cheryl blossom is like samson but for being coocoo crazy. the longer the hair the crazier she is. this is why 50s cheryl was crazy but not cult crazy

Wren and Ki-Ei are the people using yak tranquilizers at a Bruma warehouse and Virula would be the one going "I fear if you don't change your lifestyle you will pass away" (she is also using yak tranquilizers in a Bruma warehouse)

its literally so sad that so many people in this world dont understand that riverdale is the show of all time ever. because cheryl blossom is the Most character of all fucking time and everyone in the entire universe should know about her and cherish her. shes clinically insane. she experiences female hysteria like no other. she is the most seen ive ever felt by a lesbian in television because she is just off her fucking rocker at all times and thats the best representation i could ask for. she constantly talks like shes possessed by a victorian ghost. she once WAS possessed by a victorian ghost (her ancestor, also a lesbian, because lesbianism is genetic like being a serial killer is). she was also haunted by the ghost of a triplet she thought she absorbed but didnt actually absorb in the womb possessing a porcelain doll and then when they went to the 50s that porcelain doll became a real boy. her having lesbian sex saved the world. she faked stigmata for clout while canonizing herself as the first living saint in order to take over the musical theater cult her mother had started around her dead twin brother as a christ figure and maple syrup as the blood of christ, but cheryl succeeded in taking over the cult because she and gay kevin wanted to sing songs. she’s also committed to ruining gay kevin’s life just for funsies most of the time. she lives in a creepy gothic mansion and goes about wearing flowing dressing gowns and carrying candelabras despite fully living in the 2020s (except for right now bc everyone got zapped to the 1950s) because her life is a gothic horror. she kept the taxidermed corpse of her dead twin in the basement for a while just for funsies because she is balls to the walls insane. when her uncle found said corpse he attacked her and her girlfriend accidentally killed him so the two of them plus her creepy haunted grandma decided to gaslight the man’s wife and child into thinking they had cannibalized him over thanksgiving dinner (it was awesome). also shes really good with a bow and arrow for funsies. shes one of the few characters on tv that actually says “im a lesbian” out loud. she has magical witch powers and can blow people up with her mind, literally, actually. once she got so fucking mad at a the leader of a different cult she had gotten roped into because he said that she couldn’t run for prom queen that she managed to deprogram herself basically overnight. for a while she was building her own version of the winchester mystery house due to being plagued by hysteria. shes an incredibly skilled artist who did forgery for a while. she can control bees with her mind. She’s The Queen Of The Bees. she had a collection of small witch girls in the splinter universe rivervale that were all dressed like rei from evangelion for no clear reason and went about performing ritualistic sacrifices in the woods. she’ll say shit like “my dear antoinette thou hast beguiled me” and “im cuckoo bananas for you, obvi” and “do you think these loubotins are too flashy for kombucha brewing?” with the same level of utter conviction. she is so, so haunted. she has suffered more than jesus. she is a girlboss she is a lunatic she is a war criminal and she is never going to die.

Trans made TTRPGs

Due to… recent events that I would rather not talk about, today's post is a highlight of different tabletop games made by trans peeps! These games are fantastic in their own right, of course, but you can also know that they were made by incredibly cool and attractive people

(Also, these are flyover descs of the game, they'll get more in-depth singular posts later, this is because I am lazy)

Perfect Draw is a phenomenal card game TTRPG that was funded in less than a day on backerkit, it's incredibly fun and has simple to learn hard to master rules for creating custom cards, go check it out!

Songs for the dusk is fucking good, pardon my language, but it's a damn good post apocalyptic game about building community in a post-capitalist-post-apocalypse-post-whatever world. do yourself a favor and if you only check out one game in this list, check this one out, its a beautiful game.

Flying Circus is set in a WW1 inspired fantasy setting full of witches, weird eldritch fish people (who are chill as hell), cults, dead nobility, and other such things. It's inspired by Porco Rosso primarily but it has other touchstones.

Wanderhome is a game about being cute little guys going on a silly adventure and growing as the seasons change, its GMless and very fun

https://weregazelle.itch.io/armour-astir Armour Astir has been featured in here before but its so damn good I had to post it twice. AA demonstrates a fundamental knowledge of the themes of mech shows in a way that very few other games show, its awesome

Kitchen Knightmares is… more of a LARP but its still really dang cool, its about being a knight serving people in a restaurant, its played using discord so its incredibly accessible

https://grimogre.itch.io/michtim Michtim is a game about being small critters protecting their forest from nasty people who wish to harm it, not via brutal violence (sadly) but via friendship and understanding (which is a good substitute to violence)

ok this technically doesn't count but I'm putting it here anyways cuz its like one of my favorite ttrpgs of all time TSL is a game about baring your heart and dueling away with people who you'll probably kiss 10 minutes later, its very very fanfic-ey and inspired by queer narratives. I put it here because its made by a team, and the expansion has a setting specifically meant to be a trans "allegory", so I'll say it counts, honestly just go check it out its good shit

https://willuhl.itch.io/mystic-lilies

Mystic Lillies is a game inspired by ZUN's Touhou Project about witches dueling powerful foes, each other, and themselves. Mystic Lillies features rapid character creation and a unique diceless form of rolling which instead uses a standard playing card deck.

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/141424/nobilis-the-game-of-sovereign-powers-2002-edition I… want to do a more general overview on Jenna K as an important figure in indie RPG design, but for now just know that Nobilis is good

https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/apocalypse-keys Apocalypse Keys is a game inspired by Doom Patrol, Hellboy, X-men, and other comics about monstrousness being an allegory for disenfranchisement. Apocalypse Keys is also here because its published by Evilhat so its very cleaned up and fancy but I love how the second you check out the dev's other stuff you can tell they are a lot more experimental with their stuff, this is not a critique, it is in fact a compliment

Fellowship! I've posted about this game before, but it is again here. Fellowship has a fun concept that it uses very well mostly, its a game about defining your character's culture, and I think that's really really cool

Voidheart Symphony is a really cool game about psychic rebellion in a city that really does not like you, the more you discover for yourself the better

Panic at the Dojo is a phenomenal ttrpg based on what the Brazilian would call "Pancadaria", which basically means, fucking other's people shit up. Character Creation is incredibly open and free, meaning that many character concepts are available

Legacy 2e is a game about controlling an entire faction's choices across time, its very fun

remember to be kind to a trans person today! oh also don't even try to be transphobic in the reblogs or replies, you will be blocked so fast your head will spin

Happy International Lesbian Day! Here's some super brief book recs to celebrate

Books dealing with love, loss, longing and abandonment

This is How You Lose The Time War is a short but beautifully written epistolary novel between two agents on opposite sides of a time war as they slowly fall in love.

Our Wives Under the Sea is one of the most beautifully written debuts I've ever read about a woman whose wife comes home wrong after they thought she'd died at sea and how it feels to grieve the loss of someone who's still in your home.

Lucky Red is a western novel about a young girl working in a brothel who meets her first female gunslinger and falls head over heels for her, and the consequences that come with loving dangerous people.

Body horror galore

Camp Damascus is about a young woman living in a super conservative christian town built around the worlds most successful conversion camp and the horrors that are uncovered there when praying the gay away fails.

To Be Devoured is about a woman whose fascination with the local vultures turns into obsession and the urge to know what carrion tastes like overtakes her life and leads her down stranger and stranger paths.

Chlorine is about a girl whose entire life revolves around being a competitive swimmer, and how abuse, neglect, and obsession with being the best takes its toll on the young women caught up in these destructive cycles.

Flawed character studies

Big Swiss is about a woman who has a kitchen floor reset in her 40s, moves away and starts a new life as a transcriber for a sex therapist and becomes obsessed with one of his clients before inserting herself into this poor woman's life.

The Seep is a speculative sci-fi set in a future where there's been a quiet alien invasion that has given people the ability to make almost any changes to their own bodies and what that world feels like to someone who doesn't want to partake.

Milk Fed is about a woman in therapy who feels cut off from almost everything until she meets another woman who triggers in her a melding of sex, hunger, and religion and where that takes her. Huge trigger warnings for ED content. It gets tough, y'all.

Fantastical wlw books

Bitterthorn is an amalgamation of fairytales retold as a slow burn sapphic love story between a sad young girl from a cursed land and the evil witch who takes her as a companion in the latest of the generational sacrifices made to appease her.

All the Bad Apples may be set in contemporary Ireland but it is a fairytale following a young girl as she travels across the country looking for a sister she refuses to believe is dead and the people she meets along the way.

Gideon the Ninth needs no introduction on this site but for the sake of formatting - lesbian necromancers in space who find themselves in an isolated murder mystery plot. It's not a romance but it is a love story and this series will change your life if you let it.

Translated novels

Boulder is a short character study following a free spirited woman when she accidentally settles down with the woman she loves and how love and resentment can take up the same space in your chest when life doesn't turn out the way you hoped it would.

Notes of a Crocodile is a cult classic coming of age story about queer teens in Taipei in the 1980s. It was written in the 90s so please keep that in mind if you choose to read it.

Paradise Rot is about an international student studying in Australia and her growing obsession with her housemate as they share a space that allows no privacy. I've never read anything that feels stickier.

How to organise a grimoire

This is how I've decided to organise my grimoire now that I'm digitising it. I thought this may be of some benefit to other autistic/dyslexic practioners by sharing how my brain likes to formulate things. The trick is to categorise.

I have one large category I'm calling the chapter and every chapter has a number of categories within it and smaller sub categories underneath each one.

So my brain basically works like a russian nesting doll or like a very messy spider diagram. Organising it this way helps me to stay on track and stops me from getting overwhelmed. (I used this method in all my university essays and it helped push my grade up a lot).

I'm not writing it in any specific order but here's a list of what I've completed so far. Please feel free to take any of these. I hope this helps you with your own grimoire writing.

Theory 📚

Terminology

Paganism: historical context. Modern context. Core values.

New Age Spirituality: Development. Capitalism. Modern Example.

Cultural Appropriation: What it is. How it happens. How to avoid it. List of closed practices and red flags.

Wicca: What it is. How it's practiced. Gerald Gardner. Criticisms.

Thelema: Aleister Crowley. Development (egyptomania). Criticisms.

Conspiracy Theories: Development (root cause). Dangers. Examples. List of spiritual conspiracies. List of antisemitic stereotypes and propaganda.

Cults: What are they. How are they dangerous. How to recognise one (B.I.T.E model). List of religious/spiritual cults.

Satanic Panic: Historical development to our current satanic panic. The 1980's moral panic. Christian persecution complex.

KJV: Who was King James. The creation of the KJV. The KJO movement (evangelical and Christian fundamentalism. American Folk magic)

Witches in context: The modern witch. The post-modern witch. Historical context (England. Ancient Greece. Ireland).

Cats in context: Modern context. Familiars. Historical context (Egypt. Greece. China. England).

Transphobia: the idea behind terfism. How to recognise a terf. Examples of Terfism in spirituality (Lister). Dispelling myths and Misinformation.

Queerness: Erasure and queerphobia. Why queer people gravitate to witchcraft/paganism/Wicca. Examples (intersex. Gay relationships. Lesbian relationships. Asexuality).

Practical Basics 🔮

Terminology

Health and Safety: Fire. Smoke. Essential Oils. Toxicity. Wound Care. Biohazards.

How to make a magical space: What they are. Different types. Tools and their uses.

Grimoire/Book of Shadows: What they are. The differences. Different Formats. The Front cover.

Cleansing: What it is. What its used for. Examples.

Grounding: What it is. What its used for. Examples.

Protection: What it is. What its used for. Examples.

Intuition: What it is. What its used for. Developing it. Examples.

Discernment: What it is. What its used for. Steps of discernment (from a Christian perspective. From a secular perspective). Psychosis.

The Year and the holidays: Samhain. Yule. Wassailing. Imbolc. Spring Equinox. Beltaine. Summer Solstice. Lughnasadh. Autumn Equinox. (Historical development. How they're celebrated).

Deity Worship: Scientific Context (Neuroscience of Religiosity). Spiritual Context. Worship Vs working with. Finding a deity. Your religious rights. Critiquing your religious path. For example ↓

Hellenism: Historical context (Wars. Colonisation. Slavery. Citizenship. Pederasty). Modern Context (White washing. Transphobia).

Your Deities (if you choose to have any): Iconography. Mythology. Associations. Offerings.

Spirits: Ghosts. Shadow people. Demons (what they are. fear and labelling. History Vs pop culture). The Warrens (history. Criticisms). Other folklore.

Practical Magic ✨

I have a lot more planned for this section.

Terminology

Divination: What it is. What its used for. List of types and tools. For example ↓

Tarot: Structure of the tarot deck. Historical context. Modern Context. The fool and you.

Basic Astrology: What it is. Historical Context. Signs. Planets. Houses. Reading a natal chart.

Colour Magic: Basic colour theory. Symbolism. Practical application.

Correspondence 🌿

When there's a long list of items and spiritual meanings/applications I keep it in this section at the back of my grimoire.

Colours

Symbols

The Classic Elements

Astrology

Stones

Herbs and Spices (kitchen cupboard specific)

Common plants in your area (invasive and non invasive)

Seasonal fruit and vegetables

Miscellaneous laws and philosophies

im redesigning the Yellowjackets(90s versions) so i thought i would share some of my brainstorm ideas for new designs

note: look at the reblogs for full thread because i will be adding on as i post each character

im going to draw one(out of seven) character every day. i really love all the actors and outfits in the show, but i want to take them a step further to make them more interesting and stylize them into drawn characters. i also think more symbolism could be implemented into their appearances. my notes below are just random little things i want to add, or some more complicated characterization. i would also very much like to read anyone elses ideas!

Shaunas eyebags heavier

Misty wears redcross patch on her jacket and has bandages wrapped around her sleeves and pant legs

Misty wears the most Yellowjacket gear out of anyone because she desperately wants to feel apart of the team(overcompensation).

Jackie wears a lot of jock-like clothing(bomber jacket, jersey, cleats, etc) but does not have the body type or body movement of a jock, like she's overcompensating for her lack of athletic ability compared to everyone else.

Van's scars are much bigger and more jagged. they werent able to sew up the hole in her cheek and her teeth are visible through the hole, and her left eye is permanently discolored(red sclera, yellow iris) and vision has been lost there. she is not a werewolf, but has stylistic traits reminiscent of one, like sharp teeth and nails. represents the ways in which she has been forced to become more feral and animal-like in order to survive.

Van and Tai's cult masks parallel each other and are recreated versions of their doomcoming masks. while their doomcoming masks represent love and new beginnings, their cult masks represent codependancy and death.

Luara Lee wears entirely white throughout her entire time in the wilderness to represent her innocent and "purity". there are moments where her clothes becomed stained(some times with blood) but she always removes the stains with great care(inspired by Fear Street 1978 when Cindy removes red moss stains from her white polo- the white polo representing her heteronormativity, and the red moss representing lesbian desire). she dies without losing this innocence. this symbolism also reinforces the idea that cannibalism represents girlhood and love between girls(blood is a symptom of femininity. to eat is to give into desire).

Tai becomes more contridictory of herself in her appearence as time goes on and her sleepwalking-self becomes more prominent. clothes with contridictory colors/patterns, Gemini themes.

give van even more butch energy

Lottie wears clothes and accessories that are more witch-like and reminscent of nature. fur jacket, bones and antlers, leaves used to tie clothing together.

make Nat more punk. piercings, band patches on her leather jacket. not design related but i think it would be cool if she played an instrument, like practiced guitar on the down low when shes not playing soccer.

Fire on Every Horizon - Looking for Beta Readers!

Eli Yuen is a witch and an exorcist in the gig economy, which means late nights, bad pay, and a shitty apartment. Between the sea of ghosts that haunt everywhere in America, her teacher and boss's ridiculous rules, and the memories of her dead daddy, she's barely keeping herself out of the darkness lurking in her chest, even with the help of her girlfriend Paladin. But when her teacher disappears and a strangely attractive diner worker offers her a lucrative job exorcising a ghost lurking back in Appalachia, the darkness will no longer be something she can deny. Faced with fallen angels, abyssal gods, the specter of Communism, and her own past, Eli will at last be forced to confront the question that has troubled her for so long. Is this really all there is to life? 84,000 words long, Fires on Every Horizon is a new adult, new weird, rural fantasy, horror-adjacent story about trans, polyamorous witches and the end of the world. And you can read it right now, for free, for the low, low price of commenting and being a beta reader for me! Find the link here, and please make sure to read the content warning before going further: Link In particular I am looking for trans, butch, lesbian, poly, bi, Filipino, Appalachian and formerly cult-affiliated beta readers, and those who exist at the intersection of all those identities. Reblogs are appeciate, and thank you!

"But who cares if it is 'punk'?"

Whenever I am talking about the punkness of Cyberpunk and Solarpunk and what not (or the punkness of any of the Punkpunk genre, as I did last week), people will usually come and ask: "But why do you care? So what if it is just an aesthetic? Why not just have people have fun with the aesthetic?"

And I will fully admit to it: Yeah, I can see the point. The world sucks. People should be allowed to have fun with fiction. But I am also too autistic to not care about it. Not necessarily if it is "punk", but at least whether it a) has themes and b) these themes are included in the different stories.

See, one of my big issues in regards to media in general is, that people often do not engage with any themes there are to it. I kinda talked about this too when it comes to people complaining that Gundam - a franchise that inherently is anti-war and often anti-capitalist and anti-colonialist - got political in the moment it featured lesbians as main characters. Which is kinda silly. But the reason for that mindset is of course that people engange with media often on a very superficial level. And while folks on the left are quick at claiming that is a conservative problem... Let's be honest, it is an everyone problem.

Again, I get it. The world sucks. Most of us are overworked and overtired and when we engage with our media we just want to turn off and enjoy. I really, really do get it. I have also some of those just mindless action flicks I will put in and then turn my mind off. Like, who cares whether Tom Cruise is basically Space Jesus propagating a deeply abusive cult. Mission Impossible movies are fun. Who cares about some of their rather... problematic messaging?

But media literacy is important. And I think this is what this boils down to. Because no matter if we engage with it or not: The media we consume subtly influences us and our outlook. No, usually media will not turn a stonch anarchist into a Nazi, or a Nazi into an actual anarchist... But it for sure makes us more susceptible to certain other messaging.

Which is why we need to engage with the themes of any given media and try to understand what it is saying.

As written in that blog about G-Witch and such: There is no apolitical media. Even media that is not really concerned with politics will have a message - usually one along the lines of "The world is just fine as it is right now, do not worry about it!" or "Rugged individualism tots is the way to go!"

Which brings me back to the punk genre. While some were in fact invented as an aesthetic and even in some that primarily got made into genre there is not necessarily a lot of thoughts put into the themes... There are themes that will naturally arise from stuff like the historical context the punk genre is taken from and what not. And especially the "punk" kinda means that it has to challenge something. And be it just genre convention.

And usually, whenever those themes get lost... Well, stories tend to revert back to the exact opposite of that. "Everything is A-Okay - or at least it would be if the power structure was still there but the right people were in power!" And once more: "Rugged individualism WINS THE DAY!" The original themes getting lost, does not mean it gets replaced with emptiness. Just with the standard themes of the media of our times. And... Yeah, to be honest: I am not a fan of that.

The thing I value so much about the concept of the Punkpunk genre is the possibility of playing with counter cultural themes. So, yeah, I care if these themes get lost - or get not even included.

And that is without going into stuff like the non-white origin of Solarpunk kinda getting whitewashed...

Style, Kyman, cartters, crat, and Henrietta

Yay!!!! YAYYAYAYAYAYAYAY

Style: I SHIP IT SO HARD AHHHHH. I don’t really know when exactly I started shipping it, but I know some of the main contributors were the episodes “Super Best Friends”“You’re Getting Older/AssBurgers” and “Cupid Ye.” (Not to mention The Post Covid movies hehehe.) One of my favorite things about the ship is definitely their emaculate “yes, and” dynamic, and the way their traits compliment each other. I also looooveeee friends to lovers in teen romance, and adore domestic bliss in older romance. An unpopular opinion I suppose I have is that both Stan and Kyle are dorky loser assholes. Neither of them are “fem” or “masc.” They’re just stan and kyle. Kyle and Stan. OH AND ANOTHER UNPOPULAR OPINION I HAVE!!! They’re BOTH on the asexual spectrum!! Kyle is demigrey-sexual and Stan is sex repulsed asexual!! I will stand by this till I die.

OK NEXT!

Kyman: Urggg this one is iffy for me so I’m going to answer a mixture of both yes and no questions. I appreciate the ship from other people but don’t personally ship it because I like domestic bliss and fluff, and I can’t see them having a non-toxic dynamic. I’m all for a good enemies to lovers, but their situation is more complex than that. I feel like Kyle would never feel romantic love for Eric. He is definitely cursed to forever care about Eric, and have a deepest belief that he could somehow fix him that has the potential to verge into obsessive territory, but that’s all I see. One sided Kyman though? That’s literally just canon. Like fr Cartman is psychosexually obsessed with Kyle and if you don’t see that you did NOT watch the same show as me. I would probably like the ship more if Cartman showed lasting positive character development that wasn’t either shown to be fake or reversed for laughs.

Next…

Buttman: Euahhg. Sorry. I’ve NEVER liked this ship. I envoy their canon dynamic, and I know butters was taken a turn for the worse in more recent seasons, but I still HATE it. Because it’s abusive. At least with Kyman, Kyle and Cartman equal each other out in terms of hard-headedness. Even with his new changes in conviction in the recent seasons, if Cartters was real, it would end up like another damn heidi situation. Cartman would cling to Butters as a source of comfort and stability, while simultaneously belittling him and manipulating him. It would be so unhealthy. And I’m still not over Cartman laughing and watching as Butters was beat by his dad because of something Eric intentionally caused. As someone who grew up in a similar household to that of the Stotch’s, that scene makes me fucking sick. I… don’t really have anything positive to say about this ship tbh. It would probably be palatable to me if Butters was stronger willed, and if Eric showed more compassion to Butters in canon.

NEXT

Crat: Oh lord. Uh, I was indoctrinated into this cult last year so. CRAT FOR THE WIN!!! (I don’t really genuinely ship it though. No hate to objectum truthers, it’s just forever only a crackship to me.)

AND LAST ONE

I assume the last one is supposed to be Kenrietta? If it is then YAY! If not then, oops sorry ): Anyway, I ship it! It’s not my main Kenny ship, (I’m a bunny truther,) but I like it! I’m not sure exactly what my first sight of the ship was, but it may have been either @mysterionrisez or @saprozoicworm. Not sure though. Regardless, I love the idea of Kenny playing around with gender-fuckery, and/or being in a Mysterion kinda mood and Henrietta being all like, “Woah,,, that kinda goth…” Like their dynamic would be that one “doing whatever my hot witch girlfriend wants” meme with the guy in a summoning circle smiling. ALSO, Henrietta would 100% do Kenny’s makeup. EEE i just love it. I can’t see it as a long term thing, but they would DEFINITELY give it a go in highschool. Also, both of them are lesbians who are woman and also men and also neither at the same time. Fight me.

OK ANYWAY THATS ALL I HAVE THANKS FOR LISTENING BYEEEE

Hunger Games & Descendants crossover

Aka me showing Descendants characters into vaguely hunger games setting because it sparks joy. Keeping one (1) Hunger Games character: Ceasar Flickerman, for the reason that Descendants Verse moderator (Snow White) would faint within a minute of having to share a stage with exhibitionistic pirates.

Also. Haymitch. I feel like he and Harriet & James Hook should meet.

Anyway.

(I hope you don't expect any plot)

The Hooks are the Fourth District. The sea side one. Uma, too, and the Smees.

James Hook is a Victor long past, and he lost a hand in his games. He had it replaced by a hook, because he's committing to the bit. Drama queen. He's a Capitol favourite and still very much haunted by the children he fought in his arena. (He's so perfect for this au, I can't)

Harriet is also a Victor, from two years prior.

She volunteered and didn't have a good time ever since. (Didn't have a good time ever ✨)

She didn't lose a hand. This does not stop the Capitol from styling her with a hook.

Both of them are rather heavy alcoholics by this point.

Harriet was a difficult Victor. Stubborn and way too happy to speak her mind. It took Capitol pointing at her siblings and going „If you don't shut up, they'll be next“ to get her to cooperate.

She shut up. She was not happy about it but she's not letting her siblings die in the arena – or otherwise.

Either way, after her, the Capitol needed a Good Victor (tm). They found their Victor in Claudine Frollo, a brainwashed career from District One.

She was ready to lie on her knife for her (District) people rebelling against the Capitol, but her Games were pretty heavily rigged. She was not allowed near sharp things by the gamemakers.

Her trauma from the arena is unsurprisingly not helping. Claudine gets unresponsive for huge amounts of time, and she's still not allowed near sharp things.

„You were raised in a fucking cult!“ „...oh.“ This conversation between Harriet and Claudine definitely happens. Harriet is this close to snapping at Claudine at live TV.

Either way, deal somewhat holds, right? Younger Hook siblings are not reaped.

... wouldn't be the Hooks if there wasn't more chaos, okay?

Next year, Uma is reaped, and there is no way Harry is letting her go alone. He volunteers before the boys are even reaped, threatening murder to career girls who didn't take Uma's place and career boys who would take his in the same breath.

This flies, because Capitol lives for drama.

Also, surprisingly, Uma's reaping wasn't rigged. And even if it was, she was not a part of any deal.

Ursula was an actress, a singer, dragged to Capitol from District four and tossed back when they got bored; when she got too old or otherwise unsuitable. She blames Uma for this. Her most famous role was that of a Sea Witch because Why Not.

Uma wasn't a career, but Harry was. He didn't graduate yet, and his older sister insisted he doesn't volunteer.

Anyway. Since this is AU, I feel like it should be possible for the Games to have multiple Victors if the people like them enough.

It's not something common, but it can happen. It has happened before.

Mulan and Shang pulled it off. Mulan while posing as her brother or male cousin all the while. It was one of the earlier games, but people loved it. (Consequently, their son got reaped the year before Harriet. Pure coincidence, you see. He survived, though.)

The other people winning together were Raya and Namaari, because I said so. They had no children for reasons called "they're lesbians, your honour."

And Uma and Harry are gonna win together too because this is MY self-indulgent AU with zero actual plot.

They're having way too much fun on the stage. Survival instinct (the bit that Uma has) gets overshadowed by the need to a) shock as much people as possible and b) drama✨

They end up making out at the tribute interview. Ceasar is having the time of his life. He hasn't had this interesting tributes since Harriet Hook and Ivy de Vil.

(they obviously make out at the Victors interview too)

De Vils now, yeah?

Third district. Technology, for Carlos. They're inovators, the driving force.

Cruella, much like Hook, is a victor of long past. She went mad in her Games. Her victor talent is fashion, obviously, and Capitol has no problems with the more unethical aspects of her designs.

Her reaping-age relatives have the unfortunate tendency to, well, get reaped. She lost a brother, two nephews and a niece this way.

You see, de Vils are rebels. They need to stand out, they need to be heard. (Much like Hooks, but in better clothes, thank you for asking.)

Ivy was the last one reaped. Now, she knew her odds – one in twenty four and worse yet. The Capitol is not letting a de Vil win again.

Consequently, she might have started riot on her tribute interview. I mean, what are they gonna do? Kill her?

Yeah, I thought so.

I'm getting lost, aren't I.

Tremaines. Officers family from District Eight that thinks themselves way too important (they really aren't). All accusations of Anthony's reaping being rigged will be denied.

Anthony is in the same games as Uma and Harry because Drama.

His stylist is Audrey Rose who got caught high in public one too many times. But hey. They're vibing. Also, this conversation:

Anthony, talking about Harriet: "... she's just so pretty-“

Audrey, an aro ace, just trying to do her job: „...I suppose? She could use to wear something different than the red, and a bit less eyeliner...“

(Ginny, barging in: „YES SHE IS.“)

(I'm projecting on Audrey and you cannot stop me.) (She isn't being mean, she's just struggling to see it.) (Struggling in general. Girl is dissociating more than not, but actually trying her best as a tribute stylist.) (She and Claudine should meet. Attend some therapy together.)

Ginny is Capitol, too. She's a medical student, a medic apprentice, whatever you want to call it. Aesthetics and cosmetics surgery specifically. She's shadowing some doctors at tribute-victor-centre.

Which, let's be honest, mainly means that she, Anthony and Harriet can meet ✨

Like Anthony, she thinks that Harriet is gorgeous. She thinks the same about Anthony.

She flatlines Anthony's medical tracker while he's sleeping but still very much alive in the arena. This goes unnoticed because Harry and Uma are kicking up too much drama. And Ginny and Anthony are pretty good at disguises.

Faciliers. They live in Capitol. With documents that are certainly both legal and theirs.

But hey. No one is gping to kick them out. They smuggle in expensive drugs and absinth and other interesting stuff.

They also know way too much blackmail.

Celia and Freddie have accidentally befriended the gamemakers while making deliveries and now the gamemakers let them play a bit and design new fun mutts!

(Stuff of nightmares, I tell you)

Mal is a way too Capitol-propaganda enthusiastic Victor from one of the poor Districts.

Jay is from District Two, a secret rebel. Jade died in the Games.

Oh! CJ sneaked into the Capitol with her older siblings despite being specifically forbidden to do so, and is now setting something on fire. Ceasar practically gave her a permission by calling her "a little firecracker" in the interview with Harry.

The Smees were supposed to watch her, but the Smees couldn't be paid enough for that.

I'm almost certain I forgot someone. Please, ask if I did or if you find something interesting and want me to elaborate?

I want THULE Au but for the TLH Era

Lucie and Grace are lesbian witches who fall in love raising Jesse and instead of going back to the Shadowhunters Lucie embraces her Warlock side and becomes a powerful Necromancy witch (with a ghost cult)

Grace has a lab where she studies magic in combination with science and she becomes a powerful potioneer.

Lucie isn’t immortal but she does have an extended lifespan from her Warlock blood (like 300 yrs and she is able to use her power to extend Grace’s lifespan too) and so she’s still alive during the modern Blackthorns era and they carry on Lucie and Grace’s legacy of magic, necromancy, + dark magic research.

James also embraces his shadow warlock side to. He learns how he can travel through demon dimensions and Belials realm returns and he has power over it.

Cordelia gets rid of Belial while being Lilith’ Palladin, and James is able to use the gun and his powers to banish Lilith to Pandemonium so theb James and Cordelia have control over Edom and Belial’s Realm.

Matthew is with them and Heronfairstairs is real. So James and Matthew are also in love and they have the power of true nephilim on their sides as well. They anchor each other and they have James’ magic on their sides that prevents them from burning up.

Anna and Ari become vampires. Why? Just bc. They become leaders in downworld. Anna becomes the new Camille but better. She and Ari go to New York in the twenties.

Thomas and Alastair support Cordelia and James and become leaders of the London Institute.

can i ask for lesbian book recommendations 🥹🕺

yeassss ofc my love <3

erm and obligatory disclaimer for any who might read that i don’t think “queer” or “lesbian” is a necessarily coherent category of books or adequate descriptor for a novel which is why i’ve also provided the actual genres here (sorted into which ever one i felt best fit) and descriptions. and these books have much more going on than just being about lesbians. however all books are undeniably awesomer with lesbians so yayyyyy

FANTASY:

-the salt grows heavy by cassandra khaw: fantasy horror; murderous mermaid and plague doctor come across a cult of children (could be read as not lesbians bc one character is nonbinary but i choose to read as. lesbians)

-the empress of salt and fortune by nghi vo: political fantasy; monk unravels the tale of exiled empress’ rise to power

-when the the tigers came down the mountain by nghi vo: political fantasy; monk unwinds the tale of a tiger and her scholar lover to prevent other tigers from eating them (stand alone sequel to empress of salt and fortune)

-ship of smoke and steel by django wexler: ya fantasy; girl has to steal a ghost ship to save her sister’s life

-the mermaid, the witch, and the sea by maggie tokuda-hall: ya fantasy; pirate falls in love with one of the ship’s hostages, a girl being sent to an arranged marriage against her will

-tremontaine created by ellen kushner: political fantasy; there’s a lot going on in this one okay just trust me that it’s really good esp if you love political intrigue (this was released serially and is easiest to acquire an electronic version)

-the deep by rivers solomon: fantasy/spec fic; African slave women thrown overboard gave birth to mermaid-esque descendants. one holds these traumatic memories for her whole people and must grapple with that pressure

-wild beauty by anna-marie mclemore: ya magical realism/fantasy; a family of women who can create flowers and whose lovers always tragically vanish fight to keep their land and to unravel the mystery of a strange boy who appeared

-siren queen by nghi vo: historical magical realism/fantasy; girl’s rise to stardom amidst the monsters of hollywood back in the days of the studio system

-gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir: sff; um. how to explain briefly. gideon wants nothing more than to leave the ninth house, but her nemesis harrowhark needs her sword skills to pass the emperors trial and become immortal. sure. (caleb i know you’ve read this just adding for any other viewers yayyy)

HORROR:

-white is for witching by helen oyeyemi: horror fantasy/magical realism; a house with women in its walls calls to miranda silver while the people she leaves behind struggle to make sense of what happened to her

-plain bad heroines by emily a. danforth: historical horror; when filming a movie about the macabre history of a boarding school, its past starts to become the reality for the stars and author of the novel it’s based on

LITFIC:

-girl woman other: contemporary litfic; the intersecting stories of Black british women told in verse

-nightwood: classic literary; i feel like i can’t describe this one well but nora and jenny are obsessed with robin, whose penchant for wandering and inability to commit drives them crazy. toxic dyke drama at its best

-the thirty names of night: lit fic; transmasc syrian american unravels the history of artist laila z who encountered the same rare bird his mother saw right before her death and realizes their pasts are intertwined

-under the udala trees: historical lit fic; coming of age set against the backdrop of civil war in Nigeria, two girls from different ethnic communities fall in love

-everyone in this room will someday be dead: contemporary lit fic; that moment when your ocd lands you a job at the catholic church even though you’re an atheist and also your relationship is falling apart

-stone butch blues: historical lit fic; butch lesbian realizing and grappling with her identity throughout the 40s-70s

-the color purple: classic lit fic; story of two sisters separated in their youth—one is forced into an abusive marriage and falls in love with her husbands mistress, wondering what became of her sister

-oranges are not the only fruit: semi-autobiography with slight fantasy elements; exploring growing up lesbian in a deeply religious pentecostal sect

SCI-FI:

-the weight of the stars: ya sf romance; aspiring astronaut is forced into friendship with a girl who waits on the roof every night for radio signals from her mother in space

-the seep: sci-fi/spec fic; what if aliens invaded and formed a hive mind of everyone and also your girlfriend turned into a baby again. wouldn’t that be fucked up

-the stars are legion: political science fiction; an awakes with no memory amid a group of people calling themself her family who claim she is the only one who can save their world

-not your sidekick: ya sci-fi; superheroes are real and they fucking suck

SHORT STORIES:

-sarahland: contemporary/spec fic short story collection; various stories about people named sarah

wylde flowers: reasons to play it

wylde flowers is a witchy life/farming sim that is, in my opinion, severely underrated. why should you play this? let me convince you!

fully voice acted dialogue - the game has a team of talented, award winning actors, so every single line of speech is narrated in the game with a voice that fits every character, making for entertaining cutscenes and adding charm to everyday conversations.

no inventory limitations - you can pick up everything you find without having to worry about chests or inventory management, and it is all automatically organised into categories like produce or quest items, something i found really helpful to decrease pressure and stress.

exciting story with tense and heartwarming moments - the storyline is a key part of the game, which is controlled by your character, tara wylde, doing quests and tasks set by the town of fairhaven's inhabitants!

30+ diverse characters each with their own worries, ambitions and personalities, with 7 romance options (the strange, attractive cult leader, the chill travelling surfer, the flirty, beautiful doctor, the funny, chill bartender, the mysterious, bookworm werewolf (remus lupin fans rejoice!), the wholesome, intelligent researcher, and the chill, nonbinary butcher).

clothing options after a boutique shop opens in town

classic farming elements like crops, livestock and fishing, but with unique things like gem powered farm helpers, a cauldron to brew potions, a sewing machine and silkworm charm, a paper press and desk for making spells, seasons that you can change whenever you want, a leather tanning station, and the option to pet your animals.

play as a witch who can ride her broomstick and have a pet cat as a familiar!!!

work on buildings in the town and repairing things to get new quests and people!!

casual queerness with the word 'lesbian' being used!!!!!!!!

i wanna get some new things started so like this for a realistic smut starter from one of the muses below the cut!! and by "realistic smut" i mean stuff like finishing too soon, not being able to finish at all, getting the giggles mid-stroke, accidentally elbowing your partner in the ribs, etc.

griffyn aimes (j.acob e.lordi fc)- he/him, 26, pansexual, switch, baker

bobbie childs (c.ailee s.paeny fc)- she/her, 23, bisexual, submissive, diner waitress

fern caruso (k.rysten r.itter fc)- she/her, 40, queer, dominant, therapist/dominatrix (verse dependent)

rory gifford (d.ominic s.essa fc)- he/him, 21, bisexual, submissive, hacker

marnie babbitt (t.aylor r.ussell fc)- she/they, 27, queer, submissive, nomad/doppelganger

esme cortez (a.lexa d.emie fc)- she/her, 28, bisexual, switch, exotic dancer/nail tech

buffy bloom (m.ia g.oth fc)- she/her, 26, bisexual, switch (dominant preference), exotic dancer/adult film star

leon ebert (b.ill s.karsgard fc)- he/him, 31, heterosexual, switch, jazz pianist

charlie gomez (r.uby c.ruz fc)- they/them, 24, lesbian, submissive, movie theater concessions clerk/projectionist

ari olsson (a.lexander s.karsgard fc)- he/him, 44, heterosexual, submissive, ceo

fiona rousseau (j.az s.inclair fc)- she/her, 27, queer, switch, vampire hunter/bounty hunter (verse dependent)

gwen michalchuk (m.addie p.hillips fc)- she/her, 28, pansexual, switch, witch/super human mutant (clairvoyance, telepathy, compulsion, power absorption, conjuring/spell-casting abilities)

romy chung (l.ondon t.hor fc)- they/she, 28, lesbian, dominant, personal assistant

keanu zhao (d.erek l.uh fc)- he/him, 28, bisexual, dominant, trust fund brat

gael campbell (a.sa g.ermann fc)- he/him, 24, bisexual, submissive, amusement park employee/super human mutant (strength, necromancy, advanced healing)

dominic "nickie" hagen (b.ill s.karsgard fc)- he/him, 27, bisexual, submissive, thief

winifred "winnie" perkins (m.ia g.oth fc)- she/her, 26, bisexual (closeted), submissive, farmer's daughter

priscilla mosyakov (k.aia g.erber fc)- she/her, 22, bisexual, switch, fashion blogger/nepo baby

josefine "jo" obasi (a.yo e.debiri fc)- she/her, 26, bisexual, switch, television writer

frenchie horowitz (r.achel s.ennott fc)- she/her, 25, pansexual, switch, escort/podcast host

lemon doyle (n.iamh m.ccormack fc)- she/her, 22, bisexual, switch, fashion magazine intern

bronte ferguson (m.argaret q.ualley fc)- she/her, 27, queer, switch, cult leader

jonah darke (b.ill s.karsgard fc)- he/him, 25, heterosexual, dominant, guitarist/lead singer/grafitti artist

august "gus" mueller (j.eremy a.llen white fc)- he/him, 31, heterosexual, dominant, landscaper/painter

julian "jules" hicks (t.imothee c.halamet fc)- he/him, 25, bisexual, switch, bassist/record shop employee

juliette feng (h.avana r.ose l.iu fc)- she/her, 26, pansexual, submissive, costume designer

envy adams (m.ia g.oth fc, m.addie p.hillips alt)- she/her, 27, bisexual, switch, lead singer of the clash at demonhead

gideon graves (b.ill s.karsgard fc)- he/him, 33, heterosexual, dominant, ceo/inventor/music executive

scott pilgrim (j.oe k.eery fc)- he/him, 27, bisexual, submissive, bassist for sex bob-omb

roxie richter (r.uby c.ruz fc)- she/her, 25, lesbian, switch, artist

i'm so close to finishing the edits on my theory chapter so here's a extract about Terf witches

I'm directly taking this from my grimoire Book of Magic (BOM), literally just copy and pasted. I'm sharing this page specifically because I'm trans and I experience this everyday so understanding the signs of TERFism in the witchcraft community was something I had to learn.

All references will be at the bottom.

-Feminism Appropriating Radical Transphobes-

TERFism (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminism) and gender essentialist ideology in spiritual spaces are a common sight but often overlooked as a necessary part of spiritual practice. They’re not. There are some well-known dog whistles used by TERFs that are very commonplace; “we are the daughters of the witches you didn’t burn” “divine feminine” “pussy power”. Many TERFs deal with misogyny or internalised misogyny disguised as "pussy power girlboss" feminism.

The idea behind TERFism is that gender is a patriarchal construct and that your sex assigned at birth is the only thing that can tell you if you’re a man or woman. (Wynn, N. (ContraPoints). 2019)

The problem with that is that because no-one is able to tell what someone’s sex is at a glance, TERFs use gender essentialism and white centric stereotypes to point out who they think is a man or woman and often getting it wrong which puts both transgender and non-conforming cisgender people in danger, more so if that person is also a person of colour. Due to the racialization of masculinity and femininity and the pervasive white standards of beauty it makes it near impossible for feminine presenting people of colour to be perceived as such without leaning into hyper feminine styles akin to Barbie or Marylin Monroe.

How one would recognise a TERF out in the wild may be tricky considering many of them are self-aware enough to never share their true feelings out in the open. Many of them use covert statements or gaslighting techniques in order to portray the narrative I spoke about in my previous section on cults, a narrative of heroism. A TERF isn’t spouting dangerous ideologies that put transgender people at risk of political, medical, and social discrimination, they’re just looking out for what’s best for you, they want to protect young gay men and lesbians from being influenced by a predatory agenda and to fight for the rights of women. 

A TERF will do a lot to portray themselves as the hero of an oppressive regime in order to experience the power and respect they may have been denied in life due to their own minority status as women.

Examples of Transphobic/Gender Essentialist Ideology

(primarily: Cambridge SU. 2021-22. Other sources as specified)

Refers to themselves as gender-critical, radfem, adult human female/male.

Refers to trans/nonbinary people as ‘TRA’ (Trans Rights Activists), ‘TIF’ or ‘TIM’ (Trans Identified Female/Male). (Stone, G. 2020) 

Refers to trans-feminine people as predators and trans-masculine people as victims of the patriarchy/woke agenda.

Conflates gender affirming care with gay conversion therapy aka torture, another method of attributing transgender people to confused children or victims of an agenda. (Corry, W (Sci Guys). 2020)

Refers to trans women as ‘transwomen’, the removal of the space is an intentional othering and separation from women and womanhood. (Mildred & Thorn, A. (Thought Slime. 2023)

Disagrees with the term cisgender or asking for pronouns saying “i don’t have pronouns i’m a woman/a man/normal”.

Believes certain traits are, by nature, more exclusive to men/women and believes women are inherently more powerful because of maturity, periods, childbaring etc…

Sides with LGB spaces or argues to “keep penises out of lesbian spaces”.

Uses the term ‘womxn’ referring to women as people with XX chromosomes exclusively.

Uses 1st/2nd wave feminism to exclude the transgender/nonbinary/intersex/bi/pan/poly community from feminist spaces (essentially excluding anyone that could potentially not not have a vulva/uterus or who interact with people who may not have a vulva/uterus).

Covertly refers to nonbinary people as women adjacent through women and nonbinary spaces and stereotyping.

Uses dinosaur emojis and/or the colours of the British suffragette flag (purple, white, green). (Stone, G. 2020)

TERFism in Spirituality

In the witchcraft and pagan communities TERFs abound spewing this kind of nonsense with a spicey, new age flavour masking the rotten fruit beneath. You can learn about how TERFism is portrayed specifically in Hellenism on another page but generally speaking a TERF witch is one who excludes the title of ‘witch’ to cisgender women, denying and demonising anyone adjacent to men and masculinity, including cisgender men and the whole transgender and nonbinary community citing the points listed above. TERF witches believe that this community is a super special ‘girls only, no boys allowed’ club which gives them power over misogyny and sexism that caused them so much pain and frustration in their life however they forget that everyone is a victim of misogyny and sexism, including men and trans people. 

I am using Lisa Lister’s book Witch as an -admittedly obvious- example of how TERF rhetoric is displayed in spiritual spaces. In their book, Lister outlines who is a witch and her power as a force of nature and a “creatrix” making constant references to “divine feminine” periods, wombs and using exclusively she/her pronouns.

The Introduction

“The part of us that was once anaesthetized, domesticated and kept numb by food (or by shopping drugs and media) is now awakening in each of us. It’s our wholeness, our intuition, our magic and our power - the power that lies between our thighs” (p xiii)

“Waking up and reclaiming the witch within us takes really big ovaries. It takes womb-deep recognition that you are: a woman who is powerful: you bleed for five days and don’t die. A force of nature who knows the ebb and flow of the moon, the seasons and mumma nature and her own body….” (p xiv)

The Witch Wound

“The pelvic bowl is a witch’s most powerful magic making tool, a place where we create, make life and connect directly to the source” (p 90)

Lister directly infers that the title of witch is exclusive to women and only the ‘working’ cisgender ones. This is dehumanising by reducing a person's power to their genitalia and only if it ‘works'. This correlates with the TERF belief that women are inherently more powerful because of a female reproductive system as opposed to women being powerful because of their autonomy as human beings. If the latter is the case, then what is stopping cisgender men or trans/nonbinary people from becoming practitioners? The answer is nothing. 

My thoughts

While a spell or task one may find in specific kinds of magical/holistic practices may call for the excrement produced by a specific genitalia -such as menstrual blood used as plant fertiliser- I firmly believe an individual does not need any specific anatomy or gender to practise witchcraft. However I also think that believing your magical power comes from your own sexual anatomy isn’t necessarily bad if that is as far as the concept is taken. As long as you don’t take it upon yourself to enforce that idea upon others and deny different concepts of power and magic, it’s harmless, even empowering.

I personally try to avoid any reference to power coming from genitalia as I find the idea redundant to my own practice. I believe power comes from individual autonomy and what the natural world provides but that does not make nature a mother figure in my eyes. Nature simply is, it is its own force, always creating, destroying and recreating itself, always demanding balance. It is sexless, genderless and bodiless but it is none-theless a god.

Finally I cannot emphasise this enough, you cannot ‘always tell’ when someone is trans. Butch cisgender women being perceived as predators and harassed for using the women’s loos is evidence enough. (Maurice, E.P. 2021)

References

Cambridge SU Women’s Campaign (2021-22) How to Spot TERF Ideology 2.0. Cambridge SU. [PDF] https://www.cambridgesu.co.uk/pageassets/resources/guides/spottingterfideology/How-to-Spot-TERF-Ideology-2.0-2.pdf

Corry, W. (Sci Guys) (2023). The Science of Conversion “Therapy” | Sci Guys Podcast #239. Youtube. [Video] https://youtu.be/sFI5Ycs-nig?si=NYVKe0YydykcWsTp&t=3359

Lister, L. (2017). Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic. Hay House. London. [Book]

Maurice, E.P (2021). Butch lesbian harassed ‘tens of times’ in public toilets as anti-trans hostility spills over. Pink News [Web Article] https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/01/19/public-toilets-trans-bathroom-butch-lesbian-harassed-gender-critical-feminists/

Mildred, Thorn, A. (Thought Slime). (2023). Is This the Weirdest Transphobic Lie Ever? - Cringe Corner Ft. Abigail Thorn & Sophie From Mars. Youtube. [Video] https://youtu.be/EfzUtEcGluA?t=2039

Stone, G. (2020). A glossary of Transphobia. Medium. [Web Article] https://medium.com/@notCursedE/a-glossary-of-transphobia-a31a001d279

Wynn, N. (ContraPoints). (2019). Gender Critical. Youtube.com [Video] https://youtu.be/1pTPuoGjQsI