#random recommendation

[hammill-goes-fogwalking]

While my parents are having the vibe at a Depeche Mode concert right now 🥂 I'm literally vibin' w/ them. At home.

[questioningespecialy]

This mofo (Implicitly Pretentious) just dropped a Smallville video some hours ago. Mostly dropped the series during/after season 5, but this shit made me consider wasting my life away adding the series to the backlog. Definitely missed out on some interesting character arcs, but now I'm wondering why I dropped it in the first place. 🤔

Likely to watch the Talk Ville podcast instead tbh.

there be hella spoilers

The Videos (so far?):

Smallville Was Surprisingly Deep

When Smallville Lost its Mind

When Lex left Smallville

[thebittahwizard]

Random Fic Recommendation: A List of Stories that Prove that Literally Everyone Wrote Teen Wolf Better than Jeff Davis

It says a lot for the validity of this title that I’m making a goddamn sequel.

Part 1: Sterek |§| Part 2: Steter

Beefcake Mountain by twothumbsandnostakeincanon (somanyofthekids)

Teen. Canon AU. 14k words. Stiles starts crushing hard on "a hundred and eighty pounds of pure beefcake." 10 guesses who that turns out to be.

Devil of Mercy by KouriArashi

Explicit. AU. 82k words. Peter meets his mate, who seems to have nothing but mysteries behind his eyes.

Fame is a Vapor by Triangulum

Explicit. Fashion AU. 43k words. Peter Hale is a rich, famous, fashion-designing werewolf. Stiles Stilinski is the poor shmuck who falls in love with him.

Goodbye to a World by mia6363

Mature. Time Travel AU. 15k words. Stiles travels back in time to save everyone he's ever loved from dying bloody. He falls for a certain Hale all over again.

Growing Up, Growing Strong by cywscross

Teen. Canon AU. 9k words. Stiles saves the Hales as a kid, losing the last of his own family in the process. This is sad, sweet, and oh so worth it.

Hook, Yarn, Sinker by pprfaith

NR. Knitting AU. 65k words. Stiles is crafty and Peter is in over his head raising his young nieces and nephews.

Hoshi no Tama (Hungry Like the Wolf) by rightsidethru

Teen. Avengers Crossover. 9k words. Peter is Loki's son, Fenrir, and they join up with the Avengers to battle monsters and robots and whatnot. He ends up taking a liking to a new foxy vigilante.

Hunting Pains by Ragga

Mature. Time Travel AU. 230k words. Stiles messes with the past. Every villain you love to hate has their heart grow three sizes as a side-effect of knowing him.

Infinite Space by DiscontentedWinter

Explicit. Canon AU. 32k words. Stiles dreams of a wolf. Peter, trapped in Eichen House, only has memories of slightly-okay times to take refuge in. A great escape and romance ensues.

Prison Break by cywscross

Teen. Canon AU. 21k words. Stiles decides that letting the guy that went crazy locked up in his head get locked up for real is maybe not the smartest plan.

Proposing To Strangers by moonstalker24

Gen. Biker AU. 50k words. Peter owns a bar that Stiles stumbles into. Five minutes into meeting him, Stiles proposes marriage. Peter gives him a chance to really mean it.

Rewriting the future by Synesthetic

Explicit. A/B/O. 106k words. When Derek breaks their bonding agreement by running away, Peter steps up to help Stiles.

Spinning Gold by Elpie (Horribibble)

Explicit. A/B/O. Fairy Tale AU. 14k words. Peter is Rumpelstiltskin and Stiles is the poor Omega locked up in a tower charged with turning straw into gold.

Stiles Stilinski, Disaster Chef by Guede

Teen. Zombie AU. 29k words. Stiles is still just 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bone when the zombie apocalypse starts. He decides cooking for the fighters might be more his speed.

Under the Songbird’s Wing by mia6363

Explicit. Canon AU. 87k words. Okay this is by far one of the most heart-wrenching and beautiful fics I've ever read. I can't do it justice with this tiny summary so click the link. What are you still doing here? Click. The. Link.

The Unexpected Marriage of Peter Hale by moonstalker24

Gen. Knitting/Tea Shop AU. 9k words. I don't even like knitting or goddamn tea but this story pierced my heart with an arrow made of pure gold.

The Various Triumphs of Mischief Bilinski by Whispering_Sumire

Mature. Time Travel AU. 113k words. WIP. Stiles travels back in time and uses his impressive magical powers to basically CTRL+ALT+DEL canon.

Shameless Self-Promotion of Works That Are Still Better Than Jeff Davis' Scribbles

Everyone is King When There's No One Left to Pawn

Mature. Monster AU. 4k words. The one where Stiles is an old trickster, just not the one you're thinking of.

I Know What I Am, They Know What They Are (So Let Me Be)

Explicit. Canon AU. 4k words. Peter Hale is not the uncle Derek or Cora remembers. There's a reason for that.

With a Red Right Hand

Explicit. Assassins AU. 9K words. Sex and violence condensed to only 9 thousand words. More bang for your buck, am I right?

[thebittahwizard]

Random Fic Recommendation: A List of Stories that Prove that Literally Everyone Wrote Teen Wolf Better than Jeff Davis

A list of Teen Wolf fics that keep me coming back. Enjoy, motherfuckers.

Part 1: Sterek

Bittersweet and Strange, Finding You Can Change (Learning You Were Wrong) by WithMyTeeth

Explicit. Sugar Daddy AU. 49k words. Cute smut? Is that even a category? (It is now.)

Cupboard Love by mklutz

Gen. Cooking AU. 32k words. The cute theme continues, but without the side helping of smut.

Divided We Stand by KouriArashi

Mature. Mystery. 156k words. No description could give this fic the attention it deserves. Read it. It’s replaced canon in my brain.

Don’t Feed the Wolves by Amazonia_8

Explicit. Smut. 30k words. This is basically just long smut set in a universe where werewolves are known, and that’s just the way I like it.

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by pandacowwhipster

Teen. Hogwarts AU. 13k words. Stiles is a genius potions student and Derek is the new werewolfy groundskeeper. *chef’s kiss*

I don’t know why, but I guess it has something to do with you by LunaCanisLupus_22

Explicit. A/B/O. 17k words. A story that is equal parts ridiculous, fluffy, and sexy.

Important Things by suzvoy

Mature. Canon Divergence. 71k words. In between battling lizard monsters and hunters, Stiles gets curious about the enigma that is Derek Hale.

Little Wild Animal by DiscontentedWinter

Explicit. Feral AU. 61k words. The Hales find a feral Stiles Stilinski. Growth, found families, and feelings ensue.

Mated by otter

Explicit. Neckz N Throatz AU. 37k words. Modeling is hard, y’all—especially when your hot werewolf partner hates everything and everyone.

Midnight Wolf vs Abominable Snowman! by orphan_account

Teen. Comics AU. 20k words. Stiles is Derek’s number one fan, he just doesn’t know that Derek knows that.

Move A Mountain by ZainClaw

Explicit. Human AU. 69k words. Stiles and Derek fall in love over the course of one hot week during summer.

my heart’s been offline by thepsychicclam

Explicit. Celebrity AU. 58k words. Stiles owns a farm and Derek is basically a Kardashian. It’s amazing.

On Building an IKEA Den for an Alpha Werewolf. by orphan_account

Mature. Canon Divergence. 13k words. Man that orphan_account really churns out some classics, am I right? Anyway, the title doubles as a summary. Handy, that.

Play It Again by metisket

Teen. AU AU?? 63k words. My first Sterek, and the one I always come back to. Stiles is fucked after Peter goes on another spree, so he uses a magic necklace that slides him one universe to the left.

[Sleep]Walking After You by relenafanel

Mature. Human AU. 56k words. Stiles and Derek are neighbors in New York City. That’d be ripe for a meet-cute except for how Derek keeps breaking into Stiles’s bedroom while he’s asleep.

Stilinski’s Home for Wayward Wolves by owlpostagain

Teen. Canon Divergence. 35k words. What happens when Stiles is the new kid that moves to Beacon Hills after the events of season 2? He becomes pack mom, of course.

The White Hart of Winter by DarkAthena

Explicit. A/B/O. 65k words. A bodice ripper that soothes the 14-year-old that used to sneak historical romances that still lives in me.

Waiting by isthatbloodonhisshirt

Teen. Feral AU. 81k words. There’s a creature that the citizens of Beacon Hills keep locked up out of sight. Stiles is its newly selected caretaker.

Words Cannot Espresso How Much You Bean to Me by isthatbloodonhisshirt

Teen. Coffee Shop AU. 68k words. Stiles is a human working in a werewolf coffee shop owned by Peter. Derek starts working for his uncle. Puns and love ensue.

[thebittahwizard]

Damn Right, It’s Women’s Work: A Random Literary Recommendation

Wow, a whole goddamn day for little ol’ us-es? Well, let’s not waste it. In honor of International Women’s Day and my English B.A., here’s a rec list of all the works created by kick-ass women that helped shape my life. 

Literature is What You Make of It

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the book you dogeared, accidentally dropped in the tub, left to yellow in the sun, and read year after year doesn’t qualify as “literature.” The entire industry of the written word is completely subjective, and as long as a work is everlasting to you, it counts. 

It fucking counts.

Here’s a list of the works that helped shape my life, for better or for worse:

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie 

My mom started me early with both Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot in print and on TV. Every time I read one of Christie’s works or see an adaptation onscreen, it’s a nostalgia blast straight to my solar plexus. 

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

This is basically something every person should read to help understand the history of feminism. It’ll help you think about things differently. Or at the very least, you’ll get a head start on your university’s Gender Studies 101 reading list.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume

All works by Judy Blume are 100% recommended for young teens, but this one pushed the envelope by frankly discussing both religion and sex. I think teens could use a little more openness in these areas. 

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood 

I read this during my junior year at university on a whim. People kept telling me to read Handmaid’s Tale, but I didn’t just to be a contrary bitch (and also because the topic of HT frankly freaked me out with its eery believability). Oryx and Crake is also a little eery, but it’s definitely worth it.  

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson 

Seventh grade was an interesting time to read this, but it honestly helped me discover the uncomfortable truths of being a girl in this world in a healthy way. This is a trauma novel and you should go into it understanding that for the context of its nonlinear structure. 

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston 

This is a story about a black woman’s desire for love in a world designed not to give her any. It’s raw and charged with issues of race, sex, violence, and gender roles. You can’t go wrong with a slow read-through of this novel.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

This book wasn’t actually my favorite. It was a forced read for my eighth grade English class, and it was a bit of a dry end product for what the concept could have been. However, I really do like the novel’s symbolic use of color (and the absence of it). 

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

I’m not fucking crying, you’re fucking crying. Seriously, I thought the book was bad enough, but that goddamn movie? Jesus Christ, that was an early lesson in masochism. 

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

This is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy, and it’s definitely worth the read. Not just to admire, however, but to understand where it falls short and to contextualize how long the feminist movement takes to intersect with other important aspects of life. 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

She is the mother of science fiction and, arguably, horror. It’s rather short but packed full of a poetically creepy plot. And just so you know, it’s actually the Frankenstein monster. Frankenstein is the doctor. /s (I understand that this is actually a common misconception, but Jesus tapdancing Christ do you know how many nerds have said this to me? Take your condescendingly raised pointer finger and shove it.) 

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Read this because it’s fucking history, bros and brosettes. Also, it really gets you thinking about the integrity of the average white liberal. 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 

Yes. Alllll the yes. Do it. 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Move over Emily, the better Bronte is coming through. No seriously, move over because Wuthering Heights was so goddamn dreary I need to take a depression nap. 

Sandy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen

I read every single book in this series. Sandy Keyes was a sassier Nancy Drew and I was here for it. These books filled every spare minute of my elementary and middle school years. I hope other younglings keep her alive. 

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Money, family, poverty, gender roles. This play has everything. I highly recommend reading this work or watching a performance. 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling 

J.K. Rowling may be a no-good fucking TERF, but the bitch knows how to write an engaging fantasy world. It was a flip on whether she’d go on the Dishonorable list or not, but Harry doesn’t deserve that. Also, the third novel will always be my favorite. 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I still remember so clearly in my mind my freshman English teacher (whom I hated) in high school asking the class what this book was about. Everyone kept answering with the obvious: racial conflict, the limitations and successes of the law, family, Scout growing up, etc. She kept saying no and then after 10 minutes of guessing and having us squirm she smugly said, “It’s about Jem breaking his arm.” Then she lectured us for 30 minutes about close reading. It’s irrational, but I’ve hated this book ever since. 

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The structure of this novel is absolutely fantastic, and it’s a great insight into the relationships between Chinese-American women and their families.  

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

That goddamn pie. It gets me every time. 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 

All Works By Maya Angelou Will Always Be Recommended. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 

Jane Austen isn’t really my favorite author, but this is my favorite work of hers. I’m a rather basic bitch that way.  

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

I cried. I was 14 years old and thought I was long past crying over a book. I was not. 

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

Her diction, syntax, and rhythm are wild. Also, John Mulaney was 100% correct. 

The Street by Ann Petry

I read this during my senior year of university in my Black Existentialism class. It was a bit mundane and a little bit sad. Definitely worth a read, though. 

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Believe it or not, this was my first foray into LGBTQ+ literature. I have my own reservations about the book itself, but I’ll always be thankful to this novel for knocking me over the head and leading me down a path that I hadn’t thought to discover. 

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

This shit was crazy. Literally. 

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

The names of the characters are 1000% cringe. And why did you have to do Johnny dirty like that, Susan? Also, am I the only one that kind of hated the movie? 

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

This whole book was so goddamn boring. But when understanding exactly what the book was about and how it ended, I feel like it’s appropriate that it was. 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

This one is cute and sweet and fit for any teenager to peruse at their leisure. 

Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks 

Another Gender Studies 101 required reading to knock off your list. You won’t regret it. 

(Dis)Honorable Mentions

Jesus Christ, but I hated everything I ever read by these authors. But I still read them. Blurgh.

Stephanie Meyer. She tried, but it all was just so, so bad. I still read each fucking book in the Twilight series, though, so who really won this battle? 

Ayn Rand. Fuck you, Ayn. Nothing further to say, really. 

Cassandra Clare. Her works weren’t actually that bad, but her behavior online soured my grapes until I couldn’t read another page of her Infernal Devices series.

Anne Rice. You made vampires boring to me, Anne. Me, an angsty teenager. And you somehow made vampires boring. Congratulations, I guess. Also, fuck off with your holier than thou shit. Ya make boring books, Anne. 

[thebittahwizard]

Charlie Bartlett (2007)

Random movie recommendation time. In honor of the fact that I just found out Amazon Prime has Charlie Bartlett in it’s movie collection, I’m here to tell literally everyone—hi hyperbole, how are ya?—on the internet to go watch it. Starring the late and great Anton Yelchin, Charlie Bartlett is a teen/high school dramedy that actually made me sit down and listen. Sure, it doesn’t get everything right—take your meds responsibly, cadets. But fuck, it sure doesn’t get everything wrong. This movie embodies some of the cringiest teenage cliches, like apathy, popularity, etc., but in those cliches we get some outstanding performances from Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Kat Dennings, and Hope Davis. The plot’s a little thin & sometimes contrived, but the tongue-in-cheek dialogue and high-class acting more than makes up for it. There are some skilled af people behind this production, and more often than not, nobody I know has even heard of it. So go out and watch it—you won’t regret it.

Also, did I mention it has RDJ in it?

[thebittahwizard]

Us (2019)

Over the weekend I went to see Jordan Peele’s Us, so I thought I’d jot down some of my thoughts. So here we are again with my Random Movie Recommendation.

Us...

was unlike ANY horror film I’ve ever seen.

had a plot that was elaborate and a bit outlandish, but all of the best stories usually do.

didn’t have shitty jump scares for the sake of jump scares. Every chilling scene had a purpose, and in doing so, made the film all the more terrifying.

reinforced how fucking handsome I think Winston Duke is. The man is fine.

had a musical score that astounded me. It was creepy in its jovial tone and matched each scene’s mood and each character’s movements perfectly.

delivered the greatest horror performance I’ve ever seen. Forget Anthony Hopkins (ok, maybe don’t do that, Hannibal was a great character), but let’s talk about Lupita Nyong’o—her movements were fucking creepy, the voices she developed were haunting, and her timing was always keeping the story moving. She killed it—pun intended—and I was pleasantly surprised that my reservations about her as a horror lead were shot down hard. I’ve never been so happy to be dead wrong—look at that, another fucking pun!

included images, colors, and subtle effects that made it more than just some gory scary movie—it made it art.

had a few plot holes and left a few questions unanswered, but it made the experience more interesting than irritating.

has made me hyped for Peele’s turn at The Twilight Zone (1958). After Get Out and now Us, I’m convinced that he’s the man to take the baton from Rod Serling.

In conclusion, Us is worth your money, time, and attention—so go out and see it. You won’t be disappointed.