#got this one a few more times so guess I’ll give some additional book recs haha

[my-darling-boy]

14?

14. Favourite book you read this year?

Probably Old Soldiers Never Die by Frank Richards, it was a very Real honest read and had some extremely useful details about a general soldier’s life within the war and the way they understood their circumstances that you don’t find in history books. It could go from charming and hilarious to deep and devastating within the same paragraph

Thanks!

[e-b-reads]

saw the post you reblogged ft. diana wynne jones' enchanted glass and was curious what you thought about its framing of aidan's real parentage, which i found to be... tonally very weird?? [spoilers to follow, in the outside chance you were mentioning the book without having finished it!] like, i'm absolutely not opposed to the depiction of creepy/predatory &c dynamics in fiction, even YA; but the last-minute revelation that andrew's beloved grandfather had sex with, and what's more got pregnant, a troubled teenager a good half-century his junior, who'd been entrusted into his care for 'sorting out,' and then on top of all that failed to disclose his role in this ethical shitshow (as per the letters in chapter twelve) to the girl's parent, whose confidant he remained? pretty seriously jarring imo! and then for the only intradiegetic reaction to be andrew's sputtering “well, i’ll be—!” twice, after which the book promptly ends...? i mean, andrew's admittedly a bit of a buffoon, so it's not out of character that he'd duck away from really engaging with a development like this, but. just struck me as an awfully lead balloon to drop on your readers, particularly young ones, without any real in-text acknowledgment of just how heavy it is! anyway, the casual addition of that twist really colored my overall reaction to the book, so seeing you give it a thumbs-up made me wonder if you had any thoughts on that particular aspect. either way, happy hammocking! :)

First, it is probably safe to assume I’ve finished any DWJ book I blog about b/c I have read all those I can get my hands on! (So there’s a few I haven’t read, but not many.) Which does segue into my general response to this, which is that I guess I just discovered DWJ at the right age (Charmed Life at age 10 was the first) to, idk, imprint on her? in such a way that I go into every book of hers determined to love it, and then kind of deal with any qualms as they come. I don’t expect other ppl to do this! But it is both a nice thing for me—any time I read something new-to-me by her, I know I’ll enjoy it, even if I don’t know quite what I’m getting—and possibly makes me not the best person to rec them to others. (I do rec them to others anyways, but I try to be choosy about it!)

more specific response to the rest of this under the cut b/c it got quite long (and also has Enchanted Glass spoilers)

To be specific about Enchanted Glass, I do really like it, probably partly just because (as has been overstated by now) I like her voice; also I like that the humans (as opposed to “them who can’t use iron”) are themselves a force to be reckoned with (OK, so some can use magic, but they’re still definitely human, and I’ve read a few human-vs-fae books where any humans who don’t have some fae ancestry are just collateral damage); I also like that the sides aren’t actually quite as simple as humans vs. fae. BUT I do kind of need to process that ending every time I read. I do wish there was more there, that the characters spent a little more time w/ the revelation. I think that Andrew’s response is pretty Andrew-y of him; particularly, I think he’s been feeling vaguely guilty about claiming Adrian as a relative when he isn’t much of one, so his first reaction is self-centered relief that this part is true after all. And he does at least wonder briefly about what to tell Adrian, so you know (hope?) there will be more considering/processing. But it does sour me on Jocelyn as a character (to put it mildly), and tbh, skimming over some of the end bits, I’m not sure that’s what DWJ intends. It’s possible the reader is supposed to put the onus on Adrian’s mom and decide she seduced this way older man who just sort of succumbed to her. Which (hopefully obviously) I think is some BS; like if you’re sixty or whatever and a 17-y-o you’re responsible for comes on to you, just don’t sleep w/ her?! I wonder if yr also supposed to assume she slept w/ Mr. Brown too, and Jocelyn assumed the kid really was his (Brown’s) and not Jocelyn’s, so that’s why he never came clean…still not great. (Maybe if DWJ wrote the actual interactions themselves, she’d be able to make me, NOT absolve Jocelyn, but sympathize(?) w/ him more, but I’m not sure. And she didn’t, she wrote a kid’s book.) Which also makes me wonder, b/c I read this book for the first time in…maybe high school, but possibly I was a little older than that. So I have no idea what I wld have thought as a younger kid, and I do agree w/ DWJ (from essays/interviews) that kids can handle stuff in books that adults don’t expect, but also agree w/ you that, at least to close-to-adult me, this was a somewhat jarring tone shift at the end of the book, and it might possibly be a bit much for a young reader.

So yeah, the kinda flippant “it’s weird” in my tag was definitely meant to convey some of all this, but I do still love the book myself (without necessarily expecting others to) b/c of all the other stuff in it. Like I saw your post abt Power of Three a little while ago and…I haven’t read it myself in quite a while (it’s one I don’t own) and I hope I wld have picked up on the squidgyness of the fat phobia myself on my next reread, b/c when I read your post I was like “oh…yeah that does happen and I can see now it’s not great;” but I also expect to read it again someday and still enjoy the parts I enjoyed before. idk. I think part of my reaction to all DWJ books is like…I have friends irl who I don’t always agree w/ about everything, but I still like and respect them and we can still talk about the things we disagree on. Well, published authors aren’t that, they are putting out a polished product for ppl (sometimes children!) to consume, but I spent such a foundational, awkward time in my life “getting to know/spending time w/” DWJ via her books that she is still like my friend in the little juvenile corner of my mind that loves her, and I will always give her books more of a pass than I will other ppl’s.

[enviedear]

that damn american ᶠᶦᵛᵉ

don’t exploit our friendship

DESCRIPTION ⌙ in which y/n and draco go on a ‘date’, meet harry potter, and come to conclusions in the owlery.

PAIRING ⌙ draco x fem!reader

WORD COUNT ⌙ 3k

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four | chapter five

gonna rec golden hour - kacey musgraves , teenage fantasy - jorja smith and playing games - summer walker for this chapter ;)

“i’m not taking her to madame puddifoot’s.” blaise sighs, exasperated.

“why? i’m sure april would love that tacky shop.” draco snickers, earning a jab from you.

april, who’s far ahead of you all, is making her way for the joke shop. she said something about how she and blaise are going to be pranking quinn. you suppose it’s only fair for what he did to her in fourth year.

the air is cooler now, and the four of you are all clad in warmer garments. the boys sporting slytherin quidditch sweaters and draco wearing a black turtleneck underneath. while april looks straight out of a damn brandy melville ad with her thunderbird sweatshirt tucked into her tennis skirt.

you on the other hand decided it best to wear a simple green tank with a loose cropped cardigan with mom jeans. 

you’re now regretting the decision as your upper body is becoming unbearably chilly.

“blaise, look! i got some hiccoughing candy. i think we could give him one after breakfast tomorrow.” april laughs.

draco groans from the bench the two of you are sat on, playing with the silver rings on his fingers.

“this is bloody demeaning.” the boy complains.

“you know, you could be third wheeling. at least i’m here, and i could always leave you here. alone.” you huff.

draco narrows his eyes at you, “if you dare try, i’ll make sure you never get back to america. i refuse to be alone with these two lovesick idiots.”

“jesus someone is in a mood.” you snort, ruffling his perfectly done hair.

“shut it l/n.”

blaise and april walk into tomes and scrolls, leaving you and draco outside.

“screw this, come on, let’s go to gladrags. i want a jacket.” you say, hopping off the bench.

draco gets up, “damn americans and never dressing for the weather.”

“i think that’s more of a me thing.” you retort, heading into the shop.

as you take a look around you find a small section full of coats, sweaters, jackets, and sweatshirts. 

“you know these are ridiculously overpriced, right?” draco scoffs.

“well i’m cold draco. and like my mother always says, ‘a fashionable witch always dresses in which she is comfortable’.” you say, reciting a line from one of your mother’s books.

she’s a popular fashion designer, and never let you or quinn forget it.

“excuse me, is your mother, the eliza l/n?” draco gasps.

you nod, a little confused as to how the boy knows her.

“hold on. you’re the daughter of one of american’s best designers and you never thought to tell me? what’s next? is your father the bloody president.”

you laugh, “no, but he is a retired quadpot player for the new york nogtails. you seriously didn’t know? my parents are the wizarding equivalent to victoria and david beckham.”

draco looks bewildered, “this whole time you’ve had prestige, and i didn’t even know? oh, just wait until i owl mother and tell her i’m friends with her favorite designers daughter.”

“don’t exploit our friendship, you fucker.” you say, slapping his shoulder.

he rubs his side and glares at you, “you were the one that begged me to be your friend. at least let me reap the benefits.”

“i’m starting to regret my decision, you’re a shit friend.” you tease.

draco lets out an exaggerated sigh, “fine, i was going to give you my sweater so you wouldn’t have to buy one, but since i’m such a shit friend.. nevermind.”

“i was kidding bitch. hand over the sweater!” you order.

he rolls his grey eyes and slips the garment off, exposing his tight fitted black turtleneck. it’s a sight to behold, honestly. it makes your mind slip into visions of the two of you actually together and on a date. 

“well take it, and come on. i want a butterbeer.” he says, snapping you out of your daydream.

you put the sweater on and trail behind your friend. when the two of you enter the three broomsticks, draco immediately scowls.

“what’s the matter?” you ask.

“stupid potter. he’s sitting in my spot.” draco huffs.

“just sit somewhere else, you big baby.”

draco looks annoyed but complies, sitting beside you at a nearby booth.

you want to question why he’s not sitting on the opposite side, but ignore it. you like being this close to him.

“why do you hate harry?” you ask instead.

“he’s a brat. he thinks he so special because he killed a dark wizard when he was a baby. and his stupid parents are always at family events because of my bloody cousin, sirius. they’re the strangest people.” he tells.

“ah, how annoying. the boy saved the world in infancy.” you deadpan.

draco waves you off, “okay, i get it. but he is annoying.”

you laugh as a waitress comes over to take your order.

“two butterbeers.” draco tells her, handing her money.

as she walks away you give him a look, “i could have paid.”

“the guy always pays for the first date, y/n.” draco rolls his eyes, before adding, “not that this is a date. i wouldn’t take you to the three broomsticks.”

you smile, a little shy, “i wouldn’t mind sharing a first date here.”

“then potter is your soulmate. he takes ginny here every date they go on. honestly i don’t know how does he has a girlfriend and i don’t. the irony” he pouts.

you glower at him.

the waitress comes back with your drinks, and draco watches you expectantly. you roll your eyes and take a sip.

“oh shit this is good.” you gasp.

“told you.” he says, smug.

the two of you continue talking and drinking your butterbeers for a few more minutes before april and blaise make their way into the shop.

“look at this pretty necklace blaise got me! oh, and i got momma to mail me my old phone for him to use. he’s with the times now!” april beams, rushing into the booth.

blaise trails behind her, looking very confused by the cellphone in his hands.

“well hello you two. i’m glad you’re enjoying your date.” you smile.

blaise looks up at you, “seems like you’re enjoying yours as well.”

“draco and i are not on a date.” you say, glancing at the boy beside you.

“well we just thought you were since you’re wearing his sweater and sitting in the same bench. couple behavior if you ask me.” april shrugs.

“why do you people think i would take someone on a first date here. i’m far too good for that.” draco sighs.

april laughs and gives blaise a knowing look. 

you don’t like that. it makes you narrow your eyes at the two of them, but they continue giggling.

“draco! i’m glad i caught you,” a voice calls. 

you look up to see harry potter, followed by a redhead.

“are you coming over to sirius’ for christmas?” harry asks, resting against the booth.

“of course potter. he’s my family.” draco grunts.

“i was just making sure,” harry retorts. he looks at you, “are you bringing your girlfriend? sirius asked.”

draco coughs, “excuse me?”

harry smiles, “y/n, your girlfriend. snape owled my mum about it and dad told sirius. don’t worry, he’s letting you surprise your parents. he just wanted to know if she’d be with us this year.”

draco is fuming as he stares at harry. it’s quite enjoyable.

you grin, “actually, i’m going to be with my parents this christmas. but i don’t see why i couldn’t portkey here. i’d love to tag along.”

draco glares at you, “we are not-”

“great! i’ll owl sirius. come on ginny.” the brown haired boy gleams, walking away.

draco’s still glaring, “you’re dead. i’m going to hex you until you can’t remember your name.”

“oh come on. it was a joke. plus it’d be fun to have christmas with me. can’t you imagine it?” you say, nudging his arm.

“but explaining to my mum that we’re not dating is going to be a hassle. and you’re going to have to meet my crazy aunt bella.” draco groans, rubbing his eyes.

“to be fair, his aunt is mad. but think about it draco, what’s the worst that can happen? y/n would be a great addition to your family, even if it is just as a friend.” blaise says.

“just as a friend my ass.” april whispers.

draco rolls his eyes but gives you all a smile, “i hate everything about this.”

blaise narrows his eyes before smirking, “sure mate.”

once it was time to go back to the castle you told everyone you needed to head to the owlery first to pick up a package your parents had sent you. draco offered to come along and you let him, obviously.

you liked being alone with him. 

by the time you get to the tower, it’s deserted, save for you and draco.

“you’re such a menace.” draco speaks, breaking your focus from your letters.

“big word for such a baby of a man.” you tease.

“shut up. i’m being serious. i know the minute i tell everyone you’re not my girlfriend, potter and his friends are going to have a field day.” draco says.

“harry doesn’t seem so mean. i follow him on instagram. he’s always so nice online.” you retort.

“you’ll see. he’s going to be a prat come christmas.” draco sighs, leaning against the wall.

you huff, “stop being so dramatic. if you want i can always just say i’m your girlfriend.”

draco gets off the wall and comes over to you, “you’re serious?”

you laugh, “yeah, i mean, everyone’s right. be basically act like a couple already. we’re really close for friends.”

“i guess..” he trails off, looking away from you.

you bite your lip and examine him. his pretty blond hair, pink lips, flushed face, and perfect posture. of course you wouldn’t mind pretending to be his girlfriend. you love him.

everything about him. you love the way his face contorts into a scowl after any inconvenience. you love how he looks at you when he sees someone doing something stupid. you love how he always has something for the two of you to do. and you love how he shows you the real him. 

“but maybe it could be like a trial run.” he mutters, finally looking at you.

“what?” you breathe, voice catching in your throat.

“i mean, it would be stupid to not try. you’re my best friend y/n. i think we could, uh, work together.” 

“are you saying you have a crush on me?”

“merlin. this is not as easy as i thought it was. of course i fancy you l/n. why else would i act like an utter buffoon?” he sighs.

you snort, “you act like buffoon even without me present, dickwad.”

“i’m trying to have a romantic conversation.”

“right, sorry,” you grin. “i would love to try to be your girlfriend.”

draco nods, “good. i mean, thank you?”

“come on, you can’t freeze up now. i definitely didn’t sign up for a shy boyfriend.” 

he quirks up his eyebrow, “that you didn’t.”

the words and his gaze make your knees weak. and in an instant, draco’s lips are on yours. the wind outside is loud, but as you kiss him, you can’t hear a thing. your sense of smell is attacked with his cinnamon vanilla cologne. the boy is like one of the high end stores your mom shops at in the winter. 

and his lips, his pretty full lips. the way they move with yours reminds you of something you’ve always needed but never knew. his hands take hold of your face and he brings the kiss deeper. the two of you oblivious to the world around you.

when you finally pull away, a smirk takes over his face.

“you have no idea how long i’ve wanted to do that.” he says, satisfied.

“come on, we’ve got to get back to the common room. we have classes in the morning.” you grin, grabbing your letters.

“please, the minute i get to the common room i’m kicking everyone out of my dorm and sneaking you in.” he states.

you look at him, shocked. silently thinking.

“stop staring at me like that. you can speak.”

glaring you say, “we’re going to have to tell everyone.”

draco groans, “maybe we should just wait until tomorrow.”

you nod, “tomorrow.”

[lilquill]

Are you doing okay what with all the VV stuff that happened? It seemed like you and Mina were close

Hey hey, thanks for the worries anon! Mina of mvcreates/Violet Vineyard and I were properly talking as friends for only a few months quite a long time ago. Emotionally I’m completely fine, but I do have stuff to say and I do want to help document things if any of it is useful in any way. A lot of it will be dry because it’s just documenting, but some of it will be “juicier” I guess, and I’d like to corroborate some of the things my friends are saying. I’ll put this under the cut for people who don’t want to scroll through all this and/or have no idea what I’m talking about and want to keep it that way!

You guys can check @nuwuhorizons‘s blog to see what exactly is going on and I believe they’re also reblogging some things others who were members are saying. The case of people dogpiling a 19-year-old trans person and making fun of their name is on the blog (post here, wayback machined here).

I can corroborate a bunch of what @rrrawrf-writes (post here, wayback machined here) and @gingerly-writing (post here, wayback machined here) have said. I backread through the interaction that Ginger talks about in her post (of course not the DMs, but the interaction itself).

I know some people may be confused about why Ginger only has that one screenshot of what she said and may not see that as full evidence, but Violet Vineyard had a super strict “don’t screenshot and post anything” with lots of scary looking legal stuff attached to it policy and, well, Ginger can’t be sharing stuff without anyone’s permission if it’s just the message she herself sent, but they’d have grounds to take god knows what action with what backing against her if she posted something else. But, well, for what it’s worth, as someone who read through that conversation a little after it happened, it was certainly a case of dogpiling and left a bad taste in my mouth, and it strikes me as really odd that the mods would try to shut someone down like that.

I haven’t really been doing stuff in writeblr lately as you can probably tell from my blog, but yeah, Mina herself and a lot of people in that particular friend group of hers, as Lisa mentions, have just disappeared off Tumblr. I can also attest to the dogpiling tendencies and this Mina Is Always Right tendency, and the fervor with which people would defend her.

I was honestly never close enough to Mina to be in that friend group. She and I were only really talking to each other for a few months over a year ago. I don’t think I was “writeblr-y” enough to fit in with them. I was also not super active in that server. I didn’t post much about my wips because I in general don’t think I really post a lot about them. Therefore I didn’t get like, massive benefits off of the whole “network” thing, but  I’d reblog some stuff when I saw it. I was probably most known for posting pictures of my plants, lol. And I would occasionally hop in to talk briefly about kpop with like, one person? (They went by Kay and their url was like, lvcrezia? lvcrezias? Something like that.) In fact, probably the last thing I ever said in that server was a super quick conversation about Red Velvet’s “Monster” music video around the time it dropped.

In fact, for the sake of being super transparent/establishing credibility, and for documenting purposes, I’ll list all the non-plant-pictures and non-kpop conversations I can remember actually participating in. Some of these will lead off into bigger topics, and I’ll specify those. But first, a word.

TO ANY OF THE FORMER MODS WHO MIGHT COME AFTER ME FOR SAYING THINGS ABOUT THE SERVER, SINCE THIS HAS APPARENTLY HAPPENED TO OTHERS: The server is deleted, and so is the text of the whole “contract” (yes, really) that people had to agree to in order to join VV. I remember that the agreement made sure we didn’t post screenshots publicly, but other than that I genuinely do not remember the text and I have no way of referencing it to keep in line with it since the server is deleted. I do not remember if documenting things like this is against anything I have agreed to, I have no record of the agreement, and I have not been notified of any place to access a record of the agreement before the server was deleted. If my post is some sort of violation, you cannot hold me accountable for rules that I am unable to follow, and I would greatly appreciate not being targeted with empty threats shrouded in scary legal language. If you have any point of contention with what I have said, feel free to take it up either publicly or privately. Please do @ me if it’s specific to me; I’m not really the vagueposting kind. If any of you want me to delete this post, you will need to provide actual proof of the agreement that I made by joining Violet Vineyard, and you will also need to prove that the rules were not edited after I agreed to them. If any of them were follow-up rules not from the beginning of the server, it’s possible that I did not see them and therefore you need to provide proof that I agreed to those, too. In addition, since image editing is what set off this avalanche in the first place hence we’re all aware that there’s software that allows us to edit images and pass them off as an original thing, you’ll need to provide proof that any screenshots/images are undoctored. Furthermore, since the rules have been deleted with the server, as the method I used to agree to follow them, you must prove that my agreement is still valid, since it seems to me it’s been nullified since it’s, well, gone either through deletion or kicking me out alongside everyone else. Tl;dr you don’t scare me lol.

Anyways, back to a list of the non-kpop, non-plant-pics, non-my-wips-promo conversations I can actually remember:

On January 5, 2020, the server had a conversation about Roshani Chokshi’s book The Gilded Wolves. I can give the date because during/in the aftermath of the conversation, which I talked about the book in, Mina DMed me quickly. (This was also the last time Mina ever directly contacted me.) I’ll talk about this later.

In February 2020 I believe I quickly mentioned getting concert tickets.

Either early this year or late last year I think I posted some stuff about landscape photography, with some photos of the beach.

I believe I posted a couple fashion pics at some point?

Back in May 2019 I got some kinda weird asks about Violet Vineyard and I think people were talking about that, and I assume I participated since I was the one who received the asks. At that time VV was like a super new server and didn’t really have much as far as the issues we’ve been talking about go, so I defended it. (I’ll be talking about this later.)

Probably in June/July 2019 people in the server had a discussion about Black Muslim characters and representation, initiated by me for one of my WIPs.

I think we talked about South Asian sweets at some point???

I believe in April/May 2019, there was some stuff in that server reagarding “drama” with Castor who at that time went by the url pilipalea that I honestly don’t remember much of. Castor was never in VV, but I believe they were in a server with Mina at some other point. There was something about grammar and proofreading?? (I’ll be referencing this soon as well.)

I helped someone with their computer science homework at some point.

I asked for r&b music recs at some point either late 2019 or earlier 2020.

I’ve also talked about ethnic clothes I think.

We’ve talked about Hindu nationalism and how awful it is.

I think we’ve talked about tone policing and how woc are often portrayed as “aggressive.”

We’ve talked about health/fitness and exercise.

I recommended Jade City and some other books I’m a fan of in there.

Probably talked about Bollywood movies at some point.

The fact that I can remember probably most of my conversations that lasted more than like, one message in there is, I think, a pretty good testament to a) me having at least a kind of decent memory and b) I wasn’t participating in the server so regularly that the conversations kind of blend together. I know this is all kind of long and dry for anyone who’s here for drama purposes lol, but I did want to establish that I’ve been in that server for quite a while and that I wasn’t monitoring it heavily; in fact, I had it muted very soon after joining it.

I wasn’t super close to anyone that I’d met through VV. People who are friends that I still regularly contact who were in VV with me, I had met through other servers and other interactions on Tumblr. I’ll disclose right now that I have been longtime friends with Ginger, Lisa, and Eff (@time-to-write-and-suffer), who have all come out against VV, and that we are in our own servers with people from writeblr. Ginger and Lisa were both in VV, Eff has never been.

Okay, back to maybe “juicier” stuff.

Mina had always positioned herself almost as this “tumblr mom” type. She’d reference her age a lot, which would contrast a lot with how a significant portion of the members were much younger and, I think, set up the dynamic of people looking up a lot to her and always coming to her defense. After all, we’re talking a bunch of passionate kids who’d found a writeblr network. And the server definitely seemed “legit”; I myself was pretty impressed with just how tightly organized everything was, and like I mentioned, there was fancy legal language to ~protect their rights~ and whatnot. Mina herself seemed so accomplished with so many talents: she’d post her writing and artwork, I believe she’d made a couple pieces of music, she’d work out and keep in shape, she had a seemingly wonderful loving relationship with her husband, she was active in research fields professionally and as an outbreak responder, and she, of course, had a significant online presence as a “big writeblr.” I remember when she’d started blowing up, so soon after her blog had been created, because of her prolific content and friendly persona. People, especially younger ones who had no other writeblr support group, looked up to her and trusted her. And the nature of the server was to shower everyone in praise, so Mina found herself on the receiving end of quite a bit of it. Mina would also actively boost and review other writers’ content, genuinely engaging with it and providing feedback, support, and valuable resources.

Mina also had a tight-knit group of adult friends. Some of them I believe carried over from pre-VV times (incuding CJ of typewriter-jade if I’m remembering correctly, who made fun of the trans person’s name in the reblog chain in the link to nuwuhorizons’s blog), while some were made afterwards. They would act super friendly and familiar with each other, which I think contributed to a lot of people falling into this little “friendship” super fast. They were also authority figures and role models, and tended to agree with each other, so everyone just went along with that.

These factors, I think, heavily influenced the dogpiling tendencies. People were eager to defend their community, where they’d found so much love and support for their work. Minors would go along with adults in conversations. When someone said something, others would enthusiastically support them. And people were just so into each other that I really couldn’t keep up, which is probably why I didn’t participate too much. People became just super fast friends and the server was so large and so seemingly “professional” and structured in how it was made. I think people just kind of assumed everyone in there was great and their friend who could be trusted deeply, when in reality that’s just impossible if there are like, 100+ members. Meaning if something minorly negative happened (like on that literal eleven-year-old’s blog), everyone would come in to say something to demonstrate their emphatic loyalty, even when it became excessive for something as small as an ask game done wrong.

This happened with the Gilded Wolves discussion as well. Someone stepped in to say that the way Gilded Wolves coded its antagonists as this shady secret society of people was antisemitic, and everyone joined in to rip the book apart without having even read it. I joined in the conversation to state that I didn’t see it that way, since that shady antagonist group was very much coded as white Christians (their names are all French Christian names) and were colonizers (meaning making them this shadowy group of powerful and evil people was accurate) and one of the protagonists, who is Jewish, is opposing them and antisemitism is portrayed as horrible, and that the book had had (if I’m remembering correctly) Jewish sensitivity readers and multiple Jewish book reviewers really enjoyed and recommended it. Then Mina stepped in to say that multiple Jewish journals she followed rated the book highly and recommended it meaning the accusation of antisemitism clashed heavily with what a lot of other people thought, and that since me and the other person who was saying the book was antisemitic were the only ones who had read it or were familiar with it in any capacity, it wasn’t fair for everyone to be judging it like that. It was like she’d flipped a switch: people were suddenly much more “reasonable” and “fair” and willing to give the book a chance, just because she’d stepped in. (As a quick note, I don’t remember exactly whether Mina stepped in first or if I stated my opinion first. I also want to mention that Mina DMed me to state that the person who accused the book of antisemitism had expressed some Zionist sentiments in the past and to say that maybe their take on the book could have come from Islamophobia with them maybe assuming obviously ethnic name of the author was a Muslim name. The Zioinist stuff is something I can’t actually speak on since again, I have no access to the server anymore and I don’t remember that person’s url. This was the last time Mina DMed me or I her.)

I wrote all that out because I think it illustrates a few things. Firstly, a good example of the tendencies of people going with the flow of things even when it led to dogpiling/drastic conclusions. When I say they were really trashing that book, I mean it! Secondly, it demonstrates the willingness of everyone to go along with what Mina said. Third, it shows that Mina was capable of stepping in to prevent dogpiling (and, seemingly, she would, at least if her beliefs aligned with the opposite of whatever incited the dogpiling) and that people would listen to her and actually change their minds. 

Whether or not Mina supported something was pretty important. Of course, it was her server, so she was definitely allowed to run it how she saw fit, but she would very swiftly pass judgement on things and everyone would just comply. One time, I think there were more than one different threads of conversation happening in the general channel of the server. Jess suggested making a second general channel to allow for other conversations, as is common in a lot of servers, including ones I’m in and moderate/own/have some power in. I don’t remember if I supported that suggestion or if I only backread that conversation, but I know at least one other person agreed. Mina said that as an older person (she’d very frequently bring up her age) she thought people could just wait for their turn in a conversation and didn’t even consider trying it out. Other mods, I believe, backed her up and said no to the second general conversation channel. I remember being a little confused as to why nobody even considered trying a member’s suggestion to make the server more easy to participate it and help provide additional structure/support how big it was, and why it was shut down because people could just wait for their turn, when clearly the general channel was getting overloaded before our eyes. But Mina didn’t see the need, so therefore nobody else wanted to do anything about it, and nobody ever mentioned it again, I think. I know this is a super minor instance lol, but I do think it illustrates something about the behavior in the server and how it was run. It’s not like other channels weren’t added based on need; one was created for the 2018 elections, one was created for talking about race in June during the height of BLM protests having news coverage, I’m pretty sure one was created for talking about the coronavirus. So, the mods were watching conversations and responding as they saw fit, they just wouldn’t field this request, for some reason. Obviously conversations getting muddled in a general channel isn’t as significant as major political events, antiblack racism, or a pandemic, but these channels were made to improve the server experience and likely to prevent these topics from completely overloading other channels, so, well.

Okay, the Castor/pilipalea stuff and dogpiling. I’ll say this stuff now because Castor has opened up about it (here [wayback machined] and here [archived in a google doc]), so I see that as permission for others to comment on it. If I’m remembering correctly and looking back at the right things, there was something about Mina giving advice on a grammatical error to one of her mutuals, or something asking if her mutuals wanted grammatical advice? Castor vagueblogged, presumably about that, and talked about classism in expecting good grammar from people, which is a valid issue, but seemed misapplied to this instance of someone consenting to receive advice on grammar/syntax/mechanics, if that’s what the vagueblogging was about. I reached out to Mina to let her know that I thought someone was vagueblogging about her, and she told me about past conflicts with Castor. I also reached out to Castor over DMs to ask what the vagueblogging was about, because you genuinely never know; classist prescriptivism is harmful and bad, and so many people on Tumblr are in so many different circles that similar topics may come up coincidentally. Castor wasn’t clear with me either about what the post was targeting and skirted around naming names.  

At this point, looking back, it still seems to be that it was about Mina, especially considering that Castor had previous history with her and others in her circle. Mina was irritated by the vagueblogging (who likes being vagueblogged about?) and also informed me, all the way back in April 2019, about this past server drama that Castor mentioned. It seems to me that it stemmed from a misunderstanding: Mina and I believe other mods noticed another person using Castor’s PSDs without credit. Mina checked with Castor about whether people should be crediting them for PSDs and Castor said that, yes, they wanted credit; you can see this interaction in the screenshot Castor linked on their post. 

This is where the accounts of what happened diverge: Mina expressed to me that she and the other mods weren’t very harsh since they’d seen that Castor’s friend had credited Castor in the past, so they just wanted to remind Castor’s friend to give credit, without knowing that Castor’s friend had permission to use the PSDs without crediting. I was told that Mina and the team of mods were professional in their handling of this; Castor has stated in their post that the group was extremely harsh. Since I don’t have any screenshots or exact records of what they said before I was in contact with Mina, I can’t comment, so I’ll withhold judgement on that. According to Mina, she and the other mods had not been very vocal about this crediting/PSD stuff, and very few people knew about it, so it did seem like Castor had attacked Mina out of nowhere.

What I can say is that the VV members were certainly quick to respond to the grammar vagueblog, and that if I’m remembering correctly, readily jumped to Mina’s defense. I distinctly remember that one VV member specifically asked whether it was about Mina in a reblog. This happened pretty early on in VV’s existence and I believe was the first major “drama” that VV got embroiled in. Looking back, I do think it was fair to be critical of Castor’s post. But this was also the first look at the tendencies people had of getting embroiled in the fervor of any perceived slight against a member (in particular Mina).

I noticed this again when I received anons that were sort of bitter about VV’s existence in May 2019, way before VV had gained the reputation that it has now. People were very quick to respond with hostility and slightly amplify the anger expressed by other members, and little by little things got really out of hand. I can totally understand being upset and irritated, since the asks were kind of unwarranted and the sender did apologize if I remember correctly. But there was a huge outpouring of vicious language from a lot of the members, and this was, I think, the first instance of proper dogpiling in VV, especially since it was an easy antagonist; the sender was out of line, and they were totally anonymous.

These were the only two instances of going to bat for VV that I ever participated in. For the other things, I either only backread or missed them completely. While they don’t really paint VV in a super bad light, not like the dogpiling of an eleven-year-old that Jess mentions in her post, it did give me a pretty good idea of how VV handled controversies.

I’ve mentioned some of my theories of why this dogpiling/toxicity happened. I’d also like to add that Mina would often send concise, decisively-worded statements about things. I think this may have come across as final-word judgments to a lot of people, so they would take that as the last say on a certain matter and escalate in severity of their response from there. And like, you should trust your friends and take what they say in good faith. But you still need to be thinking critically and considering your response, especially when you haven’t known someone for very long. And this, I think, was a big source of toxicity in the server. There were just so many people responding to the same issues and aligning their beliefs, and they’d build off each other and create an environment where these kinds of responses were okay. Plus, VV was always portrayed as a tight-knit family when not everyone knew each other and not everyone was active (as is totally normal for a massive server), so this also contributed to people wanting to defend each other all the time. And I don’t think the mod team did an adequate job of shutting it down, despite the veneer of a structured, sort of more “professional” space.

Okay, now onto the art stuff.

Disclaimer, I don’t draw digital or physical art. I was always aware that Mina was certainly at least using references for her work. In some cases I could even pinpoint which pictures were used, like one where the faceclaim was Ranveer Singh. I also received fanart of one of my characters that, of course, looked very similar to the faceclaim. It certainly was clear some tracing had happened in that picture because of the level of detail in the chikankari embroidery, but like…..it’s free fanart, chikankari isn’t copyrighted, and that embroidery is super difficult to draw anyways. What I was not aware of was Mina apparently tracing images and using them to advertise for commissions, which is something I do not condone. I also know my photography and photo editing tools, so I was aware that there was some filtering/editing going on. I’m not sure if Mina traced and didn’t disclose it for commissioned art.

Okay, now the server shutting down stuff!

I was completely unaware of the dogpiling/transphobia stuff happening in the server because I had it on mute. I only found out about all this two days ago. I received the message where everyone was @’ed about VV’s “migration” off Tumblr and that the server would be shut down. I can confirm that the concern was about mirror sites and that the server did discuss these mirror sites as a big intellectual property issue. I didn’t know people wanted the server shutting down to be kept so secret, and I honestly cannot think of a reason why; I feel like if those mirror site concerns were serious, people would be trying to spread the word on writeblr? So I think that people are right to be a little suspicious of the exact reason for the server’s closing.

I think I should mention also that people were pretty much always friendly with me on VV. I met a bunch of cool people, and Mina was always kind and supportive with me. @radley-writes has echoed similar sentiments here (wayback machined here) and here (wayback machined here) while being critical of the environment in VV.

I know this post is like, wildly long and probably quite dry and rambly at points, but I hope it does provide some specific examples to back up some of the criticisms of VV and document it a bit better.

Thank you for reading! I’ll make sure to edit this to add stuff if I remember things/see the need.

I also want to state that my post is more a critique of the environment than anything. I’m not trying to attack anyone at all, I’m just giving an account of stuff that has happened, my level of involvement, and my own thoughts on all this.

I also want to say that I am completely open to hearing what any of you have to say. Feel free to critique/discuss anything I’ve said in this post with me. If you want to vent about your experiences in/with Violet Vineyard, my inbox and DMs are totally open. If you want to keep things confidential, I won’t break your trust or reveal your identity (unless you start idk, spouting racist stuff at me or something). If you want to anonymously tell people about an experience, feel free to shoot me an anon.

I hope you’re all having a wonderful day! I’m sending you lots of love. Take care! <3

[evenstevensranked]

#17: Season 3, Episode 18 - “Stevens’ Manor”

With the house to himself for the weekend, Louis decides to open up a bed and breakfast to afford a snowboarding trip for the gang! What could possibly go wrong?!

I’ve been meaning to tell you guys to ignore any typos in my reviews within the first day or so of them being posted. It takes a few read-throughs for me to catch any/all errors. 

That being said...

This episode opens with the subplot. Although, this is yet another one where the subplot and main plot work together super well. I’ve noticed that this is becoming a theme with these higher-ranked episodes. Huummm. 

It starts off with Ren spying on Ruby breaking up with some random guy Dexter. Her oh so serious, love of her life boyfriend of 4 days. Sounds about right. This show seriously nails how ridiculous middle school ~relationships~ truly are. Ruby is devastated, so Ren presents the idea of turning their upcoming weekend sleepover into girls night complete with nail polish, magazines and ice cream! Yeeee!

Ruby clearly shocked and offended by Dexter’s decision to end it. We don’t actually hear the conversation, so this exaggerated expression really gets the point across.

It cuts to Louis, Twitty, Tawny, and Tom (who I will refer to as “the gang” from this moment forward) discussing how badly they want to go snowboarding at some lodge. Tawny estimates that it’d cost around $200 per-person, and I mean, what 13-year-olds have that sort of money laying around? I’m a grown adult and I can’t even afford Starbucks on some days. So, yeah. To any sane person, the idea would be totally off the table and seem completely farfetched... But not to Louis Stevens!! He’s all “Oh, it’s no problem” as he runs to answer a call on the school’s payphone, which is the millionth thing that closet space next to the stairs has been used for. The call is from someone looking to book a reservation at Stevens’ Manor. I really hope that payphone has a different number than the school and that Louis didn’t give out Lawrence Jr. High’s number as the contact info for “Stevens’ Manor.” I can’t. 

He explains to the gang that Steve and Eileen are going away for their anniversary, Donnie has an away game, and Ren is sleeping at Ruby’s... which means he’s got la casa all to himself. Twitty asks how he’s gonna get his parents to actually let him stay home alone though... and like??? I know that Louis can get a little crazy, but does he really need a freaking babysitter or something? Actually, wait. What am I talking about?! He immediately seized the “home alone” opportunity to turn the house into a bed and breakfast. Here we go again with the give Louis Stevens an inch and he will take 100,000 miles trope, lol. His plan is to fake cry to Eileen about wanting to come with her and Steve and not wanting to stay alone, before deciding to be ~strong~ and stick it out. Steve even calls Louis a “soldier” for it, haha. Okay. Whatever works I guess! I’d like to point out this kinda ugly transition they do of Louis smirking about his plan, to the moment where he’s actually executing it. It’s so weird looking omg. 

That morph tho. I guess the editing job isn’t too bad for 2002... but dang, it’s just slightly unsettling to me lol. 

I like how this episode basically jumps right into the plot asap! We’re only two minutes in at this point and the BnB transformation is already underway! Eileen and Steve ultimately leave and trust Louis to man the fort of course, and the birth of Stevens’ Manor happens the second they’re out the door -- courtesy of a short montage. Louis must’ve been preparing for this bed and breakfast idea for a long while, just waiting around for the opportunity -- because he has shirts embroidered with a fancy “SM” ready to go for him and his friends to wear! He’s even set up the technology to accept credit cards. Louis Stevens does not play! 

The first guests arrive and I’m assuming it’s supposed to be a joke when Louis greets them “Welcome to Stevens’ Manor! You must be the Mannings!” lol. The Mannings are an older couple made up of a “fellow Lou” Louis and his wife Edna. This information is vital for later on. When they’re shown to their room, (which is Louis’ bedroom transformed into the “Lincoln Bedroom” lol) Edna says “This is even cozier than the pictures we saw on the internet!” WOW!!! Louis really did have this planned! He probably whipped out a www.stevensmanor.com domain for this. How did he rearrange and clean his room with enough time to take the photos, post them, and get hits on the website (in 2002, mind you) without his parents noticing though? That stuff took tiiiime back then. Not to mention cleaning that filthy room of his would require the help of a garbage company! Oh, well. That’s an irrelevant detail. I told you he’d been preparing for this moment! 

Where did he get that bust of Lincoln (see 2 photos up) and that painting too? I searched out of curiosity and found this near-exact bust which costs $850!!!!! That thing better be some cheap plastic knock off because something tells me Louis somehow spent more money on making the place look legit than he’ll ever make back from it lol. 

The next guest is a woman named Mrs. Colepepper. What is up with these writers and throwing the word “pepper” into last names? We already have Ryan Zellpepper and now we’ve got this lady lol. I also just realized that both of these characters are black... not that that means anything at all. It’s just randomly sort of interesting imo. 

The last main guests are a pair of twin teenage boys and their parents. Now, Even Stevens is good at not double casting people (a.k.a being weird and having the same actors play two or more different characters throughout the series and hope the audience doesn’t notice) -- But they messed up here and I gotta call it out!! They’re acting like this is the first time we’ve seen these twins, but they actually already made an appearance as LJH students back in Season 2! Their first appearance is literally sooo brief that only a weird superfan like me would notice, but yeah. 

The twins in this episode.

The twins in Season 2! We haven’t covered this episode yet so I feel really weird including a screenshot but.. lol. 

There’s this short scene where Louis introduces Tawny as the Manor’s “human jukebox” because apparently she’s a piano wiz and knows “all kinds of songs” (Also, where’d Louis get the grand piano?! haha) One of the twins sarcastically asks “Does she know ‘I hate it here, we should’ve gone to Hawaii’?” And Tawny adlibs a song “I hate it here, we should’ve gone to Hawaii, where they say Aloha and roast little piggies!” This one line always gets stuck in my head. Always. I’m tempted to continue writing additional lyrics just to give myself more to sing.

There’s also a fantastic bit here of Tom arguing with Mrs. Colepepper about the pulp in her orange juice. I can’t even explain it, all you have to know is that it’s amazing. Also, Louis tells the twins to check out the “Rec Room” and hands them two ping-pong paddles. They’re like “All you have is a ping-pong table?” and Louis says “Yeah... Well... I never said anything about a table. So.” IT ALWAYS GETS ME! It’s such a small line, but I love it. ALSO Beans is the BnB’s “licensed masseuse.” Right.  

At Ren and Ruby’s sleepover, Ruby gets a make up call from Dex and they talk on the phone all giggly for an hour and a half. Ren is fed up and decides to head home. Safe to say Ren was in for a surprise when Mrs. Colepepper was asleep in her bed... 

Louis tries to explain the situation to her and of course, Ren is vehemently against it until she sets her eyes on the ~gorgeous~ twins. As they’ve already stated -- The twins hate it there, so she catches them juuust as they’re about to check out. Ren literally referred to these guys by name in S2. They were some weird names like “Mosh and Stosh”?! lol, Smosh. But now she’s acting like it’s the first time she’s ever seen them in her life and it always bothered meeeeee. 

Something that kills me about this bit is when their father says “The boys just aren’t happy here. I kinda have to agree with them. Your kiddie pool hardly qualifies as an ‘aquatic center’ so...” -- LOUIS REALLY PUT “AQUATIC CENTER” as a selling point knowing that all he had was a kiddie pool.

Imagine showing up to a BnB where this is the advertised “aquatic center.” I am dying of laughter. First the nonexistent Rec Room, now this. I can just hear Gordon Ramsay ripping this place apart on an episode of Hotel Hell.

Ren immediately tries to persuade the twins to stay for obvious reasons by bribing them with lame board games, but they apparently reciprocate her attraction and decide to stay. The fictional board game they pick to play is The Organ Donor Game (sounds like a fun time???) and it’s so suggestive. Ren says “Ooo! You landed on my kidney. That’s gonna cost ya! No cheating and... Hands off my pancreas” in the most sultry voice ever. Like... WHAT?! The doorbell rings while they’re playing and it’s Ruby coming over to apologize, but she too decides to stay at the Stevens’ once she sees the twins. Wow. I love how a fan is always conveniently there to blow Ruby’s hair dramatically whenever she sees a guy she likes.  

It happened the moment she developed a crush on Louis, too. And, uh... Didn’t Ruby JUST GET BACK TOGETHER with Dexter like, an hour ago?  

Meanwhile, Beans is giving Louis Manning a massage by walking on his back in hiking boots??? Beans just further solidifying his place as “The Worst” in my heart. Old Louis (which is what I’ll call him now I guess) gets his back thrown out thanks to their wonderful, 8-year-old, obviously not licensed masseuse. This place is a lawsuit waiting to happen. 

Eileen decides to call home and check in with Louis, which creates one of my favorite situations everrrrrrr in the series. Y’all know I love when shows highlight the comedic side of miscommunication, and this is probably Even Stevens’ best stab at it. Edna is the one who answers Eileen’s call and all hell breaks loose when Eileen asks for Louis. “Louis hurt his back, he’s in a great deal of pain right now.” Edna explains. And Eileen says “You tell him I’ll be there in two hours and that I love him very much!!” Of course, Edna thinks Old Louis is cheating on her with some woman named Eileen and it’s great. 

Louis (Stevens lol) overhears the conversation and starts freaking out because how the hell are they gonna get all of the guests out of the house and revert it back to the way it was when it’s only midnight? That’s when Ren gets the brilliant idea (no seriously, it’s brilliant) to set all of the clocks forward to 7am checkout time! Oh my freaking god. Most of the guests have only been asleep for an hour or so, and suddenly they’re being told breakfast is ready. It’s absolutely hilarious! “Skies will be mostly... dark” Ren informs them of the days’ weather, omg. 

There’s no way they have enough time to serve everyone a full breakfast, so they shove all the food into a blender and give it to the guests as the “Deluxe Breakfast Combo To-Go!” Seriously, Gordon Ramsay would have a field day with this.

They pretty much scream at the guests to “move it!” and get outta the house at midnight while they’re all still in their pajama’s and disoriented. Even if it was 7am, this is some terrible service. At this point, I’d give Stevens’ Manor a generous zero stars on Yelp.  

Amazingly, they get everyone out with enough time to hustle and clean up the house before Steve and Eileen get back! *Whew!* Louis and Ren scramble to explain the whole Enda lady who answered the phone situation and claim that she’s the school nurse. Steve is so confused, “The school nurse made a house call in the middle of the night?!” Honestly, though. Suddenly Edna walks back in the front door “Excuse me, I forgot my umbrella.” Haha. That’s when she and Eileen have their final brush with miscommunication. Eileen is all “Thank you for taking care of Louis!” and Edna says “Well, let me tell you something, Eileen. I have dedicated my entire life to taking care of Louis, so let me give you a little warning... STAY AWAY FROM HIM!” 

Steve: “These school nurses are so protective...” 

Steve and Eileen decide to head upstairs and go to bed immediately, to Louis and Ren’s relief -- which actually made me realize something... Where do Steve and Eileen sleep?! From what we’ve seen of the upstairs it seems to only have a bathroom and Louis, Ren, and Donnie’s rooms! I’ve never seen space or a door for a third bedroom up there! Omg. Maybe they have a secret bedroom in a hidden attic or something? Hey! They had a giant secret cave underneath their house. It’s possible. 

The final minute bit of this episode is great. Steve and Eileen are watching some local news program and Mrs. Colepepper happens to be the host. She shares her experience at Stevens’ Manor and how she’ll never forget it in a strangely positive review segment. The best line is when she says “I don’t normally sleep through the night, but when my head hit the pillow -- the next thing I knew, it was morning!” HAHAHAHA. She makes a point to mention the “hip, young staff” and shows a picture of the gang (see cover photo.) And yeah. Steve blows a gasket. 

THE END!

This is a great episode. I mean, really. It’s super memorable, funny, and it’s an awesome episode for the cast as an ensemble. I cracked up countless times writing this review! It definitely gets a lot of “iconic” points for sure. I just personally prefer episodes that have more of a story to them and focus on the characters. As great as this episode is, it’s definitely one of those wacky plots that could only make sense in crazy Season 3. But I gotta give it to them... This is such a wild and elaborate plot, but they somehow make you believe that Louis could’ve actually pulled this off irl. I’m sure there were some impressionable kids out there who entertained the idea of doing something similar themselves, lol. I want y’all to know that #17 isn’t a “bad” spot by any means. I feel like I say this a lot, but at this point in the countdown, everything seriously is pretty much top notch. I’m simply arranging the best of the best in an order I hope is both personal and objective. It’s a difficult line to straddle, believe me.

To top off the review, I’ve added not one -- but two Stevens’ Manor designs to the Redbubble shop!! AYYYYYYYYY! I got carried away. I’m actually really excited about these, haha! Ya can now get the main “Stevens’ Manor” design and the employee logo design printed on whatevaaa you want. Doing these reproductions of things that exist within the shows’ universe is so fun. I’m really trying my best to get as close to the way they appear on screen as I possibly can (with my limited photoshop skillz)

They’re available in the shop now! Yay!

Thanks for reading!!

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[sapphoesie]

11 Questions Tag - Part III

Thanks to the lovely @starzablaze @captain-timetraveldreamer @readinglikewildfire  for tagging me!

1. Favorite smell? Cinnamon 2. Music preferences, and recs, if any. I have really eclectic music tastes and like a tonne of stuff. 3. If you were a famous personality, what would your most celebrated quote be? I don’t tend to remember the memorable stuff I say 😂 4. Favorite weather and favorite season. 15-20 degrees Celsius and Spring 5. Favorite beverage? Tea! (yorkshire tea) 6. Name 5 of your hobbies. Traveling, writing, bullet journaling and regular journaling, people-watching and reading of course. 7. What do you do when you’re sad or royally pissed? I answered this question for sad in Part II so I’ll just say what I do when I’m pissed. I don’t get angry that easily but when I do I need to vent because I’m hate confrontations and I’d always rather calm myself down then start fights. 8. Ideal s/o Intelligent, kind, caring, honest, funny and thoughtful. 9. Moon or stars? Why? Stars because you can almost always seen the moon but the seeing the stars is more special. Also, there’s a meteor shower (The Perseids) every year for a few days around the time of my birthday so every single year since I was little I’ve sat and watched the shooting stars on my birthday with my friends or parents and made a bunch of additional birthday wishes so I’ve always loved the stars. 10. When did you join Tumblr and why? Ages ago! Probably 5-6 years ago I don’t even remember. I had an aesthetic blog first and then got into fandom and just tried out loads of things. I started posting on this blog in March of this year though because I had the biggest book hangover after reading ACOMAF and knew I had to delve into the depths of Tumblr for fanart and fic because I was already trash  11. Eye and hair color + nature? Eye colour - hazel; Hair colour - silvery white (but my natural hair colour is light brown)

1. Dusk or Dawn and why? Dusk! Dawn kinda creeps up on you really slowly but the sun puts on a real show at twilight and it’s pretty hard to ignore. I sit in silence and watch at least 2 minutes of the sunset almost every single day. 2. Are you a tea or coffee kind of person? Tea 3. A story of a mischief done by you in your childhood. I skipped school when I was 9, before I even knew what skipping school was. I hated English class so I convinced a bunch of my friends not to go to our English class which was our last one for the day. We told the rest of our classmates that they were giving out free toys in the school shop so we could leave without being seen and for some reason they believed us and went except for this one girl who stayed behind, saw us leave and told on us afterwards. When the parent teacher conference happened, the parents of all the other kids who had cut class knew about it but my mum was the only one who had no idea because I never told her. Needless to say she was angry 😂 4. If you were given a wish what would you wish for? To adapt to life in Australia quickly and easily and to have fun on my year abroad before I go back home. 5. What do you wish to change about yourself and the world? I wish to be less harsh and critical and demanding of myself and I wish the world was more kind and empathetic.  6. Outdoor attire preferences?(fancy) As in formal wear? Chiffon, satin or silk are my go to fabrics because they kind of flow really nicely over every curve. I like pretty classic cuts, tight at the waist, flowing down and with more of a plunging neckline.  7. Which book character do you want to be your other half and why? I think either Dorian Havilliard, Cassian or Julian Blackthorn. They are all kind, compassionate, intelligent and loyal. 8. What would you do if you were given a million dollars? I’ve answered this in part I so I’ll just skip it now 9. Favourite colour and eye colour I don’t really have a favourite colour but I’ll say blue and favourite eye colour is blue too. 10. If you had to choose between your family and boyfriend, who would you choose? Family. 11. Favourite TV show and rec Friends, Parks and Rec, the Office, Game of Thrones.

1. Do you have any piercings or tattoos, what are they? I don’t have any tattoos but I have 5 piercings: four lobe piercings, two in each ear and a helix piercing. 2. Who is your style icon? Alexa Chung. Emily Ratajkowski. Jane Birkin. Vanessa Hudgens. Orion Carloto. Kate La Vie. (do yourself a favour and look these last two up on insta because they are so fab!) 3. Are you a night shower or a morning shower person? Night shower. 4. What do you study at school if you are at school? If you’re not at school what do you do instead? I’m at university and I study (broadcast) journalism. 5. Do you speak multiple languages? What are they? I’m fluent in English and Romanian, intermediate in French, can understand a lot of Italian and know a bunch of random words and phrases in so many other languages like Spanish, German or Japanese because I love linguistics so much! 6. What do you like most about where you live? I normally live in the UK but I’ve just moved 2 days ago and I didn’t time to see much of the new country where I live now so I’m going to say what I like best about the UK which is the weather. I bitch and moan about it all the time but as someone who’s lived in places where it gets really hot or really cold, the English weather is pretty decent most of the time. 7. Favorite piece of jewellery, why? My pandora bracelet. I’ve had it for 4 years now and worn it every single day. Every charm has been a gift and it has a special meaning to me. 8.  Whats one random fact about yourself? I get pins and needles in my limbs extremely easily. 9. TOG or ACOTAR? UGH! How can I choose?! ACOTAR just because I’ve read ACOWAR last and it’s more recent and fresh in my mind. 10. Do you like fantasy books with a lot of romance or does it not really matter to you? I love romance so I prefer if the book has loads of romance in it but I don’t read books with a romance element exclusively. 11. Favorite color! I don’t really have one but blue I guess.

I tag: @wpbianca99 @cass-ian @cassianandfenrysaremyboyos @highfaenesta @highlady-casandra @ultimaterowan @ships-and-saints @azrielsiphons

1. If you could only do three of these for the rest of your life which would you choose: reading, writing, dancing, singing, watching TV/films, playing sports, travelling. 2. What’s your most prized possession? 3. What’s one thing everyone should have? 4. How do you unwind after a long day? 5. What are 3 pet peeves of yours? 6. If you don’t like a book do you stop reading it or do you persist in the hopes that it will get better? 7. What’s the most beautiful place you’ve seen? 8. What’s a name you really like that you’d use for a character or future child? 9. What’s one thing you wish you had the courage to do? 10. What’s the nicest compliment you’ve ever received? 11. Have you ever done a random act of kindness or had a stranger do one for you?

[evakteket]

Watchlist update

Hello, Kit here! This week I’m in the unusual position of posting this from Oslo while Immy is elsewhere in the world, so... halla! Hope you’re all holding up okay?

The usual: When it’s been more than three weeks since a fic was updated we consider it to be on hiatus and remove it from the watchlist. Then we light a candle for it and cry a lot. However, we don’t cancel our subscriptions and if one of the removed fics gets updated again, we’ll put it right back on the list.

The usual II: feel free to send us an ask if you have suggestions for fics we should check out -- even if they’re not Evak-centric!

Update summary:

Completed: 3 Added: 4 Removed: 0 (yay!)

Knock Four Times by @folerdetdufoler NEW

Yes, this is a US college AU, and yes, Even is American in it! This is extremely well written, and heavy on the angst–we won’t spoil you, but we’ll say that, as in the show, there were parts of this that were so well done they sort of hurt to read. Throw in a long distance relationship between Isak and his boyfriend back in Norway, and you’ve got a cool twist on the college AU setting that feels very realistic and really drew us in. - kit and immy

Come On, Set the Tone by @boxesofflowers, eeyoreneedsahug (@chloebeaux) NEW Okay, I can’t even pretend I have any chill about this. I AM OBSESSED with this fic. Isak is a mainstream pop artist with anxiety, trying to make the music he wants to make; Even is an indie darling who winds up on the same tour. It’s vaguely hate to love, and reminds me far too much of my time in bandom for me not to be screaming from the rooftops, so I’ll stop before I start giving away spoilers, but: yes. I like this. Read it. (Warning: you definitely need to check the tags first.) - kit

take me to the stars by iriswests (@westiris) NEW This fic makes the rather ambitious move of having Evak start off hating each other, before diving into a fuck buddy arrangement, but somehow the author makes it work. Some cool balloon squad stuff here, bonus Julian Dahl, and some nice b plotlines with Isak as an astronomy nerd working at the science centre and Isak and Eva as roommates. Well written, although we were sceptical about the dive straight into penetrative sex (which we should note is not explicitly described). - kit and immy stay a minute by grinsekaetzchen (@hotchocolatenthusiast) NEW In which Even is directing a new adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, and Isak is the actor playing Romeo. This fic is a very well-done au that feels true to the characters while still managing to give them a fresh world to play in, and we love the relationship dynamic between Even and Isak here, which is more complicated than it first appears. We're also completely taken with Even and Isak's fandoms, which we get a glimpse of through fake tumblr posts sprinkled throughout the fic; we're loving how this extra layer makes the world seem so fleshed out and real. - kit and immy

Checking from Behind by DickAnderton (@wecanjustbreathe) COMPLETED

Complete, rec here.

Doctor Patient Confidentiality by skambition COMPLETED

Complete, rec here.

Straight Up (Series) by @nofeartina COMPLETED Complete, rec here.

News:

Still on the watchlist:

making new clichés by strangetowns (@sanashappinessisendgame)

This Evak as best friends AU is incredibly well-written thus far and has a very realistic, nuanced portrayal of their relationship, both as children and in the present. This feels like the slowest, best of slow burns, and we can’t wait to see how it all wraps up. - kit and immy

Twice by intothewind (@brokenveinssay) This fake dating/band fic is a delicious addition to the world of Evak AUs, and we’re completely here for it. Isak pretends to be Jonas’s boyfriend, which leads to some full on Josak/Jovak-esque moments here, and we’d be lying if we said we hadn’t already read that shotgunning scene MULTIPLE TIMES. - kit and immy

the city of illusions, the city of yearning by elisewin (@books-figuero) A different city AU where the slightly older SKAM characters are exchange students in Rome, and where the author obviously knows the city and writes it well. Sweet and humorous so far, with a fair bit of the banter we adore so much in SKAM fics. - kit and immy

A Collection of Even & Isak’s First Kiss AU Shorts by @fandomlimb Just what it says on the tin: first kisses, a different AU in each chapter. Adorable short stories, varying POVs and varying amounts of fluff. - immy

Livredderen by Kudzibisa (Norwegian)

AU where Even is the first to arrive at the scene when Isak has been in a car crash. As usual from Kudzibisa, short clipped chapters keeping the reader on tenterhooks, peppered with beautifully crafted evocative sentences, for those truly blessed people who can read Norwegian. - immy

Livet skjer med meg by neelabrenner (@nilabrenner) (Norwegian) Post season 3 canon divergent story about Isak and Even’s life together, from Even’s POV. So far feelgood and funny and precious, but not without angst and other deep and not always pleasant emotions. Capturing the characters well from Even’s POV. Yes, those who can read Norwegian are indeed truly blessed. - immy

Expect the Unexpected by bri_ness (@brionbroadway)

This Big Brother AU had us at ‘snakesak’, and takes that tag to a whole new level. We’re transfixed by the mix of Big Brother gameplay and manipulation and the genuine interactions between Even and Isak, and we love how this fic feels really fresh while still giving nods to canon and staying in character. This is tagged ‘messy relationships abound’ and we’re totally here for it. - kit and immy

a mental archive of love unwanted by chevythunder (@icelandcurry)

This fic begins with Even in love with Mikael and moving into the kollektiv with Isak and Linn–a combo we didn’t know we wanted. We’re already loving the angst and the growing friendship between Isak and Even, as well as the dynamic with the balloon squad, whose friendship here is ultimately #goals. Although we all know how this fic is gonna end, this feels like a breath of fresh air, and we can’t wait to read more. Note: our previous rec had an error in the title, so apologies for that. - kit and immy

Mental kampsport by Peer (Norwegian)

Starting during Even’s depressive episode in S3 and being told from Even’s POV, this is an unforgettably beautiful and moving story. Every bit of it feels true to Even and the SKAM universe, while also bringing a feeling of fresh new perspectives to the table. Only in Norwegian, unfortunately, but if you can read that you should definitely read this. - immy

The Weight of Us by verlore_poplap (@mimi-fics)

This is a very interesting fic, in part because it’s so different to a lot of the stuff in the fandom so far. Isak and Even meet when they’re older, and in serious relationships with Emma and Sonja–in case alarm bells are ringing, yes, Isak and Emma are together, but the author uses the context of their relationship to explore what would have happened if he’d repressed his sexuality, which I think is very cool. The author also treats Emma very fairly. The fic has a few minor niggles–Isak, for example, at one point performs a super rare kind of heart surgery–but overall this fic has me really intrigued, and I can’t wait to read the rest. - kit

Stupid Cupid by BluebeardsWife … an AU with Isak as Eros evicted from Olympos and Even as, well, something supernatural not yet revealed (but based on his choice in films I can guess)? Oh yes. It’s well written and so far it’s really funny, but the tags hint of angst to come. Note: we’ve now fixed the link to this one! - immy

[opepin]

april: week one

03: i was so tired when i got up... i was pretty ded but i went to work anyway. i was a zombie the entire morning. all four of us met up for lunch at gene’s flatbread and i got lost on the way there LOL. we ate and then i just sat there for a while...my stomach started hurting more after lunch so i planned to leave after stand up. but the day went on and i stayed at work. i spent about 30 - 45 minutes just talking and chilling with steve and cole in their little room :P i was “john” for that brief moment in time and they told me to work at his desk whenever he isn’t there so it could be like good old times ... like a few weeks ago ahahah. we talked about wrestlemania, cars, the ferry, the view here, and also moving to a new office location. it’ll be around july when that happens so we’ll see. i hope we get to get a taste of working there one day. ;P i felt a bit better after that so i went back to my desk and worked until 5 pm. i caught up with phil at the end of the day and then cole and i headed over to cvs. he got pepsi and chocolate and i was going to get body wash but it was marked up by double the price @_@; so i just got the “black currant” pepsi.

i needed to pee but i didn’t because i thought i everyone was going to be on time LOL. but they weren’t so i peed right when we got back to the apartment. well, nluu had trouble finding bike parking, kevin left later than usual, and i think ryan entered the platform on the other side? ahha. we managed to find each other and squeeze on a train. i had to hold on to ryan’s book bag for a while and the guy next to us kept laughing at me. haha. we started making ratatouille right away and it took us a while to cook that and the salmon. the salmon with the butter lemon caper sauce was bombbbb. the ratatouille needed to be cooked for longer (we tweaked the temp and length because we were hungry). after dinner, i was not having it. i had a headache all day so i just gamed a bit and then ko’d on the bed. i woke up to really loud laughter and stuff and i didn’t want to disturb the guys so i got up, brushed my teeth, showered, and then went back to bed. i watched some videos before sleeping but i was still feeling like crap both in the head and stomach areas... i almost forgot to mention that kevin mandolin’ed some of the skin of his thumb T_T he bled a good amount but he’s alright. i think he’s in a bit of shock though...

04: i got a lot of sleep and it was awesome. i woke up without the headache but my stomach still felt iffy. everyone woke up late today. me and kevin worked from home and we’re really tired and burned out so we took it easy today. i had a good small and healthy breakfast. kevin, ryan, and nluu had homemade egg mcmuffins and some pasta?? LOL norman got pasta from fat cat and it was way too much for him to finish. he had to eat all of it before his flight at 3:45 pm today. i had calls from 12 to 2:30 pm so when nluu had to leave, i said goodbye :( it’s okay -- i’ll see him in june! he also did something to our bathroom before leaving, which was LOLOLOLOL. he was quite embarrassed. anyway, ryan drove nluu to the airport with my car after the guys played a bit of pool. i was pretty productive for the rest of the day. kevin and i worked while they were gone and got a good amount of work done.

i played ‘bravely default’ for the rest of the day basically LOL. i was such a bum. my stomach is not doing so well and my body is reacting to it so i just skipped my work out. OH, my fitbit is coming in on saturday so i’ll for sure be back on track by then! i stopped logging my food and exercise in myfitnesspal so i can transition easier. i don’t need to hold my phone to keep track of my steps anymore! we made shrimp vermicelli for dinner and watched some dave chappelle. then the guys played steam games for the rest of the night. ryan just stayed in and did some apartment hunting. i’m wishing him the best of luck! :) yeah, it was a rainy and chill day from inside the apartment for all of us.

05: lol kevin worked from home again. everyone got so much sleep. i washed all of the dishes from last night x__x and then made myself pb and banana english muffins. it was another chill af day from home. ryan and kevin rq’d the lobster rolls for dinner because we didn’t have brioche buns and we had a lot of leftovers and yeahh.... so we’re planning on making a make-shift dinner. i did some recording and kevin took a break and played a few games of overwatch while i was recording so he basically ruined two of the videos and i spent the rest of the day past 6 pm fixing them. -__- you have no idea how fucking pissed i was. i understand that he has to do his own thing but he wasn’t doing work -- he was playing games and that caused me to have to voiceover basically everything. ugh. kevin basically ignored me for the rest of the day and just spent his time with ryan.

i did a 45 minute workout and my body feels so weak after not working out for 2 days T_T then i took a nice long shower and ate some dinner. ryan bought us cupcakes and sadly, the strawberry cheesecake one was my favorite but eating any more than a few bites would have destroyed my stomach. i watched the latest episode of ‘reign’ and then everyone headed into our room to watch kevin game. well, it turned into me and ryan watching an old episode of ‘the taste’ and i think he likes the structure of the show. i’m so sad it got taken off the air though ;( i brushed my teeth and then went to sleep. i gamed a bit before going to sleep. i’m becoming too obsessed with the different classes and figuring out which ones are the best for each character @_@

06: it was a lot harder to get up than i thought. i’ve been getting a lot of sleep but it was just hard to get up. i got on the train just in time and then got to work -- it was nice seeing everyone again! steve, cole, charles, joe, and i walked over to the south station plaza area to get tenoch mexican. cole keeps going on and on about it, but guess what? the truck wasn’t there today LOL. we walked in the cold rainy weather just to find that out. so we just got food from bon me and walked back. bon me’s thai iced tea tastes interesting... i think it needs to be creamier/sweeter but it was still good. i got the pulled pork miso banh mi and it was soooo yummy -- not too salty. i ate all of it for lunch! :O i was getting full 2/3 of the way down though. it was a super productive day and then i stopped working at around 4:45 pm and then talked with steve and cole. i walked with cole to south station and then i waited for kevin. we got on and talked a bit. then we got back, i told ryan that we didn’t get tenoch LOL and then the guys played some ‘hollow knight’ while i played some bravely default. 

then they stopped, snacked, and went climbing and i continued playing until i needed to bake the chicken and exercise. i managed to do additional back and arm exercises after my dance cardio, take out the chicken, put away my gym stuff, put chicken nuggets in the oven, shower in 12 minutes, cool off the nuggets, and then wash dishes before ryan and kevin got back. woot! ryan showered, kevin started cooking chinese broccoli in a cool way and then we ate dinner. then they we all game some more until 1 or 2 am. gg ryan because he had to get up at 4 am. we left him alone, gamed a bit more in bed and went to sleep.

07: yeah, this week was real tiring for both of us. i worked from home and i didn’t feel quite motivated today, but i did work :) in bravely default, i restarted twice to beat qada because he annoyed the heck out of me. i wanted to kill him in the best way possible >:D anyway, it was beautiful outside too. it was one of those warm days where you just want to laze around outside. i did manage to record 2 videos and then got caught up in a really long stand up. kevin got back home and we actually drove to target so i could get some body wash. it was a nice day but it got colder and darker. oh well. we stopped by brookstone to try out their massage chairs -- i think kevin really wants one in the future. the one i tried didn’t fit my body correctly so the massage experience was weird. i found the new duo loofah body wash thing and decided to give it a try along with the raw sugar brand vivian suggested. 

we checked out and then headed back to brookstone to get a bit more massage in (for kevin) and then we stopped by auntie anne’s for pretzel nuggets. mmm i forgot how good their og pretzels were. kevin got the honey mustard dip and i fed him all the way back home. when we got back, we just gamed and chilled. i talked with kevin about work and it was nice just to do that while he listened. i watched him play hollow knight and played some bravely default. we ate leftovers for dinner and watched the newest episode of ‘supernatural.’ it felt weird without norman and ryan here. it was weird going back to our routine. it was nice though. we did manage to go to sleep at around 1 or 2 am after gaming a lot. what a nice day.

08: we got out of bed with just enough time to make breakfast, for me to curl my hair, to change, and get to rock spot climbing 5 minutes before the rec divisions’ prep. i met kevin’s co-worker, matt and his girlfriend, megan (sp?). i was tasked with recording and taking photos of kevin. it was hard at first but then i just took off my shoes and started following him while trying not to get in anybody’s way. i didn’t think there would be so many people there and so many people competing. @_@; the way the competition worked is that participants shopped for problems they wanted to do and each problem was assigned an amount of points depending on how hard it was. participants could try as many times as they want but attempts would be recorded and then when they completed a problem, they got the initials of the person manning that problem. so it was a lot of waiting in line and seeing people try again.

kevin did a good job! he got a problem that was craaazzy. it’s a good thing i had my state backpack because i stuck my shoes in there, i had two water bottles for kevin, and i brought kevin’s free stuff in there too. it was so handy! we met up with matt and megan before the competition ended, watched them do some problems and then we all headed to moonshine 152 to get lunch. kevin suggested it and i’m glad he did. i got he crabby eggs benedict with a mixed sweet iced tea and kevin got the french toast sticks and poutine. the eggs benedict was DELICIOUS. the poutine’s tater tots were the crispiest and most delicious things ever. the french toast sticks were aiight -- a bit too sweet. kevin and i had some of matt’s bloody mary and it was pretty good! matt said it was one of the best ones he had so it was a good time to try. it was savory and tasted like a meal... like blended hot cheeto puffs haha. we talked about restaurants, food, etc. it was fun.

we walked back to check the results and both of them were pretty high up there but didn’t make it. kevin didn’t really want to make it tbh because he was tired. we parted ways with matt and megan and then kevin drove us back. i picked up my fitbit! it’s so beautiful! i set it up and played around with it for a bit. then we spent the rest of the day gaming. he played hollow knight and i played bravely default. we ate chicken nuggets and then ate fried rice for dinner. we finished watching season 3 of ‘how to get away with murder’ @_@ omggg, too many plot twists. i don’t know if i want to keep watching this show. we basically stayed up until 3 or 4 am...haha...

09: we got out of bed at 12 pm but we both woke up at around 10:30 or 11 am. i watched youtube videos in bed while kevin played pokemon. then kevin made us egg mcmuffins and i microwaved the leftover fried rice. we ate brunch and then we headed out to our massage at the thai wellness center! it took them a bit to get to us but the massage was great. it was as great as last time and i can say that this is now my favorite place <3 she got into my back, shoulders, and neck, AND my feet. the circulation in my feet has gotten worse and it is a bit concerning so the massage helped but i’m planning on seeing a doctor about this. anyway, kevin had a great time too and after our massage, we booked our next one ;D we also added on the steam room! i’m so excited for next month already ahah.

we drove back to the apartment, kevin gamed, and i found out that someone stole my credit card information and bought airplane tickets for united. so i spent 30 minutes or so trying to get a hold of chase customer service for my credit card. no where on their website or any forum, does it say how to get a hold of one. if you call the number on the back or the numbers on the website, you just get automated messages. kevin figured out that you had to press 0 for the operator -__-” wtf. i asked the customer service rep and he said to press 0 twice to get connected. wtf. anyway, i reported fraud and then kevin and planned our meals and went grocery shopping.

we went to kam man, roche bros, and bj’s. we were so tired and hungry after. lol, kevin thought i was going to pass out or something and he called me super weird. kevin took someone else’s cart in bj’s and when he returned it, the guy stared and him and made an angry hand motion -- we were both not on our grocery shopping game LOL. we got everything and then got back, i started cleaning the apartment, kevin washed the dishes and put away the groceries, and i then i had some downtime and did some “me time” things like journaling and catching up on my tumblr haha. i called my mom and she got sick from the weather change :( then i did some exercise to see how well the alta catches aerobics’ data. it does pretty well! we ate cashew chicken and it was delicious (minus the cashews because i hate cashews T_T) and chinese broccoli for dinner. then i folded the laundry and tried exercising a bit more but it was so tired from the massage and cleaning so i showered, brushed my teeth, and ko’d at around 1 am. zzz. kevin stayed up for a bit playing games.

[evakteket]

Watchlist update!

Once again it’s been more or less a week since the last update, once again a bit more more than less. Ahem.

The usual: When it’s been more than three weeks since a fic was updated we consider it as on hiatus and remove it from the watchlist. Then we pout for a while. However, we don’t cancel our subscriptions and if one of the removed fics gets updated again, we will put it right back on the list.

Update summary:

Completed: 3 Added: 4 Removed: 1

News:

Stupid Cupid by BluebeardsWife (@uweremythtaken) NEW

… an AU with Isak as Eros evicted from Olympos and Even as, well, something supernatural not yet revealed (but based on his choice in films I can guess)? Oh yes. It’s well written and so far it’s really funny, but the tags hint of angst to come. - immy

Livredderen by Kudzibisa (Norwegian) NEW

AU where Even is the first to arrive at the scene when Isak has been in a car crash. As usual from Kudzibisa, short clipped chapters keeping the reader on tenterhooks, peppered with beautifully crafted evocative sentences, for those truly blessed people who can read Norwegian. - immy

Livet skjer med meg by neelabrenner (@nilabrenner) (Norwegian) NEW Post season 3 canon divergent story about Isak and Even’s life together, from Even’s POV. So far feelgood and funny and precious, but not without angst and other deep and not always pleasant emotions. Capturing the characters well from Even’s POV. Yes, those who can read Norwegian are indeed truly blessed. - immy

I’ll Be Coming Home, Wait For Me by @dahlstrom NEW This AU sees Even as a chef co-owning a new American style diner with Yousef, and Isak as their new waiter, so we’re already invested in the dynamics set up here! We’re especially excited by the tags, which promise not only a delicious slow burn, but a taste of our girl Chris Berg. We’re already super hungry for more of this (okay, okay, we’ll stop now with the food puns) so: why aren’t you reading this already? - kit and immy

Falling (The World is Yours) by chips2 COMPLETE

Completed, rec here.

You Don’t Even Know Me! by @cuteandtwisted COMPLETE

Completed, rec here.

Festen by Kudzibisa COMPLETE

Completed, rec here.

Still on the watchlist from last update:

Spacewalker by evenvaltersen

How the hell you can make a Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo AU work with SKAM characters is beyond me, but evenvaltersen manages just that, in my opinion. This may be my obsession with Christiane F talking, but give it a go. Be warned: it’s every bit as gritty and sad as you can expect something based on a mostly true story about teen drug addicts in Berlin in the 70s to be, no fluff here. - immy

making new clichés by strangetowns (@yousanaisendgame)

This is in its early days, but oh-so promising! It’s another Evak as best friends AU, but it’s incredibly well-written thus far and it has a very realistic, nuanced portrayal of their relationship, which is already just close enough that it has us absolutely stoked for the moment it tips over into feelings too big to ignore. - kit and immy

Those, who could not hear the music by UniversalParadox_13

This is also pretty new, but again shows a lot of potential to be one of the fandom’s most interesting AUs–this one has Even and Isak as ballet dancers. Although it can go a little overboard with the italics, this fic is already super interesting, has a well-done portrayal of the ballet world, and promises to eventually venture into *drumroll* smut territory. Yep. That got your attention, didn’t it? - kit

with love, from anonymous by cosetties (@adamparishe) and iriswests (@westiris)

Fuck yeah well-written slow burn coffee shop AU! It’s also a secret admirer fic, and to be honest that sets off my skepticism, but this is such great fun and the fuckups and misunderstandings and coffee spills abound. It’s not entirely light-hearted; it comes with a dose of angst and frustration and the problems you can expect from life as well. - immy

The Weight of Us by verlore_poplap (@mimi-fics)

This is a very interesting fic, in part because it’s so different to a lot of the stuff in the fandom so far. Isak and Even meet when they’re older, and in serious relationships with Emma and Sonja–in case alarm bells are ringing, yes, Isak and Emma are together, but the author uses the context of their relationship to explore what would have happened if he’d repressed his sexuality, which I think is very cool. The author also treats Emma very fairly. The fic has a few minor niggles–Isak, for example, at one point performs a super rare kind of heart surgery–but overall this fic has me really intrigued, and I can’t wait to read the rest. - kit

Checking from Behind by DickAnderton (@wecanjustbreathe)

A slight disclaimer is probably in order here, because I (Kit) am betaing this fic, but I’m too obsessed with it not to rec it. This is a hate-to-love AU, set in my absolute favourite of AU universes–college ice hockey! You don’t need to know anything about the sport to be intrigued by this fic, which definitely isn’t your standard Evak storyline. Warning: Isak and Even both explore relationships with women in this one, so see the author’s notes. -kit

Twice by intothewind (@brokenveinssay) This fake dating/band fic is a delicious addition to the world of Evak AUs, and we’re completely here for it. Isak pretends to be Jonas’s boyfriend, which leads to some borderline Josak/Jovak-esque moments here, and we’d be lying if we said we hadn’t already read that shotgunning scene MULTIPLE TIMES. - kit and immy

the city of illusions, the city of yearning by elisewin (@books-figuero) A different city AU where the slightly older SKAM characters are exchange students in Rome, and where the author obviously knows the city and writes it well. Sweet and humorous so far, with a fair bit of the banter we adore so much in SKAM fics. - kit and immy

A Collection of Even & Isak’s First Kiss AU Shorts by @fandomlimb Just what it says on the tin: first kisses, a different AU in each chapter. Adorable short stories, varying POVs and varying amounts of fluff. - immy