#headmistress patricia

[normalbrothers]

[disappointingcabbage]

TMAGP uhhhh *checks transcript* 24 live reaction and thoughts, spoilers under the cut

Gwen: pls let me go meet the monsters again

Lena: no…. Ok fine but only if you help me get rid of my annoying asshole boss when he shows up later

Gwen: bet

Why did I think the mother in this case was Celia for a hot second

Wait a fucking second this lady doesn’t remember shit about the pregnancy or the birth???? Are we sure this isn’t Celia?????

Like I know the intro of the case (courtesy of Norris, haven’t had a case from him in a while) calls her Patricia but like. This cannot be a coincidence.

DEMON BABY DEMON BABY DEMON BABY D-

CELIA MENTION IN THE CASE so the mother isn’t Celia got it

Awww demon baby likes Celia

Is the demon baby drinking blood?

I like that this case is just as horror oriented as it is an accurate depiction of new mothers’ struggles, especially single moms.

Yup he’s drinking blood

These health visitors are sus

this might be inspired by changeling lore I think

the transcript saying “it is not a baby” is kind of hilarious tbh

Oooh Sam and Celia field trip

Alice stopping them to lore dump about what she learned and subsequently figured out from her conversation with Gwen last episode is the kind of clear communication the characters should have had in TMA

Celia believing Alice the second she mentions tape recorders is very much not disproving the universe hopper theory

I’m glad they’re agreeing to watch each other’s backs, even if Sam and Alice are butting heads

Awww Alice really cares

wtf why is basira a school headmistress

Why does she sound so different from how I remember her in TMA

Celia asking about her being a cop is very TMA

[byneddiedingo]

Geraldine Page and Clint Eastwood in The Beguiled (1971)

Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman in The Beguiled (2017)

The Beguiled (Don Siegel, 1971)

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman, Jo Ann Harris, Darlene Carr, Mae Mercer, Pamelyn Ferdin, Melody Thomas Scott, Peggy Drier, Patricia Mattick. Screenplay: Albert Maltz, Irene Kamp, based on a novel by Thomas Cullinan. Cinematography: Bruce Surtees. Production design: Ted Haworth. Film editing: Carl Pingitore. Music: Lalo Schifrin.

The Beguiled (Sofia Coppola, 2017)

Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, Oona Lawrence. Angourie Rice, Addison Riecke, Emma Howard. Screenplay: Sofia Coppola, based on a novel by Thomas Cullinan and a screenplay by Albert Maltz and Irene Kamp. Cinematography: Philippe Le Sourd. Production design: Anne Ross. Film editing: Sarah Flack. Music: Phoenix Why some movies get remade and others don't is one of the abiding mysteries of the business. There doesn't seem to be a very clear reason why Don Siegel's 1971 The Beguiled should be a movie that Sofia Coppola would choose to remake 46 years later other than that it's a pretty good premise: a wounded Yankee soldier is taken in by a Southern girls' school who hide him from the Confederates until events turn them against him. The premise does have a slightly pornographic quality to it, but that's unlikely to have motivated the remake. Whatever the reason, we now have two pretty good versions of the story, the first starring an actor who became known for a taciturn masculinity, the second with a softer, more feminine (not to say feminist, because who knows what that means in any given context) approach. In fact, the two films are almost complementary, notable as much for what the remake leaves out as for the way in which Coppola changes the tone of the first version. Siegel's film is rougher and more action-filled, and it treats the sexual tension of the material in a more heated manner -- not to say overheated, which the 1971 version veers toward in its suggestions that Martha, the girls' school headmistress, not only committed incest with her brother but also had a lesbian relationship with (or at least attraction toward) the head teacher, Edwina. Times have changed, and Coppola steers clear of both, probably because they add nothing to the main story and same-sex attraction doesn't have the the power to shock in 2017 that it did in 1971. Coppola also eliminates a major character from Siegel's version, the slave Hallie (Mae Mercer), who serves as a kind of interlocutor with Clint Eastwood's McBurney, the two commenting on their different forms of captivity. Although the major characters retain the same general outlines, Coppola's Martha and Edwina, Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst, are less eccentric performers than Siegel's Geraldine Page and Elizabeth Hartman. I think this works to Coppola's benefit, making the women's turn against McBurney more startling, even a little tragic, than in Siegel's film. In Siegel's version, the girl (Jo Ann Harris) who lures McBurney, called Carol in his film, is more vulgarly hot to trot than Coppola's Alicia, played with more subtlety by Elle Fanning. As for the two versions of McBurney, Coppola gives hers more of a backstory: an Irish immigrant lured into the Union Army by the promise of ready cash when he agrees to serve as a substitute for a Yankee reluctant to fight. Colin Farrell is also a more versatile actor than Eastwood, whose tough guy persona makes it hard for us to credit his acquiescence. The scene in which McBurney eats the poisoned mushrooms comes off better in Coppola's version because Farrell lets us see the poison taking its effect, whereas Siegel decides not to show the effect on Eastwood's McBurney. Yet somehow, I prefer the Siegel film, perhaps because there's an inherent cheesiness to the story's melodrama that Siegel embraces but Coppola strives to downplay.

[riverdaleremix]

[dovebuffy92]

British teen dramedy Sex Education Season 3, created by Laurie Nunn, wrestles with personal growth and society’s need to de-individualize people. Season 3 begins with young conservative Hope Haddon (Jemima Kirke) taking over as headmistress of Moordale Secondary School.

Spoilers Below

Hope tries to rehabilitate Moordale Secondary School’s reputation as the “Sex School” by creating an authoritarian environment that leaves no room for individuality or creativity. Communication plays a vital role in a lot of characters’ personal growth and the mending of relationships. Unfortunately, the Sex Education writers left the headmistress as a one-note villain.

Sex Education Season 3’s weakest link

Sex Education Season 3’s weakest link is that the depiction of Headmistress Hope Haddon feels one-dimensional. Hope is villainous because she forces students to wear uniforms to stop the queer students from dressing flamboyantly.

She constantly punishes one of the few non-gender binary students, American Cal Bowman (Dua Saleh), and teaches fear-mongering abstinence sex education. She fires head boy Jack Marchetti (Kedar Williams-Stirling) for advocating for Cal and protecting the vulgar historic wall of penises. We never fully understand why Hope is so backward beyond wanting to clean up the school’s image.

Hope comes off as a caricature of a bullying principal. The writers try to humanize her through her infertility problems, but it is not enough. We have no sense of her life outside of school. The headmistress’ veneer of hipness because of her youth doesn’t make a whole personality.

The first headmaster was also strict and unyielding. Michael Groff’s (Alistair Petrie) three-dimensionality came from learning that he cared too much about his reputation. He rode his disruptive son Adam (Connor Swindells) hard. We got to see Headmaster’s Groff homelife making him feel like a human being rather than just a caricature.

A Symbol of Censorship

Headmistress Haddon turns Moordale Secondary School into a symbol of censorship, society fitting everybody into a box, and penalizing rebel artists. For instance, the new school uniforms are a perfect example of how the new Moordale headmistresses have disdain for uniqueness or queerness.

Haddon decides to require school uniforms because the popular Gay student Anwar Bakshi (Chaneil Kular) wears a bright red pimp hat, an unbuttoned black leather jacket with flames, no shirt, black straps, and leather pants. The headmistress unconscious homophobia shines through.

She equates queerness with overt sexuality. Haddon harasses Cal for wearing a loose-fitting boy’s school uniform because they were assigned female at birth. She refuses to respect that Cal doesn’t feel comfortable wearing even one piece of women’s clothing or anything tight because it displays parts of their body they don’t like.

Hope exposes her homophobia by not allowing pansexual Ola Nyman (Patricia Allison) to wear an LGBTQA plus rainbow pin. Students are only allowed to wear school pins. She takes school uniformity to the extreme. Haddon even controls everybody’s hairstyles or makeup.

Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) can’t dye her hair blue. Lily Iglehart’s (Tanya Reynolds) Princess Leia-style hairstyle and bright makeup is a no-go at Moordale. Haddon hates that Lily writes alien erotica and refuses to sanitize herself in public. Therefore, she forces Lily, Cal, and Adam to wear whiteboard signs around their necks with an individualized embarrassing message at school. Moordale Secondary becomes a dystopian space under Hope Haddon’s leadership.

Michael’s Character Transformation in Sex Education Season 3

Michael goes through the most significant character transformation in Sex Education Season 3 because he sheds himself of society’s expectations for men. At the start of the season, the ex-headmaster lives with his older brother, macho Peter Groff (Jason Issacs). Nobody will hire Michael because of the scandal and the fact that he is overqualified for everything. He mops around town, trying to pretend not to be desperate.

Flashback scenes to his childhood reveal that Michael’s stiffness and emotional unavailability come from being mentally abused by his father and a young Peter for his clumsiness, sensitivity, and enjoying cooking with his mother. He became hardened to survive. Michael’s aggressive nature comes from being socialized with toxic masculinity.

Groff’s whole world opens when he starts therapy with sex therapist Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson). Michael doesn’t want to be miserable for the rest of his life, so he asks Jean to help him change.

Jean suggests that Michael find something that brings him joy. Michael re-discovers his love of cooking. And he no longer cares about Peter’s opinion of his “feminine” pursuit or being called “Megan.” The ex-headmaster stops socializing with his brother. Michael even opens up to his estranged wife, Maureen Groff (Samantha Spiro), leading them to have passionate sex.

One of My Favorite Parts of this Series

One of my favorite parts of Sex Education is how characters communicate clearly with one another. Many teen dramas lazily create conflict by having the characters never talk honestly about their feelings. Perhaps because therapy is a big part of this British Dramedy, the teen characters are blunt to one another.

Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) tells his girlfriend, fashionable Ruby Matthews (Mimi Keene), that he doesn’t love her. While Otis’ confession leads to their breakup, he doesn’t hide from the conversation. Eventually, Otis and his long-time crush Maeve end up together, but she gets accepted into an American Academic program for gifted students. She always takes care of other people.

Maeve finally chooses herself and goes to the American program. Maeve grows as a character by taking help from others and believing that she will have a better future. All of these honest conversations move the story forward and leads to personal growth.

Did you enjoy Sex Education Season 3? Let us know in the comment section below!

[ravenclaw-craftsgirl]

~IDENTITY (AS OF 6TH YEAR)~

Name: Lilian Marie Le’Reau

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Birth Date: February 23, 1973

Species: Human

Blood Status: Muggleborn

Sexuality: Gay

Alignment: Neutral

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Nationality: French/English (dual citizenship)

Residence: London, England

Myer Briggs Personality Type: INFJ-T The Advocate

1st Wand: 

Alder Wood 12 3/4 Slightly springy flexibility Unicorn Hair core Alder is an unyielding wood, yet often its ideal owner is not stubborn or obstinate, rather helpful, considerate and most likable. Whereas most wand woods seek similarity in the characters of those they will best serve, alder is unusual in that it seems to desire a nature that is, if not precisely opposite to its own, then certainly of a markedly different type. When an alder wand is happily placed, it becomes a magnificent, loyal helpmate. Of all wand types, alder is best suited to non-verbal spell work, whence comes its reputation for being suitable only for the most advanced witches and wizards.

2nd Wand:

Acacia Wood 13 Supple flexibility Horned Serpent Horn core A very unusual wand wood, which I have found creates tricky wands that often refuse to produce magic for any but their owner, and also withhold their best effects from all but those most gifted. This sensitivity renders them difficult to place, and I keep only a small stock for those witches or wizards of sufficient subtlety, for acacia is not suited to what is commonly known as ‘bangs-and-smells’ magic. When well-matched, an acacia wand matches any for power, though it is often underrated due to the peculiarity of its temperament.

Animagus: Black Ragdoll with curved white marks under the eyes and on the paws

Misc Magical Abilities: Naturally adept at most forms of transfiguration and animation charms, wandless spell casting, silent spell casting

Boggart Form: Death Eater from her past

Riddikulus Form: Darth Vader saying “Lilian, I am your father”

Amortentia (others): A kitchen cooking a full meal; generally steak, green beans, baked potatoes, buttered rolls and brownies

Amortentia (Lilian): (before dating) Machine shop oil, the smell of grease and degreaser (after dating/ married) The smell of an old book and the fragrance of Merula’s perfume

Patronus: Multiple Wolves (average 2-3, more depending on the need)

Patronus Memory: The memory of all her friends, family and loved ones attending the unveiling of her first golem

Mirror of Erised: Herself, living life without fear of persecution by muggles or pureblood wizards.

Specialized/Favourite Spells: 

Piertotum Locomotor

Baubillious (for offense and creation)

Permanent Sticking Charm (It’s easier than weeks of welding)

Aguamenti (you wouldn’t believe how many fires are started near Lilian)

Incendio (speaking of fire…)

Engorgio

Reducio

~APPEARANCE~

In game

Height: 6’3” (190.5 cm)

Weight: 170 lbs (77 kg)

Physique: Toned/ Lean build

Eye Colour: Purple/ Amethyst

Hair Colour: Snow White (originally chestnut)

Skin Tone: Porcelain

Body Modifications: Single Purple streak of Dyed hair

Scarring: After the battle of Hogwarts in the second wizarding war, Lilian loses her left arm and right leg below the joints. She later develops prosthetics nearly identical to her original limbs, but stronger than steel

Inventory: On her person she will have a charm bracelet of several shrunken items including:

-a table -a cooler -a medical cabinet (with everything inside secured) -three Tiny Golems (for easy transport when not in use)

As well as a satchel with several books, pencils and sketch pads for when she has an idea or observes something inspiring. She owns a car and a Thunderbolt broomstick.

Fashion: Lilian normally dresses in black slacks, a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black vest over the white shirt. She also owns several pairs of boots, most in the style of buckle up platforms with steel toes.  She will also wear various dresses to accentuate her figure, muscles or the dresses design as well as several pop culture t-shirts (her favorites are often science fiction based such as Star Wars and Halo)

~ALLEGIANCES~

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Affiliations/Organizations:

The Order of the Phoenix

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

The Constitutional Republic of France

The Royal Crown of England

Professions:

Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office (consultant)

Department of Magical Equipment Control 

Freelance Craftswoman (magical prosthetics)

Freelance Craftswoman (miscellaneous items)

Freelance Craftswoman (Animated Objects)

~HOGWARTS INFORMATION~

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (E) Charms: ★★★★★★★★★★ (O) DADA: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ (O) Flying: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (A) Herbology: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ (E) History of Magic: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (A) Potions: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (O) Transfiguration: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ (O)

Electives:  Study of Ancient Runes Ancient Runes Alchemy Arithmancy Advanced Arithmancy

Extra Curricular: 

Dungeons and Dragons club Potions Club Magic TheoryAncient Runes Club Education of Muggle Items Group (unofficial president)

Favourite Professors: 

Professor McGonagall: While not typically the first choice of Ravenclaws, Lilian respects Professor McGonagall for her cool and decisive temperament, her rational thought processes and her ability to make the correct call in stressful situations. She is also partial due to the shared Animagus attribute as well as the professor’s forgiving nature towards Lilian’s Experimentation with magical creations.

Least Favourite Professors:

Professor Trelawney:  While Lilian respects every form of knowledge, she never understood why this class was a core requirement and not an elective. Surely if someone was that desperate to know their ‘future’ they could use their own time instead of forcing an entire class to follow suit. Lilian is a firm believer in ‘you make your own fate’ and views Professor Trelawney as overly superstitious, even by wizarding world standards.

~RELATIONSHIPS~

Father: Daniel Le’Reau Muggle English Professor Attended University of Cambridge, England Short, Chestnut brown hair with matching Goatee. Tall, slightly scrawny 38 years old.

Daniel is soft-spoken and amicable, often seeking the least confrontational methods. Polite and poised, as expected of a respected University professor

Upper Middle Class 

Professor of Literature and English Studies at the University of Cambridge 

Daniel is a very well known professor, often sited in many English studies papers for his ideas on early literature such as Shakespeare and Anglo-Saxton ballads, noting their implications in modern art and culture as well as their historic significance. He is also known to be quite supportive of his students, often treating them like family members and helping them achieve their dreams. 

Known the McKinley family since Lilian was 5 (the day she was almost kidnapped)

Mother: Amelie Nicole Le’Reau Muggle Long straight Black hair, Amethyst eyes, Average height, toned muscles, rugged beauty. Mechanic (military contracted) 37 years old.

Amelie is an outspoken, avid thinker who spends just as much time as her husband educating people.

Amelie originally served in the Royal Engineering Corps in her early years until she met and fell in love with a rather awkward yet lovable man named Daniel. Shortly before her Exit date, she married him and had Lilian. Since then, she’s been a military contractor for the Royal Engineering Corps. Assisting with various mechanical jobs from basic transportation to armored troop transports to Tanks and Mobile Weapons Systems.

Nearly traumatized when a dark wizard kidnapped Lilian after killing several bystanders with magic and curses. Almost forbade Lilian from attending Hogwarts when she received the acceptance letter. Remains in good standing with Shamus McKinley.

Love Interest: Merula

While they only officially started dating during the Sixth year, their relationship started in the Fourth year.

During the Celestial ball, Lilian noticed that Merula didn’t have anyone to dance with and offered to dance with her.  After the Celestial Ball, Merula’s Attitude softened to a degree. While Lilian was still being teased about how tall she was, she was no  longer harassed for being a muggle, nor was she mocked for her passions. While Merula wouldn’t outright ask for help from Lilian, She would never deny Lilian helping her.

Generally the attitude of the two was always Lilian genuinely trying to learn about Merula while Merula made an effort to understand Lilian and where she was from. Eventually Mistrust and Resentment would make way to curiosity and intrigue. 

Only when Lilian had saved Merula’s life from Dementors had she finally figured out her mixed feelings for Lilian, realizing that she had fallen in love with the quiet muggle born witch, eccentricities and all.

Best Friends:

Rowan Hubei Khanna (Female Khanna) Rowan Harrow Khanna (Male Khanna) Ben Copper Penny Haywood Badeea Ali Ismelda Murk Rival: None

Enemy:

Patricia Rakepick

R

Dormmates: 

Rowan Hubei Khanna Badeea Ali Tulip Karasu

Pets:

Eleanor is an american shorthair that Lilian rescued from the street during her trip to Diagon Alley. Eleanor had been a kitten at the time, thus Lilian was given special permission to have her familiar with her during all classes to make sure she didn’t go hungry.

Due to outstanding Circumstance, Lilian has also (legally) adopted an Acromantula that refers to himself as Cain. While technically intelligent enough to take care of himself, he does allow her to give pets and scratch his carapace in the right areas. In exchange, Lilian is given a supply of webbing to refine into silk as she needs.

Closest Canon Friends:

Ismelda Murk Rowan Hubei Khanna

Closest MC Friends:

Helene Adler @heleneplays​

Skylar Morningstar @angrynar​

Ada Corcoran @ask-bincopper-archive​

Neon Welkin @neonbluewaves​

Ethren Whitecross @hogwartsmysterystory​

~BACKGROUND/HISTORY~

[The following is an excerpt from the book The Craftswoman, a biography on the Life and Philosophies of Lilian Le’Reau]

Interviewer: What do you know of Mrs. Le’Reau? Headmistress Rowan Hubei Khanna: Lilian? Wow, where do I begin… She was always quiet. It was almost as if she were watching everything that happened for the sake of safety and precautions. Like she was always expecting the worst to happen to her no matter what. But given her history I wouldn’t put it past her. 

I: Could you please elaborate on that? Headmistress Khanna: Well, I suppose so. When Lilian was around the age of five, she and her mother were attacked by a rogue Death Eater, one of the remnants of the first wizarding war. A lot of people died that day, several more had to have their memory erased. 

I: With the Memory Erasing Charm, yes. The report of ‘The Market Massacre’ were in the papers for weeks after the incident, if I recall. Headmistress Khanna: Right. Well, This death eater had a particular goal in mind. I was told that he kept on rambling about how he was gonna make  new army, one to combat the remnants of the Order of Phoenix. He had planned on kidnapping Children with magical talent in order to build this order. 

I: Fortunately, the Auror Shamus McKinley was nearby to save her. He not only saved her, but dispatched the dark wizard as well, yes? Headmistress Khanna: While this is true, it still had its ramifications. No one goes through that sort of experience the same. Lilian didn’t like to talk about where she came from or about her childhood.

I: Well, how about her years alongside you at Hogwarts? How would you describe that? Headmistress Khana: Our time at Hogwarts was actually rather mundane compared to the adventures of our other classmates. Lilian and I were generally the part of the plan that collected information and helped solve the riddles of the vaults, rather than actually fighting any of the curses there. Otherwise, much of her time was spent studying, trying to figure out new ways to apply spells and context of said spells, and honing her own personal abilities.  Like I said, a rather average Hogwarts tenure for the both of us.

I: Alright. How about during the battle of Hogwarts? Or perhaps anything during then and your graduation of Hogwarts? Headmistress Khanna: The time before the battle of Hogwarts, I can't testify for. For a while, most of us fell out of contact as we moved on with our lives, trying to make a name for ourselves in our own fields. But… 

I: It’s okay if you would like to avoid this subject. Headmistress Khanna: No no, it needs to be said. During the battle of Hogwarts, a lot of us were scared. None of us had been in this sort of conflict before, and those of us that had weren't ready for what we faced. Yet there Lilian was, setting up perimeters and directing people to the best suited jobs to help defend. She even brought in nearly a dozen golems to assist in the defense. We were lucky too, since those were the only things stopping the main host of trolls from climbing up the bridge. The battle itself is a blur, but when the dust settled, we all saw Lilian slumped against a wall, babbling on about equations and how many litres of blood she felt she had lost. She was missing her arm and leg, surrounded by a dozen or so dark wizards. 

I: Thank you, Headmistress. I think that’ll be all for now. Headmistress Khanna: I appreciate the need to document Lilian’s life. She’d be too busy to actually sit down and write it herself, believe it or not.

~PERSONALITY~

Lilian is a very open minded individual. Creative and Intelligent, She will always see projects through to the end, even if she already knows that the result will be failure. Despite the innumerable amount of failures that she’s had, Lilian always finds a way to take joy from any situation. While she mainly focuses on her work, she is a rather quiet and shy woman despite her imposing stature and very apparent abilities. She doesn’t like to brag, nor is she prone to any outwardly negative emotions. 

She does have several flaws though, first and foremost being her inability to cope with overly strong negative stimuli as well as a tendency to hyper fixate on a project at hand, often forgetting to eat and rest until her body physically forces her to sustain itself. (most common being her collapsing from exhaustion and sleep deprivation.)

MISC

Lives in the muggle world (London specifically)

Has family in both France and England

While not typically a fighter, Lilian has mastered the Patronus charm to astonishing success, manifesting three or more Wolf patroni with one casting.

While she is missing her left arm and right leg from the joints down, Lilian has since made prosthetic arms that are not only nearly identical to the previous limbs, they are far stronger than steel and well crafted enough to fool Muggles unless they closely inspect the hand in question.

Lilian married Merula nearly a year after the Battle of Hogwarts

In order to maintain hold of her tools while working and simultaneously casting spells, Lilian has mastered both the art of wandless and silent spellcasting.

Lilian owns a machine shop in London, making both Muggle and Magical items for multiple clients. She is allowed to do this through the employment of Squibs. This also allows her to take Auror Interns, teaching them how muggle technology works.

Lilian attempts to pioneer Golemancy, even attempting to have it recognized as an official practice of magic.

After Much convincing and reassuring, Lilian managed to get Merula to move to the Muggle world. Even then, this was only after several charms had been cast to help hide their magical nature from Ordinary Muggles. (Merula is particularly keen on cell phones.)

After several letters, Lilian agrees to teach several Magic Theory classes at Beauxbatons, much to the joy of several students and faculty. Lilian even demonstrates the magic and technology behind her prosthetics, inspiring the next generation of magic craftsmen and women.

[namequest]

Patricia Routledge said in an interview that when she was young she dreamt about becoming "a very avant-garde headmistress with a red sports car and romances all over Europe" and now I have a new fantasy

[chonicentral]

Respectfully, Headmistress Patricia. I know you only perform a limited number of these one-on-ones. With my qualifications, legacy status or not, I'm obviously a shoo-in.

[nellygwyn]

Just as intriguing as the pairs of women with the same surnames are the pairs with different ones: Chantry Mount in Bishop's Storford run by 'Miss N. Harries and Miss G. M. Fisher' or the Laurels in Rugby run by 'Miss Jolly and Miss Rutter.' With our modern awareness, we can't resist the thought: 'were they lesbians?' The truth is, we shall never know, and some of them probably were. I've lost count of the number of times my interviewees have said to me 'With hindsight, I suppose they must have been lesbians but of course, we hadn't even heard that word in those days.'  Occasionally, a girl caught a glimpse in the dead of night of a schoolmistress, in a lacy nightdress and with her hair down, slipping into the bedroom of another mistress, and these glimpses left lasting impressions. One girl remembered being told off for talking after lights-out, first by the matron and then, five minutes later, by the housemistress, both of them wearing the selfsame pink velour dressing gown. Going to say the obligatory 'good night' to the housemistress Miss Dyer at the evacuated Queen Margaret's, York, in 1947, Angela Mackenzie found the housemistress sitting on the sofa with the domestic-science mistress on the floor beside her, cuddling up to her knees. 'I was so flummoxed that I got their names twisted,' said Angela. 'Miss Dyer looked lovingly down at the domestic-science mistress and said 'It's all the same to us, isn't it?' Patricia Daunt mentioned in passing, in her vivacious recollections of Southover Manor School, Lewes, in the 1950s, that the headmistress Miss Aspden's girlfriend was the school secretary, the French mistress was in love with the game's mistress, and the English mistress was in love with the scripture mistress.

Terms and Conditions: Life in Girls’ Boarding Schools, 1939-1979 // Ysenda Maxtone Graham 

on the sexualities of some schoolmistresses who taught and oversaw mid-20th century English girls’ boarding schools

[missnight0wl]

On a previous ask, you said that Rakepick admires people with a strong personality and I believe you're right! I recall Rakepick saying something similar to that to Merula during that scene where she tries to apologize about setting fire to a textbook. Something like "you shouldn't apologize for doing something that your heart desires". Given that, could it also be a hint at Rakepick leaving on her own freewill by the end of the year? To seek a greater challenge other than the vaults?

To beexact, she said: “Never apologise for doing what you know in your heart thatyou absolutely must do”. And I guess you’re right, it can be seen as stayingtrue to yourself.

That beingsaid, I don’t think she would seek for a greater challenge as I doubt shebelieves there is one. She was interested in the Cursed Vaults already when shewas just a student, when it was only a legend for everyone else. She also keepstrack of people getting involved with them.

She dedicated such a big part ofher life to this cause that I just can’t see her simply abandoning it now.After all, she’s quite an ambitious witch.

By the way, I took a look back at year 4 some time ago, and one thing caught my attention:

Could it be that greater challenge for Rakepick? Taking over Hogwarts? It seems unlikely to me. Truth be told, I find it rather ridiculous that Severus believes in something like that… Patricia would get bored after maybe a week of being Headmistress.

[timetravelhouse]

My fellow useless lesbians, can we take a moment to appreciate Raquel Cassidy's stunning performance as Hecate Hardbroom? The fact that we're all here for HB attests to the rich queer coding of this character, and moreover, to the continuing vitality of lesbian decoding practices. I can't stop thinking about how Cassidy masterfully deploys tropes with a deep history of queer connotation, so I wanted to situate Hecate in this genealogy. I'm proposing three longstanding lesbian motifs that resonate with Cassidy's interpretation of Miss Hardbroom, hopefully helping to illuminate why everyone is reading it as hella gay. This is written in the style of a grumpy old teacher, so each section includes an example from film history with a corresponding academic citation (Tumblr blocks posts with outside links; I recommend searching Google Books). :D?

1. lesbian gothic Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940)

It may be counterintuitive to link this cotton candy show to the gothic, but try shifting your point of view from the students to the teachers. The adults are dealing with family secrets, spectral paintings, authoritarian patriarchs, and of course, magical peril. Gothic references coalesce in Hecate Harbroom, the literally and figuratively dark presence with an uncanny ability to materialize at the moment of peak disobedience (she usually says "Mildred Hubble" but she might as well be saying "boo").

Patricia White, "Female Spectator, Lesbian Specter" from UnInvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Indiana University Press, 1999)

A genealogy of The Haunting–and of the haunting of classical cinema by lesbianism–leads us to Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), a key example of the female gothic, a genre that as a whole is concerned with heterosexuality as an institution of terror for women (64)... [In this film,] the heroine's desire is channeled toward Rebecca as a powerful presence-in-absence by [Mrs. Danvers], who enjoys a peculiar and intense relation to her former mistress and who functions as a sort of regent of Rebecca's reign at Manderly (65)... In the gothic narrative, the heroine's look is central yet unreliable, precisely because the female object sought by her gaze is withheld. This narrative can be seen to encode the dramas of desire and identification at stake in female spectatorship and the lesbian excess that haunts them, to remind us that we can't always believe our eyes (72).

The severe domestics and governesses of gothic mysteries harbor the story's secrets under their grim austerity, and these secrets always seem to have the flavor of sexual deviance. Hecate Hardbroom's reserved and gloomy vibe – and indeed, her "goth" style – evoke characters like Mrs. Danvers (a little too obsessed with an inappropriate crush from her past). This resonance "haunts" The Worst Witch with "lesbian excess" that can only be seen obliquely, and may even suggest "heterosexuality... as terror" (see s2e11 "Love at First Sight"). Thus the heritage of genre cues us to suspect that whatever repressed feelings animate Hecate's stern control must be tinged with forbidden desire, a queer allusion that is irresistibly seductive.

2. lesbian witch Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)

I'm sure I don't have to convince you that witches are the most obvious gay element in The Worst Witch. We're offered a spectrum of witchy genders (headcanon: Mr. Rowan-Webb is trans), and I ask you to bear with me through a theory. I would never call Hecate butch in today's terms – she's so glamorous with her sensuous fabrics and heavy eyeliner – but think 1930s notions of butch. Standing imperiously in head-to-toe black next to the brightly colored and approachable looks of other magical adults, Hecate inhabits the classic witch stereotype. This quintessential witch is threatening in her otherness because she has power that refuses and exceeds the standards of femininity.

Alexander Doty, "'My Beautiful Wickedness': The Wizard of Oz as Lesbian Fantasy" from Flaming Classics: Queering the Film Canon (Routledge, 2002)

It was probably during gay director George Cukor’s stint as production consultant on Oz that the Wicked Witch got her final look: a sharp nose and jawline, green face and body makeup, a scraggly broom, clawlike fingernails, and a tailored black gown and cape. This is the witch as creature, as alien, as monster, and as what straight, and sometimes gay, culture has often equated with these—butch dyke (58)... And let’s not forget that while Glinda may look like a fairy godmother, she is a witch, and is therefore connected to the Wicked Witch and to centuries-long Western cultural associations between witchcraft and lesbianism. So what we have set before us in The Wizard of Oz is the division of lesbianism into the good femme-inine and the bad butch, or the model potentially 'invisible' femme and the threateningly obvious butch (59)... The butch witch is both the potential source of fulfilled desires as well as the potential source of physical danger (68).

Hecate Hardbroom's "obvious" witchyness is frightening in a way that's delectable, because it whispers to us of a land "over the rainbow" where normative rules of gender and sexuality might be unbound. HB both threatens the kids with exposure through the potency of her magic and encourages them into the sisterhood of this forceful female energy. She links the forbidding/forbidden with the desire to adore and become it. When high femme Pippa Pentangle stands alongside Hecate, they echo Glinda's contrast with the Wicked Witch of the West as the light and dark sides of a queer paradigm: the coming-of-age fantasy of escaping from "Kansas" to "Oz" (or Cackle's Academy for girls only).

3. lesbian camp Emilia Unda as Fräulein von Nordeck in Mädchen in Uniform (Leontine Sagan, Germany, 1931)

Camp is probably my #1 axis of delight in Raquel Cassidy's approach to Hecate. In Susan Sontag's formative 1964 essay "Notes on 'Camp'" (easily Googled), she defines camp as "the love of the exaggerated" and "the spirit of extravagance"; as "a mode of seduction–one which employs flamboyant mannerisms susceptible of a double interpretation"; as "a new, more complex relation to 'the serious'" that "identifies with what it is enjoying... a tender feeling." I can think of no better way to capture the superb balance of excessively theatrical gestures and glimpses of genuine emotion that I see in this character. Historically, camp is primarily associated with gay and effeminate men, but there has always been a place for women in camp's gender play. Katrin Horn locates the emergence of a visible lesbian camp in the New Queer Cinema moment of the 1990s, with films that took up a referential dialogue with the subtextual queer language of an earlier era.

Katrin Horn, "The Great Dyke Rewrite: Lesbian Camp on the Big Screen" from Women, Camp, and Serious Excess (Springer, 2017)

As a cinematic trope the boarding school setting dates back to at least 1931, when a nearly all-female crew produced Mädchen in Uniform... the associated story – emotional turmoil at all-girls boarding schools resulting in female bonding, homoerotic moments, and declarations of love between women – and its symbolism have been carried from Hollywood's classical era... But I'm a Cheerleader points to the heavily censored history of female-female desire onscreen [and] mocks the absurd and dark one-dimensionality of the boarding school trope (35-36)... [B]y consciously engaging with the cinematic history of lesbian representation, [camp films] reinscribe (pleasurable) lesbian presences into themes and tropes that had hitherto been connected to doomed and/or subtextual lesbian desire... Furthermore, they represent new forms of cinematic pleasure, as they infuse stereotypes which have historically as well as more recently been used mainly to disavow lesbian identity and sexuality with a sincerity of affect that recodes them as objects of identification and desire (37).

Mädchen in Uniform and related films (including the 1958 remake and 2006 reinterpretation Loving Annabelle) are lesbian tragedies, stories where forbidden desire between a teacher and student (or, in the case of 1961's The Children's Hour, two teachers) leads to heartbreak and ruin. The strict headmistress subjects the more romantic teacher to an all-knowing and judgmental gaze – but her relentless pursuit of perversion can always reverberate back to camp up this dour figure. Like the satirical lesbian comedy But I'm a Cheerleader (Jamie Babbit, 1999), The Worst Witch returns to the queer scene of the girls' boarding school in a more playful mode. As a camp performance, Cassidy's Hardbroom is a homage to Fräulein von Nordeck and her ilk, but one that transposes this archetype's threatening quality into a celebration of the deviance she originally stood against. Precisely by being over-the-top, Hecate's expressiveness embraces the stern teachers of yore with tenderness and a "sincerity of affect" that invites possibilities for pleasure and identification into this stereotype. By revisiting and reconfiguring the terms of queer representation, camp can effectively rewrite history – we may take more glee in earlier portrayals of the tragic lesbian or repressed disciplinarian today because she has been retroactively camped. Camp is reappropriation – its affection for extremes is simultaneously ridiculous and erotic (boosted here by liberal use of dramatic low-angle shots to frame Hecate as deliciously imposing). Children's television has always been a welcoming field for camp, which revels in its capacity to signal queerness through the seeming innocence of zany shenanigans. Cassidy described The Worst Witch as "a massive invitation to play" – her total commitment to this opportunity with a joyous camp sensibility enables a really dazzling modulation of lesbian cultural touchstones.

It would be worthwhile to read Hecate Hardbroom intertexually in relation to Raquel Cassidy's previous queer comedic roles... but that's a story for another day. I just wanted to explain why I think what she's given us in The Worst Witch is quite remarkable (and justify why I am utter trash right now). It's meaningful to me to connect the soup of digital ephemera and intemperate feels we're all swimming in now to a lineage of lesbian representation and spectatorship. Maybe this lofty outpouring is totally inappropriate to Tumblr [EDIT: so pleased it is appropriate <3], but I don't seem to be able to help myself – thank you truly for reading if you made it this far. Grumpy gay teacher signing off!

GIFs Hecate: all-we-must-be | dismantledrose | andforgotten Mrs. Danvers: Old Hollywood Films on giphy Wicked Witch: gifswithkriz Fräulein von Nordeck: mine

[ladyherenya]

Books read in August

So, yeah, finally reviewed everything from August.

I’ve been reading a bit fiction set during 20th century wars. I’ve always been interested in books set during that period, but I’ve been reading more of them lately.

Favourite cover: Flygirl wins (although I borrowed The Alice Network based on its title and cover so good marketing there I guess).

Reread: Pretty Face by Lucy Parker, Promised Land by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice, and bits of other things.

Still reading: Secrets of a Sun King by Emma Carroll.

Next up: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (narrated by Rebecca Soler): Alice and her mother Ella have lived on the road, moving somewhere new each time their strange bad luck has caught up with them. When Ella is mysteriously abducted, Alice is desperate to get her back. To do so, Alice has to uncover the truth about her grandmother’s weird fairytales and her grandmother’s estate, the Hazel Wood. This is such a sharp, compelling story about fairytales and fate and family, with a sharp, compelling voice. The ending felt oddly anti-climactic and I’m reserving judgement on some things until I see how the sequel resolves them -- but otherwise, this is excellent.

Masques by Patricia Briggs: Even though this edition was revised years after Masques was first published, it’s still very obviously Briggs’ first novel. Clichéd and, in many ways, clumsy. Yet in spite of the book’s many imperfections, I liked Aralorn (the illegitimate daughter of a lord and a shapeshifter who left home to become a mercenary-turned-spy) and her enigmatic friend Wolf (who spends his time as a talking wolf or a masked magician). I liked individual scenes, even if some transitions and connections between them were not as strong as the scenes themselves, and there was enough tension to keep me turning pages.

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon): Fifteen year old Rhea is made an offer of marriage she can’t refuse -- there are consequences if peasants offend lords. Lord Crevan’s house is found at the end of an eerie white road and when Rhea arrives, she discovered he is already married. This book is creepy and yet I never found it too dark. It acknowledges that horrors exist and shows someone ordinary with courage and resourcefulness (and a hedgehog companion) who is equal to overcoming them. I’m sure Kingfisher is capable of writing something totally terrifying but I trusted that that was not the goal here. 

Mort by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Nigel Planer): A young man called Mort is offered an unexpected apprenticeship -- with Death. Reading this after twenty-four of the later books highlights how both the Discworld and Pratchett’s skills as a storyteller developed over the series. But if I’d started here, I definitely wouldn’t have cared as much about Death or Ankh-Morpork or the wizards -- and I would have been a lot less confident that this would be an entertaining and satisfactory story. So I can’t regret my reading order. Also, Pratchett’s way with words is always fun.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo: Emoni Santiago has the opportunity to take a culinary arts class in her final year of high school. This is a vivid look at Emoni’s world. It was particularly interesting to read a story about a teen parent which doesn’t focus on pregnancy or babies. Emoni has a two-year old daughter which affects so many things -- Emoni’s relationship with her grandmother, her finances, her hesitations about college and dating. But what drives this story is Emoni discovering how to approach her passion for cooking with discipline, and what that means for her future.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (narrated by Saskia Maarleveld): Sharp and tense, occasionally horrifying, occasionally heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful, and oh, do I have lots of thoughts and feelings about this! It alternates between Charlie in 1947, a college student who asks Eve to help her find her missing cousin, and Eve in 1915, a spy in France. I love how the two storylines fit together, occasionally echoing each other with themes and variations. This is about fierce, difficult, unconventional, broken, women and so much of the story is driven by their relationships. It isn’t perfect, and sometimes made me uncomfortable, but it balances out darkness with hope. Captivating.

The Headmistress (1944) by Angela Thirkell: This revolves around the Belton family, who have rented out their large house to a girls’ school, and some of their closest neighbours. It’s Thirkell, so it is amusing and observant about life during wartime, told with a gentleness that is very -- very -- occasionally broken by an unnecessary moment of prejudice. Those moments aside, I enjoyed reading this a lot.  I thought it was particularly insightful when it came to a sixteen year old’s (somewhat confused and contrary) fantasies after being rescued. Something else which stood out was its portrayal of navigating the changing relationship between parents and their adult children.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow: Post-apocalypse, an AI has decided to discourage nation states from war by taking all heirs hostage. Greta, Duchess of Halifax and Crown Princess of the Pan Polar Confederacy, a seventh-generation hostage, knows she will be killed if the confederacy ever breaks the peace. This was compelling (the first half slightly more than the second) and there’s a lot I could talk about: the terrifyingly yet believable future of fighting over resources; the darkly-humorous AI overlord; the cutting commentary on power and politics; the delicate bonds between the hostages. Maybe after I’ve read the sequel.

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith: In 1943, Ida joins the Women Airforce Service Pilots, knowing she will only succeed if she can pass for a white girl. I enjoyed seeing what the WASP training process involved. There’s the appeal of boarding school stories: young people living and training together, teamwork and camaraderie, friends supporting each other, standing up to bullies, and so on. But what I found most interesting was how passing is an everyday concern for Ida. And what does it mean to put so much effort into making a place for herself in a white world where she can’t reveal her true identity?

[drarry-fanfiction7]

Truly, Madly, Deeply - Chapter 4

(can also be read on ao3)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Chapter 4 - Never Be The Same

Something must've gone wrong in my brain Got your chemicals all in my veins .... It's you, babe And I'm a sucker for the way that you move, babe And I could try to run, but it would be useless You're to blame Just one hit of you, I knew I'll never be the same - Never Be The Same by Camila Cabello

It was the day after the party and Pansy, Blaise, Draco and Greg were sitting in the Slytherin common room, Pansy with her legs crisscrossed on the floor and the three boys in front of her on the couch. Both Pansy and Blaise had packages full of candy on their hands that their parents had sent them and they were sharing with the other two boys. It was a habit they had since first year, every time they received candy from home they would share with each other, and they still did it to these days. They had decided that staying inside the common room was the best decision for the day for a diversity of reasons.

Firstly, they were tired after the party. It had ended late and they had gone to bed in the early morning, sleeping in until it was almost time for lunch, so they really didn’t want to do anything that would take too much energy. They just wanted to relax and not worry about anything, except maybe for homework later. They also wanted to let the students from the other houses talk about the party without having the people who organized it anywhere near them. They wanted the other students to gossip about the party, maybe tell the younger people and the ones who had skipped the party how good it had been. They wanted them to show the school that Slytherins could be good and plot good things. The party had also been for that reason. It had had the purpose of having fun and unifying the houses, but it was also to show a different side of the Slytherin house, the side that could have fun and that would be nice to people, the side that so many Slytherins had but never showed because they were never given a chance to.

The weather had been the last push they needed to be completely against leaving the common room. It was nearing the end of October and both the grey clouds that covered the sky and the wind that rippled through the trees invited the Hogwarts students to stay inside the castle. It was cold outside, so staying in the common room near the fireplace was the best place to be. “I’m really glad the party went well,” Pansy said while looking through the candy until she found her favourite. Even though they had tried to stay positive and not let doubt get them down and even though they never showed how afraid of the outcome they were, they had still worried that the party would have been a complete distaste. From people leaving in the middle of the party, to insults being thrown around and fights breaking out, almost every horrible scenario had gone through their heads at least once. To see that the party had been a success was a relief for them, it had been all they wanted and having it was an amazing feeling. “It was a really good party,” Greg agreed. “I had a lot of fun.” “With Neville, wasn’t it?” Pansy smirked. “He’s cute,” Greg shrugged with a grin. “Who would have thought that what the three of you needed to finally go down the romance lane was a party with people from the other houses,” Blaise smirked. “What romance lane?” Draco asked. “Why aren’t you including yourself in that sentence?” Pansy raised her eyes from the bag of candy to meet Blaise’s mischievous gaze.

Blaise grinned, the questions obviously amusing him to no end. “To answer your question, Pansy,” he decided to answer hers first since Draco’s reaction would certainly be funnier. “I didn’t include myself because I didn’t need help from a party to go down the romance lane. I don’t need any help with that, I just have to go outside.” “You’re awfully conceited, you idiot,” Pansy slapped his knee. “Eighteen years of friendship and this is how you treat me?” Blaise put a hand on his chest over his heart. “You wound me.” “Stop being a big baby,” she slapped his knee again. He stuck his tongue out childishly and she rolled her eyes. It was always amusing to watch Pansy and Blaise bickering, they were like the annoying cousins who were always throwing insults back and forth but that no one told to stop because it was funny to watch them getting worked up. “Now, Draco,” Blaise turned to look at him. “Don’t act all innocent, you know exactly what I’m talking about.” “Do I?” Draco raised an eyebrow. “Does the name Harry Potter ring any bells?” “It rings some, yes.” Blaise looked at him unimpressed and Draco tried not to laugh. “But, seriously now,” Pansy interrupted. “What was all that with Potter?” “It was mostly yours and Ginny’s doing,” he said. “And you should be thanking us,” Pansy shrugged. “You enjoyed every minute you spent near him.” “Don’t be ridiculous,” he scoffed. “Are you seriously going to try and deny it?” Greg asked in disbelief. They all knew that Draco had liked to spend time with Harry, they were always bickering but they managed to go a night without getting at each other’s throats. On the contrary, actually, they had managed to talk calmly and not get on each other’s nerves. And they had danced together. The three of them had seen the dance and the look on their friend’s face. Pansy rolled her eyes. “You enjoyed it, especially the dance. Don’t think I didn’t notice.” “Notice what?” “Your blush and heart eyes.” Draco gaped at her. He didn’t remember having blushed. And heart eyes? He surely hadn’t got those. He couldn’t have. Blaise laughed at Draco’s face, almost choking on the candy he was eating. “Don’t feel embarrassed, Draco! You like him, we understand.” “I don’t like him,” Draco scowled. “Of course not,” Pansy grinned. Draco was going to answer but was interrupted by Anthony, a 5th year Slytherin, who stopped next to the couch and smiled at them. “Am I interrupting?” “We're just making fun of Draco don't worry, we'll come back to it later.” Draco scoffed. He was sure his friends wouldn't let the subject go, they would keep on teasing him for one week, at least. Probably more. “I just wanted to tell Draco that the Headmistress wants to meet up with him tomorrow.” “What time?” “After lunch in her office.” “Do you know why?” “I think it’s because of the Quidditch game.” “The Quidditch game? But I don’t even play.” “I don’t know more, sorry.” “No worries, I’ll see what she wants tomorrow. Thanks, Anthony.” “No problem,” the boy smiled and went back to his friends. “Didn’t even remember that the first Quidditch game is next week,” Pansy said. “Why do you think she wanted to talk to me?” Draco asked, all the possibilities running through his mind. “She probably wants you to comment the games again.” “She hated it when I commented last year.” Patricia Lewis was a 7th year Slytherin the prior year and she was usually the one who commented the Quidditch games during their 5th year. However, in the middle of the school year she had gotten sick and couldn’t comment on the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff game and they had needed someone to step in and comment. Blaise had jokingly said that Draco would do it, but the professors hadn’t taken it as a joke and so he had ended up as the commentator for that game. Needless to say that the majority of the professors hadn’t found it funny when Draco had criticized everything the Quidditch players did, even without knowing anything about the game. “Maybe they’re desperate,” Blaise shrugged. “I mean, that’s the only reason why they would invite you to comment again.” “Fuck off,” Draco slapped the back of his head. “Maybe your charm convinced them,” Pansy said, “We’ll only know tomorrow.” “At least you’re flattering, unlike some asshole,” he glared at Blaise who just chucked.

“Come in, Mr. Malfoy.” Draco stepped inside the Headmistress’ office and sat on the chair in front of her desk. She looked like she had been waiting for him, a disapproving frown on her face, the previous headmasters that were on their portraits behind her looking him down, all except Dumbledore who seemed amused, he noticed that Professor Snape wasn’t in his portrait, it seemed like almost no Hogwarts Headmaster approved of lateness. “I’m sorry, Headmistress, there was a little problem on the Slytherin table with Blaise and I stayed with him for a bit.” “I am well aware of what happened with Mr. Zabini at lunch,” the disapproving frown was even more prominent on her face. Almost as soon as Blaise had started eating, his fork had jumped out of his hand and started flying around his head, Blaise had almost grabbed it when it fell to the table with a loud noise. He glared around the Slytherin table and at anyone who was looking at him, a grimace on his face. They had thought that had been it, that nothing more would happen the rest of lunch, but they had been wrong. When Blaise had gone to grab his goblet to take a sip from it, the thing had started flying right in front of his face, carefully since it didn’t spill but fast enough that Blaise hadn’t been able to catch it before it was too late. It had flown until it stopped just above Blaise’s head and the water inside it had spilt on top of his head before anyone had had time to react. Blaise had been shocked, but his expression changed to one of anger right after; Draco had tried to stop himself from laughing, but he hadn’t been able to contain himself and neither had the other Slytherins. Pansy had had the decency to throw a drying charm in Blaise’s direction, but she, too, had chuckled at their friend. “Needn’t I remind you that if I find out who pulled that prank on Mr. Zabini, that person will be punished accordingly,” she peered at him from the top of her glasses like she was aware that he knew who had pranked Blaise. “Do you have any idea who could have done it, Mr. Malfoy?” He knew who had done it, but he wouldn’t tell her. He had seen Ron grinning smugly from the Gryffindor table, Neville chuckling softly into his hand, Hermione, Harry and Ginny not even bothering to hide their laughter. He knew it had been Ron and Blaise knew it, too, but none of them would tell the Headmistress, they were Slytherins and they could deal with a little prank all on their own. Blaise had been mad when it had happened, but by the time Draco had left him with Pansy and Greg, he was already laughing and planning what he could do to make Ron pay for the prank he had pulled. “I don’t know who it was,” Draco shook his head. “Well, then,” Draco thought he saw a little smile on the Headmistress' face, but it was gone so fast he couldn’t even be sure. “I asked you to come here because I need to ask you something.” “What is it?” Draco sat straighter in his chair. “Would you want to comment next week’s Quidditch game?” “Headmistress, with all due respect, I don’t know anything about Quidditch, you saw it when I commented last year.” “I did, indeed, Mr. Malfoy, and it wasn’t my idea to have you comment the game,” the look on her face told Draco that having him commenting a game of Quidditch again was the last thing she wanted him to do. “Then why do you want me to do it?” “Some of the Quidditch players from both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor teams have come to me to ask me for a favour, they said that your criticism prompts them to play better and they requested that I ask you to do it again this year.” “But, it doesn’t make any sense.” “Doesn’t it, Mr. Malfoy? If you had someone who doesn’t understand potions come to you and criticize everything you did, what would you do?” “I would ignore them, but do everything I could to be even better than I am and make them eat their words,” he answered truthfully, already seeing where she was going with the conversation. “Then, I think you understand perfectly well why they want you to comment on the games.” “Yes, I do understand, Headmistress. I’ll comment the game.” Professor McGonagall nodded, a little smile replacing the frown that had been on her face. They discussed the little details about the game and what Draco would have to do before he could leave her office. “Mr. Malfoy,” she called one last time once he was at the door. “Do refrain from making inappropriate comments.” “I’ll try, Headmistress,” he joked when he saw the amusement in her eyes, no doubt remembering how he had made a certain comment about one of Hufflepuff’s ex-beaters.

Draco had had some more appointments with the Headmistress during the week, she had wanted to make sure that he didn’t say anything inappropriate, not that the appointments would stop him if he had something to say. He also had had to watch the Slytherin team training so that he could learn something about Quidditch and be able to make more accurate comments during the game. Now, it was Sunday and Draco was sitting at the Slytherin table, listening to Blaise and Greg going over their strategy for the game while he pretended to understand what they were saying. The conversation between the Slytherins was interrupted when two Gryffindors approached the table, Phoenix, a 6th year that played on the Quidditch team, and Taylor, his friend. “Zabini, Goyle, good luck for the game, you'll need it,” Phoenix said. “You think we are the ones who need luck? Think again,” Greg smirked. “We'll see about that,” Taylor shrugged. “Yes, we will,” Blaise raised an eyebrow at them challenging. The Gryffindors glared at them, clearly not liking to see that the Slytherins were confident in their victory; it surprised Draco how they seemed to think that Greg and Blaise’s attitude was something completely abnormal, since it was the way the two of them had always acted, confident and challenging, never backing down. “What’s happening here?” Harry’s voice sounded behind Draco who turned around to see him and Ginny looking at their teammates. “We were just wishing them good luck for the game,” Phoenix explained. “For some reason, I can’t really believe that that was all you were doing,” Harry said.

“I think you should go eat something. I want you ready for the game on time,” Ginny snapped. “Of course, captain,” Taylor nodded, dragging Phoenix, who was still glaring, to the Gryffindor table. Draco knew that Ginny was the captain of the Gryffindor team that year. At first, he had doubted that the girl had it in her to be a good captain, but just this little display showed him that he had underestimated Ginny a whole lot, maybe because he didn’t know her at all. The Gryffindor could be in control, she could make people listen to her and she could be a good captain, Draco saw that now. “Sit down, guys, or are you just gonna stand there?” Pansy raised an eyebrow. Harry looked over at the Gryffindor table before nodding at Pansy and sitting down on the vacant place next to Draco while Ginny sat next to the other girl. Over at his house’s table, their friends were looking at them. Some of them looking like they had eaten a particularly bad lemon, some of them with little appreciative smiles like they liked the house unity representation and some didn’t even acknowledge it at all, acting as if it was completely normal for Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, two Gryffindors, to seat at the Slytherin table. “You can go to your table if you want to. I only suggested that you seat here so that you wouldn’t just stand there,” Pansy said when she noticed that they were looking at the other table. “No, I don’t mind sitting here.” “Have you eaten already?” Greg asked. “Yeah, I had just finished when I noticed that Taylor and Phoenix were here,” Harry paused. “I’m sorry, by the way, they can be a little competitive.” “Don’t worry, they didn’t hurt our feelings.” “And it’s not like we aren’t used to this kind of treatment, they might be competitive, but that wasn’t all that was about,” Blaise shrugged. “We know that they don’t like us because we are Slytherins, winning against us tastes a little bit sweeter than winning against the other houses.”

Harry was going to open his mouth to answer, maybe try to deny what all of them knew to be true, but Draco wasn’t about to let him to it, it would just be a waste of time because, at the end of the day, Harry knew as much as them that being a Slytherin came with the price of prejudice from most people of the other houses. “Don’t bother, Harry, you know he’s right. You once thought like Taylor and Phoenix, too.” “Yeah, but I don’t think like that anymore,” he turned to look at Draco before looking at the others too. “You are much more than everyone thinks, you are amazing people and I’m really glad we decided to put everything behind our backs and get to know each other better. I like spending time with you, I won’t stop because some prejudiced idiots from my house can’t see past the colour you wear.” The Slytherins stayed quiet for a little bit, it was weird to hear someone say such things about them, someone who was looking at them honestly like he meant every word he had said, someone who didn’t look wary of them at all. It was impossible to think that Harry was lying, his emotions were always clear on his face and this time wasn’t an exception. “Thanks, Harry,” Pansy smiled at him. “It’s really good to hear someone say that.” “You don’t need to thank me for saying the truth.” Blaise and Greg went back to their conversation after that, Pansy smiled at them before getting up and leaving to go finish her homework before the game and taking Ginny with her. Draco decided that he should talk to Harry and explain to him why what he had said meant so much to them. “Harry, do you wanna take a walk?” Harry looked at him in wonder, probably trying to understand why exactly Draco Malfoy would want to spend time with him, but he just shrugged, before getting up and waiting for Draco to do the same, and they left the Great Hall together. “Is there something you want to talk to me about?” Harry asked while they were walking down the corridor towards the big door that would lead them to the outside. “Can’t I just want to spend some time with you?” Draco teased; although he did want to talk to him, he also wouldn’t pass the opportunity to see Harry trying to come up with an answer. “Well, I mean, of course, you can. But, you know it’s not usual for you to want to spend time with me. So, I just thought that there might be a reason,” he stuttered, not disappointing Draco. Draco chuckled. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head, Little Lion, I was just teasing you.” “Oh,” Harry blushed, maybe because he didn’t understand that Draco was teasing him or maybe because of the nickname. A nickname that had slipped past Draco’s lips without his consent, without him even thinking about it. It was inside his head one moment and the next one it was out of his mind, not even giving him time to process it. “Actually,” Draco started once they were outside the castle, changing the subject and trying not to think about what he had called Harry just moments ago. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about.” “Knew it,” Harry laughed. “What is it.” “Firstly, I wanted to thank you for what you said back there, it meant a lot.” “I already said that you don’t have to thank me, I just spoke the truth.” Draco shook his head and stopped walking. “I also want to explain why it meant so much to us,” he said when Harry stopped next to him. Harry gave him an encouraging nod and the both of them sat on the grass, looking at the castle, Draco trying to find where to start what he wanted to say and Harry waiting for him to be ready to talk. “It all started on the first day at Hogwarts,” Draco started. “Do you remember what you felt like when the hat said you were a Gryffindor?” “I remember feeling really proud and happy, there were people clapping and smiling at me, I felt like I belonged.” “That is how every first year should feel when they are placed in their houses, but I didn’t feel like that and I doubt any other Slytherin does. When I was placed in Slytherin I felt proud, don’t get me wrong, I knew I was in the house that would help me be better and great and where I belonged. Where I was supposed to be. But then came the looks. You don’t know what it feels like because no one ever looked at you in that way, but from the moment I was placed in Slytherin, students from the other houses started looking at me warily, they always looked away and never talked much to us, it was bad. I hated the first weeks here because of that. The older Slytherins knew what it was like because they had gone through the same, so they were our biggest support and help. They taught us how to ignore the looks, how to make people believe that we don’t care, how to put on a façade. They were always there for us and that is probably why the house is so united in its own way, we help our own because we are the only ones that are always there. What you said meant a lot, Harry. No one has ever looked at us with such openness and honesty and told us that they enjoyed our company, no one from the other houses had ever bothered to get to know us better. But you and your friends? You’re doing it willingly and that means everything to us. Especially after everything that happened and with us in particular. Our past isn’t the brightest at all. What I’m trying to say is, we might not say it to your faces, that’s just not who we are, but we really appreciate you and everything you’re doing for us and for house unity. I just thought you should know it.” Harry was looking at him like he had never seen him before by the time Draco had finished. It was overwhelming for Draco to talk about what he felt so openly, to show so many emotions and to let someone see what was going on inside him, but Harry made it hard not to open up. He had been so kind and honest, Draco had felt like he needed to do the same, he felt like he needed to let Harry know everything. “I had never thought about things from the Slytherin perspective,” Harry interrupted the silence. “And you were right, I did think like that for all these years, but I am glad that I’m getting the chance to change my opinion.” They stayed in silence for a little while, Harry was trying to make him see that he understood what he had been through, at least to some extent, and that he appreciated Draco telling him what he was thinking; he didn’t need to be worried about Draco not seeing it, though, Draco knew that Harry was thankful for the truthfulness, and that was all the reassurance he needed to know that telling Harry had been a good decision. “I think I get why it was so important for you to hear me say what I did. And I’ll say it again and again if you need me to.”

Harry smiled at him then, a bright, happy smile that made Draco all too aware of how beautiful Harry looked with it on his face, a smile that Draco wanted to see more often. Harry moved his hand to grab Draco’s in his and squeezed it softly.

Draco smiled back at him, amazed by how easy it was with Harry. The noise of people leaving the castle towards the Quidditch pitch interrupting their moment and alerting them to the hour. “We should get going, the game will start soon,” Harry said. The both of them got up and smiled at each other as a goodbye, Harry going to the castle to be with his team and Draco going to the pitch where he would help Madame Hooch prepare everything. “Potter,” he called making Harry turn to look at him again. “Good luck on the game.”

“Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor takes the Quaffle immediately after it is in the air,” Draco starts, he still wonders why he agreed to comment the game. “I can’t believe you didn’t catch it, Caleb, it was right in front of your face.” From the corner of his eye, Draco saw the Headmistress scowl at his biased comment and he smiled cheekily at her, after all, this kind of comments were apparently one of the reasons they wanted him as a commentator. The game kept going back and forth like that for a while, Gryffindor was the first to score, but Slytherin retaliated immediately and the game stayed 10-10 for a while. “What are you doing, Greg? You’re a beater for a reason, you're supposed to stop the Bludger from hitting your teammates, not let it pass by you,” Draco scoffed. The ball had flown by Greg and had almost hit Daisy Clarke, one of the Slytherin chasers, causing her to lose the Quaffle to Amy Dean, one of the Gryffindor chasers. “Good job, Sophie,” Draco said when the girl stopped the ball from going through one of the loops. “It seems like you’re the only one who knows how to play this game.” “That’s it, Phoenix, hit your own team’s other beater with the bludger, good work,” Draco said cheerfully. The points kept going like that, the two teams were almost always tied. If Slytherin scored, Gryffindor did it right after. The biggest difference in the score had happened when Daisy Clarke, Slytherin chaser, had been hit on the arm by a bludger and had to leave the game for a few minutes. Thankfully, she had been able to go back to the game quickly and they had been able to tie the game again. “It seems like the seekers have spotted the snitch,” Draco said into the mic, looking at where Blaise and Harry were chasing each other. The game was tied then, and it seemed like it would stay like that, the result completely in the hands of the seekers, whoever team caught the snitch would win. “Come on, Blaise, is that what you call being fast?” Draco thought he heard Blaise scream a “fuck off” when he passed by where he was commenting. “Good try, Lexi,” he told Gryffindor's keeper when the Quaffle went through the loop. “You should ask Sophie for some lessons.” The voices around the pitch grew louder, the crowd going wild and more enthusiastic when both Blaise and Harry dived in, looking like they caught sight of the snitch again. They were chasing each other frantically, the snitch seemed to be teasing them, going up and then down, not giving them a chance to catch it. It was a hypnotic dance and Draco couldn’t take his eyes off of them, he had even forgotten that there were more player and more things going on in the pitch, not commenting on anything except the two seekers. His inability to avert his eyes from the two of them, while not really thinking about the words coming out of his mouth, was the reason why he said what he said. “You have a really nice ass, Potter, but you can’t just bend over your broom like that.” Draco noticed what he said when he saw Harry’s broom stop suddenly, going over his words in his head and feeling his cheeks colour slightly when he processed it. He had just said that in front of the whole crowd, it was kind of embarrassing, but Draco wouldn’t take it back. Especially because Harry’s distraction after his commented had been everything Blaise had needed to leave him behind and close his hand around the little golden ball. And when the crowd went wild, Draco realized three things. Slytherin had won the game, maybe thanks to his comment; The Headmistress was glaring at him and he would surely be in trouble for it; And that he couldn’t deny the attraction he felt for Harry anymore, he couldn’t and he wouldn’t.

The Headmistress had scolded Draco as soon as the commotion in the pitch had moved away from it. She had been mad about his biased comments, but the comment about Harry had been the final straw of her patience. She seemed more angered about this comment than about the one he had made the year before about the Hufflepuff player, but Draco suspected it was because his comment had distracted Harry enough to give Slytherin the victory. Although Headmistress, she was still Gryffindor after all. As a punishment, she had given him a week of detention and made him go put the things they had used for the game back inside the broom closet, a clear instruction not to use any magic. He was straightening some brooms, mumbling complains to himself when he heard someone enter. He turned around to look at the door, Harry was standing there, in his usual uniform, having already showered, broom on his hand and blush on his face. “I just came to return the broom, I broke mine this summer and I had to borrow one of the school ones.” Draco nodded and moved until he was in front of Harry. He took the broom out of his hand and leaned it against the wall, before looking back at the boy. “You can leave it, I have to clear up things here, anyway.” “Why do you have to do it?” “Let's just say that the Headmistress didn't like my comments very much,” he took in the way Harry blushed and added, “not that I lied with any of them.” Harry looked down, seemingly finding their shoes interesting. It was endearing to say the least, seeing Harry as red as his tie, stuttering words and not looking at Draco’s eyes, it was cute and Draco couldn't help but smile. He couldn't take his eyes off of the beautiful boy in front of him. Draco moved his hand to Harry's cheek, making him look up at him and smiled slightly at the pretty green eyes that met his. He leaned down, noses touching and eyes closing. Draco couldn't believe that it was happening, but it was everything he had been wanting since their dance. “Harry, are you in here?” Ron’s voice coming from outside the broom closet made them jump apart. Harry stuttered something that Draco hadn't been able to hear and left the closet as fast as he could. Draco sighed when Harry disappeared, sad about the opportunity they had missed, but determined to make it happen again and this time finish what they had started.

[allthesapphicstars]

Did Riverdale really call the headmistress to their 'highsmith' college Patricia?

And they really directly said 'price of salt' within a conversation about homophobia.

God I hate this show.

[ao3feed-snape]

Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts - New Horizons

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/2RbMWce

by Moonshore8

After Dumbledore and Voldemort's deaths on the Triwizard Tournament, Harry has been dealing with thoughts of sadness and sorrow until he receives a letter from his former headmaster, encouraging him to keep exploring, discovering and enjoying his magic. Harry's also of age in this story, and he decides to move to the Burrow until his fifth year begins.

With the help of his old friends and new faces too, he's gonna prepare himself for a new year. A new headmistress, lots of exams and lots of knowledge are waiting for him.

Words: 3563, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Multi

Characters: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Charity Burbage, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Rubeus Hagrid, Dolores Umbridge, Sybill Trelawney, Firenze (Harry Potter), Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch, Talbott Winger, Patricia Rakepick, Year 5 in Hogwarts, Baz from Carry On and Miss Pentangle from the Worst Witch appear too, Harry's going to learn more this year, Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes get more importance here, More OWLs and Patronus on here

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2RbMWce

[omnipointmuses]

OC Muse List

Lands of Ruin

Vari The Cat Mage (switch)

Margara “Plum” GoldenBlood, The Ex-Royal turned Adventurer (Dom Leaning)

Vanai Valorfang, The Merc with the Suit. (Switch)

Grall Dinfras, The Martian Bounty Hunter (Switch)

Ksri Gamma 8-19, The O.R.E.S Tentai Liason (Female, Sub leaning)

Rozen Scarstep. The Grog-loving Scourge of the Skies, and her crew. (Dom Leaning

Erna Airshot, The Stubborn Bounty Hunter, (Female Switch, Ravenperson)

Lirian Goldwyn, The Owner of The Maw (Dom Leaning)

Tharah Aldeen, The Cursed Skunk (Switch)

Li-Mei, Panda of the Drunken Fist (Female, Switch, Pandaperson)

Briss Beoran, The Bandit Turned Bouncer (Female, Switch, Ratperson)

Maternal Unit M4-M4 “Madeline” and her “handler” Arden Gauge, The Mousy Scrapper (Female presenting and male-intersex, mommy dom and sub respectively)

Snau “Pewter” Daniels, The Arch-student (Switch)

Mocha Daniels, Magi Headmistress, and Teacher at MAGI Academy (Dom Leaning)

Ava “47” Gray, The 47th Paladin of The New Order (Switch)

Flint The Blacksmith (Dom leaning)

Basalt MireStalk, The Unconventional Assassin (Dom Leaning)

Barbara Aindrea, the Barbaric Guardswoman (Switch)

Sarrocana Ven'Allura, The Wyld Witch. (Female, Switch)

Vala Owens, The G.E.W (Genetically Enhanced Wolf) (Dominant)

David Vaas, The Boy the Universe Forgot (Male Submissive)

Klira Beraili, The Ice Dragoness, Moon Elf Adventurer (Sexfluid-female Switch)

Arianna “Big Mercy” Lace, The Hypocritical Nun (Dominant)

Dasher and Comet, The Twin Leads (Switch Female sex-fluid)

Dancer, The Refined, (Switch Female Sexfluid)

Prancer, The Fun, (Switch Female Sexfluid)

Vixen, The “Mean” One, (Switch Female Sexfluid)

Cupid, The Flirt, (Dom Leaning Female-intersex)

Dunder, The Drunk, (Switch Female Sexfluid)

Blixem, The Leader, (Dominant, Female-intersex)

Rudolph, The Newbie, (Sub Leaning, Male Sexfluid)

Drea’s World

Drea Walker, The Half-Possesed Half-Dragon and Her Bodymate, The Shade-Dragon Erdynn (Sex-fluid Females Switch and Dominate respectively)

G.G, The Ghost That Haunts Drea’s Apartment, (Female, Switch)

Adel Kiol, The Contract Demon, (Genderfluid, Switch)

PokeVerse

Gumi Albertan, The Adventurous Goodra (Switch)

Fera Aimera, The Salazzle Mistress (Dom Leaning + Various salandits)

Ember Alcina, The Delphox Scholar (Female. Switch)

Arvel Irons, The Spunky Lucario (Male, Switch)

Serah Ivalyn, The Royal Serperior (Female, Dom Leaning)

Rexton and Ina Pendra, The NidoKing-Queen couple (Male, Female respectively, both switch)

Griff “Grill'Em” Asher, The Gym Owner and (secretly) Part-Time Wrestling Incineroar (Male, Dom Leaning)

Penny “Silver Star” Asteria, The other (secret) Part-Time Wrestler Pikachu (Female, Switch)

Tao Turner, The Sea-Faring Snorlax (Female Dom Leaning)

Artiath Calder, The Feraligatr Bully (Female, Dom Leaning)

Kana and Krell Belle, The Lopunny Twins (Female-intersex and Male, Respectively, both switch)

Project NOIR, The Garde-Rai (Gardevoir/Darkrai Fusion, (Female-Intersex, Switch)

Patricia “Trish” Paisley, The Go-Getting Trainer,  (Female-Intersex Switch)

Jamie Nastas, The Sylveon Partner, (Male Switch)

NULL

Saileen “The Rabbit” Palius, The Renamon(?) (Demi-girl, Dom-leaning)

Super Mario Universe

Violet, a Shygal In Name Only (Female-Herm, Switch)