#the pendle witch trials

[jtownraindancer]

I'm like 3 weeks late to the party, but The Witch's Daughter looks like it'll be really good!

Thank you @princessegrenouille for originally putting this on my radar! 💙🧡

[aelfgyvaa]

desperate for a documentary on witch trials that doesn't reduce the entire thing to misogyny and throw in a bunch of second wave feminism ideas and modern witchcraft subculture stuff

[heartofstanding]

tagged by @nebylitsa - Nine of my favourite books (well, 13 really since I included two trilogies in omnibus form), in no particular order.

tagging: @skeleton-richard, @oldshrewsburyian, @shredsandpatches @themalhambird @ardenrosegarden @themidnightcircusshow No pressure if you don't want to though!

[toilethamster]

if i get nothing else out of my history flashcards i am slowly working towards my new goal of being able to give an event from any date between like 1500 and 2000

[marksplace]

Jennet Device whose evidence at the age of twelve  (although Thomas Potts described her as a ‘maid of about nine years,’ I’m guessing she looked younger due to malnutrician) led to the executions of several of her family members and others in 1612. Part of a project I did on the Lancashire witches.

[uncle-irohs]

So if my 'calculations' are 'correct,' there would be approximately 450,000-600,000 people alive today that are direct descendants of the people killed in all the witch trials.

No wonder the human race is getting dumber; we killed all the smart people 😒

[paranormal-playground-podcast]

The Haunting of the Pendle Witches: A Tale of Sorcery and Ghosts

he Haunting of the Pendle Witches is a tale steeped in sorcery and ghostly lore. This story, rooted in the history of Lancashire, England, continues to captivate and terrify. The Pendle Witches were accused of witchcraft in 1612. Their legacy haunts Pendle Hill to this day. The Historical Background In 1612, twelve people from the area around Pendle Hill were accused of witchcraft. This event,…

[maypoleman1]

20th August

St Philibert’s Day

Source: The Guardian

Today is St Philibert’s Day, a seventh century saint about whom virtually nothing is known apart from the fact that he allegedly gave to the filbert nut its name, which ripens at this time of year.

More tragically, it was this day in 1612 that ten women from Pendle Hill in Lancashire were executed on the grounds of witchcraft. The deaths were brought about by a combination of petty local disputes and judicial misogyny in a context of paranoia about the very real presence of demons and witches in English communities. The two leading “witches” were Mother Demdike and Old Chattox, two older and eccentric characters who loathed each other and set the ball rolling by each accusing the other of witchcraft. Demdike’s grand-daughter, Alizon, was added to the accused when a local pedlar suffered a stroke after an encounter with her and accused Alizon of bewitching him. The local magistrate Roger Nowell revelled in his role as witch finder (the subsequent trials became something of a sensation), and obtained confessions from a variety of women to “crimes” as fanciful as trying to blow up Lancaster Castle with magic, and as absurd as making beer go sour. Alizon’s mother, Bessie was stripped searched on the orders of the prurient Nowell and a third nipple was exposed, immediately identified as used by Bessie to suckle Satan. Ten women were executed on the charge of ‘bewitching to death by devilish practices and hellish means’, and all were innocent of anything other than being poor, female, inarticulate and occasionally playing to the gallery.

[neil-gaiman]

Hello Mr. Gaiman. I have been a fan of you since I was a kid and watched Coraline a million times on repeat. It encouraged me to take on my first book in English (I am not a native English speaker), which later encouraged me to study English literature. So a big thank you for that!

I have just started reading the Sandman before I dive into the Netflix show. But I have noticed that you refer to ‘witchy’ things in a way that proves that you are very well informed on these matters. Popular media tends to limit itself to: “Oh, let me pull a tarot card for you - ah, the Hanged Man, you will die soon.” Which irks me gravely.

But, more importantly, I have just finished reading an article on the Pendle Witch trials, featuring none other than Alice Nutter & Alizon Device… Needless to say, my mind was blown, shortly after my jaw dropped to the floor.

These things are quite popular now, but still rather hard to find reliable information on, so I was wondering how that research went for you when you wrote these works over 30 years ago?

I do apologise if this question has been asked before!

We read books. They had books before ever there was an internet.

[historyandmythfatw]

Watch "The Pendle Witch Trials | Dark History" on YouTube

[breelandwalker]

JSTOR Articles on the History of Witchcraft, Witch Trials, and Folk Magic Beliefs

This is a partial of of articles on these subjects that can be found in the JSTOR archives. This is not exhaustive - this is just the portion I've saved for my own studies (I've read and referenced about a third of them so far) and I encourage readers and researchers to do their own digging. I recommend the articles by Ronald Hutton, Owen Davies, Mary Beth Norton, Malcolm Gaskill, Michael D. Bailey, and Willem de Blecourt as a place to start.

If you don't have personal access to JSTOR, you may be able to access the archive through your local library, university, museum, or historical society.

Full text list of titles below the cut:

'Hatcht up in Villanie and Witchcraft': Historical, Fiction, and Fantastical Recuperations of the Witch Child, by Chloe Buckley

'I Would Have Eaten You Too': Werewolf Legends in the Flemish, Dutch and German Area, by Willem de Blecourt

'The Divels Special Instruments': Women and Witchcraft before the Great Witch-hunt, by Karen Jones and Michael Zell

'The Root is Hidden and the Material Uncertain': The Challenges of Prosecuting Witchcraft in Early Modern Venice, by Jonathan Seitz

'Your Wife Will Be Your Biggest Accuser': Reinforcing Codes of Manhood at New England Witch Trials, by Richard Godbeer

A Family Matter: The CAse of a Witch Family in an 18th-Century Volhynian Town, by Kateryna Dysa

A Note on the Survival of Popular Christian Magic, by Peter Rushton

A Note on the Witch-Familiar in Seventeenth Century England, by F.H. Amphlett Micklewright

African Ideas of Witchcraft, by E.G. Parrinder

Aprodisiacs, Charms, and Philtres, by Eleanor Long

Charmers and Charming in England and Wales from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century, by Owen Davies

Charming Witches: The 'Old Religion' and the Pendle Trial, by Diane Purkiss

Demonology and Medicine in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, by Sona Rosa Burstein

Denver Tries A Witch, by Margaret M. Oyler

Devil's Stones and Midnight Rites: Megaliths, Folklore, and Contemporary Pagan Witchcraft, by Ethan Doyle White

Edmund Jones and the Pwcca'r Trwyn, by Adam N. Coward

Essex County Witchcraft, by Mary Beth Norton

From Sorcery to Witchcraft: Clerical Conceptions of Magic in the Later Middle Ages, by Michael D. Bailey

German Witchcraft, by C. Grant Loomis

Getting of Elves: Healing, Witchcraft and Fairies in the Scottish Witchcraft Trials, by Alaric Hall

Ghost and Witch in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, by Gillian Bennett

Ghosts in Mirrors: Reflections of the Self, by Elizabeth Tucker

Healing Charms in Use in England and Wales 1700-1950, by Owen Davies

How Pagan Were Medieval English Peasants?, by Ronald Hutton

Invisible Men: The Historian and the Male Witch, by Lara Apps and Andrew Gow

Johannes Junius: Bamberg's Famous Male Witch, by Lara Apps and Andrew Gow

Knots and Knot Lore, by Cyrus L. Day

Learned Credulity in Gianfrancesco Pico's Strix, by Walter Stephens

Literally Unthinkable: Demonological Descriptions of Male Witches, by Lara Apps and Andrew Gow

Magical Beliefs and Practices in Old Bulgaria, by Louis Petroff

Maleficent Witchcraft in Britian since 1900, by Thomas Waters

Masculinity and Male Witches in Old and New England, 1593-1680, by E.J. Kent

Methodism, the Clergy, and the Popular Belief in Witchcraft and Magic, by Owen Davies

Modern Pagan Festivals: A Study in the Nature of Tradition, by Ronald Hutton

Monstrous Theories: Werewolves and the Abuse of History, by Willem de Blecourt

Neapolitan Witchcraft, by J.B. Andrews and James G. Frazer

New England's Other Witch-Hunt: The Hartford Witch-Hunt of the 1660s and Changing Patterns in Witchcraft Prosecution, by Walter Woodward

Newspapers and the Popular Belief in Witchcraft and Magic in the Modern Period, by Owen Davies

Occult Influence, Free Will, and Medical Authority in the Old Bailey, circa 1860-1910, by Karl Bell

Paganism and Polemic: The Debate over the Origins of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, by Ronald Hutton

Plants, Livestock Losses and Witchcraft Accusations in Tudor and Stuart England, by Sally Hickey

Polychronican: Witchcraft History and Children, interpreting England's Biggest Witch Trial, 1612, by Robert Poole

Publishing for the Masses: Early Modern English Witchcraft Pamphlets, by Carla Suhr

Rethinking with Demons: The Campaign against Superstition in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe from a Cognitive Perspective, by Andrew Keitt

Seasonal Festivity in Late Medieval England, Some Further Reflections, by Ronald Hutton

Secondary Targets: Male Witches on Trial, by Lara Apps and Andrew Gow

Some Notes on Modern Somerset Witch-Lore, by R.L. Tongue

Some Notes on the History and Practice of Witchcraft in the Eastern Counties, by L.F. Newman

Some Seventeenth-Century Books of Magic, by K.M. Briggs

Stones and Spirits, by Jane P. Davidson and Christopher John Duffin

Superstitions, Magic, and Witchcraft, by Jeffrey R. Watt

The 1850s Prosecution of Gerasim Fedotov for Witchcraft, by Christine D. Worobec

The Catholic Salem: How the Devil Destroyed a Saint's Parish (Mattaincourt, 1627-31), by William Monter

The Celtic Tarot and the Secret Tradition: A Study in Modern Legend Making, by Juliette Wood

The Cult of Seely Wights in Scotland, by Julian Goodare

The Decline of Magic: Challenge and Response in Early Enlightenment England, by Michael Hunter

The Devil-Worshippers at the Prom: Rumor-Panic as Therapeutic Magic, by Bill Ellis

The Devil's Pact: Diabolic Writing and Oral Tradition, by Kimberly Ball

The Discovery of Witches: Matthew Hopkins' Defense of his Witch-hunting Methods, by Sheilagh Ilona O'Brien

The Disenchantment of Magic: Spells, Charms, and Superstition in Early European Witchcraft Literature, by Michael D. Bailey

The Epistemology of Sexual Trauma in Witches' Sabbaths, Satanic Ritual Abuse, and Alien Abduction Narratives, by Joseph Laycock

The European Witchcraft Debate and the Dutch Variant, by Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra

The Flying Phallus and the Laughing Inquisitor: Penis Theft in the Malleus Maleficarum, by Moira Smith

The Framework for Scottish Witch-Hunting for the 1590s, by Julian Goodare

The Imposture of Witchcraft, by Rossell Hope Robbins

The Last Witch of England, by J.B. Kingsbury

The Late Lancashire Witches: The Girls Next Door, by Meg Pearson

The Malefic Unconscious: Gender, Genre, and History in Early Antebellum Witchcraft Narratives, by Lisa M. Vetere

The Mingling of Fairy and Witch Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Scotland, by J.A. MacCulloch

The Nightmare Experience, Sleep Paralysis, and Witchcraft Accusations, by Owen Davies

The Pursuit of Reality: Recent Research into the History of Witchcraft, by Malcolm Gaskill

The Reception of Reginald Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft: Witchcraft, Magic, and Radical Religions, by S.F. Davies

The Role of Gender in Accusations of Witchcraft: The Case of Eastern Slovenia, by Mirjam Mencej

The Scottish Witchcraft Act, by Julian Goodare

The Werewolves of Livonia: Lycanthropy and Shape-Changing in Scholarly Texts, 1550-1720, by Stefan Donecker

The Wild Hunter and the Witches' Sabbath, by Ronald Hutton

The Winter Goddess: Percht, Holda, and Related Figures, by Lotta Motz

The Witch's Familiar and the Fairy in Early Modern England and Scotland, by Emma Wilby

The Witches of Canewdon, by Eric Maple

The Witches of Dengie, by Eric Maple

The Witches' Flying and the Spanish Inquisitors, or How to Explain Away the Impossible, by Gustav Henningsen

To Accommodate the Earthly Kingdom to Divine Will: Official and Nonconformist Definitions of Witchcraft in England, by Agustin Mendez

Unwitching: The Social and Magical Practice in Traditional European Communities, by Mirjam Mencej

Urbanization and the Decline of Witchcraft: An Examination of London, by Owen Davies

Weather, Prayer, and Magical Jugs, by Ralph Merrifield

Witchcraft and Evidence in Early Modern England, by Malcolm Gaskill

Witchcraft and Magic in the Elizabethan Drama by H.W. Herrington

Witchcraft and Magic in the Rochford Hundred, by Eric Maple

Witchcraft and Old Women in Early Modern Germany, by Alison Rowlands

Witchcraft and Sexual Knowledge in Early Modern England, by Julia M. Garrett

Witchcraft and Silence in Guillaume Cazaux's 'The Mass of Saint Secaire', by William G. Pooley

Witchcraft and the Early Modern Imagination, by Robin Briggs

Witchcraft and the Western Imagination by Lyndal Roper

Witchcraft Belief and Trals in Early Modern Ireland, by Andrew Sneddon

Witchcraft Deaths, by Mimi Clar

Witchcraft Fears and Psychosocial Factors in Disease, by Edward Bever

Witchcraft for Sale, by T.M. Pearce

Witchcraft in Denmark, by Gustav Henningsen

Witchcraft in Germany, by Taras Lukach

Witchcraft in Kilkenny, by T. Crofton Croker

Witchcraft in Anglo-American Colonies, by Mary Beth Norton

Witchcraft in the Central Balkans I: Characteristics of Witches, by T.P. Vukanovic

Witchcraft in the Central Balkans II: Protection Against Witches, by T.P. Vukanovic

Witchcraft Justice and Human Rights in Africa, Cases from Malawi, by Adam Ashforth

Witchcraft Magic and Spirits on the Border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, by S.P. Bayard

Witchcraft Persecutions in the Post-Craze Era: The Case of Ann Izzard of Great Paxton, 1808, by Stephen A. Mitchell

Witchcraft Prosecutions and the Decline of Magic, by Edward Bever

Witchcraft, by Ray B. Browne

Witchcraft, Poison, Law, and Atlantic Slavery, by Diana Paton

Witchcraft, Politics, and Memory in Seventeeth-Century England, by Malcolm Gaskill

Witchcraft, Spirit Possession and Heresy, by Lucy Mair

Witchcraft, Women's Honour and Customary Law in Early Modern Wales, by Sally Parkin

Witches and Witchbusters, by Jacqueline Simpson

Witches, Cunning Folk, and Competition in Denmark, by Timothy R. Tangherlini

Witches' Herbs on Trial, by Michael Ostling

[thesilicontribesman]

The Trough of Bowland Ancient Landscape, Lancashire.

Famous for being the routeway for the Pendle Witch Trials in Lancaster, this landscape has likely served as a much older trackway for ancient communities.

[ginandoldlace]

On 18 August 1612 – The trial of the Pendle witches, one of England's most famous witch trials, begins at Lancaster Assizes.

The trials of the Pendle witches in 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, & some of the best recorded of the 17th century. The twelve accused lived in the area surrounding Pendle Hill in Lancashire, & were charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft. All but two were tried at Lancaster Assizes on 18–19 August 1612, along with the Samlesbury witches & others, in a series of trials that have become known as the Lancashire witch trials. One was tried at York Assizes on 27 July 1612, & another died in prison. Of the eleven who went to trial – nine women & two men – ten were found guilty & executed by hanging; one was found not guilty.

The official publication of the proceedings by the clerk to the court, Thomas Potts, in his The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, & the number of witches hanged together – nine at Lancaster & one at York – make the trials unusual for England at that time. It has been estimated that all the English witch trials between the early 15th & early 18th centuries resulted in fewer than 500 executions; this series of trials accounts for more than two per cent of that total.

Six of the Pendle witches came from one of two families, each at the time headed by a woman in her eighties: Elizabeth Southerns (a.k.a. Demdike), her daughter Elizabeth Device, & her grandchildren James and Alizon Device; Anne Whittle (a.k.a. Chattox), & her daughter Anne Redferne. The others accused were Jane Bulcock & her son John Bulcock, Alice Nutter, Katherine Hewitt, Alice Grey, & Jennet Preston. The outbreaks of 'witchcraft' in & around Pendle may suggest that some people made a living as traditional healers, using a mixture of herbal medicine & talismans or charms, which might leave them open to charges of sorcery. Many of the allegations resulted from accusations that members of the Demdike & Chattox families made both against each other, perhaps because they were in competition, trying to make a living from healing, begging, & extortion.

1.Statue of Alice Nutter in Roughlee. 2. Two of the accused witches: Anne Whittle (Chattox) & her daughter Anne Redferne. Illustration by John Gilbert from the 1854 edition of William Harrison Ainsworth's The Lancashire Witches.

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Super Long Fics (6) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five

A Rose of Winter (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: All Daniel wanted to do was escape the stifling life as a Stark of Winterfell and travel the world. Between the looming threat North of The Wall and the den of lions in the capital, he unexpectedly finds love in the midst of a war set to tear Westeros apart. Caught between loyalty to his family and duty, he is torn in a thousand directions that all point to one man: Philip Flowers.

A Stolen Ring (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan’s not normal. Why? He's not human, he has a mysterious ring, and he hates Phil Lester. They have a strange past, one filled with bullying and avoidance, but when Dan turns into an incubus, everything changes. He struggles with his identity and cries himself to sleep most nights, yearning to be normal. And somehow the universe makes it worse by bringing him and Phil together - in the most literal sense.

baby, if you wanna try (ao3) - sunflowerwitches (orphan_account)

Summary: wearing jewellery doesn't work in phil's favour when he sees friends that he hasn't seen in a while and they automatically assume he's engaged. engaged to dan

Black Blood - howellester8791

Summary: Dan is a vampire hunter, one of the best in the entire London, and he has to solve the mistery of the “Blue-eyed vampire of Haze”. But when he meets the vampire, something in Dan changes and he’ll find out that the enemy is not this pale, dorky, black haired and blue-eyed vampire named Phil.

By the way, I adore you. (ao3) - lxzyfangirl

Summary: Dan is very sick, and the future is not looking too bright for him, thankfully, he has Phil, his best friend, to accompany him through it all. But is Dan satisfied with being just friends?

do what thou wilt (ao3) - sunflowerwitches

Summary: dan has always known that he isn’t a normal human, he grew up wiccan in the middle of seventeenth-century england. he definitely knew he wasn’t normal when he has to flee his family home due to the witch trials taking place. he flees to pendle hill in lancashire which isn’t completely different to his life back home

Galaxies and Greenhouses (ao3) - fourthingsandawizard

Summary: When Dan meets a boy with piercings and a dragon tattoo while shopping in Diagon Alley, he’s pretty quick to jump to conclusions, much to his own embarrassment. But as they become fast friends, they both come to see that sometimes the most important lessons learned at Hogwarts are the ones that happen without a wand.

Imagine Living Like A King Someday (ao3) - conshellation

Summary: Southview Boarding School isn’t a castle and Phil Lester isn’t royalty, but he has everything. His father owns the school, he’s popular, has the best room, gets all the best treatment – there are very few things that aren’t handed to him on a platter. Dan is a cleaner/Phil’s personal maid there, and he isn’t as lucky. Everyone seems to take an aversion to the outsider, including Phil (at first).

It’s So Meta Even This Acronym (ao3) - Dieupardonne, Mazabrei (Dieupardonne)

Summary: Dan Howell and Phil Lester lead anything but normal lives, but they were content with the direction they’d taken and happy with their current situation. But soon, they begin to realize that things aren’t right anymore; they’re not in the world they should be.

“That’s because you’re ruining our fucking lives, you sadist,” Dan said, scowling at the ceiling. He seemed to be ignoring the fact that his insolence would have consequences.

“What stupid trope are you putting us in next?” Phil asked wearily.

“It doesn’t even matter, does it?” Dan said, “They’re going to keep writing it as long as they want. They’ll find a trope.”

“But only if people read it,” Phil said.

“Then don’t read this stupid, overblown story!” Dan yelled at the ceiling, “You’re enabling this horrible author. You’re making us suffer.” While Dan was speaking, Phil had a realization.

“All of this…” Phil said in horror, “All of this dialogue we’re giving. We’re helping them shill this story.”

Laws Of Attraction (ao3) - by strawberrysunflower

Summary: When Phil turned twenty-nine, he wrote out a list of all the things he had in his life. One terraced house in Manchester, rented. Two housemates who still buy the cheapest alcohol on offer in Tesco. Three failed long-term relationships. 

After a spur-of-the-moment Friday night out on Canal Street, Phil ends up in the bed of a very handsome stranger. It’s a nice yet meaningless distraction from his directionless life. No big deal. Until he bumps into him again. And again. And again…

papercut (ao3) - schnaf

Summary: A cut. A tiny little cut, barely visible - just like a papercut. A cut - and yet, to Dan, it’s so much more. It’s the case he’s working on, the case only he seems to be taking seriously - it’s a serial killer’s signature. So when he gets the chance to track down the murderer, he doesn’t hesitate. And then, there’s Phil, Phil who’s making the chase so much more bearable, Phil who adds something completely different to his task. But things aren’t always what they seem.

RIFT (ao3) - A_Million_Regrets

Summary: Phil is just a mere eight-year-old naive child when his mom keenly introduces him to his new stepbrother, Dan. They become friends and start living together fairly quickly. As years slip by, Phil slowly realises three things: First, Dan looks at him with pain in his gaze. Second, an inexplicable rift is separating them. Third, what he feels for Dan is more than just brotherly love.

Sidetracked (ao3) - phanimist

Summary: Based on a prompt:

Dan and Phil are both contestants on ‘The Bachelorette’, but fall in love with each other instead of the girl.

Stirring In Love (ao3) - andthenshesaid-write (ladyknight1512)

Summary: When Phil applied to be a contestant on the Great British Bake Off he didn't even expect to make the long-list, let alone make it into the actual tent. But make it he does and there he meets Dan, a baker unlike Phil in every possible way. After a rocky start, Phil realises that maybe he can learn some things from Dan after all, and the biggest things have nothing to do with baking.

strangers (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: dan is new to london and living in a mostly empty flat, desperate to forget the mistakes of his past. he’s all alone – until one day he gets a piece of mail addressed to someone in the neighbouring flat, one mr. philip lester. he can’t exactly not return it, can he?

Strictly Come Dancing but make it GAY (ao3) - natigail

Summary: @danielhowell: maybe i’d actually consider doing @bbcstrictly if they allowed same-sex couples. who wouldn’t want a sexy man spinning you around? it’s not just a girl’s dream. c'mon people let's see some pretty and fierce girls pair up and handsome and strong boys get it on. i dare you.

Dan Howell calls Strictly out on Twitter for not allowing any same-sex couples and accidentally volunteers himself to be one of the contestants if they were to change that. It was a joke. It had so clearly been a joke. Why did they take him up on it?! He’s sure he’ll trip over his own feet and hate every second, but then he meets his partner, the endearingly clumsy dancer Phil Lester.

strike a deal, kiss my lips (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Witches were the only magical beings capable of binding and controlling demons. It required a complicated ritual and crazy amounts of magic.

It happening on accident was practically unheard of until Phil came along and got tangled up with a snarky and dangerous demon named Dan. Suddenly bound together, Phil must grapple with control over a chaotic demon that wants to strip the skin from his bones.

And maybe strip the clothes off of his body as well.

The Summer (ao3) - auroraphilealis (peachrosepetals), worriedpeach (skeletonflowers)

Summary: Dan Howell has spent the last three summers at Camp Bergamot, but it’s never been quite like this before. This year, he faces a summer full of new friends, a new relationship, and an entirely new view on his own sexuality. Perhaps Camp Bergamot should be renamed camp self discovery for all the changes Dan has gone through, but one thing’s for sure - despite all the hiccups and the drama, he just might have found the love of his life.

Thunder Only Happens When It’s Raining (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: Dan meets Phil at the lowest moment in his life and is immediately enchanted by him, but nobody is perfect - not even those with good intentions and a kind heart. 

This is the story of two imperfect people trying to do their best, to find love and strive in life. They gravitate towards each other at every turn, sometimes dancing in harmony, other times colliding.

to all the people i've loved before (and the one who actually made me fall in love) (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Phil doesn’t crush on people often, but when he does the emotions seem to overwhelm him. The only way he knows how to deal is to write love letters. They were never meant to be read.

The most recent letter threatens to ruin his relationship with his big brother Martyn, so in a fit of panic, Phil finds himself turning to the boy who was the recipient of the very first love letter for help. Even if he is Dan Howell, the school heartthrob.

[mrsometimes11]

Not sure if you still exist, but Wardstone Chronicles/Last Apprentice (books) fans, this one's for you.

So, this is a theory that I've been thinking about for a while, and I'd like to hear what you folks think.

The topic of when the books take place has long been one that troubles me. The background of witch trials screams 16th/17th century, but the continued prevalence of what seems to be the Catholic Church in fantasy Lancashire makes that unlikely Equally, it can't be much earlier as the existence of potatoes as a common food item shows that it takes place after the European discovery of the Americas. You must admit, it is strange.

However, I suggest that, rather than the past, the books take place in the future. A distant, post-apocalyptic future to be specific. Not only does this take care of certain historical inconsistencies in the series, but it also explains a few things. For one thing the fact that ice ages seem to be common knowledge, and the notion of the Segantii as a sophisticated precursor civilisation, the real Segantii were a Celtic tribe of no known great advancement.

And, the biggest bit of evidence, to quote 'then the ice came again, and when it retreated, even the shapes of the hills and the names of the towns in the valleys were changed'. Or to put it another way, after an ice age, and we know that the events of the books take place after Golgoth's last outing, the shapes of the hills, including Pendle Hill, which currently is far too steep to climb as easily as the characters in the books are able to*, and the names of towns, like Chippenden or as we call it Chipping, changed.

Now, granted, this idea cuts both ways, the events of the books could also occur in the distant past, a forgotten past. However, the existence of the Greek gods as Old Gods, and knowledge of Greek myth, would dispute this, as, indeed, does the presence of potatoes.

Finally, the clincher, throughout all his life Joseph Delaney was always unwilling to confirm that the books take place in the 1700s, as is often believed. Now, it may be that he considered the events of his books to take place in a fantasy timeline entirely separate to our own, but - again - the 'then the ice came again...' seems to tie the books firmly to the world we know.

*proof of how steep Pendle Hill is, based on my recent trip there

[chloeelou02x]

Positively bored singing and decided to write a little summin summin..dunno how I feel about it or if I'll even continue it, it's probably written wrong with spelling mistakes or the wrong tense I dunno..feel free to take it and run with it

This is a Zelda Spellman x Katherine (Aka my original character) kinda angst? Is that the right one? I dunno but it's definitely student X teacher kinda vibes 😜 enjoy!

Sitting in Directrix Spellmans class currently was heaven on earth I a half witch half wolf was nearing my 18th birthday my senses were heightened and my inner wolf was almost bursting at the seems I could smell, hear and almost taste everything and right now I'm meant to be writing an exam however my wolf for some unknown reason to me has latched onto her scent out of the 30 other witches and warlocks in this very room and the hundreds of students in this while academy who are actually age appropriate and who I might actually stand a slither of a chance with but no my wolf latched onto the musky tabacco paired with a strawberry shampoo and what smells like a cotton blend of vanilla lotion scent who is more commonly known as The High Priestess..Madam Spellman. Hecate knows how old the Witch with a body that was only built for the upmost pleasurably wicked and sinful things known to witches and warlocks alike. A mouth that can have and has had all whom know and has known her scared shitless and fearful. Eyes that hold contempt hate, dominance, passion and Hecate knows what else. Walls built so high only those closest can know the true woman behind the mask. Yes that's whom my wolf has latched onto. Who my wolf has decided that wence I turn 18 and enter my first heat that's the woman no scratch that..that's the Succubus I want fucking me through it. Utter madness. Send me to the false god because this is what can only be described as devine intervention that has been cast upon me.

I should probably explain just why I am feeling such a way and introduce myself. I am Katherine named after Katherine Hewitt whom was one of the witches hanged at Gallows Hill in Lancaster on August 20th 1612 in the Pendle witch trials. I have long brown hair that reaches the middle of my back with it's slight curls, my eyes are hazel with flecks of gold that zigzag around my pupils offering an innocent doe like appearance, freckles that litter my cheeks and small nose in the summer and lips that while full tend to be broken and cracked from my insensaant need to bite my bottom lip. I'm not thin but I'm not necessarily fat or obese as the mortals call it I mean merely 5 foot 2 weighing around 12 stone making me have thick thighs, wide hips and a fat stomach that I hate but at least my weight and genetics gave me a size H bust so there are some blessings to be held if you forgive the back pain that it. I'm not a normal half Witch here at the academy of unseen arts I tend to hide myself away especially my body but that's mainly because of the mortal world where you are taught that unless you look a certain way you are not desirable. if you have abit of weight on you or more 'meat on your bones' than the cover girls you're overweight and ugly which unfortunately has been drilled into my head from a young age leaving me with little self confidence unlike my peers they are raised with so much love for there bodies and love for others taught that it doesn't matter what one looks like pleasure and happiness is what counts but I seem to have lost myself...you may in face be wondering about my surname..now of course in my family a last name is passed down from kin to kin..generation to generation..however I lost the right to my surname when I chose my coven over my pack so I no longer have a last name it's simply blank, non existent it's an empty space on every and all forms that I fill out. I was cut off from everything and everyone I ever knew when I agreed to my dark Baptism and chose welcoming my witch side along with my wolf rather than abandoning that part of my soul which ended up with me being thrown out of my pack and excommunicated. Left to raise myself, homeless and alone with only my coven to protect me. But back to right now. I was absentmindedly lost in my thoughts before my ears twitched at the sudden sound of movement which snapped me straight out of my thoughts causing me to look up to the source of movement which just to my luck came from the high priestess herself standing up from her chair and coming out from behind her desk as my gaze dropped shamelessly down her figure from the tight deep red blouse tucked behind her black form fitted blazer and her pencil skirt that has me positively drooling down to her creamy milky thighs and legs covered in a pair of pantyhose down to her heels and back up her body almost missing the steps she was taking only to notice almost to late that she was on her way to my desk as I quickly shifted my eyes away from her and subtly placed my head into my hand and wiped my the drool that had slipped out from my mouth cursing myself in my mind for drooling over a woman who is so far out of my league and the Directrix as I look over the sheet Infront of me happy to see that while I was lost in my thoughts at least my subconscious has the common sense I was lacking to fill out the papers Infront of me.