#I about screamed when I discovered the relic

[plutonify]

The amount of Shadow Milk foreshadowing in this game, I SWEAR TO GOD(might make this a master-post just to talk about all of the foreshadowing I end up finding in game)

The Forgotten Academy’s entire aesthetic being pure vanilla but blue with jester-like enemies

The Hall of Enlightenment too

The Guild with the Avatar of Destiny definitely being connected to Pure Vanilla in some way alongside the eyes that float in the clouds above it and this relic I found

The Treasure Gacha!

[bimoonphases]

@wolfstarmicrofic July 14 - prompt 14: Secret Identity [word count 622]

“I really don’t understand why you obsess over this, Sirius.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. James Potter was the top sports journalist at the Grimmauld Chronicle. As for Peter Pettigrew, nodding by his side, he was of the best photographers the newspaper had. Both had gotten in for their talent, and even if Sirius knew he had started his career as an investigative journalist from the very bottom, there was still people saying he had his position only because his uncle Alphard owned the newspaper. And he was getting sick of it.

“I want to prove I deserve to be here,” he shrugged, putting the wrapper of his sandwich back on the lunch table he was sharing with his colleagues. “By uncovering the biggest secret of all.”

“But still…” James went on. “Why don’t you choose something else instead?” “Are you doubting my abilities, Potter?” “No, it’s just…” James lowered his voice. “What if discovering Superman’s secret identity does more harm than anything else?”

“Exactly,” Peter agreed. “The man’s been saving the city and the planet for years, he’s surely got a valid reason to not tell everyone who he really is.”

“He’s hiding,” Sirius shook his head. “Who knows how powerful he really is? We don’t know anything about him.”

“What are you talking about?”

Sirius raised his head, his eyes falling on a crooked smile which made his stomach do a cartwheel. Remus Lupin sat on the vacant chair at the table, opening a Tupperware of pasta salad.

“Well, Sirius…”

“I was wondering what the next great story would be,” Sirius interrupted Peter immediately.

No need to let the serious Remus Lupin, the newspaper’s attache for all cultural events, know about his obsession in unmasking Superman. Especially not when he was looking that cute in that jumper.

“Anything for me?” he smiled at him instead.

“I’m afraid not,” Remus chuckled, pushing his square glasses back up his nose. “Only a big museum opening tonight, with some precious artifacts. The city’s deployed additional security along with the one from the museum because rumors has it Lex Luthor is actually quite fond of relics and might try to steal them.”

“Heard that, Sirius?” James said. “Superman might need to go visit that museum.”

Sirius only shook his head, but that same evening he was there at the opening, trying his best to blend in among antiques and philanthropists. The security deployed was indeed huge, but all the same at one point of the evening screams came from one of the rooms and Sirius ran in only to find flying robots with claw-like hands opening the display cases and taking the precious artifacts out of them. Without thinking, he ran to the closest one and jumped to try and take the vase it was holding. He might be looking for Superman’s secret identity, but he was still a citizen of a place plagued by Lex Luthor’s crimes, and he was not about to let one of those happen without even trying to stop it. Sure enough, the robot moved swiftly further up in the air until Sirius couldn’t hold on any longer and was forced to let go. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact with the floor, but it never happened. Instead, two arms caught him and stopped his fall.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

Sirius opened his eyes, finding himself be flown, bridal-style, to the floor by none other than Superman himself. The hero carefully put him on his feet and smiled before darting off to follow the flying robots wherever they were headed to. Sirius swallowed, his heart pounding in his chest for something completely different than the fright.

“Oh,” he breathed.

He would’ve recognised that crooked smile anywhere.

[fafnir19]

When wishes come true

Sebastian was elbow-deep in the clutter of an old man's attic, sifting through forgotten trinkets and discarded relics while working a clearing job for an estate.

His fingers brushed against something smooth and cool, and when he lifted it into the dim light, he discovered a lustrous golden bottle. "This is pretty cool," he thought. His boss, the clutter-clearing specialist, saw the gleam in Sebastian's eyes and chuckled. "You can keep that one, kid," he said, as Sebastian carefully stowed the bottle in his backpack. Returning to his cramped student apartment, Sebastian methodically cleaned the bottle. In a whirl of sparkling dust, a figure emerged from within, billowing into the room in a shimmer of iridescence. "Greetings, master! I am Dailan, the genie of this bottle, and you, dear Sebastian, have three wishes at your disposal," the figure announced with a flourish.

Sebastian, thinking it a joke, sarcastically announced his first wish: "Yeah, right. I wish this place was spotless." With a melodious hum, Dailan granted the wish, leaving the room immaculate. "Seriously?" Sebastian murmured, incredulous that he had wasted a wish so frivolously. He mulled over his next move and wished for a smoother path through his studies without such hard work as clearing other people clutter. Dailan nodded, and Sebastian soon received a generous scholarship.

Days passed, and Dailan gently prodded Sebastian about his final wish, but the student remained undecided. "I'll think about it later," he evaded, to Dailan's growing concern. After continual prodding, Dailan explained that he could only fulfill others' wishes once Sebastian had chosen his. Accordingly he shouldn't be so selfish and wait any longer. Unperturbed, Sebastian remained indecisive. A year elapsed, and still, Sebastian hesitated.

One fateful evening, as Sebastian hurried down a dimly lit staircase, his foot slipped, and his body tumbled down, crashing onto the hard floor with a sickening crack. Pain seared through Sebastian's body as darkness threatened to claim him. With his last breath, he heard Dailan's voice echo around him, reminding him of his unclaimed wish. "Sebastian, your final wish," Dailan's voice urged, the urgency palpable. But it was too late. Sebastian's consciousness slipped away. Sebastian awoke to an unfamiliar sight. He found himself in a boundless expanse, surrounded by a vibrant, otherworldly energy. His mind felt weightless, detached from his physical form. Suddenly, Dailan materialized before him, his form shimmering in the ethereal light. "Sebastian, as the one who did not make his final wish, you are now destined to take my place." "What do you mean?" Sebastian's voice trembled as he struggled to comprehend. "You are now Lux, the genie of the bottle," Dailan declared.

"You will grant the wishes of others, just as I have done for you. It is your fate and your burden." Panic gripped Sebastian as the realization sunk in. Trapped in this role for eternity, he understood the weight of his missed opportunity. "But I never asked for this! I never wanted this!" Sebastian screamed, his voice echoing across the boundless expanse. Dailan's form began to fade. "I'm sorry, Lux. This is your destiny now," he whispered before vanishing completely. With a heavy heart, Lux accepted his new reality. As time passed and the world outside the bottle carried on, Lux was bound to wait for his next summoner.

In the wake of Sebastian's death, the apartment underwent refurbishment, with Jasper, the son of the landlord, overseeing the renovations.

Amid the empty rooms, he discovered a solitary blue bottle coated in a veil of dust. In a whimsical impulse, Jasper polished the bottle, and from its depths, Lux emerged, resplendent and enigmatic. "Hello, Jasper. I am Lux, and you hold three wishes in your grasp," Lux intoned with an otherworldly glint in his eyes.

Jasper, his heart pounding with disbelief, tried to make sense of this unearthly encounter. "I must be dreaming," he murmured. "I assure you, Jasper, this is no mere dream. You have stumbled upon a most extraordinary opportunity," Lux insisted, his tone firm yet remarkably soothing. Shrugging off the surreal encounter, Jasper dismissed the opportunity. "I have everything I could possibly want. I don't need any wishes," he conveyed with an air of nonchalance. "It is not about need, my dear Jasper, but about desires unspoken," Lux countered, his gaze piercing and inscrutable. Returning to his abode, Jasper's mind swirled with conflicting thoughts. Lux's words echoed in his mind, urging him to consider the true extent of his desires. Inwardly troubled by the authenticity of his friendships and the superficiality of his aspirations, he revealed to Lux his feeling that others liked him only for his wealth and looks. So Jasper pondered the implications of his emerging wishes. "Fine, if this is what it takes to prove a point, then I wish for someone who surpasses me in wealth and allure, enough to turn straight man gay," Jasper declared, half in jest, half in earnest. Despite his uncertainty in mastering his magic, Lux felt compelled to grant the wish. Suddenly, in a surge of blue light, Lux transformed into a wealthy and captivating figure, stunning in both opulence and charisma, leaving both of them astonished.

Delighted with the outcome, Jasper reveled in the world's admiration for Lux's splendor.

Jasper and Lux strolled through the opulent streets, where designer boutiques beckoned with their luxurious wares. Jasper, resplendent in his tailored suit, and Lux, exuding an almost regal air with his chiseled features and impeccably styled hair, attracted admiring glances as they indulged in a spree of lavish shopping.

Lux emerged from the changing room to see a satisfied grin on Jasper's face. Jasper was content, believing Lux's presence as a wealthy, attractive man would divert attention from himself.

Swathed in the finest fabrics and adorned with extravagant jewelry, they basked in the attention their wealth and attractiveness garnered.

Their escapades extended to the realm of leisure, where they reveled in upscale recreational pursuits befitting their status. Lux accompanied Jasper to exclusive venues, where they partook in leisurely yacht cruises to savor the allure of the sea, and engaged in spirited matches of tennis at elite clubs.

At night, they graced extravagant soirees, their presence commanding attention and admiration. Jasper and Lux immersed themselves in the glittering extravagance that their affluent lifestyles afforded. Lux found himself immersed in a world once beyond his reach, infusing every endeavor with an infectious joy, reveling in each moment as he came to understand the allure of wealth and luxury from an entirely new vantage point.

Worried about Jasper's fate, Lux shared his own story and urged Jasper to express his final two wishes, even if it meant parting ways as Lux moved on to serve his next master.

After a soirée, Jasper and Lux ​​walked home through a dimly lit alley, where they fell victim to a violent attack by a robber. Jasper was seriously wounded.

Realizing the gravity of his situation, Jasper hastily uttered, "I wish for my recovery, and for the assailant to take your place as the genie." A infernal swirl of smoke enveloped the scene, and the assailant transformed into a genie. Lux regarded  the events unfolding.

Expecting Lux to vanish into thin air, Jasper was surprised as Lux remained, now merely a regular human—albeit rich and handsome. "Lux?" Jasper called out, uncertainty lacing his voice. "You wished for the assailant to take my place," Lux explained gently. "My essence is no longer confined to the bottle and I can stay with you." Jasper marveled at these unforeseen developments. The assailant, now transformed into a genie, stood awkwardly amidst the unreal setting, grappling with his newfound abilities.   The new genie, riddled with confusion and uncertainty, struggled to comprehend his newfound existence as Lux and Jasper embraced their friendship and unspoken connection.

Some days later the genie-turned assailant appeared and says:

"Lux has not fully fulfilled your first wish. I'm here to fix this. Your first wish was that Lux shall turn straight man gay. Therefore, from now on you will be gay and desire Lux.” Suddenly, Jasper began to show his affection for Lux intimately. The genie laughed darkly: “How sweet you are, Jasper. I guess you’ll make Lux bi in no time and your bromance will turn into a romance.”

[macabremachinery]

The Harlan Ellison Multimedia Literary Project & The Original IHNMAIMS Game Site

Yep, this was the 90's relic I was teasing about earlier last week. Behold, in GeoCities-esque glory:

Information about the site is discussed under the cut.

The Harlan Ellison Multimeda Literary Project was a student-run site that thoroughly discussed IHNMAIMS with academic analysis. Many of the links, when I first discovered this hidden gem, appeared to be broken. However when I accessed earlier snapshots of this site via the Wayback Machine, I was able to experience the site as it had been so lovingly cherished in 1998.

Unfortunately, like so many sites of its era, the formatting is horrendous. The gaudy white and tie-die tiled backgrounds clash with the pitch-black Time New Roman paragraphs, making many of the pages rather difficult to read. I recommend copying and pasting the text onto a document so that it's easier on the eyes.

Much of the "core" of the site is accessed through the Enter the World of AM link. From here you will taken to the main page.

Pretty straightforward. The 9 nodes listed in fuchsia are essentially pages breaking down separate bits of the I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream short story.

Yeah, I warned you about the gaudy formatting. I would post all 9 of my screenshots here as a backup to this site, however since the screenshots make the text difficult to read on a page already troublesome enough to decipher, I will simply link the project's main archived hypertext here.

Though many of the pages discussing IHNMAIMS do so with some academic jargon, the level of dedication and thought put into this project is commedable, and I cannot recommend this page enough for fans of Ellison, IHNMAIMS, and scouters of long-abandoned internet webpages.

While scouring this page, I cam upon a link at the bottom that caught my eye:

Curious, I clicked the highlighted text, and was redirected to this:

Yes folks, this is the official Cyberdreams website for I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.

It's one of the more in-depth video games sites I've encountered, the creatives behind this game were so obviously passionate about what they were making. That era of the mid-90's for video games was perfect for such a product like this to be made. I don't think it could have been made 5 years earlier or 5 years later. It was released at the right time by the right developer who obviously cared about making art, and here, in full glory, you can read over the process regarding how this project even came to be.

I cannot recommend enough checking both these sites out and taking the time to explore them. They are absolutely worth a scavenge!

I apologize for releasing this post so late, I've had to comb through several links to get screenshots/viewable webpages.

[hd-junglebook]

Edge of Exile

prologue

summary : this is pretty short compared to what I have in mind for the next chapters. Just some background before I get the story rolling.

The scream died in her throat as y/n jerked awake, heart pounding. The remnants of the nightmare still clung to her - the acrid smell of burning flesh, the anguished cries she released as her mother stopped breathing, the way they dragged her out of the room. She pressed a palm against her forehead, taking deep breaths to chase the images away.

It had been six years since she lost her mother, but it may as well have been last night. The nightmares never let her forget. She saw it vividly every time she closed her eyes – the operation table, the look on Abby Griffins face when all attempts to save her mother’s life failed. And her mother - her brave, stubborn mother - running back into the inferno to help others, never to return.

Y/n rose unsteadily to her feet in the cramped cell, the sound of her footsteps filling the room around her. She splashed icy water on her face from the basin, then reached under her mattress for the tattered notebook. Her fingers trembled slightly over the pages as they traced the faces - her mother's kind eyes, her best friends’ smiles.

The cold vastness of space only seemed to amplify her aching loneliness. Y/n was used to being alone, staying alert, not allowing anyone in. It was the only way to survive now.

This prison cell had been her home for the past year after she was incarcerated. Like all the prisoners aboard this dying relic, she was kept in prison station, locked away from the rest of society, labeled as a danger to herself and the citizens of the ark.

She inhaled a shuddering breath and carefully returned the notebook to its hiding place. There was another long haul to get through today. She couldn't afford to dwell on the past. The ghosts would need to wait - at least until she slept again.

A chime sounded, signaling the prisoners that it was time for breakfast. Y/n took a deep breath and steeled herself. She had survived a year in this floating tomb; she could survive another day. Keep your head down, don't cause trouble, watch your back - that was the only way.

She paused, struck by the silence. The usual morning clatter of prisoners being escorted to the eating hall was absent. She peered out into the corridor - the cells were empty. The entire block, once filled with over a hundred prisoners, was now a ghost town.

Unease crept over her. Just a week ago, these halls rang out with activity. Where had everyone gone? Her friends - Harper and Miller - had been in the cells nearby just day’s before. Now all of them had vanished.

Rumors of mass executions had spread through the cell blocks in recent days. Resources on the dying Ark were scarce, and the leadership was becoming more ruthless. But she had never believed it would actually happen to them.

Harper's 18th birthday was just a few days away. She had seen it happen to so many others before, and now it seemed like it was Harper's turn. In the society they lived in, turning 18 meant one thing - being floated.

Had her friends been marched to their deaths in the middle of the night? Where had the guards taken them? And more urgently - would she be next?

…

The loss of her mother sent y/n into a downward spiral. She became angry and reckless, no longer caring about the consequences of her actions. Her mother had been her rock, and now she was adrift.

She was left under the watchful eye of her uncle, Kane. He was one of the Council members who maintained draconian order on the Ark. y/n saw him as part of the same corrupt system that floated her father for treason.

She had overheard Clarke and Wells discussing how her father had discovered the Ark was running out of air and wanted to inform the citizens. The Council's answer had been to silence him - permanently. He was given a treason charge and floated. Y/n’s uncle being one of the few who did not vote against this decision.

After Jake Griffin’s death, she decided it was time to pick up where he left off. Enough waiting silently in the shadows. She rallied a group from Factory Station, using her uncle's connections to gain access to Council events. Spent hours strategizing and devising a plan to confront the chancellor about the dwindling resources and oxygen.

The day of the Council meeting arrived, and y/n and her followers had knocked out enough guards to sneak into the council room. She marched in with the head guard, Commander Shumway, at knife point. The Council members stumbled over their words, trying to defend their actions. In the end, they confirmed that the Ark was running out of oxygen, but they were sneaky.

The Ark Guard burst through the doors. They had gotten word that the group was holding the Council hostage. Talia never expected them to act so quickly. The guards surrounded them, weapons drawn, ready to subdue them.

Her defiance only angered Kane further. He condemned her "rebellious theatrics" and soon had her locked away, floating the rest of the demonstrators. Charged with spreading false information, the murder of two guards and inciting rebellion.

The day the executions were carried out, y/n could only watch in helpless horror as her friends were floated one by one - launched out the airlock to their deaths. She should have been with them - was ready to die alongside them. But the Guards held her back.

Instead of execution, y/n was sentenced back to solitary confinement. At first, she didn't understand why she had been spared. It made no sense. She had led the uprising, held the Council hostage, exposed their lies. By all rights, she should have been the first to die.

Being left alive was its own special torture. wracked with guilt, replaying every moment in her mind. What if she had done something differently? What if she had turned herself in so the others could get away? She would never know now. Their faces, full of fear yet resolute courage as they floated out into oblivion, haunted her.

The only explanation was her uncle. Kane's influence must have swayed the Council to stay her execution. But to what end? So she could rot in this cell, alone with her guilt and grief?

…

Y/n sat silently in her cell, gazing up at the mural she had painted on the walls over the past year. The portrait depicted a man and woman standing resolute as flames engulfed the scene around them, the Ark crumbling into ashes amidst the inferno.

The burning ark symbolizes the destruction that can be caused by our negligence and disregard for the world around us.

She had just returned from the melancholy affair of breakfast - prisoners eating alone, guards eyeing them warily. The food stuck in her throat these days. Her friends should be here breaking stale rations  with her, not lost to the void.

The slam of the cell door jarred Talia from her thoughts. She scrambled to her feet as guards entered behind her uncle, Kane. " Printer 124, Stand against the wall," they ordered gruffly, readying their shock batons.

Kane lifted a hand. "It's alright, let her be," he said. y/n slowly sank back down, watching Kane with wary eyes as he took in her mural. What did he want now? Surely not just to critique her art. The guards took up positions around the small cell standing at the doors.

"The Council has authorized me to make you a deal," Kane finally said as he clasped his hands behind his back. "About a week ago we sent some prisoners to the ground. 100 to be exact. We’ve communicated with them. There's talk of sending the exodus ship to the ground. They want you to go with the first group."

y/n’s eyes widened in surprise. Return to Earth, after all this time? Could the Council finally be desperate enough to take such a risk?

She hesitated, taking in his words. 100 prisoners to the ground the day of Harper and Millers disappearance. But if there was any possibility of life on the ground, she had to take it...for their sake.

Jaha's offer was simple - help repair the last three stations and once they reach Earth, her slate would be wiped clean, but they must be desperate if Kane was resorting to bargaining with me.

"And if I say no?" y/n challenged.

"Then you'll be floated with the rest of them," Kane said coldly.

[ultr8-v1olence]

DO NOT STEAL. THIS IS MY ORGINAL STORY.

As Noor and Alex walked home from school, the new killer lurked in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.But just as they were about to pounce, a loose paving stone caught their foot, sending them tumbling down a nearby flight of stairs.The killer's screams echoed through the alleyway as they fell, their body crashing against the concrete steps.Noor and Alex rushed to the scene, finding the killer lying motionless at the bottom of the stairs."Oh my god, it's...it's that person who's been following me!" Noor exclaimed, her voice trembling.Alex's eyes widened in shock as he realized the killer's intentions. "We have to call the police!"As they waited for help to arrive, Noor secretly slipped something into the killer's pocket - a small vial of poison, one that would ensure they never revealed her secrets.The police ruled it as an accidental death, a tragic fall that had claimed the life of a would-be killer.But Alex was shaken to the core, his gratitude towards Noor deepening into a fierce protectiveness."Noor, I can't lose you," he whispered, his arms wrapping tightly around her. "You're all I have left."Noor's heart raced as she hugged him back, her secrets safe for now. But the web of lies was tightening, and she knew it was only a matter of time before everything came crashing down.The new killer, whose name was revealed to be Sarah, had a twisted obsession with Noor. Sarah had been a former classmate of Noor's, and had always felt overshadowed by Noor's intelligence and popularity. As time went on, Sarah's jealousy turned to hatred, and she became fixated on destroying Noor's life.Sarah had been tracking Noor's movements for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She had even gone so far as to break into Noor's house, leaving sinister messages and tokens of her presence.But what drove Sarah's obsession was a dark secret from her own past. She had been a victim of bullying in high school, and had never recovered from the trauma. In her twisted mind, she saw Noor as the embodiment of all the popular kids who had tormented her, and she was determined to make her pay.As for the poison vial, Noor had discovered it in her father's old lab, a relic from his days as a chemist. She had kept it hidden away, knowing it could be useful in desperate situations. And when she saw Sarah lurking in the shadows, she knew she had to act fast to protect herself and Alex.

[fanartandfanfiction]

From the diary of Ominis Gaunt

Entry one: There’s a new fifth year. I couldn’t care less but Sebastian won’t shut up about them. Apparently in defense against the dark arts they beat him in a duel rather quickly. Perhaps now his head will shrink enough to fit through the doors.

Entry two: I don’t like the new student. We’ve only spoken a handful of times, but from Sebastian’s stories they seem rather arrogant. They wear the most ridiculous flashy outfits (Sebastian said only they could pull off such a bold look) and show off in battle. Apparently they asked Sebastian to accompany them to Hogsmeade. There was a troll attack and Sebastian went on and on about how brave they were and how they made the troll hit itself with its own club. Tell me that isn’t showmanship. Personally, I wonder how someone four years behind on magic is such an excellent fighter. I think there’s something they’re trying to hide.

Entry three: The absolute AUDACITY of Sebastian never ceases to amaze me. I was going to the undercroft when I heard someone leaving. It was the new student. I asked them how they’d discovered it and they claimed they found it by mistake. I knew they were lying. Sebastian and I got into a heated argument and he said he’d shown them so they had a place to practice their magic. I told him it was not his secret to share. I’m still furious with him.

Entry four: I cannot even put into words how upset I am. Sebastian found out about Salazar Slytherin’s scriptorium and had been begging me to help him. I flat out refused. Then the new fifth year approached me and I’m not sure how they did it, but I agreed to show them the scriptorium. It was just as awful as I’d imagined. We ended up trapped in a room with the remains of Aunt Noctua. As if that wasn’t upsetting enough, the only way to get out was to cast crucio on someone. I wouldn’t do it. Not again, never again. Sebastian said I was being selfish and we would all die because of me. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but he’s changing. While we argued, the new fifth year interrupted and said Sebastian could cast it on them. I begged them both not to do it. It alarmed me how easily Sebastian was able to cast it. You have to mean it for crucio to work. There was no hesitation. I can still hear the screams of the new student as they were tortured. As soon as the door opened, Sebastian abandoned them to enter the scriptorium. They could barely walk. I helped them to their feet and supported them as we exited the room. Sebastian said he found something exciting but I didn’t care. He could have killed them. This ordeal did make me see them in a different light. They agreed to be tortured to save all our lives. Perhaps I was wrong about them.

Entry five: It appears I’m the only one with a functioning brain. I walked in on Sebastian and the new student having a heated argument. He asked them not to tell me and thankfully, they refused and said I should know. Apparently Sebastian’s discovered a dark magic relic that he thinks will help Anne. And the new student agreed to go with him to find it. I followed them through the catacombs. I was alarmed to hear Sebastian offer to teach them imperio, an unforgivable! I don’t know how he even knows that! Luckily they refused. Sebastian got the relic and wanted to take it with him. I confronted him and we got into another argument. The new student, either the voice of reason or Sebastian’s secret weapon, convinced me to let him go. They said he’d leave with it one way or another and this would be the last time we messed with dark magic. I agreed and let them go. It worries me that Sebastian said he’d leave with it one way or another. I don’t want to think about what his words meant.

Entry six: I’m holding on to my sanity by a thread. So much has happened. I never thought he’d go this far. He killed Solomon. He cast the killing curse with ease. Anne is destroyed. The new student is a wreck. And I…I can’t decide if I’m angry or deeply upset. Perhaps both. I’m grieving for the person Sebastian was. I don’t know how he got so far off the path into this darkness. Could we have done something more to stop him? Could we have saved him from this darkness, saved Solomon’s life? Now we’re left with a gut wrenching decision. I need to meet with them in the undercroft and discuss what we want to do. I’m dreading this conversation.

Entry seven: I am gutted. We decided not to send him to Azkaban. Though he did something horrific, I still love him and can’t imagine him spending the rest of his life in prison. We’re giving him a second chance, though I don’t know if I can ever forgive him. I helped Anne leave. She said she couldn’t be here anymore, couldn’t live in that house. I don’t blame her. I gave her some money and put her on a train. I’m grateful that the new student, though not so new anymore, is by my side. I can’t imagine facing this hardship alone. I don’t know how we proceed from here. Nothing will ever be the same. Hopefully the rest of the school year will be peaceful.

[carebooks]

ideas for the Lockwood & Co. crossover with Bridgerton

beware, this gets pretty dark for the Bridgertons

Lockwood and Co. are investigating an old mansion in Mayfair, ever since they’re recent adventures surrounding the bone glass they’ve been moving up in the world a bit. And now it was time to locate and contain a Type 2.

When they arrived, they were faced with a much worse terrifying feeling of dread than from their previous cases. Yet, it was also twisted and different, not quite the same as they usually expect. It took a while to find any ghost at all, let alone a Type 2, and most of what Lucy could hear were happy memories from the house of different people, a family most likely.

Finally, she started hearing a low buzzing, and so did the boys too eventually. They made their way to the mansion’s cellar and that’s where they discovered:

“Please tell me that is not what I think it is,” spoke Lucy since no one else would. The boys remained in uncomfortable silence for a minute or two.

“That looks like…” Lockwood trailed off.

“The bone glass.” George finished for him.

A warped copy of the bone glass they had dealt not six months ago sitting in the middle of the floor.

They froze finding that thing, but the strangest bit about it was despite looking like the bone glass, it was missing the most crucial part of the relic: its center.

The rest of it resembled the first one they encountered, only slightly bigger, almost the size of a Viking shield. But the center was missing, it was just gone, an empty circle where they could see the cement floor beneath it.

When Bickerstaff first made his infamous bone glass, not many knew that it was not the first attempt. Nearly fifty years before when he was a young man he made his first attempt.

His first try was on a rich family of the ton. In his older age he would come to regret going after such a well-known family, but they were accesible to him and the perfect number he needed. The mother had eight children, they were all more than enough for his glorious venture.

That night, the Bridgerton family were all together, they were celebrating Hyacinth’s twelfth birthday, it was the whole family minus their spouses. Daphne came with her son as Simon and her were going through a small tiff at the moment. And Anthony’s wife, Kate, was visiting her sister out of town. It was supposed to be a lovely affair, filled with laughter and dancing. And birthday hats, of course.

Unfortunately, that night came a man. He was a Lord, from what Violet could remember. A Lord that lived a bit far off from their city and was always invited to the ton’s balls, especially during the matchmaking seasons. He had danced shortly with both her oldest daughters if she remembered correctly.

No one knew what Bickerstaff was doing there. No one expected him to commit such heinous, morbid, inhumane crimes. He went after the servants first, killed them and made sure the home was isolated. Then he went after the men, easier to subdue the women with them out of the way, it may have involved threatening their mother. Then after that it seemed easy to just go oldest to youngest. They screamed and they cried and he didn’t care. But as he went through them all he noticed something by the time that all that was left was the mother. He had taken his seven souls, seven Sources, but she had eight children. Who was missing?

He tried forcing her to tell him, threatening to kill her if she didn’t speak the truth. But what good was that when she was already dead by the time he cut into her firstborn? She would never tell him where her last living child was, she’d rather join the ones that were taken from her. And just as he was going to torture it out of her, she got the upper-hand, he was too distracted, she was gaining some adrenaline. And so she took the knife he had been wielding and drove into his torso, leaving him on the floor and taking the macabre object he made with her children’s remains. She refused to leave what was left of them with their killer.

And so he chased after her until he caught her near the up the stairs. It didn’t take long for a fight to ensue and she realized what she would do. She didn’t know what this strange relic was or why he had to destroy her family to make it, but she didn’t care. She lost what was most precious to her and now so would he. She made a determined step to the balcony overlooking the foyer, it had been bent and open during the earlier fights with her boys fighting the intruder. Still gripping the bone glass, she stepped off the ledge and made sure to aim it at the ground. She died on impact as the glass shattered around her. Her revenge complete and his crimes wasted.

He tried repairing what was left back in the cellar, but to no avail. It was damaged beyond repair. He left it there and didn’t look back.

Hours later, the third daughter and sixth child had arrived. Francesca Bridgerton had arrived late, coming all the way from her private studies in London. With gift in hand for her little sister, she didn’t know she would arrive to her home only to find her mother and siblings all horribly murdered. Her screams were heard throughout the neighborhood, alerting all of the ton practically.

The papers called it the Butchered Bridgertons.

Simon drank and barely left his manor when news of his wife’s and son’s murders made their way to him.

Kate, now a grieving widow but with no son to inherit the Viscount title, started living with her step-mother again. She goes back to India a few years later.

Penelope lost her best friend and her long time crush in one swoop, she stopped writing as Lady Whistledown for a year.

Lady Danbury visits Simon often, at this point just trying to make sure he doesn’t drink himself to death, and when she passes in her sleep six years later, he does.

The Queen had ordered her men to find the criminals responsible for her own subjects being murdered in their home. Mainly because the ton started talking of how the King and Queen cannot protect their own people. Everyone has become even more distrusting ever since.

Francesca Bridgerton is the last remaining Bridgerton left alive.

She cannot inherit her brother’s title and it’s passed on to a distant male cousin she barely knew. She cannot stay in Mayfair any longer. Rather than become some stranger’s ward and be forced to live in the place where so much death happened, she took what money she could find, her mother and sister’s jewels, and her brother’s hunting knife. She headed North, as far as she could get from the ton and from that house.

She eventually settles in a small town, finding work as a serving girl, and a few years down the line she marries a kind man and they have four children, two boys, two girls. She names them after her siblings and her mother.

When Violet Bridgerton jumped off that ledge and smashed the bone glass, something happened. One might never know what caused it: her self sacrifice, the love and grief of her children, or perhaps just blunt force to the relic— but something she did changed the bone glass. It no longer had those tormented souls, its Sources were in pieces and they suffered less. But it was still powerful. With her death, her ghost created its Source: the bone glass. And all her ghost ever wanted was to go back to a time when her children were happy and alive.

And then it did.

For decades, Violet’s ghost just kept going through the bone portal. Watching her children laugh, cry, and fall in love. But it never lasted, it always ended the same way. She still kept going back to it. She carried it on like a loop. Because that’s what it was.

Two centuries later and Francesca’s descendant would be finding her way to the Bridgerton manor. Finding the remains of the family and discovering what kind of ghost still haunts the area, eventually leading to the activation of the bone portal.

Her source was uncovered and the pretty girl fell first. The boys cried out for her, the taller one diving trying to catch her before it was too late. But as his hand barely grasped hers, he was being pulled down too, and then the third one did his best grabbing the boy’s ankles, to no avail. Soon, all three went falling through the bone window.

When they woke up, to their surprise, they were still alive.

They just weren’t in the right time.

[aline-spice]

Omg your alchemist cookie is demigod? Could you tell more of your headcanons for vampsiblings? Do you have ideas for their parents?

Ughh be ready to read a lot i like to ramble about them. First, for the parents question : vampire and alchemist do not have parents in my verstion. They come from the oven and the witches. No, they were not raised by anyone, they came out almost adult with existing knowledge of the world they're in. Alchemist headcanons ----- 🍇 The grape siblings were made with ingredients similar to other cookies (sugar, flour, butter, moonlight) except there's two ingredients that differs from regular ones : alchemist is made with grape and witch blood ! the latest ingredient was an accident, and cookies with witch blood should not be able to survive (it's an unstable ingredient and there's way too much dark magic in it) but alchemist happened to receive the exact perfect amount of blood for it to mix with her dough.

She's half witch but most cookie call her a 'half-god' since witches are considered as god-like entities on Earthbread. Alchemist consider it as a curse more than a blessing.

Alchemist has obviously a very strong interest in alchemy but she also do reasearches on magic and astrology. She admires those who practices them but refuses to admit it, which is also one of the reason she's wizard cookie's rival and friend.

One of her passion is discovering the origins of certain magic, how to recreate it. She has contributed greatly to the advancement of magic and alchemy.  She even used to be a alchemy teacher at a magic academy a long time ago, but no one but vampire is still alive to remember that –(they are very old after all).

She has a collection of relics, forbidden books, and items that have been cursed...  Both she and her brother feels a connection to those items. (Perhaps because they are cursed as well ?)

Alchemist has photographic memories and retains every information that she sees! when she's bored she learns the ingredients and compositions of different types of food. Also she wears gloves all the time because she's very sensitive to textures

Due to the witch blood inside of her dough she is capable of getting glimpses into the future. This ability pretty much happens randomly or when she comes in contact with something important (much like dimensional screams from pokemon dungeon cough cough i love that game).

She has weird claws coming out of her hair sometimes- it's magic stuff. It may look menacing but she only uses them for holding objects. (*the claws are inspired by her ovenbreak costume) Actually, alchemist is very weak and even if she creates dangerous things she can't do much by herself. - While she creates dangerous potions and artifacts, she wishes to protect the lives of other cookies more than anything and she hates to see one of her creations used to hurt people

Her harsh personality and constant shouting can be a bit intimidating but she's very kind when you get to know her.

Since she's from the same batch of cookies as vampire she does have some vampiric features, but it's very limited. (Night vision, she has sharp ears and fangs..) she's not affected by any of the regular vampire weaknesses and doesn't require life energy either like her brother

Alchemist and vampire likes to annoy each other all of the time. He likes to break into her laboratory to drink her potions, and she likes to replace his grape juice and wine with inedible and failed potions. (Vampire's fine. don't worry about it.)

It happens quite often that she takes trips around the world in search for more knowledge, but she always returns home. She will never say it out loud but she misses vampire  a lot when she's away for too long !

Vampire headcanons ----- 🍷 He has the same ingredients as alchemist except instead of grapes he's made of wine. Like alchemist he also had witch blood inside of his dough but it didn't mix as well as for alchemist with his ingredients and he became a bit cursed, that's why he's a vampire !

He's obsessed with wine. He knows everything about it from it's history, how to identify it's flavors... Vampire never gets tired of drinking wine ! Even if his favorite will and has always been wine, he likes to try new drinks quite often ! Sparkling gets to try his new recipes on him and vampire gets to test them :) !

Even if he's incredibly lazy he occasional travels to other places with his sister, but its only if he finds something that catches his interest (most often a relic or a specific type of wine).

While his main hobby is drinking wine and sleeping, he also has a few other hobbies! he enjoys reading philosophy, collecting old relics, and he rarely practices alchemy when feeling a bit more motivated. He also has decent knowledge in mixology. People are always surprised when they see him make drinks, he thinks it's funny to see their surprised face • He's actually naturally talented and can do many things easily, but it's very often that he finds things boring and uninteresting... He actually puts efforts into the things he likes, but only the ones really close to him notices it.

He's generally a very positive and optimistic person ! he's chilling and nothing can bother him. Despite his constant laziness and him being a bit weird he  somehow gets along well with a lot of people and is friend with people who are way more famous than he is.

Because of his nature as a vampire his magic tends to lean more toward dark magic, being capable of absorbing other's life energy and manipulating shadows.

Being a vampire, he shares most of their weaknesses (can't get near garlic, silver burns, the blessed light and religious objects hurts him…) However he can get under the sun for quite a while even if it does make him feel sick eventually. He's mostly nocturnal anyway, so he doesn't see the sun often.

Vampire requires life energy to survive, he can absorb it from a distance (like the regular attack in cookie run where he regens his health) or bite them which gives a lot of energy but it’s much more painful. For that reason, he prefers to use the first option even if it gives less energy. -- You don't have to be scared about him biting you without permission anyway, if he did he would get in trouble, but he's been allowed to attack enemies if they invade the kingdom so you better behave ! • He can retract his wings. don't ask how, it's just magic. (Fun fact : One of his pair of wings is connected to his hair like alchemist's claws)

Due to the witch blood being not really compatible with his other ingredients, he gets really sick randomly during the year. This can also happen when he's out of life energy too, but these usually leave him feeling very unwell and weak.

Due to the mix of wine and his vampire curse, he's always very sleepy and his memory is terrible… He spends entire days sleeping and even take snaps during the night. It can be a bit dangerous when he gets too sleepy because he just sits down in the middle of the street and just… falls asleep. --- Vampire doesn't mind being that tired, According to him, the constant fuziness in his head is comfortable and he loves taking naps ! • Alchemist and his friends are very worried over his health, but he really doesn't care... as long as he's happy, nothing can bother him !

If you reached the end congrats i hope you enjoyed my little page of silly informations <33 Here's a cup of grape juice for u !

[melishade]

I imagine Smokescreen and wheeljack together with the US army with a fauler. they would find all the relics of cybertron and abandoned decepticon technology...what to optimus using the forge to improve 3D equipment.I also think that Marleyans and Eldians would manage to escape from Marley. among them the new warriors. calvin porco and pick taves on boats and sailing asia paradis. surprise that they all sealed

Previous Episode of the War Timeline

Okay so the English is...clunky in some parts, but I'll do my best to answer. Also, Optimus doesn't have the Forge. It's in the hands of the Decepticons right now.

Okay, so Wheeljack does notice that something is off when he picks up a high energy reading that quickly goes dark. Wheeljack goes to investigate, clearly sees that there was a battle, but no one is there. That's when he gets Agent Fowler screaming at him from the Jackhammer demanding that he get to the Autobot base. Wheeljack does arrive and Fowler demands to know what happened to the Autobots, but Wheeljack states he was about to ask the same thing. After a few days of investigating, they realize that there was a bridge accident and the Autobots got flung somewhere else. Wheeljack says he hasn't picked up the Nemesis on the Jackhammer, so maybe the Decepticons got warped there.

It's a problem that Agent Fowler has to explain to the US government. On top of that June is furious and terrified at the fact that her son is somewhere unknown, no doubt fighting for his life. She was scared her son was going to die. Meanwhile Wheeljack is worried about Bulkhead, since the loss of Seaspray is still fresh in his mind. He doesn't want to lose Bulkhead when there are so few Wreckers left.

So now Wheeljack is working together with the US Government to gather resources and find out where the Autobots have gone. Wheeljack gets to work dismantling Decepticon run mines and seizing the energon for himself as a resource. On top of that, Fowler brings up the Iacon Hall of Records about special relics and Wheeljack puts in the effort to track a few of them down. But it's hard to do without the exact coordinates. It's a lot of guess work and finding the right frequency. But he does manage to get the Resonance Blaster while the US government stumbles across the Apex Armor and dig it up like in the show. Once Wheeljack manages to replicate the frequency from the previous relics located, he does manage to find Toxic Energon (Which he chucks in the volcano), The Star Saber, which he leaves alone because he can't pull it out of the mountain (He tried blowing it up. Didn't work), and the Phase Shifter required a lot of government interference to get. Wheeljack and Agent Fowler makes sure all items stay in Autobot custody. However the Omega Keys have yet to be located.

The Nemesis Prime incident does still happen, but Wheeljack is able to quickly dispose of it and because there's no Breakdown body to hijack, Silas dies of his wounds and the rest of MECH is quickly apprehended.

Wheeljack finds Smokescreen when he's scouting in the same area the pod is set to crash in. Wheeljack aims his blasters at the pod, but is absolutely stunned to see Smokescreen blast and stumble his way out of the pod. Wheeljack realizes that Smokescreen is a kid and cautiously asks for Smokescreen's story. Smokescreen explains and just...he can't tell if he feels jealous or feels bad at the fact that Smokescreen managed to dodge the war. When he sees Smokescreen constantly trying to prove himself and make up for lost time, he feels bad. He resonates with that helplessness and wanting to make it right. So Wheeljack mentors Smokescreen, which Smokescreen is more than happy to accept because he's learning from a Wrecker.

Whether or not Ultra Magnus finds Earth is up in the air, since the Commander was called to Earth due to the energy from the Omega Lock. But Smokescreen does get into a freak accident one day and Wheeljack discovers the Omega Key in Smokescreen's chest (Which he safely takes out with the phase shifter, but neither know what it is.)

Meanwhile on Paradis, the people who have joined the Survey Corps are nearly the same with an increase in the numbers due to the Autobots being here. Jean and Annie (cause remember, they don't know that Eren has the Founding and Attack Titan) go to the Military Police while Marco and the others join the Survey Corps. Marco is trying his best to not look nervous around Reiner and Bertholdt because he's not too sure of what they might do to him. Once Marco gets a good idea of what military command is like in the Survey Corps and who he can trust, Marco makes the gut decision to warn Erwin, and Erwin immediately gets on a plan. Based on experiments, they know that need to get those two underground, so that is going to be the plan that Erwin tells the Autobots. The Autobots do discuss this in private, since half of them aren't comfortable with harming teens. And if that intel is wrong, they could be accusing teens of the 104th of the death of over 300,000 people. But they have no choice. If they don't contain them, more lives can be lost.

Hanji, Ratchet, and Rafael make massive improvements to the 3D gear. They fix the material to make it lighter and more flexible while also using just a small amount of energon as an emergency power source once the gas runs out. (They really have to do the measurements because a few things have blown up in response. Hanji is more than ecstatic while Ratchet is admonishing her for her recklessness. Also fun little thing, Hanji gets Raf the goggles for seeing and flying around in the 3D gear. It's a cute bonding moment between them.)

Meanwhile, Eren does get training on how to fight from the other Autobots. While it is brutal, Eren improves significantly compared to the AOP timeline where it's just Optimus teaching him. Eren actually likes the fact that he has other role models to look up to. It's nice to be treated with respect instead of fear.

Because of the fire power, the Survey Corps and Autobots go directly to Shinganshina, knowing that they need to close the wall as soon as possible. Because of the knowledge Erwin and the Autobots now have, Erwin still goes with the plan of giving out fake locations for Eren. They are told where Reiner and Bertholdt are placed before giving the fake coordinates. An Autobot is stationed on the outside of the circle formation as they make their way to Shinganshina. Reiner still gives the information to Annie and Annie attacks the right flank, but Bulkhead is there to stop her from causing too much damage. He tells the Autobots through the comm. that a titan shifter is in the formation and Reiner and Bertholdt were a threat. Orders are given to detain Reiner and Bertholdt. Before Reiner can transform, Ratchet activates a shock mechanism implanted in his and Bertholdt's 3D gear to stop a transformation (which was part of the plan). Reiner is quickly detained, Bertholdt is not, and Bertholdt quickly transforms and a large explosion takes place, taking out a good portion of the Survey Corps.

Now it's a full on battle. Whoever's still standing goes after Annie while the rest go after Bertholdt. Reiner can only watch helplessly as Annie and Bertholdt are fending for themselves. Annie summons titans to her aid to hold them off, killing a few people including Connie, Eld, and Gunther. Meanwhile Bertholdt is losing body mass from an extended titan transformation, and no one can reach him and are getting severe burns. Annie realizes her losses with her running out of titans and there's still Survey Corps and Autobots and quickly crystalizes herself to prevent a loss. But for Bertholdt it's too late as with Optimus' help, Eren manages to cut Bertholdt out of his titan form.

Now the Autobots and Survey Corps have Bertholdt and Reiner, both weak and defenseless. Half of who remains in the Survey Corps take the titan trio back to the Walls to lock them underground. The rest go to Shinganshia and to the basement. And they find out that humanity isn't extinct.

"Plot twist of the century," Miko commented, trying to distract from her near death experience.

"Miko, not the time," Jack scolded.

But Bertholdt's titan transformation triggers the sensors of the Decepticon warship and Megatron, wanting to hopefully get rid of Airachnid, sends her to Scout the area by herself.

(Okay, stopping here for now. Other stuff will be addressed later.)

[joviewinchester]

31 Nights of Halloween Prompt List 2023

You had finally found who you had been hunting for years, but they aren’t who you thought they’d be.

You’re lost in a corn maze with your enemy.

The scarecrow kept on your family’s farm had always freaked you out, but what happens when you decide to get rid of it for good?

You and your friends go to a haunted house, only to discover that everything is real, and you may not make it out alive.

“Do you like my costume?” “It’s not a costume if you actually are one!”

“You’re not one of those crazy girls who starts celebrating Halloween two months early are you?” “Yeah. I am. Hence the decor.”

“But you’re dead. I’m just going crazy.” “Do you not know how this whole All Hallows Eve thing works?”

“Can we not stay here? This place looks haunted. Personally, I don’t do ghosts. I am not a ghostbuster I am afraid of those ghosts.” “Y/N, we hunt monsters for a living.”

It’s the apocalypse and your closest friend has been bitten.

“Ha. Ha. Flickering lights. Very funny. I’ve caught on by now. You’ve been playing me all week!” “I’m not doing that.” “What do you mean you aren’t doing it?!”

“Hey I just dropped by to- Holy shit that’s a body!”

“So this doesn’t bother you?” “Hell no. I’m not an idiot of course vampires exist.”

“I mean come on. Opposites attract.” “That does not excuse sleeping with a demon! And you are far from an angel so that isn’t even valid!”

Going to a psychic and learning some shocking news.

“Woah. Hey now-“ “See? Even the ouija board ghost knows you’re delusional.”

The pain of finding out your significant other was the killer all along cannot be compared.

Dating the antichrist

Finding out you are a supernatural creature.

You woke up in the middle of the woods with no memory of the previous night.

Ghostface AU

“All right. Let’s split up.” “When has it ever been a good idea to split up? Have you even seen Scooby Doo?”

You’re a ghost, and by some crazy twist of fate, you found someone who can see you.

You live in a town that has had countless serial killers. What happens when they all return from their graves?

“Which one of you idiots stole the ancient relic off my desk?”

You find a doorway to another world. At first it seems like a dream, but now you’re not so sure. (Coraline AU)

Not letting your s/o see your costume until you arrive at their party and vice versa.

You didn’t mind being able to see and touch ghosts, until you discovered a really hot one.

You’re pregnant, but with the fast changing of your body, you realize your baby is not normal.

Being brought back from the brink of death.

Being caught in the cold rain on an autumn night with your enemy.

Taking your kid/niece/nephew/cousin etc. trick or treating.

It’s that time of year! Send in a number and what character from the following I should write about. I encourage wlw requests!

Avengers

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Vampire Diaries

Supernatural

Fear Street

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

My Babysitter’s a Vampire

Ghosts (U.S.)

American Horror Story any season

Scream

Stranger things

[saltirebookreviews]

Book: Quicksilver

Author: Callie Hart

Series: Fae & Alchemy

Length: 624 Pages

Overall Rating: 5 Stars

Blog Rating 5 Saltire Flags

In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water.

Do not touch the sword.

Do not turn the key.

Do not open the gate.

Death has a name.

It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate.

His past is murky.

His attitude stinks.

And he’s the only way Saeris is going to make it home.

Be careful of the deals you make, dear child.

The devil is in the details...

This book centers around 24 year old Saeris Fane.

She is a pickpocket but she also has magic that she has kept hidden. She is really,really, great at keeping secrets. She has lived a cruel life living in the 3rd Ward of the roasting city of Zilvaren. This is where the people are suffering, plus there are water rations where everyone is starving and dying of thirst! Furthermore, the 3rd Ward water is contaminated by their evil thousand year old ageless Queen Madra. Unknown to this evil Queen that 3rd Ward Saeris siphons from the Queen’s own water supply being the good thief she is!

However Saeris is caught after stealing from the Queen’s guard to feed and keep her brother fed and protected. However things get a lot more severe and deadly when Saeris is caught. She is brought to the queen's palace to a strange hall with a sword planted in a frozen pool of silver, the queen demands Saeris Fane’s death! Her guard listens to his Queen giving her a fatal wound that his Queen demanded to hear her screams!

Dying Saeris pulls the sword from the pool of silver, and Quicksilver responds to her call for help. It liquifies and out of it comes the most handsome creature she ever saw who she thought was death. but it is a fae warrior Kingfisher who saves her but hates her at the same time. He calls her Osha a weak little butterfly. Furthermore she is taken from the only life she has ever known and her life is about to change forever in Yveilia! As Kingfisher also believes she is an alchemist that can make relics from the Quicksilver to save his people! Is this even possible? Read and discover Saeris and Kingfisher’s fate.

I loved this book so much though it did lag a little bit in the beginning. I am so happy I kept going because it was an absolute masterpiece. Even with the brutting Kingfisher I still ended up loving him in the end. If you love characters like Rhysand from ACOTAR and Xaden from The Empyrean series, then you will love Kingfisher too. The world building was absolutely mindblowing in this dark fantasy. The spice level was on overload which I couldn't get enough of. The banter was also just fantastic too. This book is worth all the hype it's getting on BookTok and other book platforms in my opinion and I absolutely can not wait for the second book in this series! A book I highly recommend!

Disclaimer: I received an advance readers copy from Forever publishing. I voluntarily agreed to do an honest, fair, review and blog through netgalley. All words, thoughts, ideas are my own.

[max-the-many]

'body a day #2' day 7: sadness

He had this glow the moment I first saw him, the draw to him, a source that made me see him, wanting to be with him although he tried to cover it up.

But the more I knew him, the more I saw it, the more he showed it, shared it, trustfully, led me to be there for him, to have him smile.

And in one part I seem to conquer it in small moments when I discovered this relic, it's properties, scary at first, but oh so impactful as we learned to use it over the years.

I saw it in a small, public library. A, unassuming wodden pole, displayed openly in a seperate area of a public library. Without thinking of it I took it for closer inspection. It felt strange, fascinating although it just was a simple stick. But as I turned around in thought there was that guy I seemed to have touched by accident. And the moment that happened he fell to the ground in a pile of clothes and... empty material! I freaked out! Nearly screaming! But then gathered that pile of rubbery material in an act of helplessness rushing to the restrooms.

Why didn't I call for help? I didn't do nithing wrong, didn't do it on purpose! But something about this fascinated me as much as it scared me, the pole still in my hand like it speaked to me.

So I picked that guy up in the savety of the restroom cabin. He looked like a suit! Hollow eyes looking at me, naked from his hips down as his pants fell down. And I felt guilty as I sensed my excitement.

'Put him on' I thought. 'Your ment to do that! That pole chose you! Displayed openly there is no way something like that happened before. So that should mean something, shouldn't it?'

But I couldn't. So I sneaked out, went home, not able to think of anything else but this. I ended up sitting besides that hull, spread on my bed when I heared the door.

I wasn't able to talk up until Miles stepped into the bedroom, condfused as he saw that thing besides me. Stuttering I tried to explain. And after a initial shock, he seemed to develop the same curiosity as me.

Relieved I ended up besides him "then do it" he said "or should I?"

A look into my eyes answered this question. So he stepped forward, pulled that husk out of the upper clothes he still wore. I could clearly see the reaction in Miles crotch as I couldn't deny such myself.

After another questioning look he started to undress, me stepping in, wanting to be with him, helping him undress before we further inspected that hull.

There was an opening at it's back that was covered before. Or did it even just open?

So Miles stepped in, put that thing on like a rupper suit, slid into the legs, pulled it up to his hips, the arms as I got them up. And with a gentle kiss I pulled the mask over his face.

My heart raced as his face vanished, as those hollow slids showed his eyes when his whole body started to twitch, to shift, adjusting to that hull! And after a brief moment there was nothing left of Miles. Where it showed like miles wearing the suit before he fully transformed into the statue of that guy, finally opening his eyes, no longer showing those blueish rounds I was so familiar with.

And as he stepped to the mirror, a flood of relieve filled my body as he smiled like I didn't saw him smile for quite a while...

[scary-movies-on-netflix]

MIDSOMMER (2003)

This is a Danish horror movie about teens in trouble, much like “Scream” (1996). 

Christian and his sister Sofie, both older Danish teenagers, go to a party.  While everyone is having fun, Sofie sits in the bathroom and cries and holds a plushie keychain.  She takes a bunch of pills and dies on a couch.

Two months later Christian is going to the countryside with some of his friends.  The only one that matters is Trine, for reasons.  They both miss Sofie and hook up, but before that he goes outside in the dark and sees that the car lights are on.  He turns them off, but then they turn on again, and he finds Sofie’s plushie keychain!  The next day Christian goes for the run and encounters Old Dude, who lives nearby.  Christian also sees a big rock in the forest.  Then he goes to the store and invites Swedish Girl to join them at a dinner that evening.  The dinner goes well, and then Christian is collecting wood from the shed when he hears a ghostly childish laughing.  Later he sits on the beach and tosses the plushie keys into the lake.  Still later, he’s about to get it on with Trine again, but he sees that the door is wide open, and the plushie keychain is on the floor!

The next day everyone is pissed at Christian (he lashed out at Trine the night before).  Christian wanders over to Old Dude’s house, and he finds his sister’s hat!  And a news clipping about a local missing girl!  Back at the house, Old Dude appears and, in an ominous tone, asks where Sofie is.  Trine says that Sofie is sick, not dead, and then goes to cry in the bathroom.  That night’s festivities involve burning an effigy, for Midsummer!  Swedish Girl comes back, but this time she has moonshine to share.  She and Christian go inside to prepare the moonshine with coffee, and he tells her that he’s seen ghosts.  She seems intrigued, and when they go back outside she suggests that they perform a séance.

The séance goes as expected, Swedish Girl yells at people, and they learn that the spirit is, not Sofie, but the little girl who disappeared!  She points them to a location in the forest: the big rock!  A bunch of them head over, but two stay behind and guard themselves with a rifle.  At the big rock, they’re searching for something, and Trine suggests that they come the next day.  Christian continues, and he uncovers first a bicycle, and then the body of the missing girl.  (Swedish Girl told him earlier that she was the granddaughter of Old Dude.)  Trine and Swedish Girl go back to the house so they can summon the police.  Christian, who has been trying the key on the plushie keychain on various locks, discovers that it opens the bike lock!  Then he opens up the plushie and finds a letter from Sofie!  Turns out, when she and Trine came to the vacation house earlier in the year, they ran over and killed the little girl!  Then they buried her!

Meanwhile, as Trine and the others are driving, Trine freaks outs and jumps out of the car.  She shoots one of the dudes with the rifle and then chases Swedish Girl through the forest!  Swedish Girl ends up falling off a cliff but is hanging on for dear life.  She begs Trine for help, but Trine aims the gun at her instead.  Christian appears.  He saves Swedish Girl, but Trine throws herself off the cliff.  They sit there until morning and the police arrive.

For an epilogue, Christian and his family visit the gravesite of the little girl.  Swedish Girl arrives and tells Christian that she’ll be in Copenhagen soon, for an apprenticeship, and they hug.  He drives off and early 2000s rock music starts up.

First off, this has nothing to do with the much better “Midsommar” (2019).  Apart from being placed in Sweden (Sverige), there is absolutely no narrative relationship.  No crazy cults or sex rituals, and the words are spelled differently in dansk and svenska. What we get instead is a ghostly “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997).  It’s a relic of late 1990s teenage-centered horror movies with overwrought emotions and a few cheesy jump scares.  The plot tries to throw you off, to suggest that Sofie’s death is somehow related to the Old Dude, but it turns out that he was just trying to figure out what happened to his granddaughter and suspected the girls.  Other than that one little wrinkle, this is forgettable.

[captainstevenjohnstonme]

Genie.

My name is Brett Cline and I owned and managed Sydney's biggest and best antique store.

I was recently divorced after 30 years of marriage and to keep my mind occupied out of work hours I have been going to a lot of markets and garage sale in search of something interesting to sell in my store.

On Friday night while I was online I had a quick check to see if there were any garage sales nearby in the morning close to my home and to my delight I found one just a few suburbs away at Rose Bay.

I like garage sales because most people don't know the value of what they are selling.

Every now and than I come across a precious piece of jewelry a family heirloom or a valuable work of art that have the potential to be worth thousands of dollars for a measly few bucks.

I arrive precisely at 8am and already there are half a dozen other bargain hunters searching through the tables for kids clothes, plants and bric a brac all the usual stuff found at a garage sale but my eyes are focused on finding the gold at the end of the rainbow.

After ten minutes of fruitless searching I am just about to give up when I notice the neck of a green bottle poking out from behind an old heater.

As soon as I pick up the bottle my heart starts racing because it looks exactly like the bottle on that old TV show 'I Dream Of Jeannie.'

The bottle stands around 40 centimetres and is inlayed with fake rubies, sapphire and is decorated with gold leaf.

There is no price label so I ask the lady holding the sale and she tells me that I can have it for five dollars which I gladly hand over.

I am not expecting to make much of a profit but you never know.

One mans junk is another mans treasure.

An hour later I arrive at my antique store aptly named 'Artisan Treasures' and after parking out back I enter the store and am pleased to see quite a few people inside including my business partner Casey Lamborne.

Casey is 28 years old with shoulder length blonde hair and a bright personality who has a passion for antiques and history.

We first met at university back in the 1990's and discovered that we shared similar interests so we become friends and eventually business partners.

'Hello Brett what have you got there" Casey enquires.

'Just an old glass bottle I bought at a garage sale this morning, It caught my attention and hopefully we can sell it for $200 or more.'

'Give me a look' Casey demands because she is an expert on antique bottles and such.

After a close examination with a small loupe' Casey whispers excitedly 'Brett I believe that this bottle is thousands of years old, made from pure jade with Ruby, sapphire and diamonds and of course the gold leaf.'

I grab the bottle from Casey and gave it the once over including the base 'Holy shit there is something inscribed here, can you hand me you loupe?'

'Yes it is just what I thought, it says 'MADE IN CHINA'.

'What' Casey screams 'Give it back to me, you are mistaken.'

When Casey notices that I have been pulling her leg she smiles 'Why you bastard I could kill you.'

When we both settle down I tell Casey that I think it would be wise to get another expert opinion so I take a pic of the bottle and attach it to an email that I send to my old professor of History & Antiquities at Sydney University Dr Alfred Pennyworth.

Alfred sends me a text saying that he is excited by my find and will drop by in an hour or so plus he informs me that it would be wise to put the bottle in the safe for safe keeping.

Unlike his namesake from Batman who is a calm efficient butler the Alfred Pennyworth who just walked into my establishment is a bundle of nerves who always dresses like a relic from the 19th century but he most importantly is a great friend and colleague.

'So tell me more about this bottle of yours Brett.'

'It caught my eye at a garage sale so I bought it as a curio piece but Casey thinks that it could fetch a lot of money.'

At the mention of her name Casey joins the conversation 'i believe that the bottle is made from pure jade with precious gem inlays and originated from the Bulgarian, Hungary region around the beginning of the 9th century.'

'I need to go guys, my wife wants me to get something for dinner ' Alfred says 'And Maggie likes to eat at 6 o'clock sharp.'

'Yep, I need to do some shopping, so come on Alfred I will walk you to your car.'

After Casey and Alfred leave I close the store for the day and go back into the office and open the safe and grab the bottle.

I place it on my desk where I begin to rub at the dirt and grime that has built up over the years.

Remembering Alfred's comment about a genie I chuckle as I remove the jade stopper and peak inside but the bottle is empty.

Noticing a stubborn spot on the neck I spit on the polishing cloth and gave it a little rub but the spot refuses to budge so I rub a little harder and to my surprise the bottle begins to shake and a huge orange cloud emerges and begins to spin fast like a mini tornado.

I wave my hands around and soon the cloud dissipates leaving behind a short balding guy wearing bright purple pantaloons with a matching turban.

We stare at each other for a few seconds before the genie proclaims 'I am Blat master genie from Bucharest and I was born in the year 1146 but pray tell me where am I and where are all of your goats and sheep?'

I can't help but laugh at the absurd comment 'My name is Brett the owner of this fine establishment and sorry but I don't own any livestock and today is the 10th October 2023 oh and you are currently in Sydney Australia.'

'I have never heard of such a place' Blat responds 'But first off please me tell that you have a larder full of chicken livers and pigs feet?

'Sorry again but I can make you a vegemite sandwich or perhaps you would rather cheese on toast?'

Thinking that Blat wouldn't appreciate the taste of the Australian delicacy I quickly make the toasties which the genie eats gleefully.

'Very nice, now to business what is your first wish?

I am suddenly very nervous because I don't want to waste any of my wishes.

''So Blat how many wishes do I get exactly?

Blat who reminds me of Mario from those video games ponders my question 'Well Brett if you will be my master for eternity I will grant you three wishes per year but I warn you Brett that if you promise to be my master and then break that vow I will destroy you.'

'But enough talk, what do you wish for?'

I want to tell Blat that I was really hoping for a young blonde genie like the one in that old TV show plus I don't really want to be anyone's master but a shitload of wishes is hard to resist 'Okay Blat I will be your master and I am hungry so i will make us some more cheese toasties while I think about my wish.'

A few minutes later I return to the office carrying a tray of food and coffee to see Blat waving a small gold wand around 'It has been a while since I have granted any wishes so permit me time to hone my skills.'

'Um Blat in what year did you actually grant your last wish?'

I can see Blat thinking inside his head 'I believe that it was in the year 1399 so six hundred years or so.'

The two us eat and drink in silence and as we do I take in the shabby looking office and say 'Blat my first wish is for a brand new office with all of the mod cons.'

Blat stands wiping his hands on his pantaloons and begins waving the wand around but nothing happens and even when he tries again and again but still the office is unchanged.

Not only do I get an old man genie but a genie who can't grant wishes 'Blat try crossing your arms and blinking or if you wriggle your nose it might kick start your wish granting skills.'

Blat gives me a murderous look 'Please master I am just a bit rusty 'tis all.'

Then I am brought back to reality but a loud tapping on the front door and when I stick my head out of the office I see Casey beckoning me.

I wave back telling her to give me a minute 'Quick Blat back in your bottle I have a visitor.'

Blat shakes his head 'Master I have lost all of my powers so I can't return to my bottle until I have rectified the issue.

'Fucking great' I mutter in dismay.

THE END.

Part Two coming soon.

[cottagedreamy]

Another theory BUT here's my contribution to what I think will happen in TOH season 3:

As shown at the end of King's Tide, we know that Luz, Hunter, Amity, Gus and Willow are trapped in the human world and now have to find a way to get back to the boiling islands. But we have a small (big) problem: The only portal, which was the only passage to the human realm, was clearly destroyed by King's scream. Which means the hexside gang needs to set up a new portal. But how will they get clues to be able to set up a portal to another world, when there is no one in the human world who has visited the other world? Unless...The Wittebane brothers!

Phillip / Belos had a journal recounting his adventures in building a new portal to the human world, but it was abandoned in the boiling islands library until Luz found it. I wouldn't be surprised to see that his brother kept a journal too. And where did we learn more about the history of the Wittebane brothers?

Yes! At the Gravesfield Historical Society Museum. I bet Jacob Hopkins has Caleb's diary tucked away there as a historic relic of the town, and since Caleb discovered the existence of the boiling islands and witches, maybe that's what made Jacob obsessed about witches and demons and started to collect any strange artifacts he found. And maybe in Caleb's journal, Luz will find an alternative way to set up a new portal. And maybe it's by leafing through this diary, we could find things about the Wittebane brothers that we don't know yet.

But now you might be wondering... Why am I so convinced about the existence of Caleb's journal? Simple! Because in the statue of the brothers, it shows him holding a book... Or a personal journal!

Now, what's holding me back the most is...

Why is the old house the connecting point between the two worlds?