#the two horrors here i wouldn't really recommend to anyone

[lady-arryn]

TOP FIRST-TIME WATCHES OF 2024

II was tagged by @celine-song and @gael-garcia, thank you so much!!

Rules: post 9 of your favorite films you saw for the first time this year that aren’t new (2023/2024) but are new to you and tag 9 others to do the same.

Tagging if you want to do this @greengableslover, @blackbetha, @stannisbaratheon, @ladyhawke, @annakarenina, @fairweathermyth, @evycarnahan and @user-tardis 💕

[tin-wufborf]

Tin's Favorite Sterek Fics (Part 20)

Hello lovelies, and welcome back to Tin's Favorite Sterek Fics! It's been a while, and for that, I'm sorry. I've been (and still am) going through a bit of a depressive episode. November's typically a tough month for me for a couple of reasons, but it hit harder than usual this year. Still, I wanted to come back and bring you another installment of Tin's Favorite Sterek Fics, just in case anyone needs a little Sterek to get them by like I have.

Side note: I'm actually thinking of doing a some, like, "feature" posts where I rec a single fic at a time, regardless of whether or not I've already rec'd it through this series, and actually explain what I like about the fics. Give a little endorsement, if you will. As much as I love all of the fics I have recommended throughout this series, I definitely have some go-to staple fics that I re-read with far more frequency than others. I can think of at least 3 off of the top of my head right this second...

Idk. Would any of you be interested in that? I might do it no matter what, just to have something to engage my brain a bit, but I have also been nearly catatonic with brain fog and just a general exhaustion of life, so. We'll see.

Okay, enough of my yappin'!

As ever and always, thank you all so much for all of the love and support you've shown this series. It genuinely warms my heart when I get a notification for this series, and I appreciate you all so much. I hope you've all found some new favorites and/or got to dig back into an old favorite or two along the way. There won't be too many more parts, but I'm going to try to stretch this bitch out to 25 parts because it's a tasty number to my brain.

I hope you're all having a good day, if not a great one! Smoochies and squeezies, lovelies!

List and links to previous parts below the cut.

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DISCLAIMER: This is me warning you all that some of the fics I've included in this list may cover explicit, dark, and/or "taboo" subject matters. I cannot express enough how little I care what anyone thinks about any of that; all I want is for you to use caution when reading anything I've listed here and to please review and heed whatever tags the authors have provided in order to keep yourselves safe. Your experience from this point on is your own responsibility, not mine and not the authors'.

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20

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The Horror of Our Love by Melpomene (Aconitehart) (E | 1/1 | 4,941)

"I'm not wearing a muzzle," Derek snaps.

"Look, if you wear this then we're golden! There's no way you can bite through this, Deaton said so."

"Oh well, if Deaton says," Derek says snidely. It's a silly argument. Sure, Deaton is shady and enjoys bending the truth on occasion, but unless it's a complex assassination plan he wouldn't lie about this. Something that Stiles knows that Derek is aware of.

"There's really no reason for him to lie," Stiles points out. "What's your real problem with it?"

"It's demeaning," Derek says through gritted teeth.

"What? No! Lots of werewolves have to wear one of these," Stiles says, waving the muzzle around. The leather and clasps jingle.

Derek sneers at him. "Wolves who can't control themselves."

"Pot and kettle, buddy. Wait, wait," Stiles says hurriedly when Derek turns to leave, "let's just... let's try it, okay? Come on, have I steered us wrong before?"

-

In which Derek can't control himself while having sex with Stiles and needs to be muzzled.

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Burial Rituals by aurevell (G | 1/1 | 4,989)

The necromancer freezes halfway over the fence, stuttering to a halt the second Derek flashes his red eyes. It’s an awkward pose to hold: leg hiked up over the waist-high bars, hands gripping the rail for balance. The fence’s wrought-iron spears dig into his calf a bit as he settles, clearly caught off guard.

“Uh,” he says lamely, his face pale in the scant moonlight. “Shit.”

Derek guards an abandoned cemetery. Stiles is the necromancer trying to break in.

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Devoured by Hedwig221b (E | 1/1 | 5,298)

Breathless, Stiles shifted his gaze up and went red from the knowing smirk on the deific face. The man’s red eyes sparkled in the moonlight, glowing like two fires on the tips of the candles. One of his thick eyebrows was lifted in amusement.

He was the most beautiful being Stiles had ever seen. As was probably expected, considering he was the god of sexual desire.

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Satisfaction Brought It Back by Snare (E | 1/1 | 7,223)

Derek doesn't know how nobody else seems to notice the large, ever-present bulge in Stiles' jeans. He can't help but be curious about it, he just - he just wants.

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Lay Me Out by Melpomene (Aconitehart) (E | 2/2 | 8,967)

"This is weird," Stiles tells him. His hands are still on Derek's chest. "Is this weird? Are you even sentient enough to think things are weird?"

Derek's tail wags back and forth, brushing against his calves and stirring up the fallen leaves. And the licking? It doesn't stop. Derek keeps at it, licking Stiles' cheeks, his forehead, that sensitive spot behind his ears. Stiles tries to twist away, much braver now that he hasn't been mauled, but there's no escape.

"Okay," Stiles croaks out. He pushes at Derek's shoulders, his chest. "Let me up, big guy, come on."

When Derek doesn't move, Stiles arches up, trying to wriggle free, but then he feels something wet and sticky against his stomach where his shirt has ridden up. He cranes his neck down and sees Derek's dick. It's distinctly non-human; red, with a tapered tip. Clear fluid drips from it.

"Oh holy god," he says, horrified and fascinated. "Is that - oh fuck."

-

In which Derek has sex with Stiles while in the Alpha form

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to be with those I like by sheafrotherdon (E | 1/1 | 9,323)

It's Deaton who tells Derek that Stiles is back in town, a broken marriage behind him, his daughter in tow.

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How We Got Here by Areiton (E | 1/1 | 9,718)

Maybe if you fight the creatures of the night together like they did, if you bury enough friends and strangers and enemies, you don’t lose touch.

He thinks that’s why he and Derek are friends--because Derek understands his nightmares, understands the nights when he can’t talk, and the nights he can’t stand the dark.

OR: Against all odds and expectations, Stiles and Derek have become respectable adults ( WHY?) and friends.

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Lunches, Knitting and Definitely Not Dating by attackofthezee (noxlunate), noxlunate (T | 1/1 | 10,107)

“So, I uh, managed to get myself pregnant.”

“You what?!”

“Got myself pregnant. Y’know, up the duff, knocked up, a bun in the oven, in a family way, eating for two, with child. I could go on Dad, really, stop me before I exhaust the list of pregnancy euphemisms. There’s still caught an 18 year STD, my eggo is preggo, building a person-“

“Stiles.”

“Hosting a parasite, harboring a fugitive-“

(Just a weird mpreg fic with Derek and Stiles totally kinda dating without realizing it, and Stiles figuring out this whole having a baby thing.)

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(they say) this should feel something like fire by dallisons (E | 1/1 | 11,163)

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. Drip.

"Turn it off." The pack looked up, stunned into silence by the first words they'd heard from him in weeks.

Stiles stood, trembling - his knees weak. He tried to run and collapsed, his bad leg failing him once again. Derek caught him. "Turn it off," he said, his voice unmistakably a growl.

The water continued leaking from the loose faucet, and all Stiles heard was Erica's blood against the concrete. Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. Drip.

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Whatever Our Souls Are Made Of by Lissadiane (NR | 1/1 | 14,953)

It's a cold, snowy night and Stiles is halfway through his shift at the campus coffee shop when a tall, dark and handsome stranger walks in, one who seems unaware that he's being haunted by a wolf.

In which Stiles Stilinski sees the ghosts of animals with unfinished business, and Derek Hale is unaware that his dearly departed sister left a few things unfinished.

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Untouchable by Hedwig221b (E | 1/1 | 17,128)

The day Stiles Stilinski entered the Berkeley campus was the day all the alphas went absolutely fucking nuts.

See, omegas were rare, even more than redheads. Got to be extremely fucking lucky to even see one in a lifetime. They were supposed to be these ethereal creatures of beauty and elegance, irresistible and blinding.

And Stiles Stilinski was exactly that.

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Camaro '68 by ZainClaw (E | 1/1 | 17,707)

Derek huffs, arching one eyebrow. "I'm not a fugitive." "You look like a fugitive," Stiles insists, practically beaming. "Maybe you should start wearing cardigans."

In which Stiles is a hitchhiker and Derek a runaway whose paths cross at a gas station in the California desert.

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Cross a Canyon (with a broken limb) by theroguesgambit (T | 1/1 | 18,010)

“You never graduated,” Stiles says, just to say it. To test it out in the open air. That's... huh.

--

Stiles spends his senior year battling troll-gremlins, taking on an unexpected tutoring job, and definitely not falling for a certain sourwolf (even though everyone else seems to think he is).

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Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? by Renmackree (T | 9/9 | 18,399)

Scott frowned, grabbing the game case and reading it out loud.

“Become the Hero you've always wanted to be. Battle monsters, witches, dragons, and all the mythical beasts of the World of Fantasy. Play as a Human, Elf, Dwarf and other special races included in the basic game. Stiles this so stupid. Who the hell would want to play as a Werewolf?” Scott threw the game back on the bed and leaned back in the chair.

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We Only Get Better by Ninna_7 (T | 8/8 | 22,741)

Stiles doesn't call him these days. Not since he left Beacon Hills that last time. Not since Stiles left the FBI internship programme in favour of studying Forensic Psychology at NYU. Stiles has texted him a few times in the past, but he never called. Not anymore. Back then, however, whenever Derek received a call from Stiles or called Stiles in return, it was purely for survival's sake. So Derek doesn't know what to expect from this call. If he's being honest, he's scared of it.

x

Or: It's been years since Stiles and Derek last spoke, but a phone call from the human reconnects them. They have the chemistry, the history and the shared trauma. With time and each other, maybe they can have more.

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part-time soulmate, full-time problem by Renmackree (E | 1/1 | 27,111)

Stiles had seen it all in his five years of supernatural shenanigans, but never in his life would he have guessed returning to Derek's old stomping grounds in New York, especially under the guise of Derek's magical Mate.

It was going to be an exciting summer.

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The Light in the Woods series by DiscontentedWinter (5 works | G-M | 36,507)

1. The Lights in the Woods (T | 8/8 | 12,293) To honour a treaty with the people of a strange land, Derek Hale, prince of the kingdom of Triskelion, has to marry Stiles. 2. The Gift of the Trees (T | 1/1 | 4,780) Stiles is everything that Derek ever wanted... almost. 3. Moonflower (G | 1/1 | 3,331) Stiles and Derek's son finds his magic. 4. The Path of the Wolf (G | 1/1 | 5,206) Faolán has to find his own path. 5. The Heart of the Wolf (M | 4/4 | 10,897) Etienne Argent is rescued by a strange young man in the woods.

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In Any Version of Reality by alisvolatpropiis (E | 7/7 | 39,853)

Standing next to not-Derek – whoa, holding not-Derek’s hand? – is someone who looks remarkably like Stiles. Is Stiles, a slightly-altered replica, just like this guy both is and isn't Derek.

It’s not like looking into a mirror – one, because looking into a mirror actually makes some kind of sense, and two, because not-Stiles looks older too, mid twenties maybe. And the tips of his short, spiky hair are dark purple, and he’s got a lip ring and he’s shirtless and covered in tattoos and what the holy hell?

“Time travel?" He's sufficiently freaked. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he hears his dad laughing.

“Not exactly,” not-Derek says, and shit, even his voice sounds exactly the same, disconcertingly gentle. He gestures behind him, and Stiles looks over his shoulder, where behind him, scattered across the porch and in the front yard, are more…Dereks and more Stileses.

Fourteen total, including the two at the door, he notes distantly, eyes feeling like they’re about to pop out of his head from bulging so hard.

Seven other Dereks. Seven other Stileses.

Seven Derek and Stiles pairs.

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The Moon Gave Me Permission by Melpomene (Aconitehart) (E | 9/9 | 57,572)

“I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” Scott says, eyeing Stiles’ fries. “But Derek Hale is back in town. I saw him at the gas station the other day.”

This piques Stiles’ interest. Oh yes it does. Like any good true crime aficionado, Stiles has his favourite case. His pet cold case. His hometown murder. The thing he brings up when he’s tired of small talk and just wants to get real.

The Hale Family Fire and the suicide of Katherine Argent.

Stiles knows this case inside and out. He’s racked up thousands of karma points on reddit for his thoughtful analysis, his pictures of the crime scene, and of his reporting of local gossip. Beacon Hills is a small town, small enough that Stiles is the only one on the Unresolved Mysteries subreddit to have actually seen the burnt out shell in person.

He’ll tell anyone who listens what he finds fascinating about the case. Absolutely no shame. He’s read all of the articles, he’s pestered his father’s deputies for more information, and he’s read every cold case compilation book that so much as mentions it.

No one knows this case like Stiles does.

-

In which Derek Hale is a man with a dark past, and Stiles is completely obsessed with him.

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The Soul Knows What the Heart Wants by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) (M | 9/9 | 163,779)

“Holy—shit,” Stiles breathed, Bacon stopping in what he was doing, still staring at him intently, as if begging him to understand, for someone to finally understand. Stiles felt like he’d been electrocuted and he leapt out of his chair, kneeling in front of Bacon and grabbing at his furry face. “Holy shit! Oh my God, are you—wait, holy—you’re not fucking with me, right?!”

Bacon let out two quick barks, which Stiles chose to interpret as ‘no.’

“Oh my God, are you a real person in there?!” Stiles shouted in the wolf’s face, staring him right in the eye. He was still holding the wolf’s head with both hands, but Bacon dipped his muzzle in confirmation and Stiles officially lost his mind.

“Oh my God!” he shouted again, releasing Bacon to clutch at his own hair. “Oh my God! Dude, for real?! You’re—holy shit! Holy shit!” He didn’t know how to react to this news. He had no fucking idea how to react. This was a person?! But how?! How was this a person?! People didn’t just turn into wolves!

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[anonymousredactedconfessions]

To the anon asking if there were other boyfriend ASMR/audio roleplay channels with plots at least on par with Redacted, you're in luck! I mostly listen to plot-driven stuff so here's my recommendations.

Good Boy Audios: He has multiple series, all of them take place in the same universe but in different settings. His romance is a lot more slower burn than something like Redacted but that's fine, because I like slow burn and the plots keep me hooked. I recommend Bastard Warrior and Space Pirate Saga.

Escaped Audios: Super cinematic channel with a very strong focus on storytelling. He has a good balance between adventure and romance, and his playlists perfectly blend the two in almost every series. All of of his series feel like living through a movie. I recommend The Neon Barbarian/Neon Wings if you like bittersweet romance/angst, and The New Jersey Rats if you prefer a more light-hearted romantic adventure.

ZSakuVA: Priest already mentioned him but he's great. He has tons of characters who each have their own playlist. Some of his characters occupy the same universe and share the same story, kind of like what Redacted does. I recommend listening to his Elias (mafia son) and Issac (boss) playlists back to back, they complete eachother's stories and I love the boyfriend stuff.

Desmond ASMR: He uploads on a really slow schedule but all of his videos are super long and well made, almost movie length sometimes. I love his voice and his characters, and there's always an element of adventure in his work. I recommend his arranged marriage series and his gladiator series.

Siren's Son: He's kind of like Redacted in that a lot of his work takes place in a shared universe and there's a mix of both plot-driven arcs as well as fluff/comfort/boyfriend roleplay arcs scattered throughout. His Westhaven series is one of my comfort series that I re-listen to over and over. Also, honorable mention to Obsidian Lantern. Siren's Son and him collab together on a series called Gator Boys set in SS's universe and it's great.

Scythe Audio: A super exciting channel. He has romance/boyfriend roleplay but he's more of a story and action focused channel (we love him for it). I love his fucked up monstrous and villainous characters. I've been obsessed with his V/Villain Saga for like two years now and it just keeps getting better. I also recommend his Werewolf action/horror series, The Alpha Claw Saga.

Nomad's Tales: He's been around a long time and has a huge body of work with really entertaining series. He's just now starting season two of his series Frosthaven so it's the perfect time to catch up! I also like his Yandere Knight playlist and A Theif's Tale (a modern romance/thriller).

Those are the best story driven boyfriend ASMR/audio roleplay channels I know of. If anyone has more recommendations I'd love to hear them.

- 🖤 Blackheart anon

.

(usually don't respond to confessions and whatnot, but i will say that you should probably NOT support Siren's Son. He has made it very clear that he is anti-choice/pro-forced birth/anti-abortion/pro-life whatever you wanna call it. I wouldn't be giving youtube revenue money to someone that thinks half the human population doesn't deserve or have a right to bodily autonomy)

Receipts below the cut.

[the-writer1988]

Happy Anniversary To The Greatest AU Ever!

Two years ago today was the beginning of a series that I never thought that I would become obsessed about.

I am, of course, talking about TWO TANGLED SISTERS series written by the amazingly, talented (and rather aptly named) @twotangledsisters

Cassandra had never really been a favourite character of mine but over the years she has blossomed to become one of mt favourite Tangled characters outside Eugene and Rapunzel. I adore New Dream.

But what made me like this series in the first place?

the characters

the plot

These two things were fundamental in my enjoyment of the series. What if Mother Gothel had never abandoned Cassandra and she grew up with Rapunzel in the Tower? There are so many unique ways this idea could go but makes this AU rewrite so great is how original it is in Cassandra's origins.

Why was Gothel, arguably an old woman, willing to carry a child? What was the reason for it? This is never really adequately explained in the tv series, but this AU makes it even better!

Cassandra has a purpose. A purpose that is fleshed out and explored in this fic series.

The pairing of Cassandra and Lady Caine - quite a late addition in the planning of the story - was a STROKE OF GENIUS! Lady Caine's introduction came in the third main fic of the series titled: THE CORONATION.

Seeing how Caine goes from hating the royals to gaining a bit of respect for them and witnessing the love between Cassandra and Caine grow is beautifully written!

To be able to pull off such a rare pairing takes talent and @twotangledsisters has loads of it!

This fic series has everything you could want in it from an AU rewrite!

Rapunzel fans will be happy!

Eugene fans will be happy!

Lance fans will be happy!

Varian fans will be happy!

Friendship, family, adventure, angst, horror, hurt, comfort, romance and so much more!!!

Each story in the series is crafted into arcs, and this pattern has continued throughout the series.

I have been traumatised by a certain chapter in the S1 finale fic THE PRINCESS, THE PIRATE, AND THE PROSECUTOR. You very well know what chapter that is!

I wouldn't have missed this series for the world.

I would recommend this series to anyone looking for a good AU rewrite, who loves all the characters, loves the idea of trying something new that is out of their comfort zone, and wants to be dragged into a well crafted story from which there is no escape!

This series is my obsession. Every chapter gives me life.

Please, even if you are dubious, give the Two Tangled Sisters series a try!

Even if you do give it a go, you don't need to read all the side-stories! You can just stick with the main fics!

Here is a list of all the fics and the order you should read them in:

Two Tangled Sisters

Two Princesses (up to end of chapter 10)

What About Food? (first 2 chapters)

Surprise Birthday

Two Princesses (chapters 11-18)

Dot-Pox

Pear, Apple and Eugene

Two Princesses (chapters 19-22)

The Coronation

Within The Walls of Corona

Marmalade Moon Night

The Day of Hearts and Avoidance

A Birthday Is Supposed To Celebrate A Person

The Frostwork Festival

To Rule A Kingdom

The Alchemists Seach

The Princess, The Pirate and the Prosecutor

Vardaros and the Tower

What about Food? (final chapter)

Magic and Artefacts

High Tide Dream

Marmalade Moon: Couple Costumes

The Great Tree

The Past We Try To Forget

Shimmering Stones and Uncertain Destinies

Return to Corona

A Single Princess

The Path Mother Set Out For Me

Duty and Family

The Search For The Celestials

The Search For The Celestials is currently posting. The series is now in its S3 era and has deviated a lot from canon. Do not give this series a miss. Give it a go! It is honestly worth it!

[wutheringmights]

hi! i’ve read in the dream house and speak bc of your reviews and Loved them. i find your analyses to be really insightful, i trust that when you recommend something theres Something of value i’ll get out of reading it. are there any books you’ve loved that you haven’t posted abt here yet? and how do you find new books to read? thanks for being so thoughtful abt your own writing and the books you read that it inspires me to study and improve my own work 🫡💞

Aw thank you! I always feel like I am yelling into the void whenever I make posts about the things I'm reading, so I'm glad you enjoy reading my thoughts <3

For books I haven't posted about yet... I just finished Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid (and will make a post about it soon). It's not a perfect read, but if you like horror and fairytale tropes, you'll get something about this.

Besides that, I recommend The Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath, and the works of Robert Cormier (I Am the Cheese and The Chocolate Wars are two of my favorites). If you like war stories, All Quiet On the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is required reading.

I really enjoy the works of Octavia Butler. Kindred is my absolute favorite, but Parable of the Sower is very relevant to the current political moment. Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich also scarred the fuck out of me, but is a great work on reproductive rights.

I did an entire seminar on Virginia Woolf. Besides Mrs. Dalloway, I think Into the Lighthouse and Orlando are very good.

For the classics, I love Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. One of the first classics I ever fell in love with was Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, though Great Expectations is also exceptional.

One of my favorite books of all time that I never discuss with anyone anywhere is Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, for obvious reasons. Read this book for two reasons. One, it will fuck you up. Nabokov's work with perspective and unreliable narrators is fucking insane. Second, Nabokov does something with the English language that I have never seen before and will probably never see again. If anyone has a command of the English language, it's him.

How do I find books to read? Some of the books I read before they are recommended to me by friends or by someone online. As long as you avoid romance/romantasy, BookTok/BookTube/Bookblr is a great place to get recs. I watch a lot of CariCanRead on Youtube because she reads a massive amount of books I have never heard of and is generally really honest about what books she liked/hated and why. I also windowshop at bookstores and libraries and just check out what is available on the shelves.

Honestly, the best advice I can give you is to let go of the idea of every book being impeccable art. You do not have to always be reading the Great American Novel. You can read books that are silly and outright trash. Once you shed the idea that books are some higher form of art, you remember that they are made to be entertainment. Like movies, there are going to be days where you want to watch post-modern French films or Oscar-winning movies about the turn of the century. There are also going to be days where you want to watch a silly comedy, or a trashy reality TV show, or you just go to the movies for something to do.

It's healthier for you if not every book is life changing. I have read some really bad books (some on purpose), and I have read some books that were just aggressively mediocre. Even if they didn't transform me into a better writer/reader/person, they were still worth reading. And when you give yourself permission to read books you might not necessarily like, it gets easier to try new genres and take risks on unfamiliar works. That's where you get new experiences. That's where a book sneaks up on you and smacks you on the back of the head with something that will absolutely make you change the way you see the world.

If anything, just try reading things you normally wouldn't read, be it sci-fi, memoir, historical epic, classic romance, etc.

[wool-f]

Travelling Solo As a Young Woman: the do's and don't's

If you follow my Instagram, you'll know I spent a little bit of time abroad this year, following the sun from Australia all the way to Europe, just like every other Aussie from the east coast.

This wasn't the first time I've travelled, but it was the first time I did some of it completely solo without the comfort or fall back of a group tour or friends to meet up with.

As a 29-year-old, I have heard everything from the horror stories to the fairytales about why you should solo travel, and I'm here to tell you, it IS worth it.

I won't blabber on about how amazing it is and what a great time I had, because travelling is obviously one of my passions and I know how travellers can sound droning on and on about how good their most recent trip was.

That being said, it was amazing - but it wasn't without its downsides.

I'll start off with the negative aspects of solo travelling and end with the great ones.

First of all, it is scary - no matter how old you are. Particularly if you don't like being by yourself or you're not used to it. The first two days I was solo I definitely needed the me-time, but after that I was fully thrown into the deep end of introducing myself and meeting new people. For me this wasn't an issue - I am a generally friendly person and enjoy meeting new people, so I would just go right up to people and chat or make conversation with the people in my hostel rooms. This is obviously very specific to hostel situations, but the most important thing to remember is that if you are solo travelling and staying in and out of hostels, you are all there to meet new people and the other people staying there are most likely in the same situation as you or are expecting people to come and talk.

The other fear factor is for women and queer identifying people - being alone can be scary and often a threat to your safety. On this front I would say there are a few things that you can do to avoid getting into a bad situation.

The first one is ALWAYS trust your intuition !!!!! I cannot scream this enough. There will be times when you just know the vibes are off, trust those moments and get yourself to a safer environment or away from the people making you feel that way.

The second one is to be very selective of who you tell that you're travelling solo, particularly when you meet new people. One of my favourite ways to avoid the question of "are you alone" is to say I'm on my way to meet my friends, or that we are doing different activities that day and that we're meeting later. This gives the impression that people are waiting to hear from you that are immediately accessible should something go wrong.

The second tip I have for anyone looking to travel solo is to PACK LIGHT!! I didn't take my own advice and let me tell you, two months of dragging around 22kgs was DRAINING.

I would also recommend to get a backpack bag if you can - like a hiking bag. I'm travelling again in May and I will be investing in a bag that I can carry. Particularly in Europe, the stairs are abundant and everywhere. The roll-wheel suitcases are so irritating to pull around and if you have bad luck like me and many other people I met this year, the wheels can't take cobblestones and WILL break.

The third tip I have is to really think wisely about your itinerary. Make sure your travel days aren't ridiculously long because you didn't take into account train or plane transfer times. Also take night buses if you can in between locations - I did this in Turkiye between Olympos, Cappadocia and Istanbul and I'll be doing it again the next time I travel. Overnight buses save you a load of cash in flight fees and also a night's accomodation that you wouldn't be using. Plus it cuts out a travel day and you can enjoy more time in your destinations!

My last tip is to have fun. There will be people who put you down, think solo travel is stupid or try to dissuade you from going on the trip of a life time. I have heard all the shit that can be said when it comes to solo travelling from family members, acquaintances and people who don't even know me - I ignored it all and have had multiple amazing trips. So many of my life long friends have been made from travelling and I have learnt so much about myself along the way.

I think everyone should solo travel at least once in their life, we are all better people for it.

If you have any questions about solo travel that you think I can answer, please feel free to message me! Or let me know where you've been solo travelling or where your next destination is! There is nothing I love to chat about more than travelling.

Love you all, I'll be back here on a more consistent basis from here on out.

Chat to you all in the next one!

Love always,

G xx

[livingfictionsystem]

A story about menopause, the sense of self, reincarnation, ghosts, a cult, and a serial killer. This was exceedingly well-written, first of all. It's so immersive that I actually kept making the mistake of Googling the characters and locations as if I could run by a historical document or photos of the massacre. Mary's POV is intriguing, as well. I was altogether not able to relate to her on a literal sense, but I felt so deep in her mind that I empathized with her through most of this. She's probably no one I'd be friends with in real life, but she was such a multi-dimensional person come to life by the prose. Mary is also realistically inconsistent. Sometimes meek, quiet, shy. Sometimes brutal and vicious. Many times, snarky and almost giggling through her own mental breakdowns and pointing how ridiculous her circumstances are. Throughout the book, she also becomes jaded, which I love in a horror character. She's fed up with her own existential crisis and even at one point, thinks, 'Wait, what happened to that child I supposedly killed? Eh, who gives a shit.' Which made me almost choke o my tea. Nat Cassidy is an exceptional writer for this. It also stayed in the mind enough that one of the people I was reading this book with found themself drunkeningly rambling about it to their friend one night in a McDonald's drive-thru, so, again, very well-done. I definitely recommend reading the author's Forward and Afterword because this is, as he points out, the story of menopause, told from the POV of a 50-year old woman, written by a cis guy. (He actually does specify cis, too, which I thought was refreshingly inclusive. There's no declaration like 'No man has gone through menopause!')

I will say, the feminism, though appreciated in some respects, really hits you over the head. It was almost funny how, in a scene with ghosts and gore, there'd be a narrative ramble about how women are overlooked. Like yes, that's nice, Mary, but that man's head was just cleaved in two by Ghostie Claws over there, a little focus please. Also, this book features a cult. As a cult survivor, I found the depiction unrealistic. There was no incentive, no threats of punishment or exile, no deprivation, to keep the members there and they all seemed to be just hardwired into being zealots that are just fine and dandy about human sacrifice. I do think the revelation about Damon Cross' journal was outright hilarious, though. No one is all that likable, but you don't need to be invested in anyone here. In fact, it's probably best not to be. Aunt Nadine was a bombshell of a character, vulgar, stubborn, and cantankerous, was a riot in nearly every scene she was in, but I definitely wouldn't want to be in the same room with her. I'd pay to see her on a reality show, though. She'd fit right in on Jerry Springer. It was also strange how much of the characters who insulted or berated Mary seemed to echo her own thoughts about herself---same verbiage and everything, 80% sexism. Nat Cassidy did try to bring in mythology and demons that didn't really fit and I'm left wondering what the point was. TW's for almost everything but SA. (A horror book that doesn't have a graphic SA scene? It Does happen!) There's substantial gore that is described very explicitly. And yes, the dog does die. (Possibly two?)

Oh, and if you can, get the audiobook. Susan Bennett did Such an amazing job.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS POINT.

The entire thing being pinned on Nancy was out of nowhere. Especially since it tried to hint towards Mary being caught in the excepts of the FBI agent's book. What was she even doing at the scene? Where did she even come from? It was sort of almost funny that the FBI's book boasted that he danced with the devil and took out some random hospital worker, but I wish there had been more lead-up.

-Xhaxhollari Icarus 🕊

[final-bae-stination]

Don’t Leave Me (Animal 2014)

TRIGGER WARNING: There is a r*pe scene in here, so PLEASE read with caution!!! ********************************************************************* "Animal" is a 2014 American horror thriller film.

Movie Summary: When plans for a weekend vacation hit a dead end, friends find themselves stranded in unfamiliar territory, pursued by a bloodthirsty predator. Holed up in an isolated cabin, the friends must fight to survive as the body count rises.

Prompt: Matt doesn’t run for the car, Mandy does. Matt stays behind with Vicky, Doug, and Alissa while Carl and Sean try to distract the creature. Unknown to Matt, Alissa goes upstairs to watch Mandy and the two men, and is taken advantage of by Doug. When he finds out, Matt flips, turning violent and only Alissa can calm him down.

If you haven't seen "Animal," I highly recommend it!!!

*********************************************************************

Third Person POV

Alissa shook her head. "I don't think it's a good idea," She muttered. "Look, it's the only way," Carl said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. She sighed, "Fine. Who's going?" She wondered. "I am." Carl said, then gestured to Sean. "He can wait on the porch, keep an eye out. We need someone to run for the car." He sighed. "I can," Matt said.

"What? Absolutely not!" Alissa yelled. "What, why—" Matt began. "I don't want—I lost Jeff, you're not going anywhere!" "Babe—" "I can go." Mandy said, taking a walkie. "No questions." Alissa bit her lip. After what Mandy had just told her in the kitchen, she was worried. But she knew Mandy would never change her mind. "Well...be safe."

Mandy nodded. "I will. Take care of her," She told Matt. "You know I will." He smiled gently at her.

Doug watched the happenings with a scowl. "You're all insane," He snapped from upstairs, but nobody really seemed fazed. "Let us be crazy, then." Mandy glared up at him, eyes burning. "I don't see you down here doing shit." "Mandy!" Alissa hissed.

"It's the truth." She shrugged, turning to Carl. "Let's get this over with."

Carl nodded, removing a piece of the barricade, and Sean and Carl slipped outside, and Mandy ran out the back, and Alissa carefully closed the barricade back up. Sighing, she turned to Matt, hovering behind her. "I'm gonna go see upstairs." She said. He nodded, kissing her gently. "Love you." He whispered. "Love you more." She said, smiling and stepping past him towards the stairs.

She found it a little weird that she didn't see Doug, considering he was almost possessive of the upstairs area, but she shrugged it off, moving to the window. She could just barely see Mandy before she disappeared, saw Sean on the porch and Carl with the flare in his hands, trying to draw the creature out, before hands were put over her eyes. "Matt," She mumbled, smiling, but froze when Doug's voice said, "Guess again, honey."

R*pe Scene Warning Below!

"Doug?!" She turned, trying to push him away, but he only laughed, yanking her closer to him. "I haven't had anyone since Barbara," He whispered, his hands touching her lower back and her collarbones, pinning her against the wall. "Let me go!" She said, but he covered her mouth. "Shh, shh. Wouldn't want anyone to hear you, would we? Not Sean, or Carl and Vicky, certainly not Matt." At her boyfriend's name, Alissa's eyes filled with tears, and she struggled in his grip.

Downstairs, Matt frowned, looking up, hearing strange thumping. "What's that?" He asked, and Vicky glanced up, too, shaking her head. "Doug is so strange," She muttered. "He always does that, just ignore him." Matt shrugged. "Okay."

Alissa struggled hard, but Doug wasn't letting her go. He suddenly grabbed her round the throat, and she gasped, choking, as he forced her to the floor, and then he suddenly punched her in the face, hard enough to make her unable to move, and he tied her hands together very quickly, using his hand to choke her a few more times until she was submissive, choking on air rushing back into her lungs every time. "I'm gonna enjoy this," He grins sadistically, tugging at her shorts. She started to cry, trying to kick him, but he hit her again. "If you don't stop," He threatened, holding the knife. "I'll cut you." "Fuck you!" She spit. His hand jerked, and she felt the sting of the blade cutting her cheek. Before she could yelp, he slapped a piece of duct tape over her mouth, then another, tightening it. "Shut. Up." He snarled.

She tried to breathe through her nose, her mouth being taped shut, but then he was forcefully pushing himself inside her, and she screamed, the sound awfully muffled, and tried smacking him, but he pinned her arms down, forcing himself into her and on her, over and over and over, until she was sobbing, near hysterics, and wishing she were dead.

She thought of Matt, just downstairs, who probably had no idea this was happening, and wished he would walk in, or that he'd come save her, but he didn't. She heard shouting, the door opening again, as Doug pulled out, thankfully not finishing inside her, and pulled his pants up quickly. "That'a girl," He smiled, flicking open a knife and cutting the restraints. "Good girl." He turned, walking lightly downstairs, like he didn't just violate a girl inches from the others. Alissa sobbed brokenly into the floor, her shaking hands reaching for the tape and jerking it off her mouth, covering her muffled yelp.

It hurt to move, but she forced herself to reach down and yank her shorts back up, scrubbing the tears from her face, and limp to the stairs. She was glad to see that Sean and Carl were back, but Mandy wasn't. "Did she make it?" Alissa asked, and was shocked at how rough her voice was. Everyone glanced up. "Are you okay?" Matt asked quickly, and she avoided Doug's eyes as she whispered, "Fine. Matt, I'm fine," She said as he asked her questions she could hardly hear. Matt stepped over the table they'd broken earlier to make more barricades and reached for her. For the first time in his life that Matt could remember, Alissa flinched away from him, and he stopped, feeling sick. Was she scared of him? "Babe, what happened?" He asked. She didn't reply, looking at the fire in the fireplace with an almost blank gaze. "Um..." Vicky said, grabbing Sean and Carl's arms. "We'll leave you two to talk." She said, and yanked Carl and Sean into the kitchen. With a look at Alissa that Matt didn't catch, Doug followed the others, and it was just Matt and Alissa. "Babe, you're scaring me." Matt whispered sadly. "What happened?" "You were right." She whispered, not looking away from the fire. "Doug's pretty creepy." She laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound, and that sent alarm bells ringing madly in Matt's brain. "What...what's that mean?" He frowned. He took a step closer, not that Alissa noticed. "Baby, what did he do?" He asked firmly.

"He hurt me." She whispered.

"He what?" Matt asked. "W-what--how---" She stepped closer to him, breath shaky, and whispered it in his ear, stepping back when she was done. He stared at her, face blank, for a moment, and then she saw his face change. She has never seen this look on Matt's face, and she never, ever wanted to again. He turned, starting to walk to the kitchen. "Matt. Matt!" Alissa yelled in a panic. "Carl!"

Vicky, Carl, Sean, and Doug exited the kitchen just as Matt grabbed Doug, slamming him into the wall. "Hey!" Carl shouted, and him and Sean tried to get between them, but Matt wasn't letting go. Doug was swearing, only fighting back to defend himself, as Matt's fists slammed over and over into his face, his jaw, anything he could reach. "Stop, stop!" Vicky was yelling, but her voice was lost in the chaos. "You ever touch my fucking girlfriend—" Matt was shouting, kicking Doug in the ribs, and Alissa knew, in that moment (though she wasn't sure how), that Matt was going to kill him.

"Matt, stop it!" She yelled, getting just close enough that she wouldn't get hurt but that Matt would hear her. "Stop it, okay? He's had enough!" She yelled even louder. "Matt, please!" She said finally, and he stopped, breathing hard, staring at Doug, who was groaning softly in pain, curled up on the ground. "What did he do?" Vicky asked softly. Alissa shared a look with Matt, silently asking, Can you tell them?

"Come here." Matt stepped into the kitchen. Looking warily at Alissa, Sean and Carl and Vicky followed, but Matt dragged Alissa with him, and she glanced back at Doug as she left. He was glaring at her so heatedly that she's surprised she didn't explode in flames.

When they were told, there was a lot more yelling. Carl wanted to kill him, threatening to throw him to the monsters, but Sean was saying it wasn't right and they should leave him for the bears or something, and Vicky was muttering the dirtiest swear words and names she could think of. "I'm sorry, honey. Here." She grabbed a rag from the sink, sitting Alissa down, and started wiping her cheek, where the blade mark was. Alissa stared at her feet, not looking at Sean or Carl or Matt. God, Matt.

She couldn't face him, not after this. Not like before. She couldn't suddenly look him in the eyes anymore, feeling filthy and worthless. She knew he wouldn't think of her differently, he never has, but...this has never happened. She didn't know how to act anymore. "Okay, there you go." Vicky said, and Alissa smiled quickly at her. Her eyes itched, and she just wanted to sleep. Her body was screaming at her to sleep, but she didn't know how she could. Time Skip

She sat in front of the fire with Matt, staring at the flames. Doug was upstairs, tied to the railing, and his mouth was duct taped shut. Mandy had never shown back up, and she was feared dead. Sean was trying to talk to her, something about the songs on his iPod, as Carl and Vicky kept guard. "Sean," Matt finally said, and Sean went quiet as Matt added, "Enough." "Sorry." Sean mumbled, looping his headphones around his fingers.

Feeling bad, Alissa took the iPod, putting the headphones in. "Something calming." She said, and Sean scrolled through his songs. "I have a sleep playlist, let me know if it helps." He pushed a button, and the start of "Delicate" by Taylor Swift started playing softly. She leaned back, against Matt's chest, and closed her eyes. "I love you." She murmured. His arms looped around her, a safe space all for her, making her forget, if only for a little while. "I love you, too." She grinned, eyes still closed. "And I love you, Sean." "Same," Matt chuckled. He giggled. "Love you, too, guys."

[veliseraptor]

May Reading Recap

I'm doing this so late, don't look at me. In my defense it's been a very busy month and a half. I am presently writing this while a little bit high, so forgive me any, uh, oddities.

A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan. As a study of the KKK's resurgence in the early 20th century, and how deeply embedded and powerful it was, including in political terms, this was a pretty strong book. Where it fell down a little was the fact that it was trying to hang that book on one about the brutal rape and eventual death of a young woman and how her testimony, given posthumously, helped bring down some of that political machine, and I don't think those two things ended up fitting together very well. Not to mention that the way this book was titled and marketed (and introduced at the beginning of the book!) made me expect for it to be more about Madge Olberholtzer, but it was very much more about D.C. Stephenson. I think it would've been a better book if it'd owned that more.

Also, yeah, content warning for some seriously gnarly, detailed description of the abduction, rape, and abuse of a woman. I don't get fazed easily and it was a lot even for me.

Lone Women by Victor LaValle. I liked this one! I wouldn't say I loved it - Ballad of Black Tom is still my favorite Victor LaValle work by far - but this is probably second place. Good story, loved the choice of setting (I haven't actually read a lot of horror set in this place/time, which was fun), enjoyed the cast of characters. I was a little irked by the "postlude" tying things up with a nice bow, but overall I'd give this one a "if you're thinking about it already go for it" rec more than a "I actively want to recommend this to others" rec.

The Storm is Here: An American Crucible by Luke Mogelson. This book was a lot to read. It was about the leadup to (and ultimately the events of) the January 6th insurrection, and one of the things I really appreciated about it - maybe appreciated most - was the way it specifically discussed the dynamics of how the Capitol Police interacted with most of the insurrectionists - and contrasting that to how the police interacted with BLM protestors. I think there's a bit of a desire sometimes for some liberals to cast the Capitol Police as "heroes" in contrast to the insurrectionists themselves, and Mogelson doesn't shy away from contesting that narrative. This is definitely a book for "people like me who are fascinated with right wing conspiracies and also with histories of the american far right" than, like, broadly a recommendation, but as far as those books go (and there are a lot of them) this was a pretty good one.

Ascension by Nicholas Binge. This was a really good book that was making good use of being really weird about its horror and then it kind of fell apart in the last ten pages when it became a "villain explains their master plan in a monologue and the whole thing ends with an anticlimactic splat" sort of thing, and then the whole thing was dead to me.

The Social Lives of Animals by Ashley Ward. I feel like lately everytime I read natural science books I end up with this weird mix of "I liked this but I also found it sort of irritating but I did learn some new stuff out of it that was interesting" and this book definitely continued that trend.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, vol. 5 by Mo Xiang Ton Xiu. Last volume of the official English translation of MDZS is out, I have finally read the Wangxian extras. I also feel like I remembered that I did/could ship Wangxian by reading this book so now I just have to not talk to anyone on the internet about it.

Villainous Friends is still my favorite extra though. Possibly of all the MXTX extras, narrowly beating out the Shen Jiu ones for SVSSS.

Victory City by Salman Rushdie. I think I need to read more Salman Rushdie. I didn't find myself in love with this book, but I'm glad I read it, and I feel like I like Salman Rushdie as a writer thematically if perhaps not in terms of prose style as much. So, yeah. Didn't blow me away, but nudged me toward finally actually reading more Salman Rushdie, which I've kind of been meaning to do for years and then haven't.

Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear by Erica Berry. I thought this book was going to be social sciences and it ended up feeling like there was a lot more memoir in there than I bargained for. This book more of a narrative-focused book than an analysis-focused one, and it was a pretty good book for that, but because of the mismatch between expectation and reality (and what I wanted and what I got) means that it lost me. I'm also not much of a memoir person specifically, so in this case that mismatch was really in an unfortunate direction in terms of how much I enjoyed this book versus how much it felt like I was struggling through it to finish it.

There were some interesting insights and commentary in here, just not enough to be the book I wanted it to be. Not precisely this book's fault, but it did make me want a different book than the one I was reading at the time, which is never a good sign.

I've already read a few books this month (though again, no real big winners so far); presently I'm reading Superior: The Return of Race Science and Indigenous Continent is next on my list. I also need to finally finish the last little bit of Qiang Jin Jiu that I haven't read yet and might try to do that this month.

[h0rr0rsaxo]

So..song fic. Here we go. Song: Dinner and Diatribes by Hozier

Here are the main lyrics that really go with the idea!:

-Dinner and diatribes, I knew it from the first look of, The look of mischief in your eyes.

-I'd suffer Hell if you'd tell me, What you'd do to me tonight, Tell me, Tell me, Tell me, ah

-Honey, I laugh when it sinks in, A pillar I am of pride, Scarcely can speak for my thinking, What you'd do to me tonight, Now that the evening is slowing, Now that the end is in sight, Honey, it's easier knowing, What you'd do to me tonight

----------- -----------

The general idea for this fic is having like being in the middle of a very intense dinner party with tons of people all around, talking and watching. So ocv Anni and the others are forced to attend another one of Enid's fancy dinners and Enid loves to invite lots of people. So they all go to sit down, most of the guests are already there and Anni sits right in front of this one man that she is all too familiar with. Zane. Zane has his usual assassin outfit on, the hood, the mask over his mouth and she can just see his eyes and the look he gives her, especially when he takes off his mask and she can see his glowing red eyes and smirk. She knows that this is going to be a hellish night. When the dinner starts, all Zane has to do is look at Anni in a seductive way and suddenly her world is spinning and her body starts to heat up, its from Zane's influence.

Anni tries getting up to leave, but two of Enid's servants stop her and Enid shoots her a look. So she is forced to stay and endure Zane's torture. Someone even tries talking to Anni and Zane won't shut up in her head.

"Darling, someone is talking to you. Wouldn't want to be rude and keep them waiting, now would you?"

"Oh sorry, am I distracting you, honey?

Anni is embarrassed, flustered and pissed. Maybe one of the others notice and they ask if she's okay...

(Feel free to add or change anything. If you have any questions about Zane then feel free to ask and I also recommend watching the music video for inspo and ideas if you need it!)

[ Dinner and Diatribes. || Simp party. ]

Warnings: Slight mentions of NSFW.

Tags: @insane-horror-movie-addict

A/N: No comment🚶‍♀️

Word count: 2,069

Honey this club here is stuck up

Dinner and Diatribes.

Anni took a deep breath as she stepped into Enid's opulent mansion, adorned with chandeliers and gilded frames on the walls. She was used to these fancy dinner parties by now, but that didn't make them any less intimidating. Enid, their Goddess and host for the evening, loved to show off her wealth and connections, and always invited a crowd of wealthy and influential people. Anni and the other proxies were expected to attend as well, to add to the ambiance and make Enid look good.

As Anni made her way to the dining room, she could hear the chatter and laughter of the guests already seated at the long table. She saw a few familiar faces, some she had met on previous occasions, but most were strangers to her. She tried not to make eye contact with anyone as she made her way to her seat, but she couldn't help but notice the man seated directly in front of her. Zane.

I knew well from our first hookup

The look of mischief in your eye

Your friends are a fate that befell me

Zane was a fellow assassin, and he and Anni had worked together on a few jobs in the past. They had a complicated history, to say the least. Anni tried to ignore him, focusing instead on the elaborate place settings and the food being served. But she could feel his eyes on her, and it made her flustered— uncomfortable even.

Zane was dressed in his usual assassin outfit, all black with a few weapons hidden in various pockets. Anni couldn't help but wonder why he felt the need to wear that to a dinner party, but she knew better than to ask. Zane was unpredictable, and she didn't want to say or do anything that could set him off.

Hell is the talking type

I'd suffer hell if you'd tell me

What you'd do to me tonight

As the dinner started, Anni tried to keep her head down and focus on her food. But then she felt it, that familiar sensation of heat and spinning. She looked up and saw Zane, sitting across from her, looking at her with his seductive gaze. Anni tried to resist, but she knew that Zane had a way of getting under her skin.

"Dinner is quite something, isn't it?" Zane said, his voice low and smooth. She ignored his words, but it only egged him on. "Darling, someone is talking to you. Wouldn't want to be rude and keep them waiting, now would you?"

Tell me

Tell me

Tell me

Anni tried to focus on the conversation, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Zane was watching her every move. She felt like she was under a spell, and she knew that it was from Zane's influence. She tried to get up to leave, but two of Enid's servants stopped her. Anni could feel Enid's eyes on her, and she knew that she was trapped.

That's the kinda love

I've been dreaming of

As the night wore on, Anni became more and more uncomfortable. The other guests were drinking heavily and getting louder, and she was starting to feel claustrophobic. She tried to make small talk with the people around her, but she was distracted by Zane's presence. He was watching her, always watching her. She could feel his gaze, lingering all over her body. It was uncomfortably hot.

That's the kinda love

I've been dreaming of

Anni couldn't take it anymore. She needed to get out of there. She stood up and tried to make her way to the door once again, but the servants blocked her path— annoyed to see her try to leave again.

"Leaving so soon, Anni?" One of Enid's snarky servants questioned, her voice laced with venom. Anni tried to explain that she wasn't feeling well, but the servant wasn't having it. She ordered Anni to sit back down and finish her meal. Anni was trapped, and she knew that there was no way out.

As the night dragged on, Anni felt like she was in a nightmare. She was surrounded by people she didn't know, and she couldn't escape. And worst of all, she was under Zane's spell, unable to think clearly or act on her own. She knew that this was going to be a long, long night. The way his eyes occasionally dragged to her, practically begging for her to just come near him— it only darkened the blush in her face.

Honey I laugh when it sinks in

A pillar, I am upright

As the meal progressed, Anni found herself getting more and more anxious. The conversation around the table was focused on wealth and power, things that Anni had little interest in. She felt out of place, like a fish out of water. She tried to contribute to the conversation when she could, but she felt like her opinions were dismissed or ignored— but that was delusional thinking, considering everything she said came out in incoherent mumbles that both Kellin and Vince couldn't seem to understand.

Scarcely can speak for my thinking what

You'd do to me tonight

Zane, however, seemed to be right at home. He was charming and witty, and the other guests seemed to hang on his every word. Anni couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy— his charismatic attitude was something she wished for. She didn't want to admit it, but she was still attracted to him, despite everything that had happened between them.

Now that the evening is slowing

Now that the end's in sight

As dessert was being served, Enid stood up to make a toast. Anni braced herself for another long speech about Enid's accomplishments and wealth, but instead, Enid surprised everyone by announcing that she was possibly inviting a new candidate to her empire and passing on the majority of the responsibility to her proxies. Anni couldn't believe it. This was a huge opportunity for her, but it also meant that she would be working even more closely with Zane.

As the other guests congratulated Enid and began to filter out of the dining room, Anni felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Zane standing behind her, a small smile on his lips.

"Congratulations, Anni," he said. "Looks like we'll be working together more closely from now on. I definitely wouldn't mind that," His eyes once again dragged across her figure, this time a gloved hand gently pushed a strand of hair behind her ear— before he leaned in to whisper, "Not at all.."

Now that the end's in sight

Honey, it's easier knowing what

You'd do to me tonight

Anni tried to keep her cool, but her heart was racing. She wasn't sure if she was ready for this. But as she looked around the opulent dining room, surrounded by all these wealthy and powerful people, she knew that she had to step up. She was a proxy now, and she had to prove herself worthy of the title. She practically shoves him away, before flipping him off, and marching back to the only people she was familiar with.

Tell me

Tell me

Tell your man

Anni takes a deep breath and tries to calm herself down. She can feel her heart racing, and she knows she needs to get a grip. She looks around the ballroom and takes in the stunning decor. The walls are draped in rich fabrics in shades of red and gold, while the chandeliers sparkle with thousands of crystals. The room is filled with people dressed in their finest clothes, chatting and laughing over glasses of champagne.

That's the kinda love

I've been dreaming of

Anni takes a sip of her own champagne and tries to focus on the conversation around her. She's here with Varrick, the demonic man who had loved her for several years, and similarly didn't wanna attend this stupid party. Though, Varrick is a successful musician, and he's always involved in some philanthropic endeavor or another— especially since it would look good on Enid's reputation. Anni secretly loved that about him, but she can't help feeling a little out of place in this world of glamour and wealth.

That's the kinda love

I've been dreaming of

As she looks around the room, she catches sight of Zane again. He's standing in a corner, surrounded by a group of people who seem to hang on his every word. Anni can't help but feel a little envious of his effortless charisma. She knows he's one of the most skilled assassins in the world, but he's also incredibly charming and handsome. Anni hates to admit it, but she's always had a bit of a crush on him.

That's the kinda love

That's the kinda love

That's the kinda love

That's the kinda love…

Varrick notices her staring and follows her gaze. "Zane, huh?" he says, a hint of jealousy in his voice. He's practically pouting with how much his face was scrunched up in disdain.

Anni rolls her eyes and takes another sip of champagne. "Don't be ridiculous," she says. "I just think he's an arrogant prick."

Varrick chuckles. "Well, he is that."

They continue chatting and mingling with the other guests, but Anni can't shake the memory of Zane's touch. She feels a mix of anger and confusion, and she can't help but wonder if there was something more behind his comment. Was he trying to flirt with her? Or was he just being his usual obnoxious self? As the night wears on, Anni finds herself growing more and more restless. She can't stop thinking about Zane, and she keeps glancing over at him whenever she gets the chance. She can see that he's watching her too, and she can feel a strange pull between them.

Ohhhh

Let there be hotel complaints and grievances raised

And that kind of love

It's very rare for Varrick to come to dinners like these, only because his goofy personality is switched over to a sharper version of himself when he’s at work. At work, his charm is ruthless and enticing, made of cleanly sharp blades and clever posterity. The insecurity and poutiness that the demon usually displayed was buried.

Ohhhh

Let there be damage ensued and tabloid news

And that kind of love

Varrick slips a hesitant hand across her waist and plants a sweet kiss to the side of her neck, his favorite spot. “You look absolutely stunning.” Anni rolled her eyes at his compliment and slightly pushed him off. And he was right, she was stunning, even getting some looks from around the large ballroom. They made jokes, talked about Enid's prestigious reputation and floated alcohol with her. She would have enjoyed the night and the attention, if Zane wasn't clouding her mind with those taunting eyes of his.

Ohhhh

Let there be damage ensued and tabloid news

And that kind of love

Varrick seemed fine, but Anni knew him well, despite the smile on his face. She notices something wrong and her forced, tipsy smile drops into an annoyed frown. She excused herself in between the little group that had formed around her and leaning against the table beside Varrick, gripping his button up shirt with her fingers. He had already pulled back his sleeves to his elbows, nursing a scotch.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” She asks, watching as he puts the glass to his lips and takes a sip.

“Nothing, just feeling a little bit lonely.” he smiles. “I told you that you were stunning. But now I'm a little jealous of everyone getting your attention. Especially Zane.”

“What's with that?” Despite her words, her smirk beamed wildly. As soon as he saw it, he cackled out a laugh. He smirks, adoring her words as he pulls her into a tighter hug, resting his head on the side of her head in an appearance of sweetness. She doesn't see the harsh look he gives out to Zane, the wave of warning coming off of him in waves as he stares at each and everyone of them down whilst pressing a possessive kiss to her shoulder.

That's the kinda love

I've been dreaming of

That's the kinda love I've been dreaming of

[thattimdrakeguy]

You refer to the Barbie movie?

I don't think I've seen one person try to promote the Barbie movie based on heart and humor. I, with respect, genuinely have no idea how the fuck you got the idea it was the Barbie movie within like 0.2 seconds of me posting that. 'Cause you gave me this ask so fast, you'd think your life fucking depended on it.

I see Barbie get praised for it's outstanding visual look, and deep themes, all while doing it while still managing to be funny in a surprisingly outrageous way. With some genuinely stand-out awesome performances. It's a genuinely great movie.

I'm talking about shit like the Flash and Blue Beetle. Stuff that I feel like I'm only seeing be praised because people will shill anything with a super hero in it. Not to say that Blue Beetle is as bad as the Flash, but it feels like a very by the numbers movie that is getting praised by simply not being awful.

Humor and heart, humor and heart. There's other stuff too but it's those two movies that I remember the most. Probably because I'm well aware of the characters for obvious reasons, and to be honest, if it didn't have those names they'd be painfully forgettable apart from the Flash's odd tactic of disrespecting both the dead and living for entertainment.

People took the criticisms with DCEU's darkness way too to heart.

It wasn't just the fact those movies were too dark. It was that they were needlessly dark. Now we got movies that, while they seem to be made with enthusiasm, aren't made with passion. Also like they're made with safety scissors and storyboarded with crayon.

Which I think people are more and more confusing enthusiasm with passion.

A lot of things are being made that feel neutered and too sanitized. I like light-hearted stuff with humor, I love it a lot. But they're making stuff that's soft as baby shit, with quirkiness over the edges of anything of anything that could be interesting, had they not took such a bitch ass turn with it.

Again, that's not all to do with those two movies, or especially Blue Beetle, Blue Beetle just happened to be the movie that really got me sick of seeing that stuff.

I'm tired of movies or shows or cartoons that feel made in a factory with a check-list. Going for visuals before logic or good storytelling.

I want to watch more movies that just have the ability to tell a good story. They don't have to be overly complex, layered stories either. Just a genuinely interesting, entertaining story.

Like what the fuck even was the story of the Flash? Somehow Barry messing with time leads to them making the Burtonverse? Even though it does not fucking feel like the Burtonverse, it's just Michael Keaton's Batman. Which is where I say they're made with enthusiasm but not passion. Because if passion made the Flash, maybe the movie would've made fucking sense, and felt like they actually worked hard on it in the right places to pay respect to things, and not just use nostalgia as wallpaper for their shallow ass movie, that feels designed to be enjoyed by 7-year-olds who want to feel like they can handle an adult movie, 'cause people die in it.

I'm really rambling here, but it's just hard to truly describe what these movies and shows feel like.

It feels like they're making movies and shows and things for pussies. Pussies that can't take any real bite unless they layer it in some sort of quirky way, or do something where you don't really feel anything.

Michael Keaton's Batman dies by suicide bombing essentially, and all we get is Flash giving a cartoony NOOO if I remember right. It's not very serious at all.

My favorite movie is Jurassic Park, a movie that in a lot of ways is a horror adventure movie, made with kids still in mind. Yet it still feels like it has bite to it, because it doesn't talk down to anyone. It invites kids along for the ride and all, so they can still enjoy it along with everyone else. It's an everyone movie for the most part, since I wouldn't necessary recommend Jurassic Park to really really little kids given their still are scary moments that could give the teeny tiny ones nightmares given all the life experience you'd expect them to have.

At least with Batman v. Superman, for all the blatantly bizarre decisions they made with it, and how overly dark it is, I feel like it was made by a guy who genuinely tried telling me a helluva story. Even if the fucker botched it in the end.

As much as George Lucas doesn't understand a lot of aspects of filmmaking as much as you'd hope for him to do (I don't give a fuck if people like the prequels, they are not well made movies. I enjoy watching them, and I'm nostalgic for them too, but I'm not gonna play dumb about it), he knew that a special effect without a story is pretty boring. And he at least tried telling grand scope stories in the prequels even if he botched it to.

When your story feels like it had the general points of it plotted out in 20 minutes, it's probably dog shit.

And I can't get over how ugly the Flash is visually. I think I heard they fixed up some of the color grading on the NFT (who is stupid enough to buy that, I have no idea), but they think just moving around the camera a lot makes a good visual shot. No, it's nauseate. I love a moving camera a lot, but don't just do random shit with it. I learned basic photography in middle school, and I could compose some better shots then some of the crap they did.

I don't care about how much they cared, or how excited they were to do it. I don't give one single fuck about that 'cause it doesn't effect me one way or another. If they don't care about the right things to handle the basics they can get fired and go fuck a goat for all I care.

Make movies, shows, cartoons, comics, video games, fucking anything that feels like a show.

The ending of the Flash, oh my gosh the ending with all the universes. It's visual nonsense, none of it means anything. They just brainstormed for a bit about what would look cool and smashed some action figures together. But none of it makes any sense. They're smashing 'cause of messing with the timeline? Why the hell does the rest of the multiverse care. How would that get effected. Because it'd be biggerer and more epicerer if they made it tackle the multiverse despite the fact the logic of the multiverse is actually the absence of logic.

I know the speed force is still sort of a vague concept. And I know how time travel can create different timelines. That I get.

But Barry gets knocked into this not-Burtonverse because he's running through the speedforce and gets knocked by evil Barry. But how the fuck did evil Barry get there if he's traveling through his own timeline? It's really stupid, and really forced.

And why is the multiverse all big glowing spheres? As many mesmerizing images we have of our own universe, they thought the best visual for a mulitverse is a see-through glowing sphere? And sometimes parts of them look like a planet and other time they seemed layered with each layer being it's own multiverse?

It's not surrealist enough to be cool, it's just boring and creatively dull all while they treat it as this big blockbuster moment of the year thing. And I'm purposely not mentioning the shitty CGI, which is shitty no matter if they claim it's what the speed force looks like, 'cause guess what sunshine, it's still hideous to look at. The speed force isn't real dip shit, saying you wanted it to look bad on purpose is ridiculous.

This isn't even the only stuff that makes no sense in the movie.

Yet it had a score in the 70s for a while on Rotten Tomatoes. Why? 'Cause of humor and heart? Bitch, the movie has no soul, never mind a heart.

How is it one of the best? It's an incredibly stupid movie.

What's even the heart? The humor itself? The fact it acknowledges death is bad even if it plays out like a stupid cartoon? Having very basic and incredibly common human emotions? Doesn't mean much when every performance feels like they're confused as hell while doing it. Fuck Batman v. Superman had a lot of heart if it's just having human emotions. Or is it humor in of itself? What is this heart they're talking about?

Stop jiggling keys in front of me, and make a good movie.

Notice how I never mentioned Ezra Miller once? It's 'cause it doesn't matter if he's a terrible person, the movie is bad regardless.

And obviously this is all the tail end of this whole humor and heart thing, but people really overbear the importance of it. I think it's 'cause we're in an age where we're trying really hard to take back a lot of the cynicism that's plagued the world, which is a mighty fine cause in it's own way, but making stories that feel like they can only be viewed through either a lens of ignorance or painful cynicism because of the nature of things doesn't help.

Why am I supposed to think humor and heart by itself is good when anytime someone makes a completely fair criticism they get a mob stick down their throat because it's supposed to be fun.

A lot of things are supposed to be fun, that doesn't mean they're good. A merry-go-round that's run down and about to break might've had the intention of being fun and still be a bit of fun in a superficial way 'cause it still does run at the very least is still a piece of shit.

Humor and heart, humor and heart.

Fuck all of that.

Gimme something with a damn soul.

[tolyasword]

I was tagged by @slowtides to talk about what I've been reading lately! Here's a couple things I've read this year so far. I was a little slow with reading the first 4 or 5 months since I was finishing grad school, but I've read all of the above in the last five or so months. I can talk a little about each of them!

The Eye of the World - I finally started on The Wheel of Time series this year. A friend of mine in college about ten years ago told me to read this and with the show, I decided to give it a try. I really thoroughly enjoyed this first book. I found Rand and Mat's storylines a little less exciting than Perrin and Egwyane but otherwise I really loved this and I'm already reading book two! I really want to read the whole series.

Elantris - my very first Sanderson novel. I'm so glad I started with this one as it was his first (written and published) novel so now I can see how his writing has evolved. This was such an interesting concept and really fueled my imagination and made me want to write again. It was surprisingly easy to read (for some reason I was expecting his writing to be denser and harder to get through but now I realize why he's so popular!) and I flew through it. I really want to get my own copy and annotate it while rereading it.

Bloom Into You - A manga series recommended to me by a person irl for reasons. I haven't read manga in a long time and I've never read a non-magical manga before. It was super cute!

Where the Nightmares Go - was throughly enjoyable. The first and last stories in particular were WOW. The second one (I think it was the second, maybe the third) was so terrifying that I literally could not allow myself to picture it in my head as I was reading or I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep for like a week. Highly recommend if you like horror and uncanny fiction.

The Ex-Girlfriend of my Girlfriend.... - It was good! Very lesbian centric (I was feeling a little bi-erasure) but as I'm trying to explore my queerness, I was happy to read through these situations. The latter parts of the book definitely felt a bit more bi-positive and openly queer (umbrella term) so I think it was worthwhile to read. The bright colors and illustrations were also very fun.

Nettle and Bone - After graduating I read a lot of novellas because it was easier than full novels. This was my first T. Kingfisher and will not be my last. The topic was women and breaking cycles and dealing with family and finding independence and also about hot-silver-fox-fighters and demonic chickens. Cannot go wrong.

High Times In the Low Parliament - Another novella. Totally bizarre and amazing. Fae/faeries, government, sapphics, lots of drugs. It was super enjoyable and I think maybe the first novella I read after graduating??? So it's gonna stick with me. I might even purchase a copy.

Off With Her Head - What promised to be a historical breakdown of misogyny unfortunately turned into a repeated argument for 75% of the book, with the only actually engaging chapters being the ones with historical research. It will definitely make you angry if you are a women or are anti-patriarchy, but after a while the anger will get tiring until you get to The One Juicy Historical chapter. I don't usually read nonfiction so this was maybe not the best thing for me to read.

White Cat, Black Dog - I can't say much about this except that Kelly Link is my favorite short story author and I got this practically brand new book for $10 at a used book store. One or two stories were a little meh for me, but nothing downright awful. I love the way this is retellings of other fairytales but feels sooooo different you'd never know it until you read the acknowledgements or notice that the original tales titles are written at the beginning under the titles. I particularly loved the retelling of Tam Lin.

This is for anyone who wants to write a bit about what they've been reading or what's been engaging for them lately! If you want to share, please do! Also tagging a few people: @twoheartsoneclara @antoine-triplett @actuallylorelaigilmore @spellmansabrina @thyla

[theinstagrahame]

I keep seeing ads for BetterHelp and similar podcast-sponsoring mental health services which have horror stories. Some of these ads talk about how hard it is to find a therapist, which made me wonder: Are y'all as confused about how to find one as I was?

I went searching for a new therapist a couple of years ago, and had no idea where to start, honestly. My doctor recommended the Psychology Today website, but beyond that: what do? Call all of them and hope we click? Dust off the phone book and point to a random page in the P section? Go down the list alphabetically until I find one that I like?

My partner lucked out and immediately clicked with the first person their PCP suggested. A lot of my friends described just going and seeing if it worked out--and that had been my process previously.

I didn't really want to try that again, so I went with a new process. Which I think worked out well? I'm happy with my therapist, and have been seeing them for... somewhere between a year and 2 years. But, as I don't think I'm that unique, figured I'd write down what I did in case it helped someone else:

(This is presented with a lot of caveats. I have insurance, so that was part of my process. I was looking mostly for like, talk therapy. Someone with a need for more specialized care may need to make some adaptations.)

Step 1: go to the Psychology Today website (recommended by my Doctor). At least in mid 2023, they have a "Find a Therapist" tool front and center of the page.

Step 2: Enter your geographical area. Then use the search filters to pare the list down to people who specialize in the stuff you want to talk about. You can also specify telehealth, and weed out anyone who's not taking new clients.

Step 3: Look at the profiles. Honestly, this part is mostly vibes. I noticed a lot of the photos of older therapists reminded me too much of my parents or friends of my parents. There were a lot of things I wouldn't feel comfortable talking to them about, so I looked for someone I could imagine as a friend. Several of them also had short self-marketing paragraphs on their profiles, which I also took into consideration.

I'm calling this part out as important. I wanted to scout out someone who I'd feel comfortable talking to. One or two I crossed off my list because their writing felt "too hippy" for my comfort level. Here, you should ask yourself what you want in a therapist. If you're looking for someone with that air of parentitude, absolutely go for it. Finding a good fit therapist is 100% about comfort, so check in with yourself here. (Optional: You can also look at reviews on some insurance websites and/or Google for additional insight into the therapist's work)

Step 4: Compile a list of therapists you're interested in contacting. I went with 2-3, but honestly, given the state of the United States Healthcare System, 5+ is maybe a safe bet. Because the next step is...

Step 5: Open your Health Insurance website, and use their "Find a Therapist" tool. Use a similar geographical radius as earlier.

Step 6: Cross-reference your list with your health insurance website. Nix any that aren't covered (unless you *really* want to meet with them and see if you can work something out).

Step 7: Contact your top 2-3 picks. When I did this, I got emails back from 2 of them, both of whom were currently full, but expected to have availability in a couple of months. I waited, and went with the first one who got back. I like my therapist a lot!

Step 8: Go for a few sessions. If they don't bring it up (mine did), ask about what to do if you don't feel like it's a good fit. They're professionals, and shouldn't take it personally. Talk early and often about whether you both feel like it's a good match.

Note: This is about as important as Step 3, because your Vibes can lead you astray, but 1000%, you need to feel comfortable with your therapist. If you don't, you're just wasting their time and your money. Plus, you have a List, so if it doesn't work out, you can just hit the next name.

Truth be told, this was a process that spanned a couple of weeks (plus the waiting for availability). Partially because getting help is scary, so I had to work myself up to some parts of it. Partially because some steps did require me to ask myself uncomfortable questions about what I was looking for, and I had to work myself up to those answers. I'm also pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADHD, so like, easy to lose focus on this. But, making incremental progress was super helpful, and I did eventually get to the end.

Bear in mind: your mileage may vary. Your insurance options may vary. I am not a doctor, lawyer, or expert in anything here. I'm just some guy, you know?

Take what parts of this feel right, ignore the ones that don't--or that don't apply.

[corpsegirl-sarah]

favourite content creators?

Video essays are more or less my bread and butter when it comes to online content so don't expect much else from this list, and tbh my tastes are pretty basic, mostly people whose numbers are above a million, so don't expect to find much of anything you haven't heard before (but I will include short pitches and specific video recommendations anyway, just in case)

Jacob Geller is by far my number one and I highly doubt there's anyone out there that can surpass him for me, I basically always come out of his videos with a new perspective on some topic or another (especially his video on modern art that made me do a complete 180)

Everyone was talking about him recently cause of the plagiarism video but hbomberguy is pretty cool outside of that too. He does media analysis too, I really enjoy his video on Pathologic, but I will admit I find his documentary style videos more interesting

I can also recommend Super Eyepatch Wolf, who has the skill to make me actually care about wrestling, if that's what he chooses to cover, if only for the duration of the video's runtime. Generally I would describe him as "guy rambles about his interests (most of the time video games or anime) at you for an hour in a way that makes the excitement infectious". There is some analysis, it's not just plot synopsis type stuff, but it's not the most in-depth thing out there.

My 4th shoutout is going to the only thing I regularly engage with that isn't video essays, music, and it's gonna be someone I've mentioned a good few times before. Check this out, try to solve the very difficult mystery of why someone whose whole identity revolves around the concept of undeath would vibe with it, and then listen to the rest of GHOST's music cause it all fucks

My 5th and final recommendation is back to video essay land and is gonna be Maraganger (who's the only one mentioned here I wouldn't consider all that well known), and I will suggest not one but two videos this time because of the relative obscurity of the channel: this video on Hylics and this video on my favorite set of visual novels, that I often call the bag of milk games. The channel often covers niche and/or obscure games, often in the horror genre.

There, that's like 4 hours just from the videos I specifically told you to watch, go have fun and check out everything else on their channels if you aren't familiar with them already

[talesfantastic]

Tell me about your fandom! (Legend of Zelda) Also, this isn't a fandom but I love nonfiction & I recommend Brene Brown's two podcasts if you don't listen already

(NOTE: I found this in my drafts, unposted, so I'm posting it now!)

Recommendation noted! Thank you!

So...

The Legend of Zelda

Baby Kat's first RPG, I do believe, was Ocarina of Time and I adored it. It was not my first "fandom" in the traditional sense of community and interaction (I had no idea about fandom at the time, that came later) but I was most definitely in love with the franchise. Next was Majora's Mask, which creeped me out omg. I loved it, but I can no longer play it through because the three day timer combined with having to go find a save point triggers anxiety. XD BUT, I played it... twice, I think? Once with my brother and once solo to prove I could. And really enjoyed it. I didn't actually pick up a new one until Twilight Princess, then another gap and Skyward Sword, and another gap before Breath of the Wild.

I really can't say I know the fandom end of it well though. Counting plotting with you, I have... one other person I rp in Zelda with, also in the OoT/MM era, and I really haven't been active on the fanfic front either. I do have several friends who enjoyed the games and we've talked about them (mostly BOTW), so that's really nice.

I would 10/10 recommend the games, though, and would like to do more with rping in it. And possibly fanfic, but I've got such a backlog and no burning stories that want told so probably not ficcing for a while.

Under the cut, some aimless rambling about the games I've played.

CONTAINS SPOILERS for: OOT, MM, TP, SS, and BOTW!

Ocarina of Time

Why I love it: I think I love the story and characters, first and foremost, but I also really like the plot device + game mechanic of time travel, that's one of my favorite tropes tbh? Even if it wasn't executed the way I usually aim for. (I also... fairly recently? in the past yearish? found out that it is not, in fact, required to be done linearly so I clearly have to replay one more time minimum just to test this.)

Who should play it: Anyone! It wasn't a horrendously challenging game, in my opinion, so it's not the problem some rpgs are, but it was fun and the graphics may not be up there with the most recent titles but the 3DS version was a really well done remake and I think people should really think twice about ignoring it because of the graphics; in context of video game history, that was groundbreaking. There are creepy parts the well THE WELL that surprisingly didn't hit me as as creepy as they are until I came back to it as an adult XD but still! If you can get your hands on it one way or another it's worth playing.

Majora's Mask

Why I love it: I think "love" is a little strong, but I definitely enjoyed it. The mask system was well done and intriguing, and it had a lot of moving parts and puzzles, even for a Zelda game.

Who should play it: as long as horror elements don't bother you, (it's definitely not a horror game but it's got some creepy bits) and you don't get anxiety over being timed, it should be good. You have three days to complete... everything, but you can do the three days over and over and over so there's that at least? It's got some really fantastic mechanics, interesting characters, and again, puzzles.

Twilight Princess

Why I love it: the characters are what make this game really stand out to me. There's brilliant designs, unique personalities and they all come together to support a pretty solid plot. It's also really pretty. I love the art style. I'd love to see it polished up a little bit with the modern abilities remake? REMAKE, but I wouldn't want them to change the feel of it, it's just really lovely.

Who should play it: both fans of motion sensing (there is a Wiimote version) and people who prefer a straight out controller will be happy here. I, personally, preferred the controller version by far. It's a fantastic story in my opinion with a lot of memorable characters. It also reveals a very important part in Zelda history.

Skyward Sword

Why I love it: I really enjoyed the art style, the storyline / glimpse of where things all began is fascinating to me even if they could have gone back further. It's immediate fic fodder, though admittedly I have not followed through due to other stories in progress already. (Didn't care for the anxiety-inducing timed sections though.)

Who should play it: you could read the wikis or Hyrule Historia, maybe even watch a Let's Play - all of these are valid and even advisable options to those who for whatever reason can't play the game (money, motion controls, anxiety over timers etc) then those are great options! That said, if you can handle this it's a really neat game full of unique art and a fascinating story line. I'd advise going in blank if you can - don't research ahead of time.

Breath of the Wild

Why I love it: Open world Zelda. I think I squeed when I heard that. Being completely honest, I found the lack of the traditionally seemingly linear story initially intimidating but once I'd started to get to know the world and mechanics, I began to catch my stride and I really enjoyed the game! Not so much the ending boss battle that, cutscenes counted, took me over 20 mins, but the rest of it yay! Honestly I even just liked messing around exploring the world and locating shrines. Didn't care for having a "your weapons break" mechanic without an additional "you can repair / smith new ones" though.

Who should play it: anyone who likes Zelda and also open world RPGs. It had a main story, of course, but there was so much interesting lore scattered about in side quests. Now, I haven't (yet) played Tears of the Kingdom but I am excited for it. And might play BOTW again because I loved it and it's worth the time and effort.

So yeah I recommend all of them, if with a few small caveats. Great games - great series! - and there are plenty more I want to play. (Special note for Minish Cap, which I keep meaning to play.)

[brainrotoverthatthingagain]

Tl;dr overly long rant about how over I am with this argument.

So sick and tired of people using this not only to be assholes but also as a "be all end all". So, anon, I, an aroace, came here to poop your bubble and make you understand that this "argument" does not hold as much (if any) water as you seem to believe it does. Also English is not my first language, I am sorry about misspellings or if any confusion comes up.

Okay so, first of, Aromanticsims(?) and Asexuallity are spectrums. Considering you seem to have a hard time to figure our what that is here is a detailed explanation with images to make it easier for you. Think about a gradient from white to black. Now on one side of the spectrum there are the people that are repulsed and stay repulsed 24/7:

On the other there are people that don't mind being/are in a romantic or sexul relationship, they might not actively seek it out but they also don't hate doing those things:

Then there are people that fall somewhere in the middle, the gray space, between the two:

And there can also be people, like me, who run around I those spectrums as if they own us money and we are coming to collect. We can feel differently on the topic of sex and/or romance any given time:

Also, sure sometimes you are on equally footing with both your Asexuallity and Aromanticsims(?) (As loving illustrated by me trying to colour in the pointer and doing a shitty job of it!):

But sometimes they could also be on the opposites of each other:

Sometimes the difference isn't that extreme:

One of them could stay in their designated spot whilst the other is jumping around wildly:

And other times both of them just do whatever on their own:

Or together:

The long and short of it is that not very one is repulsed by romantical and/or sexual stuff. In fact, being AroAce is a little bit different for everyone, I would say. I even let you in on a secret: I've heard whispers that some even dare to be in romantic or sexual (or both) relationships and are happy in those *le gasp*! The horrors, I know /s

We have no idea where Alastor falls under that spectrum, and personally I believe everyone is free to headcanon that for themselves. Even if we would know (and he happens to be repulsed) I would still ship it. Ya wanna know why? Because it's fandom and people are free to do what they want. If I don't like something I can block it (something I recommend you do).

(Also obligatory: nobody needs permission to ship something, but if you really want it I am hereby giving it to you.)

Lastly, it's so fucking annoying to see people like you pull out the "He's AroAce" card when we both know that you don't actually give a shit about the fact that he's AroAce. You randomly select this sentence out of like three (alongside: "Charlie is with Vaggie", and most recently, "But he sees her as his daughter"/"She sees him as his father") to discredit and look down on people that dared to like something you don't like. It would be pathetic, if it wouldn't be so annoying to see wherever I turn. You are allowed to dislike it, but I am genuinely asking you (and anyone like you), to leave it alone. Block the tag, ignore the shippers. Go on and make your fandom experience the best it could ever be by stopping to make it worse for the people around you.

Thx for coming to my Ted-Talk. Enjoy your fandom experience!

U still gonna defend Charlastor now that Alastor is confirmed aro? 💀

MY FIRST ASK OMG!! I only activated the option for shits and giggles, never thought anyone would actually bother to ask me something! Yay and Thank you! 🥹

but now to answer your questions: yas, I will!