“Anyway,” Regulus segued awkwardly, “During class a couple weeks ago, I was sitting at my desk while my students were working on a maths worksheet, and I heard Harry call from across the room with his hand raised. He didn’t say ‘Mr. Black’, or ‘Mr. B’ or ‘Reggie’, which he’s picked up from Sirius now, he called for ‘dad’. I looked up, expecting him to correct himself because I’m not a stranger to a student accidentally calling me dad and hastily correcting themselves, faces red. But he didn’t, he just asked for help with number four.
“I had, of course, panicked at first. What did I know about being a dad? I didn’t have a dad, I had father, Orion. He never did any of the dad things like teach me how to play football, or let me sit on his shoulders, or tell me stupid jokes that I roll my eyes at but secretly love. Those are all clichés but it’s what child-me wanted, desperately. I saw all the happy, smiling families on TV or on the street passing us, holding hands. It made me miserable and hate myself at a young age, because why didn’t my parents want to do that with me? What did I do?”
Teach Me chapter 11 out now!!!!
69 notes
·
View notes
fun discovery from today's internet rabbit hole:
the first lesbian magazine published in the US, Vice Versa (1947-48), was entirely hand-typed by one Edythe Eyde (better known by her pen name Lisa Ben - yes, that IS an anagram for lesbian). she worked as a secretary with a ton of spare time on her hands, and her boss would tell her he didn't care what she was doing so long as she "looked busy"... so she decided to use her free time to type out copies of a home-made periodical for lesbians, writing most of the content - editorials, book/film reviews, poetry, short stories, and more - herself!
overall, the magazine ran for 9 issues, 16 hand-typed copies of which lisa would mail to friends (well, until one of them advised her she could be arrested for sending "obscene" materials) and distribute at lesbian bars :)
21K notes
·
View notes
“It was gorgeous,” Regulus said, and gave James a playful pat. “Very emotional, huh?”
He rolled his eyes, “I cry at weddings, sue me.”
“I think it’s sweet.” He leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
James smiled and sipped his wine, looking toward the dance floor.
“We should do that.”
“What? Dance?” Regulus asked.
“No,” James paused, looking down at his hands and then locking eyes with Regulus. The stare was so intense that it took him aback. “That.”
A smile spread across Regulus’ face. He leaned in a whispered, “James Fleamont Potter, I swear to god if you propose to me at a wedding…”
“What’s wrong with that?” He retorted, leaning in further.
Teach Me chapter 12!
the final chapter !
23 notes
·
View notes
Pomni X Ragatha
Disclaimer! I wrote this on company time. Also this is the first time I've ever shared art online so be nice k thx bye! <3
As Pomni walked around in the second day of her own digital hell, she finally got a chance to note the smaller peculiarities. Music seemed to play no matter where she was. Her footsteps sounded like a royalty-free sound byte, and everything had an unnatural, plastic-y sheen to it.
This only compounded with her other anxious thoughts. What causes abstraction, anyway? How far could she indulge her insanity before she lost it completely, becoming a monster in Caine's cellar?
“Hey, Pomni? You listening?” Ragatha interrupted Pomni's internal monologue, frowning slightly with concern.
“Y-yeah I’m listening. Something about… the concession stands?” Pomni said, shocked out of her stupor. She glanced nervously side to side, looking at the landscape around her. They stood in the middle of the theme park, which was unusually empty for what it was supposed to be. The only presence was a few concession stands manned by empty-faced mannequin NPCs.
Ragatha frowned, unsatisfied with the answer. Moving to Pomni’s front, she crouched down to meet her eye level.
“Hey, new stuff?”
“I know this takes time to get used to… So if you don’t wanna do this, it's okay!” An earnest, sewn-on smile followed her words.
“No, no! This is great. And, um… I really need the company.” said the little jester, as she let out a nervous laugh. In return, Pomni received a soft pat on the head.
“Alright Pomni. I’ll be here as long as you need.” With that, she stood back up, and took a few steps back, holding out her hand to Pomni.
“R-right. That’s – I mean. Thank you.” With a tilted smile, she tentatively reached to accept her hand. While she expected Ragatha’s hand to be a dull, unnaturally smooth surface like everything else - it wasn’t? Beneath her gloves, Pomni could feel real texture, as if she was truly grabbing a ragdoll’s hand. It was a nice change of pace, and brought to her face the first genuine smile she’d had while here.
And so they exited the theme park, quiet at first. Looking towards the night half of the skybox, one could almost be convinced it was a starry night. That is - until you spun around and saw the bright-as-day portion of the skybox.
“Um… Ragatha? Where exactly are we going?” Pomni asked tentatively. It's not that she was distrustful, just shaken up from the past “adventure” and as the lakeside forest of smooth plastic looking trees grew around her, thoughts of losing her tracks crept into her mind.
“Just a little spot out in the forest. Just somewhere away from Jax – er, I mean, the stress of it all. You know.” She held her hand up to her face and chuckled.
“Just - keep it a secret, okay?” She turned around to face Pomni, smiling ever so awkwardly. A kindred spirit, Pomni smiled just as awkwardly in return.
“Well. Here it is.” Letting go of Pomni’s hand, she gestured broadly at the space around them. Really it was just a rock, one of the few bits of decoration that even existed within the forest. Oddly enough, it was actually about chair-shaped. Being so close to the island's edge, Pomni wondered if this was an unfinished overlook.
“It's nice… I think!” As far as cartoonishly digital worlds went, it wasn’t that bad of a place to be. Ragatha walked over to the rock, plopping dramatically on top of it and patting the space beside her.
Pomni, much shorter, had to jump slightly, crawling on top of the rock before taking a seat. For a moment, they simply looked onward into the skybox.
“What… what do you think you were like? Y’know. Before all this?” said Pomni cautiously. It was probably a sore spot, but nevertheless she was curious about her new friends.
“Who knows? I don’t think about it too much, uncontrollable insanity and all that.”
The jester nodded. Like she thought - a sore spot, likely for all of them. Ragatha turned her gaze away from the cliff’s edge and toward her friend.
“Maybe… A waitress? Oh, or a dancer. I'm really good on my feet!” Ragatha kicked her legs as she spoke to add emphasis.
“How about you, new stuff? Gee, I hope you don’t mind me calling you new stuff all the time.” She folded her arms, and glanced to the side.
“Nah, I kinda like it. I mean – it's nice to have a friend, is all.” Pomni looked down at her legs, kicking them slightly as she thought of who she might have been.
Did it matter? Would she ever find out? Did she want to know what kind of life she was missing out on? Her pupils started to dilate as panic rose in her system.
“Pomni? We don’t have to talk about it.”
Ragatha interrupted her panic attack – this time with a hand on the shoulder. Looking up from the ground, the poor jester's eyes welled up slightly, reflecting Ragatha’s face back at herself.
“You okay…? Need a hug, new stuff?” Looking in Ragatha's eyes, she saw a worried expression. At least if she was stuck here, there was someone who cared. Merely nodding, Pomni leaned forward, clinging to her raggedy dress fabric. Slightly surprised, Ragatha smiled, wrapping her linen hands around the poor girl.
“T-thank you.” Pomni squeaked out.
“Hey don’t even worry about it. We gotta stick together, right?” Patting Pomni on the head, she softly ruffled the jester hat.
“Right… It’ll be okay.” And for once, she believed it.
336 notes
·
View notes