could be simply Cantankerous Nott's bias or the Macmillians being the only 'pure' family from Scotland to marry into Sacred 28.

We do know that the Ross's (McGonagall's maternal family) were pureblood and McGonagall's mother eloped with a muggle. I think they would've been a fairly important family in Scotland's oligarchy as Ross is an area of Scotland. Following this logic, there should be other old families which take their name from the land (or vice verse) — Fife, Moray, Kinross, Selkirk, etc. — though none of these are characters last names canonically.

The Buchanan's are also a Pureblood family, and quite Purist. They're mentioned on Pottermore and one of the sons, Angus Buchanan was a squib who, after being kicked out, became a Scottish rugby player, inspired by the real Angus Buchanan and wrote a book about being a squib. Apparently he's the reason every wizard canonically supports the Scottish rugby team.

Finally, I'll suggest the Dale family as Pureblood and potentially part of this oligarchy. They're from Hogwarts Legacy and one of their members cursed the family tomb (located near Hogwarts) around 1300, but their family continues until the late 19th century at least. A family that has the money to build a tomb, the means to curse it and the ability/need to maintain their family name for so long is likely Pureblood.

There are other Scottish families, or ones that could be attributed to Scotland, but these had the strongest bases within known material and fell into at least three of the following categories.

Pureblood

Old families/family names

Monetary means

Obsessed with blood purity

More than a paragraph about them on the Harry Potter Wiki

Of course none of this is definite and delves into the realm of headcanons and OCs, but I'd recommend these as a starting point if someone were to ever write something based on this. I'd also recommend looking at Macbeth for character names.

The Tragedie of Macbeth was written in 1606 for King James I and VI of England and Scotland. It's one of Shakespeare's most famous plays (and my favourite), and is so ingrained within Western culture today — rules about not saying its name in the theatre, a self-fulfilled prophecy, double double toil and trouble, and of course the three witches — and these things all inspire the Wizarding World too, with the last three manifesting throughout the books and movies.

James was obsessed with witches — that's why Shakespeare wrote Macbeth for him (and also as a way to comment about the tyranny James was imposing on England; good stories are cultural critiques as well as being entertaining). In 1597, King James had written Daemonologie, a philosophical dissertation on witches, necromancy, black magic and demons. He advocated strongly for witch trials. Of course, Malleus Maleficarum, written in Germany, 1486, had also advocated for the same things.

Scotland is heavily associated with witchcraft — buidseachd in the original Scots Gaelic — for these things. It was also a place of comparatively high witch trials in comparison to England, with an estimated 4000-6000 people tried and more than 1500 executed (roughly 75% of them were women). These numbers were also 4 times the European average. While the more reported trials occurred during the period between the crowns inheritance and legal unification of Scotland and England, they were established widely before this too. Additionally, there was a entire entity of the Scottish Kirk which set up kirk sessions (elected officials of churches in charge of determining whether a person was guilty) as early as 1560 in some places, with legal introductions in 1597 — England did not have these sorts of things.

With the intense conditions of the period, it is likely wixen in Scotland were driven into hiding before their English counterparts, thus allowing for the distancing between the muggle and the wizarding world perhaps even before the two crowns united in 1603, as discussed in the previous section. This being the case, I would determine that Scotland, as a result of the rising tensions between the witchcraft and the muggle world enforced their own statue of secrecy and divided from the government between 1597 and 1603.

However, I think the majority of these issues stem too from the establishment of Hogwarts and the problems it faces in regards to world building. Canonically Hogwarts does exist with Scotland, which makes perfect sense when it comes to isolation, but the model is historically flawed in more ways than one.

According to Pottermore, Hogwarts was founded "at some point in the tenth century… concealed with numerous charms and spells to make it impossible for Muggles to trespass," the most notable being "any passing Muggle would only see ruins." Historically, this is impossible.

Castles as we understand them were only just beginning to make their appearances in mainland Europe in the late 10th century. Previously, they had been wooden structures, but even these 10th century stone structures are nowhere near the fairytale castles that pop-culture depicts. They were motte-and-bailey designs that were continued in some places until the 13th century, and were more concerned with fortification and intimidation than beauty. They looked a lot like this:

The motte was a huge pile of earth, incredibly steep and offered protection as guardhouses were built on top. The bailey was where people lived, worked and stored food. They were surrounded, often by high wooden posts and earthworks, whose ditches could sometimes act as moats when it flooded, although were just as difficult to invade when dry. They were easy to defend as they only had one entrance and most of the buildings inside would've been wooden, though stone buildings on the motte were not uncommon. There are many surviving examples and ruins around France and England. Herein lies several problems.

Firstly, these motte-and-bailey's originated in France during the early medieval period and were introduced to England following the Norman invasion in 1066. Any construction of these buildings in England would've been limited to the 11th and 12th centuries largely, as prior to the Norman invasion, the Anglo-Saxons followed more German and Norse traditions of large thatched halls.

You may have noted that I fail to mention Scotland in this discussion of early castles. This is because castles were nonexistent in Scotland until King David I brought them back from England and adopted them and feudalism in the 12th century. The earliest known castle in Scotland is Castle Sween built in 1100, about two centuries after Hogwarts was supposedly built. Only the ruins and earthworks remain, and it's believed the towers were later additions.

What might be noticeable is how little it looks like Hogwarts. Early medieval castles — in actuality most medieval castles — were stone walls which housed interior wooden buildings which have since been destroyed by any number of things. They were not the fairytale structures that come to mind in association with the word "castle". Those were a later constructions of the Georgian and Victorian periods from the 18th century onwards. Instead of being fortresses like medieval castles, they were homes of luxury.

Put simply, Hogwarts does not make historical sense in its construction or portrayal. Unless it was adapted and improved upon as time went on (which is unlikely and infeasible) Hogwarts should be nothing more than rotted huts. There's more to say on the poor grasp of history (I could go on about Merlin or the founders), but Hogwarts continues to bother me in the modern world too.

We return again to government and our question of whether Hogwarts is a government school or a private one. Although the wizarding world is deeply capitalist, with the common assumption being that students pay a yearly fee to attend within fics, I doubt this. There is never any mention of this within the books, and logistically it doesn't make sense. How do muggleborns pay? How do wizarding families like the Weasley's pay? If there had been some kind of transaction, we would've seen it in the books given they're told from Harry's experience. Alternatively, acting on the assumption that Scotland is it's own nation within the wizarding world brings up similar issues regarding the standardisation of schooling as I discussed earlier — there is little to none. For these reasons, I don't think Hogwarts is a government school either.

Returning once more to history, I think Hogwarts takes its education system from the charity schools which populated the UK for a large portion of its history until national-run schools opened in the 19th century. Their goal was to provide some education to the small towns where they were established but there was no standardisation of them across the UK. With the historical context in regards to the split from the muggle world in the 16th/17th century and the stagnation of wizarding government since then, it makes perfect sense for Hogwarts to act as a charity school, especially as according to Pottermore it was originally constructed to hide wizards who were "being persecuted by muggles."

This also makes sense if we take into account O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts, which act as standardised tests for an unstandardised system. I think these were developed sometime in the 20th century to act as a qualification, particularly as the muggle world was becoming more bureaucratic and the wizarding one was failing to match up. It's likely it was an effort by the ICW rather than an individual nation, although other countries call them different things.

O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts in themselves suggest other schools similar to Hogwarts or homeschooling. This isn't completely out of line with what appears in canon either. Although the Gaunts are largely squibs by the mid-20th century, they still do possess some magic. For all his faults Marvolo would have taught both Merope and Morfin. Using this, we can ascertain that school-aged students are not required to go to Hogwarts. We can also deduce this from the fact that the trace is added onto wands after the first year at Hogwarts, as Hermione mentions all the spells have worked for her when trying them at home before Hogwarts. As such, it's a safety measure implemented by Hogwarts, fulfilling its original purpose as a place of protection, acting as a charity school for those who have no other options or for those who simply want to attend.

Hogwarts as a charity school acts simply. It is funded by a board, ideally a board that is not elected but instead based off inheritance and nepotism, with families like the Malfoys having funded it for generations (which would explain Lucius' attendance of school quidditch games). While examiners do enter Hogwarts for O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts, this is only done as it's the biggest school in the region. Students at Hogwarts, at other wizarding schools, or through home-schooling and their parents education can also complete self-study (including of subjects not offered at Hogwarts) and complete their O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts at any ICW approved governing body, which includes Scotland's ministry, however that might manifest.

I don't think I can offer any conclusion to this, and for now my ideas are exhausted. I think I'm more poking at holes with a stick and making them bigger, but I wanted some way to record everything and work through issues and interesting things. Much of this developed and grew as I was writing — this began as only a discussion of whether Scotland was a nation within HP. If I've forgotten anything or piqued any interests my asks are open.

[nyxcharliechaos]

What the name of the webcomic you want to make and what the plot about

it's called The Arcania Project (Arcania being the name of the island the story takes place on), it's about this group of dumbass gay theater kids that are friends and keep either getting attacked by the chapters villain or go seek the threat because some of them are smart enough to make a RWBY style weapon that goes from a needed cane one character refuses to use to 3 types of swords all of them are dumbasses...this is a rather goofy and simplistic description but each chapter is a new threat and I don't want to give away too much, I will say it's revealed that the villains are more connected than they initially seemed and some have connections to the main cast.

speaking of the cast a quick run down

Nyx Chaos: a shadow puppet hybrid that's most easily described as a disney/musical villain put into the role of a hero, and a punk working as a radio host at a local dinner (they/them)

Lucy Harvestar: a Scottish/Irish werewolf that adores all things musical theater (except RENT) and is the resident bad ass lesbian (and is dating Nyx) (she/they)

Virgil Creek: the literal antichrist who's a goofball that loves polka music and the colour pink and is just here for friends (he/him+any)

Frankie Hitchcock: a western green mamba with leucism that's almost never seen not smiling, and loves old media and photography, works at the dinner I mentioned earlier (they/them)

Xzim Jones: an original creature of mine called a lewlridge (a hybrid with who knows what), he likes playing detective and tends to be the go to when solving a mystery and well there's quite a bit of that so (he/him)

Courage Thompson: a dream spirit in the form of a dog that has an interest in psychology, botany, and horror movies (he/him agender)

Lyric: technically a human though with the dna of several animals, they're flirty, the most likely to make a sexual joke/reference, and really like soft thing and plushies (any pronouns, usually referred to with they/them)

Gala: a dream/nightmare spirit hybrid, a petty bitch that will hold a grudge, she's quite proud of her Romani heritage...her English heritage not so much lol (she/her)

if a lot of these characters seem to be nonbinary it's because I'm nonbinary and I like making my characters fellow enbies, if you want to learn more just check out the tag oc on my blog, just take anything pre 2022 with a grain of salt