#Dark tales

[allyouneediswall]

[derangedrhythms]

The cord that held the curtains back made her think: strangle him. She told herself: it’s not that I don’t love him, I just feel morbid tonight.

Shirley Jackson, Dark Tales; from 'What a Thought'

[bebemoon]

look for the name MARY GRACE (requested by @ratsandfashion) | enfants riches déprimés layered muslin baby doll dress w/ red text embroidery along skirt (s/s 2o22), brokenheirlooms (on etsy) handmade black onyx bead and blood red glass bead garnet rosary necklace w/ antique doll inside sacred heart pendant, dark tales "floating candles" limited halloween edition eau de parfum (frankincense, linen, candlewax, amber, violet, moss, vanilla), antique victorian-era lace-up black leather heeled boots, antique prayer book w/ gilded page edges and side lock (locking mechanism is missing) (c. 191o's), antique cilice and fabric belt choker (instrument of penance) (18th cent.)

[magic-of-drawing]

Welcome to LUNAR ECLIPSE

A Poppy Playtime AU where Playcare was evolved into a Utopia for mascots, toys and orphans alike; It had grew bigger and renamed into NEW PLAYCARE, a society has changed in a more religious setting with employees were replaced by mascots and followers. Catnap is now your beloved High Priest who would lead your lost soul to The Prototype.

He and the rest of the Smiling Critters are leading New Playcare in a new direction~

———

Lunar Eclipse is a dark tale on how the Utopia made up of Hope, kindness, knowledge, loyalty and wisdom is built on the foundations of pain, tragedy and loss. A tale of a relationship between mad priest, a guard and heretic…regardless it’s genuine or toxic.

This takes place prior b/w the 10-15yrs that passed before the events of the game within the Playtime Co.

[animepopheart]

★ 【咲真コウ】 「 白雪ユリ 」 ☆ ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me on twitter

[pumpkin-the-girlie-girl-vixen]

Hans Christian Andersen

The Grimm Story Of

The Little Mermaid

At the bottom of the sea, very deep in the water, live the sea people. It is a beautiful world and the palace of the sea king is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. The sea king had been a widower for many years, but lived with his old mother and his six princesses in the castle.

The littlest mermaid was a wonderful girl. While her sisters were exuberant and happy, she dreamed of the world above the water. Her grandmother told her stories about the world of men, and the little mermaid could not wait to be allowed a visit to this mysterious world.

On her fifteenth birthday, the time had come. She had heard many stories from all her older sisters and now she could see it with her own eyes. On the waves, the little mermaid saw a huge ship bobbing up and down. There was the sound of laughter and singing. When she came a little closer, the little mermaid saw a breathtakingly beautiful Prince. His black hair and black eyes were enchanting, and the little mermaid could not take her eyes off him.

But in the distance a storm approaching. The waves became higher and higher and the ship could not withstand them. It broke in two and sank to the bottom of the sea. The mermaid knew that people cannot survive in water, so she searched for the prince. She found him and held his head above the water. She kept it there until the storm had passed and they reached the mainland.

On the shore there was a monastery. Carefully the mermaid laid the prince on dry land and kissed him on the forehead. Then she hid and waited to see if anyone would find her prince. Not much later, some girls came running out of the monastery. One of them immediately saw the Prince lying there and took care of him. Sadly, the mermaid returned home.

At home, the little mermaid told the story to her big sisters. One of them knew where the Prince’s palace was and took the little mermaid there the next night.

How she longed to be with him. Every night she returned to look at her prince.

One day, the little mermaid plucked up all her courage and asked the sea witch for help. “I can turn your fish tail into legs, but it is very painful,” the witch said. “In return for your beautiful voice, I will give you a potion. But every step you take will feel like stepping on a knife. Also, you can never become a mermaid again, and if the Prince marries another, the next morning your heart will break and you will become foam on the water.” The Princess accepted it all..

The mermaid swam to the prince’s palace and went ashore. She drank the potion and fainted from the unbearable pain. The next morning, she woke up with the prince standing next to her. Of course she couldn’t say anything, but the prince took her into his castle anyway. He gave her the most beautiful clothes and allowed her to live with him. Every day he loved her more and more, but it never occurred to him to marry her.

The prince told her that he only wanted to marry the girl who had found him on the beach. One day his parents made the Prince meet a princess from another country. They hoped that he would want to marry her, but the little mermaid knew that he would only want to marry one girl. He would rather marry the mermaid than just any princess. So she went with him on the journey, full of confidence.

At last they were in the other country. They still had to wait for the Princess. She was still on her way from the temple where she had been brought up for years. As soon as the Prince saw her, he knew. This was the girl who had found him on the beach all those years ago. He would marry her. The little mermaid could already feel her heart breaking.

The evening after the wedding there was a big party on a ship. Sadly, the little mermaid looked across the water, knowing that the next morning she would become foam on the sea. Then suddenly she saw her sisters coming up to the surface. They gave her a sharp knife and told her to kill the Prince. Only then would she be able to live. But the little mermaid refused. She would never hurt her dear Prince. Then she threw herself into the sea.

But instead of becoming foam on the waves, she turned into a floating creature. “What am I?” she asked the others she saw floating around her. “We are the daughters of the air.” they replied. “If we do good deeds for 300 years, we can get an immortal soul. You have already tried to do so much good that you can try to get it too.” And that is exactly what the little mermaid was going to do.

The End

[musician-not-magician]

August Books

I used 🌈 to indicate LGBTQ+ featured characters within the book. I rated each book from ⭐️ - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. The books are listed in the order that I completed them.

“Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver ⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Blacktongue Thief” by Christopher Buehlman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“Renfield” by Barbara Hambly ⭐️⭐️

“Steep Trails” by John Muir ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Dark Tales” by Shirley Jackson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Time of Contempt” by Andrzej Sapkowski ⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“To Shape a Dragon’s Breath” by Moniquill Blackgoose ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Darkening” by Sunya Mara ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Faebound” by Saara El-Arifi ⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Darkly Dreaming Dexter” by Jeff Lindsay ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Handmaid’s Trail” by Margaret Atwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Baptism of Fire” by Andrzej Sapkowski ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Burning God” by R. F. Kuang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Wicked King” by Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Lightstruck” by Sunya Mara ⭐️⭐️

“For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Tower of Swallows” by Andrzej Sapkowski ⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“Dearly Devoted Dexter” by Jeff Lindsay ⭐️⭐️

“Clytemnestra” by Costanza Casati ⭐️⭐️⭐️ • 🌈

“The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[weepingfoxfury]

Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday ... another Tuesday in Tuesdayville ...

After I forget how many years, my Hydrangea finally flowered. I admired its blooms earlier in the year, and admired them some more in the recent cold snap.

I used to hate Hydrangeas. Hydra ... mythical serpent of many heads. An occurrence whilst out with a friend many years ago left me vowing never to have such a plant.

We'd gone for a walk. Late afternoon and quite sunny. We crossed through a graveyard chatting and chatting, perfectly happy. Suddenly, as though the Director had given instruction, the sun disappeared behind dark burgeoning clouds that quickly scuttered across the sky, the wind picked up and .... in unison ... the many hydra shook and rattled their dry flowery heads.

Add to this the rain beginning to pour, a roll of thunder and a strike of lightning that lit up a gravestone with my birth date on it, you can easily imagine how quickly our feet sped up and headed homeward. If Vincent Price's voice had followed us up the road, I wouldn't have been surprised.

I smile each time I see my Hydrangea now and take pictures of those I pass in the shiny metropolis. And yes, I have plans to buy more ... from the cut price shelf in the garden centre, of course ...

[scarabjewels]

Why I Think Coraline Was NECESSARY To Be Published and Made into a Movie

I watched Coraline so many times, it's my top comfort film, beating Tim Burton Classics, White Chicks, and Jennifer's Body. I watched the trivia videos, theories, and analysis videos of this film, but two video dissections of it did caught my eye: CinemaTherapy's and Karsten Runquist.

I knew about predatory manipulation tactics, but I did not realize how ingrained that concept was in Coraline. I see now that this film SHOULD BE watched by the intended audience: children.

Remember how Coraline would've never been published if it weren't for Neil Gaiman's literary agent's daughter lying to her mom about the book not being scary?

Honestly, she and her mom deserve a lot of credit for making Coraline the cult following for the late millennials and early gen-z's.

Now, here's why I really thought Coraline should be exposed to children, and why made up horrifying tales of scaring children made sense before and even now (honestly, it is needed now more than EVER)

Let's start with the underlying concept of Coraline, explained by Runquist's video: The Coraline Bug Theory

I kinda do not want to sum up everything from this video essay as it is a GREAT watch on its own. But one thing I did get from the video that I clicked in my head regarding the film, the concept of control.

The Beldam, popularly known as The Other Mother, is a manipulative predator. The Other World is the manipulated reality she uses to lure the children in, the bugs and pests are "called upon to do impossible tasks" for her and her own tactics of training her victims into her control. She makes everything attractive that would keep the children and her servants in line so that when she asks for what she wants from them, they don't bat an eye.

The concept of control do not just exist in manipulative settings, even in the emotionally neglectful households.

Mel Jones, Coraline's mother, is the editor of both her and her husband's job, in the first 10 minutes of the film, Mel is revealed to have gotten into a little accident , therefore what looks like a comically large turtleneck to a child is a neck brace. Her family had just moved and is working over time on a deadline. The stress is unimaginable, and while I do think Mel is already a matriarch, keeping her family at bay, the added stress may have made her snarky attitude heightened. She is a ticking time bomb, quite sarcastic, childish, and for lack of better word, bitchy (even by the end).

Though we know Mel is trying her best and her and Coraline are actually quite close, as Coraline feels safe enough to share her stories with her family and is openly expressive with them, Mel embodies an actual mother of a matriarchal family, leading and in charge out of love (doesn't make some of her behavior excusable , though she isn't super controlling at all, she lashes out like an older sister that took over the family when mom is away, but anyone can empathise and sympathise)

Now for Other Mother, she is not exactly Mommy Dearest, or Black Swan Nina's mom, mostly because she is not a mother, at all.

She is a puppeteer, a showman, or a performer. She dazzles the audience with her magic (creating a too perfect textbook giving and loving mother), luring them into a false sense of security. She gives them everything they want, then once she had spoiled them enough, she asks of them a favour, an uncomfortable favour.

This is further dissected in CinemaTherapy's video of Coraline.

Manipulators and predators usually use that kind of tactic, indulging the victims, and then ask them something uncomfortable. The guilt tripping would come into play. Those favours they ask would be a reward for the manipulator and predator for indulging them.

And this is why children should be able to watch this unsettling flick, best with their parents too.

Parents should also be able to detect these, and learn with their child as they watch this.

(I want to delve into even more deeper topics related but I'm afraid it could be too triggering and just writing the paragraphs above is already unsettling me, so I will stop here)

Now, Coraline as the prey looking bug but actually a predator, and while she is not the role model for any kid, she is one person we can all learn from in these types of situations.

While Mel kind of represents a gardener, the one who maintains and keeps everything in check, the Beldam as obviously a spider, manipulating her web to be the suspecting beautiful trap, Coraline's motif is the dragon fly, an insect that is surprisingly aggressive and classified as an apex predator.

What I love about film Coraline is her strong will and absolute individuality. She is just as bitchy as Mel, FOR SURE, and also an independent thinker. She questioned everything about the other world, and while she gave into the glamour of the Other World, she detected danger as soon as the Beldam asked her to sew buttons in her eyes. She may have been lured, but she is smart enough not to fall into manipulation.

I do not remember if it was discussed in the Bug Theory about Coraline's bug motif, I may have read or heard it in another Coraline analysis/theorist video. I distinctly remember her dragonfly symbol to be a big part of why she escaped from the grasp of the Beldam. Unlike Coraline, the previous victims were significantly and successfully manipulated and did not dare question or challenge the Beldam as she gave them a "better life."

The Beldam preys on children with gloomy lives, her victims, the ghost children (in the film), have been theorised to have been taken in these years respectively: 1921 ( The Tall Ghost Girl) ,1936 (The Ghost Boy) , and 1960 (The Sweet Ghost Girl).

( Disclaimer: I am not American nor have extensive knowledge of American History, I am at most an average Google researcher and at best, an overthinker)

So, in the 1920s to 1930s, it was the era of The Great Depression, the "worst economic downturn in history" that resulted in the rise of unemployment and hardships for lower classes. It is easy to see just from that description that life in general was hard, The Tall Ghost Girl mentioned "treasures", may be alluding to desires of wealth, as at that time, it was what everyone needed so much that it crashed the economy.

1939 was the year the second world war erupted. I figured the ghost boy's situation in wanting a better life is pretty understandable. The Ghost Boy mentioned "treats" as the three told about what the other mother lured them with. Rations were provided for children during that time, my guess is that the boy's family must've cut down on how much they can eat, so that they are able to eat the following days ahead, and seeing that the boy is quite scrawny, he must've gone hungry a lot.

Please be warned that race will be lightly discussed in this section. In researching about the 1960s, racial discrimination and segregation are present heavily. The Sweet Ghost Girl was Ms. Lovat's twin, who is confirmed to be of African-American descent as well as her voice actress of the same race, she also stated to have grown up in the Pink Palace , now owning it. She had stated "games to play" as the Beldam's main thing to lure her. The environment and society in the 60s may have only limited her to play inside the house with her twin, or their situation must've not even allowed them to play like normal kids.

The Beldam was given opportunity with those years' depressing circumstances and took full advantage of it, as it resulted in gullible children.

Coraline may have been set around 2007, in that time, the global financial crisis rose, that later led to the Great Recession. Upon researching the cost of a house and an apartment in Oregon in 2007, which is where the film was set in, it was significantly better to rent than own a house in Oregon. However, a possible main reason relating to why they move mustve just because of their work, as I couldn't find much of Potiac, Michigan's economic state in 2007. The Jones parents were writers, and Mel is an editor as well, and just to note, a writer's strike occurred in 2007. I could not get a grasp of how much the income of writers was at this time. What I do know is that strike was the largest sign they weren't paid enough. So, writer's strike and financial crisis? The stress to make ends meet must've been so immense for those two.

What made Coraline different from the previous children , aside from her feisty personality, was because despite hardships going on, being her parents were stressed, neglectful, and struggling to make ends meet, Coraline has a good safe relationship with her parents as well as her environment, despite everything being boring. Nothing imposed as a direct source of a horrible life, her life was just stressful at the moment, like any other 11 year old going through a drastically far move away from home (e.g Riley from Inside Out).

I would really argue Coraline's curiosity is what made the Beldam's tricks work but it was Coraline's common sense, fast thinking and fighting spirit (albeit bitchy, hey her mom is a bitch too) that led to her triumph and escape.

I guess Coraline is one of the aspired final girls of horror films, a smart fighter.

Conclusion:

This modernized dark fairy tale had trained me to look out for people like the Other Mother, I am so glad to be able to take that lesson and ingrained it in my life. I did not exactly understand manipulation, but I knew that I should be more careful around too kind strangers.

Coraline is THE CULT CLASSIC OF ALL TIME, so far. Other than the major moral lesson, it is a great watch for its own, a good thriller: unsettling and just scary.

And remember to actually learn from these kinds of tales, for kids and adults and especially parents out there. Scoff or appreciate, look beyond the veil and behold it's message into you heart and mind.

Please.

[backlogbooks]

"And so Jackson asks: Dear reader, have you, too, lost your mind?

Can you ever be sure you had one to lose in the first place? Have you ever mistaken the mew of a cat in heat for someone being murdered? Have you ever thought you saw your own self waiting at the crosswalk as you drive past in your car? Do you trust your own perceptions? And how far will you walk down a road at night before the wind at your back feels like the hands of a madman pushing you forward? Will you run? How fast? And whose door will you knock on? Everything looks perfectly normal as you rush up the front steps, and maybe you've just been spooked, maybe you're just being silly. In Jackson's world, the safe house is a trap. Enter it, and you might get lost in the dark."

-forward by Ottessa Moshfegh

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Safe With Me (short story)

Batlight spread his paws to steady himself, trembling as he fought against the tears pricking at his eyes. He couldn’t cry right now. He had to comfort his kit.

The day had been long. Despite trying to stay awake, Rainkit and Rosekit fell asleep on their paws–much like their adoptive parent–and were currently being placed into their nest by Dewfall.

But Lionkit remained above.

The little tom had gotten a speck of mud on his shoulder, and instinctively Batlight had reached over to lick it. It was not a split second later before Lionkit screeched with the agony of a cat being torn in two by coyotes. The little kit now crouched in the shelter of an overhanging fern, his breath rapid, and his eyes wide and terrified.

Dewfall poked his head out of the den, alarmed by the cry. Batlight looked at him and gestured for him to return to the other kits. Dewfall hesitated, eyes narrowed, then disappeared below.

Batlight wanted nothing more than to curl around his son and hold him close and tell him everything was going to be okay.

Batlight  took a step forward–

Lionkit flinched.

Batlight steadied his breathing, fighting against the sob that was threatening to tear its way through his throat. He took a step back, then crouched so that his belly was to the ground, and his paws tucked beneath it–out of sight. 

He opened his jaws to speak, then closed it again, unsure what to say. “I know you’re scared,” he spoke at last, his chin as close to the ground as it could be and his ears flat against his head so that he appeared as small as possible. “And I wish I could take that away from you. I wish I could take away all the pain and all the bad thoughts and memories and everything that makes you feel sad and scared. You met a bad cat–” Lionkit whimpered at the mention of Woodstar– “and I’m so sorry about that. All I can do is promise you that I am not like her, I will never be like her. I promise you you are safe with me. Okay? That means I’ll never, ever, ever hurt you, or Rainkit or Rosekit. I’m here for you.” 

Batlight swallowed, heart pounding. Lionkit remained where he was.

Batlight went on, taking a deep breath. “In fact, I’ll protect you from anyone who tries to hurt you, in the rare and unlikely chance that that’ll happen,” he put in quickly in case Lionkit got scared again. “I will take care of you. I love you. Night-night,” he finished dumbly, and wasn’t all too sure why he said that.

That is, not until a faint, almost inaudible voice whispered back, “night-night.” And it was all worth it.

==================

@ambitiousauthor

@starfalcon555

--Batlight tries to be strong for the kits but he's also very sensitive so he often tries not to cry while also trying not to make them cry.

--Hope it makes sense I am so tired

--Still writing Batlight's name as light and not flight because I like it better that way.

[allyouneediswall]

Gamayun in Captivity

[wills-woodland-warriors]

skeletal sward cats (GhostPipes): a sward concept

more dark forest worldbuilding go brrr!

I imagine the stories of the first dark forest cats would come from some of the skeletal Sward cats being Norwegian forest cats, so very, very big. These cats are likely from very early days before the tribe of rushing water, or even a group that existed not long before it. The group that started all clans, if you will. 

But yeah, I like the idea of there being cats that are barely cats anymore, all memories and thoughts almost completely wiped from them, with only a taste for blood left. They wander the sward, maybe even In groups, and keep their distance until they see a reason to prey on cats lost in the sward. Maybe that’s why most of our characters ever spawn in the sward: all the ones that do are picked off by skeletal cats. 

Instead of the permanent wounds that the dark forest cats we know and love have, these cats have rotted away: not forgotten, as they are remembered in legends and myths, or even condemned by starclans themselves to forever haunt the sward as they lose all sense of reality, all feelings and emotions except a bloodlust for anyone they set their teeth on.  they appear as giant creatures, held together with exposed flesh, bloody bones and a sunken in, furless skull with bright red eyes. Maybe tufts of fur litter their spine, casting spike-like shadows. They can’t speak well, and when they open their mouths cackles and screams come out, maybe even mimicking and taunting like a mockingjay. That’s how they got their name: Ghostpipes. (Also named after one of my favourite fungis, but shh ignore that)

@residences-of-the-darkforest @elementaldeityoffood @ambitiousauthor @indigo-flightly-falls

[darkparablesgainira]

Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's

_____________________________

One of the excellent series of games of the company "AMAX interactive". Beautiful characters, interesting stories and, of course, the magnificent Dupin Auguste)

There are 18 parts of the game in total. And all are based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Of course, there are some changes to improve the perception of the game, but they do not break it in any way

______________________________

P.s: I use a translator. If half of the words are not clear, sorry👁️����👁️

[marghe-exe]

Scooby-Doo if it was dark fantasy #nostalgia #liveaction #80s

[animepopheart]

★ 【ショットガンマン】 「 白雪ユリ 」 ☆ ⊳ Dark Tales ~ Mirror & Madness Princess~ ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me on twitter