tagged by @zahnie quite a long time ago I think but still good!! thank you zahnie <3 <3 <3
Reading: an enormous quantity of Overwatch fic, and a loop of Elizabeth Lowell and Jayne Ann Krentz romantic suspenses. there's a specific feeling I'm trying to capture and it's proving difficult
Last tv series: we're watching the One Piece live action with our weekend group, which has been fun. in my own time I recently rewatched the first few seasons of The Mentalist, which I always love. I lose interest a little in the middle-late seasons as the overarching plot takes up more space, but the more episodic bits are fantastic. wonderful characters and dialogue
Last movie: The Three Musketeers (2011). not to be confused with my usual rewatch, The Three Musketeers (1993). the 2011 movie is much louder and more exciting and also notably much worse lol. I like it
Last song: "JRJRJR" by Jane Remover. I've been listening to the whole Revengeseekerz album monthly-ish since I stumbled across it in the fall and I think I get more into it every time. hella good in headphones
Coffee or tea: tea! the neighbor who filled the community plot next to mine with every herb he could get his hands on last year did not return this year, but some of his herbs have, so I've been fishing Mystery Mints out of the weed-and-herb tangle for the last couple weeks and adding them to my iced teas and that's been quite nice. chocolate mint continues to be my favorite which is great because it's also the most recognizable. serendipity
Working on: a bunch of work projects, revolving a few fics, playing around with Pathfinder character builds, I did get my community garden plot planted but my landlord unexpectedly cut down my beloved front porch oak so now I have to figure out how to shade my porch containers, and for a few days there I was playing a lot of Forbidden Solitaire! a very fun game, I really enjoyed the meta-narrative, and it takes up exactly the right amount of brainspace for me to work on other projects while playing. I will say, very much not for people who don't like eye trauma
Hi! I just remembered about asking you for music recs years ago and thought I'd do it again because your answers were great last time :D What are you listening to lately? 🎶
hello!! i've been listening to a lot of joan, the beaches, hunter metts, keshi, ali salort, and lily fitts!
The Familiar, a sort of spoilery review, and a thematic look back on the books I read in 2024.
I was expecting a somewhat more tragic ending for The Familiar or perhaps more truthfully something more catastrophic, but I am glad that despite their, or perhaps because of Luzia's particular brand of, selfishness, she and Santangel got a happy for them ending. And while it is a happy and satisfying ending, there are cracks, avenues not taken I wish to burrow in via fanfic. Notably, what if Santángel was a bit more selfish, a little more cowardly, and went with the path of least resistance that Don Víctor offered, diverting towards a path less free but with perhaps equal access to the machinations that allowed their freedom in the first place.
Santángel is also the third nickel in my 'white-haired magical adjunct who can boost or provide magical power to his mistress, and who would die for her' pile of favourite characters alongside Yue and Silas. Which is a nice change of pace from 'magician who derives their powers from a demon' and 'magic-user who has heterochromia/differing eyes' fave character piles, although Santángel doesn't quite escape the 'white-haired magic user' pile.
Anyway it's a excellent book to luxuriate in, with some wiggle room that would make it really fun for fandom to explore. Plus did I mention the main character is Jewish, the grand-daughter of Inquisition converts? The way religion is used in this book is really well done - from the oppressive nature of the Inquisition and the patriarchal nature of Catholicism in general, to the patchwork pieces of Judaism that are Luzia's faith and background. Religion is very much the architecture of this book, which makes it a fitting book to finish 2024 with.
Because somehow, religion (and faith/belief) in books was a theme for my reading in 2024. There was Sin Eater by Megan Campisi, a historical-based fantasy murder mystery taking place in an alternate Tudor England - religion was also very much part of the architecture, showing the limitations of life but also of thought.
Hell Followed With Us, the first of two 'religion explicitly as a death-cult to bring about an apocalypse' books I read in 2024. Very much a religious trauma book, and thus has that religious architecture, but I did kind of wish explored the eco-fascist religion a bit more, as well as the unlearning of religion and that whole process.
I started The Daevabad Trilogy, only getting to read The City of Brass this past year. It's really fun seeing all the Islamic folklore-based books that have come out recently and the different interpretations and takes on the same things like djinn. City of Brass hit a little different because I'd read The Bruising of Qilwa in 2023 - which had a very thought-provoking author's note at the end about the legacy of being colonisers who were then colonised in turn - which kept echoing in my head with the Daeva politics of formerly being kings and tyrants but now reduced to a religious minority seen as having 'too much influence'. I am curious if the series will stick the landing with that sort of political-religious quandary.
I read both of Sisters of the Vast Black and Sisters of the Forsaken Stars. Nuns in space, but the Christianity they belong to is more along the lines of Moffat's Anglican Church in the future - militarised and ready to use propaganda (and epidemic) to quell rebellion. There's a very 'American sci-fi TV-series' aspect to these books which didn't make me adore them, but I do appreciate Lina Rather tackling the whole 'how does religion look like in space/the future' question and doesn't just handwave it into atheism, new religions or the same as on Earth.
The Once and Future Sex by Eleanor Janega, and The Theory of Everything Else by Dan Schreiber. My two non-fiction mentions in this theme. The first is interesting, but most of the content was already covered in The Fires of Lust by Katherine Harvey which I read in 2023 but does root things a bit more in religion given the topic is a bit less theologically taboo. Does go a bit more into where misogyny is based in (depressingly ancient and not Christianity's fault) and how, just like Pagan festivals, Christianity adopted a bunch of old misogynistic lies and wrote theology to support their arguments to perpetuate those same lies. And then just continued building on that theology. The second is essentially a collection of weird coincidences and weird beliefs famous people had/have. It's fun in the way such 000-100 Dewey books are, a nice selection of facts that also look at why and how humans believe in things. It ends with a nice plea to be a bit weirder in your beliefs, that not everything has to be rational, but don't go completely cuckoo and become a eugenicist or some other kind of ist that wants to get rid of entire groups of people.
New Camelot Trilogy by Sierra Simone. I read smutty romance for "professional development" aka honing my smut skill and this one was for the ot3. Greer is a bit too Catholic for my liking, as is Ash, but it does lead to the hilarious line that a character isn't a masochist but does like doing things the hard way. Which I mentally rebutted with "but you are a Catholic, which is a bit like being a masochist". The Catholicness doesn't actually pay much of a part aside from characters going to church, notably not being Evangelicals and frankly normal levels of references to sin and such in the sex scenes (at least for such scenes written by an American. There is maybe enough to be considered kinky by a strict atheist.) Finishing the series in December did make me wish we were on the timeline this book presents with a black woman as president of the United States (with an openly bisexual prior president) though.
Demon Daughter & Penric and the Bandit. Lois McMaster Bujold's Five Gods world is perhaps my favourite fantasy religion because she makes it permeate the world so well and keeps the theology consistent (at least with Pen & Des). Demon Daughter was just very cute and setting a lot of foundations for future generations of sorcerers in the world, while Bandit was more openly theological, exploring how and why people end up as thieves and how you might get them out of such work. It is rather nice to see Penric's practical theology in practice.
The Truth of the Aleke by Moses Ose Utomi. From the sounds of things, this is a bit of an awkward second book leading to the third, but it does build upon the first book, The Lies of the Ajungo, and rattles you real good about history and the victors. Another novella that has an enlightening author's note that shouldn't be skipped. More about belief than religion per se, but damn, that author's note makes a compelling argument.
Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton. The second of the 'religion explicitly as a death-cult to bring about an apocalypse' books I read, but this time it's vampires. Really interesting first half, but loses its momentum and narrative flair in the second half.
Anniebot by Sierra Greer. Not a particularly novel AI android story with flavourings of Chobits/Kobato, the comfort bot in Artifical Condition, the song and music video for 'Remains' by Marissa Tanchroen & Jed Whedon, and the themes of 'labour' by Paris Paloma. Aka its very much a story about emotional, controlling abuse in heterosexual relationships and the dehumanizing misogyny of the labour of stay at home women in heterosexual relationships. Rather a timely read with the whole trad wife resurgence but merits a mention as having religious themes for the moment Annie pleas to an invisible, intangible owner (and isn't Doug, her owner) that her mission will succeed. Which struck me as Annie accidentally finding religion but sadly that thread never makes another appearance.
The War of the Poor by Eric Vuillard. Fictionalised non-fiction about Thomas Müntzer, a leader in the German Peasants' War and early Protestant preacher/theologian. Another timely read, as it lays out in rather blunt language why and how Protestantism spurred several civil uprisings against the rich (aka the mismatch between what the Bible and Jesus says about wealth and what was actually going on) including murdering political figures. I'd almost like Müntzer too, if he didn't think suffering was essential to faith. This book did rather make me sad that Evangelical Christianity is so far divorced from the Bible that we can't have a second wave Protestant movement today, as 1. they don't have a core text that preaches against the vice of wealth and 2. if they did, it would very much promise that wealth is a sign of godliness and faith, so 3. billionaires aren't able to get hot under the collar from hellfire preachers.
Honorable mentions go to: The Salt Grows Heavy, full of beautiful purple prose and also about a cult. Mammoths at the Gates, less about faith and more about grief but is about monks and monastic duty. The Curse of Saints, a saint-based religion & magic system like The Grisha-verse and Wicked Saints, but the main character felt more religiously faithful, complete with a crisis of faith over her past actions, than Nadya (no idea about Alina, given I haven't read that series). The Expert System's Brother, more about belief and tradition but like the Truth of the Aleke, a big sci-fi take on truth and history. The Last Murder at the End of the World, again more about truth and belief than religion per se, but definitely also a peri-apocalyptic story about wealth and the self-induced end of humanity.
Honorable mentions that don't really have anything to do with religion, but are about colonisation: The Wicked and the Willing, 1920s lesbians in Singapore with vampires. Your pick of how tragic you want the ending to be too, with multiple endings available. Always Italicise by Alice Te Punga Somerville, which I've reblogged the titular poem from previously. A somewhat niche collection, more impactful if you do live in Aotearoa or have that connection to being the colonised people.
Honorable mention because it also makes me want to write fic: He Who Drowned the World, less establishing of the world and more playing with it, which also means more secular with the monastery left behind. But it is where the character relationships develop, with several tying together and as such was a lot of fun. Slightly disappointed there was no mooncakes as a pivotal plot point though. Did end up wanting happier modern day queer polycule fic with four of the characters.
From your WIP list, I'd love to hear more about destiel theatre bitches AU, it sounds so fun!
:')))) firstly, thank you again for tagging me; and second, oh bOY here we go (it's an honor tyty)
so I've got less for this rn but I feel like I'm always kinda chipping at it lately. it's insanely self-indulgent (i did my degrees in theatre and simply think the inner dynamics of a theatre program are so funny), and i could not help but immediately latch onto the idea of Dean as a tech theatre professor who heads the scene shop (aka where they build sets and do all that jazz) (a job that in this AU, Bobby used to do, before taking a step back and (almost) retiring). (he probably also loves to act a lil <3)
figuring out where Castiel went was a little trickier, but then it occurred to me to try him on as like -- a directing (and likely also theatre history?) professor. someone who's downright good at taking charge of a situation, knows and cares about the Lore, and he absolutely would have the most batshit taste in plays. time to get these crazy Kansas kids to do some absurdism. he's new to the department (a recommendation from dear friend Meg, an acting professor) and is gonna be a shitstarter <333
from my immensely unhelpful notes doc:
The premise is just gonna be like - a really fucking chaotic school year. I just love mess. Dean and Cas are gonna get put in charge of shit together and it’s gonna be a mess, they’re gonna be best friends and fall in love and be SO STUPID ABOUT IT. agonizing. clown town usa.
in a more concise way: i imagined that they get paired up to work on their first production of the season together and it's just. a madhouse. naturally bc they're them, they end up getting on like a house on fire while also playing in the space of we both kinda need to have control that's p familiar to their dynamic. lots of push and pull. shenanigans, even. best friends but Watch Out. teacher4teacher AU with sexual tension to the nth degree.
so many of the supporting characters get to round out the faculty and staff (Charlie in particular here is a favorite, as one of Dean's tech theatre compatriots) (along with Sam who starts on the outside but is a fervent supporter), and even the students. Jack, Claire, and Kevin, among a few others are definitely witnesses to this chaos. yes they are taking bets on it
also Chuck is the dean (lol) of their little corner of school, and his whole secret life as Carver Edlund will definitely have a role to play in this somewhere that I am trying to finalize.
also writing this out really helped encourage the process, thank you ahhhhhh <3
tagged by @zahnie: thank you! I really haven’t been on Tumblr that much lately, it’s nice to get back on here again.
rules: tag 8 people you’d like to get to know better
favourite colour: pink! I also love yellow.
last song I listened to: Never Enough, from The Greatest Showman soundtrack.
favourite musician: I don’t think I have one! My taste in music is wide and varied.
last film I watched: Enola Holmes, I think. I tend to watch TV shows more than movies.
last tv show I watched: Friends! I’d only seen scattered episodes on flights before, so now it’s back on Netflix I’m watching through the whole series.
favourite character: I don’t think I have one! I like so many characters, and my favourite changes all the time. I think one of my most consistent favourites, though, has been Dr John Watson, from the original Sherlock Holmes canon.
sweet, spicy or savoury: Probably sweet.
sparkling water, tea or coffee: Tea. Coffee smells terrible and sparkling water tastes strange!
pets: I don’t have any, and at the moment, not sure I want one. I’m not a huge fan of animals.
tagging: @whatdoyoumeanitsnotawesome, @modeans3, @vultania, @tealpeach, @atlantis-is-burning, and anyone else who would like to do it!
1) Recommend a fic that lives in your brain rent free: 'The Reboot Series' by seperis. I have an immense love for Vulcans, and for Kirks who also love Vulcans, and this series is a special treat for me. There are four fics in the series--the first two are about Kirk and Spock's relationship (including one of my favorite 2009 Alternate Trek tropes: Jim Kirk dealing with fallout from a mind-meld with TOS' Spock) and then the third, "War Games", is about the potential Romulan War. It has an exciting medias res intro, a delightful Vulcan OC (a handful of them, actually, but I could not love T'Prina more if she were my own child), a fun fake-pirate subplot, even more about Kirk and Spock's relationship & mindbond, telepathy, the socio-political consequences of the loss of the Vulcan homeworld, and yes indeed the Romulan War. Everything my greedy heart could ever desire.
6) Recommend a fic that does something cool with format or structure: My first thought was "IRIS Log #1548" by deadchannelradio, but I've recommended it here many times before, so then I thought instead of "superspotting!" by merils (summary: "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's… Supernova, trying to process some issues, as seen through the eyes of Metropolitan social media?") Superspotting has very cool formatting, a combination of several different logs and articles and social media types, but it's not really accessible to anybody unfamiliar with Superboy & Young Justice. So we'll add on "you follow?" by shortcrust, which is a Witcher modern AU presented as tweets, and absolutely hilarious.
11) Recommend a fic you think is a hidden gem/deserves more reads: "The Accidental Threesome (Or, Five Times Duke Might've Date-Crashed, and One Time the Date Crashed Him)" by Jadzibelle. This is a Haven fic, but it's also an incredible get-together story. How did Duke end up dating Audrey and Nate? He does not know. For such a funny fic, it's also very tender and heart-achey. If you haven't seen the show, the only thing you really need to know is that (due to supernatural nonsense) Nate has no sense of touch unless it's Audrey touching him. If you have seen the show, you'll get a little extra depth from the history between the characters, but honestly the emotions carry their own weight throughout, and anyone who likes the angst-fluff of a character pining unnecessarily should enjoy the story.
13) Recommend a fic you've re-read multiple times: truth be told, I reread nearly every fic I like multiple times, so this could go a million ways--but I'm a little bit inspired by the Reboot Series still, so we'll go with "Shadowlord and Pirate King" by Footloose and mushroomtale. A BBC Merlin space-fantasy AU (Merlin is the Shadowlord and Arthur becomes Pirate King) and in the way of Merlin AUs, some familiarity with either the BBC show or Arthuriana as a whole will help you keep track of all the characters (especially the several whose names begin with G) but otherwise you don't really need anything coming into the fic. It's got an entirely novel setting, with worldbuilding I adore, fantastic voices for the pirates, and excellent action sequences. And bonus materials!
