Entitled Fan/Stalker Trifecta

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Someone New - Hozier

2:15 ──────ㅇ───────── 3:42

↻      ◁ II ▷     ↺

Name ➻ Amaryllis Belladonna Meadows

Age ➻ 13

Zodiac ➻ Taurus

Year ➻ 1st

House ➻ Hufflepuff

S/O(s) ➻ James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius (Polycule)

Backstory synopsis ➻

There were once three sisters from ancient greek times, before 100 AD. They lived when the Gods still roamed the earth, during the Golden age. Their names were Damaris, Arelis, and Aurelia. They were named the trifectas, the most powerful witches of the age.

Damaris was the oldest of the 3. She was strong and confident in her magical abilities. She was a natural born leader, the people who lived in her village and surrounding all looked to her for guidance and advice when problems arose.

Arelis was a true and mighty hero. The people would always go to her for help when anything happened. She became the leader of the brigade of hunters for the villages at just 11 years old due to her natural stealthy, agility and precision. Battle was ingrained in her bloodstream, destined to become a warrior.

Lastly, Aurelia, meaning the golden one. She certainly lived up to her name. She was the village favorite. While she didn’t quite have the sense of mature responsibility that her sister possessed or the thirst for the hunt like the other that doesn’t mean she was any less powerful. She was a creator, an artist, a healer and more. Aurelia was a free spirit, she would dance with the village kids till her feet grew sore and would dote on the elderly despite their complaints of not needing the care (they secretly loved it). The villagers were fond of the girl but they also knew just how much power was resting in her veins. Aurelia seemed to have been blessed by every god there was, the girl was a force to be reckoned with. A healer, a protector, and fighter.

Around 90 AD, a man who went by the name of Herpo came to town after hearing about the trio of amazing talents. Immediately the triplets were on edge. They could sense the man’s energy, the aura of darkness that surrounded him. They let him be as to worry the other villagers but they soon realized their mistake when trouble arose. Muggles and their children were going missing only later to be found dead in the forest. People were going mad, cursing and hexing their peers without reason. The triplets worked tirelessly to fix the problem as their people were becoming restless and scared. Damaris set a protection and battle plan and had her sister lead the unit. Aurelia was going around the towns calming and healing the people. Filling their minds with bright thoughts to help them rest.

One night as Aurelia was doing her rounds she came across a familiar shadow, she followed it only to find that it was Herpo with a group of men. He was speaking about how soon her and her siblings would be too overwhelmed with the fights and insane for them to notice one person more person being killed, then a spell would be complete. What spell she didn’t know but she alerted her siblings of the man’s plans anyways.

The siblings were now keeping a keen eye on Herpo wherever he would appear. In a whirlwind of events, the triplets find out the man was working with dark magic, a spell to take a human soul to preserve his own. To become everlasting. So the sisters came together to stop him. The Gods also learned of the man’s affairs and became angry at the abuse of power, especially Hecate, Goddess of witchcraft. Angry that her blessings were being misused she sought aid from the Gods to assist the triplets granting them powers to help them in the inevitable war.

Damaris was now truly blessed by Athena, granted incredible reflexes, intelligence like no other, and battle strategy and knowledge. She was a true ruler.

Arelis had the blessing of Ares, strength of a thousand soldiers and weapon intelligence and thirst for war. The girl seemed to always be encompassed by a ring of fire, her eyes alight with a hunger for battle. she would lead the force.

The Gods granted Aurelia the most, not just for her attributes but for her pure heart. Her senses now enhanced to that of a wolf. She could move things by pure force of will and crawl into the crevices of the mind with a stare, picking out your deepest thoughts and controlling your actions. She was able to make her thought her reality, what she imagined is what was. She could pass through solid surfaces as if she was the wind whistling by. She was one with the earth finally able to be reunited with her true self, the earth mother brushed her cheek and sent her off to war. A golden glow was her cover, her hair white as snow, eyes as blue as the sky that was soon to be shrouded by the smoke of her blazing fury. She was the warrior that would bring them victory, if not for herself, for her people.

Together, they defeated wicked villain, who would now and forever be label as ‘Herpo the Foul’ for the atrocities he brought to the land. They lost much but saved most, victorious were the Trifectas, forever shall they reign.

And reign they did. The people took upon themselves to elect the three as their own personal monarchy, to rule over them with grace as they always have. The three were the heroes of the age and went on to fight many more battles until their deaths in 140 AD. The Gods decided because of their bravery and choice to fight for their honor, they would allow them to be reborn. Their souls to enter another when the time was opportune. They would live on as heroes in another era to continue their rule.

And in a pristine hospital room on the night of April 18th, 1980, they were born anew in the vessels of Dorcas, Alexandria, and Amaryllis Meadows.

A/N - can you tell I love a good resurrection trope 😭 as always questions and feedback is always welcome ☺️

can we talk about the taxi scene for a second?

this scene is everything, and one my favorite moments from season one — not only because it's adorable and so perfectly captures the dynamic of book one percabeth, but also because it's subtly setting up a wonderful "rule of three" pattern that we'll (hopefully) revisit in seasons three and five!

the rule of three is a storytelling device often used in writing, film, TV, comedy and other mediums, where a story is told three times: the first two instances establish a pattern, but the third instance diverges from the established pattern with the intention of surprising or amusing the audience.

it makes a lot of sense for the pjo writers to use this scene as the first instance of a rule of three pattern; not only is the number three important in this series and throughout greek mythology, but the book series has two more scenes that can perfectly complete this trifecta.

here's how i think the show will apply the rule of three to the recurring pattern of "demigods attempting to operate moving vehicles" (spoilers for the titan's curse and the last olympian ahead):

percy drives a taxi (season one)

percy tasks himself with driving the taxi out of the lotus casino, and it's an absolute disaster. he crashes into multiple walls, goes straight through the boom barrier and almost gets t-boned twice. it's a miracle (or, more likely, whatever magic is controlling hermes' taxi) that they make it to santa monica in one piece.

2. thalia drives apollo's sun chariot (season three)

in the titan's curse, apollo picks up percy, thalia, grover, nico, bianca and the hunters from westover hall in his chariot-turned-flying bus. despite her protests, apollo makes thalia drive it from maine back to long island — and as we later learn, thalia is terrified of heights, so it was a disaster waiting to happen. while attempting to control the vehicle in a panicked state, she freezes over the new england coastline, sets it on fire and then crash-lands into camp half blood's canoe lake.

3. annabeth lands a helicopter (season five)

at this point in the series, we've had two instances that establish a pattern: when demigods are tasked with operating a moving vehicle, it goes terribly and almost gets everyone killed. so in the third and final instance of this, annabeth defies our expectations and completely flips the pattern on its head.

during the battle for olympus, rachel flies back from her vacation in a helicopter to tell percy the message she received in a dream. unfortunately, she doesn't know about the sleeping spell morpheus cast over manhattan, and the pilot falls asleep as they begin to descend into the city. as the helicopter starts to spin out of control, percy and annabeth fly up on a pegasus to rescue rachel. annabeth manages to grab onto the side of the door, and rachel pulls her into the helicopter.

now, this is the moment where we expect everything to go wrong. previously, percy and thalia — children of the big three, two of the most powerful demigods alive — were comically awful at driving vehicles, so based on the established pattern, this should also be a disaster; but this is annabeth "you're better at this than me" chase we're talking about, and she gets her elle woods moment.

annabeth swaps places with the pilot, and when the helicopter is seconds away from crashing into a building, she manages to control it and safely land it in the middle of fifth avenue.

at sixteen years old, she lands a helicopter in manhattan. in the middle of an active war zone. with zero helicopter-flying experience.

what, like it's hard?

this is the perfect scene to round out the rule of threes, because the audience goes into it with a preconceived notion that we know how it will end: with a demigod's comical incompetence at operating a moving vehicle. instead, we get the brilliance of annabeth chase on full display, beautifully diverging from the pattern and proving that while she may not be a child of the big three, she has distinct abilities that they don't have, abilities that make her just as strong and capable and powerful as percy and thalia.

in conclusion: the taxi scene is not just a cute percabeth heart eyes moment, but could be setting up an incredible subplot across the five seasons of the show.

A stupid shipper's guide to the Peloponnese, part 1: Olympia and its hidden gems

Easily the most hectic vacation ever. Also, one of the most awaited because after three years of pandemic craze I was finally able to cobble a sort of satisfying itinerary. And hoped to indulge very (high maintenance, ahem) important people I shall mention strictly nothing about: some things are just for me, said someone essential for this fandom. So I agree with thee, Ms. B., in all your transparent assertive glory, since we know exactly who you meant.

Also, almost nothing about the first five days spent in ludicrous nothingness, mediocre sunbathing and seafood gluttony on the perplexing little island of Aegina, roughly 45 minutes East of Athens by speedboat. Ah, Aegina, your fabled misty light, your pistachio groves, your pilgrims coming in droves by above speedboat in the hope to be cured by Saint Nectarios' relics (kept in a horrifyingly huge vault of a church the size of a Saudi mosque), your cunning & idiotic taxi drivers... Three days is ideal. Nine nights was a sore mistake, so we cut the apple in half and left this faux Ha-wa-wee sunrise view from the terrace:

With the help of my stellar mechanic in the capital, we managed to recoup two-thirds of Plan A and immediately hit the road to Olympia, home of those Games and of my favorite museum in this corner of the world. En route, we had way too many pit stops, ate unwashed nectarines on the side of the road, juices flowing obscenely on forearms and cursed the industrious maintenance works blocking all the traffic: this is Greece, after all, a (deeply loved) country like no other, and thankfully not mine.

In the process, traded Ha-wa-wee for this serene olive canopy and immediately jumped in the pool:

By the next morning, I had managed to fully catch up with the Scots/Mex Tattooed Female innuendo and found it a) not funny, b) desperate enough to be of her own making and c) completely tasteless and irrelevant to any given narrative line favored by this Nagasaki of a fandom. Such vulgar paucity needed a strong antidote: follow me to a place of beauty and grace, floor temperature 55 Celsius /131 Fahrenheit.

The Archeological Museum of Olympia is one of the more compact affairs of the kind, but it makes up for this shortcoming with a superbly curated selection of just about the best of the diggings.

Things like this. It could be mistaken for its Chinese contemporary, but it is a Corinthian horse, circa 5th century BC :

Or this representation of Nike/Victory, not as formidable as the one at the Louvre (which to me is Freedom itself), but still:

Spandex or not, who cares? Heh.

Or the Temple gallery, where the statues are presented in the Munich Glyptothek style, for an immediate punch in the gut effect:

Shippers watching the Narrative unfold:

Not that Wedding:

Oops. Stupid shipper further doxing herself - no makeup, dehydrated, but resilient and insufferable (firmly intending to remain so). Hi there, Mordor, bet the farm we never met?

By way of contrast, a classical representation of Anon:

Which one of the Negationist Trifecta? Place your bets, ladies:

All of us pondering a comment:

#oohdembuns: Hermes' buns, as seen by Praxiteles, to be exact:

Note the rugged back - rings a bell? I would bet handsome money Anna Foerster knows something about this particular statue. Historically speaking, the reason it remained unpolished is because it most likely was ensconced in a niche of sorts. This is the kind of objectification I wouldn't mind being a part of on a daily basis, by the way.

Face view of the above. The midsection focal point has been piously lost in the sands of time. Never mind: not the leaked MUA reel, either - that's most likely baby Dionysus, the one S has to intensely pay lip service to, as we speak:

Turning right to the Roman room. PA TMcG on payday:

Toga pleats are a major turn-on for this stupid shipper:

Onwards to Mycenae. Had to split this in two, for convenience.

A very different vibe, for sure.

"I hear the sea, it roars/and I want out of here." - Coeur de Pirate, "Our Love"

For #quins1kdtiys: ol' reliable couture art meets a proper model in "And That's All We Are".

(Writeup under the cut, as usual. Minor Dragons Rising part 2 spoilers there, by the by, but you'll see them coming. I'll let you know.)

Congratulations on 1k, @quintastiic! I hope this does that milestone some justice.

I've done Skybound couture work before; I've done Nya analysis before. Somehow, I have never blended them, and this DTIYS gave me the perfect chance to try that out.

For the first time in my fashion fanart history, I'm not using a boilerplate mannequin - I got my hands on one of those IKEA artist figurines and decided, well, if there's any time to try and draw someone, let's start with a favorite. I'm not hiding behind a standard template here.

For the most part, this is a simple urban riff on Nya's Skybound gi: a black velvet vest and fingerless gloves over a crimson blouse, paired with bright combat boots and flared jeans. A durable ensemble, I like to believe this base of blended aesthetic represents what Nya spends the first five seasons building herself up to be: well, herself. She scrapped a mech and her own role together - and built a legacy in the process. In one way, that's all she is: everything she's crafted so far.

Overtaking the outfit, though, is a cropped leather jacket with a sheer train designed to resemble waves.

It doesn't match the base at all - it glows. It floats. It almost seems alive with motion and light, but at the same time, it's a weight on her shoulders that makes her conspicuous among her teammates. It's a dilemma that plagues her throughout Skybound and beyond - can she make herself work with her powers? Does she want to? In another way, that's all she is: her powers? Or not?

Bridging the gap between the wave jacket and the base ensemble is an element inspired by Nya's monologue to Jay about being friends - and nothing else.

That, of course, is the friendship bracelet inspired chain belt, adorned with four venom-shaded charms:

Closest to Nya herself is another symbol of her powers, and the way she has to reform herself to solve the problems at hand: a simple water droplet, a symbol of life turned into one of risk with the venom-green tint.

On the next layer down, something more classically Claire's jewelry rack bracelet set: a lightning bolt with a tiny heart, representing Nya's evolving relationship with Jay throughout the season. Although I find it important to analyze Nya as her own character in the context of Skybound, it is important to acknowledge Jay's influence, and that's what this is for.

(Partial Dragons Rising part 2 spoilers in this one!) Dangling as far away from Nya as she can get it, but apparently trying to climb back up close to her of its own accord, is a twelve-pointed sun motif that appears in the second half of Dragons Rising to - without getting too spoilery - indicate a curse on the bearer and mark them for inevitable suffering and eventual death. In Skybound and beyond, Nya narrowly evades this fate; the symbol overtakes both of her gloves here, representing her struggle and the hand motif I adore in the season. However, she does eventually escape - and wears it dangling loosely, even casually, from her belt, almost like a trophy.

Hidden beneath the jacket and attached to a belt loop for easy access, like a tool, hangs a charm modeled after the flask of venom used in episode 61. This is resilience, almost to a fault, and a bittersweet reminder of the events of the erased timeline - they go to such lengths to keep the venom, and for what end? Nya's eventual death - and their victory. And everything that comes with that.

The charms round out the trifecta of all she is during Skybound: the circumstances, mortal or not, that shape her actions and determine her destiny.

thinks abt my many half baked ISAT FE AU stuff again....

siffrin is a manakete that is all good night

uhhh act 5 and twohats spoilers below

joking but. also yes. i was thinking a lot abt what FE classes the cast would have recently so.

Mirabelle is a lord. HOWEVER. she gets to be a fancy lord who also gets staff access. Like Hoshido Noble. could you imagine dragging around a scrublord who only gets good on promo but they had heal utility the whole time. isn't that a dream. imagine if Roy could heal and then still rips in endgame

Odile is very obviously a Sage. Like cmon. If i had to pick any specific sage outfit it would in fact be Awakening sages. But the thought of Odile in the outfit of Engage sages is enough to kill people I think. Though the banana mage gba era would be hilarious on her.

The trifecta of magic is also a nice reflection of her being able to use all types of craft :) esp tellius mechanics are dope for that (and integrated into my silly isat emblems stuff). It could also be very thematically appropriate to make her an Omnyoji instead.

Isabeau just has massive axe bro energy. Yknow how fighters are stereotyped as stupid but then Lot FE6, generic axe bro ever, plays chess and does philosophy? Yeah. From a gameplay standpoint it would also make sense to put him in armor knight cuz he will Protect His Friends. Also he has the highest hp in the cast anyways. He would also have rally skills.

If i had to pick one guy to make a beast unit, it would be him also. Tiger isabeau.

Bonnie is the Transporter. They cannot fight. They cannot die. Bonnie is Merlinus. We are not letting the child on the battlefield. Give Bonnie a caravan and convoy access, you know they gotta.

Sif is. hm.

Like the obvious call is Thief, right? In games that have em, daggers are exclusive to thieves (unless you're fates, and have butlers and ninjas). Dagger classes can also debuff (with engage thieves poisoning, and fates daggers inflicting debuffs) which would be a nice niche. However Siffrin isn't actually a criminal.

From a story standpoint mercenary would be the most appropriate since they're not really here for any particular reason but just bcuz he happened to be in the country when the curse struck.

HOWEVER.... engage has given us a very tantalizing third option. Wolf Knight. They're not associated with crime. They are speedy, dodgy, and use daggers.

Siffrin gets a pet wolf. Do you see it.

TO ELABORATE ON THE MANAKETES THING.... So, if you've seen me talk abt my fucking, fe6 isat au, i cast Idunn as Siffrin. And the idea of someone forgetting their own species is really funny, and also kinda terrifying. And the only other person like you is the guy you have to kill.

Also I think creechur siffrin AUs are great. And dragons in FE are associated heavily with two things. a) going insane. b) amnesia (just look at corrin, and grima, and alear).

Also also dragons love to take naps. WHO ELSE LOVES TO TAKE NAPS?? That's right. Siffrin.

Oh yeah also. Dragon Loop. Wouldn't that be epic. AND. act 5 boss fight siffrin turning into a full dragon.

And the development possibilites. As siffrin learns about the island, also uncovering myths about dragons. And the new strength siffrin is able to master more and more of each loop being bcuz. well. dragon. and growing aware of the ways he's different from the others not just in the growing chasm as they veiw the party more and more as actors, but also the paranoia in physically becoming a monster.

Do you see my fucking vision, here.

SPEAKING OF ENGAGE.... i forgot who. but SOMEBODY. suggested. Emblem Loop. wrgrhr.

and i've thought abt how this would work. And i think it does work, if like... the island (and the divine dragons) all got forgotten because of the emblem's miracle. That somebody thought it was too dangerous and wanted to seal it away forever and used the power of the emblems to make them forgotten. And so Wish Craft would be the emblems' power instead, which only dragons have access to - supposedly. Hey, if a whole country tries out a prayer incantation, would it work?

And. and. this would be really easy to do by. replacing the silver coin with a ring. Siffrin just has this random ring they've had forever. So when Loop wishes to get out, they become the emblem they've been using. You get recursive timeloop questions - who was the emblem that granted Loop's wish in the first place? Was it another Siffrin? Somebody else altogether? Who knows. But isn't the asking really fun.

And like, I mean, Emblem Byleth already exists, we all know what "rerolling missed attacks to hit instead" is. Emblem Byleth is still rewinding time you just can't see that he is.

Do you see my vision. ISAT fire emblem engage AU.

Twst Brag here

I FINALLY got not only my SECOND ever SSS Score ever but my THIRD too alongside my first EVER Double SSS Score!!!!!!! I’m actually SO ecstatic!!!!!

Water Basic Test Team Stats:

B-Day Epel: 10/10 Magic; 10/10/10 Buddies,

Dorm Vil: 10/10 Magic; 10/10/10 Buddies

Dorm Leona: 10/10 Magic; 1/10/10 Buddies

Dorm Jack: 10/10 Magic; 10/10/7 Buddies

Dorm Ruggie: 10/10 Magic; 10/10/3 Buddies

I think every resource spent into Buddy and Magic Levels was all PERFECTLY allocated here and after a lucky run of RNG, I FINALLY secured myself the second SSS Score I had ever gotten! I only got Dorm Leona VERY recently, on my Anni Rolls and I count myself SO blessed to have finally gotten him to complete the Water Test Trifecta of him, Dorm Vil and B-Day Epel. I remember how, almost deliberately, RNG NEVER aligned Epel and Leona’s M1 for the earlier turns and by time Turn 4 came, it was already too late to utilise those two together, if I HADN’T already used their Magic 1’s already, on different turns altogether. But compared to Fire Defense below, I got my SSS Score much sooner and easier.

Fire Defense Test Team Stats:

Dorm Azul: 9/5 Magic; 10/10/8 Buddies

B-Day Vil: 10/10 Magic; 10/10/6 Buddies

Dorm Epel: 10/10 Magic; 10/10/10 Buddies

Union Jack: 10/10 Magic; 8/10/1 Buddies

First: yes, yes, I know, max out Dorm Azul, I get the gist don’t worry 🫠

Now this one was FAR more tricky and a lot of moments stuck with me, in all of the runs I had experienced; not landing the debuffs evenly, tanking a strong attack with the wrong character at the wrong time and sometimes not even being able to finish the opponents on Turn 5, Move 1. Ironically enough though, I rarely, if EVER in fact got cursed, thus ruining the run entirely. My miraculous scoring of an SSS Score, funnily enough, happened when I actually was giving up and decided to stop using Single Points to remake the Test, instead spending all I had left in one go, which gave me the PERFECT RNG allowing for the PERFECT run.

Some thoughts I had only recently begun having; it only occurred to me after the fact that Ruggie’s HP Bonus for Azul might make runs for such a Test vastly easier and more manageable, but I digress—the real stars here I think were unironically B-Day Vil and Union Jack; Jack, whom I had SKIPPED at first, in spite of being my fav, due to the fact that, at the time, I was experiencing an overflow (heh) of Water centric SSRs, only later realising how, with his elements, debuffs and buddies, he would PERFECTLY slot into this team. My lack of having him, was thankfully corrected as of his last B-Day Run :)) As for B-Day Vil—although an Attack SSR, he slots VERY well into this comp, by virtue of picking up the slack in terms of damage, AS WELL as how his unique damage reduction buff, combined with damage debuffs against enemies allows him to make even the STRONGEST of double strikes only deal about 4k, at most, even neutrally! He puts in QUITE the work and I’m VERY happy with having raised him.

Overall, I’m honestly just so happy I can finally have a claim, for not only getting my second and third SSS Score but ALSO getting a Double SSS Score 😭😭😭 That screenshot will stay in my Gallery FOREVER. Anyway, thank you for reading!!! ——— Congratulations on your SSS scores! Exams are full of RNG and sometimes you just need the perfect exam set up to allow you to break the SSS wall.

~ 👑

Daisy, Lilith, & Venus in Outlaws Headcanons

This is going to be so much fun

@punkeropercyjackson @mayameanderings @theautisticcentre @moonage-gaydream

Lilith and Daisy join at the same time because besties and Venus is the last to join

Their recruitment basically went like

Daisy: This is my friend Lilith and she's amazing with tech :D!

Lilith: Daisy is great at patching people up

Jason: Okay Lilith's in charge of technology and security and Daisy is our medic and a sometimes field agent

Venus: I'm married to Kyle and he asked me to join because there needs to be an even number of girls

Jason: Field agent

They would soon realize it was both a blessing and a curse to leave someone like Lilith in charge of both tech and security

Lilith is so unserious on comms. Like she's already pretty silly, but being in charge of their communications has really brought out her inner menace

She will bring up the most embarrassing shit at the most inconvenient of times for no reason other than to troll

"I know what Jason and Summer did in the break room" "Lilith, NO-"

Has Jason microchipped not in an abusive way (*glares at Gotham War!Bruce*) but in a funny way. Like "I literally cannot afford for you to get lost because you're tech illiterate" way

As for Daisy, she's the Nurse Joy of the team. She has intermediate medical knowledge and uses her powers to create medicines and remedies

Venus has experience with being on teams: the Star Sapphires, Trifecta, etc so the crackhead energy of the Outlaws is nothing to her

These three are the most terrifying members for different reasons

A lot of people outside the Outlaws don't know that Lilith is basically a Fallen Angel so if someone manages to get past their security by some stroke of luck, then horrors beyond their comprehension await them

Not to mention Lilith has an expansive knowledge of black magic and the dark arts as a whole

Let's not forget the part where Lilith can also just possess the entire Outlaws computer system and become a techno eldritch horror

When Daisy does get called out to the field, she'd get underestimated a lot because a lot of people would chalk her up to being baby Poison Ivy

That is until she actually uses her powers and they realize that hers are grotesque eldritch horrors (Daisy's Persephone slay as Summer says)

Let's say, hypothetically, that Venus still has the SS power ring. Venus's powers as a Star Saphire are unique because her sincere love for her life and others fuels the rings power to the max

One of her powers is crystallization, turning anything she comes in contact with into pure space crystal. This is scary for a number of reasons

If she's going by Boombox at the point she joins the Outlaws then it's even more scary because Boomin' Bot is a mix between Baymax, an Iron Man suit, Pat Dugan's S.T.R.I.P.E mech, Spiderbot, and an Eva unit from NGE all in one

In good faith, I don't consider WN ships I don't follow as "spam". I simply open the fics that catch my attention and the ship tags for it, I read a bit and if I don't dig it I move to the next ones. If you do not read fics I don't understand why it seems to bother you considerably. Ok that's the part where I don't agree with your post, however it's a fair assessment of what's going on. I do follow avatrice fics, so what I'm about to say next it's from that perspective. I think avatrice is like 95-96% percent of the works on ao3 for various reasons. The show being cancelled and ava going away at the end of S2, despite it being clearly implied she's back, people feel left out to dry because we didn't get to see them reunite. So there's this almost manic drive towards fixing that thru fics. We didn't get to see them as an open explicit couple, so that's also something people have taken to fix. Another reason is that Ava silva is just such an alluring character, people went and are still nuts for her. She's so genuine, so open in her affections, so loyal and unwavering. Another reason, she happens to have been played by an actress that did an outstanding job portraying her, and I believe that the fact that Alba is so conventionally attractive plays a huge role in the pull avatrice has. And I do not mean to diminish Beatrice or Kristina's talent or acting in any way. I merely want to point out I honestly believe that if avatrice were 2 non white women, we wouldn't be seeing the amount of works that pop up daily for them, nowhere near the numbers we have currently. So in that regard it's kind of a double mortal combo that ava was written as she was and that she was played by such a pretty and charming actress. Well a triple combo, because she's white. I personally think the wlw couples that dominate fandoms have almost invariably at least one white character. Ok that's the trifecta by which I explain the popularity of avatrice (outside of them being a legitimately solid and good pairing). As for the amount of AUs I think it's due to wanting to take these 2 characters and separate them from their original universe as a way to repel/protest/take them the hell away from the universe in which they had no resolution, to cope with the feeling of severe incompleteness that canon left. Ok now that being said I join you in lamenting that we don't have more shanon/Mary and other pairings, because I feel entirely alone in shipping Ava and Camila... listen the heart wants what it wants and in my cursed unlucky case, it seems my heart wants 2 golden retrievers/gremlin energy characters together and in love. But my crack ship exists only in my fantasies 😭

I've read and found some great doctor superion works. but at least here I have found zero posts/content about my wretched crack ship, null, none, naught. At least you guys do have some content. Also I think doctor superion not having more traction is straight up ageism. Which is so sad. Anyways these are my personal opinions about it sorry for the wall of text.

Let me clarify why I called that spam, first of all, so that you understand I wasn't being malicious (or not gratuitously so, anyway, lol): every now and again, even if I don't read fic, I do take a look at the pairing tag for the one ship I write about. And, without fail, there will be at least one story posted under that tag where that very pairing is nowhere to be found. It's a fleeting mention at most. I consider it spam to post what is, say, an avatrice smut fic on the Jillian/Suzanne tag if you won't do anything with the latter ship apart from a side comment like "oh, and the two of them are together now".

A few days ago, I read an interesting post about how people posting fic and adding tags should ask themselves whether people interested in those tags would indeed find what they wanted through your story when you used them.

Let me say, then, that a Jillian/Suzanne shipper is not looking for something that can barely be called crumbs at all when she sits down to read something -- so why lead her on? At the very least tag it properly and say it's minor/implied/mentioned or something of the sort. It's annoying to me in the sense that I also use the tag, I like to know who fellow tag users are and coming across this sort of thing is disruptive. People nowadays "overtag" and I get it depending on what they have written because they want a reader to know what she's getting herself into -- and, precisely, I think it would be fair for a Jillian/Suzanne shipper to be warned of the fact that her ship isn't really featured at all in something instead of seeing that tag tacked on just because they're mentioned as a couple en passant. I'm sure that might apply to other pairings as well, as I do recall @foulbearobservation mention some phenomenon of the sort for Camila/Lilith too a few months ago.

So, to reiterate, it's less "ew, this doctor superion fic has been tainted with another ship" (which, honestly, would never bother me) and more "ugh, this other ship fic said there would be doctor superion but there is nothing and I feel duped!" The fact that I don't read it myself doesn't mean I'm not in contact with other Jillian/Suzanne shippers who do seek out fic and who do experience these feelings which we do talk about amongst ourselves.

With that out of the way, let me first thank you for getting in touch because I was very curious about hearing someone on the avatrice side of things!

It's not surprising to me, per se, that avatrice dominates and I think I mentioned it in my post that there is a reason to it. Or various reasons, really, adding to those I cited the ones you give here, being the "unfinished business" aura that the ship has acquired thanks to that damned cancellation. (I will, however, express my surprise at your passionate manifestation considering Alba as I see Kristina lovers gushing about her much more frequently -- I suppose that goes to show you how we none of us ever have the whole picture in mind, how we are always looking at things at an angle even when we try to consider them more fully! A very good reminder to keep in mind how fragmentary our understanding can be...)

What baffles me is not that avatrice is everywhere, but that there are so very little other ships around it. Historically, people in fandom have always played the "there aren't enough nice/fun/compelling/whatever female characters in canon for me to care about f/f ships" card and what's perfectly clear in WN is that this card simply cannot be played given how many wonderful female characters it has (lucky us!) And I suppose it adds to my surprise (again, this is merely me being a bit confused at the situation rather than "denouncing" it; far be it from me to tell avatrice shippers they're doing anything wrong, no, fandom is for fun after all and, as you say, it IS a solid and good pairing, I would never contest that!) that there are so many stories set in an alternate universe for what is a canon ship. It's a bit of a paradox to me, I suppose, although the idea of a "protest" against an unfinished, incomplete canon such as you mentioned might explain part of it.

On prejudice, I wouldn't want to accuse anyone of anything. There's also a predominance of white characters in a lot of media, so them being featured in a lot of pairings is a bit due to the maths of their presence as well -- going forth, as we begin to see more and more diversity (well, if the goddamn companies stop cancelling every one of our shows!) I figure the trend will begin to diminish as well. Or so I'd like to hope, unless the issue we're discussing persists, being that one ship gets all the attention and all others get zilch when the potential for others is right there staring us all in the face... Then again, it does bother me that older characters are more or less ignored by fandom at large, I won't lie, and I've seen some comments on disturbing depictions of Mary in certain corners of fandom as well. I'd like to make use of good-will towards people and not expect from them only the worse, but sometimes it can be... Challenging, let's say.

Do have my thanks for introducing me to the concept of Ava/Camila! It hadn't crossed my mind, I admit, but now I think it could be something fun to play with. I was interrupted so many times while typing up this answer that I used some of that time to write something for the pairing and I'll post it here soon-ish and maybe that can kickstart some more visibility for it! :)

Alongside my thanks, please also have my sympathies. I've always been on the rarepair side of fandom so I understand, even if your case really is a bit extreme if nobody else has ever done anything for the ship! Then again, that is the whole point of the post, the fact that it's so very hard to see anyone try something out outside of their OTP, if just for fun, just for a day, just for a drabble even!

See, my problem is not that there isn't a lot of doctor superion -- my problem is that there isn't much of anything else! I do my part, I write for my pairing that which I would like to read (and I encourage you, friendly anon, to consider doing something for Ava/Camila as well if you can! Sometimes we need to take the first step, sometimes that's what introduces people to the thing and inspires them to put their own spin on it as well. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have thought of maybe trying out your ship, even if it won't be a 890.000 word epic). It just strikes me as odd that the toys are all out there and there are few people who take notice of them apart from the two shiniest ones!

To end this, please don't apologise for walls of text. If ever you've been around my blog, you'll know I'm prone to them myself, as this answer attests to! Thank you for chipping in!

Week 7 Recs: Fever Dreams

Week 7's theme was "Fever Dreams," all about the crackfics and other wild and wacky rides. Some of these are sheer goofy fun, and others take a chance with some crack treated seriously. This includes not one but FOUR different animal transformation fics, by the way. Here are the recs gathered from the Yeehan community, organized by rating then alphabetically by title!

General Audiences

A Better Fate Than Roadkill by robocryptid [10,982 words] Reccer comment: "the summary says it all LOL"

When shelter worker Hanzo takes in a rescued armadillo, he doesn't expect it to be quite so much trouble. Or for it to take such a shine to him. Or for it to maybe, possibly, be more than an ordinary armadillo.

Teen and Up

See Through The Dragon's Eyes by thecatsred [20,131 words] Reccer comment: "i’m always a sucker for Hanzo getting turned into different creatures - though this one of him being turned into a noodle dragon is actually kinda cute"

There is little to be done once Hanzo's dragons have their minds set on solving his problems (with some nudging from certain interested parties).

Mature

Pink by mataglap [3,998 words] Reccer comment: "Because who can resist Cole in a fluffy pink tiara and Hanzo with a pretty pink hair bow 😂"

The fact that they are on the same side, on the same team and fighting for more or less the same cause doesn't change the fact that Hanzo Shimada and Cole Cassidy compete about everything.

Put It In (A Hallmark Card) by robocryptid [WIP; 4,412 words] Reccer comment: "Cupid has a personal issue with Hanzo and deals with it the way trickster deities usually do."

After pissing off Cupid, Hanzo is cursed to do the god's bidding by playing matchmaker. His latest assignment is the most challenging yet: finding the perfect match for one Cole Cassidy.

Trust and Love in a Broken Heart by Author_of_Kheios [22,191 words] Reccer comment: "not exactly a crack fic, but I'd like to recommend "Trust and Love in a Broken Heart" by my buddy Author_of_Kheios. Hanzo accidentally gets possessed by the god of Love, but this Cupid is far kinder, more thoughtful, and more profound, than he is usually given credit for, and Hanzo and the Cowboy both get swept along for an adventure. The ending is perfectly self-contained, but also leaves the door open for further adventures"

Hanzo didn't mean to become a vessel for a god of love, but it might just be the best thing that's ever happened to him.

Explicit

Anatomically Correct by Sougishiki [245 words] Reccer comment: "speaking of fever dreams, I thought I’d only imagined this fic, but no. it’s real & it’s delightfully cursed."

First of all, I am so sorry. Second of all, that thing dogs do when they tie where they go butt to butt to keep watch.

Don't think about it by urgaylol [129,830 words] Reccer comment: "Anything urgaylol has ever written, honestly. But the one in which Hanzo becomes a hardcore utilitarian dictator takes the cake."

Hanzo asks McCree for casual sex and misadventures ensue.

Pastel Darklord by Dracoduceus [60,085 words] Reccer comment: "let’s include a trifecta of YeeHan animal transformation fics with “Pastel Darklord” by dracoduceus"

Hanzo has been turned into a swan and he is not thrilled at all.

On the plus side, his handler is a very attractive man.

--

Jesse is not thrilled to be taking care of a swan, much less one as aggressive as the one he was sent to rescue from a local park for attacking someone, but he doesn't have it in him to turn down an animal in need.

He's also been dreaming a lot lately. Dreaming of a very attractive man that always seemed to be waiting for him at the shores of the lake...

The Rest is Gravy by robocryptid [1,430 words] Reccer comment: "I have to request this one bc I still laugh at how ridiculous it is-- Cass is way too horny for his own good--"

As an international organization, the new Overwatch tries to celebrate the holidays of every one of its members' cultures. This time, it's American Thanksgiving. Cole Cassidy cannot handle it.

Rooster in the House of the Rising Sun by coinin [18,300 words] Reccer 1 comment: "I mean, I'm never not gonna rec this absolute masterpiece of crack treated seriously"

Reccer 2 comment: "This is unironically one of my favorite fics 😭"

Reccer 3 comment: "Absolutely the best Yeehan crackfic of all time, hands down, no question."

Reccer 4 comment: "Still among my favorite Hanzo or Yeehan fics ever."

Hanzo makes a deal for his life, and spends some time as a rooster. It's better than dying, right?

That's all the Week 7 recs! Thank you so much to everyone who submitted a fic rec. Stay tuned for the Week 8 theme: "Middle of the Road," i.e. those fics that are long but not too long (10k to 25k words).

In the meantime, you can also check out the Week 6 recs here or check the list of past and future themes here!

Jander’s Expanded Guide to Vampires: the Elven Strain

One could write a book on the whole of the Vampire condition. In fact, one has! Our friend Doctor Van Richten spent quite a lot of time researching his Guide to Vampires (and I count myself an uncredited source, for some of it), and the result is as reliable as any bestiary ever was. 

But, comprehensive as the Guide is, the good doctor focuses primarily on the Human strain of Vampirism. This is understandable, seeing as that’s the most common strain available - I myself am of the human variety, despite being a sun elf in origin. I am a rare example, though, as multiple other strains exist in these lands, and each one tends to favor a particular race.

Thus I will begin by describing what I consider to be true Elven Vampires, and compare them with the more standard human variety with which you might already be familiar.

Hunter’s Rating: 🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇

The stereotype that elves are all, what was it, tree-hugging granola freaks (thanks, Soth), is perhaps an unkind one, but not strictly inaccurate. So, of course, when these misty lands decided to craft a Vampire to specifically target elves, they did so by turning nearly every aspect of our natures on its head. Elven Vampires inhabit the same forests that their living brethren adore, but slowly corrupt the landscape by their very presence. They share a cruel attunement with forest animals, and can summon and command swarms of small mammals, or birds of prey, or, of course, wolves. Many of the spell-like abilities an Elven Vampire possesses mimic druid spells, in how they shape and control plant life, and a hunter must always be wary of having their environment turned against them in this way.

Other considerations for the aspiring hunter include the naturally frightening affect these creatures have, beyond that of ordinary undead, and their terrible Black Thumb curse. This is the one point of commonality I share with Vampires of my own race; no living plant can bear my touch, and withers dead on contact. This is the cause of no small grief in myself and my similarly afflicted kin, and it even extends to one of the most powerful abilities a true Elven Vampire possesses, which is an innate ability to treewalk. Through this skill, an Elven Vampire might simply walk into an appropriately sized plant, and appear walking out of another plant of the same type elsewhere in the world. This action instantly kills both plants involved, and cannot be used to cross Domain borders, but good luck pinning one of the bastards in place when they can just vanish into the nearest tree.

Rather than feeding on blood and physical health, as human-derived Vampires do, Elven Vampires typically feed on charisma itself. This manifests as disfiguring marks and scars resulting from contact with the creature - although one must wonder if this isn’t a case of poor data collection, given that physical attractiveness is but one aspect of one’s charismatic charm, and victims of Vampire attacks really have enough to worry about already without knee-jerk ableism dropped on their heads as well.

And on top of everything else, a true Elven Vampire diverges from one’s expectations by being diurnal. Really! Diurnal! I’ve been struck with their Black Thumb curse, for the crime of having too good a time gardening, but they get to keep the sun!? Unreasonable! Inconceivable! I want to speak to a manager!

Ahem. Excuse me. The strange fact of the matter is, true Elven Vampires physically cannot tolerate either the open night sky, nor the presence of earth over their heads. They are restricted to daylight hours, and abhor underground spaces. It is as though the rules are utterly reversed for them -- which makes hunting them as a human-derived Vampire a chore and a half, let me tell you.

If you seek to destroy such a creature, know that the typical trifecta of repellants (mirrors, holy symbols, and garlic) will do you no good. Instead, reach for fresh flower petals to create a line on the ground that the Elven Vampire cannot cross, and season your stakes in the fire until they become as charcoal. Once paralyzed by staking, sever the head and burn it in a fire built of flowers and flowering plants for at least twenty four hours. A lengthy process, but an aromatic one, and the reward you will reap is the freedom from undead tyranny - at least, for now.

May I ask about your lore for the trifecta that Arthur, Ricky, and Shaggy make? I'm confused. Arthur isn't quite the same if only because Mystery was never "his" dedicated animal companion? Or is it something else?

I don’t blame you for being confused.

And in fact, a major driving force of this fic is that the Mystery Skulls don’t fit the pattern as closely as the other groups. There's a lot of stuff in your question that I can't explain without spoiling future reveals in this fic, but there is some stuff I can clear up in regards to the "pattern". Particularly regarding Arthur not being paired with Mystery the way Shaggy is paired with Scooby and Ricky was paired with Pericles.

If you watch SDMI and more closely examine the preceding groups, the pattern isn’t as concrete as it seems.

Take the Benevolent Lodge of Mystery for instance:

In the episode “Night Terrors”, it’s stated that in that group, the mascot/animal, Mr. Peaches, was actually paired with the group’s “Fred”, Oswald P. Burlington. I don’t know enough about the rest of the groups to say that they were the only ones, but this alone establishes canon that the “Scooby” of the group isn’t always paired with the group’s “Shaggy”. In fact, according to Scoobypedia, (Link here) the Benevolent Lodge of Mystery is one of the groups that DIDN’T have a terrible fate befall them. In fact, they have probably the most complete history on the wiki apart from of course Mystery Incorporated and the Original Mystery Incorporated. They were supposedly active for decades, may or may not have contributed to the start of World War One (not kidding - check the wiki), and they split up amicably after Mr. Peaches passed away due to complications of old age.

And the Benevolent Lodge of Mystery isn't the only group that diverges from "the pattern".

Take the Darrow family, aka the Mystery Fellowship into consideration. They hardly resemble the other groups at all because they’re made up of an older husband, wife, their teenage daughter, and young son. And all that’s known about their animal, Whiskers, is that he was the family cat. So he may not have been paired with any singular member.

Also take the Mystery Gang into consideration. They hardly resemble Mystery Inc., and they were all girls!

Or the Fraternitas Mysterium, who also hardly resemble Mystery Inc, and were all guys.

My point is that the pattern is definitely there, but even in the canon material, every group has diverging traits that make them unique.

The Original Mystery Incorporated and the new Mystery Incorporated likely only resemble each other so closely because that was the best storytelling decision by the writers: their close similarities and stark differences establish them as literary foils to each other. (If you don't know what a foil characters are in storytelling or otherwise want to clarify your knowledge, here's a link) And even then, they aren't cookie cutter, copy/paste mirror images of each other. If they were, then Professor Pericles would be an adorable goofball like Scooby, and Cassidy (who is Velma's equivalent) would be the genius (aka: "big fat insecure know-it all", as Danny Darrow put it) of the group who went nuts and turned on everyone.

So taking all of that into consideration, "the pattern" isn't as clear-cut as it appears. Though I admit, it is a bit of a stretch that the Mystery Skulls fit into it. But how they do and how their story connects to Crystal Cove and its curse is going to be revealed and explained in the next few chapters of 'One of Us'. Just hang on and bear with me!

As for the "trifecta", the reason why Arthur's is the one that's intact is because he is really the member of the Mystery Skulls who "conforms" to "the pattern" the most. He's the reluctant paranormal investigator - the skinny "scaredy cat" whose courage comes out when it counts. Just looking at him you can see his clear Shaggy inspiration, just like how Ricky was obviously based on Shaggy for the purpose of SDMI. Also like Shaggy, Arthur may not be paired with Mystery but he does love animals, as evidenced by his pet hamster, Galahad.

As to how Lewis, Vivi, and Mystery don't conform to the pattern and therefore their trifecta is "broken", those who are familiar with Mystery Skulls lore may be able to figure out why, but I'm not going to spell it out explicitly here because that would be a major spoiler.

Sorry if this was a lot, but the lore of SDMI is kind of complicated, so there was a lot of explaining to do. I hope I answered your question and that this clears things up for others who may be enjoying 'One of Us' as well.

Chapter 14 is getting closer and closer to completion, so stay tuned! I can't wait to share it with you all!

I really fucking love this game's* idea of the elements.

So first up, you've got the introductory ones: Fire and Ice, Wind and Lightning. Not the most common "four elements" structure, but you've got the videogame trifecta of Fire, Ice and Lightning, while adding Wind to it. Sensible enough.

So what's the element that represents the protagonist? Oh, none of those.

It's Curse.

Curse? Okay, right. Well, the game's got a bunch of Demons and Angels in it, Curse makes some sense, especially when you find out there's also it's counterpart: Holy damage.

Holy and Curse. Makes sense. Opposing forces, like Fire and Ice. Wind and Lightning are a little less intuitive as opposing forces, but okay.

What's next?

Melee.

Melee is an element.

Well, not really, the stats screen shoves it off to the side with it's counterpart, but still, it's a part of the strengths-and-weakness system, rather than being true damage.

Oh, what's it's counterpart, you ask?

Gun.

Not ranged, Gun.

Okay, fair enough, obviously just a different name for "ranged"-

Wait, there are both up-close melee attacks and ranged melee attacks?

Okay then. Melee and Gun. Sure.

What's next?

Psychic. Oh, well, that makes a certain level of sense. You're doing all this on a psychic plane after all, psychic attacks make sense. I guess that's the True Damage type then?

No? It's one of the elements, with a counterpart? What's the opposite of psychic?

Nuke.

Fucking Nuclear energy apparently. Those classic foes: telepaths and nuclear reactors. It's why you see Professor X and the Hulk fighting all the time.

But don't forget the True Damage type: Almighty!

No, not Holy. Almighty. Two different things, apparently. Can't see how you'd confuse them, personally. Very clear.

(*I know these are probably inherited from prior Persona games and thus Shin Megami Tensei overall, but I've never played those, so P5 was my introduction to it.)

ten lines, ten people

rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. if you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

yes i am very late bc i have been ripped away from here due to academia & capitalism :( but i am here now! i was tagged by @messrsage @arakhnee @pjxckson @deermessrs & @motswolo < 33

i do not have ten wips or fics, so i'll share what i have!

published fics:

l'éphémère (the ephemeral) (36/?)

It’s quite the question, isn’t it? Will he ever live his life for himself and himself only?

2. working for the knife (10/?)

Prophecies are useless.

3. vermilion dawn (and the touch of an angel) (2/?)

James Potter was three years old the first time he tasted blood.

4. lost in the labyrinth (of my mind) (completed one-shot)

Walking as fast as he could whilst still appearing unbothered, Regulus rushes to find somewhere to be alone.

unpublished wips (no guarantees these lines will remain the first line lol):

5. unnamed pandalily academic rivals fic

Perfectionism is a curse; competitiveness and rumination are its enablers—rather unfortunately, Lily is intimately familiar with this burdensome trifecta.

6. unnamed twd/zombie apocalypse au

Unknown Number

[02:04] Regulus?

[02:04] It’s Sirius

[02:05] I know we haven’t talked in years and it’s the middle of the night, but… have you seen the news?

7. the bible of blood and spit (with the loml @cornishpixiez) (pls know this is not the real name ajskdhakd we haven't named our child yet)

A sharp, listless sigh escapes Regulus as he lounges, staring up at the glaringly bright sky—squinting slightly due to the brightness, a sensitivity he is not used to—as waves of boredom wash over him, the tide growing stronger with each passing moment.

i think that's all i have that has anything coherent to share!

no pressure tags & also sorry if you've already been tagged or done this: @euphorial-docx @cornishpixiez @greenvlvetcouch @fruity-individual @godsofwoes @crushofdoves + anyone else who would like to < 333

Decided to set up command code for Nero

Quick has 1 debuff cancel. Not much but spiffy.

Second art card has apply burn effect (Djinn lamp). This is a set up for Honeylake CE, a really good CE which gives 35-40% damage buff to burned enemy + pierce invul. Pierce invul is great since that covers one of Nero Bride's weakness, and the damage buff combined with Nero Bride attack buff will leads to a devastating effect. Nero Bride NP also apply burn so that helps in maintaining the effect.

First art card apply self immune to immobilize (stun / charm). One of the most useful command code. I put it in art card since that the card that you mostly use for Nero Bride.

Second Buster card has critical damage buff against burned enemy. Figures I just keep the burn theme going, and buster card hit the hardest.

First Buster card heal allies for 200. I just put it for cosmetic purpose.

Quick has +4 crit stars. Since Nero mostly used for solo I give her something that can help herself.

Second art has 10%+ NP gauge (Merlin). Its limited to every three turn but helps in allowing Nero to NP often.

First art card 20% buff chance increase. To minimize the RNG for Nero IP.

Second buster card has 1000HP heal. Its limited to every three turn too but helpful especially if you want to use Nero for solo / last standing.

First buster has 1.5x increase for heal effect. Same reason as above.

Quick card gives her 2+ stars while also heal her from burn/curse/poison. Since Nero guts only gives her 1HP getting rid of such debuff is essential.

Second art gives one of 500HP heal/5+ stars/10% debuff resist. Each effect can be helpful.

First art card heal her for 100HP while getting rid of burn/curse/poison from her. Same reason as Quick.

Second buster gives 10% for each card buff. I give her this so she can complete the trifecta buff (Atk+NP damage+Card).

First buster is 20% damage buff against servants (except star aligned). Since Caster Nero one of main strength is how hard she hit with normal attack I giyce her something to have her hit harder.

this is so late of me oopsie got a bit carried away almost forgot the date. well here we are, december 31st 2022. already touched on your top books of the year, so for this months wrapped lets also get into: books that let you down, books you're anticipating in 2023, and your reading goals! <3

REPORTING TO YOU LIVE FROM THE FINAL HOURS, THE VERY DREGS OF 2022!!! 🎤 i answered this in spurts throughout the day bc I didn’t want to have any hungover 2022 obligations/thoughts seep into 2023 so Apologies if things sound tonally discombobulated (as if I’ve ever been coherent in one of these before) 🫗 i read 9 this month and i willed myself to ramble about them all as a treat HERE WE GO

december reads

Cruising the Movies: A Sexual Guide to "Oldies" on TV by Boyd McDonald

so fun, funny, and unapologetically horny - the perfect trifecta! we need more horny writing/critiques like this! sometimes I’ll write reviews (for my eyes only ofc) for movies that really affect me, but this made me want to get better into the habit of writing them more consistently, even if just glib observations. fine tune my thoughts (horny or not) rather than let them scramble and dissipate into nothingness 💭 starting next year (tomorrow) 🤞

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly Guirgis

I feel like most of this play’s clout is attributed to the “Why didn’t you make me good enough so that you could’ve loved me” line alone (deserved!) but this is also just so funny and creative as a philosophical unpacking of by-the-book religion/christianity + the conundrums/hypocrisies that sustain it

My Life in France by Julia Child

I read this on a train that ended up at a standstill for hours & they handed out these puny bags of chex mix as consolation (I texted my friend “it’s like I’m living Triangle of Sadness rn” lmfao) and had I not been so charmed by Julia’s rosy outlook and dreamy accounts of food and travel and Love, I likely wouldn’t have appreciated the irony of munching on stale pretzels whilst reading indulgent paragraphs of food porn. luckily her charm radiates from her words so my heart was full the entire time and the fact that she didn’t properly learn how to cook (nor had she found True Love™️) until her 30s makes me want to cry/throw up/etc!! moral of the story: it’s literally never too late for anything!!! also PACK SNACKS ON THE TRAIN ALWAYS!!!

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

I wanted to be more annoyed with this bc the most annoying people are like THIS IS A MASTERCLASS IN STORYTELLING.... GENIUS.... but ugh fine this was really enthralling, I unfortunately do get the hype!! in between each chapter/issue were extra tidbits of like (fictional/story-related) police files, news articles, etc that made the world-building that much richer blah blah blah I Appreciate the Details -_- I’m also so fucking glad I read this before watching the movie bc Zack Snyder wouldn’t know subtlety if it spit in his face so all the meticulous detail and backstory from the novel would’ve been completely lost on me </3 big win for the book-before-movie purists

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire

The gift and curse of being an emotionally evolved adult actively processing/grappling with your childhood trauma(s)! so much weight in sentences that don’t rely on pumped-up purple prose or weighty cliché phrases, both of which I wouldn’t have found surprising for a poet of the instagram age. there’s this casual wave-of-the-hand/and-so-it-goes quality, which I think makes it the reckoning that much more heartbreaking

From Drowning in Dawson’s Creek: “When I was twelve or thirteen and mad / with loneliness, I dreamt of white boys and / ladders leading to bedroom windows. / I dreamt all night of their scurrying, climbing in and out of me. / For Pacey Witter I would hitchhike Capeside. / For his plaid embrace, / I was willing to disown myself.”

My Wicked Wicked Ways by Sandra Cisneros

despite my 4 years of public school spanish language classes, I’ve somehow evaded reading The House on Mango Street (which I feel like was a staple in my school district’s curriculum), but I’m kinda glad since this was a treat of an intro to her style. I love how she keeps this kind of youthful, almost childishly petulant tone even when talking about adult things, walking this fine line of bouncy charm and heartbreak

From Drought: “Because of pride / I do not phone. / Not me. / On the contrary / I place the telephone / over there. / Against the wall. / At the far end of the room. / And stare at it for days like cigarettes.”

Is the Rectum a Grave? (and Other Essays) by Leo Bersani

I don’t read nearly as much theory as I wish to so it’s always a feat when I manage to finish a book in its entirety without rage quitting out of brain-fry self-consciousness LOL but this was amazing - strangely right on the nose for a few films I watched this month too (It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives (1971) - perfect companion piece) by no means was this an easy read. had to reread pages a few times, mull over sentences, look up words, etc, but when it did click, it was so rewarding and ultimately worth the brain farts and struggle, which I think is maybe just the theory experience™️

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

this was another book (along with I Love Dick) that I’ve had on my TBR list for ages, both of which I might’ve even heard of through the #ArtGirl side of tumblr years ago lmao but the difference is I adored this one Wow!! there’s a threshold I can stand before a book feels Too reliant on its outside references and thus a little pretentious/void, but everything mentioned here felt more like enriching supplementation rather than unnecessary padding. so honest and empathetic and refreshingly optimistic about motherhood and partnership and the inner-transformations/frames of thinking required for both.... real tears were shed, that’s how u know!

Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance by John Waters

I just saw his live christmas show a couple weeks ago & snagged a signed copy so this was an especially special read! as I read it, I was trying to think of who - if anyone - I’d recommend this to aside from john waters fans. then I thought, would I even like this if I wasn’t a john waters fan, privy to his works and in on his jokes? if I wasn’t able to hear these chapters in his voice, or imagine these scenes shot in his style? but luckily we don’t live in that evil timeline so I had a twisted little blast with this, perfect book to end this chaotic year filled with so very many john-waters-like predicaments!

let downs

initially I had so many more titles but they were mostly just books I felt "meh" about which didn't seem fair so now I'm interpreting this as books I initially had high hopes for but ultimately didn't rise to my expectations

I Love Dick by Chris Kraus, The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay, Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran, In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami, Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

anticipations/goals

I'm a pretty bad #reader in that I don't really keep up with new/upcoming releases unless it's an author I adore/have read several books by there's not much in mind - maybe Elliot Page’s memoir? as for goals, you already know I just got a kindle which has opened this door of possibility as I mostly rely on my library BUT when my library doesn't have a title I’m looking for (which is often), I'll find a PDF/epub online and read either on my phone or laptop which isn't preferable for me SO!! LONG STORY SHORT!! this newfound ease has reignited my motivation to dig into meatier reads that’ve been collecting dust on my TBR list 🥩 I’ve already downloaded a few I’ve been unable to find at the library (& don’t wanna spend a small fortune on) so next year I anticipate reading more theory 📍 one of my movie-watching goals is to delve more thoroughly into filmographies of filmmakers I like, so ideally I’ll do something similar with reading and complete the written works of more authors I enjoy, but IDK I also think a lot my joy of reading comes from the rabbit holes I get led down/thru - this memoir leading me to that fiction leading me to that theory etc etc. we’ll see what kinda discipline I can conjure up 🧘 I'd also like to track down some vintage pulp/erotica, expand my horizons in that realm. last time I was at the used bookshop I came across this 2000s (not vintage ik) gay vampire parody of Fight Club called ‘Bite Club’ which I thought was amazing genius hilarious etc but I haven’t read Fight Club yet so those 2 are like top of my list LMAO

ok jesus christ this is stupid long but i figured i’d indulge for the end of the year, really brain-spew these final ‘22 inner-ramblings and opinions <3 AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!