#2023 roundup

[ladytabletop]

Game Roundup 2023: Part 3

Trying to squeeze in a couple more posts on this, but no promises! This one is going to have a laundry list at the bottom that I'm not going to give more detail on bc I lack time.

Bug Dish: Amuse Bouche by Ryan Khan

I cannot WAIT for the full version of this! Play as tiny bug chefs by collecting ingredients, making dishes, and serving customers!

HUNT by GilaRPGs

This one is one I picked up at GenCon. Play as an order of doomed knights hunting a beast. Uses the LUMEN 2.0 diceless system and grid-based combat, and it's a self-enclosed single session.

Our Haunt by Rae Nedjadi

Another delightful Belonging Outside Belonging game by @temporalhiccup! This one has the potential for a lot of poignancy or a lot of hijinks. Play as ghosts haunting a house.

Eyes on the Prize by Ira Prince

This may be my favorite game of the year, hands down. Play as a fake married couple trying to carry out a scheme! Try not to fall in love!

APOCALYPSE FRAME by @binarystargames

This mecha game is the right amount of crunch for me to play long-term (which i to say, less crunchy than Lancere and Beam Saber). It makes use of LUMEN to create a super tight, fast-paced game of mech combat.

Other stuff I've read that I'm not going to elaborate on at this time:

House Spirit

To keep ghosts alive

Our Farm Becomes the Battlefield

Apocalypse, Wow

Keepers of the Cards

Definitely Wizards

Neon Sundown

Death Sentence

Phanta

The Queen Returns

house

Tavern at the End of the World

MirrorMoon

Forecaster: The Body You Share

i want your bite

Our Love Can't Save The World

Love by the Quarter Mile

Dragonhearts

your body, an altar

Subway Runners

Part 1 | Part 2

[lurkingteapot]

2023 post round-up/summary

Lovely @twig-tea tagged me here, so I'll try my hand.

I'd abandoned tumblr for about 4? 5? years 2016ish through 2020, had a short stint with it again in 2020, took peeks and vehemently disagreed with much of what I saw in 2021-2022, and grudgingly settled back in in 2023. I wasn't going to interact. I wasn't.

Jan-April: *crickets* I was being strong!

Then, I saw people moaning about how they'd learn Thai if only it was on Duolingo, and you know how spite can be funnelled into positivity? I did that! Result:

May

Popular: Free Thai Language Learning Resources, most popular by a landslide. This pleases me greatly, as I put a lot of work into it and always hope more people start picking up this language.

Favourite: maybe my thoughts on Ming, piggybacking off @kenmakaashi's post?

June

Popular: my musings on translation and how it relates to fannish reception of media, which was my most popular post of the year and 'broke containment', if only in a very small way. Some of the additions in the tags and reblogs are fantastic, do go have a look if you like!

Favourite: toss-up between my attempt at showing a parallel between a silly moment in Our Skyy 2 x BBS and a scrapped shot from BBS proper and this rant about Romanisations of Thai and why G**gle translate is the devil (that bit is in the conversation downthread), which let me meet @plantsarepeopletoo.

July

Popular: Summary of James Welker's 2006 essay "Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: “Boys’ Love” as Girls’ Love in Shōjo Manga"

Favourite: the offerings are slim here … let's go with the one in which I once more was salty about the way folks talk about BL

August

Popular: Only Friends' Ray isn't just The Drunkard, but also The One Who's basically Given Up On Himself, as per his title card (this one was so popular it got stolen and reposted – without credit or permission – to twitter 🙃)

Favourite: Thinking about Drama, the Romance genre, and tropes, and how those relate to our perception of BL (good additions from various folks in the notes; conversation with @visualtaehyun in reblogs and @twig-tea in the replies).

September

Popular: IFYLITA Ep 6 poem context notes

Favourite: toss-up between complaining about badly machine translated content in Love in Translation and musing on the name of Khun Yai's favourite bar

October

Popular: my long-winded answer to @zimmbzon's ask "Hi, how would a non-binary person (me) get around the binary gender rules and vocab in Thai?"

Favourite: uhhh … maybe my musings on honorific translations in kimi ni wa todokanai? (yes, technically a reblog from sideblog, shh)

November

Popular: most popular was this throwaway therapy vent containing food for thought and while I guess this meme is mostly fannish I'm linking it anyway because it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to (or something)

Favourite: when I called out the resemblance between the Last Twilight trailer and Intouchables (2011). Literally no one cared, but then @my-rose-tinted-glasses independently came in strong with receipts as soon as the actual first episode aired and made me feel validated af.

December

Popular: Why I'm pretty sure Last Twilight's "fried rice/false rice" joke was funnier in Thai

Favourite: the saga of the songs in Ep 4 of Last Twilight

I didn't do any round-up posts, but I'll include the other category @twig-tea added:

Five other posts that I want to highlight because I can:

BL Favourites Tag Game (July 2023)

Link to fujoshi.info with information on WHY you should check out that site if you're interested in having an informed opinion on BL and the genre's history.

contemporary issues in Thailand as mentioned in Only Friends ep 1

Thoughts on code-switching in Step by Step

Reply to @mynameisnotthepoint's comment-via-ask on my anti viki rant

I'm not going to tag anyone because I'm completely lost – I was mostly off tumblr for nearly three weeks; if you made a post like this you'd like me to see, please link me/tag me! <3

[cyprinella]

Quilting (and other crafts) round up: I finished six quilts from start to finish this year. I've got three unfinished tops, finally put a binding on one I quilted in 2022, made something like 100 bird toys, and two ties, one of which was silk and a GIANT pain in the ass. Kudos to people who work with silk on the regular. It sucks to sew.

[doctorhelena]

Doctorhelena's 2023 Fanfic/Fanart Roundup

It’s that time of year again! Here is my annual fanfic/fanart roundup. (And here are the 2018,  2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 versions!)

This year I posted:

4 different stories, with a total of 41,964 words 

8 different pieces of fanart (including one that was actually four separate drawings grouped together)

and 1 - other thing. A graphic, I guess! 😂

Fanfic:

1. Until Then (We'll Have to Muddle Through, Somehow)  (Peggy Carter / Steve Rogers) - 24586 words Five times Peggy and Steve carved out small moments of happiness, and one time they didn't have to.

2. Hopelessly Stuck on You  (Peggy Carter / Steve Rogers) - 4234 words Peggy's attempt to distract Steve after a difficult mission doesn't go quite as planned.

3. Sweet Dreams  (Peggy Carter / Steve Rogers) - 4305 words The Howling Commandos place a little bet about Peggy's knockout lipstick.

4. A Stutter in Time, chapters 16 and 17 (Peggy Carter / Steve Rogers) - 8839 words (in these two chapters) 1945 Peggy Carter appears in Tony Stark’s lab, and immediately throws a wrench into everything.

Fanart:

1. Valentine's Day, 1950 (Steggy) A valentine from Steve to Peggy

2. Just one of the ways they like to get sweaty together (Steggy) Peggy and Steve working out at the boxing gym.

3. “Happy 102nd (or possibly 104th) birthday, Peggy!” (Steggy) Steve pops out of a cake, with Live Peggy Reaction.

4. A stolen moment (Steggy) Peggy and Steve kissing behind the stage after the rescue of the 107th.

5. Married Superhero Problem #4 (Steggy) Accidentally bringing each other's shields to work.

6. Going to a Halloween party at Tony and Pepper's Mojo Dojo Casa House (Steggy, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff) The Cap Quintet goes Barbie-themed this Halloween.

7.  An autumn walk (Steggy) What it says on the tin. Post-Endgame (or Steve never crashed).

8. Welcome 1950 (Steggy) Peggy and Steve on a New Year's Eve date.

Other:

1. Shared Life Experiences (Steggy) A few of Peggy and Steve’s less-often-remarked-upon shared life experiences.

[doodlingfoolishness]

Artist vs. art 2023 - Star Wars and non-fanart editions 💜

[themazewomen]

the maze women 2023 roundup:

oh, what a wonderful two months of maze women content we’ve had! it’s been incredible to see how many people got involved with the event and maybe even created wlw content for the very first time… you all did an amazing job, and i hope it won’t stop here.

women in the maze runner may be few and far between, but there certainly wasn’t any lack in content these past two months. let’s take a look at how we did 💗🤍

an incredible 18 of you contributed to the event!

and between you all, we had 67 new creations made!

to break that down, we had:

34 new fics, drabbles, and snippets. these totalled up to 35,354 words! find the ao3 collection here.

24 new edits, moodboards, gifs, outfits & playlists!

9 new pieces of fanart!

and now for our winners!

a massive congratulations and huge thank you to our full board winner and #themazewomen2023 champion:

@itsthemxze!

molly, you did an incredible job fulfilling every single prompt & giving us so much new wonderful content to enjoy. thank you for helping to keep the maze women spirit alive!

congratulations to our other amazing bingo winners:

@thominho-incorrectquotes

@newtswonderland (me!)

@subjecta5theglue

@newtedison

*round of applause* you can all be extremely proud of your achievements, thank you for all your contributions!

and of course a big thank you to everyone who participated, whether it was 1 creation or 25! seeing all the wonderful things you created has been an absolute joy. we now have a whole new lot of wlw maze runner content because of all of you 💗🤍

here’s to women & the wlw’s! 🥂

special thanks to tea (@its-tea-time-darling) for all the event-running advice, and to laura (@azura-bookclub) for all the moral support. this event wouldn’t have happened without both of you!

— alice (aka newtswonderland)

[ani-coolgirl]

2023 Writing Roundup

I was poking around my stats page on AO3 and thought it might be cool to do a little yearly roundup for 2023.

My longest fic last year was my Wincest Reverse Big Bang entry Disobedience with 14,321 words! It's season 2 AU where Dean dies in Cold Oak instead of Sam. The gorgeous original art that inspired me was done by @yoannspn.

My most popular fic was 008 - cheeky, an early entry in my Every First Time series. As of this posting, it has 4,133 hits, 366 kudos, and 36 bookmarks! That's impressive for a silly fic about spanking!

However, a special shout out goes to What You're Looking For, a sad Dean Jr. POV one-shot written for the Wincest Wednesdays prompt "lost." It currently has the most comments of my 2023 fics, sitting at 26 comments! I'm proud to make so many people tear up, and I know it made the rounds on Tumblr as well.

So, what were your favorite works of mine from this past year? Which Every First Time entries you're looking forward to? Any challenges you think I should participate in? Let me know!

[alyssalenko]

2023 Year-End Fic Round-up

I was tagged by @pikapeppa and @illusivesoul for this one! You guys are the best! thanks for thinking of me!

Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!): Published: 27,845 & in WIPs: 4,282

Smut scenes written (if applicable): 12 distinct smut scenes

New things I tried: Oooh. I wrote a full-on sexy spanking scene in Bossy, and a werewolf half transforming during sex, both of those were really fun and challenging. I also wrote a pegging scene for the first time ever

Fic I spent the most time on: Well, I did get the next chapter of Curious up, which was 7 years in the making, but other than that I would say Omega's Greatest ASSet because I'd never written pegging in my life and it took me some time to get it right.

Fic I spent the least time on: Shame on Me. I knocked it out in five days because I was inspired and had a deadline 😆

Favourite thing I wrote: besides the above mentioned werewolf scene definitely A Dose of Vitamin Me--the smut was super hot if I do say say so myself 😉

Favourite thing I read: I didn't read much last year because I did 6 exchanges one right after the other 3 of which I had two assignments each. And then BG3 released August 3rd...but In Amber by @underdark-dreams because the BG3 chokehold is strong. As well as The Naughty List by @vorchagirl because a little Shenko silliness was just what the doctor ordered to recover.

Writing goals for next year: the same as last year. Get through some WIPs and try some new smut scenes ;)

I will tag: @randomlygeneratedstring @kittynomsdeplume @wickedwitchofthewilds @commander-krios @hazelestelle @spacebunshep @cr-noble-writes and anyone else who wants to play!

[selkiefinalist]

2023 (Writing) Year in Review

y’all it feels weird to throw this together because a.) it’s been 84 years and b.) who cares BUT it’s an old practice and i’m doing it, so:

after two years of not getting anything across the finish line, i wrote, finished, and posted things this year! 79,110 words worth of things, according to ao3!! plus i got to break a bunch of new pairings which is always satisfying, and i created a not-very-secret sideblog to write some lil tumblr fics when the mood strikes, which is not very often lol

maybe so (and maybe not) - newhook/nieto, 5k, E. this one came into being only because my partner in life told me i should start writing again and just write small things to ease back into it and oh, also, should write something featuring newy and nietsy that also featured the phrase “no ******* on the ‘stache” and if there’s one thing in life i like to do, it’s meet people’s expectations, so. that’s what happened.

made up - manson/macdermid, 13k, E. welp, this one just straight-up filled me with delight from concept to execution. it’s flawed in lots of ways i am sure but i do think my sweet spot in writing is probably that 15k-25k zone. that length gives me enough rope to work with but not so much that i cat’s cradle myself into knots with it, and is a realistic length to crank some stuff out in the limited time i have for writing these days and not feel too bad about it.

every new shade of green - ej/nate, 57k, E. ohhh the writing of this was so hard, which honestly i knew was my own fault because i wanted to do something hard. and i did it! and it’s done! there are a few pairings in my fandom history that really just do one over on me and this is one of them, and i think navigating the importance of the pairing itself with the length of the fic and what i wanted to accomplish with it as well as who it was gifted to is what made it so difficult. anyway you should all read it and validate my suffering.

one closed eye - macdonald/renouf, 2k, E(ish), alien au. wherein i circle back to the plan from earlier in the year and just write a small thing. is there anything more romantic in two call-ups finding love in a hopeless place, and one being immediately traded at the end of the season? they were so in love. jmac come back to us.

never (gritty) enough - gritty/nj devil, gritty/sanny, 1k, E, idk. i amused myself greatly with this concept yesterday after that one post circulated on my dash, wrote it fueled by exercise endorphins and then posted it fueled by late night, who cares? endorphins, it is perfect and beautiful in every way and also i am a genius

also created my first fest! very low-stakes low-participation but felt good to give back to fandom in a different way, i have always done best writing for fests because i love a deadline and hate letting people down. it’s still not too late to finish your stuff - prompts are available.

[burtonsdoodles]

2023, A year of Newsies Doodling…

My goal at the start of 2023 was to try do something creative every week so I didn’t lose touch with that part of me… I honestly think I wouldn’t have managed to achieve that goal if it wasn’t for the inspiration Newsies has given me this year - it kept me creating and it’s helped me grow in ways I never imagined… I am so very grateful for this show and can’t wait for news of its return to come this year! 🗞️

And to those who have been kind enough to support my little doodle shop this year, I want to say a massive THANK YOU! Your support has meant the absolute world to me and made 2023 into a pretty incredible year. I’d never have imagined it turning out the way it has and that’s thanks to all of you - whether that’s through buying something, or liking or sharing on socials - it is all so so appreciated and I’m immensely grateful! 🥰 So… thank you thank you thank you thank you!! You’re the best! 🫶🫶🫶

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE, here to whatever 2024 might bring! 🎉

[amazonmandy]

2023 Cosplay Roundup! I got more done than I thought this year! I thought about doing a roundup for commissions, but there are dozens so nah.

[bisexualchrissycunningham]

📚 my year in books 📚

my personal best of.. general nonfiction

Evan Ross Katz, Into Every Generation... Danielle Deillinger, The Secret History of Home Economics

my personal best of.. nonfiction graphic novels

Art Spiegelman, Maus Kate Beaton, Ducks Joe Sacco, Footnotes in Gaza

my personal best of.. fantasy, young adult & romance

Alix E. Harrow, The Once and Future Witches Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries Kerstin Gier, A Castle in the Clouds Emily Henry, Happy Place Evie Dunmore, Bringing Down the Duke

my personal best of.. literary fiction

Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea Susanna Clarke, Piranesi Katy Hays, The Cloisters

my personal best of.. thrillers, mysteries & horror

Julia Bartz, The Writing Retreat Jesse Q. Sutanto, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers T. Kingfisher, What Moves the Dead Richard Osman, The Man Who Died Twice

honorary mentions

Bridget Collins, The Binding Katherine Arden, The Bear & the Nightingale Matt Haig, The Midnight Library Ava Reid, Juniper & Thorn Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman P. Djeli Clark, The Haunting of Tram Car 015

[jadelotusflower]

Stargate rewatch: Season 1

1x01: Children of the Gods

1x02: The Enemy Within

1x03: Emancipation

1x04: The Broca Divide

1x05: The First Commandment

1x06: Cold Lazarus

1x07: The Nox

1x08: Brief Candle

1x09: Thor's Hammer

1x10: The Torment of Tantalus

1x11: Bloodlines

1x12: Fire and Water

1x13: Hathor

1x14: Singularity

1x15: Cor-Ai

1x16: Enigma

1 x17: Solitudes

1x18: Tin Man

1x19: There but for the Grace of God

1x20: Politics

1x 21: Within the Serpent's Grasp

[vawsculturecorner]

My Musical 2023: Musings by a girl who can't stop getting high and tweeting.

PART 1: People don't know what "A weak year for Music" means.

End of year time chat - you know what that means, everybody and their mother wants to tell you what the best, most valuable per minute piece of funny sound waves was in the year of our lord 2023. Cynicism aside, I like year-end lists! Despite my immense disdain for attributing any form of hierarchy to art, they are good fun to put together when we throw out any notions of objectivity. It's a way to preach how much we love something by measuring it against other things that we love.

Attempting to not be brazenly hypocritical, I’ve taken a “Mic the Snare” approach and grouped albums together under categories that make some sense to me and probably none to you. The hope is that if you like one thing on this list, you find something similar that you haven’t heard to try. The ultimate takeaway I want people to have after reading is “fuck I should listen to this aye”.

I am nowhere near a skilled enough writer (or observer, frankly) to make meaningful commentary on everything (or anything depending on who you ask). For the sake of brevity and our collective sanity I’m only going over the standout stuff from this year, my absolute favourites and whatever else I deem relevant/vaguely amusing. Consider anything mentioned here to be an album that I think of positively. If I don’t include it here, I didn’t hear it or I forgot because unbeknownst to you I am capable of making mistakes. If I don’t go into depth on something, assume I love it but I possess insufficient skill to do it justice/not quite obsessed enough with it to make an ass of myself trying

Herculean Hip-Hop

Goyard Comin': Exordium - Goyard Ibn Said Y'all gotta stop annoying the shit out of my man on Twitter and let him make his music. Yes, the artist who you may know as Ghais Guevara has put out some high-quality conscious hip-hop but man's also makes fucking bangers. To quote the album, you can't even go a yard without collapsing - hit the gym and bump tracks like Blood on My Grails whilst you are there. Faith is a Rock - MIKE x Wiki x The Alchemist MIKE, Wiki and Uncle Al link up for my favourite Alchemist-produced project of the year. Bleeding New York to the bone, this intergenerational meetup runs seamlessly across its brief runtime with the signature Alchemist production and intricately spun lyrics from MIKE and Wiki. Listen to Be Realistic.

Voir Dire - Earl Sweatshirt x The Alchemist Whilst we are talking about Alchemist, his long-awaited collaboration with Earl Sweatshirt is another solid addition to his discography. You really can’t go wrong with these two, and I feel like Alc’s beat really lend visibility to Earl’s pen and avoids intrusion, providing a clearer spotlight to the labyrinth of Earl's rapping. Undoubtedly My Brother, The Wind and 27 Braids are the two tracks I find the heaviest hitting.

14K Figaro - Wiki x Tony Seltzer Wiki had a fucking year hey - of his releases this is pretty handily my favourite, with Tony Seltzer's more digital production adding a “vintage in the modern” feeling with more synthetic sounds and beats contrasted with naturalistic and lively rhythms. Goes without saying that Wiki brings his A-Game to the mic as well. Fried Ice Cream would be my go-to track for the project.

Notorious Dump Legends 2 - Mach-Hommy x Tha God Fahim You really thought Hommy wouldn’t be here? Mach-Hommy and Tha God Fahim link up again, the legendary duo delivering on what they do best. A great appetizer before RAH next year - check out lead single Olajuwon. Glockoma 2 - Key Glock This album was my introduction to Key Glock and it is just a mixtape-style project packed with murky southern bangers. His deep, rolling delivery lends himself to a broad span of topics and emotions whilst maintaining a cold-blooded bluntness that is as cool as it is compelling. Sucker-free got an immense amount of play in the car this year. The Estate Sale - Tyler, the Creator. Hear me out - I know this is much smaller than CMIYGL and sure that album is tighter because it's more fleshed out, but on purely a song-for-song basis? I think I prefer these songs. In a decade where Tyler has released his best music yet, tracks like Dogtooth and Wharf are some of the strongest showings in his catalogue so far. Sorry not Sorry is also his best closing track period.

Soul of Too Birdz - Too Birdz Too Birdz defy genre in a blistering kaleidoscope of jagged noises and sounds that are increasingly difficult to pin down or label. All the better for it, Soul of Too Birdz introduces a cavalcade of phantasmic futurism to Australian music that mesmerizes the mind as the group's lyrical mantras are enveloped by folds of digital madness. Blood Money Millionz is a must-listen. (An addendum - this probably should have made relentless replays because I think this is one of the best albums to drop this year).

Decay - Fatboi Sharif x Steel Tipped Dove If the Too Birds album is the phantasm jolting from the street lamps at midnight then Decay is the poltergeist haunting abandoned homes in transient suburbia. The lethargy of a dying world has manifested in the voice of Sharif and the prowling soundscapes of Dove. As Sharif proselytises the apocalypse, you can hear the buzz of flies infesting corpses on key tracks like Brandon Lee. A stunning project from both artists.

Melodic Amazement and Terrific Trunknockers:

Straight up, I found it really hard to write about these ones but you should listen to them so I am including them here so again you have stuff to check out. Melodic Amazement: Ooh Rap I Ya - George Clanton George Clanton follows up his legendary "Slide" with another solid serve of hypnagogic warbly audibles. Manages to sneak in a couple of classic tracks for his catalogue too with tracks like I Been Young and For You, I Will featuring Hatchie. Filth - Collarbones The Swansong for cult-classic outfit Collarbones, the band goes out with a bang as Filth is pumped with ethereal yet driving euphoria, with Marcus Whale's singing oozing with sensuality and intimacy. The album is packed with essential tracks but I want to give a special mention to God is Here for being such a triumphant close to the beloved Australian Duo. Muscle Memories Vol 1 & 2. I saw these guys at SXSW this year and whilst I had heard tracks from them before, their set was the pure definition of mesmerizing. That same crystalline funkiness is here in spades across the two EPs that they put out this year and I am hotly anticipating their next moves. 5D dub is an excellent track to start with. What Colour Is the End? - Nikodimos Speaking of artists I found by watching them live, Nikodimos was the first artist I caught at Big Sound 2023 and fuck me was the bar set high. A jack-of-all-music-trades, there is no genre or instrument or musical crevice that Nikodimos does not excel at - case in point, What Colour Is the End? Lathered in psychedelia and warm jazzy tones you could lose yourself forever in the layers of these songs. IT HURTS! is a standout track for its emotional vocals and groovy percussion. How To Capture Playful - Pink Navel x Kenny Segal Coming off last year's EPIC, Pink Navel's earnestness and slightly dorky energy is the type of thing you would expect to be grating, but in fact, it just fills your heart with warmth and sugar. They team with the one and only Kenny Segal for an album about video games, and the results are endlessly endearing. Lead single Present Vendor is a great introduction if you are a newcomer to their music. In The End, It Always Does - The Japanese House Ok, I have to admit something that is going to have my queer femme card revoked - I am not really that enamoured with Phoebe Bridgers. She's an incredible musician, but the emotional connection that most people have with albums like Punisher I think I'm starting to have with this album here. Touching Yourself is pure saphic bliss and I swear to god if I don't meet a beautiful femme woman soon to have an emotionally charged intimate situationship I might just kill myself.

Terrific Trunknockers: OPPBOYZ - SOLLYY x Dxvdre Seriously this lil fuckin album is non-stop anthems and tracks that will make you non-stop bop. Hard on the car stereo and on the decks this album will have you yelling OPP BOY DOWN OPP BOY DOWN on top note, irrespective of the time or place. Also special shout-out to that CK line it was a bit of a cultural reset. Definitely check out OPP BOY DOWN. STRESSOR - Teether x Kuya Neil Look I'm still pretty new to the underground Australian music scene but if there is one thing that became clear to me pretty quickly, it's that Teether is one of the godfathers of this shit. Another artist who had a jam-packed year (even ending up featuring on Backwoodz release plus one from the multi-talented Fielded), this link-up with Kuya Neil is one of the most critically acclaimed underground hip-hop records of the year for good reason. Kuya Neil offers a masterclass of production here with smooth textured production riding on top of punchy, breakneck percussion. Closing track RENO is already a classic.

The Spiritual Meat Grinder - Zheani Zheani is just an incredible man - I did not expect the pivot into more electronic, dancier takes on her signature occult alt-metal-rap stylings but it's executed immaculately. How can I not recommend Bring Wet Cunt, honestly, it's such a banger.

Inconsistently Incredible and Future Funhouses:

(slightly) Inconsistently Incredible: Am I going to say these albums are perfect back to front? Not really, but there are enough moments of brilliance that go above and beyond that I think it's a disservice to skip over them.

And Then You Pray for Me - Westside Gunn W$G continues to prove he has this curation shit down fucking pat and continues to indulge his creativity with a datpiff tape-styled trap-ier take on his signature Griselda sound. Let this man executive produce a Tyler the Creator album please. Kitchen Lights is the stunner for me on this album for sure. Utopia - Travis Scott Mr "Play FEIN Ten Times in a Row" has become a more difficult sell for me as of late (and very little of that has to do with his album output) but UTOPIA manages to make good on a few moments of dusty, garish pop-rap constructed on a level of grand spectacle (I mean this as a good thing). I KNOW?, TELEKINESIS and DELRESTO (ECHOES) will probably go down as some of my all-time favourite Travis tracks. Burning Desire - MIKE MIKE continues to almost click with me (the closest I’ve come thus far is Tears of Joy) but moments on this album are like portals to a dimension where he is one of my favourite rappers working right now, with a distinct realm of abstracted explosive creationism that I genuinely struggle putting into words. Plz Don't Cut My Wings is absolutely my favourite song he has put out and has this distinct melancholic grain that wraps around MIKE's lyrics of memory and making it to the light at the end of a rough road. Something to Give Each Other - Troye Sivan Personally, I don't come back to this album in it's entirety as full listens can sometimes drag a bit, but individual tracks like the singles and a few deep-cuts like Can't Go Back Baby are undeniable gay boy summer smash hits and I am so fucking here for them. 

Future Funhouses: These are albums that I did hear this year but didn’t really dedicate enough time to properly sit with them. That said, I feel pretty confident these will grow on me with more listens. Obviously, because of this I'm not gonna write anything on them because I would be talking out my ass! HELLMODE - Jeff Rosenstock Never Falter Hero Girl - Katie Dey - ok but this one is really good and is probably the one you are most likely to have not heard of these albums listen to Katie Dey shes incredible Lahai - Sampa Did you know there is a tunnel under Ocean Blvd - Lana Del Rey Again - Oneohtrix Point Never

[vlupshittous]

All the books & audiobooks I finished this year! I also read Burning Woman by Lucy Pearce and listened to How To Talk To A Goddess and Other Lessons in Real Magic by Emily Croy Baker. And read the unpublished autobiography of a friend.

I ventured into genres I've never experienced before and for the most part enjoyed everything I read! There are still a good 19 books on my to-read shelf, but I've whittled it down more than I could have hoped!

[tealeavesand-roses]

My Year in Books 🕰️☕️🦇🏹🗡️🕊️

I know it's not much, but I'm proud of myself nonetheless. I had a long year. Being a full-time student, I can hardly find time to read these days or write up my book reviews. Here's to 2024 and, hopefully, my last semester. My goal is to read double the amount next year and then some. Below are the books, row by row, from left to right. I have highlighted my favorites for this year. 💭 First Row, from left to right:

🪶Truly Devious (Truly Devious, #1) by Maureen Johnson

Luca Vitiello by Cora Reilly (lolol i know, don't judge)

The Duke and I (Bridgertons, #1) by Julia Quinn

🪶The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1) by Leigh Bardugo

🪶The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons, #2) by Julia Quinn

Second Row: 🪶An Offer From A Gentleman (Bridgertons, #3) by Julia Quinn

Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #2) by Leigh Bardugo

The Holder of the World by Bharati Mukherjee

Ruins and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #3) by Leigh Bardugo

Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons, #4) by Julia Quinn

🪶Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers, #1) by Lisa Kleypas

Third Row:

Practical Magic (Practical Magic, #1)by Alice Hoffman

Good Girl Complex (Avalon Bay, #1) by Elle Kennedy

🪶Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros

Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) by Rebecca Yarros

Pretty Boys Are Poisonous by Megan Fox

Glamour Magic by Deborah Castellano

Fourth Row:

Cold Waters by Debbie Herbert

The Wolf Who Loved Me (Westfield Wolves, #5) by Lydia Dare

The Rest Falls Away (The Gardella Vampire Hunters, #1) by Colleen Gleason