#this is my mirror image manifesto.

[theloopus]

I finally watched mirror image a few minutes ago and I do not know what to say. Your sam in drag video got me to start watching QL a few months ago and by accident I'd also seen it mentioned that Sam never got home while looking up the show, but I didn't care at the time since I didn't know what that even meant. I got through 3 seasons in a month and then a started to slow down because I realized I was running out of episodes, so I slowly got through the fourth season. One I got to the fifth, I had to take a long break. I knew that the episode quality would decline since id seen you mention on Twitter once that you don't even consider them canon, but I was not expecting how difficult it would be to get though. I could only watch ten minutes of each trilogy episode a day, it was unbearable. But I bet you don't really care about all of this so let me get to the point. I had to pause the screen where it said Sam never got home. I don’t know how to feel and I'm so confused. I've looked through the episode wiki and the imdb episode trivia and I still want to know more. Whenever you mentioned stuff about Mirror image on here or on Twitter I always scrolled past it quickly to avoid spoilers, but now I can barely find anything regarding it, so I was wondering if I could hear your thoughts on the episode. Was the bartender God? Did you like Sam's choice to sacrifice his returning home for Al's happiness? Just, what are your thoughts on it? Thank you for introducing me to this wonderful show and these wonderful characters ❤

omg this is so much. i'm gonna put these under a read more because "what are your thoughts on Mirror Image" is a LOADED question with a controversial answer. i am so incredibly normal about Quantum Leap.

first of all i love that "binging the first three seasons like a starving lunatic then slowing down with the fourth because you realize you're gonna run out of episodes and then season 5 is just so bad on top of that you take ages to finish it" is such a universal experience. it truly is just a rough season to get through. which is a shame! and trilogy.... oh trilogy............. what the fuck was that.............

anyway, mirror image is an episode that makes me kind of insane. the thing is that. i don't know how to put this exactly. mirror image is complicated. in my eyes it's

a really, really good and interesting episode

not a at all a satisfying wrap-up for the show

really not a good series finale for the type of show they were trying to make at the time they were making it as tv functioned back then

a perfect finale for the quantum leap that exists in my mind that i've built from the subtext and character beats and unintentional lore/themes/motifs

because quantum leap the tv show from the 80s is a politically liberal, episodic science fiction adventure tv show from the 80s/90s, and the way these sort of tv shows works, there is an unspoken pact with the audience that they should have satisfying, relatively happy endings. romcoms should end with the leads getting together. superhero movies should end with the good guy defeating the bad guy. detective shows should end with the detective catching the criminal. and a tv show in which every episode ends with the good guy succeeding to put right what once went wrong, solving the conflict, and giving everyone a happy ending, should end with the good guy getting a happy ending himself.

but the quantum leap that exists in my mind and i've built from the subtext and character beats and unintentional lore, themes, and motifs is a Tragedy. it's a story about martyrdom, and saints, and sacrifice, and blind faith, and God, and trauma, and being stuck in the past because of that trauma.

Tragedy, as a genre, is characterized by this: the main character is doomed by the narrative from the beginning because of who they are inherently. whereas in another narrative their traits might've been assets, might've helped them succeed, in this narrative, it's what dooms them (ex. Hamlet's indecisiveness vs Juliet's impulsiveness). and, god, i ADORE Sam Beckett as a tragic hero: his defining characteristic is that he's "terminally good—if it was up to you, you'd save everyone!", and i'm obsessed with the use of "terminal" here, because it is that relentless goodness that ends up dooming him. Sam is Jesus, he's Saint Sebastian, he's Joan of Arc. God chose him to be sent on this divine journey, to help people, to save people from their own fates, to save humanity—at the cost of his own humanity, his own life. at the beginning, he says: "i can't have a life, all i do is live someone else's life!" and in Mirror Image he's still clinging to the hope of going home, at first, because he really does want to go home, more than anything. but then his arc is completed when he realizes it: he's never going home. this kind of journey doesn't have an ending. there are always more people to save. you might be able to take the weekends off, but you can't just quit the job of being God's chosen one. and in the end, he was never going to, because the reason why he was chosen is that he's terminally good. that if it was up to him, he'd save everyone. quitting would mean God knows how many people that needed saving won't be saved, and if everything we've been told about Sam is true, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. so he accepts his Celestial role, leaves Al behind with a parting gift, and disappears into the sands of time the way the Little Mermaid throws herself into the ocean and dissolves into seafoam.

the fascinating thing about Sam, actually, is that this terminal goodness perfectly coexists with the fact that he's also very selfish. in this way, Al is his perfect mirror: in his own words, Al looks out only for himself; he would not go out of his way to help a stranger at the cost of his own life because he's fought fucking hard and sacrificed too much for that life—and yet that's exactly what he's doing by helping Sam, by being the Sancho and Dulcinea to his Don Quixote, putting his own life aside to be there for Sam 24/7. because he loves him. romantically or platonically, however you choose to read their relationship, it's undeniable that Al loves Sam to a devotional degree. meanwhile Sam is riddled with guilt over not being there for his dad when he died, over "abandoning" him to pursue his own studies and interests—and then he proceeds to do exactly that to Al by stepping into the Accelerator, and then fucking again by doing what he does in Mirror Image.

i have so many frankly insane thoughts about what Sam does to Al in Mirror Image (hilarious unintentional wording sorry. unfortunately he does not fuck that old man quite the opposite.) and i am very much channeling them into a long, rambling, experimental post-canon fic, thank you very much. but the gist of it is that like... ok, taking your own words, it's very interesting that you said Sam is "sacrificing his returning home for Al's happiness", because that's not quite the way i see it. Sam was never going to return home. what he's doing for Al is, at least in his mind, setting him free and leaving him a parting gift.

ok so: Sam learns that his journey does not have an end, and he will never go home. throughout this entire journey thus far, Al has been his loyal companion, helper, and guardian angel. "i don't know if i can make it without you Al" "i don't wanna hear that you can't make it! of course you can. if you had to." but Al is just that, a companion (one that is 20 years older than Sam, worth mentioning)—someone who Sam unintentionally burdened with the role of helper. but where Sam is going, Al can't follow. he just can't keep following Sam around forever—Sam wouldn't want that for him. he wants Al to be happy, and for Al to be happy, he needs his own life back, and he needs the main wrong in his life righted—Beth.

...that's how Sam sees it, at least. because, as mentioned before, Sam may be good, but he's also selfish. it's very ironic, and juicy, to me, that he keeps repeating the same mistake over and over, with everyone he loves the most (his family and Al): consistently underestimating how much people love him, and leaving without saying goodbye. he's so obsessed with Saving Al that he fails to consider that maybe Al, who has a very specific and strong trauma about being abandoned by the people he loves the most, as much as he might be thrilled at having Beth back, might not appreciate 1. Sam not consulting him in the decision to completely turn his whole life and timeline upside down 2. Sam disappearing without a trace without saying goodbye or offering him any sort of closure in their very intense, very codependent relationship 3. having to sort of like... pay the price for having Beth by losing Sam, as if these two people, the two people he's loved the most in his entire life, were interchangeable.

and, to be fair, this part of the analysis does seem like a bit of a stretch if you've only seen the canonical ending of the show as it aired and not the original 'lost' ending that they ended up cutting for Reasons, but which i absolutely consider to be canon and the "real" ending of the show.

god, okay, i probably could have many more things to say about this if prompted, but that should be the gist of it, i believe. hopefully i'm not forgetting anything? did you know there's actually multiple alternate endings they wrote for different real-life scenarios Just In Case, including one where Sam and Al would go to space and Al would be a leaper and Sam would be a time traveler in his own body if they got picked up for a sixth season? i'm obsessed with it.

as for Al the Bartender? my fun little theory is that he's not God, or Time, or Fate, or an alien, or any of those things—in a way, in-universe, he's all of them at once.

he's The Narrative personified.

#txt #quantum leap #queap #UHH AHA. THIS IS LIKE. OVER 1K WORDS? #if youve ever been curious about me being a mirror image apologist. um. this is it. #this is my mirror image manifesto. #you guys ever think about television? #EDIT ALSO IM GLAD YOU LIKED THE SHOW ITS SO SO SO SPECIAL TO ME

[perfectlyripeclementine]

a lover's manifesto.

i've been wanting to put together some sort of list of core values to guide my practice of polyamory. here's what i've come up with.

Love is always transformative. It is every lover’s responsibility to ensure the transformation is good.

The quality of love is not measured by its longevity but by the pleasure it yields, the care with which it is practiced, and the change that results from it.

There is no moral value to speed or intensity in love. When it is the kind that is fast and boiling, lovers are responsible for not letting it consume them. When it is the kind that is slow and simmering, lovers are responsible to not become complacent. All love requires practices of independence and individuality.

All love is sure to end. This does not mean we need to live in scarcity. There is no way to practice love, or to avoid it, that will prevent heartbreak. 

Interdependence is the antidote to codependence. Codependence is interdependence practiced outside of community. Love is sustainable when it is woven into a broader network of care. 

Just because someone does not know how, or is not capable of loving well does not mean the love is not real. But we are responsible for discerning good love from bad love, and we are under no obligation to accept or reciprocate love that harms us. In fact, rejecting love that is damaging is one way to keep our lover accountable to their behavior — and to support them in becoming better lovers.

Romantic bonds are not inherently more valuable than platonic bonds. The enforcement of social norms that place romance at the centre of our lives are a part of social structure of patriarchy. It takes active effort to build and maintain the kind of community that supports sustainable romance. 

Radical change and healing requires time, practice, and adaptability. 

Fear is the mirror image of desire. We can push through fear by finding the desire that underpins it. We can quell the overwhelming rush of desire by heeding the risks shown us by fear. Jealousy is a form of fear.

#queer love #sapphic love #polyamory

[chamerionwrites]

As a small-time Stellan Skarsgard's Acting enjoyer and big-time Morally Compromised Old Man enjoyer I was inevitably going to fall down a Luthen Rael rabbit hole at least once so forgive me for being fully on my bullshit. But I can't explain my read on this guy without talking about That Speech, and I can't talk about that speech without dumping a bunch of thoughts about dialogue.

Because in my own writing the thing I get most obsessive about is character voice, and the thing about character voice is that not everyone is a poet. Sometimes the craft of writing is about euphony pure and simple. But sometimes (revealing my biases) I think the craft of writing is being able to ask yourself - sure it's good, but is it true? Can you find the poetry in the everyday? Can you express something sharp and compelling and resonant and stay faithful to the perspective of a character who isn't consciously honing their words in that way? All fictional dialogue is constructed. But there does come a point on the spectrum of naturalistic to constructed dialogue - it's partly a matter of taste - where you see more of the writer patting themselves on the back for writing a banger of a line than you see of the character, and personally I often find this off-putting.

Which doesn't mean you never get to let the poetry off the leash (God, that would be joyless). It just means there's a time and a place.

Andor's writers are dropping a lot of bangers and they absolutely know it but largely it works for me, because they're smart about the time and place. Cassian gets to be a guy who's resourceful with his words when the chips are down - that's a big part of his characterization. Maarva and Nemik get to break out the poetry when giving a speech or writing a political manifesto; those words are crafted in-universe as well as out. And Luthen - a performer, a salesman, a man with constructed identities - he gets to use a lot of constructed speech even when he isn't in full-throttle soliloquy mode. I've said before that a lot of stories about espionage are also stories about storytelling: people who create characters, fictions, who tell lies in an attempt to get at truths. In this story Luthen is that guy. Wouldn't you rather give it all at once to something real than carve off useless pieces till there's nothing left - it doesn't matter how constructed that sounds if it's a sales pitch he's rehearsed. It doesn't matter if you see a little bit of the author or the actor peek through when he says things like I know the outside; I imagine the rest, because it functions as characterization when in some sense he is both those things.

All of which is to say That Speech works for me because it tells you something about Luthen beyond the face value of what he says. It tells you this is something he's THOUGHT about, at length. If he hasn't delivered those lines to a mirror, he has absolutely worked through some version of them in his head more than once. And that tells you something just slightly to the left of who Luthen objectively is - it tells you how he constructs and sees himself. I fully believe that Luthen believes what he's saying there.

I also fully believe that this is a man who self-admittedly has an ego and a desire for recognition, who says he's given that up but evidently hasn't let go of some measure of resentment about it. That here's a guy who put on a billowing black cloak, pulled out all the spy theatrics for the express purpose of unsettling his informant, and then gave his best space King Lear audition. That here's a guy with a soliloquy about his sacrifices locked and loaded. On some level Luthen is a little bit into being a martyr for the cause. He's a little bit into the dark glamor of being a lone wolf operator pulling morally tarnished strings. He's a little bit into frightening and manipulating his informant! For all the cynicism of what he's saying, he's a little bit enamored with his own self-image as the sort of man who says it, in a way that suggests an inner romantic more than an inner pragmatist. He says he's damned for what he does but there's more furious pride underlying it than self-loathing; in the same breath he's admitting that a tiny piece of him wants a parade.

Which is fascinating and a little unflattering and way more interesting than just a badass character delivering a badass monologue. The characterization here is partly that Luthen is the kind of guy who monologues.

And to give him his due - I also fully believe that he's a very driven and committed man who has sacrificed a lot. Seen in that light, in fact, I think some of his character flaws come into focus in highly sympathetic ways. Ultimately this is a guy with a deep sense of urgency - "terrified the Empire's power will grow beyond the point where we can do anything to stop it," as he says. And sometimes there can be a lot of ego in urgency. It is a special kind of crazy-making to feel you are taking a problem far more seriously than almost everyone around you. It is a weight of responsibility to believe it's on you to fix that problem before it becomes too big to solve. Under those circumstances it's very understandable that Luthen has big responsible student leading the group project energy and a touch of main character syndrome (which is interesting and sort funny, contrasted with Cassian spending much of the story desperately trying to avoid becoming a main character). It takes a certain kind of drive and audacity-verging-on-arrogance to accomplish what Luthen has accomplished. But character flaws are often the flip side of character strengths, and I think a lot of his are tied up here. Sometimes he's a little enamored with his own isolation (he could choose to be more open with fellow rebel leaders like Saw imo). Sometimes he's awfully comfortable instrumentalizing others while insulating himself. He says Imperial arrogance is remarkable, but sometimes he's blind in similar ways - Luthen is almost as surprised as the Imperials by the funeral riot in the final episode. He's spent so much time stage-managing his would-be rebellion from Coruscant that an organic uprising startles him. In his self-appointed position as the lonely string-puller at the top, he maybe has a bit too much fondness for control and not quite enough regard for community (imo it's also kind of telling that there are no actual Aldhanis involved in the heist on Aldhani). As Clem says - sometimes people don't look down the way they should.

All of which are very interesting and human flaws for him to have! And which I do think the show subtly gestures at in the sort of contemplative way he reacts to that riot, and which I'd love to see come into focus more in S2.

#at one point I said luthen is one of the only people in this story who both knows and likes that he's in a genre film #cassian may be doomed by the narrative but luthen is AWARE of the narrative #he soliloquizes! he prophesies! (he may or may not have a line to the force?) #and he has enough chutzpah to decide that if he can't be the narrative's lead actor he'll settle for being its author #what a guy. i wanna put him under a microscope and study him. #luthen rael #andor #star wars #my posts #anyway it took me ages to solidify my read on this dude bc he's written kind of deliberately opaque #but this is where i'm planting my flag. he is a self-appointed amateur general with a general's ego #who (correctly and admirably) takes the empire deadly seriously #and (somewhat less admirably) has a deeply stressed highly understandable but kinda self-important group project manager complex about it #solidarity community grassroots bottom-up organizing etc etc

[schooloftuneage]

Lesson 2: We're All Punk Here

CLASS IS IN SESSION.

This is my third time typing this damn lesson, so you'll excuse me if I'm a little short.

The image above was just filler for a `zine, but it became emblematic of a movement. The three chords and the truth vibe, the go out and do something call to action. This is a fifteen word manifesto, and it helped to codify what it meant to be a punk. The subculture has deep roots - ridiculously deep - but unlike some, it at least has a pretty clear lineage. Let's delve in.

If this glorious bastard looks familiar, it's because his guitar is my icon. Woody Guthrie was a protest singer back in the day, and in this berk's opinion, the great-great-granddaddy of the punk movement. Let's give it a look.

-Did shit? Yes, he would go from farm to farm trying to get the migrant workers to unionize.

-Stripped down instrumentation? Can't get any simpler than one man and his guitar.

-Sang in support of the common man, damning the powers what be? Just listen to the lyrics. Or the words on his guitar - THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS.

Folk was integral to the creation of punk - folk singer Dave Van Ronk famously joined in at Stonewall, not because he knew what was going on or was queer, but because he saw people fighting cops and thought yeah, rock on, let's do this. It was joined by the cynicism of the beat movement. The surrealism of Burroughs, and (unfortunately) the pretentious prose experiments of Kerouac helped to grease the wheels for what was to come. And from here, we have a very clear lineage, particularly in the UK punk scene. From folk and the beats, we got the MODS.

Short for Modernists, not Moderates, the mods were jazz-loving bastards that were known for taking amphetamines and dancing all night, driving around in souped up Vespas with entirely too many mirrors, getting into fights with rockers, and generally being the glorious asshole follow-ups to the beats. The thing is, they also got popular. Real fuckin' popular. And this created a problem. By the mid sixties, the mods had split in two. The larger part of the mods went mainstream, becoming what the others decried as "soft mods" or "peacock mods", while the remainder became "hard mods". These sods were working class folk, blue collar and unpretentious and kickass, and they found kindred spirits in the Jamaican Rude Boy subculture... and a music they called ska.

And from these "hard mods", we got... skinheads.

Yeah, skinheads. And before you say it, no, these weren't the racist neo-nazi fucks that we delight in introducing to the business end of a pipe wrench. That division came much later. These skinheads were basically just proto-punks, enraged at the world, but embracing music that spoke of unity and togetherness.

The fuel for the glorious, angry bonfire that was punk was there in the seventies, but it needed a spark. While 76 was widely considered Year Zero for the punk movement, it was 77 that gave us the watershed moment - the moment that punk erupted into public consciousness. It gave us the Sex Pistols, and "God Save the Queen".

Not too shabby for a band that picked a bassist based entirely on how he looked, right?

Now, I'm not going to say that the Sex Pistols were a great group. Musically they were middling, but the sheer impact they made cannot be understated. They outright called the UK a fascist regime in the second line of their first single, released the week of the Queen's diamond jubilee. "God Save the Queen" was banned from airplay in the UK, and is to this day one of the most banned records of all time.

This attention, and stellar releases from fellow UK punk band The Clash, helped to galvanize the scene. As "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols" hit #1 on the charts, it was obvious that the punk scene was here to stay.

In the US, the scene started with a bar called CBGB, and an extended tenure of two bands - Television and The Ramones, with the latter band becoming sort of the prototype of the American punk band, focused on stripped down rock numbers, and a slightly goofier feel. This berk will argue that the Ramones were never truly punk - they were punk adjacent at a time when Punk was an upcoming genre, Johnny Ramone being a hardcore republican - but that's an argument for another time.

You see, with those bands making the first ripples, other bands soon impacted that turned it into a wave. `77 was the start of the Second Wave of Punk, the first years that punk could be considered a unified genre instead of a couple of bands doing their own thing that sort of fell into the same groove. The Misfits, Black Flag, the Police...

I could follow this rabbit hole all day. By `79 the genre was splintering, branching out into a dozen disparate subgenres, which are still branching out to this day. But instead of exploring every single one - which would be better served as another group of lessons another day - I'll leave you with the track of the week. The Badass Creed for the punk movement. The song that took a stand against the right wing trying to adopt punk in the 80's. The song that set the stage for Hobie Brown, and which arguably serves as the backbone to the punk ethos today... here's the Dead Kennedys, "Nazi Punks Fuck Off".

`NUFF SAID.

CLASS DISMISSED.

And next time, we're going to be looking at a genre which producer Rick Rubin could only process as "black punk rock" when he first heard it... I said a hip-hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip, hip-hop and you don't stop the rockin' to the bang-bang boogie, say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat…

#school of tuneage #Lesson 2 #Punk rock #Punk music #Punk subculture #The Clash #The Sex Pistols #Dead Kennedys #Woody Guthrie #The Who #Madness #Mods #Skinheads #Ska #Youtube

[mikimeiko]

I finally got to see the Barbie movie the other day (and I say finally mostly because I would have liked to go see it a little more unspoiled, a little freer of discourse) and it was good, I had a lot of fun!

The costumes and sets are a feast for the eyes; the music is ridiculously good and so well-placed; every single actor was amazing (including the one actor I didn't know was gonna be in it and was such a lovely surprise); the pacing was excellent; I loved the way they dealt with the actions sequences; I loved the general tone.

The story was... ok? It was really kinda two movies in one, and I didn't particularly feel the connection between Barbie's and Ken's story arcs (and consequently the way they intertwined and were resolved felt a little rushed and kinda random).

In a void, this would probably have been my entire reaction to the movie. It was fun! I enjoyed it!

But in the greater context: I didn't find it a groundbreaking feminist manifesto. I don't feel like it's saying anything particularly new or deep about it (it had very strong echoes of the "GIRL POWER" feminism of the late 90s). The way Ken latches on to the idea of the patriarchy without fully understanding it was fun in the beginning, but I feel like they should have chosen between the Kens in Barbieland being somehow a mirror image of women in the real world OR Kendom as a surreal manifestation of the patriarchy to defeat. Keeping them together like this (especially with the brainwashing of the Barbies happening so quickly and powerfully without a specific strategy by the Kens) makes an argument for... men intrinsically being power hungry dickheads and women intrinsically being predisposed to fall for whatever bullshit men say? I mean I HOPE THIS WAS NOT THE INTENDED MESSAGE.

(I also feel like both the scene between Barbie and the old woman on the bench and America Ferrera's character speech were so inauthentic and bland, and while I can understand while they resonated with some people they were the two moments that really pulled me out of the movie and made me audibly roll my eyes)

Also the self-aware narration was... eh.

#i just want a tag for the things i personally put out into the world #barbie #barbie movie #barbie 2023 #cannot make gifs so i wrote down thoughts #films i watched in 2023 #my thoughts

[courtneyscreations]

Final Assignment: My Manifesto

In the world of creativity and expression, I find comfort and peace in the elements that play between love and art. Through my blog, I seek to illuminate the diverse facets of human emotion and artistic endeavor, exploring how they intertwine to shape our perceptions and experiences. This manifesto serves as a testament to the values I hold dear: authenticity, empathy, and the celebration of the human spirit.

At the heart of my artistic journey lies a commitment to promoting empathy and understanding through the lens of love and art. I believe that by diving into the depths of human emotion and creativity, we can help connections that transcend boundaries and unite us in our shared humanity. Through my exploration of various artistic forms, from poetry to visual art, I aim to inspire others to embrace vulnerability and embrace the beauty of the human experience.

In my quest of genuineness and mutual bond and empathy, I firmly oppose superficiality and apathy. I refuse to accept the notion that art exists solely for aesthetic purposes, devoid of the intricate emotions that define our human experience. Rather, I champion art that delves into the depths of our souls, igniting profound conversations and inner reflection. True art, in my view, transcends mere visual appeal; it serves as a mirror to our innermost selves, evoking raw emotions and prompting introspection. By rejecting shallow depictions and embracing the complexities of human existence, I advocate for a deeper connection between art and its audience. It is through this authentic engagement that we can truly appreciate the transformative power of creativity to enrich our lives and foster meaningful connections.

In "The Many Faces of Love," I dug deeper into the intricate layers of love, presenting a collage of evocative images and poignant quotes. From the fervent embrace of partners to the nurturing bond among siblings, each portrayal unveils the nuanced dynamics of human connection. Through this exploration of varied expressions of love, my aim is to underscore the common thread that unites us all. By celebrating the diverse manifestations of affection, I endeavor to illuminate the universal essence of human relationships, transcending boundaries of culture, age, and background.

Another post that I thought was worth mentioning for illustration is "In Love With You," showcasing Kenneth Koch's poem of the same title, initially published in Poetry magazine. Koch's verses serve as a poignant reminder of love's ability to infuse mundane moments with profound significance. The poem's poignant exploration of yearning and passion strikes a chord within me, resonating with my enduring fascination for the intricacies of human emotion. Through Koch's lyrical lens, I am compelled to contemplate the transformative potency of love, as it elevates the ordinary to the extraordinary. This poetic journey serves as a testament to the enduring power of love to captivate and inspire, illuminating the depths of our shared human experience.

The last post I would like to mention is "The Starry Night". In this post, I delve into the iconic painting "The Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh. Through an analysis of its swirling brushstrokes and vibrant colors, I unpack the emotional intensity that radiates from the canvas. Van Gogh's masterpiece serves as a testament to the transcendent power of art to evoke awe and wonder, stirring the depths of the human soul.

By intertwining the strands of love and art, my goal is to create a rich tapestry of beauty and significance that touches the hearts of all who encounter it. Through my blog, I extend an invitation for others to accompany me on a voyage of introspection and revelation. Each post acts as a portal, offering glimpses into the profound intricacies of human existence. Amidst the challenges of life and the intricacies of love, I advocate for finding solace and inspiration in the profound influence of art. Together, let us embark on this journey of exploration, where the convergence of love and creativity illuminates the path towards deeper understanding and connection.

[educatedsonnn]

My Manifesto

When going through my blog posts, I noticed I wrote a lot about depression and deep emotion. Depression can appear as a silent and formidable foe in a world that frequently appears fast-paced and merciless. This manifesto aims to clarify the way to depression, understanding, empathy, and resilience. Let us begin on a journey together to break the bonds that bind minds and hearts. For example when I blogged about the melancholy poem "Sad Wine II”. Sad Wine II explores the concepts of loneliness, isolation, and the passage of time. The speaker of the poem, who struggles with a terrible sensation of being overlooked, is shown as having a sense of isolation and obscurity in life. Setting the stage for the central issue of loneliness, the poem opens by underlining the difficulty of sitting by oneself without drawing attention. I recognize that depression is a legitimate and widespread mental health issue that affects people from all walks of life. It is not a sign of weakness, but rather the result of a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and environmental elements. We reject the stigma associated with depression and commit to cultivating a culture of compassion and understanding. This reminds me that I am fashioned by the conflicts I fight within, not by the darkness that clings to me. Depression is not a sign of weakness, but rather a strong spirit fighting against the unrelenting flow. Loneliness is a canvas on which I paint the rich images of my own existence, not a sentence of solitude. I change into a beacon of self-discovery in the world. I recognize the weight of my emotions, the heaviness that threatens to swallow me, and I stare it down with unshakable resolve. The tears that fall like a purifying shower and a witness to my enduring humanity fertilize the seeds of resilience that are taking root in this conflict. For example I wrote about the painting of the girl looking in the mirror and seeing a monster. This painting describes how we have stopped looking for monsters under our beds when we realized they were within us. This painting portrays an image of a woman looking into a mirror and seeing a monster. I think the fact that her hand is on the mirror really speaks to me. This shows how she is making peace with the monster within her. This is very true for many of us. We tend to fear our emotions and our inner selves. Depression and loneliness become the furnace in which my identity is developed rather than undermined. They are the dark canvases on which I paint a vibrant tapestry of my strength, weaving threads of courage and vulnerability into a work of self-love masterpiece. I accept the shadows as part of my story, not as stains on my soul. My manifesto is a demonstration of rebellion against the stigma that threatens to imprison me. I am a survivor, not a victim. I will not be bound by the opinions of those who do not comprehend the maze of my thoughts. Instead, I will rise, accepting the complexities of my emotions as well as the strength that comes from exploring the depths of my own psyche. This manifesto is a shared anthem for everyone that has danced with the shadows and emerged intact. We are the architects of our own salvation, creating stories of tenacity and perseverance in the face of hardship. We discover strength in solidarity, and redemption in resilience.

#manifesto

[andiesyg]

CTS B Question 1 (Week 11)

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a manifesto can be defined as “a written statement in which a group of people explain their beliefs and aims.” In terms of design, design manifestos “attempt to codify the purpose, goals, or intent behind Design”, based on an article by Design Gym. This week, our task was to create a manifesto that summarises CTS B. 

Our group’s aim for this task was to create statements that describe the aims of the past CTS B activities clearly and concisely. As for the illustration, our group chose to illustrate a mirror to signify that the manifestos we chose to include are a reflection of us as designers. 

Personally, an alternative manifesto that I would use would be “self-discovery is the first challenge every designer has to overcome”. The reason behind this statement is because of the realisation that several of our CTS B lessons revolve around self-discovery, be it about our design interests, identity, or our career aspirations. During those lessons, I realised that there were aspects about myself that I had yet to discover, and that was already a challenge for me on its own, hence the reason I chose this statement as my alternate manifesto.

As for the group outcome, I would like to maintain the concept of the mirror and how the manifestos are reflections of ourselves. However, one thing I would like to add would be cracks on the mirror such that the mirror is divided into seven different sections with each statement occupying one section. 

The reason I would like to add cracks to the mirror would be to visually demonstrate that despite CTS B being broken down into several weeks of lessons, the learning outcomes remain correlated to one another, just like how cracks on a mirror are connected despite the mirror being broken.

Though the past weeks of CTS B lessons have been enriching, I think the aspect of CTS B that was particularly significant to me would be the lesson on Connecting Theory to Practice in Week 2. 

I found this lesson to be fruitful, highlighting how people can easily discern aspects of others, like preferences, compared to their own. It emphasised the importance of self-awareness and self-observation in a designer's self-branding through their work. Designers must meticulously shape the image they convey to their audience when presenting their work to the public.

Connecting Theory to Practice is also related to our Studio subject, as we are required to come up with a brand identity for our chosen festival. As such, the types of colour schemes, typefaces, and visuals would need to be carefully considered to effectively portray the festival’s identity.

In conclusion, CTS B has taught me many useful skills that can be applied to other subjects within this course. I also hope to be able to apply the skills that I’ve learned in the long run throughout my career.

Word Count: 483 words

References:

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com - the largest and most trusted free online dictionary for learners of English. Quickly find clear definitions and audio pronunciations of words.

Design Manifestos

Daniel

[multiple-authors]

31 August 2023

Last day of summer. Yesterday felt like the first day of Autumn. I started new job with artist yesterday. Working more than full-time between that job and restaurant job over next month. Leaning into what I'm grateful for despite chaos.

Notes from trip last Friday evening on my own: - Delete Instagram app from phone, download and log in when I am posting something or online intentionally. Reply to messages intentionally. Don't always be looking at the work of others. Can still post regularly. -Simplify as much as possible when learning anatomy, when using quick hand for imagination. -Lean into character writing (camera/writing/nose-eyes motif). Show own subjectivity int he work. Narrative scenes, we are playing characters, mirroring each other, small scenes/episodes à la Ida Lissner. Action man/something similar. -Reduce outside media consumption, if the self today equates to what we consume -Stop reducing myself and do the work -Superiority complex -> my suffering is greater than yours -Create soundscapes, thunderstorms -Choreograph in the mind's eye like a child imaging dance routines -I can simulate whatever I want in my mind's eye -I seem to be explaining myself to others at all times only so they feel more at ease; more focussed on reducing my own negative emotions than my own, if I don't reply for example. -Everything happened in a second -Everything is a retelling of the same thing -Enter the non-seeing world, seeing world is only one lens of everything, go to other realities and bring back the answers I find - theme park and animal crossing -silly little scene then raindrop drips off -tampered memory

Summarised -Reduce over consumption: delete Instagram from phone, download and log in when posting or intentionally replying to messages. Don't always need to be looking at the work of others, can still post regularly. The self today equates to what we consume -Stop reducing myself and do the work. The blame game doesn't work. Superiority complex -> my suffering is greater than yours (death drive; e-flux) ----- This doesn't work. -Visual work categorised into three projects: small soaking wet scenes/episodes painted in oils (like Ida Lissner in episode/scene quality), small narrative scenes in ink/coloured pencil (playing characters, like ST, Goya caprichos/small wet paintings, JBB), larger oil paintings incorporating both elements. Work should have dramatic lighting, multiple light sources, theatre sets, game simulation. -Write one essay about soaking wet before end of 2023. Read artist manifestos, artist memoir, blogs and diaries, read critical theory. Pop cultural excerpts -Write stream of consciousness about characters for fictional piece. Diary entry, letters, from the perspective of multiple characters (can be more-than-human). Motive: Empathy; breakdown of singular, concrete power structure; chaos; mutability of character; manifestation, reality creation, visualisation; mirroring, doppelgänger, reflections, horizons, portals; time, history, memory. -Soundscapes project. Start making small tracks easy. -I can simulate anything. I can simulate anything I want in my mind's eye. Enter the non-seeing world, seeing world is only one lens of everything, go to other realities and bring back the answers I find

Is this excessive note-taking, documentation, summarisation... an exercise with the intention to control?

[up2123753]

Expression through art not words - Manifesto

I have always been one to express my feelings and thoughts through drawings and paintings rather than using words. When I researched different styles and eras of architecture I was quite surprised and impressed to find out that architecture has always been used to symbolize the power and sophistication of a civiliation. Therefore, this manifesto focuses on how art and design can be used to express an individuals or groups feelings and thoughts. It will look at how an artist can express themselves through their art – by using specific colours, shapes and methods. This manifesto will also look at the different aspects of art and design in which an artist can express themselves, e.g. paintings, architecture and more.

Art can be used as a way of expressing an individuals or a groups feelings and thoughts through  the use of specific colours, shapes and detail. An example of using colour to highlight an emotion would be the use of the colour blue. Blue connotes the feelings of sadness and can prove the expression of ‘feeling blue’. By using this colour within art work, whether its in the background or even blue tints/ hues in a face or landscape, it can reflect the artist thoughts whilst they were creating the piece. An example of an artist using this method was when Hyung Koo created his piece ‘Vincent Van Gogh in blue’ in 2007. The artwork consisted of a portrait of Van Gogh with major blue hues throughout the dark background and his face – it gives off a gloomy, cold and sad image which almost causes you to feel the emotions connoted by this piece. The way the art affected me was intense and powerful in order to almost make the emotions rub off onto me.

Although architecture may seem simple to some it is about so much more than just structures and buildings. Architecture has always been used as a resource to highlight a civilisations / individuals power or wealth. This has been achieved over the years with many different methods. I researched this topic quite a lot throughout my blogs and learnt that for centuries architecture was used worldwide to represent power and wealth. Each time a new leader took over or a new era began, their structures became stronger and more complex in order to prove they were better than those previously. An example of architecture being used to mirror a civilisations power was through the use of columns. Due to the structural stability and the complexity of columns construction they were used to symbolize the power of civilizations.

References:

“Blue as a Representation of Sadness.” Google Arts & Culture, artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/CwKCGvAMadn-KQ.

Chris. 3 Colors That Represent Sadness (Blue, Gray, Black). 2 Jan. 2022, symbolismandmetaphor.com/colors-that-represent-sadness/#:~:text=%20Blue%20represents%20sadness%20because%20it%20can%20give.

“Connection: How Architecture Affects One’s Emotions.” Eacco, 12 Mar. 2022, eacco.ph/architecture-blogs/how-architecture-affects-emotions/#:~:text=Even%20the%20simplest%20details%20in%20architecture%2C%20like%20shapes%2C.

DiCrescenzo, Jacob. “Architecture Is a Deeply Emotional Experience.” ArchDaily, 23 July 2021, www.archdaily.com/965178/architecture-is-a-deeply-emotional-experience.

Ingram, Cindy . “Exploring the Self: 15 Identity Artworks to Show Students.” Art Class Curator, 4 May 2021, artclasscurator.com/identity-artworks/.

Mehlomakulu, Carolyn. “Expressing Emotions through Creativity: A 6-Step Art Process.” Creativity in Therapy, 25 June 2017, creativityintherapy.com/2017/06/expressing-emotions-creativity-6-step-art-process/.

Swann, Julia. “Self Expression Art - Thrive and Share Yourself with Others - Gone Minimal.” Gone Minimal, www.goneminimal.com/self-expression-art/.

#architecture #interior architecture #design #art #expression art

[inapat16]

On cannibalism in Raw (Julia Ducournau, 2017) : "a punk act against establishment"

The metamorphosis in Julia Ducournau's work is a strong and feminist gesture against social and sexual determinism. In the movie cannibalism represents a transgression of the standing conceptual categories of the culture. Ultimately, Justine’s cannibalistic tendencies allow her to grow from her old self into a new « liberated » self. Cannibalism is associated with sexuality in the movie, to a new kind of sexuality, a transgressive one. The coming-of-age theme is most usually associated with a female’s movement from adolescence to womanhood, a ritual which is in turn as deemed by societal convention, correlated to a woman’s progress towards maternity. Certainly, Grave’s treatment of Justine’s desire for flesh coincides with her budding sexual maturation. Progressively Justine’s desire for flesh transforms into a desire for human flesh through the sexual act.

Instead of sexualizing female bodies in the film, Ducournau sexualizes men bodies as object of desire. No longer women, but men, are the objects of Justine's predatory gaze. Justine’s observations of Adrien playing soccer in one scene is of particular interest. Adrien's bare-chested body is filmed in all its movements in this scene. The camera zooms, twirls, and follows Adrien's almost dancing body, detailing his muscles and firm skin. The shots on the young man are interspersed with shots on Justine's face, the bearer of the gaze. Justine is alone in the shot, set back from the scene, spying on her prey. A predator-prey relationship is installed in the image. Her desire no longer holding, blood flows from Justine's nose, as if to announce her future pleasure. The scene that follows is also of particular interest. As Seline Naqi explains in her study of the film :

The camera finds itself positioned behind Justine in her bedroom, as though the viewer is intruding into a personal space. Justine is turned away, facing her mirror and we observe her from behind as she dances, stiffly rotating one leg. As the dancing ensues, her body begins to loosen and thus, becomes more fluid with a movement generating from her legs up into her arms as though she is in a trance. The camera turns, and the viewer takes the position of the mirror, facing Justine and once more, her gaze. As Kaja Silverman describes in her text The Acoustic Mirror, the acknowledgment of one’s self within a mirror is an acknowledgment of subjectivity. Subjectivity, as Silverman suggests, « from the very outset is dependent upon the recognition of a distance separating self from the other – on an object whose loss is simultaneous with its apprehension. » This moment, in particular, recalls the lunch scene in which Justine tells Adrien, « monkeys are self-aware. They see themselves, in a mirror, right? » Here, Justine finds herself in a position of self-alteration where the differentiation between human and animal reveals itself to be non-existent; it is as though she is seeing herself for the first time. As Justine dances, she is listening to a song by two female twins, Orties. The song is called « plus putes que toutes les putes, » which translates to « sluttier than all the sluts. » The lyrics detail a libertine description of commands that refer to sexual dominance in the most animalistic and debased of ways. As the song develops the lyrics develop as a sort of manifesto against the male, and sexual freedom through necrophilia and cannibalism.[1]

« I’ll leave you even if you're handsome

my love, "coco" is not "pig" you're always in my bed "guys" plus "me" equals "nothing”

I'm sick of 69

I just want 666 I suck your bones, lap it up you would choke on the cum, dear

I like to bang the dead. »

While the song continues, Justine puts on lipstick intensely, gaining speed in time with the beat of the music until it is smudged around the entirety of her mouth. Conventionally, women use mirrors for a private moment to recompose their image, most often to fix their faces for the outside world. The way in which she puts lipstick on in this scene really heightens the way in which she rebels against the notion that the mirror is used to attain perfection, an idealization of one’s own image. The camera then moves in on her and cuts between viewing her in front of the mirror to being behind the mirror. She rubs her lipstick onto the mirror and kisses it, coalescing with and consuming this new, messy reflection of herself.

Justine's nascent sexuality would therefore be the expression of her freedom. Through sexuality, the young woman will achieve her true self. During the movie her cannibalistic sexuality is seen as decadent from the exterior gaze of the others. In another scene, she is forcibly locked up with a young man in a room. The hazing masters threw paint at them on their bodies: Justine is covered in blue, the young man in yellow. They are ordered not to leave the room « until they are not all green ». The scene becomes sensual between Justine and the boy, but Justine bites him on the lips to the point of tearing off a piece. The boy comes out bloody. The others look at her and judge her as « sick »; when they are the ones who pushed them into this dangerous game of seduction. This shows that even an anarchic society has its rules in terms of sexuality...In this respect, what is worse? The violence generated by social and sexual determinism of power instances or becoming cannibal?

If Justine's cannibal metamorphosis is liberating, it also locks her into an internal violence: choosing between succumbing to her hereditary cannibal passions as her mother and sister did or choosing to detach herself from family determinism and her monstrosity. She chooses not to succumb to the weight of heredity. Like the road she takes against her sister's direction when Alex wants to initiate her into murder or when she tries to vomit her after swallowing her finger. Justine doesn't take the easy way out but tries to find a solution, as her father rather pathetically advises her at the end of the film: “but you, I'm sure you'll find a solution, honey”, as if to emphasize the difficulty of becoming oneself.

[1] Consuming Raw: Cannibalistic Transformation in Julia Ducournau’s Raw (2016), Seline Naqi, UCLA Capstone Projects.

Léonie Pessey-Magnifique

[hauntinglyhumorous]

Journal Entry 4 SSS

Started working on a new manifesto today for Mrin’s class. I wasn’t sure what to do at first to be honest. I was stuck between revising my old manifesto or creating a whole new one. My old one consisted of several canvases with somewhat generic ideas on it. But at the time that I made it COVID had just hit and I was just in an edgy kind of mood. 

I think that for this new manifesto I will actually do a painting rather than a written one. It makes more sense for me to paint the manifesto as I feel wrong just writing it out. There is an option to just read out someone else’s manifesto but that seems kinda lame and in-genuine. 

I also started working on the first painting for the first installation project. The project is about Otherness and the monstrosity of it. Being othered makes me feel ugly and embarrassed, making sense for me to connect it with this alien feeling that otherness gives me. 

The first painting is going to be me facing myself in the mirror. The mirror image being demented and warped, appearing as a monster. The monster will be looking at the viewer, inspecting them as they interrupt this intimate moment in the bathroom. Otherness to me is all about the feeling of being judged and looked at, much like this figure is doing to the audience. 

[eggtoasties]

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader

Rating: G 

Word Count: 1.2k of tooth rotting dad!kuroo

Summary: Love is in the little things: Brita filters, sesame seeds, and frozen waffles.

Music plays softly in the background as Kuroo works diligently in the kitchen. Against the backsplash of white tile, glass containers dotting the wooden shelves, and stainless steel appliances in the modern kitchen, Kuroo Tetsurou wears a bright red apron with the words “Kiss the Chef” written garishly across the front.

On a tray he’s already balanced a stack of incredibly fluffy pancakes covered in a light dusting of powdered sugar, topped with the ripest berries. He’s taken out the nice porcelain that’s stored on the top most shelves—only to be used on special occasions, she said—and filled the matching bowls with an assortment of fruits and granola from the farmer’s market.

He hums to himself as he places the sunny side up eggs just so on the plate and delicately shakes the spice bottles to ensure an even layer. Putting the final touches on the food, he starts the espresso machine while he peels several oranges to hand squeeze. In the middle of his fourth orange, Kuroo hears the patter of foot steps down the stairs.

“Wow,” a small voice drawls out at his hip, “looks so good.”

A small, chubby hand reaches for a bowl and Kuroo lightly swats it away.

“Daddy did a good job, didn’t he?” Kuroo says mostly to himself, satisfied with the assortment of sweet and savory treats, so aesthetically placed he figures Martha Stewart would weep. Finishing with the last orange, he wipes his hands on his apron and moves to make the coffee, scooting the tray further away from the edge.

He feels a small tug at his pajama pant leg and looks down to see his pouting child.

“I’m hungry,” his son complains, tiny hand fisting cotton and the other resting at his hip, a mirror image of his mother.

Gently ruffling his son’s hair, still unruly from sleep, a set of heavier footsteps makes its way to the kitchen. Yawning the sleep from her eyes and sighing at the pops in her neck, Kuroo’s eldest daughter zeroes in on the breakfast spread and makes a beeline for the tray.

Swiftly blocking her warpath he grabs a dish towel and waves it in front of her like a matador to a bull. “Who are you and get out my kitchen,” Kuroo says.

She scowls up at him which makes him scowl too.

“You know what your mom says about frowning,” he lightly scolds.

“I’m young and have a great retinol,” she bites back, “what’s your excuse?” she taunts.

“Oi! What’s with the attitude so early in the morning, can’t you see I’m busy,” he says incredulously, gesturing to the breakfast tray as he catches his youngest drag a short footstool towards the counter.

With one step, Kuroo scoops him up—away from the food—and distracts him with the promise of Eggo waffles while squishing chubby cheeks between his thumb and forefinger, kissing the soft skin.

“You’re making pancakes from scratch and you’re feeding us the frozen waffles?” his daughter deadpans.

“Who said anything about feeding you guys—you have two hands,” he points out, wincing when small fists beat his chest.

At her stink eye, Kuroo curses teenage hormones and nearly runs to the beep of the espresso machine, any excuse to avoid further scrutiny from his daughter. He puts his son down and whispers for him to sit and wait for his sister to get him breakfast. His daughter—light of his life, apple of his eye, his precious darling baby girl—but an absolute menace at sixteen and unfortunately absolutely took after him in this regard.

He pours the perfect amount of hot water to the espresso and Kuroo nods approvingly at the spread: pancakes, eggs, fruit, yogurt, granola, freshly squeezed orange juice, water at room temperature because apparently cold water is bad for the stomach, and finally, hot coffee.

Rummaging in the freezer his daughter grumbles, “Can you at least get me water?”

He grabs a glass and fills it halfway and meets his daughters open mouth of disbelief. Placing his hand on his hips he mocks her expression.

“Yes?”

“You’re giving me tap water,” she says accusingly.

“The Brita is for the dog and your mom,” he retorts.

Turning away at her screech of indignation, he smiles to himself when she can’t see it. Yes, she thoroughly irritates him with her refusal to drink orange juice with pulp and completely baffles him when she doesn’t heed his advice to wear a little less eyeliner. He also definitely thinks her boyfriend is a little bit of a loser, but, he is utterly and entirely certain that she is one of the best things he has ever done with his life equal to having her brother and marrying their mother.  

His wife. Even as his ring clinks against his second cup of coffee, as it has every morning for the past several, several years they’ve been together, it still feels unreal. He thinks of her and remembers when they first met in college, first vacations, their wedding, their children’s births and even random memories from inconsequential days all at once. Like the day they got ice cream and she nearly puked in his lap on the subway because she insisted her lactose intolerance wasn’t that bad. Or when they were driving going to who knows where and there was a black sesame seed wedged in her tooth as she smiled at him and the car behind him honked for him to move because he was so dumbstruck by the way she smiled at him. When he thinks of her, a million memories and thoughts come rushing in at once to meld together to overwhelm him with one unmistakable emotion.

He figures he’ll never be able to articulate exactly how much she means to him with words. Hell, even for their wedding vows they had agreed to save the sappy stuff for afterwards—in private. He shyly presented a well-worn, heavily creased, ten page manifesto of his love in their hotel room, heart beating faster than it had during the wedding, feeling more exposed in that moment than when he was at the altar in front of all of their friends and family. His hands shook as she read each page, mouthing his words so tenderly back at him and he’s never told her that that moment was more nerve wracking than when he proposed.

So, he hopes that breakfast in bed makes up for it. Or, breakfast at their side table because she has a thing about crumbs in her bed. But nothing screams ‘domestic bliss’ to Kuroo quite like the idea of pancakes in bed and that’s why he’s bought so many bed trays even though she rolls her eyes every time.

And maybe, that’s what love is. Delivering breakfast in bed to your no-food-in-the-bed rule making partner on the trays she banned from the house. But, because you were so focused on making the perfect heart shaped pancakes and the fact that you bought a very expensive ring a long time ago, she’ll forgive you and ignore your citrus stained hands as you tenderly stroke her hair until she wakes.

Kuroo grins to himself as he makes his way to their bedroom, tapping his wedding ring against the handle and feeling the small weight of the gift box in his left pocket.

#kuroo tetsuro #kuroo x reader #kuroo x you #kuroo x y/n #kuroo scenarios #kuroo fanfic #kuroo fluff #kuroo oneshot #kuroo tetsuro x you #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsuro x y/n #kuroo tetsuro fluff #kuroo tetsuro drabble #kuroo tetsuro fanfiction #kuroo tetsuro imagine #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu imagines

[thetvmoviefan]

Nabrina Fanfics Part 13 (Lupercalia Update)

Sabrina Spellman & Nicholas Scratch (Nick Scratch) FanFics MASTERLIST (UPDATEABLE PINNABLE)

Updated: February 14, 2021

Happy Lupercalia and Nabrina Anniversary day everyone. So Part 4 happened......So here’s a list of some fantastic Nabrina Fanfics that you can read to process and escape how the show ended. Because we know Nick and Sabrina deserved so much more. Escape into these amazing magical written creations and worlds by some wickedly good and amazing writers who helped us during those Part Hiatuses and now helping us now the show is done. Make sure to leave some Love/Praise/Kudos through the comments on their work. Or give them a message to how much you love their work, because they really are one of the best things in this fandom. They are the real heroes through everything we’ve been through.

As always have a Wicked or Hell-ish time with these fics and ENJOY!!!!!

Fics in order by Last Update: 2/14/2021

[Key: AU=Alternate Universe - AH=All Human Or Mortal Fic - *=New Fics to list]

1. "I See Sparks Fly”*

Author: shotgunkitten @shotgunkitten

Summary: Being single was okay and she didn’t mind being on her own. Not at all. At least that’s what Sabrina told herself as she looked around the table at yet another Spellman family dinner. But with everyone in a happy relationship, she couldn't help but long for the same - probably also because Lupercalia and Valentine's Day were fast approaching.However, she really shouldn't have said as much to her family; because suddenly everyone's a matchmaker and every option seems worse than the last. AU- Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - One-Shot 2/14/2021

2. “The Institute for Divine Craft”

Author: rayo aka @its-nabrina-bitch

Summary: After a humiliating spat with Father Blackwood pushes Sabrina away from her witching life and the Academy, Madam Satan crafts an alternative solution to move Sabrina Spellman further down the path of night. Ultimately leading her to the Institute for the Divine Craft. A handsome Headmaster with mysterious ties to her father, convinces Sabrina to abandon her mortal life, and cultivate her abilities as a child of the Church of Lucifer. AU - Rated Mature - Chapters 20/? - Last Update 2/14/2021

3. “Sins of the Father”

Author: willowaus @willowaus

Summary:  In a Greendale where Edward Spellman was given the chance to see his manifesto play out, Sabrina Spellman works to traverse the world her father created for her, walking that fine line between mortal and witch, trying to integrate them both. It’s not enough that she has to maintain that Spellman image while trying to juggle the Weird Sisters, her friends, and an annoyingly hot warlock, Nick Scratch. She also has to deal with the fact that someone or something doesn’t want her to make it to her seventeenth birthday. AU - Rated M - Chapters 19/? - Last Update 2/14/2021

4. “If You Let Me”

Author: bunivy aka @bunivys

Summary: After pouring all of her time and effort into obtaining a law degree in the city, Sabrina Spellman moves back to Greendale for one last summer before she departs for good. She's fully intent on enjoying her stay in her hometown, even deciding to pick up a part-time job at her Aunt Hilda's cafe to save up some money. The only problem is that the boy in the bookstore across the way is one she's had some not-so-good history with and it's becoming increasingly harder to ignore him. Before long, she finds herself exploring the complexities of old high-school grudges and what-ifs, all while trying to sort out her present-day relationship with the boy she has long since deemed as non-existent.Meanwhile, Nicholas Scratch wonders if it would just be easier to remain non-existent. AU/AH - Rated M - Chapters 32/? - Last Update 2/09/2021

5. “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night”

Author: shotgunkitten @shotgunkitten

Summary: Hilda Spellman once said that their meeting was fate. And while neither Sabrina Spellman nor Nicholas Scratch were sure if they believed in that kind of thing, they were sure of this: They never wanted to find out what their lives would be like without each other. AU/AH- Rated T - Chapters 21/? - Last Update 2/09/2021

6. “All you need is fluff...”

Author: Miss_Kath90 @misskath90​

Summary: Just a bunch of Nabrina short one-shots based on tumblr prompts. Mostly pure fluff, because after Part 4 that's what we deserve. Rated T - Chapters 12/? - Last Update 2/09/2021

7. "Take a Breath, I’m Still Here”*

Author: thoughtsaboutshows @thoughtsaboutshows​​

Summary: In the days after the Void nearly ripped Sabrina from her family, they decide to celebrate a late Yule. Nick and Sabrina can't stop touching each other and Prudence and Ambrose finally talk. AU/AH- Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 2/02/2021

8. "It Was Real Enough to Get Me Through”*

Author: shotgunkitten @shotgunkitten​​

Summary: Sabrina Spellman saw her twin die, her warning about the Void leading her to her own inevitable doom. Except that her family pulls her back at the right moment when she goes to trap the Void, finishing what Sabrina Morningstar started. However, surviving her encounter with the last of the Eldritch terrors doesn't mean that Sabrina got out unscathed, her demons haunting her in her sleep. Rated M - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 1/31/2021

9. “It’s Witchcraft, Baby”*

Author: Unseemingowl @unseemingowl​​​

Summary: In the wake of Sabrina discovering Nicholas Scratch at an orgy in her cousin Ambrose’s room things take a different turn Rated E Mature - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 1/31/2021

10. “Never Really Over”

Author: Miss_Kath90

Summary: Sabrina Spellman wanted nothing more than to have a normal life and to achieve it, she accidentally had caused a time paradox that had allowed two of her to coexist in the same timeline.One, living in Greendale with her family and friends. The other, reigning over the infernal court in Hell.She could finally have (almost) everything she ever wanted but nothing in Sabrina's life was simple or normal…A new threat looms over Greendale.And she would need all the help she could get to stop it.Especially Nicholas Scratch's, even though every time they are in the same room the weight of their shattered romance filled the air and threatened with crush them. Rated M - Chapters 16/? - Last Update 1/30/2021

11. “The Resurrection”*

Author: sarahkwut @sarahwyland​

Summary: Hecate hears the prayers of her coven and brings Sabrina back to her loved ones. This is their reunion. Rated M - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 1/29/2021

12. “Victory Celebrations”*

Author: Climbergirlio ​

Summary: “It is rather incredible,” Prudence states, her voice intentionally betraying how she is not speaking of the success of the song. Sabrina’s confusion at what Prudence could be referring to makes her fall headfirst into Prudence’s trap, “what?” she asks. Prudence’s lips curve into a wickedly innocent line, “how distinctly Nicholas smells of ...” Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 1/27/2021

13. “Illicit Affairs”

Author: thoughtsaboutshows @thoughtsaboutshows

Summary:  She had never really meant for it to start. It wasn’t like her, the secret meetings, hushed whispers, and built up lies. But there was something about all of it that dragged her under the current and swept her up that she couldn’t deny or ignore. It was never her intention to start an affair with Nicholas Scratch. Though it was somewhat of an inevitability. From the minute they met, a line in the sand was drawn and they spent the better part of two years trying not to come closer to it. But the magnetic pull between them was undeniable, and soon the line in the sand was just as messed up as their sheets. She hadn’t planned it, and the second she let her guard down they’d both fallen into a hole they couldn't quite climb out of. She’d been sleeping with Nick for months and talked to him about more things than she never dared to with Harvey. Harvey.The highschool sweetheart she couldn’t let go. Or rather she couldn’t admit the relationship was failing, because she wasn’t a quitter. But she couldn’t seem to quit Nick either. AU/AH - Rated M - Chapters 10/? - Last Update 1/25/2021

14. “Soft Place To Land”

Author: shotgun kitten @shotgunkitten

Summary: A collection of short Nabrina one shots based on fluff prompts on tumblr. Rated T - Chapters 21/? - One Shots 1/21/2021

15. “For Fluffs Sake, Angst-hole”

Author: thoughtsaboutshows @thoughtsaboutshows

Summary: This is a collection of short writings/scenes from an ask I did on Tumblr for Nabrina!It used to be all fluff, but now there's some agnsty ones in there too! Not Rated - Chapters 39/39 - Last Update 1/18/2021

16. “Pillow Talk”*

Author: octoberdiary IG: thecaosdiaries

Summary: This is a collection of short writings/scenes from an ask I did on Tumblr for Nabrina!It used to be all fluff, but now there's some agnsty ones in there too! Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 1/17/2021

17. “speak to me, my lover”*

Author: Unseemingowl @unseemingowl

Summary: Sabrina Morningstar doesn't come through the mirror to interrupt the mood when Sabrina and Nick leave movie night at Harvey's house, which means that everything is good and nothing bad happens. Except the playful squabbles over the anxieties between new lovers who can't keep their hands off each other. Rated E Mature - Chapters 2/3 - Last Update 1/10/2021

18. "Till the end of time”*

Author: Miss_Kath90 @misskath90​

Summary: Feeling his lips moving over hers again was like coming home after a long journey. All the months of separation, all the pain, all the words they could never take back didn’t matter anymore as she kissed him back. Oh, she had missed him, she had missed the way his arms held her tight and how his hands caressed her face in the middle of a kiss. And it felt so natural, so right… kissing Nick had always felt that way, as natural as breathing. Rated Mature - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 1/06/2021

19. “Born To Love You”

Author: thoughtsaboutshows aka @thoughtsaboutshows

Summary: So Sabrina left Harvey at the altar for Nick. What now? Tune in for snapshots into Nick and Sabrina's life now that they've admitted their true feelings. What happened after Sabrina left Harvey and ran to Nick? Did they live happily ever after?This will be a collection of snapshots of this version of Nick and Sabrina. I don't know how often it will be updated, but we will get a look into their life together.I enjoy writing my fics based on songs, so if a particular song screams this Nick and Sabrina to you please message me on tumblr or comment below and maybe I'll write a scene based on it! ****Follow up to One-Shot Marry Me. Go READ it first!**** AU/AH - Not Rated - Chapters 5/? - Last Update 1/05/2021

20. "A sea of sorrows”*

Author: Miss_Kath90 @misskath90​​

Summary: Nick's thoughts after Sabrina's death.  Rated Mature - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 1/01/2021

21. “Of Gingerbread and Snow Globes”

Author: sarahkwut @sarahwyland

Summary: Nicholas Scratch begrudgingly helps his grandmother move back to her hometown of Greendale. He's got a high powered job and is used to the big city lifestyle. The small town life isn't for him, but he promised his grandmother he would stay through the holidays. Enter, Sabrina Spellman, international journalist and soon-to-be author who happens to love Greendale - and all of its holiday traditions. She's not trying to change Nick's mind about the place, but they do seem to keep crossing paths... Rated M - Chapters 9/9 - Completed 1/01/2021

22. “yuletide blessings”

Author: bunivy @bunivys

Summary:  Journalist and hopeless romantic Sabrina heads home for the holidays with an assignment: write the perfect article on a small town Christmas to capture the spirit of the holidays. Things start off right when her aunt Hilda performs a bit of tea reading which suggests romance in Sabrina’s future, and she gets a call from one Harvey Kinkle, friend and childhood crush, asking her out on a date to the local Christmas Market. Hilda’s tea never lies and this could really be it. He could be it. To her surprise, she runs into a spellbinding bookseller at the market who seems to be on a quest of his own and before Sabrina knows it, she’s wrapped up in the mystery and holiday joy of it all. Along the way, she comes to learn that maybe there's still some new magic to be discovered in old Greendale, after all. Rated M - Chapters 3/3 - Completed 12/27/2020

23. “Another Year”

Author: shotgunkitten @shotgunkitten

Summary: Nick wanted to get his hands on his grandfather's journals for years and now his grandmother named her conditions: He gets the journals when he's in a steady relationship. Jumping at the opportunity to finally study his grandfather's research, he tells his grandmother that he has a girlfriend. The problem: He doesn't. Who better to ask than Sabrina to help him out and pretend to be his girlfriend while his grandmother is visiting for the Yule celebrations? Rated T - Chapters 4/4 - Completed 12/27/2020

24. “Under the mistletoe”

Author: Miss_Kath90 @misskath90

Summary:  Nick and Sabrina meet at Spellman's Christmas party throughout the years. Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Last Update 12/18/2020

25. “Wicked Winds”

Author: sarahkwut @sarahwyland

Summary: Nicholas Scratch winds up at the Academy of Unseen Arts after being kicked out of several others for being too smart - and too powerful - for his own good. He’s got a chip on his shoulder and he’s not in Greendale to make friends. But then he meets Sabrina Spellman, a witch that’s not only beautiful, but just as up for breaking the rules as him.Except she wants nothing to do with him.His old friend Prudence places a bet that he can’t get her to give into him - but things get complicated as he not only starts to fall for Sabrina, but a deadly darkness settles over Greendale. Rated M - Chapters 23/23 - Completed 12/04/2020

26. “Wintertime Love”

Author: sweetjs

Summary:  Sabrina and Nick celebrate both Winter Solstice and Christmas through the years. Rated G - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot 12/04/2020

27. “p is for passion, n is for not this again”

Author: Unseemingowl @unseemingowl

Summary: In which Nick is very passionate about the Baxter High encyclopaedia section and Sabrina Spellman can never just get one day of peace and quiet and making out. Rated M - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot 12/03/2020

28. “Soft Place To Land”

Author: shotgun kitten @shotgunkitten

Summary: A collection of short Nabrina one shots based on fluff prompts on tumblr. Rated T - Chapters 14/? - One Shots 11/26/2020

29. “my greatest grief, my deepest desire”

Author: bunny @bunivys

Summary: She could put her hand out and touch Nick, but she couldn’t hold him, couldn’t kiss him, couldn’t slot her nose into the corner of his neck like she had once loved to do. Couldn’t run her fingers through his curls, hear him sigh against her lips. Could be the first person Nick loved, but not the last. Rated M - Chapters 14/4 - One Shots 11/21/2020

30. “I almost do”

Author: Miss_Kath90 @misskath90

Summary: Nick and Sabrina dance at Hilda's wedding. Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot 11/17/2020

31. “Before the Devil Breaks Me”

Author: willowaus @willowaus

Summary: All Sabrina wants to do is enjoy the last few years with her mortal friends. Attend college, party a little too hard, and make endless memories with them. But when you're a Spellman nothing ever goes as planned, especially not when she meets her handsomely mischievous classmate, Nick Scratch, who introduces her to a side of witchcraft that she's never thought possible.When people start ending up murdered in ritual sacrifices on campus Sabrina knows she can't keep both of her worlds apart any longer. Especially when it seems each murder is a message for her. AU - Rated Mature - Chapters 31/31 - COMPLETED 11/17/2020

32. “whispers in the white wind”

Author: bunny @bunivys

Summary: Nick had no one to knit him scarves and Sabrina didn’t mind sharing.(a collection of tumblr winter fluff prompts.) Rated T - Chapters 7/7 - One Shots 11/13/2020

33. “Haunted Herat”

Author: shotgunkitten @shotgunkitten

Summary: Sabrina ran through the woods, tree branches crashing to the ground in front of her, grasping at her. Roots digging themselves out of the wet soil, wrapping around her calves, dragging her to the ground. She set them on fire, the angry, high-pitched screams of the trees filling the air as Sabrina got up, looking over her shoulder. She could see torches in the dark, coming closer. “Find that witch!” a male voice bellowed, others chiming in, faint calls of “Burn the witch!” following. Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot 10/31/2020

34. “Cruel Summer”

Author: thoughtsaboutshows @thoughtsaboutshows

Summary: A mix between AU and Cannon, where the young members of the Church of Night also attend Baxter High. The young witches and warlocks then go to the Unseen Arts Summer Camp to bolster their gifts. However Sabrina, being half mortal, only began attending after her Dark Baptism. To the mortals of Greendale, Unseen Arts Camp was for the wealthy. An elite sector of the Baxter High youth that attended a camp deep in the Greendale Wood far upstream of Sweetwater River. Many had tried to find and break in, but none have succeeded. To the mortals, the divide between the camp attendees and the not was of money and status. When in fact, the difference lay with light vs. night.Set between two timelines- the present and the summer, Sabrina attends camp for the first time and grows closer to Nick only for them to be torn apart as school starts. Rated Mature - Chapters 27/27 - COMPLETED 10/27/2020

35. “in a dream, a thousand years ago”

Author: bunny @bunivys

Summary: It’s a painful thing to be a songbird with no one to serenade, and maybe he knows that, too.(part of the anti-soulmates au; Nick and Sabrina meet in a bar) Not Rated - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot 10/22/2020

36. “Unwritten”

Author: Miss_Kath90 aka @misskath90

Summary: Tired of her aunt’s matchmaking attempts, Sabrina decides to tell a little white lie… and now she needs a boyfriend to accompany her to her hometown for the holidays.And who better to play that part than her good friend Nicholas Scratch? There is only one little problem… He had a crush on her since the day they met. When two friends pretend to be in a relationship, what could possibly go wrong? Rated T - Chapters 10/10 - COMPLETED 9/22/2020

37. "Free Pour”

Author: sarahkwut @sarahwyland

Summary: He's a bartender with a perfect free pour and a Ph.D. candidate. She thinks she wants to be a lawyer and wishes she had taken more chances in life. Both of them are trying to move on. But when their paths collide, Nick's hand is no longer steady with the bottle and she's far more willing to take a risk. AU/AH - Rated Mature - Chapters 23/23 - COMPLETED 9/01/2020

38. "Burning House”

Author: thoughtsaboutshows @thoughtsaboutshows

Summary: Sabrina hasn't seen him in months but she still sees him everywhere. Nick sees her every night in his dreams. They both know what they want, but won't let the other have it. Not yet. Not when Nick will hardly talk to her and Sabrina used well...THAT candle... ONE-SHOT - Not Rated - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 8/28/2020

39. “The Four Pictures”

Author: Copper_16

Summary: It’s been 10 years. Nick and Sabrina are teachers at the Academy along with some familiar faces. It’s been a decade there can’t be that much chaos anymore, right? Wrong. Rated T - Chapters 4/? - Last Update 8/04/2020

40. “Marry Me”

Author: thoughtsaboutshows @thoughtsaboutshows

Summary: “No, No, No.” Nick said as he shook his head at Prudence. “Sabrina is my best friend. That’s it.”“Sure.” Prudence shrugged her shoulders.When she explained to her brother that they were likely more she had said it as a statement, not an invitation to have a conversation about it. She was entirely annoyed by the Spellman girl, and had found it odd and irritating that she and her brother had been attached at the hip from a young age.“Besides she’s marrying Kinkle, Prudence.” Nick explained more to himself than to Prudence. His eyes were wild and looking around the room, searching for something to land on. “Not me.”“Do you want her to?” Prudence asked as she leaned forward. Nick paused, unsure how to answer that question. Nick had been in love with Sabrina Spellman for most of his life. But she was happy with Harvey Kinkle. Prudence rolled her eyes and stood up sighing, and placed a hand on Nick’s shoulder. She was rarely affectionate and this was as comforting as she got. “You may want to figure that out.” AU/AH - Rated Mature - ONE-SHOT - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 7/11/2020

41. “The Chaos In the Stars”

Author: willowaus @willowaus

Summary: Nick sacrificed himself to save her, but Sabrina's not about to let him fester away in Hell. But what happens when saving the one she loves brings about a series of apocalyptic events that Sabrina and the rest of the Spellman clan need to thwart?Alternate part 3. (Part 3 Fic) - Rated Mature - Chapters 24/24 - COMPLETED 6/30/2020

42. “A Little Wicked”

Author: Miss_Kath90 aka @misskath90

Summary: Sometimes, in the darkness of her room, unable to sleep, she thought about how easy it would be to fall in love with him. And she was sure a part of her was a bit in love with him already, but she kept holding to the past and that was hurting them both. Rated Mature - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 6/16/2020

43. “Crash Into Me”

Author: thoughtsaboutshows @thoughtsaboutshows

Summary: Set after Part 3 and some time after Nick and Sabrina's breakup. Just a little one-shot of a mission they get sent on by Zelda. Tough conversations and some tears...and one bed ONE-SHOT - Not Rated - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 6/15/2020

44. “Heaven can’t help me now”

Author: bunivy @bunivys

Summary: Soulmates are a universal law, the way of life. Sabrina's soulmate is Harvey, but she'll pick Nick every time, in every way. ONE-SHOT - Not Rated - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 6/13/2020

45. “I knew you were trouble”

Author: Miss_Kath90 aka @misskath90

Summary: Sabrina didn’t know that being away from home for the first time could be so hard.Away from her aunts, friends and her-lifelong-boyfriend, Sabrina have to deal with the nostalgia but also with the new challenges College's life mean: get used to share a room with a not-so-nice roommate, put up with long hours of study and very few of sleep, learn to live from pre-cooked meals instead of her aunt Hilda’s homemade ones, find balance between her studies and her new social life… And resist the temptation a certain Nicholas Scratch mean for her. AU/AH - Rated Mature - Chapters 28/28 - COMPLETED 6/06/2020

46. “A Thing or Two to Learn”

Author: gracefulchaos

Summary: What if Sabrina and Nick weren't in the same coven, and they met each other later in life? AU - Rated Mature - Chapters 1/? - Last Update 6/06/2020

47. “When the Bones are Good”

Author: sarahkwut @sarahwyland

Summary: Sabrina Spellman is enjoying her life as a normal teenager. Sabrina Morningstar is reigning Hell with an iron fist. Ambrose Spellman is searching for a solution to bring them back together and close the time loop, Sabrina's wishes be damned. And Nicholas Scratch? He's faced down his own demons and he's desperate for redemption.Except the clock is ticking.On time and Terrors. (Part 4 Fic) - Rated General - Chapters 28/28 - COMPLETED 6/05/2020

48. “Bury a Lie”

Author: raeinthedark

Summary: Sabrina is comfortable with death. It's her job. But everything is changed on a rainy October morning. The life and work she was accustomed to are forever different in the wake of tragedy. There really isn't coming back from this, unless she can figure out who's behind it. AU/AH - Rated Mature - Chapters 3/? - Last Update 5/04/2020

49. “I run to you”

Author: thoughtsaboutshows @thoughtsaboutshows

Summary: Nick and Sabrina love two things. Research and each other. But their research often takes them to far away places, and far away from the person they love most. AU/AH - Not Rated - Chapters 1/1 - One-Shot COMPLETED - 5/21/2020

50. “My Body Is A Canvas For Your Love”

Author: Unseemingowl aka @unseemingowl

Summary: Sabrina had no love for the whip or the belt or the cane that Nick had used to enjoy so much, but restraints... That was another matter entirely. Rated E Mature - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 4/29/2020

51. ”Ground Beneath Her Feet”

Author: mindlesshappy aka @feministstree

Summary: Sabrina is born out of a miracle - one that she wishes would repeat for her, but when she is destined for someone else, how much can she resist before her heart decides to give in. Alternatively, Nick is Sabrina's soulmate, but she really just wants Harvey to be it. Also, in the backseat are all the other possible ships, getting their own soulmate glories. Rated T - Chapters 18/? - Last Update 4/17/2020

52. “in your eyes (there's something burning inside you)”

Author: jessequicksters

Summary: Nicholas falls in love with Sabrina as fast as a mortal sells their soul to the devil. The only problem is, in the Church of Night, everything has a price. Even love.Especially love.(He bleeds every time he dreams of Sabrina and when they kiss, it happens too, but love isn't supposed to hurt, right? Except he's never known about love; the only thing he knows is that this half-mortal is going to be the death of him.) Rated Mature - Chapters 5/5 - Last Update 3/22/2020

53. “My Lover of Blood and Milk”

Author: Unseemingowl aka @unseemingowl

Summary: It didn’t feel as though it had only been a few hours since she had made her way to the Greendale woods for Lupercalia. As she sat there, shivering in her muddied and bloodied silk slip, it felt as if a completely different person had made her way back out of the forest...... Or how Sabrina struggles with lust and trust after her disastrous Lupercalian night with Nick. Rated Mature - Chapters 4/4 - Last Update 3/15/2020

54. “I Need to Know”

Author: raeinthedark

Summary: Love isn't that easy to erase... and that song is on again. Rated General - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 2/29/2020

55. “Be True To Your School”

Author: rayo aka @its-nabrina-bitch

Summary: Nicholas Scratch is the Golden Boy™ of Baxter High; star athlete, top of his class academically, and devastatingly handsome. Sabrina Spellman sees Sophomore year as an opportunity to expand her horizons; joining the cheerleading squad, running for student council, and making new friends along the way while working to maintain her relationships with her old friends. What Sabrina Spellman doesn't know: sophomore year is about to turn her world upside-down. Rated T - Chapters 6/? - Last Update 2/23/2020

56. “Ocean”

Author: sarahkwut

Summary: AU, M-Rated. Nicholas Scratch has everything working in his favor. He's got a decent job as a history teacher, his roommate Melvin is always up for video games and getting high, and Sabrina Spellman lets him mess up her sheets frequently. Sabrina knows Nick isn't good for her, but she can't stay away, no matter how hard it is to pretend she's completely okay with their casual arrangement. But when life takes an unexpected curve, Nick is forced to face a new normal he doesn't know how to navigate. And Sabrina may or may not be there to help him through it. AU/AH - Rated Mature - Chapters 27/27 - COMPLETED 2/10/2020

57. “I’ll be there”

Author: Miss_Kath90 aka @misskath90

Summary: She couldn’t stop looking at him, since she had recovered him from the claws of the Dark Lord, she felt unable to be apart from him and had to admit that part of her was afraid he would disappear if she moved from his side. And Sabrina wouldn't let anyone or anything separate him from her again. Never. Rated Mature - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 1/30/2020

58. “Walk away”

Author: Miss_Kath90 aka @misskath90

Summary: Pain. Could he someday escape the pain? He sometimes thought it impossible. It was strange, his relationship with the pain, it was an enemy and a friend. The pain numbed him. The pain didn’t let him sleep. The pain hurt him and soothed him. It was unhealthy, the way the pain helped him relieve the pain. But it was the only thing he had left. Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 1/27/2020

59. “To Hell and Back”

Author: sarahkwut

Summary: Sabrina was successful in her efforts to retrieve Nick from Hell, but the damage - physical and emotional - is deep. Sometimes, the only way to heal is to go your separate ways and trust things will work themselves out in the end. (Written before Part 3 - an alternate take on how Nick recovers from his time in Hell - with and without Sabrina). Rated Mature - Chapters 3/3 - Last Update 1/26/2020

60. “The Morning(star) After”

Author: rayo aka @its-nabrina-bitch

Summary: A Painful NickxSabrina Reunion Rated T - Chapters 1/3 - Last Update 1/24/2020

61. “My only love sprung from my only hate”

Author: filmharlot

Summary: High School AU where Nick is based on the version of him that Sabrina creates in her dream during the Batibat episode. Harvey and Sabrina have broken up and don't want to work together on the Romeo and Juliet assignment in Drama class, so she ends up being partners with Nick AU - Not Rated - Chapters 8/? - Last Update 1/19/2020

62. “A very witchy Christmas”

Author: Miss_Kath90 aka @misskath90

Summary: Just a bit of silly Christmas fluff that I couldn’t help but write, placed in the series universe after a huge jump in time. Not Rated - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 12/25/2019

63. “Mortal Little Christmas”

Author: HeartsInJeopardy

Summary: ‘Twas the night before Christmas – and the first for Nick Scratch - but Sabrina’s holiday movie was not a good match. Rated T - Chapters 2/2 - Last Update 12/21/2019

64. “Lessons in the Unseen”

Author: bunivy aka @bunivys

Summary: Academy Teachers AU. Sabrina Spellman lives as simple a life as a half-mortal half-witch can. Despite her dislike for the headmaster, she enjoys spending her time teaching Ritual Magic at the Academy of Unseen Arts, hoping to positively shape the minds of young witches and warlocks. However, with the sudden dreadful announcement of her aunt Zelda's engagement and the appearance of one mysterious - and strikingly handsome - Nicholas Scratch, Sabrina finds that her life is not so simple anymore. Or all that safe. AU - Rated Mature - Chapters 32/32 - COMPLETED 12/17/2019

65. “Just a Little Obsessed”

Author: eyerys

Summary: Nicholas has developed a tinie-tiny crush on Sabrina. Nothing like major or whatever. It's not like he thinks about her all the time or daydreams about what it would be like to be with her or how cool she is. No, not at all.Sabrina doesn't have a crush on Nick. No, not at all. Uh-uh. She has Harvey. Sweet and loving Harvey Kinkle. But for some reason, she can't help but find her mind wandering. Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 12/13/2019

66. “As The Moon Rises”

Author: venzaren

Summary: Sabrina Spellman is tired.Tired of living a double life. Tired of facing discrimination at the hands of her pack. Tired of dealing with her status as an Omega. And most of all, she's tired of people hounding her about finding her mate.Then Nick Scratch returns to Greendale. AU - Rated General - Chapters 1/? - Last Update 12/07/2019

67. “Thirteen Memories”

Author: tempestbreak

Summary: (Set at the end of Season 2) Sabrina and her friends go to Hell and rescue Nick -- but what happens when that's the easy part?It turns out, having the Dark Lord inside your mind for months can do some damage, and Nick comes back different. His memories of the events leading up to his sacrifice, including his relationship with Sabrina, are gone. How can Sabrina help him regain his memories of their time together when she's not even sure she trusts her own? Rated Mature - Chapters 6/? - Last Update 11/02/2019

68. “But The Greatest Is Love”

Author: sarahkwut

Summary: The acheron captured Lucifer Morningstar, but their problems are far from over. The coven is decimated, the Church of Night is no more, Father Blackwood is on the run, and Nick and Sabrina's relationship is in ruins. How do they pick up the pieces and move on? There are more questions than answers and the consequences could be of biblical proportions. Rated Mature - Chapters 25/25 - COMPLETED 10/28/2019

69. “Back to You”

Author: nadiaselite

Summary: Sabrina brings Nick back from hell. Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 10/11/2019

70. “The Open Road”

Author: paradiamond

Summary: Nick wants her back, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes. In fact, he insists on it. Rated T - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 9/22/2019

71. “The words “I love you” aren’t enough”

Author: Miss_Kath90

Summary: “Look at me, Nick” he was reluctant but when he finally looked up she took his face in her hands making him unable to look away “What you did that day… Nick, you sacrificed yourself for my sake, even when I mistreated you and told you all those horrible things. You did it for me, because you love me… Don’t you see? You’re incapable of being evil.”Or... Sabrina gets her boyfriend back but things don’t go as smoothly as she thinks they will. Rated Mature - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 9/22/2019

72. “Mission: Let’s get my boyfriend back”

Author: My_Evak_Heart

Summary: Sabrina and the Fright Club ventures on their first mission: getting Nick back from Hell Not Rated - Chapters 1/1 - Last Update 9/7/2019

73. “Jealousy is a killer”

Author: Melissa1226

Summary: Will Sabrina and Nick Start something new? and who is watching them from the shadow full of jealousy? Rated Mature - Chapters 8/? - Last Update 8/28/2019

74. “The Jock”

Author: mikaila_ealum

Summary: An Alternate Universe where Nicholas Scratch is Baxter High’s quarterback along with one of the most popular boys at school. With few knowing the truth, Scratch is living a double life as a warlock at the Academy of Unseen Arts. Sabrina takes a hiatus from the Academy to get more in touch with her mortal side. When Sabrina gets back she becomes partners with Nicholas for a project in theatre class. AU - Chapters 8/? - Last Update 8/07/2019

75. “act 5, scene 2 (thou and i are too wise to woo peaceably)”

Author: ghostemo aka @wickedscratch

Summary: When Sabrina Spellman rose to a challenge issued by Prudence Night, she never imagined she’d actually make the varsity cheer squad - or that doing so would upend life as she knew it. Now she has to navigate her new role within the social hierarchy of hell -er Baxter High as well as trying to get her boyfriend to actually communicate. It certainly doesn’t help that she’s been paired up with the annoyingly handsome Nicholas Scratch, captain of Greendale’s beloved football team, for a project in her theater class. It’s exactly as, if not more so, cliche as it sounds. AU/AH - Rated T - Chapters 3/? - 7/25/2019

76. “Off the Record”

Author: sarahkwut

Summary: AU. Detective Nicholas Scratch left New York for Greendale in desperate need of a change of scenery. The small town takes some getting used to, but local reporter Sabrina Spellman quickly grabs his attention. It's the fresh start he needed until Greendale's residents start turning up dead. With a murderer on the loose, no one is innocent - and anyone might be next. AU/AH - Rated Mature - Chapters 29/29 - COMPLETED 7/22/2019

77. “Bring You Close To Me”

Author: BridgetMcKennitt

Summary: Sabrina and her friends managed to bring Nicholas back from Hell. There was a lot the two of them needed to discuss, but tonight, they had this. Rated E Mature - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Last Update 7/13/2019

78. “A Brief Moment”

Author: bunivy aka @bunivys

Summary: Ever since he's returned from Hell, Nicholas Scratch has been having nightmares. With help from Aunt Hilda, Sabrina unknowingly shows him a light and for a moment, Nicholas knows everything will be okay. Rated General - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Last Update 6/24/2019

79. “To Hell and Back”

Author: swtnerdgirl

Summary: A year has passed since Sabrina and her friends rescued Nick from Hell. No one came back the same. They all had their scars. Some emotionally. Some physically. In the days leading to Hilda's wedding, they all prepare for their lives to change and heal their wounds. Rated Mature - Chapters 16/? - Last Update 6/06/2019

80. “Dead Witch Walking”

Author: rayo aka @its-nabrina-bitch

Summary: Faced with the possibility of being harrowed to death by her classmates, Sabrina finds an escape. Rated E Mature - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Last Update 5/26/2019

81. “Moonlight Beneath Rough Lips”

Author: ivylikeveins

Summary: After the encounter with the thirteen witches of Greendale, Sabrina enters the dining hall with moonlight locks bathed in soft blue hues, and Nick does not know what to do. He ends up with a soft and small Sabrina pressed into his chest, sleeping, and wrapped around his very much over-sized jacket with Nick's lips pressed into the soft, pearly strands he wants his soul to get entangled within. Rated Mature - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Last Update 5/19/2019

82. “The Hunt”

Author: OnlyInAutumn

Summary: Nick howled into the night, up at the stars to signify that he was ready on the eve of Lupercalia, the darkness of midnight around them. The first sound of the horn sent them into the forest. The hunt had begun. Rated E Mature - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Last Update 5/11/2019

83. “Secrets, Secrets are no Fun”

Author: filmharlot

Summary: Sabrina is the new kid for the first time in her life. Choosing to go to the Academy full-time seems to be a hard transition than she was expecting. With the Weird Sisters harassment at an all-time high, dealing with leaving her mortal friend's and condescending teachers, Sabrina is suffering. She's not even allowed to have Salem for comfort. It's not all bad though. She is finally free to do magic whenever she wants, and there's a charming warlock who is being particularly nice to her. Plus, someone is leaving kind gifts on her bed at the end of the night. She just wishes she knew who it was. Not Rated - Chapters 1/? - Last Update 5/06/2019

84. “Unsettled Nighttime Creatures”

Author: mindlesshappy

Summary: We all know Sabrina is going to save Nick. This is how Nick reacts to being saved - which, spoilers alert - is like a very stupid warlock. Rated T - Chapters 5/5 - Completed 4/25/2019

85. “Selfless”

Author: sarahwut

Summary: Sabrina Spellman dragged Nicholas Scratch back from Hell. But Hell might be better than a world in which they aren't together. Rated General - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Completed 4/23/2019

86. “Homecoming”

Author: cherrystems

Summary: After several months Sabrina is able to get Nick back from Hell with the help of her family and friends. However, Nick has to adjust to Earth again while dealing with PTSD and anxiety. This tells the story of the growth of Sabrina and Nick's relationship over the recovery time. Not Rated - Chapters 3/? - Last Update 4/20/2019

87. “Under Your Spell”

Author: londonmarie

Summary: Sabrina doesn't hesitate to have her Dark Baptism and things go differently. Rated T - Chapters 10/? - Last Update 4/18/2019

88. “Photographs”

Author: Greyowl9831

Summary: It's been at least 150 years since Sabrina signed her name in the Book of the Beast. One day she finds an old photo album. Will the memories it contains be a great walk down memory lane or will it be more than she can bare? Not Rated - Chapters 4/? - Last Update 4/14/2019

89. “An itch That Needed Scratching”

Author: umbrellacorp

Summary: What if Nick slayed his familiar and Sabrina and Nick got to experience the last night of the Lupercalia festival alone. Tonight, Sabrina would be transformed. Nick was going to show her power that she never knew she had, an innate carnal power. They were about to become the most powerful union of the Church of Night. Rated E Mature - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Last Update 4/13/2019

90. “and I keep waiting (but I won’t say I’m waiting)”

Author: lost_n_stereo @lost-n-stereo

Summary: You would think that it would hurt less as the days go by, since it’s been nearly two years since Nick sacrificed himself for the greater good and Lilith took him to hell. Except, he didn’t sacrifice himself for the greater good, he sacrificed himself for her. And that makes it a hell of a lot tougher to let go. Rated General - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Last Update 4/10/2019

91. “Fire”

Author: OnlyInAutumn

Summary: Their power—together—was overwhelming. It was something that she had not felt either, the consuming feeling of expanding power. It was entirely addicting. Rated Mature - Chapters 2/2 - Completed 3/24/2019

92. “something I can believe”

Author: Anry

Summary: Missing scene after Sabrina's baptism. I wouldn't say that it's really a relationship here, just conversation. Rated General - Chapters 1/1 - One Shot - Last Update 1/25/2019

AND THERE YOU GO!!!!! Have fun everyone, if i missed any fics or you have any recommendations for the list message me or send an ask. It’s been a good ride and this list has come so far from being only 13 fics to now 92. Love and Praise to all the CAOS/Nabrina Fics out there.

#Nabrina #Nabrina Fics #Sabrina Spellman #Nicholas Scratch #Nick Scratch #CAOS #Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

[tiesandtea]

SUEDE: Style & Substances

Alternative Press, May 1997 (no. 106). Mag cover. Written by Dave Thompson. Archived here.

Suede Give Us A Glimmer...

Bleeding through the debate about vocalist Brett Anderson's sexuality and rumored drug intake, the overall glamour with which society equates a fucked-up lifestyle drapes Suede like a second skin. Dave Thompson travels to London to discover why Suede are one of the few bands that matter in an age of stars who are "just like you."

Brett Anderson leans against an amplifier, hands in pocket, shoulders hunched. To his left, the rest of Suede are playing Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross"; to his right, a television crew is fiddling with camera angles. He wants a cigarette, but he never smokes this close to showtime. Instead, he swings a keychain and glowers into the monitors. It's rehearsal time in Studio Four, a theater-sized room as the BBC, and the only person who's enjoying himself is an increasingly rotund-looking Jools Holland. He's the host of this evening's show, and he's away in another room entirely. 

Later...With Jools Holland is a British TV institution. Less than three years old, it has nevertheless sewn up a comfortable niche somewhere between the chart-conscious grooviness of Top of the Pops and the more indulgent pastures of MTV Unplugged. It's a showcase for bands to run through a handful of new songs, play a favorite or two and give a taste of their live prowess without boring the unconverted senseless. Boring themselves senseless, of course, is another matter entirely, and as Suede are counted into the third rehearsal of their opening song "Trash," you can almost sense the desperation in Anderson's face. Then the action starts, and he's utterly transformed. Though he's barely moving and scarcely singing, he's conveying an intensity that explodes from his very presence, drawing the most disinterested eyes in his direction. Even the soundmen look up from their meters, and the camera crew compete for his undying attention. If Anderson weren't a rock star, he'd make a great lunatic. But because he is a rock star...well, he's probably a lunatic anyway. You would be, too, in his shoes. If the 1990s have given us anything, it's the demystification of the rock star. From the boy-next-door Weezers to the angst-ridden whiners, the message is the same: I'm no different from you; I'm no better than you; and, of course, I'm just as screwed up as you. Enter, or more properly, re-enter Suede, with their third album, Coming Up (Columbia). And all that hard work reducing idols to idiots counts for nothing. Because Suede couldn't be "just like you" even if they wanted to. Bleeding through the "is he?/isn't he?" debate about vocalist Brett Anderson's sexuality and the "does he?/doesn't he?" of his rumored drug intake, the overall glamour with which society equates a fucked-up lifestyle drapes Suede like a second skin. The scent of teen spirit clings to them, the doomed romanticism of consumptive youth which peaked on their last album, 1994's Dog Man Star, and peeks through the stunning Coming Up. Suede deal in emotional extremes, from the A Clockwork Orange apocalypse of their "We Are The Pigs" video in which armed hooligans howl through a burning industrial landscape while Suede gaze down from giant video screens, to the incandescent loneliness of the current "Saturday Night" video, in which a London subway station is transformed into a rave to which the band have not been invited. The band's junkie chic is as apparent in the stoned immaculate presentation of their latest wasted-youth album-cover artwork, as it is in the gorgeously gaunt frame which Anderson angles for the television cameras. Add a live show that oozes subversive glamour; couple that with the fearless decadence of Anderson's greatest lyrics, and whether it's all an act or not, Suede are a walking advertisement for the joyful sins of sleaze. Backstage in the bowels of the BBC, Anderson sighs. He's heard all this before. "Yeah, you can look at it like that, but that's other people's interpretation of it, and that's their problem. You can't look at yourself through other people's eyes, then worry about what you say through their ears; you've got to have some self-belief in what you are." Which is, right now, the biggest thing on 10 legs. Across Europe and the Far East, Coming Up charted at No.1 and has already outsold both its predecessors. Three singles have kept the pot boiling ever since, and the current Suede line-up (their fifth on record since their 1990 "Be My God" 7-inch single debut) is their strongest yet. Like Brian Eno's departure from Roxy Music, founding guitarist Bernard Butler's exit did not so much rid the band of one creative spark, as open the door for the flowering of another. Anderson's unequivocal grasping of the reins, only partly aided by the recruitment of guitarist Richard Oakes, may have diluted Suede's overall sound, but it has sharpened their vision to a razor's edge. The further addition of keyboardist Neil Codling fills the gaps that teen maestro Oakes couldn't plug; the Simon Gilbert/Mat Osman rhythm section is a thunderous roar that never lets up; and Coming Up is unmistakably the sound of the same great band that recorded Dog Man Star. The difference is, Anderson affirms, they've stopped pissing around. "After Dog Man Star, everyone thought we were going to do an operetta or something like that. But you get things out of your system. We wanted to refocus the band, the fact that we were virtually starting again; we wanted to readjust the basics." And did it work? "You can't completely divorce yourself from your past. I haven't got the memory of a goldfish; I was aware that I'd made two albums before it. But it felt fresh, and it felt as though we were making the record away from a lot of the crap you have to deal with, away from the spotlight, which was great. Plus...", and here he gestures to new arrivals Codling and Oakes, "... there's less of an obsession with self-importance, which was definitely a change in the band. The last two albums were quite precious and self-important, and that can be good and that can be bad." Ah, preciousness. Plough through five years of Suede press and the buzzwords leap out: "superficial", "fake", "David Bowie" - three hollow sides to the same soulless coin. But most of the people who call Suede "pretentious" are the same ones who fancy the Spice Girls. And the closest those cynics get to class is the corridor outside the school room. "It does bother us a bit," says Anderson. "People always want to polarize bands into camps, and what I always find objectionable, even with journalists who are pro-Suede, is, they always want to write about us as an alternative to this good, honest musicianship going on elsewhere, which kind of implies that there isn't any good, honest musicianship going on within Suede." Anderson resents that implication, just as he resents the accusations of vanity that are flung at him with equal frequency - the two go hand in hand, after all. "People ask, 'Are you vain?' Hang on, let me turn the question around. If you were going to appear on television in front of five million people, you'd probably look in a mirror to see what you look like. You'll brush your hair and put a bit of make-up on because you don't want to look like a pig. Does that mean you're vain? I don't think it does. "Ninety-nine percent of my career thought is dedicated to thinking about music; a very tiny percentage is spent on image. I may go shopping once a month; but while I don't think we're the honest blokes down the pub, we're not kooky weirdos either. We're just what we are." A decent image, though, is still worth a thousand songs (ask Marilyn Manson), and if it's not their Englishness that holds Suede back in the U.S., then it has to be their appearance. They look weird. Catch the "Beautiful Ones" video: Codling apes the same abstracted pose of diffidence and boredom that once made a star of Sparks' Ron Mael; and Osman and Oakes look like they're trying to extinguish a particularly persistent cigarette end. Their singer is fey. Imagine Bryan Ferry if a stick insect stole his trousers. Their music is arty. And they come on like they're somehow special, so special that America poses little interest or challenge to Suede. Other bands make no secret of their desire to crack the country, nor do they hide their disgust when they fail. Suede, though, never seemed bothered. Past U.S. tours (three so far) have been languid affairs, barely publicized flirtations which almost gratefully acknowledge that as far as most people are concerned, Suede might as well be a lesbian performing artist. Anderson dictates the band's Stateside manifesto: "I don't give a shit." "Don't get me wrong: please don't portray us as some sort of anti-American thing, because we're not. But as far as America is concerned, you can talk about airplay and videos, but all it really boils down to is the fact that America doesn't like Suede. And I'm not going to knock it, if they don't like it, they don't like it." And what don't they like? Kurt Cobain had a tummy ache, and a nation felt his pain. Trent Reznor's dog died, and a nation held his hand. Brett Anderson wrote songs about holes in your arm ("The Living Dead") and pantomime horses ("Pantomime Horse"); he equates love with flyaway litter ("Trash"), and he's never been in rehab. "I hate that rehab shit! That's one place where America get really suckered, with those rehab rock bands. Let me explain what going into rehab means. It means you're cool because you used to do drugs, but now you're a good lad, and you're really '90s, so you want to give them up. But it's a complete excuse, and anybody who says it or does it is a complete careerist. I don't think the public shoulg go out and buy records by people whose record companies have told them to say they're going into rehab. You want to talk about fakes and falseness in the music business; I think this rehab rock thing is such a lot of dog shit." So you don't just say no? "I can't sit here and honestly say that drugs are bad for you, because I don't believe that, and I don't think anybody with a brain believes that." He elaborates: "Smoking a bit of pot and taking a bit of LSD can open a few barriers in your mind, although I certainly don't think taking smack, taking coke or taking crack does anything. I know I've taken drugs before and looked back on it and said, 'That's fucking crap; you should have got your act together and stopped taking them.' They just numb you and turn you into a wrong-thinking fucking idiot. "But that's the whole problem with drugs, isn't it? You can't say 'drugs' because there's so many different factes to it. 'It's an aid to creativity.' Well, some of it is, and some of it isn't. You can't paint everything with one brush." As for the veneer of glamour which Suede's own observations convey, the danger that, to quote the new album's "The Chemistry Between Us," "we are young and easily led," Anderson remains equally adamant. "There's no point in trying to filter things like 'Don't talk about this, don't talk about that.' Lots of times when I'm talking about drugs, I'm talking in a pedestrian context. I'm not trying to make it into a big deal; I talk about it like I'd talk about anything else that's in this room." And though he agrees there is a moral question, he also believes it's impossible to do much about it. "The only way you can set yourself up as something moral is in the broader sense, by not treating music as this completely throwaway, meaningless thing, and not treating the sentiments expressed in the music as completely throwaway, meaningless things. "That's where I see my position morally, someone who can write a love song and actually bring a degree of warmth to someone else. You can't act as censor in your words; you just have to be positive about what you're doing and see that making records that people love, that people cling to, and that help people through sticky patches in their lives is, at the end of the day, a positive thing to do. There's very few things I think that are positive in the world, but music is one of them." And that is that. In an age when a star is only as big as his last three videos, and most stars are as interesting as a line at the post office, Suede are three albums into a career that means more to more people than any of the bickering of Suede's petty, wormwood competitors; and certainly far more than the bitter, twisted harping of their detractors. Stars shine, shit stinks, and the lowest common denominator is nothing to be proud of. No one really wants to watch Hootie feed his blowfish, but Brett Anderson spends "Saturday Night" moping around on a subway train, and it's the best thing on MTV this year. Who cares what else he gets up to? Turning as he heads for the soundstage, Anderson won't be drawn. "My drugs of choice are ginseng and chamomile tea, but don't worry. I'm going into rehab soon."

#brett anderson #mat osman #simon gilbert #richard oakes #neil codling #suede #coming up month #coming up era

[lucy-ghoul]

Mikasa Ackermann, Levi Ackermann, Amane Misa, Aeron Greyjoy for the charactet ask :3

SOMEONE HEARD MY PRAYERS AND NOW MY TIME HAS COME, tysm!!!!! <3

okay, let's start with levi (my beloved):

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life (THEE little feral anime man after my heart)

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang (Dark, Tall and Snarky + piercing grey-blue eyes and chronic insomnia? clearly my type ❤)

hogwarts house: gryffindor (maybe....?) | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

ugh, the hp sorting house system is way too reductive. he has qualities of gryffindor, slytherin, and hufflepuff - brave, astute, loyal to a fault, etc. so it's a hard choice. but if i really have to choose, i'd go for gryffindor. i know that his Bad Boy facade shouts slytherin, but while he has larger goals (killing all the titans, then saving the world etc.), he's got no actual ambition for himself. hufflepuff would also be a good option.

daemon (from the his dark materials series): (because i've just decided that's just way more accurate than the hp method) some kind of big feline. maybe a panther - a black panther would be the ideal - aloof, predatory, dangerous, fiercely independent.

best quality: besides his obvious strenghts as a leader and warrior, the way he cares for his comrades-in-arms. it's very hard to gain his trust and respect, but once you have it, it's forever. he's pragmatic and ruthless, yes, but he also has a huge capacity for compassion and friendship. not that he would be effusive about his affections, of course.

worst quality: none, he's absolutely perfect ❤ jklsdfhjk jokes aside, he really struggles to open up (a serious understatement), idt he ever talked about his traumatic past with anyone. i mean, maybe he mentioned it to hange and erwin (erwin knew him when he was still an undergound thug, so...), but... he's not great with feelings. despite his apathetic, intimidating mask, he feels and cares deeply, but he has a long history with losing the people he loves, so he tries to not personally care about his squadmates, which can be both a strenght and a weakness. of course, he spectacularly fails at this.

ship them with: well, it's not a secret that i'm a huge rivamika fan, this ship is almost literally consuming my waking thoughts lmao. imo they're perfectly compatible: very similar personalities (stoic, the strongest warriors, absolutely terrifying on the battlefield but with a soft underbelly), very similar pasts/experiences, so many parallels that it's actually ridiculous, etc. i love how they're both each other's equals and likeness (yes, i took it from jane eyre. no, i don't regret anything lmao). a lot of tropes i love, too: Terrible First Impression (the Pride and Prejudice vibes are so strong with these two, you have no idea), Kindred Spirits/Mirror Images, Veteran/Young Prodigy, The Last of Their Kind, even Height Difference lmao. i could write a whole rivamika manifesto, but this is already too long. (maybe for some other time 👀) i would've loved for their dynamic to be more explored in canon but alas, isayama clearly didn't give a shit about the ackerman legacy, he just used it as a plot shortcut to give them conveniently unique powers, since they never really talked about it 🙄 (and before some troll comes into my askbox shouting "you iNcEsT fReAk!!!!1!!", they're only very distantly related. we know shit about the ackermans but we know for sure that they've got at least several generations between them. biologically their shared DNA is 0%, obviously they don't see each other as family, all the eldians have a dead ass common ancestor from 2000 years ago so they're all basically ⁓related anyway. if you really wanna scream about i.ncest, go watch got/dark/the borgias and shut the fuck up please. or alternatively go outside and touch some grass) sorry for the rant, uh. anyway, i can also see levi/erwin. idk if i'd ever care enough to read a fic about them (i'm usually a huge multishipper, but for some weird reason not when it comes to rivamika? same with braime and kastle tbh), but still, i can see it.

brotp them with: hange and erwin, obv. veteran trio >>> ema trio, sorry not sorry (at least h. and e. died before yams had the chance to ruin their character arcs)

needs to stay away from: ...uh, filth, i guess? lmao

misc. thoughts: besides the stupid teenage fangirl crush i have on him, i'm genuinely fascinated by the man himself. he's a huge mess of a contradictions, and yet somehow it works: he's violent and brash and kind of an asshole, but also has a strong moral code and integrity; he's obv very skilled at all the killing/torturing stuff and yet he has a huge respect for life; he's got a potty mouth to say the least, and yet some very aristocratic manners/tastes (the way he sits, his preference for tea and usually refined clothes); he comes from what's supposed to be an illustrous bloodline, he's methodical and very precise, and yet he was born and raised in the underground, he's been used to filth and blood and poverty since he was a child, kenny of all people was his father figure, and probably has known no other life than a perennial survival mode existence. he's "humanity's strongest soldier", but while well-built he's also small, the david to the titans' goliah, and probably not what people would assume a born warrior looks like. he's also one of the few characters who stayed true to himself and his original characterization until the end, bless you smol king ❤

(okay, this is getting long!)

mikasa:

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them (so much. she deserved better ❤️) | actual love of my life 

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! (stunning lady ❤) | 10/10 would bang

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

this is actually easy: mikasa belongs to hufflepuff and no, i won't take criticism (just joking lol). enough with this "hufflepuffs are fluffy puppies/Cinnamon Rolls <3" thing: mikasa values loyalty and duty more than anything else. she's also hardworking... and fierce, strong, lethal. yes, hufflepuff and lethal are not mutually exclusive concepts.

daemon: (finally the better option) a she-wolf, fiercely protective of her pack.

best quality: loyal, brave, incredibly strong (alongside her more fragile qualities). practical and level-headed on the battlefield, at least when eren is not included in the picture.

worst quality: struggles to let go of the past (understandable, considering her trauma). tunnel-vision when it comes to eren, obv. extreme levels of delusions ("if only i spoke openly about my romantic feelings for him - as if i didn't made them abundantly clear in ⁓6 years - he wouldn't kill 80% of humanity :(((" lmao okay. just. okay), but that's more on the writing. she's sadly more static than any other main character throughtout the whole series.

ship them with: see above :) but recently i've also started to be intrigued by mikasa/annie and mikasa/sasha. also, i'm sympathetic to jeankasa fans, though i don't actually care for the ship.

brotp them with: EMA trio, especially armin+mikasa. their friendship is so beautiful and special. also sasha.

needs to stay away from: ...... eren, at least romantically. again, that's more on the writing than anything else, but e.remika unfortunately encompasses many tropes i loathe with all the strength of my old shriveled heart: childhood friends-to lovers where the (male) childhood friend doesn't acknolewdge/is completely indifferent to the other (female) friend's romantic feelings, she hopelessly pines for him for years without anything more than a cold shoulder... until in the last chapter it's revealed that he loved her all along and doesn't "want other men to have her!!! :((" (then why did you have no reaction whatsoever to jean's years-long crush on her while she was jealous of any vaguely female-shaped human being you were friendly to, including hange? are you that dumb, man?); the female character's development and entire arc 100% revolves around the male protagonist - she has no goals, no dreams of her own except staying with him forever and ever; the romance is based on an idealized childhood dream, therefore reaffirming those childish illusions would make the character regress, not actually grow up (and nope, epilogue!jk doesn’t count; that also lacks build-up - i would’ve said the same about rm as well, so it’s not about shipping, guys, it really isn’t - and mikasa needed an inner change; getting married to another man but still praying to eren’s shrine is not substitute to actual development lol). post-time skip she's never really frustrated/angry with him, they never get a confrontation about him becoming a, y'know, mass-murderer of gigantic (pun intended) proportions; she puts him on a pedestal, and never stops idealizing him/never sees him for what he actually is (the narrative framing him as some kind of tragic martyr/saint eren from paradis with zero agency and basically... no clear motivation for the abovementioned mass murder, and not the actual complex tragic anti-hero/villain motivated by revenge and righteous fury he deserved to be, does not help). it lacks a good or even decent build-up - it's basically all tell and not show. now, if they'd actually been childhood friends to enemies to lovers/mutually co-dependent... it could have been interesting. sadly, it's not my cup of tea. of course this is just my personal preference, no hard feelings to the shippers.

misc. thoughts: enormous potential. she's been my fav female character since s1 - and ah, i miss s1!mikasa, when she had actually other stuff to do besides mothering eren. i love that she's the strongest warrior (second only to levi, obv), that her skills are never called into questions despite her gender, i love how she stands up for herself and the people she loves, that she may seem cold and stoic and yet has a such a huge heart, that she's not perfect but also sometimes awe-inspiring. sadly, she never really gets out of eren's shadow; what she lacks is an arc focused on herself. that's why imo getting deeper into the ackerman lore would've helped (also, you cannot make the main female character and the most popular male character descend from the same Unique Bloodline or whatever, and never really make them acknowledge it out loud; as a writer, you just can't lol). my spite is so strong that i'm currently writing a ridiculously pretentious fic that's 70% development for her character, to give her a voice, and 30% ackerthirsting. (yes, that's the fic i'm always vagueblogging about lmao, rip @ my brain). if any other rivamika fan is interested… mind you, it’s in italian tho, and idt i have the skills to translate into english.

misa:

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life 

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

daemon: mmh, maybe some kind of butterfly? beautiful, colorful, and short-lived.

best quality: glorious fashion sense, more inventive and ingenious than fans actually give her credit for.

worst quality: shallow, impulsive, and obv her dependence on/obsession with light (which stems from trauma btw, but still… the very opposite of a relationship between equals).

ship them with: rem, kinda (monster/human ftw!). also weirdly enough mogi, a little bit? she deserves someone who actually respects her… though she’s far from being a perfect angel. she may actually be crazier than light on some aspects. but in this house we stan evil ladies anyway, so i have no problem with that <3

brotp them with: uh, idk, maybe matsuda?

needs to stay away from: obv light. also takada.

misc. thoughts: a tragic victim of sexist writing. she may be… unhinged to say the least, but she didn’t deserve the abuse she got from light (and from the fans). the female characters’ writing in dn is so bad that idk if it’s on purpose, to kinda mirror the reality of women in a patriarchal society (dependent on men, housewives whose life entirely revolves around their husband/boyfriend etc.), or just casual misogyny lol. it’s even more baffling since we don’t know the author’s gender (they may be a man, a woman, nb, anything really). i tend for the latter option tho.

aegon greyjoy (now, i wasn’t expecting him lol):

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life 

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

i’m so sorry, i haven’t the slightest idea lmao. maybe gryffindor? mind you, it’s been a long time since i’ve re-read the books, so i don’t have many thoughts about him.

daemon: maybe it’s cliché, but some kind of fish/squid lmao

best quality: ugh, i really can’t remember much from his chapters :(( he’s not a coward, i guess? (lame answer, sorry!)

worst quality: definitely his religious fanaticism.

ship them with: no one.

brotp them with: uh… his family, ig? except euron.

needs to stay away from: obv euron. brr ://

misc. thoughts: i genuinely like the greyjoys chapters, though i vastly prefer the martells (with the exception of theon and asha, bcs i love them). yes, they’re deranged. yes, victarion is… well, victarion lol. but the drowned god religion is actually interesting, grrm knows how to write trauma - every time aeron mentions euron and that freaking door i’m like… :// - and the tragedy of it all… just great writing all around.

okay, that’s the end lmao. thank you so much, love!!! ❤❤

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