#2022 favorites

[getawayfox]

OMG it’s already January! I’m so very late to this and I have seen so many wonderful lists, but I very much wanted to make my own, so I did. We are so lucky to be spoiled by so many incredible fics – here are some (in no particular order) that grabbed me by the heart and never let go.

💀 draco malfoy’s substitute murder service by @oknowkiss (Draco/Harry, E, 10k)

I HAVE. NO WORDS. In the best possible way. This fic has to be experienced first-hand. E is an insane genius. That’s it, that’s the rec.

🧑🏼‍🍳 Make This Leap by @oflights (Draco/Harry, M, 118k)

Competent Draco and disaster Harry my beloved! This fic is so sweet and lovely and I want to live in it forever.

📩 Per my last letter (I hope you choke on it) by @fluxweeed, @lastontheboat (Draco/Harry, T, 10k)

I laughed SO much reading this! It went straight into the bookmarks and I visit it every so often when I need a pick-me-up. And I swear I discover some new clever detail every time I do! Delightful, hilarious, perfect.

🐥 Robin’s Flufftober 2022 by @rockingrobin69 (Draco/Harry, M, 17,5k)

October was my favourite month because every day we got a dose of soft soft Robin sweetness - a moment of peace and safety every time her name popped on tumblr dashboard. I protect this collection in my bookmarks like the treasure it is.

❣️ Draco Malfory Absolutely Does Not Need to Be Loved by Harry Bloody Potter by @nv-md (Draco/Harry, E, 18k)

Draco’s voice in this fic! From the very first sentence (no, from the title!) I knew I was in the right hands. What a treat!

🛁 Rubber Drakey by @crazybutgood (Draco/Harry, T, comic)

This fic is an utter delight, creative and clever, adorable and laugh-out-loud funny. This is Draco in his cutest form!

🌞 Look For Me In the Sun by @wolfpants (Draco/Harry, M, 9k)

Obviously a wolfpants fic had to be on this list but which one? *points at the whole catalogue* There is no way to go wrong there, what a year they had! I think I have screamed most about Pages of you (the number of times AO3 tells me I visited that one is embarrassing), Romp and Circumstance, and The Hollow (yes these are links, what of it, no it’s not cheating), so I’m going mention another favourite: Look For Me In The Sun, gorgeously atmospheric, achy, stunningly written.

🦦 Kept in Cages by @sweet-s0rr0w and @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm (Draco/Harry, E, 77k)

This has got to be THE fic this year for me. It’s fitting, because last year it was Nor All That Glisters, which got me into the drarry fandom properly, so of course it’s Sweet who just casually swoops in with another banger that won’t leave my brain, accompanied by the most incredible Joy art. I think this fic had me already at the tags but I was not ready for everything there is to love about the story - it’s impossible to do it justice in just a few short sentences, but if you haven't read it yet, it should be on your list for sure.

💍 Paper Rings by @lettersbyelise (Draco/Harry, E, 50k)

OTP: inevitable. Two timelines, both so exquisitely delivered: eighth-year drarry and grown-up drarry, both times so different and wholesome. This story is everything I love: nuanced, funny, full of pining and history.

🌙 Take the Moon by @tackytigerfic (Draco/Harry, M, 15k)

This fic grabbed me and squeezed, and I don’t think I’ve been able to catch my breath since. I’m actually lost for words here because the story makes me feel so much but I haven’t been able to name it yet and maybe that’s okay. It’s the Tacky way of reaching deep down into my feelings and letting me sit with them.

🍋 Preserving Lemons by @saintgarbanzo and @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm (Draco/Harry, E, 17k)

I think this might be the only time I managed to guess the author when this was still anon (and, well. The genius artist too). Such intimacy and longing, gorgeous food and so many layers to the story.

🌼 He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by @sleepstxtic (Draco/Harry, Draco/Astoria, T, 5k)

I know that the infidelity tag might put some people off, but this is a stunningly written (devastating) Astoria PoV that absolutely clawed at my heart in the best possible way.

🍎 The Wrong Sort by @vukovich (Draco/Harry, not rated)

This fic makes me want to scream even though Vuk came back with a second part that patched up my broken heart. “I didn’t know how else to keep it” will forever be etched into my eyelids. Thank you, Vuk.

🥂 Nights With You by @the-sinking-ship (Draco/Harry, E, WIP)

Technically, this counts because Sly started posting in Dec and I’m obsessed! Flirting! Banter! Oblivious Draco! *screams*

[filmografie]

Favorite films of 2022:

Hive, dir. Blerta Basholli

Great Freedom, dir. Sebastian Meise

The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft, dir. Werner Herzog

TÁR, dir. Todd Fields

What Do We See When We Look At The Sky?, dir. Alexandre Koberidze

The Eternal Daughter, dir. Joanna Hogg

One Fine Morning, dir. Mia Hansen-Løve

Nothing Compares, dir. Kathryn Ferguson

Aftersun, dir. Charlotte Wells

Decision to Leave, dir. Park Chan-wook

[scuddish]

DOMHNALL GLEESON as ANDREW HENRY THE REVENANT 2015 | dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu

[gerec]

Gerec’s Favorite Fics - 2022

It's that time of year again = go read these lovely fics and ring in the New Year!!!

Reminded Me of Brighter Days by emperors_girl 

There on his welcome mat is a brown long-handled basket with a bundle of blankets inside. The basket gurgles at him. Then it begins to cry.

No Three-to-Five, You’re Doing Life by brawlingdiscontent

Charles gets revenge. The third and final installment (though it should also stand on its own). Charles and Erik take their kinky and dysfunctional sex life to an all new level. 

twilight by ikeracity, specficslut (homosociality)

"Volatility was a chemical property. Erik remembered Mrs. Berkowitz saying, with the rhythm of a chant, volatility was how likely a substance was to mist into air, and that was how he felt now, like he could dissolve into nothing at any moment, unless he fucked Charles so hard his eyes spun back in his head."

For someone who kills monsters for a living, Erik is irrationally conflicted about the monster in his bed.

Mr & Mr Eisenhardt by faerie_ground

Charles Haller and Erik Eisenhardt meet at a bar, fall in love, and get married. Neither of them know that the other is an assassin working for a rival agency- but they're about to find out real soon.

a traditional courtship by Helenish

Maybe it’s even a game between them; he catches Charles often enough, watching him, curious, bemused. He lets it go further than he would, otherwise.

i worry that love is violence by intentation (WIP)

Seven years ago, Erik Lehnsherr vanished from a college bar after a night out. The investigation into his disappearance was brief and inconclusive, and his file was eventually shelved as a cold case.

Seven years later, an MIS raid on the home of one Sebastian Shaw reveals the truth: Erik Lehnsherr had been kidnapped, imprisoned in a cellar, and kept as a sex slave for seven years.

Now, in the aftermath of Shaw's arrest, Erik is confronted with the cold reality of his freedom. His burgeoning relationship with MIS agent Charles Xavier may save him--or destroy them both.

Feeding the idea of you, leaving me starving by hllfire

Apocalypse won, and Charles Xavier's body and power is his to take over the world and build a new one from its ashes, but Erik isn't sure if Charles is completely gone or not.

What We Inherit by populuxe

Ever since David came to live with his father, their relationship has been polite but distant: his father is always working, and David still sort of thinks of him as Charles Xavier, The World’s Most Famous Telepath, a larger-than-life figure he first saw on television five years ago.

But when the grandmother David never knew existed calls and demands to meet her grandson, a harrowing weekend trip reveals how much he and his father don’t know about each other—and alters things between them in ways he never would have predicted.

Unlived Histories (The Double Vision Remix) by populuxe

When he was a boy, a man visited Erik and his mother and helped them escape before the war. Years later, Erik finally learns the man’s identity—but the truth is far more complicated than he ever could have imagined.

Erik’s Flawless Minivan (Terrible Hanukkah Sweaters and Other Life Challenges Remix) by winter_hiems

Erik has two main goals when it comes to his kids’ school: making other parents jealous with how smooth his car runs, and teaming up with Gabrielle Haller to yell at teachers for not respecting their kids’ mutant and Jewish identities.

And then Gabrielle’s ex comes to town. And he’s very attractive.

unconventional by ikeracity

Ten years ago, Charles and Erik co-starred on the explosively popular animated show Greenkeep, where they first earned their big breaks — and where they fell in love. Now, at a cast reunion a decade later, they've made careful, PR-vetted plans to reveal their relationship to the fans with minimal fuss.

Of course — easier said than done.

pale, then enkindled (The Don't Read the Retweets Remix) by midrashic

The animated kids' show that brought Charles and Erik together gets a live-action reboot.

On the CW.

some like it sweet by ikeracity

He's just your sugar daddy, Erik reminds himself every day. You can't be in love with him.

Erik's got it all figured out—a delightful roommate, regular sex, his textbooks paid for. Except for the way his heart goes haywire whenever his sugar daddy is around.

scandal of the century by joshriku

The headline reads:

STEAMY SEX TAPE BETWEEN MAGNETO AND PROFESSOR X LEAKED!

“All right,” Charles says. “I wouldn’t call it steamy, you know, that’s an exaggeration.”

“That is seriously not the point, Professor,” Jean answers.

(A sex tape is leaked. PR crisis ensues).

how near to fairyland by ikeracity for hllfire

Since childhood, Charles has kept all the things he can't let go of in a beautiful room in his head. Cuba brings his precarious balancing act crashing down.

to put the world between us by populuxe

Erik Lehnsherr is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood: fresh off an Academy Award nomination, he’s about to star in HBO’s most anticipated show of the year. And even though online chatter about his recent string of queer roles keeps getting louder, his personal life remains personal—just as it always has, and just as his manager and publicist continue to advise.

But when he winds up at the same wedding as his college best friend, Charles Xavier—and when they quickly fall into bed together—he’s forced to revisit the past he’s been trying to get away from for years. The pull between them has always been magnetic, but so has the weight of secrecy. Can they keep from repeating the same mistakes, or will the price of the truth be too high?

[iridisscentt]

Favorite films watched in November 2022:

As Bestas (2022), dir. Rodrigo Sorogoyen

Aftersun (2022), dir. Charlotte Wells

Santoalla (2016), dir. Andrew Becker & Daniel Mehrer

Emily (2022), dir. Frances O'Connor

Close (2022), dir. Lukas Dhont

[frenchygv]

I decided to paint my fave books from last year just for fun and now I want to do it every year and for years past.

[literatureaesthetic]

my top 3 films of 2022!! bladerunner 2049 is now my new favourite of all time, and i'm never gonna stop talking about it (sorry in advance) — my full 2022 list!!

[sleepy-monochrome-prince]

2022 Favorite Manga

It was generally an odd year for me in terms of reading manga. For several months I just had no desire to read anything. I’m sure it was due to depression (2022 started off...rough). I got a second wind around October so most of these I actually read just in the past three months.

Sayonara Sorcier by Hozumi (2012)

Astral Project - Tsuki no Hikari by Takeya Shuji & marginal (2005)

SHY by Miki Bukimi (2019)

Hinomaru Zumou by Kawada (2014)

Darwin’s Game (2012)

Change the World (2018)

Batman Justice Buster (2020)

Wind Breaker (2021)

Prison Hearts (2015)

My Home Hero (2017)

[o-the-mts]

2022 Year in Review: Favorite Songs

2022 Year in Review: Favorite Songs

Following up on my Song of the Week posts all year long, below are my 20 favorite songs of 2022! If that’s not enough, check out the Tidal and Spotify playlists with 51 smashing songs of the year. https://listen.tidal.com/playlist/3851ab49-6894-419d-94f4-30f391cab05f   The songs are arranged alphabetically with only one song per artist! “Blue is the Eye” by Ye Vagabonds “Cheetah” by Jay-Jay…

[kashilascorner]

2022 FAVORITES, part 2

see my other favorites of the year here

TV (anime)

1. Mob psycho 100 (seasons 1 to 3)

GIF by squirrelstothenuts

2. Showa genroku rakugo shinju [aka Descending Stories] (season 1)

GIF by muppethole

3. Kaguya-sama: love is war (season 2 & 3)

GIF by noisylovepatrol

4. Paradise kiss (season 1)

6. Given (season 1)

7. Akatsuki no yona [aka Yona of the Dawn] (season 1 + ovas)

8. O maidens in your savage season (season 1)

9. Castlevania (seasons 2 to 4)

10. Lupin III part 4

Mention: Arcane (season 1), Bloom into you (season 1), Ayakashi: samurai horror tales (season 1), Cyberpunk: edgerunners (season 1), Urusei Yatsura All Stars (season 1; still airing), Batman beyond (seasons 1 to 3), Dragon Age: absolution (season 1), Chainsaw man (season 1)

TV (live action)

I only watched a handful of live-action shows, from which my favorites were

Derry girls (season 3)

2. Star Trek: the original series (season 2)

3. What we do in the shadows (season 4)

Special mention: The last dance (2020)

[filmografie]

Favorite films watched in November 2022:

Felicia’s Journey (1999), dir. Atom Egoyan

The Garden of Delights (1970), dir. Carlos Saura

Nothing Compares (2022), dir. Kathryn Ferguson

Pollock (2000), dir. Ed Harris

Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), dir. Richard Attenborough

[scuddish]

OWEN TEAGUE as ALEC I SEE YOU 2019 | dir. Adam Randall

[iridisscentt]

Favorite films watched in December 2022:

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), dir. Martin McDonagh

The Night of the 12th (2022), dir. Dominik Moll

A Cure for Wellness (2022), dir. Gore Verbinski

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022), dir. Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson

[gozdziak]

I read 51 books in 2022. These are my favorites. I read The White Book by Han Kang both in English and Polish translation. Both were exquisite. Han Kang wrote the book while on scholarship in Poland!

[madeofcc]

Number 12!

Thanks a lot Laura for this ask :)

12/ Talk about a new friend you made this year !

I'll try to be short but I met a lot of new amazing people this year, and it's because of one coworker I met in my last job. She's basically like the sister I always wanted to have, she's gemini as well so we kinda understand each others perfectly and can jump from one idea to another so easily it's scary ^^ We also bounded pretty quickly which is rare for me, and I know I can count on her already if I ever feel down. Typically the kind of friend you need in your life to remind you how awesome life can be :)

[thegirlwiththelilactattoo]

no. 2, or some of my favorite things of 2022

Uh oh, did I say I was gonna blog weekly and now it's been 4 months? My bad!

In the time since I last posted I: started writing my diss/was told to stop writing my diss to do data analysis, completed fieldwork, added another member to my committee, and got accepted to two conferences. This is sweeping over a lot of things that sucked a lot and I'll need to talk about in therapy for the next 5 or so years, but that's grad school, babes. All in all it's been an incredibly stressful semester. I am really looking forward to having a restful break in December focusing on writing a chapter in December!

I also decided to turn this into a catch all blog for My Thoughts outside of academic things! And since it's the end of the year, I'm doing a lil favorite things of 2022.

Various Academic Things

Data analysis: I looked at other qualitative data softwares and chose to use ATLAS.ti for my dissertation. I am a...let's just say neurodivergent person and ATLAS.ti was the most aesthetically pleasing and intuitive software for me. It has a ton of features and data analysis capabilities, most of which I've barely used, but the ones I've tried have been useful.

Writing: I'm basic. I use Scrivener. It confuses me. I don't know if I recommend it.

Scheduling: I highly recommend Calendly. I should have used it from the jump to schedule dissertation interviews instead of going back and forth over email with my interlocutors. Now that I'm done with interviews, I use Calendly for students to schedule office hours appts. I like the Zoom and calendar integration, so once the link is sent, it's very hands off on my end.

Coworking: Re: the whole neurodivergence thing, coworking has been a real boon for me. My friend and I have a standing cowork session on Friday and it's been a great time for us to catch up and suffer through school stuff together. We keep each other accountable during our lil pomodoros and I miraculously get work done.

Going to the Writing Center??? I recently started going to my school's writing center for feedback on my applications and it's been so helpful.

Music

Beyoncé Gisele Knowles has run my life this year. "Renaissance" is the best album of 2022. I've also been running up "Currents" by Tame Impala for the entirety of this year and I don't see that changing in 2023.

Honorable Mentions: "Running Away" by VANO3000, "Them Changes" by Thundercat, "Eastside" by DAISY (RIP to such a good band)

Playlists I've Been Loving: roslyn rainy day kinda vibe, sad girl starter pack

Shows/Movies

Depression has sort of ruined my ability to consume visual media. And for the better part of the last decade, I have enjoyed and perhaps made it "a personality" to watch bad movies. I noticed this year that I became afraid (in a sense) to let myself watch movies that were good. It's a weird thing. My goal for next year is to get comfortable watching things that are good. I want to watch movies that make me feel something instead of solely engaging with a film because it's awful. That just doesn't speak to me anymore as a fulfilling way of being in the world.

At any rate, the most impactful movie I saw this year was Everything Everywhere All At Once. I saw this movie four times in the theatre and each time I got something new from it. It made me cry and laugh and feel like I could try to hope in a life that often feels meaningless.

Honorable Mentions: Bram Stokers Dracula dir. Francis Ford Coppola, The Batman dir. Matt Reeves, The Menu dir. Mark Mylod

Recipes

I have been LOVING this Kale Walnut Salad from frommybowl. It's super easy to make, refreshing, and is perfect to take advantage of really good apples.

Honorable Mentions: I've gotten rave reviews on this pumpkin bread.

Beauty/Aesthetics

This past year, I have finally mastered the wash and go. I used to be a twists girlie, but wash and gos last longer and look better on my hair. I think my hair is also the healthiest it's ever been. It's hard to pick a single product that I've loved the most for my hair, but the duo supreme is: Uncle Funky's Daughter Curly Magic and Innersense I Create Hold for a perfect wash and go every time.

Honorable Mentions: Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Crush Cheirosa 71 Perfume Mist, elf Brow Lift, ILIA The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette in Warm Nude

I think that's everything???? Sadly, I have read nary a book for leisure, but that's something for future me to ruminate on. I hope this was moderately interesting and I will try!!! to not take 4 months to post another thing :)