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people really just walk into horror movies and expect them not to deal with uncomfortable things despite the genre being dedicated to discomfort.

i saw so many people complain that lisa frankenstein, a movie where one of the leads is famously a rotting corpse, was too gross for them. when i walked out of nosferatu, i heard people say that the nudity was uncalled for... in a vampire film. nudity? in MY gothic horror?! unheard of!

a LOT of people really need to accept that maybe some genres just aren't to their taste, idk. not every movie needs to be cookie-cutter clean. sexuality is a staple of gothic horror, if not the wider genre horror in General. you don't need to enjoy it, but it doesn't make these things uncalled for.

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My latest for Atlas Obscura is up! I reported on Reid Byers's truly wonderful "imaginary books" collection on display at the Grolier Club in Manhattan right now—and I got to sit in on his class about how to make an imaginary collection at the Center for Book Arts!

These are physical books that were mentioned in other books, split into three categories: "lost," "unfinished," and "fictive." All three are delightful, but the fictive category has *so* many fandom favorites—Death's memoirs from Discworld, a monograph by Sherlock Holmes, Stephen Maturin’s Thoughts on the Prevention of Diseases Most Usual Among Seamen, an entire case of the in-universe books of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, and many more.

The collection is on display at Grolier until February 15th and it's free to the public; in March it moves to San Francisco. (You can also look at it online—but seriously, these books are incredible in 3D if you're in the area in the next few weeks.) I think fanbinding folks would be especially interested in the material aspects of this project. (And I suspect some fanbinders will have also created in-universe books from their favorite source material!)

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aro & ace books: Indigenous authors

This post is combining global Indigenous identities, not soley North American!

Elatsoe - YA fantasy / Lipan Apache / aro-coded ace MC

A Snake Falls To Earth - YA fantasy / Lipan Apache / ace MC

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet - YA contemporary / Indigenous Canadian/Métis / demisexual MC

The Witch King - YA fantasy / Seminole / demisexual LI, ace SC

Godly Heathens - YA fantasy / Seminole / demiromantic MC

Màgòdiz - dystopian/fantasy / I believe the author identifies as 'having Mi'kmaq/Anishinabe heritage while not being registered' / an aroace MC

Muneera and the Moon - folktale anthology / Palestinian / some with ace characters or queerplatonic themes (author also has lots of other short fiction!)

Odd Blood - paranormal romcom / Kanaka Maoli / demisexual MC

The Bone People - litfic / Māori / aroace coded MC

#aspec books / aspec database / tumblr masterpost

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There was an interesting thread on Bluesky dissecting Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's relationship

TL:DR - It seems like Gaiman has been exaggerating the level of closeness between them for YEARS

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y'all HAVE to watch this...interview??? with the inmates of the prison where luigi mangione is being held.

the reporter is standing outside the prison walls, while the inmates are inside watching newsmax, and collectively screaming out one-word answers to questions loud enough to be heard by the reporter.

I've never seen anything like it

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"it's concerning if university students are genuinely struggling to read full adult-level books for class" and "don't overstate the reporting of a single news article" and "if this shift is genuinely real, it's reflective of broad curriculum changes in lower education levels, probably at least in part due to remote schooling during COVID, and doesn't mean the new generation is being willfully Stupid and Vapid" and "when reading for personal pleasure people should read whatever they like without shame" and "reading from a broad variety of genres, styles, and authorial backgrounds will improve your understanding of both literature and the real world" and "actively mocking people for their tastes in books does not encourage them to become more adventurous you're just being mean" and also "but seriously adult books are not just boringly pretentious nothingburgers padded with pointless sex scenes, and claiming they are just shows how little you've read" all can and should co-exist.

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Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:

"It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.

"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.

"If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!

"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."

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Some of my favorite quotes from The Princess Bride book (so far)

Stew pt. 1 "Buttercup's mother hesitated, then put her stew spoon down. (This was after stew but so is everything. When the first man clambered from the slime and made his first home on land, what he had for supper was stew.)"

Stew pt. 2 "Buttercup's mother whirled on him. 'Did you forget to pay your taxes?' (This was after taxes. But everything is after taxes. Taxes were here even before stew.)"

After Buttercup makes her declaration of love to Westley: "He closed the door in her face."

"'Rest then,' her mother cautioned. 'Terrible things can happen when you're overtired. I was overtired the night your father proposed.'"

"'Your father is dying.' 'Drat!' said the prince. "That means I shall have to get married.'"

"...whereas now she had five full-time hairdressers who managed things for her. (This was long after hairdressers; in truth, ever since there have been women, there have been hairdressers, Adam being the first, though the King James scholars so their very best to muddy this point.)"

"'I don't like killing a girl,' the Spaniard said.

'God does it all the time; if it doesn't bother Him, don't let it bother you.'"

“'I am your Prince and you will marry me," Humperdinck said. Buttercup whispered, 'I am your servant and I refuse.'

'I am you Prince and you cannot refuse.'

'I am your loyal servant and I just did.'

'Refusal means death.'

'Kill me then.' 

Then later Buttercup says to Humperdinck: "'I will never love you.'

"'I wouldn't want it if I had it.'

'Then by all means let us get married.'"

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6th april, 2023 • day 3

new book! new book! new book!

i've started reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne! it's so good! :D idk why but this was exactly what i wanted to read, i'm having a blast in the countryside with this book hahahahaha,,

also, finally got around to Bee and Puppycat. gold. 10/10 ✨

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My new book is now available for preorder!

After a century-long sleep, a Union soldier wakes up in 1965. Cavalry lieutenant Russell Krause is all at sea in this strange new century of electric lights and automobiles. But he soon acquires a guide: Caleb O’Connor, a kind-hearted, history-loving college student with secrets he’s desperate to hide. Caleb is gay, and he’s completely smitten with this lively, warm-hearted soldier, who has swiftly become his best friend. But Russell’s nineteenth century understanding of friendship is far more affectionate than any 1960s friendship is allowed to be. In between telling Russell about escalators, record players, and the Civil Rights movement, Caleb has to explain that men in 1965 are no longer allowed to hold hands or share beds or kiss… which is tough, because Caleb would love to be kissing Russell. Despite these chilling changes in social customs, Caleb and Russell’s loving friendship grows ever closer. But the cultural divide may prove wider than even love can bridge.

Content warnings: period-typical attitudes in general, but especially toward homosexuality

The Sleeping Soldier will be coming out on August 7. Preorder now!

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New Audiobook Youtube Channel!!

Greetings my tumblr friends and mutuals, I have a super special and exciting announcement!

I have started a Youtube channel!! Welcome to the world:

T.D.K Narration

I will be reading some Sherlock Holmes to begin with, and the full free audiobook of “A Scandal in Bohemia” is up on my channel now. If you have a public domain favorite, get in touch and I might just choose that to work on next!

It would mean the world to me if you’d subscribe and give my first video a listen, the Youtube algorithm loves hours watched, so throw on a cozy audiobook and let’s read together <3 As a disabled trans guy, it means the world to me to be able to share my passion for narration, and I’m really excited to continue to hone my craft and share it with you all!

You can find my channel HERE

And my first video HERE

I hope you take a moment to check it out, I’d love to see you there!

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I’m actually not hating on Overwatch for making Shintoism real for some reason, and I think more sci-fi settings should do that. Be bold.

Typical cyberpunk dystopia but nobody kills anything because A.I.s discovered Jainism is correct

Post-apocalyptic radioactive wasteland where justice depends on unblemished Sikh sword-saints

Space Opera but hyperspace jumps only function when overseen by a rabbi

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Settle a debate with me and my partner

I define reading as taking in a story, that means visualizing the story and using imagination just like you would if you had a book in front of you

Also plz reblog to spread this around

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Trans aro & ace books (part one)

THE MANY HALF-LIVED LIVES OF SAM SYLVESTER / acespec nonbinary MC, aroace major character

TWO DARK MOONS / arospec MC, nonbinary MC

*TELL ME HOW IT ENDS / nonbinary aroace major character

NOT YOUR BACKUP / aroacespec MC, trans love interest

MEET CUTE DIARY / trans MC, ace love interest

THE WITCH KING / trans MC, demi love interest, ace major character

THE ORACLE STONE / major aro & nonbinary characters

GENDER QUEER / memoir about being trans and aspec

*THE STONES STAY SILENT / trans aroace MC

*haven’t read

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So after reading enough of your Lovecraftian short stories, I’m ready to finally dive in and read some Lovecraft. Where should I start?

Either with

or with this one

Both of them have terrific essays putting Lovecraft into context, as a writer and as a person, the Les Klinger one with an introduction by Alan Moore, the Library of America one by editor Peter Straub.