#should i tag for dormancy mention

[thegardengrows-infrozenrain]

shit i forgot to introduce myself

dunno if the others do that but i will lol

anyways uuuuhhh i'm oleander (when i'd woken up in here i didn't actually have a name, it's related to stuff from the last time i used the body (not good stuff :( ), miss molly actually named me) and i'm like... seventeen lmao

gender is masc, dunno completely abt my sexuality yet

[introjis]

Could you add the tag “#tw: dormancy” … /nf…

apologies we're normally not used to tagging that! we removed the mention all together and reworded it as "away" since it's not a frequent thing our system deals with and if we added the tag(or kept the mention) we would risk either people not seeing the post and/or getting triggered upon reading our introduction posts

(which I will fault myself for doing and posting without getting a second opinion on That Late and not my headmates because of waking up around 8am and not going to bed until 2am I Should Not Be Making Posts unless involving art which doesn't take Much Brain Power)

any future posts (including this one) that mention dormancy or are related to it will have the tw tag. Again it was completely my fault I am so sorry to anyone who got triggered by it./gen

[fo-pinupzine-callout]

What you should know before you support the Fallout Pinup Zine [MOD TEAM ISSUES]

DISCLAIMER:

The author of this post does NOT condone any forms of harassment to either the moderators, the artists, or the users who shed light on the issues surrounding the zine’s moderators.

This post is solely for the knowledge of the potential buyer and contributor. Contributors and customers has the right to know who they are supporting, even if all of the zine profits goes to a charity.

The author of this post is NOT affiliated with any of the users who made the posts that will be used as references here. This is an independent party. This throwaway account is created by a single author, and the views are the author’s. The author had not spoken to any of the post creators that will be cited below beforehand and this post is created unprompted by anyone but the author themselves.

DO NOT SEND ANY INFLAMMATORY MESSAGES TO ANY OF THE MENTIONED USERS, OR CREATORS OF ANY OF THE POSTS BELOW. THE AUTHOR WISHES TO MAKE THIS CLEAR AS DAY.

WHAT IS THE FALLOUT PINUP ZINE?

The Fallout Pinup Zine is a fan-run magazine featuring characters from the Fallout franchise illustrated in a cheesecake style pinup. It has two parts: Gentlemen’s Club and Ladies’ Night. More information can be read on @/falloutpinupzine. Gentlemen’s Club concluded September 2020. Ladies’ Night is currently underway, and submissions are open for artists. The latter zine is a charity event.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE ZINE?

There’s nothing wrong with the zine itself! Zines and fandom-run events are great way of bringing fans together to create content for the community.

However, there are issues with the moderation team behind the event.

One of the moderators who run the blog, @/yesjejunus (YJJ) had appeared in various community callout posts for racism and other unsavory content that users might want to steer clear of. YJJ had purged their blog and was deplatformed several times, but returned after four months of dormancy.

By extension, the other two moderators of the zine @/socksual-innuendos (Socks), @/sas-afras (Monty) and @/shishkamoosh (Shishk), condone their actions as well, having defended YJJ several times or reblogging posts with those sentiments. Several users who support or had contributed to the zine are affiliates of YJJ, such as @/fallout-lou-begas (Lou, close friend), @/tarberrymentats (Halk, close friend, is the one to suggest the charity for the zine), and @/coriandher/@/baidurii/@/dua-kali-lima (Fi, close friend, had made a callout post in defense of them). They also dismissed any form of criticism towards YJJ’s content, one of them even going as far as calling the criticism self-righteous.

This is despite BIPOC (black, indigenous, person of color), POC, and indigenous Fallout fans calling YJJ out for their hurtful depictions of indigenous folks and white saviorism, which is another pressing issue that they refused to address properly. It’s also worth mentioning that YJJ is not black, indigenous, nor a person of color.

However, there are also posts surfacing that attempts to explain YJJ’s side of the situation, especially the harassment they allegedly received from the community, mostly written by their mutuals and some cosigned by YJJ.

Most of these posts address issues surrounding the dark content in YJJ’s writings. In a callout post from their affiliates, they attempt to explain that those who had spoken up against the racist caricatures are the ones who are problematic, in a twist of events. (The author had personally read it, and refuses to acknowledge it due to the inflammatory and accusatory nature of the doc towards a BIPOC member of the Fallout community.) All relevant information will be linked below, to provide context.

Before you decide who to believe, please remember that BIPOC, POC and indigenous voices should bear heavier weight than white voices on issues that concern them.

Before you decide to support or denounce this fandom event, please take this information to create an educated decision on whether you want to support the event or the people behind it.

References and Relevant Information:

YJJ Callout (active, main source, originally posted in 2020. A comprehensive list of YJJ’s problematic content. Lengthy, but informative. Documents specific examples of racist content, including a MAGA hat illustration and a chancla joke. Take other listed YJJ affiliates with a grain of salt, verify for yourself.) [backup]

Blacklist 1 (deactivated, accessed through a reblog, originally posted in 2019. YJJ and a few affiliates are on the list.)

Blacklist 2 (deactivated, accessed through an archive, originally posted in 2019. YJJ and a few affiliates are on the list.)

Blacklist 3 (active, main source, originally posted in 2020. A list of YJJ’s known associates and supporters, including Lou, Halk, Socks and Monty.) [backup]

Post by a BIPOC member of the community, calling them out of their racist depictions of indigenous folks (active, main source, originally posted in 2020) [backup]

Post by a Latine member of the Fallout community, that calls out a racist comic by YJJ and the alleged insincerity of an apology they issued [backup]

Guide by an indigenous member of the community about writing indigenous characters, which references one of the native caricatures in YJJ’s fanfic, Passing Dawn. (The link provided leads to said fanfic, TW for Rape/Non-Con and abuse. Heed the warnings in the tags.) (active, main source, originally posted in 2020) [backup]

Posts and reblogs from YJJ’s closest affiliates in defense of them:

(1) (2) Lou/@/fallout-lou-begas (defense of YJJ’s writing, says that writing dark content in itself is not an endorsement of the problematic themes present, cites harassment of said user; said that YJJ is just being true to the source material of the fic in defense of the racist caricatures present in the work) [backup 1] [backup 2]

For context, Josh Sawyer himself had taken responsibility of the bad representation of native folks in HH, in this post. [backup]

(3) (4) Halk/@/tarberrymentats (reblog of Lou’s post, also citing harassment and claiming that the criticism directed towards their friend is a “false righteous crusade”; a RB of YJJ’s post with a statement in the tags that denounces the callouts made and the people who RBed them) [backup 1] [backup 2]

(5) Fi/@/coriand-her/@/baidurii/@/dua-kali-lima’s defense of YJJ and callout of several members of the community who shed light on the racism issue [backup 1]

(6) Socks/@/socksual-innuendos (reblog of Fi’s callout post with commentary) [backup]

(7) Monty/@/sas-afras (reblog of Fi’s callout post, no commentary) [backup]

I DON’T WANT TO SUPPORT THE ZINE ANYMORE. WHAT CAN I DO INSTEAD?

CONSIDER DONATING THE MONEY DIRECTLY TO THE CHARITY/BENEFICIARY’S WEBSITE. It’s as simple as that. If you wish not to support the moderators of the zine due to the information above, opt to skip the need for a middle man and give your money directly to the charity. If you still wish to make a positive change but cannot donate, consider spreading their platform instead, or volunteering in your local organizations.

If you are an artist who was considering applying for the zine and you are in disagreement with their views, DO NOT APPLY FOR A SUBMISSION. You can still participate in fandom space without engaging with them.

If you disagree with any of the mentioned users’ content and views, BLOCK AND MOVE ON. Don’t give their posts any attention. In a site like tumblr where posts are reliant on reblogs for them to circulate, the best way to deplatform them is to not give them any engagement.

OTHER QUESTIONS AND SENTIMENTS THAT MIGHT COME UP BASED ON PAST EXPERIENCES WITH THE FANDOM, BUT I WILL NOT ADDRESS AFTER ABANDONING THIS THROWAWAY:

WHO ARE YOU? WHY ARE YOU HIDING BEHIND A MASK OF ANONYMITY?

This post involves prominent members of tumblr’s Fallout community. The author is choosing to remain anonymous due to the possible harassment or hazards to their safety from creating this post.

The author is of Asian descent, queer, neurodivergent, and hails from a former US colony. The author once supported YJJ, but had long since denounced support when callouts that point to YJJ’s racism surfaced. That’s the only information they are willing to divulge.

I STILL WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN FANDOM EVENTS, BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THEM. HOW?

Fandom isn’t owned by anyone. You are free to participate as you wish provided that you help keep the community a safe space, especially minorities. You can try creating your own events with other unaffiliated members of the community!

YOU’RE ASKING ME NOT TO SUPPORT A ZINE THAT SUPPORTS NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE OF COLOR. WHY WOULD I LISTEN TO YOU?

The author is simply informing the potential buyer of who runs the charity event and their views on sociopolitical issues. It’s as simple as that. If you still choose to support the zine after reading the information above, the author will not stop you, nor do they have the ability to. As stated above, it offers the potential customer an alternative choice of donating directly to the charity if they choose not to be affiliated with those who runs the zine. The author is not telling you to not support charities.

CALLOUT POSTS/BLACKLISTS ARE HARMFUL! YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO DEFAME PEOPLE FOR A CRUMB OF ATTENTION!

Callout posts and blacklists exist to inform members of a community of content that’s potentially triggering, harmful, or just plain squicky. If the author wanted attention for this post, they would’ve posted this on their main account.

THE ACCOUNTS YOU’VE GOTTEN YOUR CALLOUT REFERENCES FROM ARE PROBLEMATIC/HAS THEIR OWN CALLOUTS/HAS HARASSED OTHER PEOPLE, ETC.

You are free to create a post of your own about them if you have substantial evidence that aren’t limited to screenshots that can be manipulated or forged. Direct links with archived backups definitely help. This post’s focus is the moderation team behind the Fallout Pinup Zine and their affiliates.

YOU’RE A PURIST/PRUDE/ANTI/FANDOM POLICE. PEOPLE SHOULD BE FREE TO DECIDE IF THEY WANT TO WRITE OR CONSUME DARK CONTENT. FICTION DOESN’T AFFECT REALITY, ETC.

The author is adding this section in the post due to the pattern of how YJJ’s affiliates are defending them.

If you’ve read this post carefully, you would notice that the author did not even bring up YJJ’s dark content unless it was mentioned by one of their affiliates. This post focuses mainly on the issues surrounding BIPOC in their writing.

The author does not condone the themes present in dark content such as non-con. However, the author is not shaming anyone from writing dark content, especially if it’s being done as a coping mechanism for trauma, regardless on whether this is considered healthy or not. Their trauma is valid and should be acknowledged. This is another discussion altogether that would take another document to discuss with nuance.

This is, of course, assuming such content doesn’t contain blatant misogyny, racism or other forms of bigotry. Bigotry isn’t a valid or healthy coping mechanism.

The author is choosing to amplify voices of BIPOC, POC, and indigenous voices. If a said piece of fiction is affecting them personally due to their experiences as a minority and an oppressed group, people should listen to their criticism. It should be as simple as that.

[hermit-writes]

Dormancy

This fic was created for the Malec Discord Mini Bang 2020 hosted by the Malec Discord Server.

Summary

Love used to be a weed that threatened to choke him. Now, it will never again be in the cards for him. Magnus absolutely, and with all the certainty of centuries, knows this. Until Alec Lightwood unknowingly waters his heart. It decides to grow. This is undeniably a problem, but both Alec and Magnus have to choose if it can bloom.

Tags

Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Catarina Loss

emotional denial, Hanahaki Disease, Pining, They both need to use their words, And some therapy, BAMF Alec Lightwood, Wraiths burrowed from Supernatural, returned only slightly damaged, Alec being a good leader, Magnus only thinks he’s cold and jaded, Protective!Catarina, Alcohol, Timeline What Timeline, Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, like yeets the canon quite early into the sun, Until it Doesn’t, absolutely beta’d because I refuse to die. like men or otherwise

Excerpt

The first time Magnus had seen Alexander Lightwood, it had been in an act of violence that was almost as wanton as it was precise. He shouldn’t have been surprised, he knew the Shadowhunters were soldiers first and foremost. But he was surprised nonetheless. There was something about the way he went to retrieve his arrow from a corpse dropped in the middle of a party that spoke of a casualness usually reserved for hardened murderers. Magnus would know, he’d had that ease for decades in fields of war. Not in a nightclub filled with mundanes, and no matter how skilled Magnus was at warping their perception, a dead body was still a dead body. At the very least it was a trip hazard.

The second time had surprised him in a different way altogether. He’d love to blame the Shadowhunters for leading Valentine’s men straight to his lair and, by extension, his people. But that comforting notion had been taken away when the Nephilim mentioned Elias’ death. Grief and mourning could come later, had to come later, when survival wasn’t an all-encompassing need.

The arrow whistled by him to hit the Circle member in the thigh. It wasn’t a deadly shot but the pain served as a distraction nonetheless and allowed Magnus’ next magical bolt to penetrate the Nephil’s defence. The Circle member fell down, unconscious, soon to be dead. Magnus didn’t have it in him to care either way. One who collected warlock marks deserved a slower death if anything.

“Well done,” said Alexander, lowering his bow.

“More like medium rare,” Magnus replied. The flippancy came easy. As did the flirting smile when he turned to face Alexander. There was no deadly grace then, no sharply honed weapon. Instead there was floundering and the hint of a blush. And when Alexander smiled it was the sun through the storm, lighting up the whole room. Magnus wanted to see more of that smile, more of the off-balance spark of happiness. And a lot of more what he could only guess under Alec’s clothes.

He put a pin on that thought, called away to check on his people and on his duties. The ones who survived the attack limped out to other locations, to lick their wounds and mourn the dead. And then, because his evening had not gone to sufficient levels of Hell, Magnus had to deal with a major demon summoning. He felt bad for Biscuit. He should have told Jocelyn to stop years ago. That trauma and that hurt was on him as much as it was in her.

The third time, he knew he was in trouble.

Read on Ao3.

@malecdiscordserver

[argentdandelion]

The True Power of NEO (Part 3 of 4)

To see previous entries in the series, check out “The True Power of NEO” tag on the ArgentDandelion blog. Made with help from CinnamonAzzy and Ihasafandom.

Tactic 1 (Explode the Exit) and Tactic 2 (Offense Over Defense) Responses

Using his NEO form as a block of explosives to seal the exit was a good idea, and exploding the exit while the human was in the room was, while riskier, still pretty good. Even using his box mode as a living wall to delay the Human’s progress was better than switching to his Mettaton NEO form to fight the human.

If his NEO form is anything like his EX form, Mettaton should logically be able to attack with it. As mentioned, Mettaton EX has strong attacks, numerous bullets, and a variable bullet pattern with a unique SOUL Mode mechanic. Assuming Mettaton NEO is even more effective at attacking and has some way to dodge or endure strong attacks (e.g., by flipping into his supposedly invulnerable original mode), attacking the human is a pretty reasonable option.

Indeed, he would, theoretically, have more time to prepare to fight the human in the Genocide Route than in other Routes, since he doesn't engage the human in TV segments. However, during that time, Alphys would be busy evacuating others, and so couldn't work on his body. (This assumes she both works quickly and the body was nearly done anyway)

Yet, this tactic depends on him being able to attack. He doesn’t attack, bringing up the question of whether he even can.

Can He Emit Bullets?

If the combat systems for his EX/NEO form were the last feature to be added, without Alphys' fine-tuning, he might enter combat with no attack capability. Mettaton, out of faith for Alphys' work or sheer haste, may have assumed Alphys installed some combat capabilities in his NEO form before he changed into it. It is also possible Mettaton finished the body himself while Alphys was doing something else, which might explain the missing eye and silly leg-shaped pauldrons (possibly made from spare parts). In this case, his lack of combat capabilities comes from his lack of skill in building robots.

It’s possible that, as soon as ghosts merge with their bodies, they can’t attack, or that there’s some learning curve or dormancy period before re-accessing offensive magic. Mad Dummy/Glad Dummy might support this: though many monsters keep fighting once spareable, as soon as Mad Dummy fuses with their body, they stop attacking. Mad Mew Mew, on the other hand, hadn’t actually fused with her body at the time of the battle. Assuming this hypothesis is true, Mettaton unexpectedly fused with his body and didn’t have enough time to re-learn how to make magical attacks.

The “dormancy period” supposition is a little weakened, though, by the observation Mettaton fuses with his body in his Mettaton EX battle and has no problem with bullet patterns. (Although many of his attack patterns are unusual objects or not projectiles.)

Death Explosions

One might argue that Mettaton is hoping the human will trigger his death explosion, and he would survive it if he hadn’t fused, or the explosion would kill both himself and the human if he had fused. However, this idea of a lethal explosion is weakened by one of his lines in the near-Genocide Route:“Yes, Asgore will fall easily to you”. This suggests he thinks the human will survive the explosion. Perhaps he, knowing the sheer power of even a whiffed strike, extrapolates that the human’s defenses are also very high.

Oddly, Mettaton’s explosion does not do any damage, in either the Genocide Route or Neutral Route. Mettaton wouldn’t have reason to deliberately explode his body in the Neutral Route. It’s possible his body exploding is a side effect of him reaching 0 HP, and Alphys hastily upgraded that to be useful in combat. However, given Alphys was evacuating Hotland, even with her super-fast working (assuming she doesn’t simply swap Frisk’s phone with a new one and re-adds two phone numbers), she probably didn’t have time to run simulations on whether Mettaton’s explosion would block the exit.

“You Wouldn’t Kill a Human, Would You?” Response

Turning into Mettaton NEO may have been a tactic to break the human’s will for killing, thus protecting humanity. (and perhaps monsters) If a human absorbing a monster’s SOUL gains great power, the genocidal Human would have a lot more power to kill humanity with Asgore’s SOUL. If Mettaton believes he can’t kill the Human, for whatever reason, then removing their will to harm humanity and kill anyone but Asgore is the next best thing.

Undyne believes the genocidal Human intends to destroy all of humanity, and Mettaton himself believes the Human is a threat to humanity. The genocidal Human would surely be a threat to humanity when they’re willing to kill a human. By that logic, changing into a more humanoid form wouldn’t give Mettaton “psychological armor” at all.

Perhaps he planned on doing the “you were holding back” speech after the human beat him up or “killed” him, thereby breaking the Human’s will to exterminate by showing they weren’t “entirely evil”. From an out-of-universe perspective, this makes sense. Papyrus often stops players from progressing on the Genocide Route, not because he’s no threat, or doesn’t attack, but because of the sheer guilt of killing him. Even in his dying words, he shows faith that the human can do better.

So Why Does He Act Like a Threat?

One might ask, “Surely Mettaton realized he can’t fight back? Why, then, does he act so tough?”

Mettaton seems to have good acting skills (in certain contexts, at least) and there’s evidence he’s good at improvising, acting like nothing is wrong, and hiding his discomfort.

Mettaton seems good at improvisation: when the Human doesn’t behave as expected in the Hotland TV segments, he seems to improvise lines. Mettaton apparently thinks ahead for the possibility the Human completes the tile puzzle, and says: "I only deactivated the flames knowing that Alphys would have anyway." If the Human fails the cooking show puzzle, Mettaton acts as if that time is when his show has a commercial break, and he's not going to destroy the human without a live television audience. Outside the Genocide Route, he knows Alphys plans to come to Frisk’s “rescue” and “deactivate” him, but he blocks the door. He also re-arranges the CORE, hires mercenaries to kill Frisk in the CORE, and offers a lot of money for Frisk’s SOUL to entice Muffet to kill them. He figures Alphys will tell Frisk to flip Mettaton’s switch, but that’s what he wants: to premiere his new body. However, when the human doesn't even step on a green tile, he's clearly stalling for time saying "well well well".

On hiding his pain, up until his arms fall off, his pained expressions are very subtle: it's impossible to notice he's in pain at all without lining up his expressions. (above) When his arms fall off, he looks shocked or pained, but then regains composure. If hit after that point, his pained grimaces are pretty subtle. He still attacks without arms, though he stops dancing. When he loses his legs, he’s shocked for the whole turn, but then closes his eyes (as if hiding a grimace) and still smiles. He also still attacks...faster, even.

However, his skill in hiding his pain isn’t perfect. Mettaton’s text shakes when the final blow is dealt in the Neutral fight, suggesting a quaver in his voice. (possibly of pain) He's clearly saddened when the final blow is dealt, although that's probably emotional, rather than physical, pain. Near the end of his death speech, he says: "I might seem like I'm dying now, but...Dr. Alphys can always repair me." He says the second part with a sad grin, making it not very persuasive, but the very fact he’s considering that and trying to act like everything is fine when he’s dying says something about his impression-management.

If one assumes he’s good at hiding his discomfort and acting as if nothing is wrong, he could plausibly act like everything’s fine even when his plan has gone off the rails. After all, it’s likely he fused with his body prior to or during the fight with the Human, and he surely felt this. It’s possible he’s hoping he can intimidate the human into fleeing or use some variant of Tactic 3 (“You Wouldn’t Kill a Human, Would You?”) to guilt-trip the human into losing the will to kill human beings and any monsters but Asgore. Even if that fails, he might still be going for Tactic 1 (exploding the exit and, ideally, taking the human with him) but he knows he’ll die in the process.

If you liked this content, check out the ArgentDandelion Ko-Fi and Patreon.

[gocatboygo]

I don’t know if you have made a post about it already, but could you introduce your alters? And any blogs they have (I’m sorry if this is an intrusive question, I don’t know much about DID)

not intrusive at all dear!! let me know if you want some resources to learn more about DID, i’m always happy to point an uneducated person in the right direction

i have a rarer subtype of DID called polyfragmentation, meaning i have over 100 alters. obviously i don’t know all of them personally since ive only known about my DID for like a year. i have a system carrd with all our most common fronters, but that’s only for friends and mutuals, since it’s got some personal info on it

i’ll just introduce the people who have blogs or post on here, as well as the people i reference a lot, since that’s what’s relevant! 

jackson / kitty: me :3 i prefer if only very close friends, children/child alters, and my own alters call me Kitty. it was my name when i initially split off, but now that i’m the host, i use the body’s name (jackson). if you wanna know more about me check out my about page

jet / sterling: my co-host! @jet-sterling (main) / @mxgalomaniacal (industrial rock sideblog)

roxy: bun/bun/buns/bunself pronouns for this person! bun is really fun and adorable, you would love bun. check out “#roxy posts” or buns page on my blog (there should be a link in my mobile links that says “alter pages”)

lydia: very sweet caretaker :) i believe her tag is “#lydia”. check out her alter page too if you want

oryan: oh my god i love oryan TT_TT @oryans-blog. he’s made a few posts on here but i don’t think he tags them with his name. in sterling’s words, “oryan would probably make friends with a fucking steam locomotive” 

katy: my twin alter :)... she occasionally posts on here but usually doesn’t tag it. a lot of the time she doesnt even mention it’s her she just reblogs posts in silence lmao. fyi twin alters are alters who split off at the same time as each other, usually performing complimentary roles. pretty sure we split off in 2009

gaylord: this man does NOT post. he’s my protector. he’s an old man who can turn into a lion and everyone in my partner system calls him Snape because they’re bullies. the only songs hes ever heard are 1. some bjork song my ex put on for him, 2. various lullabies, and 3. world in my eyes by depeche mode

rabbit: sometimes i talk about this funky little guy in my “#tumblr diary” tag or my “#didposting” tag... 

blair: host from 2017-2018 who recently came out of dormancy! if you don’t know, dormancy is sort of like a comatose state for alters. their tag is just “#blair”, also search “#for blair” to see posts that remind me of them

abel: he’s been AWOL on and off for so long but he fronted today so im really hopeful. a protector of mine who i’m really close to.

that’s all i can really think of!! thanks for asking. let us know if you have questions

[usagienforcer]

It’s an odd thing, but it feels like it’s very rare for me to generally lose a muse.

   There are at least one or two characters on my current muse list that, by most others’ definitions, should be dropped for various reasons. Some haven’t seen even a passing mention in more than half a year. I don’t currently have any ideas for them, there have been little in the way of ideas with them in the past, few show interest in them (particularly if offered along other muses of mine), and I’ve no idea how to start moving forward with them. But I still feel that, given the chance, I can still write them, and I can still write them well. I think that stems from how earnest I was in their creation. 

   It is the same with muses I’ve dropped over time, as I’ve stopped RPing in certain fandoms or consolidated to focus on other muses. Though it has only recently come over to this blog, I have a currently running thread under the tag ;;Guest Muse: Baker. That is a retired character of mine, Corporal Cecilia Baker, originally an OC I made up in the Halo universe. She is a normal marine, rather than a supersoldier or elite trooper, or an alien; I credit that as being largely the reason few ever showed interest in her, but I wrote thousands of words while creating her. Though I am unlikely to revisit any other old muses, I think if it was the case, I’d genuinely be happy to at least try with them.

   If asked, I think I very well could revisit RFA Ohio, Atlantic Conveyor, Averra, Rebecca Moore. I think I could even take a stab at RPing characters like Ruler, who I wrote outside of RP. Sidenote, while writing this post I compiled a list of every muse I’ve written, even for just one thread, and it totals exactly fifty (of which I still write twelve). 

   I think when it comes to muses I’ve genuinely dropped due to disinterest, it’s because I find something lacking in their creation, after the fact. I’d point to Houston and Chava for that. Houston was just a bad character concept. Chava I had very little interest in the first place. I was half-hearted in their creations and I was half-hearted in writing them, seeing little value in their stories. In rare cases like Alexandra Avrimidis, it was realising that my planned route for them would just be retreading a path I’d already taken before, with little to no change in the character’s personality. 

  The above is not the case with the muses I still hold onto on this blog, despite their dormancy; I see potential and I definitely tried while making them. 

   This having all been said, there are still a few characters who I think deserve to rest. They had their moment on the stage, and their stories continue. Those like Trench Café, and Fort Drum. Their stories had a beginning, and they had a definite ending, good endings, wonderful one and at least an improvement for the other. I can look back fondly on Café for being my first RP character. 

   I’m getting a little reflective. I think that’s because on the 26th, it’ll be the fourth year anniversary of beginning to RP Trench Café, starting on this wild foray into roleplay writing. 

[faejilly]

1, 15, 30!

1. favorite fic you wrote this year

and breathing is wishing Because mermaids! Because voices and trust, and there are really interesting things, to me, to be found in the things people don’t say, and why. (Because it kind of wrote itself, once I got going, and that’s always a nice treat.) Because I have like three sequels I want to write, and even if I never write them, I like having them hovering there in my head, sea-currents of potential.

15. something you learned this year

@rutherinahobbit is an amazingly good beta/writing sound-board. like. AMAZING, I should yell incoherently at her more often because she always helps. 😘

Slightly more seriously. (Not that that wasn’t true, or serious, but it’s not really about me.)

Creativity, for me, is very cyclical. I need dormancy, times for things to percolate, and sometimes I need something that’s not writing, and sometimes I need someone to just kick me in the butt and make me do writing sprints... and those were all things I knew already, but I managed to mostly be much nicer to myself about them this year, about those times the thing I needed to do wasn’t the same as what I thought I wanted to do... 

I have found that I finally have gotten rid of the tendency to compare myself to other creatives in terms of what I create... my cake is different than their cake, and look, now there is more cake! Yay! 

I still have trouble with the amount of creating I can do, like: that person has a real job and supports their kids way more actively than I do mine and still wrote a million words this year wtf did I do with myself?... but we all have our hang-ups, and this year that was mine. I’m still trying to figure out a way to give myself more structure re: writing that doesn’t then lead into my comparing numbers of results, but I’m getting there. 

30. favorite fandom to read fic from this year

Mostly Shadowhunters, tbqh, though a lot of the time I’m not sure I enjoyed all the fic I read, I just sort of got stuck in the tag, and I kept going, trying to find that spark even while I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for... 

I am probably going to step back, because, much like @junemermaid mentioned with her round-up, I find too much SH reading gets in the way of SH writing, and there are stories I still really want to tell. 

I’ve read a surprising amount of Teen Wolf and RNM this year, considering I don’t watch either show? Maybe that’s why, I can just wallow in fanon because I know I’m not going to write anything. (Good Omens has been good to me this year, too. It’s a fandom that enjoys wallowing in its words, which is a very luxurious sort of feeling, when reading fic.)

[dispulsion]

Lose Weight with Green Tea! Green Tea 101

Opportunely, tea will be able to help you heal canker sores quickly. It's tempting to think that green tea can function as a protector against cancer, no matter how the studies are mixed. Green tea includes a fair price tag. It has started to make a buzz in the market. While drinking green tea is deemed safe ad natural, it is necessary to take products produced from the herbal extract below the physician's supervision or with care, because like everything else it can generate side results. Any sort of tea on an empty stomach can cause you to feel sick. For many decades green tea was used as traditional medication. It is rich in catechin polyphenols. It can help to get rid of a cold sore with its antiviral benefits. It has become quite a popular beverage in the western world in recent years. Green tea along with almost 6000 other substances comprises the natural pharmacy of conventional Chinese herbal medication. There are many kinds of tea. Some web sites on the Internet claim that it is very high in fluoride content. Additionally, green tea seems to lower overall cholesterol levels, helping reduce one's risk of developing cardiovascular disease. It works effectively in reducing stress and depression. Currently, green teas are commonly sold in numerous distinct forms. It is more widely studied and there is a lot of data out there supporting the benefits of green tea. The main reason why folks are replacing their daily green teas with the match isn't just the wellness benefits. Tea can be consumed in a number of ways. In general, it is a drink that is good for you. While it's the case that green or organic teas are good for weight reduction, you have to be quite careful about the grade of the item you're using. Green tea can apparently also assist you with wrinkles and the symptoms of aging. It is universally referred to as the very best and perfect weight loss tea. It has been called the second-most consumed beverage in the world, behind water. Needless to say, you may be wondering how much green tea has to be consumed in order to have a positive effect on health.

Image Credit Here Green tea is very helpful with intestinal disorders and higher blood pressure. It has also been linked to an increase in the number of calories burned. On the whole, it contains an abundance of antioxidants and vitamins but it's EGCG that has the potential to make great medical breakthroughs. You ought to search for green tea in bags or loose that it is possible to brew at home. For the last 3000 decades, Green tea was part of ancient Indian and Chinese culture. In the end, it delivers the best stress nutrition out there that comes from a natural source. Green tea has just garnered much attention for its capacity to stop disease and safeguard health. It can help your body achieve optimum health and longevity. It controls the postprandial hyperglycemia and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. Moreover, it is the best way to lose weight. It has the ability to help release toxins from your body.

Origin and its Types of Green Tea

In some specific cultures, the tea is provided different names based on the height from which it is poured. Furthermore, green tea, like all tea, provides liquid, which will help keep you hydrated, and offers an opportunity to stop in the center of the day and revel in a treat. Green tea and water are the very best kinds of drinks that don't influence the digestive system practice. In India, tea is just one of the most common hot 77beverages. As mentioned earlier, green tea is created from un-oxidized tea leaves, while black tea is completely oxidized. It contains b vitamins as well as tannins and folic acid. It is known as the healthiest form of tea due to its lack of processing, resulting in extremely high nutrient levels. It is one of the most popular varieties of tea in the United States, second only to black tea, which is made from the leaves of the same plant. Green loose tea is often flavored with jasmine whilst Sencha is just one of the most well-known selections of green tea in Europe due to its strong flavor. Harvested just as the plant awakens from winter dormancy, it's minimally processed so as to preserve its normal freshness. Plants are mowed employing the sickles that's a very tiring and tedious job. Moreover, the short plants bear more new shoots that offer new and tender leaves and boost the essence of the tea.

The Number One Question You Must Ask for Green Tea Menu

Real, fresh-squeezed lime complemented with the ideal quantity of cherry sweetness. For different moments during the day, we've developed signature tea blends. Following this re-drying procedure, each crude tea is going to be sifted and graded according to size. Green tea was demonstrated to enhance the flow of blood and lower cholesterol. Having said this, it's important to get an alternate energy drink, like Sonic, that offers many of exactly the same energy benefits without all the side effects to go with this. If you're sensitive to caffeine it's also wise to be mindful when consuming this solution and is encouraged to talk to a physician should you have any significant concerns.

Top Green Tea Brands and Other Green Tea Products:

Green tea is the greatest ayurvedic weight-loss product in India. It is high in caffeine to increase the rate of metabolism and provide extra energy throughout the day. It has been used in many old cultures as medicine and is slowly gaining the attention of the commercial market. Checking where your green tea has arrived from is vital, the very best ones are going to be from Japan or China originally. Budwhite green tea and Tetli green tea is a well-known brand on earth. Tea is among the ancient drink that was an accidental discovery turned in to a whole degree of business. It is also known as the elixir for some people and the amount of tea consumed every day is enormous. The tea provided by Tetley is full of oxidants and is quite helpful for health. Pros Cons Tetley Green Tea is a brand that's known as one of the greatest ones on the planet. The brand is quite old and it's still powerful and satisfactory in its expert services. So, you should know the most effective green tea brands 2019 so that making an appropriate option for you becomes easy. So now the big question is which is the greatest green tea brand readily available on the market amongst the abundance of options. Some of the best and most used Green Tea brand in the United States and Worldwide are:- Kirkland Green Tea

Tea! This can be Japanese green tea. It may state"Kirkland" on the box, however, it's actually Ito En tea (that can be printed on each package ), a renowned Japanese tea firm. I have tried plenty of teas, which is undoubtedly my favorite green tea (and my favorite tea, span ). It's a sleek, and flavor also it is not bitter in any way, even in the event that you allow it to over steep. Folks will not have to include sweetener or lemon to appreciate it. Kirkland Signature Green Tea Matcha Blend Japanese Tea Leaves Bags is created with Sencha Green Tea in the lush green plantations of Japan. This tea is steamed, rolled, then dried in keeping with tradition. This processing keeps the freshness, odor, and color of the tea leaf and sops the chemical. Matcha a green tea powder produced from leaves that were chosen is inserted to boost flavor and flavor. Our superior nylon bag allows throughout the brewing procedure for water flow. Stone from the cool, humid location. Watch box that is interior to get a tea recipe that is chilly. You can also visit Costco.com or search for the string Costco green tea in google or bing search bar and the first result you will get is the Kirkland green tea. Pure Leaf Green Tea Pure Leaf Green Tea Company Said about its product, “ Sip about green tea's crisp taste. Brewed using leaves bottled and chosen without adding shade sugar. It is a taste, just like you want in your home-brewed.”

This is a review of the Pure Leaf Unsweetened Green Tea. I love black iced tea but green is healthier and I wanted a change of pace. This tea is light and crisp. It has a different flavor than I am used to but it is really refreshing. I add a bit of sugar or Stevia and it hits the spot. The bottles are just enough to quench my thirst with no waste. I will repurchase this green tea again. The only better is home-brewed green iced tea but I would much rather pay for it already bottled and done for me. love that the bottles are plastic as well. No fear of broken glass if I drop a bottle and they are recyclable. By: Petty (https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1WM5MWPVLITHJ/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B01AT3DRU2) Tazo Green Tea

Tazo green tea or we can say Tazo Zen Green Tea. It’s a product by Unilever, having very good sales and user reviews in the US, Uk, Canada, Australia, India and Internationally Worldwide. As the company said about the product, You do not need to take up at a monastery to gain from our green tea mix infused with notes of verbena, lemongrass, and spearmint. But we suggest hiking into a mountaintop refuge at least that the views are magnificent. But, no doubt that Tazo green tea is one of the best Green Tea available in the market.

Some of the Famous and Widely use Green Tea based Products:

Some of the other plenty of products of green tea, which are not apparent in the traditional form of it is:- Green Tea Shots The drink is sufficiently strong to secure you in the appropriate mood yet gentle such that you're able to knock back a few before you begin to feel the effects. If you're also searching for new drinks and beverages to try all of the moment, you have to have heard about the green tea shot also. You may time a shot prior to a workout or drink one if you are in need of a brain boost for work. There's been some proof that green tea shots can be useful in protecting the liver which, subsequently, ensures better health all around. A normal green tea energy shot comprises green tea extracts, along with beneficial antioxidants. If you've had a green tea shot, then you understand how great it is. Maybe once you hear Green tea shot you believe this is an all-natural green tea drink. A green tea shot is a terrific coffee substitute. It is also a very versatile option if you're looking to scale up your drink recipes. It carries a good amount of l-theanine which is good to fight against anxiety and high blood pressure. The key to making the ideal green tea shot is in the proportion of alcohol... >> Read More >> Read the full article

[mutantsrisingrpg]

Congratulations DEAN! You’ve been accepted as ARIEL.

The themes of illusion and manipulation and perception are certainly not lost in your app, Dean, and how central they are to Lenox is just so, so well written it feels like I could easily fall under the spell of one of his illusions. You’ve shown that this world and these powers don’t always harden those affected, and that spark of whimsy in Lenox really brings him to a new life. Even a simple headcanon as selling placebo drugs and using his powers to create the high gives me such a confidence in who Lenox is as a person, and I can’t wait to see his shenanigans.

Welcome to Mutants Rising! Please read the checklist and submit your account within 24 hours.

NAME/ALIAS: Dean

PRONOUNS: She/her

AGE: 22

TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: GMT, i’m fairly active bean and am always here to plot

In Character Information:

DESIRED ROLE: Lenox Syed GENDER/PRONOUNS: Cismale, he/him

DETAILS & ANALYSIS: This is where you show us who the character is to you! The format of this doesn’t matter, whether it’s in bullet points or in para form, and can be as long as you’d like it to be. Feel free to get creative!

Lenox as a boy’s name is of Scottish and Gaelic origin, and the meaning of Lenox is “with many elm trees”.

Syed or Sayyid or Sayed (Arabic and Urdu: سيدعلی) is a family of Syeds in South Asia, notably India and Pakistan. Syeds are the direct descendants of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

Lenox is lost in his own fantasy world. Creating so many illusions for people each day that he has became lost in one of his own. With a lack of attention through his childhood, he craves the limelight and approval of everyone around him and will do pretty much anything to get it, even if it’s false or trickery.

He’s so painstakingly constructed, he’s his own work of art. Each detail of his personality and appearance delicately manipulated into something strikingly beautiful. Someone you can look at with awe just by the way they talk or move. It’s almost hard to realise there’s another man beneath the mask, someone raw and damaged. Like a bird with a broken wing.

BIO:

Tw: Drug mention

His mother is just fifteen when she gives birth to him, swaddled in a blue blanket and passed immediately to the arms of a doctor; she never held him, never looked at his freshly reddened face as his cries wailed down the corridors. It’s not because of his mutation, not because his birth family couldn’t bare to raise a being burdened with powers. She was a child herself, naivety leaving adoption as the only logical decision.  

A foster home decides to take him in, raising him from infancy without any awareness of any abnormality. It’s where he stays for the first nine years of his life, a cosy house in Oregon that housed five other children. But the dormancy of his powers didn’t stay concealed forever. It started with his foster siblings sleepwalking, Lenox’s dreams imprinting on them accidentally as they’d trample through the house enthralled by the vivid illusions of his fantasy worlds. Then it began intertwining into everyday life, emotional outbursts of temper alluding unsafe situations like fire or monsters that hid under the bed. Games became near impossible to differentiate between make believe and reality from the second he joined in.  

“You’re unsafe,” it’s a comment he’d gladly wear as a badge of honour once he’d matured. But to the little boy being dragged away from his foster family, betrayed by his caregivers and turned in for research, the words grazed his skin like stinging nettles.

The four plain walls of the room only further ignite an overly active imagination, a tool that was dangerous to have with a power like his own. The eleven years he spends there does the opposite of what society would have hoped, boredom allows for focus and practice, it sharpens his talents and he’s able to put them to good use. By the end of his stay the doctors had favoured him among the rest, because he wills it so. They go easy on him, carefully placed illusions write false notes on his reports. Detailed and intricate enough so that he doesn’t get caught out, handwriting remarkably identical to each nurse or scientist that take their turn testing on him. He starts to admire the way it feels, too chaotic to be part of society and embedded with more potential than anyone could have known.

It’s when that potential reaches a point where imagination can no longer be imprisoned by those four walls that he decided enough was enough. The process of discharging himself was a meticulous operation. Theatrically staged and miraculously timed with an annual cell collecting test. Before he can be sedated he’s enticed the nurses into an imaginary induced coma, deep enough into his intoxication that he can use the poisoned needle on them. The theater only has the two women on the floor when the doctor enters, sly projections manipulating each person he’d bumped into on his way to the exit into that same sleep, a psychedelic world of kaleidoscope landscapes and stained glass colours, once awakening they would never see this boy again.

“You’re unsafe,” the same words, just a different context. An ally ushers him to leave Oregon and head to Chicago. A place where policies were loosened and his own kind somewhat tolerated.

The new city put Lenox’s own fresh start in full swing.

Fragile reality was a vehicle for his reinvention, so easily malleable that to change it was simpler and more natural to him than breathing. He’s masterful in the way it’s applied, diminishing a past life of shame and grit in place of high strung worth and superiority. He’d created himself with utter royalty, his own nobility evident by the way in which he moved, regally eloquent and unmistakably celestial to anyone who crossed his path.

He builds his career on the sins he knows other’s desire. Selling crushed up aspirin as a party drug in the underbelly of the city’s night clubbing scene, using his power to make it seem as if it were the legitimate stuff and not something that cost him a couple bucks from the convenience store across the street. Lenox could make them see whatever he wanted, turn their evenings into a production of his own design and leave with none of the being any wiser. It’s how Benjamin Granger catches word of him, a supposed mutant that was living life as if he were a king. He’s the first person to ever acknowledge his capability, strikes him up an offer he couldn’t refuse. Drawn like a moth to a flame after the minor suggestion of power and the infatuation that he was finally wanted by someone and to belong to something.

EXPANDED CONNECTIONS:

Chance Matthews: He’s the face he can’t erase from his mind, the curve of his lips engraved in deep fixations when he couldn’t fall asleep on a Sunday night. Perhaps it’s the fact that he shouldn’t do it that makes it more enticing, a lust to ignite underlying passion to unearth exactly what they had both been burying.

Jordan Rojas: Jordan is somewhat of a curiosity for Lenox to unpick. A closed book that is intriguing because of their close association together. Always keen to show his worth, to prove himself to those around him, perhaps it’s a dangerous combination should Jordan utilise the other’s naivety in combination of his powers in the way that Benjamin does.

Jack Mizuno: He likes that he can get so deep into their head, that he can have full control of a world that wasn’t Jack’s domain. It’s all to do with power and annoyance, a deep craving to see exactly how far he can push people before they hit their breaking point. Even then, it’s fun to flip that breaking point into a place of pure bliss and drop it again just when his subject is at ease. He’s like a lab rat, someone he tries his tricks on before taking them to the main show.

EXTRA:  

https://stereotypicalcancerwrites.tumblr.com/tagged/ch:%20lenox%20syed

(tba, watch this space I legit SPAM my character tags hard)

Lenox spends a lot of his spare time writing and doodling. It’s all extremely sketchy, there’s never any sort of final draft. It helps his imagination, which is a much exercised tool in his life.

He is probably more invested in mental health than most. Meditation and yoga being a crucial part of his daily routine after a bowl full of sugar packed cereal.

He’s naive and eager to please anyone that might create a bond with him, he craves companionship after never really understanding it due to the absence of it in his life.

Lenox works as a part-time playwright, using his illusions to improve the production of his stories and only ever receiving the best reviews from critics.

He also works as a drug dealer, never selling legitimate stuff but using over the counter medicines with the combination of his powers to masquerade as the real stuff.

He has an unruly sweet tooth. He keeps lollipops in his back pocket and will order dessert off a menu at a restaurant instead of a main meal. His favourite thing on the planet is warm cookie dough and ice cream.

He listens exclusively to Grunge music. Celebrity Skin by Hole is his absolute jam and he only ever sings Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet is his go to karaoke song.

Lenox is openly proud of his sexuality as a homosexual, though he’ll flirt with anyone and anything for the fun of it.

He prefers tea over coffee.

He’s a bit of a poetry dork, he collects first edition poetry books and his most prized possession is a first edition of Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg.

He’s very judgemental of how others present themselves and will tell you if your new shirt is ugly.

Lenox lives in a small apartment, anyone that enters he’s carefully to make them see it as 3 times bigger than it actually is with far more light.

He has a fear of heights.  

ANYTHING ELSE: Did you have any questions or any changes you wanted to discuss with us beforehand?

Nope all good!!!

[kraken-spines]

Book Discussion Challenge: Vampires

May 26

I’m going to reminisce about vampire lit that I’ve read starting way back from 2002. All aboard my nostalgia train, it’s got vampire books on it*. Warning: It’s only  me prattling on about my history of vampire books for about  ~2,000 words. 

2002  The Year of Scholastic Vampires, 8-9 years old

This was the first vampire book I ever read: 

Cracked Classics: Trapped in Transylvania by Tony Abbott. I got it when it first came out (at one of those school book fairs or something) at around 8 years old and reread it over and over again. I read the other books in the series too but this one was special. It’s a portal fantasy about two kids Dylan and Frankie who get transported into books via the “broken” but ~magical~ library security sensors. What this book showed me was that I needed more vampire books and fast.

So I went on the prowl and found:

The Cirque Du Freak series by Darren Shan - it felt so edgy for an 8 year old. And I loved it. It was probably the first series that I actually completed finished. (No I haven’t read the Larten Crepsley Books...are they any good?) I loved the worldbuilding, the vampire culture, though now looking back, it does seem pretty sexist with the  “Women don’t stay vampires for long because they want babies too badly so they go crazy and die lol” thing (did that happen or am I confusing it with another series?). But that’s besides the point, that flew over child-me’s little head. 

2003, The Year of Pulp, Folklore, and Teacher Interventions, 9-10 years old

After that there was several other books a lot that have since faded from memory: A lot of “Vampire Encyclopedias”, pulpy and gorey obscure nonsense - from the child friendly to the “Your child is drawing bloodthirsty wolves again” and some truly trashy stories.Which of course I delighted in.

-I actually found this book again at a Book Sale. Funny enough, I think it’s my copy. So I bought it again. I’ll have to give it a reread someday. 

I remember reading this one in particular cover to cover in the summer by the pool in ‘03. Unfortunately, I moved often I don’t have my original books anymore. But it had all sorts of different vampire folklore, filmographies, medical illnesses, hoaxes all wrapped up in one heavy tome. I did manage to watch A LOT of vampire movies this year. 

Speaking of vampire movies, I was a fan of the Blade movies and because of that I read: 

I think most people would notice by now that I had free reign over whatever I wanted to read or watch. Which was so liberating. I don’t think people realize how children aren’t given much control over their lives and free time. And that choosing reading materials without judgement is so freeing for this age group. Enough of that. Blade was awesome. The movies were awesome. The comics that I read perpetually out of order so I never understood the continuity were awesome.  

2004,  The Year of Bloodthirsty European Castle Dwellers, 10-11 years old

At eleven, I saw this exact copy of Dracula:

 -And it told me “You have dawdled enough, it is time,”

So my mom bought me this copy. (Don’t ask why it had to be this exact one, I don’t know my reasoning.)

I absolutely loved it. I was nervous to start reading it but decided I was prepared. I watched countless vampire movies, many of which were Dracula inspired, I read other vampire books, and all I did was hope that it would hold up to my expectations. Nothing compared to the chemistry the characters had in this book and the devotion they had to one another. At eleven I remember thinking it was a “cool team”, and I paid attention to the markers of vampirism and the difference between the movie versions. 

After reading Dracula I wanted to know more about ‘Vlad the Impaler’, Transylvania, and these historical events Stoker drew from and thus came this book: 

I read a lot of articles online as well. The origins of vampirism fascinated me as a kid. I marveled at the worldwide phenomena of vampiric folklore. I wanted to know more about Elizabeth Bathory since she had vampire hoaxes, rumors, and allegations hurled at her. So then I got to reading more about this woman: 

Mostly articles online. Which was for better or worse. I remember weeding through a lot of conspiracy theories in order to get to more realistic, evidence backed, biographies. And there are many, many, many weird theories about Elizabeth Bathory out there that 12 year old me should not have read. 

2005, The Year of  the Plague of Crappy Vampires and the Birth Year of  My Pettiness, 11-12 years old

I don’t know how I got this book (actually I think it was my little sister’s and she gave it to me), Vampire Plagues: London 1850. It’s important to note that I was incredibly petty as a child and despite reading the first three books, I still loathed it. I think this was a series child-me was rage reading. Sorry, Sebastian Rook, it seems I never gave your series a fair shot. 

I’m only sticking with the ones I definitely read in definite years -for the sake of linearity! I saw this next book at the library: 

Thirsty was a weird gay allegory that depressed me. I didn’t like how it equated being gay with being vampire even though I know the author had good intent. I read Feed before I read this one. Which I liked a bit more. 

2006,  The Year of the Sacrificial Vampire,12-13 Years Old

I had A LOT of books. But unfortunately, they couldn’t all come with me. So I lost a lot of my favorites. My Cracked Classics was falling to pieces anyway, it was thrown away long before then, Dracula survived, Weird Tales and a lot of my other pulp anthologies got lost or I got rid of. (I did, believe it or not, have other interests besides vampires) so it seemed only natural that some vampire books would need to be sacrificed for the sake of my newly culled collection. Cirque du Freak made it only because the series wasn’t quite complete yet it got culled in a later year if I recall correctly.

A lot of people’s first Westerfeld is Uglies, which is a fantastic series, but I started with Peeps. I got it from the library and read the duology over a weekend. I remember enjoying the concept of the disease but the plot and characters were ultimately mediocre. 

2007,  The Year of: “HAVE YOU READ TWILIGHT YET?” The Apex of My Pettiness or the Stalemate, 13-14 years old

In my group of friends Blue Bloods was the “in book”. Not Twilight. Even though Twilight was HUGE. Even before the movie. My friend Skyler was angry that Twilight was so popular when she believed Blue Bloods to be superior. I never did get around to the Blue Bloods books even though she gave me the first in the series. I think this book was lost into the oblivion in a later year. Sorry.***

I did wind up reading the first two Twilight books to spite Skyler. I didn’t enjoy the series enough to continue it. Vampire Academy came out this year too. But I never read that either. (I think).

Another vampire book I did remember reading in 2007 was Vampire High. It’s some obscure book that I only remember because I thought it was unremarkable. I think I read it to spite Skyler actually because I remember pretending to love it at the time. 

2008, The  Year of Edgy High School Freshmen Watching True Blood, 14-15 Years Old

The first vampire book of the year was probably this one: 

It was my first Stephen King. And weirdly enough, I haven’t read another since even though I thought Salem’s Lot was good. I don’t know why I haven’t gotten back to King actually. Huh. That’s weird. Anyways, in this summer I found this book: 

 Sucks to be Me was adorable. I don’t remember reading the sequel. But it was the perfect summer read for me at the time. I liked Mina as a character and thought how vampirism takes place was neat-o.

2009, 15-16 Years Old, The Year of SOOKEH Ends With a Were-Tiger

I never watched Vampire Diaries or any other vampire show. Kolchak was my one and only. And even though there were other monsters in the show, it’s still kinda a vampire show because they did turn up in one episode. I did watch True Blood. And because of that during the summer I read this: 

I read the Sookie Stackhouse books poolside in the summer and poolside on winter break. I had a lot going on that year and thus I read a lot of light stuff in my spare time. I think I stopped reading these books at #6 because then it started getting ridiculous and the plot holes got bigger and bigger. Around 2011 is when I lost interest in True Blood as a TV series. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. 

2010, 16-17 years old, The Year of the Coupon Clipping Vampire

Around this time is when I got my first Kindle. I didn’t mention my first Nook (which I got because my nook was a loathsome creature that hid under my bed and growled when I tried to awaken it from it’s dormancy). My Kindle, didn’t. And it was an awesome fellow. 

Around this time I found various free or 99 cents books. Some had vampires some didn’t. Some were  a bouquet of typos some weren’t. But discovering something that was good enough, was a fun process. One of the more notable titles that I read through was: 

My Blood Approves for those who don’t remember it was very popular. Like a #1 best seller on amazon or something extreme. I was lured into reading it by the very low price tag. It was a bit of a guilty pleasure and again I had a hectic life so this series was an easy read. Except, then she never finished the series. It was like a B-movie in book form. The Bloody Bros were real annoying at times. And my teenage blood did not approve of Jack or Peter I really didn’t like how Jane was offed either. 

2011, 17-18 Years Old, The Year of  Letting the Vampire in a Year Too Late

I didn’t get to watch Let Me In (2010) the previous year. Because unlike vampires I do have a life. But, I did get to read the book in 2011:

Notice how I read more in my childhood versus adolescence? Heh. That’s high school extracting my soul. Let The Right One In was amazing. I remember making all these theories about it, putting sticky notes in my beaten up dogeared coffee stained library copy and doing an in-depth read.

2012,  18-19 Years Old, The Year of the Dorm-room Dracula

So this is the year I graduated high school and when I went back to Dracula, same edition from my childhood. It was one of the first books I read in my college dorm room. 

Except this time I noticed the xenophobia, how women were treated throughout, the religiosity, and how it really did reflect a Londoner’s thought process at the time. I still love it but understood it on a deeper level than the eleven year old who saw friendship conquering evil, cool monsters, and familiars.

2013, 19-20 Years Old, The Vampire Gap Year

No vampires here. No fun here. No anything here. 

 2014, 20-21 Years Old, The Year of Fickle Lesbian Vampires

I read a lot of J. Sheridan Le Fanu and of course when one reads J. Sheridan Le Fanu they read:

Camilla. I don’t know why it took me so long to read. But it did. I really enjoyed it. Now reading this in the present day it’s cliche and predictable. But then, it was a one of a kind sort of story. 

I also read from the same era-ish:

Varney The Vampire was originally a serial, in it’s final book published form it reads a bit awkwardly and it’s contradicting. Varney is an erratic and fickle train-wreck. The book is full of oddities like the author had so many ideas where to take the story and couldn’t choose on which way was the best way. So he took them all. 

It felt relevant at the time to me. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I knew I couldn’t do everything at once - and if I tried it would wind up being a penny dreadful that no one bothers to read anymore. I knew I had to make a choice and I knew I had so many choices out there. But I could only choose one. Varney gave me the motivation to not be a fickle train-wreck basically.  In a “don’t be like me,” fashion.

2015, 21-22 Years Old, The Year of The Baby Vampire

So this year I actually chose a vampire book for an assignment it’s not one you would expect: 

Going full circle, I started again with an even younger version of Dracula than Cracked Classics. It’s only a counting primer for very young children. And I used it in an essay about inspiring children to become readers. Whether abridged works encourage or discourage children from reading the originals, to using comic versions of classics, modern young adult versions of classics, etc. Even though this book wasn’t around as a young child, it’s definitely one that would be cute for an infant’s library.   

2016, 22-23 Years Old, The Year of Dirt Filled Coffins

Nothing happened here. Keep going. 

2017, 23-24 Years Old,  The Year of Vampires Returning For Good (Maybe)

And now we’re almost at the point of departure. I’m most likely going to read Dracula again this year, unfortunately I lost my old Dracula book at college. I’ll need to go to the library to get a good edition. (I want an annotated edition). I’ll have to buy a new one someday though maybe I’ll choose a different edition this time. Besides the same old Dracula by Bram Stoker here are a few other vampire books I have on my TBR: 

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler 

The Vampyre by John William Polidori

The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee 

The Powers of Darkness by Bram Stoker & Valdimar Ásmundsson  

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin

I think the big question now is why? Why did vampires appeal to me? Vampires appealed to me as a kid because I didn’t want to grow up, I didn’t want the responsibilities that came with it, (and, to be honest there are some of those responsibilities I’d rather not have now).

 Vampires seemed like an escape to a youth that no one could age out of. They often live swankily, stayed up all night, didn’t really have responsibilities, and had supernatural powers including charisma (the inhuman kind), flight, shape shifting, super vision, and/or super strength. And who wouldn’t want that?

I had no idea that such a generous portion of my life could be solely explained by vampire books that I read throughout my life. I had no idea this post was going to be as long as it is. This apparently happened. Get off the nostalgia train, we’re done for now. Unless of course you have vampire books you would like to recommend.

*Thanks for reading. I didn’t think anyone would bother reading this. Wow. 

**Not her real name. Obviously. 

*** I didn’t read Blue Bloods because Skyler refused to read 47  AND The Decoy Princess - two books I adored at the time and desperately wanted to talk about them to someone. (Granted neither of them were types of books she was interested in anyways she didn’t like time travel and didn’t like fantasy that wasn’t urban/in our world fantasy) This is why “Stalemate” is the alternative title of the year. I guess the stalemate is still in play because as far as I know she still hasn’t read either of them and I still haven’t read Blue Bloods - There’s just a lot less pettiness and more nostalgia attached to it now.