Blogs

Spooky Stories | October 14th, 2020

SPOOKY STORIES Welcome to the October edition of the potpourri blog series! This month we've got a few Community Coordinator-written short, spooky stories for your enjoyment. 🎃 | M A G E M A D I | One mid-October evening, a pair of young men were walking along the bike trail near their homes when the sudden screeching of an owl nearby made them nearly jump out of their skin with fright. Another owl screech had them quickening their pace towards home, but under the light o

magemadi in Potpourri Series

October 14

Staff Blog

Rep Matters: Latino History Month

We are celebrating Latino History Month (September 15-October 15) and we've brought our best selections prominently featuring Latino characters. This is an expanded version of our rec list from tumblr here+. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

crowsb4bros in Rep Matters

October 11

lo is a weirdo

the claws work for the bourgeoisie (idk if i spelled it right but considering im bilingual, i better have) [aka lo went bonkers during hc finale '20 and did more analysis than was necessary, culminating in a 2-post thread of epic proportions]

foreword: i am someone who enjoys knowing things. i dont like driving behind trucks on the highway because i cant see far ahead, i spoil myself on almost every show/movie because i need to know what happens before it happens, and i generally dont like it when i am left out of the loop. i am aware there's probably some sort of control issue, but that's not the point -> the point is i spent way too long creating a google spreadsheet and mapping things out during hc finale '20, made a thread abo

maraudertimes in house cup shenanigans

October 6

magical musings

The Crackship Challenge Results

The Crackship Challenge Results Welcome to the results of the Crackship Challenge! The requirements for this challenge were simple -- write a fic of two highly unlikely and randomized characters as a believable romantic story! Participants were given two randomly assigned characters as their ship, as a crackship is usually defined as a ship that would not happen in canon due to regular storytelling purposes or due to timeline barriers. I received 3 wonderful entries, all of which

magemadi in Challenge Results

October 2

Battleship: Hogwarts Results

Battleship: Hogwarts Results 2020-2021 House Cup Opener Event Welcome one and all to the results blog for the 2020-2021 House Cup Opener Event run by yours truly, the Prefects! Over the course of 3, 5-day rounds, each House battled it out with the others to sink items before their opponent in a good ol' fashioned version of Battleship on the forums! Each House had 6 items to place around an 8x8 grid, and then completed tasks to attempt hitting their opponent's items first. Before we di

magemadi in Event Results

September 30

The Write Way

Writing LGBTQIA+ Characters

Writing LGBTQIA+ Characters *originally published in the June 2019 and June 2020 editions of Hear Ye, Hufflepuff* Originally posted in honor of Pride Month, I aggregated some tips for writing non-heterosexual characters. While this list is far from exhaustive and won't apply to every character you write, it will hopefully be a good place to begin. FFT was founded as a place on the internet for "people of all ages, genders, races, and sexual orientations" and maintains "a strong focus

Renacerá

September 25

In The Spotlight | September 22, 2020

Welcome to the September edition of In the Spotlight! We've got the usual round up of interviews with our Order of Merlin recipient, Head Students, and some exciting House news. The Battleship event to open the 2020-2021 House Cup year is now over. Those results will be out soon so keep a look out up in your crows nest! Our Order of Merlin recipient for the month of September is one of our fearless leaders and Headmistresses, @toomanycurls! T O O M A N Y C U R L S | I N T E R V

MalfoysAngel

September 22

potionpartner's prattle

Character Sorting: Where does Maerna fit? Everywhere and nowhere

aerna Danazul has been one of my favorite characters to create and write. I think (hope) she has lots of layers so sorting her would be a bit more interesting. For those of you who don’t know Maerna, she’s American born who thinks she is a squib, but whose powers were bound at a young age. During the story, those powers reemerge due to the death of the one who bound them. Maerna is feisty and no nonsense but she has a caring, softer side as well, thus making her a good companion to Severus

potionspartner

September 20

questionable life choices™

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

[SciFi/Fantasy] | [Teen Audiences] | [5 stars] N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season is the first book in the SciFi/Fantasy Broken Earth Trilogy. It was the winner of the Hugo Award in 2016 (and by the way, the sequels won in 2017 and 2018, respectively, so this was definitely not a one-and-done). She has created a fantasy world where people with inherent powers are bred and controlled by overseers. Despite the amazing powers over physical nature that the Orogenes - those with powers -

Ameripuff

September 20

the wild pirate pillaging of books

you may have noticed that i ...posted a lot of book reviews and book recs. at some point during the game (starting with round 2 i think) somehow decided to play almost the entirety of battleship by posting recs (book + fic recs) for hits and book reviews for sinks because i'm extra like that so here's a comprehensive list of books i rec'd/reviewed if anyone is interested in my super mega excellent taste in books because it's spectacular and you should all read all of these. i marked m

September 19

American Royals by Katharine McGee

American Royals, by Katharine McGee young adult contemporary royal romance | teen audiences | 4 stars summary: American Royals is a Young Adult book that centres on the American royal family - the Washingtons. In this timeline, George Washington took the throne, and now his descendants maintain that position. As the summary suggests, there are three relationships the book follows. The first is that of Princess Beatrice, the heir to the throne. She feels trapped in that

maraudertimes

September 19

city of thieves by david benioff

city of thieves, by david benioff historical fiction, war, adventure | teen audiences | 5 stars this is a story set during the nazi siege of leningrad (if you’re not familiar with it, it was brutal and long (one of the longest in history) and a lot of people died because of it). due to the siege, nobody has much in terms of food and other necessities and lev beniov gets arrested for looting (grabbing food and drinks and a knife from a dead german paratrooper) and thrown into a cell togeth

September 19

the moon is a harsh mistress by robert a. heinlein

the moon is a harsh mistress, by robert a. heinlein science fiction, politics | teen audiences | 5 stars god i love this book so damn much. it’s one of my favourite science fiction classics because it’s relevant today, it doesn't age and it doesn’t feel old even though it was originally published in 1966. and that's mostly because, yeah it's science fiction but a lot of the story focuses on the characters and their actions, goals and what drives them, even the supercomputer (actually, esp

September 18

six suspects by vikas swarup

six suspects, by vikas swarup mystery, thriller | teen audiences | 5 stars this is a gripping murder mystery set in contemporary india, with six suspects and one investigative journalist who we also follow during the investigation. and the murder victim is a terrible person so you’re ultimately rooting for the murderer. but, back to the beginning - seven years before the novel starts, vivek ‘vicky’ rai, the son of the home minister of uttar pradesh, murders ruby gill in a new delhi r

September 18

a man called ove by fredrik backman

a man called ove, by fredrik backman humour, friendship | teen audiences | 5 stars *smol spoilers ahead* tw: mention/depiction of depression and suicide ove is the grumpy old man that will make you love him after he firsts tries to make you really fucking hate him. he’s a curmudgeon, he’s bitter (supposedly), he’s the neighbour from hell. he’s got principles, he dislikes a lot of things and he generally seems pretty damn unlikeable. but when a young couple with two young

September 18

As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner

It is rare that I have the time to pick up a true book with the wood-based paper and the smell of parchment that slips through my fingers as I turn the pages, but I did pick up As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner and it was a great read! Set in Philadelphia during the Spanish flu of 1918, it is a wonderful story about a family dealing with all the crisis of the influenza pandemic. This family, however, has a bit of a twist. For the uncle and father’s job is undertaker, so we see the story from

potionspartner

September 18

the hottest dishes of the tartar cuisine by alina bronsky

the hottest dishes of the tartar cuisine, by alina bronsky family, dark humour | teen audiences | 5 stars *smol spoilers ahead* tw: forced abortion this book is a little bit difficult to explain why, exactly, i specifically like it. i grew up with someone similar to the narrator of this book, rosa achmetowna, but in reality someone much worse than rosa, so i feel like it doesn’t make sense that i would like a book featuring this nasty narrator but i did. the book is about thre

September 18

the lies of locke lamora by scott lynch

the lies of locke lamora, by brandon sanderson fantasy, young adult | teen audiences | 5 stars the easiest way to describe this book - and it's sequels - is to say that it's a fantasy version of robin hood, only with more tricks, more twists and a bit darker - and definitely less trees but that doesn't really do it justice: it's a book in a world which immediately sucks you in without needing to go through too much exposition or description of what the world is and how it works. it's a v

Aphoride

September 13

zoo station: the story of christiane f. by christiane f.

zoo station: the story of christiane f., by christiane f. autobiography, young adult | mature audiences | 5 stars *some spoilers ahead* this is a brutal book, i have to say that as a preface. if you haven’t heard about it, it’s about a teenage heroin addict - christiane f and her life in the 1970s berlin and the drugs and sex work scene there. the book was written with the help of transcripts from when two journalists, kai hermann and horst rieck met christiane f in a trial. she

September 13

the mistborn trilogy by brandon sanderson

the mistborn trilogy [the final empire, the well of ascension, the hero of ages], by brandon sanderson fantasy, young adult | teen audiences | 5 stars brandon sanderson has crafted this really vast world / universe with its own history but i feel like the most notable part of the entire trilogy (it’s actually a saga but i haven’t read the other books except the first three and they make up one whole so) is the magic system he created. let me back up a little bit before i get in too d

September 13

Monuments by Will Kostakis

Monuments by Will Kostakis Young Adult fantasy - 5 stars I read a lot of Young Adult fiction by Melbourne authors (local for me). I really should review them more, in case anyone is looking to read some Aussie fantasy! Monuments is set in Sydney, and follows a young boy called Connor who discovers gods - called Monuments - beneath Sydney schools. I'm familiar with the author and have met him a few times but this is the first time I've actually read anything by him and I was blown aw

victoria_anne

September 13