#HLAW

[hanaleeappreciationweek]

(this awesome poster is the handiwork of our wonderful host @sazanes!!)

Note: So sorry for the delay in getting this out!! IRL has been a little tricky these days.

It gives us great joy to announce our third edition of the Hana Lee Appreciation Week!!

This year we are holding the AW around World Book Day (23rd April) in honour of Hana's passionate, long-lasting love for books!

Hana is talented at a great number of things, but is passionate about just a few. One is music - the other is reading. It was originally a hobby her parents introduced her to, to gain an advantage as a noblewoman, but Hana grew to love it far beyond what her parents expected. Her fondness for Jane Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, her delightful rebellions in secretly reading Wuthering Heights and manhuas, her adorable habit of leaving sweet notes behind, between the pages of a library book. Her love for books has deep and wonderful, and allowed her a window into worlds she didn't even realize existed!

But books and reading aren't our only themes for this AW! Take a look at our theme list for what we plan to do for each day:

April 21st - Character Appreciation/Throwback

April 22nd - Flowers/Fashion Design

April 23rd - Bookworm/AU

April 24th - Competitive Hana!/Culinary Love/Music

April 25th - Family/Friendship/Romance

This event will be held from April 21st to 25th. Any content is welcome, as long as it is Hana-centric and shows a positive depiction of her! Fanfic, fanart, meta, edits, moodboards, playlists, headcanons, interactive media - even simple appreciation posts and screenshots of fave scenes will be great!

It isn't absolutely necessary to post content only on the day of the theme! We often accept pieces even when sent on a later date, and also keep a bonus week in case you couldn't finish your pieces during the week. We also don't mind WIPs, so if you have one that is Hana-focused... we'd LOVE to see it!! We also love throwback pieces, so if you have any that you made previously, do reblog them and tag us!

We also will be accepting pieces after the event is over, and all year round until the next HLAW! So even if you have your post ready much later, please don't hesitate to tag us! 🤗

Blogs to Tag: @hanaleeappreciationweek, and hosts @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes

Tags to Use: #hanaleeappreciationweek, #HLAW, #HLAW 2024

There are some incredible fan-community blogs that work tirelessly both to promote creative fandom works and make the experience fun for their writers! Do check them out!!

@choicesficwriterscreations, @choicesmonthlychallenge, @choicesflashfics, @choicespride, @choicesholidays, @choicesprompts, @wordwarriors

If you know any others who would like to be tagged, please let me know! Here are the amazing works sent in for 2023 and '22 if you'd like to get more inspired!

HLAW 2023 | HLAW 2022

See you all next month, and looking forward to all your amazing Hana content!! 🤗🤗

✅✅Signal Boosts will be greatly appreciated!!✅✅

[sazanes]

Day 1 - Character Appreciation/Throwback

Lady Hana Lee 🌸

Thank You!🥰 @hanaleeappreciationweek and @lizzybeth1986

[unsettlingconclusions]

Winds of Change

Pairing: Hana Lee x MC (Riley) Summary:  Hana sings a lullaby as the whispering wind sighs. Genre: Fluff, hurt/comfort. Rating: G Word Count: 830 Notes: In celebration of Hana Lee Appreciation Week 2024. This is an appreciation of Hana's loving nature. It was supposed to be a drabble, but I may have got carried away. It was also supposed to be pure fluff, but I can only do so much without letting the angst seep through. Written while listening to Chinese Traditional: East Chinese Lullaby(Erhu & String Quartet). I recognize it's been a long while since folks have asked me to tag them, so if you're not interested, please just ignore me. Tags: @hanaleeappreciationweek @lizzybeth1986 @sazanes @twinkleallnight @tessa-liam @choicesficwriterscreations

Shì shàng zhí yǒu mā ma hǎo

A tender breeze blows through the room, moving the curtains like gentle waves drawing its shadows in the room, seemingly following the soft melody cutting through the silence of the night. A string of direct moonlight makes its way in, bathing in silver gleam two dancing figures completely enthralled by each other.

Méi mā de hái zi xiàng gēn cǎo

The whispering wind lures Riley in, who finds herself bewitched by scene. She doesn’t know the words being sang, but the warmth of Hana’s smooth melodic voice makes her feel like she was being offered a hot chocolate on a cold night.  Hana is cradling Aurora while rocking them back and forth as the baby coos and grabs randomly at Hana’s face with her chubby hands, fascinated by the sound of Hana’s voice.

Lí kāi mā ma de huái bào

Resting herself against the doorframe, Riley barely utters, “You are so beautiful.”

“She is beautiful”, Hana smiles like a beam of light, never taking her eyes off Aurora. She shifts a little, securing Aurora’s sleepy head on her left shoulder and gesturing towards Riley with her other arm. “Come here.”

Xìng fú nǎ lǐ zhǎo

Riley tiptoes towards them as quietly as she can, not missing any chance to wrap her arms around her two favorite people. As she presses her chest against Hana’s back, she places a quick kiss to her wife’s temple and caresses Aurora’s baby head, tightening her grip instinctively when she’s hit by the sweet mixture of Hana’s floral perfume and that adorable baby scent.

The three of them sway together to the sound of Hana’s humming for a while, until Aurora’s breathing becomes heavy and rhythmic. “I think she fell asleep”, Hana hushes, as she turns around in Riley’s embrace.

“What were you singing right now?” Riley moves a strand of hair away from Hana’s face. “It sounded comforting.”

“It’s a song my grandma used to sing to me when I was little”, Hana shifts Aurora again, now resting the baby’s head on the nook of her elbow as she moves towards the crib. “It talks about how a child will find happiness with their mother”.

The change was almost imperceptible to anyone else, but to Riley the slight change to a more flat tone in Hana’s voice wasn’t missed. She heard the other woman inhale just a little bit deeper as she fondly settled Aurora on the crib.

“Can you translate it to me?”

“Of course. Sit here with me.” Hana motions for the couch at the corner of the room and waits for Riley to join her before she starts reciting.

“Mommy is the best in the world. With a mom you have the most valuable treasure. Jump into your mom's heart. And you will find happiness! Mommy is the best in the world. Without your mom, you are like a blade of grass. Away from your mom's heart, where will you find happiness?”

“You miss your grandma a lot, don’t you?”

Hana just nods, “Nǎi nai meant a lot to me.”

 “I am sure she’s proud of the mom you’re becoming.”

The breeze picks up in strength, invading the room a bit more fiercely for no more than a couple of seconds, its swishing working well for muffling the sound of Hana’s sharp intake of breath. But Hana’s shivering can’t be disguised, and Riley pulls her wife down to her lap, covering the woman with a blanket that rested at the corner of the couch.

“Aurora is so lucky to have you as a mom”, Riley adds, running her fingers through the length of Hana’s hair, only to come back to her scalp and do it all over again. “You’re smart and compassionate, and you’re so warm and loving. I can see you holding her up when she’s learning to walk, and celebrating every new word she spouts. And when she gets older and awed by everything, just like you are, you’ll teach whatever she wants to learn, when she wants to learn. You’ll be there for her when she needs you and won’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to.”

A few seconds tick by after Riley’s proclamation, the curtains swayed like a pole flag the only indication of the passage of time until a gentle sniff cuts through the monotony, “Whatever she wants to learn?”

“Whatever!”, Riley replies animatedly waving her hands through the air before finding Hana’s and intertwining their fingers together.

“She will find a lot of happiness in your heart”.

Hana inhales sharply again, but this time, instead of the quiet tears welling up in her eyes, the corners of them crinkle, soon followed by the corners of her mouth turning up in a relaxed smile.

Outside the wind kept stirring, rustling the leaves leisurely. Inside, the love for Aurora stirred so many emotions inside Hana, and she couldn’t wait for all the transformation she was bound to bring in. ____________________

Additional notes: a. The lullaby and its pinyin were taken from this place. If you're Chinese and I got it wrong, please let me know.

b. This was inspired by 2 haikus about the wind:

1. A Gentle Breeze Whispering wind sighs Leaves rustle in sweet embrace Nature's lullaby 2. Winds of Change Wind whispers softly Stirring dreams of transformation Hope for new chapters

Thanks for reading!

[cassiopeiacorvus]

HLAW 2024 DAY 3

Bookworm/AU

tagging: @hanaleeappreciationweek, @lizzybeth1986, @sazanes

✨🎹 She is the pretty sailor-suited Guardian who fights for love and determination! She is Sailor Vega! Feel the strings of her fury and despair! 🎹✨

Hana would make the perfect magical girl and since I just recently finished reading all of the Sailor Moon manga, I couldn't resist.

[mxcameronrose]

Hana Appreciation Week Day 5: Family - Friendship - Romance

For the last day of Hana Appreciation Week, I chose Romance so I could draw my MC Krystal Lee (Used to be Cristalle, but I'm changing the way it's spelled out) and yes, I HC that my MC took Hana's last name when they got married 🥰

One of my HCs for Krystal is that she started to dislike the spotlight on her because she feels like they don't give enough credit/spotlight to her wonderful wife so each time she would get that spotlight, she would mention how wonderful Hana is each time and Hana is always blushing each time! My MC really love Hana and she wants her wife to be recognized by everyone for her talents and her kindness!

Thank you for making Hana Appreciation Week @sazanes , @lizzybeth1986 and @hanaleeappreciationweek because Hana deserves so much love and I had fun drawing her!!! She is one of the best characters in Choices (in my opinion) and seeing her having a week, I had to make time to make content for her 💗🥰

[jicklet]

Wanted to do a little something for @hanaleeappreciationweek, because boy do I appreciate my best friend Hana 🥰 (x)

[lizzybeth1986]

Skills vs Passions - What's the Difference?

(Read the rest of the "Hana Lee: A Study in Erasure" series here!)

Previous: China, Cordonia and "Home"

I had mentioned, way back in my first essay of this series, that descriptors used for Hana are vastly different from that of the other LIs. The three male LIs got descriptors that emphasized their personalities and loyalty to their loved ones.

Hana's descriptors, on the other hand, came down to two things - what the MC could be physically drawn to, and what the MC could use her for.

Hana can be dedicated, devoted, open minded, explorative. You don't have to look too far to see a consistent display of these qualities in Hana, throughout both series. Yet none of these words - nor the many others that could even slightly capture her personality - are used to describe her.

What the team views as appealing in Hana, boils down to two things. What the MC can find fuckable if Hana is a love interest, and what the MC can use her for if she isn't (though to be honest, even the MC that romances her still benefits disproportionately from her labour).

Her looks...and her skills.

Ironically, even with this lack of care and forethought, Hana's story still manages to retain some nuance when it comes to exploring the things she learned. They are not things she randomly became perfect at. Nor is the process of how she became good at those things, identical.

Most times, there is a story behind how she became that good at those activities, a process that Hana often worked and struggled towards, before she could be the "Jill of All Trades" of TRR.

Her journey to acquiring all of these skills is not the same. If we do not acknowledge the differences in those journeys, we are doing her story a grave disservice.

Acquired Skills.

(Note: In this section I will be leaving out Hana's more intuitive skills, such as stealth, cunning, deep research and resourcefulness, and focusing more on the ones she had to learn. This is because her intuitive skills fit better in a different essay that I will be working on soon)

There are several things the above screenshots share in common.

One is that they are all things Hana learned as a part of her training to become the perfect debutante, the perfect noblewoman, the perfect courtly wife, the perfect hostess. In the Cordonian Waltz scene in TRR1 Ch 7, Hana speaks of being pushed from an early age to learn all the courtly and social arts. She speaks of being "groomed [every day] to bring fame and fortune to my family", primarily because they were devastated she was not a boy and the only way she could possibly be of use to them was by acquiring these skills. These weren't just hobbies she was encouraged to cultivate - they were things she had to do well, do perfectly, whether she liked doing them or not.

Another - and perhaps easier to miss - similarity between all these pictures is Hana's expression in them. Neutral. Unmoved. Bored. None of these activities actually appeal to her, or are things she is happy doing.

We will find out later on, that that was exactly the point. In her parents' plan for Hana's life and future, Hana's own needs and identity are practically a non-factor.

One of Hana's major epiphanies about her childhood, is the recognition that what she wanted, should have mattered. That her needs deserved to be met just for being her needs, not because it served a purpose for anyone else. On more than one occasion Hana tells us that "enjoying myself never factored into my parents' expectations of me".

How damaging can this obsession with making your daughter the perfect noble wife - to the exclusion of any other possible life - be? Let's find out:

Hana isn't just expected to excel in skills that mean very little to her. She isn't just forced to prioritise - again and again and again - the enjoyment of others over her own. She isn't just made to consider the needs of some nebulous future husband, to the point where she cannot even ask herself what she wants.

Over and above all this, she is never allowed to be her authentic self. She is never even allowed to figure out what that authentic self would be. From an early age she is deprived of toys and pets and real consistent friendships, ensuring a complete isolation, ensuring she doesn't even have the opportunity to safely indulge in pretend play. (That she manages to scrape together whatever she can find to make her "toys" is only a testament to her own tenacity; she should never have been put in such a position in the first place). Her parents robbed her of those early, exploratory years.

She has been told how she must be and what she must do; she never has the freedom to decide whether that is something she is even comfortable being. In the context of this scene Hana may be using this skill to help another woman, but the fact remains that even in expressing her femininity, Hana is constantly expected to perform - as if her authentic self was never good enough.

It is no wonder then that the moment she finds herself no longer answerable to her parents, Hana fears that she will discover she's nothing more than a "collection of skills...with no one underneath". TRR3 shows Hana in a full-blown identity crisis once she is completely outside her parents' influence.

In her post "How Parents Fuel Identity Crises in Their Children" on the Good Therapy Blog, psychotherapist Beverly Amsel talks about the effects controlling parenting can have on a child's sense of self thus; "When a loving parent is so certain that he or she knows what is right for the child and does not consider that the child may have valid, different ideas about what he or she wants, needs, and feels, there is no space and no invitation for the child to develop the ability to express his or her own self with separate ideas, feelings, and needs. Over time, as the child grows to adulthood and is exposed to more ways of thinking about things, there is typically a good deal of confusion about identity, thoughts, and feelings. Unless there is an opportunity to develop a separate sense of self, there will likely be a lot of anxious thinking about what is real but little ability to think for oneself in a self-reflective way."

Fortunately for Hana, her time in Cordonia does seem to present those sort of opportunities. There are story threads in TRR3 that address this identity crisis. But does it culminate into something that benefits her, or only the people around her?

Things She Does For Those She Loves

Before we move into passions, it's important to acknowledge a category that toes the line between acquired skill and interest. These involve activities that she's not entirely passionate about, but still derives some enjoyment from doing.

Her enjoyment of these skills is usually less about the activity itself, and more dependent on her fondness for sharing or socializing through it. Despite her mostly-isolated childhood, Hana is by nature a very social person. She is enthusiastic (though initially a bit wary and fearful of rejection) about making friends, loves sharing her knowledge and skills, and does not hesitate to reach out even to people who don't treat her well and accommodation them into whatever she's doing (eg. every single time she included Olivia in something in TRR2). So it makes sense that there are certain things she enjoys doing because it involves her helping someone, or allows her to spend time with them, or helps her relive precious memories.

On some level, you see this with some of her skill scenes. Often a scene will end with Hana following up a confession about her lack of interest in a particular activity with a line about how sharing that knowledge makes her happy. But you also see this enjoyment in other contexts.

Another context where she truly enjoys doing things, is when they're of a competitive nature. She thrives on the thrill of outwitting opponents and friendly rivalries. A great example of this is the dance-off she does with Maxwell in TRR1 Ch 18, where she enjoys pitting her skills against Maxwell's so much that they both agree they'd be great as a dancing duo. You also see this whenever she's competing in games with her trusted friends. This is perhaps why you see at least a handful of sequences where she expresses an interest in sports.

But perhaps the activities she enjoys the most - that aren't for herself - are ones that have her share space with someone she loves and trusts. Cooking and baking rank high among these skills. Baking began as a domestic skill that would serve her well in a noble household, but she loves sampling batter/dough and practically glows on seeing the other person's enjoyment of her craft. Her creating her own recipe for hot chocolate is especially interesting because it's a skill that she values highly, and that she only shares with people very close to her.

Hana's interest in fashion design also has interesting origins. She is skilled in embroidery and knows fashion trends well, and has learned from her grandmother to make her own clothes. Of particular note is the black-red-gold qipao/cheongsam that was the last dress she ever made with her grandmother. Her attachment to the dress is so strong that she experiences intense distress when Lorelai threatens to take it from her in Valtoria. She also loves designing dresses for loved ones - for the MC herself, we see her conceptualize and design dresses at least twice (a traditional-inspired outfit in Shanghai which is appropriately titled "Hana's Heart", and a blue and white dress for their engagement photoshoot).

Through these examples we can see instances of Hana finding joy in things she didn't have as much interest in, just through the process of sharing that experience with someone else. It's great, on the one hand, because Hana is no longer alone and she gains a renewed perspective on something that came from a very painful part of her life.

On the other hand, "I find this more fun now that I'm doing it with you" comes with its own downsides. If you use it too often, you're in danger of using it as a copout that centers the person she is teaching rather than her own journey.

And if you're a writer that makes efforts for her story with great reluctance...such an explanation will rapidly change into an excuse to be lazy with that journey.

Passions

Among the many, many, many skills Hana was made to learn in the bid to make her the perfect debutante and the perfect noble wife...just a few rank as ones she does wholeheartedly, joyfully, passionately. But they are perhaps the most important.

After all, these are skills that Hana had honed for herself. They're meant for her consumption and her enjoyment, and she often shares them only with people she trusts.

Not only are these things, interests that she enjoys and lovingly cultivates...but she is also fiercely protective of them. She will not allow anyone - not even her parents - to turn something so personal into a public spectacle that she's uncomfortable with. This is most clearly seen when she tells us about rebelling against her parents for piano performances. At a very young age, Hana recognises the value of her music, and she pushes back against any attempts to cheapen it or turn it into some warped form of social currency. She takes ownership of her gift, and from that moment on anything she does with that talent is done on her own terms.

Like music, reading was a skill cultivated to make her an attractive prospect for noble matches - only for Hana to find pleasure in the act of reading herself. Here again, building a passion for reading allows her to rebel in her own unique way. She smuggles in books that she knows her parents will find either too frivolous or too objectionable - often by hiding the books, or modifying the purpose of the book to them so it would sound appropriate.

We must remember - this is a woman who still feels nervous breaking rules even a year after she has left her parents' home. It would take such a woman considerable amounts of imagination and courage, to be able to do what she did in an environment as restrictive as her's. For Hana to be able to do this, she must have really valued the joy that reading books had given her.

Flowers are an extremely important part of Hana's life. Symbolically, they are part of her mother's House Crest, and personally, she is someone who is naturally drawn to flowers. In TRR2 Ch 4, she confesses to devouring the words of The Language of Flowers, and knows the symbolic meaning of each one by heart. She can even make her own bouquets. During the Costume Gala in TRR3, she dresses up in a heavily floral gown as the Goddess of Spring.

One of the most captivating sequences that captures her love for flowers in the TRR2 Conservatory scene, where she takes the MC to see the spectacle of a night-blooming flower unfurling under the light of the moon. It is especially fascinating that her already latent passion for flowers grew further with the help of another passion - reading.

Another thing you will clearly notice about each of these "passions" is that when she speaks about them, she is expressive. Liam confirms this in his Diplomacy scene in TRR3, where he tells the MC that her passion always shows in her eyes.

The proof for what Liam says here is in every one of these scenes. In the scenes compiled under the "Acquired Skills" category, her expression rarely changes and her tone is indifferent. In contrast, we are exposed to a variety of moods when she talks of these things that she's so passionate about.

She seethes with anger at the memory of her parents forcing her to perform the piano to crowds, whispers conspiratorially about forbidden literature, loses herself in the scent of flowers. These are moments where Hana acknowledges her individual pleasures, and expresses pride over the way she guards them from people who will not respect what those things mean to her.

These are things she knows forwards and backwards, but not because she was forced to cultivate and perfect those talents. They're things she knows because when Hana Lee is truly interested in something, she will plunge herself into it, body and soul. These are things that gave her comfort at a time when she had no one, and they form the happiest memories she has had for her childhood so far.

These are passions that are so intricately a part of her that it is impossible for her to give them up. Not for her family, not for her friends, not for her wife - no one.

Conclusion

The base of Hana's story has always been rich with possibilities. There were various ways the writing team could have written it to benefit her story. At the hands of a skilled writer who loved the character for who she was rather than for what the MC could gain from her, the writing of these talents could have been used to further enrich Hana's journey and give her a chance to find herself. Unfortunately, the writing team at the helm of TRR were neither.

Over and over again, the writers used Hana's plethora of talents to make her useful to people, rather than turn the focus of that arc back on her. The MC learns these skills and goes up the ranks, the MC benefits from Hana's offers of help, the MC is the one who becomes a Duchess and Champion of the Realm. Even on a level of resolving her issues with her parents, the writers have her prove that she can still be useful to them without getting married to a man. In the eyes of her writers, her skills are still meant to make her useful to someone - just that the person at the center changes from her parents to the MC.

Because the MC is positioned as someone who "enlightens" Hana to how harmful her situation was, and because the narrative expects Hana to be forever grateful to her - the MC is allowed to use her and take credit for Hana's hard work (eg. The windmill move during the polo game) and get away with it.

When you put all this evidence together, and then go back to the descriptors I put up at the very beginning of this essay, you will see what the team's intention with her, always had been. To create a woman the MC could be attracted to, a woman whose skills the MC could use to advance her own interests...while still being viewed as her hero and saviour. Despite being one of the few people to get the most detailed account of her upbringing and struggles, the MC still chooses to view her in the most simplistic ways, still praises her for her skills and "perfection" rather than support her in any consistent way (more on this in other essays).

The fandom wasn't much better in this respect either. Lots of TRR fans still see no real distinction between the skills Hana had to struggle to learn, and the interests that made her truly happy. The writing team itself contributes to this inaccurate conflating of her interests and skills by having multiple characters label her 'perfect' over and over.

This results in a situation where those hard-earned skills and those moments of joy are conflated together, and spoken of like they are the same thing. But they are not. To speak of the two as if there were no difference, is to ignore completely the difficult, even disturbing, history behind how she acquired them.

The skills the MC grinningly labels her perfect for, are skills that emerged from a very traumatizing environment. Her joys - that many in this fandom so mockingly placed alongside the things she forced herself to do - were perhaps the only opportunities she had to take back her agency and claim something for her own.

To pretend that the two are one and the same is a gross misrepresentation of what was actually depicted in canon.

Next: "Perfect!Hana": Author Bias and the Importance of Framing (coming soon!)

[masked-alien-lesbian]

HLAW Day 2: Flowers

A Bouquet for an Angel

Pairing: Hana Lee x nonbinary OC (Raelyn)

TRR book 2

Hana led the twins into the conservatory and were hit with a wave of perfume from hundreds of flowers.

"Did you know that in Victorian society, people communicated with flowers? Every flower has a meaning, so when a lord gave a lady a bouquet, it was as if he were writing her a poem." Hana says running her hands along a petal of a fern.

"That sounds romantic." Riley says grinning and elbowing Raelyn who elbows her back sharply before Hana turns around.

"It wasn't always about romance. Flowers can symbolize friendship, scorn, rivalry and just about anything. We should make a bouquet for the Italian statesman for tomorrow!" Hana says

"Good idea! What about those?" Riley points towards a stem drooping from the weight of 2 dozen small, blue flowers.

"Bluebells are for humility. It could be used as a subtle insult to the receiver." Hana replies. Raelyn snorts, Riley rolls her eyes.

"Okay smarty pants, you pick one." Riley says to Raelyn.

"White roses should be a good one right?" Raelyn says bending to inhale the fragrance of a delicate white rose.

"White roses are known for their unity and purity." -Hana-

"Unity could work!" Riley says, Raelyn plucks a few white roses.

"Oh these are my favorites! Hydrangeas are for heartfelt gratitude." Hana says pointing to some dusty blue-violet hemisphere of petals.

"Gratitude for the hospitality, and unity for Italy and Cordonia? That sounds pretty good, right?" Riley asks. Hana nods her approval and combines the hydrangeas to the bouquet.

"Almost..." Hana trails off to add some greens to the bouquet before offering it to Riley.

"It's beautiful!" Riley says

"And is sure to impress the statesman. Just be sure to leave them in water overnight." Hana says. Riley takes the flowers and grins at the way Hana's eyes keep wandering to Raelyn.

"Oh." Riley fakes a yawn. "I'm sorry, Hana, but I think I'm going to duck out to take a nap, but Raelyn wouldn't mind staying with you to see that night blooming flower, right, Rae?" Riley says to Raelyn who nearly nods their head off.

"I'd love to!" Raelyn says. When Riley has her back turned towards Hana, she wiggles her eyebrows at her twin, who gives her a warning look. Chuckling, Riley takes her leave and Raelyn sidles up to Hana's side.

"So I was hoping you'd help me with a bouquet too, Hana."

"Oh, of course! What message would you like to send with the bouquet?" Hana says smiling warmly at Raelyn.

"Well, it's a bouquet for someone very special to me." Raelyn says staring intensely into Hana's eyes, making Hana blush and bite her lip.

"Is there a flower that means you take my breath away? Perhaps a flower that says you're the most beautiful woman in the world and you make my heart flutter in my chest every time you smile at me?"At Raelyn's words, Hana looks down smiling but Raelyn gently lifts her chin to look at them.

"A flower that means I want to spend the rest of my life, in whatever capacity you'll have of me, making you smile?" Raelyn says causing Hana to gasp at the inclination of Raelyn's words.

"Rae..." Hana trails off before throwing her arms around Raelyn's shoulders and kissing them fiercely.

Time passes in a haze of warm kisses that slowed down from a fierce storm to a gentle caress. When the 2 pulls back to look at the bud of the night blooming flower, they watched the petals unfurl and nearly shimmer in the moonlight.

"Whoa." Raelyn says stunned.

"It's beautiful!" Hana exclaims.

"Not as beautiful as you, Hana."

"Oh Raelyn." Hana says softly.

"I promise, Hana. I'm going to help my sister clear her name, and you and I are going to figure this thing out between us." Raelyn says determined.

A bright smiles creeps onto Hana's face before she replies, "I'd like that very much, my darling."

@hanaleeappreciationweek

@lizzybeth1986

@sazanes

[exbex]

“Thank you for sharing your music with me.”

Hana turned the words over in her mind. She hadn’t known Riley for long, but Hana had gotten the impression that she was careful about the way she chose her words. And Riley had been impressed tonight; her eyes and the way she had leaned in close, listening with rapt attention, had said as much.

Haunting and beautiful, were the words she had used to describe Hana’s composition, but she had chosen to part with words of gratitude.

Hana finished washing her face and straightened as she patted her face dry. She looked at herself in the mirror, free of makeup, hair swept back. Her own eyes held her in place, imploring.

Hours ago she would have said that she had invited Riley to the parlor because they were becoming friends. Maybe she would have even admitted that she felt safe with Riley. Riley was a breath of fresh air. When she asked Hana questions about herself, she was actually interested in knowing who Hana was, and not just where Hana fit into the game of chess that everyone else in Hana’s life seemed to be playing.

Maybe that’s why she had chosen to play her own composition for Riley. She had written it at such a lonely time in her life, maybe she had always wanted to be seen and heard.

Hana stood and made her way to the bed. She pulled back the covers and considered how much she loved to play, so much so that she couldn’t bear to be coerced or cajoled into putting herself on display.

She slides into bed but sleep doesn’t yet come. She turns over and and looks out into the night sky, through the space between the curtains. Her parents had always wanted her to play Chopin, Mozart, Vivaldi. And Hana had loved it until she realized that it was just a commodity, prestige for prestige’s sake that so many people valued, while Hana knew that the girl pretending to play piano keys in the pond was just like those composers, so full of music that they had to knit the notes together.

“Thank you for sharing your music with me,” Riley had said. Not praises for her excellent taste or admiration for hitting every note perfectly, but gratitude. “Are you sure you want to play for me?” No demands. Because Riley understood what music meant to Hana, after only knowing her for a handful of days.

Hana turns onto her back, stretches her hand out and taps her fingers against the duvet. It’s been too long since she’s composed.

@hanaleeappreciationweek @sazanes @lizzybeth1986

[ohmyblues]

Here's my contribution to Hana's week!

I decided to draw one of my favorite scenes from the series, and that's when Hana first played the piano for us.

It's a powerful and meaningful scene for her, and I hope I did it justice.

(Tap for better quality, as usual)

@hanaleeappreciationweek @lizzybeth1986 @sazanes

[hanaleeappreciationweek]

We begin our first day of Hana Lee Appreciation Week 3.0 TOMORROW!!

In our previous editions, we had kept Hana's AWs on days that celebrated her passion - music! This time, we decided to shake things up a little, and hold the event around the time of World Book Day! This time of the year is also fitting because it will be spring in many parts of the world, and there are very few things that remind us of Hana more than flowers do!!

Day 1 has two themes to choose from - Character Appreciation and Throwback.

We love having Character Appreciation as a theme because it encompasses everything!! Anything goes - as long as it includes whatever you love most about Hana.

Throwback is simple - any creative work on Hana that you've done before this edition of HLAW came out! Reblog any fic, art or meta that you've done before on her, and if you'd like to take us through the process of how you made the work - we'd love to read all about it!!

Any content is welcome!! Fanfic, fanart, edits, moodboards, interactive, media, headcanons, screenshots, playlists, meta...even screenshots of your favourite scenes would be great!! Our only requirement is that the content is centered on Hana, and that the depiction of her is positive. You can also send in WIPs in case you don't complete a work!

You can also send in a work on the days following a particular theme - this is no pressure for it to be put up exactly that day! We will also have an extra week for anyone who still needs time 💕 May 4th will be our final official date for entries (to incorporate into our video!) but HLAW will still be open for entries for the rest of the year until the next event!

You can find our full list of prompts here!

Be sure to do the following when making your posts:

1. Use the tags #hanaleeappreciationweek and #HLAW in the tags (along with the day you made the post for - #HLAW Day 1, #HLAW Day 2 etc)

2. Tag @hanaleeappreciationweek as well as hosts @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes, we don't miss out on your posts!

FAN CONTENT BLOGS are instrumental in keeping the fandom alive - with events and fun activities that encourage us all to contribute and create. They have also been amazing in their support towards our character events. Do check them out to see all the new incredible events and prompts coming up!

@choicesficwriterscreations - Primarily fanfic and fanart (no AI allowed). Check out their rules and roster of events!

@choicesmonthlychallenge & @choicesaprilchallenge24 - Any and all content welcome! They have a collection of prompts you can use for the month of April!

@choicespride - Any and all content is welcome, as long as it is centered around queer characters and/or themes.

@choicesflashfics - Primarily fanfic under a 2500 word count. Every week they use new dialogue prompts. The prompts for the coming week will be out soon!

@choicesholidays - Any and all content welcome, as long as it is centered around one of the holidays listed! Currently, they are hosting Spring Fling!

@choicesprompts - Any and all content welcome! You can check out their current Round Robin event here!

Hope to see more incredible works from you all for Hana this week!

Happy Hana Lee Appreciation Week, everyone!!

[sazanes]

Day 1 - Throwback - The Dress

"I sewed it that dress with my grandmother the summer before she died, from a pattern she'd used when she was my age. I still remember the way she smiled when she saw me wearing it for the first time."

@hanaleeappreciationweek @lizzybeth1986 @sazanes

[angelasscribbles]

HLAW: Relationships/Homes

@lizzybeth1986 @sazanes @hanaleeappreciationweek

My face claim: Angela Yeung Wing (stage name Angelababy)

Relationships, Home and HCs:

I know that PB has said she is bisexual, and I have written her that way occasionally but I originally HC she was lesbian and wrote her accordingly.

I have paired her most often with Riley. I have put her with Lena a few times. I have made her aromantic. I have given her a fling with Penelope. In my Drake x Leo universe, I paired her with Olivia. I have never paired her with a man other than Liam. I have made her queen twice. In Dark Elf she is escorted to social events by Rashad, but she hates it and only does it to appease her parents so they leave her alone and she can focus on her true objectives.

In Royal Retribution she is engaged to Liam but still lesbian and knowingly going along with the fake engagement until Riley's name can be cleared thing (makes way more sense to me than him choosing Maddie, why not chose Riley's best friend?)

In any universe she and Riley aren't lovers, they are best friends.

Shanghai may be where she was raised, but I HC that once she came to Cordonia and bonded with her found family, Cordonia became home to her. I generally have her living at Valtoria, in Hinge, Liam gave her a duchy as well, the one he stripped from Cedric Vescovi (in canon he just dissolved it again, but I had him simply strip it from Cedric and bestow it on Hana) In The Agreement, she becomes Prime Minister of Valtoria to rule alongside Riley, freeing Drake to return to the King's Guard, his true vocation.

In Hinge, Max is also gay and she and Max are close, like siblings. But honestly, she is sibling close to Liam, Riley, and Drake as well. But I HC it's Riley and Max that she is closest to. Hinge may be my most found family story ever.

Pairings by series:

Complicated/Hinge: I gave her a moment with Cassie (F!OC), after Cassie broke up with Madeleine (because of what she did to Hana at the bachelorette party) and toyed with putting them together, but think I am saving her for Lena in this one.

Savage Love: She and Riley had a one night stand during Leo's social season but become friends during the course of things.

Bad Romance: She slept with Riley prompting Liam to kick her out of the country. Riley leverages the marriage contract to force Liam to bring her back. Hana is aromantic in this one and she and Riley are best friends. She gets together with Penelope at the end.

Royal Retribution: Fake engaged to Liam.

Dark Elf: unenthusiastically dating Rashad, fixated on Riley.

Unexpected: Clearly crushing on Riley. Not sure where that's going yet as I have Riley entangled with both Max and Liam.

American Girl: one past relationship with F!OC so far.

In Your Room: Moves in with Olivia by the end of it.

Victim of Love: Married to Liam, ruining her friendship with Riley in the process.

Law's End: Crushing on Riley but single.

Corondian Karaoke: she has feelings for Riley in these drabbles, sometimes unrequited, sometimes not.

Probably a Bad Idea: a one-shot where she is married to Riley.

Other series/one-shots where she is not a main character put her with a variety of people, usually Liam or Lena.

[cassiopeiacorvus]

HLAW 2024 DAY 5

Family/Friendship/Romance

tagging: @hanaleeappreciationweek, @lizzybeth1986, and @sazanes

As we all know, I'm Team Hanara for life, so here's my introduction for Hana and Kiara's three kids.

General Notes

All three kids call Hana “māmā” and Kiara “maman”.

They split their time between Castelsarreillan and Hana’s duchy Anthopolis.

I designed their personalities around the concept of the Freudian Trio where Jolie is the Id, Basim is the Ego, and Oswald is the Superego.

🤘🏽Oswald "Ozzy" Theron-Lee🤘🏽

BIRTHDAY: ♉ 07 MAY 2024

ENNEAGRAM: 1W9 Self-Preservation Instinct

MBTI: ISFP-T The Adventurer

NOTES

Had a goth phase in his teens where he went by “Oz”. Was confused about why Uncle Drake and Titi Tzipporah jokingly called him Ozzy Osbourne because he didn't initially know who that was.

His hobby is jewelry making. He started it out with simple embroidery bracelets but has expanded to metalwork.

Will be the future Duke of Castelsarreillan after Kiara passes on the title to him.

🌻Jolie "Jojo" Theron-Lee🌻

BIRTHDAY: ♐ 15 DEC 2027

ENNEAGRAM: 7W8 Social Instinct

MBTI: ENTP-A The Debater

NOTES:

Is best friends with Liam and Tzipporah’s youngest daughter Corinne. It is an experience every time they're together.

Dyed her hair pink after she heard that Hana wanted to as a teen. Since then, she's experimented with every color under the sun.

When I initially designed her, she looked like a mini-Hana, but has now shifted to looking like a mini version of her grandfather Hakim.

🌊Basim "Bas" Theron-Lee🌊

BIRTHDAY: ♎ 25 SEP 2029

ENNEAGRAM: 9W8 Attraction Instinct

MBTI: ESFJ-A The Consul

NOTES:

Was given his name because he smiled a lot as a baby. Was humorously introduced as "our bouncing baby boy, Basim" by his mothers.

Shares Kiara’s love of languages. As he gets older, he starts collaborating on some of her translation projects.

Like water, he can be a tranquil lake or a raging ocean if you threaten him or his family.

[mxcameronrose]

Hana Appreciation Week 2024 Day 3- Bookworm - AU

For Day 3, I chose Bookworm cuz its Book Day or something so might as well choose it! So I drew Hana reading in bed 💗 Something very simple as that, she deserves some time to herself before some big day!

@hanaleeappreciationweek @sazanes @lizzybeth1986

[lizzybeth1986]

The Moodboard that Hopes to Give Hana Her Flowers.

Tagging @hanaleeappreciationweek and @sazanes for HLAW Day 2: Flowers!

(FC for Hana - Kaitlin Marianelli)

I often think of Hana in terms of homes. She is the only court lady besides the MC who is away from home, and in TRR2 she tells us how - on her return to Shanghai - her parents' home hardly felt like home to her anymore. Once she is disowned and kept away from her family, Hana stays in Cordonia and starts to consider that her home instead.

There is also her mother's home province which canon doesn't tell us much about (besides flowers being part of their sigil). I have headcanoned that it is named Bethulia and is the home of a thriving Indian Parsi community.

In the Hana x Kiara series I've begun to write, Liam eventually confers the title of Duchess of Krysanthe on her, and in a lot of ways this place becomes a new home for her. So essentially in my P&T-verse, Hana has three homes (besides Castelserraillan - her wife Kiara's duchy).

I have associated each home with three flowers -

Shanghai with Plum Blossoms. In China, the plum blossom is a symbol for resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity, because plum blossoms often bloom most vibrantly even amidst the harsh winter snow. Hana's name, among her father's side of the family, is Lǐ Méi Huā, which is the Mandarin name for the flower as well.

Bethulia with Water Lily. Typically symbolising enlightenment and purity (as it blooms in muddy wet areas), Bethulians associate the flower that graces their coat-of-arms with the Zoroastrian yazata/angel Aban Yazad (angel of water). The water lily is said to be her representative flower. To Hana, the water lily too seems to be a very resilient flower, surviving in water and mud and staying beautiful and fragrant.

Krysanthe with Yellow Crocus. Crocuses come in a range of colours, and the yellow one often symbolises joy and cheerfulness, as well as a return to spring after a harsh winter. The crocus in general seems to symbolise new beginnings through its association with spring, and in many ways Hana's rise to power in Krysanthe was indicative of a new beginning for her.