#stuff i read

[thewholelemon]

Thinking back on this bullshit year

Don’t call it a wrap up (because that’s too much pressure). I should do these every quarter; an entire year is too much to try to remember. But, I'm going to try to keep it simple: just some stuff that was meaningful to me this year.

Thank you for the tags on books and movies/shows, @run-for-chamo-miles!

Stuff I Watched: Sketch, which was a great exploration of why it's healthy to like horror and sadness; Heated Rivalry, because of course; and I honestly don't remember if I watched anything else but kids' movies. My mind is a sieve.

Stuff I Read: Natasha Pulley, with greatest honors going to The Mars House, the Watchmaker of Filigree Street and Pepperharrow (which gets a place of honor for making me go into the pantry to sob hysterically at the end), and the Kingdoms; Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell (I put off reading it but I loved it); Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland.

Stuff I Wrote: When That Light Hits the Sky, which has one chapter to go but has been deeply meaningful for me to work on since it grapples with depression in a way that has been cathartic for me to write (even if it does mean it's difficult for me to write, too); Soap Operetta, which was so much fun to write and made me laugh so many times; Six of One, which was fun because I got to share with you and you guys got really into it; and my first/only(?) fandom hop with an explicit Mars House fic. I'm really proud of all of these things!

Stuff I Did: Went back to therapy (this has been really big); hung out with fandom friends; got back into journaling and filled up three notebooks in five months; beta'ed some really, really good stuff. I tried to work less, and only semi-succeeded. Got really depressed, got un-depressed. Got really anxious, got less anxious. Went to the beach, went to the woods, went camping. Saw some great shows: Brahms x Radiohead, Rilo Kiley, Hot Water Music. Went to some protests, donated some money.

What. A. Year. In many ways, it feels like we've been put through the wringer, but I've also had such incredible moments of connection and closeness that have meant the world to me. 2026, keep bringing us together in community and solidarity. Please do right by us.

And now I'm going to tag people, but if you see this, feel tagged to say goodbye to 2025 however you like:

@alexalexinii @aristocratic-otter @artsyunderstudy @bachusekart @best--dress

@blackberrysummers @bookish-bogwitch @bookishbroadwayandblind @brilla-brilla-estrellita @confusedbiqueer

@cutestkilla @dohrnaira @drowninginships @emeryhall @facewithoutheart

@fiend-for-culture @iamamythologicalcreature @ileadacharmedlife @ivelovedhimthroughworse @j-trow-95

@hushed-chorus @katatsumuli @larkral @larkthorne @leithillustration

@letraspal @martsonmars @monbons @mooncello @nausikaaa 

@noblecorgi @onepintobean @orange-peony @pato-roldnart @palimpsessed 

@papierhaikuphoto @prettygoododds @raeny-day @rimeswithpurple  @probablily 

@shrekgogurt @skeedelvee @talentpiper11  @the-beard-of-edward-teach 

@theimpossibledemon @valeffelees @whatevertheweather @youarenevertooold @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

[monstersinthecosmos]

I'm so happy when reading trackers consider rereads because what if I just say I read 100 books but it's because I reread AFTG once a month. 😎

anyway I had kind of a weird reading year! I usually try to read 50 books but I had a few months where reading was really tough so I decided to try 30 in 2025! But I'm gonna aim for 50 again in 2026!!!!!!! I've already read 3 books and it's only been 5 days so I feel really confident. 🤣

[supervillainarchaeologist]

Earlier this week I read Beren and Lúthien properly for the first time (I've been aware of how it goes for years) and first of all, Huan...10/10 good dog. The bestest boy.

BUT I'm kinda obsessed with how much I've absorbed via fanon about Thuringwethil Vs how little is actually written about her and the fact she's this enigma who can be anything you want really.

Because of fan art I do find it hard not to see her as a pretty slight Gothic lady with bat wings BUT, she could be something horrific! I mean, she can (presumably) change shape if she's one of the Maiar anyway but still, just let your imagination run wild!

Also...was she skinned alive? Or at least her physical form killed first THEN skinned. Idk it seems implicit that her bat-wing cloak was seized via the means of skinning.

Does she have the opportunity retake physical form/go back to Middle Earth but says "fuck that shit" while saluting Sauron with the middle finger? I mean, I'd not be in a hurry to take another form if my wings got clipped and my dumbass line manager got humiliated by a big dog.

Anyway...

[alatariel-gildaen]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/3 Fandom: Squid Game (TV 2021) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Hwang Inho | Front Man/Seong Gihun, Hwang Inho | Front Man & Seong Gihun Characters: Hwang Inho | Front Man (Squid Game), Seong Gihun, Hwang Junho (Squid Game), Oh Ilnam, Jang Deoksu, Cho Sangwoo, Hwang Inho | Front Man's Father (Squid Game), Hwang Inho | Front Man's Stepmother Additional Tags: Teacher-Student Relationship, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Toxic Hwang Inho | Front Man (Squid Game), Possessive Hwang Inho | Front Man (Squid Game), Jealous Hwang Inho | Front Man (Squid Game), Hwang Inho | Front Man is Obsessed with Seong Gihun, Pathetic Hwang Inho | Front Man (Squid Game), POV Hwang Inho | Front Man (Squid Game), DILF Seong Gihun, Bisexual Seong Gihun, Bisexual Hwang Inho | Front Man (Squid Game), Alternate Universe - College/University, Past Cho Sangwoo/Seong Gihun, Minor Cho Sangwoo/Seong Gihun, Mentioned Hwang Inho | Front Man's Wife (Squid Game), Eventual Smut, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Interpretation of a Happy Ending, Betaed, Stalker Hwang Inho, lowkey lol, they match freaks Summary:

23-year-old Hwang In-ho is going to college to pursue his Criminal Justice major to eventually become a police officer. To fill out his schedule, he enrolls in a class he thinks will be an easy A - Sociology 201: Societal Inequality with Professor Seong Gi-hun.

After first impressions of the 40-year-old man, In-ho was less than thrilled for the rest of the semester. Despite the man's open and friendly demeanor, In-ho could tell there was more about the older man than what met the eye, and, before he knew it, In-ho found himself wanting to know more and more about his mysterious professor.

What was supposed to be his easiest class quickly occupied his full attention.

OMG - folks if you do nothing else today PLEASE read this fic, it is seriously just perfect, my jaw is on the floor.Phenomenal.

[rainyfestivalsweets]

Read this book

I had a whole post written, and apparently deleted it ugg.

[cyandocs]

Just finished reading Neuromancer (the first book, not the whole trilogy yet)- Really interesting read, and you can definitely see the roots of Cyberpunk in it. It seems cliche in its jargon and heady noire-ness, but then you have to remember that it made the cliche. That being said I think it was quite inspired by Taxi Driver, which came out like ten years before it. It literally coined the term Matrix though. And is referenced liberally in the movies (without being an adaptation- instead The Matrix feels like a possible future for the world of Neuromancer)

The expanse of the tech is a little goofy- the main character is being seedy at one point due to carrying whole megabytes of RAM. But that's dated sci-fi for you! Also the lingo is a liiiiittle old. The term "Biz" is thrown around a lot and it sounds like an old cop trying to keep it fresh with the kiddos.

It can be a little overwhelming with jargon at times, and scenes can seem a little confusing, but context sort of fills itself in around you. It's pretty great at conveying the blurry sense of panic and anxiety in the main character in one scene, and then his hyper focus in others. The story, to me, doesn't pick up until they've effectively Gotten The Gang Together which is a good chunk into the book, but it gets really interesting afterward. It reads like a heist movie, which it effectively is.

Also I think there are whispers of a mini series coming out, but there always are so I guess we'll see. I'd recommend it!

[vividxp]

Why Movements Fail

Horizontalism and its discontents

“Bevins has an idea. As both Mayaro Vivian (a leader in MPL) and Fernando Haddad (the once-mayor of São Paulo) both said to Bevins, "there is no such thing as a political vacuum" (263). Organized, violent right-wing forces—comfortable with hierarchy and violence—were willing and able to seize power. Meanwhile left-wing movements and leaders, consumed by horizontalist ideology, were unwilling to take power even when it was offered to them. The tactic of protest—>spectacle—>protest succeeded at mobilizing mass numbers of people, and it succeeded at creating the space for change. But it did not succeed at grasping the moment it had created. In one bizarre but illustrative example, the Brazilian protests became defined by the "Five Cause," issued by the hacker collective Anonymous (139). Except the "hacker collective" in question was just a guy who bought a Guy Fawkes mask, and the causes were just a grab-bag of different ideas he'd found on Facebook (146). Bevins quotes Marx's famous aphorism: "Those who cannot represent themselves will be represented" (143). Meaning can and will be imposed on mass protests no matter how chaotic and contradictory and leaderless they are.”