#Lately I have been deeply obsessed with Walter

[ninihousebears3000]

Ugh, I can't remember who wrote it. But someone wrote what if reader had a spray bottle of Holy water and would spray it at Alucard every time he acted up.

It has inspired me to think about what if the HR Department had that spray bottle.

HR is doing their normal work and then Alucard phases through the wall with menacing intent. Without even looking away from their computer HR sprays Alucard a couple of times causing him to hiss away.

I thoroughly believed that Walter eagerly supplied HR with the Holy Water. I feel like he'd have that grin on his face providing HR with defense measures against Alucard. Walter finds it amusing that HR doesn't let Alucard get away with his usual antics.

*coughs* Walter x HR Department coming soon

[pinkmandias]

i was sifting through a bunch of jesse hate (for an edit not bc i’m obsessed😭) and the gist of what i got was just. a willful misunderstanding of his character, his trauma, and his naivety/innocence in regards to his age/the power imbalance present within his relationship with walt and like. almost everyone else on the show.

obviously all of the people that loathe him and have paragraphs upon paragraphs of misinterpretations & simplifications of his arc to spew online are all people that love & identify with walter (surprise surprise), but i feel like it’s also so very reminiscent of the shit i noticed these last two years with certain media where a large portion of audience is both too stupid to recognize nuances present in writing & leans heavily on their confirmation bias.

and on that note, what was not shocking to me was how many of these complaints could be boiled down to him getting in walt’s way, making things more difficult for walt, or subverting walt’s authority. it’s incredibly similar to the hatred for skyler that has only recently begun to taper off (or at least take different forms or been redirected to other characters - like jane). jesse shares significantly more similarities with female characters in brba than any male character, and i think it’s only because he is not a woman (whereas skyler is) that jesse hate was not more prevalent while the show was airing/i see more of it now than ever.

jesse is a pussy, he’s a little bitch, he’s weak, he cries too much - because it’s not “manly” for him to feel remorse and to be destroyed by guilt. when he self destructs it’s selfish and when he lashes out he’s ungrateful. never mind the fact that he has been through more than enough to deeply traumatize even the most well adjusted individual by s3, much less at the end of his captivity by s5. with no one to turn to, no one to talk to, no one to comfort him. he’s neglected time and time again by the man who, from the very beginning, violated & disrespected his boundaries, his belongings, his personal life, his home, his time & has (both intentionally and unintentionally) methodically chipped away at any meaningful relationship jesse had or could have & left him with nothing but Him, nurturing a deadly codependency. he has at least two members of walt’s family being projected onto him as well as the role of a student & business partner. perfect obedience & perfect fulfillment of these roles is expected, but not praised.

would you not also be a little bitchy sometimes? do impulsive & risky things to gain attention or love or some semblance of power in your otherwise powerless life? would you not fall prey to fleeting affection given by a dying man (with the same sickness as your late aunt that you shared a home with and loved so dearly that you spent her remaining time on this earth by her side, taking care of her) when that affection is so heady? when you have nothing and no one else??

it always circles back around to “he knew what he was getting into”, “he deserved xyz”, “he could have stopped at any time”, and “why didn’t he just leave” - just like with skyler. i don’t think i have to explain why those comments are so disturbing & i don’t think it’s difficult at all to understand why he cries or bitches so much…

anyway, i’ll conclude this post with these quotes because i think it says a lot that the only character vince remembers the audience hating so much is skyler -

[lottieurl]

MISTYNAT

THANK YOU I CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON YOU FHDJJS

ship it and i am SO serious about it lately. and s2 is so fascinating in that it solidified my mistynat brainrot while making me fear that the writers are about to destroy misty as a character - through walter - but! fears aside lets talk about them and how i see those characters and their dynamic and the ways in which s2 is now influencing my thoughts. SO!

my take on misty is that she's fucked in the head (that's everyone's take but bear with me) and so she doesn't want the same earnest obsessive reciprocation reflected back at her. which is why i hope whatever they do with walter crashes and burns cause it can only be INTERESTING and good for misty as a character if ultimately she doesn't WANT that (i just also think she's a lesbian but i know she won't be ~canonically so) and hear me out!!! with crystal it was different cause it was the first time misty even felt a connection to anyone who seemed to like her back AND she was a teenager. plus the thing about mistycrystal is i think it's PART of the reason she's like that. she had this illusion of complete acceptance and understanding from someone so similar to her only for that person to take it back right before dying. so that explicitly made it clear to misty that she can't have that. it's unhealthy yes (cheering clapping throwing confetti) but i think she feels safer if someone is - like nat - vaguely antagonistic towards her and yet seems to care. not only does that feel safer it also gives her that RUSH. the thrill of winning someone’s affection or i guess manipulating her way into getting it lmao it's like. a game to an extent. and BECAUSE of what happened to her in the wilderness there IS NO ONE WHO CAN GIVE HER UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE. it wouldn't MATTER if walter was fine with the black box secret cause he wasn't TRAUMATIZED TO HELL AND BACK BY IT. his acceptance means nothing. and misty CAN'T "heal" and she cannot form Healthy Attachments much like other survivors (again. cheering and throwing confetti)

and the nat part of this? LIKE LISTEN. nat who lashes out at perceived rejection? nat who can make it impossible for anyone to stick around (like the only relationship she seems to have with like anyone is with travis and if i understood correctly they haven't BEEN together for a long while and it was just seeing each other once in a while to do drugs. so. she's downright incapable of healthy relationships. like all of them obviously but i am just making a Point) so anyways. she can make pretty much everyone give up eventually cause they may care deeply but they're just not sick in the head enough to put themselves through it. enter misty. misty WON'T EVEN ACCEPT IT'S A REJECTION. AND SHE LIKES THE HIGH OF THE EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER. fucking perfect i want to read 300k of this disaster

on top of that you have the really messed up way they can relate to each other (although i don't think nat would admit that) in that both of them miss the wilderness. i mean to an extent that's true for all the survivors but we start the show with nat saying she lost her purpose when she got rescued. and in s1 we are sort of led to believe she meant that she was the hunter who was HUNTING ANIMALS and providing for the group i suppose but then we get to s2 and the implications are much different. and we end on nat being embraced by her peers in a way she's NEVER been before. which is such a parallel to misty feeling finally accepted after the crash. so you have those two characters who were both socially stigmatized and mocked/bullied during their teenage years and are still facing social rejection in adulthood. for different reasons (like. with misty lets be honest most people like her coworkers aren't aware she's like actually dangerous and whatnot. they just don't like her because she's very in your face not neurotypical. and nat is a depressed addict with an attitude) but like the social consequences are the same really

and to end on a happy note. Of Course i ship it. if something can have this in the summary of a fic and be insanely in character OF COURSE i ship it

[link to the fic which you absolutely SHOULD read it. best mistynat one EVER]

[the-commonplace-book]

tagged by @monstroso ♥

nine things / nine people / nine companions, so be it.

Last Song: The Rules for Lovers by Richard Walters

Favorite Color: lavender, forest green, rose gold, and soft blues

Last Movie/TV Show: It was either SpyxFamily with my partner or Planet Earth with DJ and Ray. Can't remember which was more recent. I haven't been watching a lot of movies and tv shows lately because I've been heckin' hella busy

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: When you get all three in the same dish? Mwah! *chef's kiss* Perfection. But if I had to choose just one... savory or spicy. I'm not a big sweets person most of the time.

Last Thing I Googled: "[local business] hours"

Current Obsession: Honestly my life's been bonkers the last couple months so I haven't had a lot of time or energy to deeply invest in research or fandom or anything recently. Which is a weird spot to be in.

Last Book: Hyperion by Dan Simmons (currently reading)

Last Fic: Haven't had much time to read fanfic either ;_; So it was either Hurricane by Sasusquatch or one of the entries in Twenty-Two Short Films About Wellington Wells by DJ. And various parts of @runawaymun's fics since she lives with me and we beta each other's writing (minus To Partake since the ship is a big nope for me sorry Beth love you babes but that ain't it for me)

Looking Forward To: Either getting my car fixed or getting a new car that doesn't break down every few weeks. Having more time to focus on writing and art again. Having enough money and time to start going bouldering regularly again. Just generally getting various things in my life in order. Things are on the up and up, it's just a lot to manage currently.

no pressure lowkey tags for: @runawaymun @sasusquatch @eldritchteletubbie @exeggcute @greyjedijaneite @wigglewyrms @crowsroses @matthewsblue @shuuumaaaaa-main and anyone else who wants to

[technicolorfamiliar]

Technicolor Familiar Watches Too Many Conrad Veidt Movies Part 3 of ?

Part 1 // Part 2

Anders als die Andern (Different From the Others), 1919 Dir. Richard Oswald ⭐4/5 Watched Nov 15, Archive.org It really breaks my heart that so much of this film was lost and destroyed, and that the story is unfortunately still relevant 100+ years later. Maybe I don't have as much to say about this one because it's so chopped up, and because it's already been written and talked about so much. I am glad it seems to have found its proper place in literature/content about LGBTQ+ history, getting the acknowledgement it deserves. Despite already knowing so much about the movie from various books, podcasts, and documentaries, I was still very affected by the story and performances, especially towards the end. It really hit a nerve, surprisingly so. Connie's Paul is really lovely, tragic, and so sweet with Kurt.

Jew Süss, 1934 Dir. Lothar Mendes ⭐3.5/4 Watched Nov 26, Youtube There's something about the structure and the hazy, dreamy quality of the film itself that makes this seem like a fable. There are parts that are deeply upsetting and chilling despite the mediocre supporting cast. It's imperfect, but definitely did a lot more than other films to create complex and sympathetic Jewish characters in the 1930s (even if still playing on stereotypes). I'm a total sucker for 18th century opulence and fashion so I can’t complain much. And oh boy, does the 18th century suit Connie. He knows how to work the lace and silk to great affect. Some of the things he's doing as Josef are really fascinating and gut-wrenching. He's doing so much vocally, too. He's in an entirely other class compared to many actors of that era. P.S. The scenes with Josef and his mother and daughter were, uh, interesting. I have… mixed feelings.

Rome Express, 1932 Dir. Walter Forde ⭐3/5 Watched Nov 26, Youtube My expectations were pretty low for this one based on some things I'd read online, but it's a cute if slightly baffling train thriller with an ok-ish ensemble. I'm a little biased, my inner child fuckin loves trains so any train movie is at least going to be semi-enjoyable. I was so stressed the whole time about how everyone was handling that apparently very expensive painting. Connie is so extra, though. Why is Zurta eating a banana as soon as he jumps onto a moving train? Why does he hold a gun like ~that~? Why are his fingernails so long?? It's so funny seeing him next to all these tiny British actors. It may partly be how they dressed him for the role, but he makes everyone else look positively shrimpy.

All Through the Night, 1942 Dir. Vincent Sherman ⭐3/5 Watched Nov 27, Vudu Once I finally leaned into how silly this movie was, it was pretty entertaining. The dialogue alone is so stupid, but self aware of how stupid it is. And it features one of my favorite gags of all time: making up gibberish words for technical terms with complete confidence. There's a dog. (Question: Is the dog a nazi like the monkey in Raiders of the Lost Ark? Does the dog know it's complicit in war crimes??) Peter Lorre looks like he'd rather be anywhere else. Mrs. Danvers is there. Some of the visual comedy is actually pretty great -- the dog in the boat at the end when Connie is being totally deadpan serious? Hysterical. (DID THEY BLOW UP THAT DOG?) I think this was the first time I've heard Connie speak German, too.

The Spy in Black, 1939 Dir. Michael Powell ⭐3.5/5 Watched Nov 27, Youtube Interesting that the main character, the person carrying this British movie in the late 1930s, is a German U-boat captain. But wow. I'm obsessed. Hardt's entrance into the hotel? Baa-ing at the sheep? The delicious gluttony with food? Dragging the stupid motorbike up the stairs to his room? "It is evening. And I am grown up."?? We love a sexy, honor driven character like Captain Hardt. Therefore, Valerie Hobson going for the British officer seems totally unlikely and unbelievable. I think I like this movie marginally better than Dark Journey, as far as espionage films go. It's slightly more engaging (but that may be Connie and Valerie Hobson's chemistry) and the story is a little better.

[akaviri-dovah]

tagged on main (@faiyamon) by the wonderful @skyrim-forever ! this is going to be fun because lately I have been listening to quite a handful of songs that generate mental amv's of my oc's-

Enemy by Tommee Profitt, feat. Beacon Light and Sam Tinnesz. makes me think of an epic showdown/boss battle between my Last Dragonborn Taralka and her greatest foes - whether that is Alduin, the one she is fated to defeat, or an especially powerful and/or determined Thalmor as bent on killing her as much as she hates them back.

BRN by Aviva. another one for Taralka in general, how she will never back down, be brought down, or be used by anyone, in her early days as a Dragonborn where she has not yet gained much trust or renown. bonus points for the lyric "cause I'm a fighter, a tiger, see me walk through fire" which is especially fitting for a Khajiit warrior whose favourite shout is Fire Breath.

Careless Thu'um by Allinall - I swear I've put this one in every song-related tag game I've done! and yes I know it's a cover of Careless Whisper but the vibe is not the same... I am just that obsessed with it... why though, because it perfectly fits Aevalinwe the Thalmor agent, one of the other protagonists of my Skyrim story alongside Taralka, whose conflicted feelings and need to alleviate recent trauma related to it led her to do... something which she regrets deeply.

Beauty is not a need, she is an ecstasy (respirate) by Crywolf. kind of the "other side of the story" to the above, namely from Aeva's friend/crush Talerion, who she abandoned after being unable to take the consequences of what she did with/to him. he does not know why, and only longs for her to come back since he felt much more attached to her.

I Love You So by The Walters. my interpretation for this one isn't romantic: I think it fits well for Vaicarion, the father of my HOK Eleonora. he's always wanted to see her but never got to until it was too late, and not long after that he mantles Sheogorath; though he eventually loses most of his memories of mortal life, he can never quite let go of his daughter.

now that I am done, I shall tag the following: @cheeseandstrawberrytartlover, @titanwolfackerman, @maldov, @bunniletto, @illumiera, and @nightingalehours ! as with other tag games, no pressure to participate, it's all just for fun.

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Nakkiah Lui finds the ‘pathos and heart’ in doomsday survivalism

In her new ABC TV comedy Preppers, playwright, screenwriter and actor Nakkiah Lui explores the good times, the bad times, and the end times.

Written by Walter Marsh

Preppers centres on a group of mainly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander survivalists led by Uncle Monty (Jack Charles). Photo: ABC TV

“I think it’s a really interesting community to draw from for comedy,” Lui says of the international doomsday prepping movement, which she first discovered through docu-tainment shows like National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers, before going down the internet rabbit hole herself.

“There are so many extremes, but it also really deeply connects to your humanity; what is that we’re trying to do? What is it that we’re surviving for? What is it that we think the world will look like after the end of the world? I think that was just ripe for writing about.”

Having initially made her name as a playwright (her 2017 Christmas comedy Black is the New White reached South Australian audiences as part of State Theatre Company’s 2019 season), Lui has been increasingly focussed on the screen of late, with an HBO show in development alongside recent stints in the writers’ room for ABC drama Total Control and Stan/Hulu’s period comedy The Great.

In Preppers, Lui and co-creator Gabe Dowrick, who is also her husband, swap out the armageddon-obsessed Americans typically seen building bunkers and stockpiling supplies for a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander survivalists – along with a handful of non-Indigenous blow-ins. The ragtag bunch are readying their secluded community of Eden 2 for a shopping list of disaster scenarios including “global wars, civil wars, nuclear wars, race wars, alien invasions, overpopulation, bushfires, tidal waves, climate change, [and] super volcanoes”, when Lui’s character Charlie arrives.

"Aboriginal people are kind of like the original survivalists"

A breakfast television presenter in the midst of what Lui describes as “her own personal apocalypse”, Charlie has returned to her family’s country property only to discover that Nanna has handed it over to the preppers’ leader, Uncle Monty (Jack Charles), under a“10,000-year legally-binding lease for the continued survival of Aboriginal people”.

“Charlie’s a character who’s the epitome of the ‘good Aboriginal’ – which in a way comes from quite a racist place,” Lui says of her character’s lifelong attempt to assimilate, which ends in a career implosion that recalls Lui’s guest appearance in the acclaimed finale of ABC satire Get Krack!n.

“Charlie’s tried to create this life where she’s done everything that she thinks is right – or ‘White’ – just in order to survive, but has created this gilded cage and has no idea who she is or any hope for the future. So in a way, for her to be able to find a future, she has to burn everything around her to the ground.”

Nakkiah Lui as Charlie – a character she says is a character who’s the epitome of the ‘good Aboriginal’. Photo: ABC TV

That episode of Get Krack!n, a funny yet searing indictment of Australian TV that saw Lui play a fictionalised parody of herself, has since become the subject of enough confected culture war stoushes to make anyone want to bunker down.

“I realised after [Preppers] was written, and we’d wrapped production, that in a way maybe I was wondering if I could survive that myself – and I was maybe exploring that through Charlie’s character. How do you survive that kind of outrage, cancellation, and how do you find some kind of empowerment in your life and career?”

The kind of survival that Charlie finds in Eden 2 is what Lui says gave Preppers its “pathos and heart”.

“When I got really into those shows, I started thinking, what do I think the world will look like? Then I had this thought: well, 1788 was an apocalypse of sorts for Aboriginal people. Homes and families destroyed in all these disastrous ways; people speculate about how the world will end – that happened. So I was like, well hey, Aboriginal people are kind of like the original survivalists, it would be kind of silly not to doomsday prep again.”

That idea allowed Lui to explore a different kind of prepper community to the ones she had previously seen on screen.

“I think the representations of a lot of those shows that I was really into tended to be a lot of White men, and what ‘survival’ looks like to them. In the shows I watched, and this is a generalisation, but it was often quite combative, and harsh and violent. But I remember this one couple who were more progressive and hippy, and they were like, ‘We’re going to give all our vegetables to everybody!’

“We might have this idea about who doomsday preppers and survivalists are, but I know that for myself, my family – my parents, my grandparents – they survived so much, and yet they were able to create hope. With Preppers, that’s what we ultimately wanted to do, to create a show that is about hope and community at the end of the day.”

Not just stockpiling ammo – or toilet paper?

“I could not have predicted that it would have been toilet paper,” she laughs of the last-minute panic prepping that has unfolded across Australia in the last year, “and neither could any of these doomsday peppers in the shows that I researched. It never came up!”

Preppers airs on ABC TV from Wednesday, November 10.

Source: InDaily Australia

[darkspellmaster]

Sex and the Castlevania series

So you may have all heard by now that the new seasons of Castlevania will have more gore and sex involved in the series. And for me at least this is a bit of a surprise. Not because Castlevania has not had sex as part of its storyline, (how else are the Belmonts going to be born), nor that nudity would be shown (see the Succubus for example) but in how it’s going to be used. 

As a player of the games, one thing has always stood out to me about the Castlevania series and the idea of fan service and sexuality and sex itself, it’s never used as a means of just titillation. There’s always a meaning behind it. And the reviews have me wondering if this is going to still be the case with the show, or is it going to be used as an “Oooh look how edgy we’re being this season.” because that’s not what sex in Castlevania is about. 

Sex, or the idea of intimacy between two romantic partners, has always been at the heart of the backstory of the Castlevania series. From the outset there’s has always been a sense of family and love and devotion in Castlevania. Even with the Arcade edition of Haunted Castle in 1988, the addition to the story of Simon was that he was newly married to his bride Selena, who was taken by Dracula. Years later Selena and the Mysterious Woman in Simon’s Quest II were mixed to create Linda Entwhistle who was Simon’s girlfriend in the book series based on the games. 

Years later during the more story-driven games that came out, sexuality and intimacy became part of the game in how it was presented. Namely the use of sex as a way to pull the innocents to the darkness ala the Vampire Brides in the original Dracula, and the loss of innocence (as with Lucy in the novel) and the idea of devotional love that conquers that darkness and temptation. 

In this sense, we’re seeing the use of the deadly sin of Lust acting as a temptation to the heroes as a means of making them be killed for their wanton desires. Yet love and intimacy also plays a huge part in fixing issues in the story and leading to tragic and happy endings. 

So with that in mind, I want to do a quick walkthrough of the way sex and love is used in these games and discuss why the idea of sex and violence shouldn’t be on the table with Castlevania as a metaphor as much. 

Let’s start with the timeline, rather than the game order because it makes more sense that way. 

The story of the Belmont Clan and Dracula are intertwined for all time, this is just a fact of the matter and not just some random accident. And Love plays a huge part in this story as the cannon story stands right now. Prior to this, Castlevania was a fun romp through the idea of beating up Old Universal Monster Movie characters (every one of the main bosses in the first game was tied to some form of Universal Horror Monster and it even has some Hammer Horror connections as well). But with the growth of the franchise, it was clear that a story needed to be told, so over the years, that story had evolved until in the early 2000s we got the very first story in the Belmont vs Dracula timeline in the form of Lament of Innocence. 

Now Lament isn’t just a story about the loss for Leon and his world view that there is nothing lurking in the dark. It’s the loss of friendship and of love, but also it’s the reinstatement of belief of the good of people and that there are those that can and will stand up to the darkness and that even as one loses everything, you don’t have to lose your soul in the processes. 

But let me start from the beginning in this case. Leon Belmont was a knight templar in the crusade. He was best friends with and cared deeply about his fellow Crusader Mathias Cronqvist. Now Mathias was a man of science and of learning and of a lot of things, he wasn’t a fighter the same way Leon was, so he was more into spells and magics, something that his family kept mostly from the Church at the time. 

Both Mathias and Leon were in love and devoted to the women that they felt deeply for, that being Leon’s fiance Sara Trantoul, and Mathias’s wife Elisabetha. Leon’s devotion to Sara was known by everyone, especially Mathias and this is very important since it’s Leon’s Love of Sara that drives him to abandon his cause with the Crusades and pretty much take up Vampire Killing for the rest of his life, training his children and their descendants, on how to defeat the man that took that love from him. 

Mathias, on the other hand, was emotionally devoted to Elisabetha, and, given the way he speaks of her, it’s clear that the devotion and love was returned. So much so that his love for her basically poisoned his mind and made him into the monster that would later come to regret his actions. As it was, Elisabetha died due to illness and Mathias abandoned the Crusades, became ill, and holed up in his home unable to be reached by any of his friends, Leon and Sara. It’s only when he learned that Sara was in danger from Walter Bernhard that he was able to get out of bed and warn his friend Leon of the danger, but, by then, it was too late and Sara was captured and taken to Walter’s castle. 

Now one of the huge parts of the story of Lament is is that it deals with devotion, honor, and the choices we make based on love. So while Leon is trying to save Sara he meets up with an alchemist, Rinaldo, who had lost his daughter Justine to Walter and was unable to save her. 

Leon renounces everything; his baron title, his home, his lands just so he can cast off his duty to go and save Sara. His love for her runs that deep that he’s willing to go into the Castle of Walter with just a sword and prayer and god save anyone that gets in his way. Rinaldo is far more of a pragmatic person and in this way juxtaposes Leon’s love of Sara.  Whereas Leon is far more optimistic about his chances against Walter, Rinaldo knows the bitter truth, that Sara has no hope of making it out of the castle and not becoming a vampire in the process. 

This becomes an important part of Leon’s story as he traverses the castle to try to locate Sara and comes across a number of characters that play a part in the story and the idea of love. Medusa, though not a sexualized being in this one, mentions that the whip he’s using is far more powerful than that of the version that Rinaldo used to save his daughter. 

Now, why is that? One could speculate that Rinaldo lacked the will to save his child, or that he knew the truth and couldn’t bear to have to take his daughter’s life. His feelings, however, whatever they lacked, caused the Whip to fail in what it needed to do, and thus he was forced to kill his own daughter. Leon on the other side of things has nothing but the will and drive to save Sara, and his love for her and desire to bring her home urges him on. This love, this need to help her, is what makes that whip work. That need for protecting something, it’s why Trevor needed to find Sypha and Alucard to eventually come to a reason why the Vampire Killer came to him. 

Joachim is an interesting one in regard to love in this game and how it is presented. Walter seduced the young man with the idea of immortality and when Joachim gained his Vampire state he realized that Walter was above him and rebelled. This lead to Walter putting him in captivity and driving him mad, for his own amusement. But how is this love? It’s a very dangerous and bad form of it, as Joachim both loathes Walter but also seems obsessed with him. He hates him with all he is, and at the same time wants to overpower and control him. This same sort of hate and love is what drives Mathias as well in his story. 

Then there’s the Succubus, the one character that really hammers in the idea of desire/Sex and love in this game and the differences between them. So the Succubus in Lament is an actual boss, vs. just being an enemy. She has no name, but her role is critical in understanding what’s going on in Walter’s castle. This succubus had previously disguised herself as Justine for Rinaldo, allowing him to lower his guard and possibly may have harmed him in the process. His rejection of this form of his daughter may have to lead him to make some critical mistakes. Mistakes that Leon doesn’t seem to make. Namely, after a bit, he sees through the Succubus using Sara’s form to trick him. 

Leon recognizes that the woman isn’t Sara based on her actions and way of moving, showing that though his connection with Sara he can’t be tricked and lured in by kind words from a monster. This is the opposite of what happened to Mathias. 

As I said there’s a tragedy to the love and sex in this game and the use of it. Walter luring Justine away with his beauty and her desire for him lead to her downfall, which leads us into Mathias. (We will circle back to Leon, I promise.) For Mathias Elisabetha was his whole world and when she died while he was away it leads him to reject all of his desires for hope and love and feelings. He lost his way and decided to renounce God and live as an immortal as revenge for God taking away his beloved wife. In order to get what he needed, he made a deal with Death, and the two decided to use Sara as bait for Walter and Leon was to be his sword. Mathias’s own devotion to Leon, and some of his humanity as well, shows up later in the story where he sympathizes and connects with Leon in regard to his own loss. Showing that they’re the same and that Leon should join him, which Leon rejects. 

This moment in the game is interesting because by this point in the story Leon has learned about how to defeat Walter and that Sara was bitten. In a lot of Vampire lore, biting is used as a way to indicate, in some cases, a sexual desire or a need that is fulfilled in a more intimate way. After all the neck is a body part that is known for being very much something that can be used for erotic aspects of lovemaking or showing desire. Which brings us back to the fact that Sara didn’t want to be turned. This wasn’t a choice on her part, unlike Joachim, and it leads to her rejecting the idea of wanting to remain a vampire. She desires death over having to be a monster and leads to Leon, at first vehemently rejecting Rinaldo’s order to kill her, and then accepting Sara’s desires to become one with the whip. 

It’s an important moment because it shows that Leon is willing to ignore his own desires for that of Sara’s, again showing his selflessness in putting what she wants ahead of his own, showing his love and devotion in a more adult and complex way. Sara’s own love is what fuels that whip and her need to protect Leon are the quintessential factors of  Love (Leon) to the opposing one of Lust (Walter) and in this case. 

Trevor and Sypha come next in regard to the issue of love and sex and while the show is clearly going to be showing more of their romantic escapades, it should be noted that the game doesn’t really make much mention of it at first, as Sypha in the game has a bit of a love triangle going on with Grant and Trevor as the main choices, although it seems like she only had eyes for Trevor. We know the two eventually had children but Sex, or lust, in the game never was a thing. Their devotion to each other in the show is telling, and in other games, both do pair up frequently, even in Judgement there’s an underlying tension between them. 

It’s of interest that in the show, we get to see the two of them acting as a couple, much like how Lisa and Dracula were shown acting like a couple. But actual sexual acts are, as with Lisa and Dracula, put on the side and in the case of Trevor and Sypha it’s only hinted at and not a full on display. Which falls into the same idea that most Castlevania games seem to have, the hero’s love interest typically is not shown engaging in sexual activity, or rather, only after bad things happen. 

I’ll jump to Richter and Annette, because that seems to be the next one in regard to how sexuality is used heavily in Castlevania. So in Rondo of blood, Dracula has Shaft take Annette since she is engaged to Richter Belmont. In a scene with him during the game, Annette threatens to take her own life rather than have relations with Dracula who intends to drink her and turn her into his bride. For the original version there’s a dramatic moment where Annette is talking to Dracula and he tries to lure her into becoming immortal to stay with him. She says she will not fall in such a cheap manner, the implications there are more along the lines of sex and him taking her physically from her fiance Richter. In the PSP game, if you take too long or go the wrong route you get the bad end where Annette has been transformed into a vampire and is placed in an overtly sexual outfit, down to a thong and bodice. Her hair goes down rather than the updo she has when she’s not turned and she very certainly is meant to be a temptress and a signal that Richter failed to save her from the deviousness of the vampire. 

This idea of sex, or the sexual, being used as a temptation and a devious thing in Castlevania has been around for a long time. However for every moment of some devious succubus being in the way of the hero, there’s always a moment of love that shows the positive side of it’s nature vs. the lustful side. Again, looking at Annette and Richter we get a moment when he frees her of her embracing him and happy that he’s there to be with her. That she knew he would come and that everything will be okay. 

Sexuality plays a heavy role in tempting Gabriel Belmont in his game, Lords of Shadow. During the game, as he tries to get to see his dead wife with a specialized mask. During the game he meets the Vampire Carmilla who offers to him a chance to become a vampire and enjoy the idea of a lustful existence. Every inch of her in the game is designed to pretty much be a temptress and lure Gabriel from his path to finding a way to see his dead wife. Yet it’s in this moment that we get to see how deeply his affection for his wife runs as Gabriel rejects this offer even more violently than with other Lords of Shadow that he’s faced. It’s a pretty strong moment for him as a character, and shows a deeper feeling in regard to his connection to his late wife. 

The reason I bring all these moments up is because even in the games where there’s hints of the sexual, as Vampires now are associated with Lust and temptation, the show uses sex as a means of connecting it with violence and some pretty dark ideas. Which contradicts the idea of how Love is the most powerful thing to defeat the darkness in Castlevania. 

Take Hector’s story right now. In the show we have his sexual encounter with Lenore which is contrasted with Isaac’s battle with Legion. The idea here is to show that both Isaac and Hector are being used, one being brought to his knees via false affection and entrapment by a woman who doesn’t love him and is using him as her own pet, who later slips the ring on him to collar him as she would a dog or cat. While the Isaac, even though he’s doing a good thing in defeating Legion (and i’m still damn sure that woman is Death in a false form) was used to destroy the wizard in the tower, releasing the village. In both cases manipulation was used in order for the opposing party to achieve their goal. 

For Lenore it was to get Hector to trust her enough to trap him and use him in her own way and for her own needs. She controls him now, making it impossible for him to escape from them, or so we are told to believe. On the other hand you have Isaac who, while used, acknowledges that he was so, accepts it, but is free to move on as the use of him wasn’t against his will, nor was it something changing him down. Rather the manipulation was used to not only stop something terrible, but also show him that there were others out there that were worth saving. Thus, in the poster, we have Lenore holding onto a bound and trapped Hector, and Isaac not quiet twisted up in thorns. 

The use of violence that we see shows that there’s a thin line in this world causing people to become entrapped by their own desires. For Isaac it was his revenge, for Hector it was his need to feel human again. Which brings us to the point where Rosaly comes into play in regard to Hector’s story. In Hector’s game Curse of Darkness, we see how his life drastically changed when he and she connect. From where he was in the story she brought the idea of hope and light to him, vs the darker aspects in the game that hint at someone who was cursed to believe he is a monster. In this way, I hope that if they bring in Rosaly we can see the opposition to Lenore’s way of using him for gratification and chaining him to her. 

On the other side of things, and something a bit easier to get at, is the idea of  trauma through the use of sex as shown in Alucard’s story. In the show we get to see Trevor and Sypha in bed, but it’s clear what’s happened there and the idea is that it’s less about their sexual encounters with one another than about their growth as a couple and how they interact outside of the bedroom and how they show love for one another. We see also they have a sense of betrayal when dealing with the Judge and the idea of Sypha’s world going from it just being fun and doing the right thing, to realizing the world is not black and white, and that not all people are good. 

In Alucard’s case we see the idea of the twins (I’m using the term as it’s easier for me to call them this, it doesn’t mean I’m saying they are twins just that they look alike) as filling a void and clearly being a representation of Trevor and Sypha (They even share the first initial of their names) that Alucard is looking for. Through their interactions we see that Alucard is, like Sypha in the other town, trusting them regardless of how many red flags they raise. The whole issue comes to a head when, after sharing a lot of things with them, Alucard is seduced by the two while trying to sleep. During the scene, as with Hector and Isaac, we see the sex as being connected to the violence of the battle that Sypha, Trevor and Germain get into. The twins end up wrapping Alucard in iron rings, much like Hector is imprisoned by Lenore with the ring, so to is Alucard. We see then that like Hector he’s betrayed and harmed by the emotional aspect of the betrayal. But unlike Hector who feels trapped, Alucard now feels anger at those that hurt him. 

The sexual act leads into the idea of him no longer trusting humans, especially with his heart. This of course is being used to drive Alucard to decide to lock himself back to sleep until the time of Richter and Maria (the warrior and the Mage), three hundred years later. The idea here is that the physical act of it is being used to show people being harmed in vulnerable states, and that sex is used as a tool to harm or destroy others just as certain acts of violence can. 

Yet, part of the story line of Alucard is that Maria chooses to go after him even after he says he’s cursed. Again, like Hector and Rosaly, showing that love is more of a counter to the anger and hate that seem to embolden those that would do bad in the world of Castlevania. So then, I must ask, why is the sex in the show being used not as it should be, showing how love can change someone, but rather as a connector to the violence. That wasn’t the idea of Castlevania, so I have to wonder what Warren is driving at here. 

[mandysxmuses]

(( 🎊🎭💬(2 who haven't met yet) 👄 🐜💥🐩🐺- i do this b/c i luv u uwu ))

🎊: Which is your favorite muse?

//Oh gosh, currently -- well, Todd and Jemand have always been favorites of mine to write, but I think right now it’s actually Shoichi. I know I just added him like, a day ago, but I really like his character so much already and it’s one of those guys I want to write a ton of stuff about but am also worried about annoying people with spamming the blog over

🎭: With which of your muses can you identify the most?

I’ve always really deeply identified with Carrie (especially after having to shed a lot of religious fears), and a lot of the time recently I’ve been feeling like Laut and just a little bit like Alice (her problems are much worse than mine but still, sometimes taking care of your mental health can be really difficult)

💬: Write a banter between two of your muses. (Bonus: Sender chooses which muses)

“Vincent? That can’t be right. You were... -- oh, you’re Asian. Nevermind, you look a lot like him from the back.”

“Haha -- I look like a friend of yours?”

“Gross, he wasn’t ever my friend.”

Shoichi snickers and adjusts his glasses. “Well, hopefully you won’t see him again, then?”

“I’m sure I won’t. ... You take much better care of your teeth, by the way.”

“... Haha -- an unusual compliment, but thank you.”

👄: Which of your muses would probably get sexual with each other, if they met?

Todd and Jemand let’s be honest man but Verheiler and Knirschen are definitely attracted to each other

Maybe Nero and Fiona? And Patroklos and Fiona too, they both have very similar taste in women

OH and even though I think I removed Lillian from the blog she and Walter would be cute together

🐜: Which of your muses is the most clever/intelligent/educated one?

Speaking of Walter, I think he’s the most educated ‘Keeper boy’ when it comes to what’s up on Earth besides Jemand, despite hardly visiting, because he’s a huge bookworm and obsesses over wanting to be human.

But also

Nico’s demonic weapons are insanely powerful and I’m surprised this woman has not gotten herself killed so she’s pretty smart too

Judging by how he behaves I bet Shoichi’s really clever too, which makes it really sad he took up lower-paying jobs and eventually just resorted to killing for money

💥: Which of your muses would you fight with?

“kill me Todd”

“nice”

I wouldn’t fight any of these guys. I don’t like dying and otherwise I don’t like fighting cinnamon buns

🐩: Which of your muses is the most loyal?

Nero is very loyal. The entire crux of the first game he appeared in was his loyalty to Kyrie and wanting to save her from a bunch of demon-worshiping creepers, and in the second one he saves his father and uncle after revealing how deeply his brother’s death affected him (which makes me wish it was touched on more in the previous game because Credo’s death was kinda brushed over on Nero’s side in that one)

Heather’s story literally focuses on a revenge plot for her father’s death she loves Harry Mason please protect him

... well protect Heather it’s kinda too late on Harry’s end

Grirrian’s entire thing is that he’s so loyal it’s toxic, because he’s refusing to let anyone else in but this little angel (and his mother)

And I think the Keeper story could also focus a lot on toxic levels of ‘loyalty’ bc they were getting increasingly possessive of Emma as time went on, and are literally murderous over Keepers they like

🐺: Which of your muses is the most unsocial? 

Oh gosh

Carrie White for sure

Laut

Todlich

Maybe Yuri definitely Yuri

Niemand

[televinita]

Books Read in 2018: The Why

Third year in a row* of answering the self-imposed question: why did you read this particular book?

(*Although 2017′s is presently flagged by the garbage bot and under appeal -- WHY DO U HATE MY BOOK COVER COLLAGES, MR. ALGORITHM)

I am beginning to deeply regret the extra work involved to split them by category, so next year is probably just gonna be a numbered chronological list after the Quilt of Many Covers, but for now they are still divided into adult fiction, YA, middle grade/children’s books, and nonfiction

FICTION

True Valor - Dee Henderson. 2002. Read because: I went hunting for a military romance in which to cast Dalton and Jaz [The Brave]. This one at least guaranteed me Dalton (and included rescuing a female soldier lost/hurt in combat, so).

These Healing Hills - Ann H. Gabhart. 2017. Had this one in my back pocket for a while as a quality-sounding stock romance (nurse/soldier) waiting for players. When my need for a Barbie/Julia [Under the Dome] story reached a new high, I deemed it a match.

Shane - Jack Schaefer. 1949. This is the book Fourmile is based on, so I thought I could get a two-for-one casting thrill out of it.

The Lake House - Kate Morton. 2015. A gorgeous historic mansion hidden within an abandoned estate. A mystery from the past to be solved in the present. What are "things I am here for always."

Crimson Peak (movie novelization) - Nancy Holder. 2015. I LOVED the movie, and the only thing I love more than amazing movies is when I can have them translated into and enriched by prose.

Chasing Sunsets - Karen Kingsbury. 2015. Brush of Wings - Karen Kingsbury. 2016. I was hunting, desperately, for Ben/Ryan-shaped books [Off the Map], and "Brush of Wings" checked all the boxes (young woman who needs a heart transplant volunteers in a third world country, love interest has to find a way to rush her home when the situation turns dire). I only read C.S. first because I didn't want to miss where the romance started.

Rancher Under Fire - Vickie Donoghue. 2014. I was looking for a different book when I casually stumbled upon this title, and listen. I am not gonna turn down a ready-made Barbie/Julia AU* with bonus "single father" angle. (*cowboy/journalist)

Heart Like Mine - Maggie McGinnis. 2016. "Ben/Ryan, Sexy Hookup AU Version please."

The Mountain Between Us - Charles Martin. 2010. The request list for the movie was too long, so I decided to see if it was based on a book. Upon reading the back cover and finding out one character was a surgeon, I immediately forgot the movie cast as my brain exploded with Shondaland options.

When Crickets Cry - Charles Martin. 2006. "Doctor whose wife died young of a lifelong heart condition" sounded like the best book-shaped Ben/Ryan approximation yet, with bonus "watching out for a little girl who is sick in the same way" cuteness as well.

The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware. 2016. A woman at work recommended it to me, and I was like, "a well received general thriller? Sure!"

Listen to Me - Hannah Pittard. 2016. Put "road trip" into the library catalog --> picked 70% because "Gothic thriller" made me think of "The Strangers," and 30% because I was reliving the glory days of Derek And Addison and this marriage sounded similar.

The Lying Game - Ruth Ware. 2017. I enjoyed the other book of hers I read so my friend brought in the next one she had.

Hatter Fox - Marilyn Harris. 1973. Read in high school and forgotten until I reread the Goodreads summary, and "doctor drawn to help 17-year-old" set off my radar. Shippy or merely protective/caretaking, my radar reacts the same.

Vanished - Mary McGary Morris. 1988. The trailer for unreleased Martin Henderson film "Hellbent" whipped me into a frenzy so I did my best to find book-shaped approximations of it. (spoiler alert: this failed miserably, but I grudge-matched it out)

Thunder and Rain - Charles Martin. 2012. Former Texas Ranger who is a single dad. Rescuing & protecting a scared/abused woman and child. At his ranch with cows and horses. By an author who has proven his salt in the hurt/comfort and restrained-romance departments.

Before the Fall - Nick Hawley. 2016. Mostly I came for the dynamic between the young orphan and the passenger who saved him, but I also like witnessing the general aftermath of plane crash survivors.

The Perfect Nanny - Leila Slimani. 2018. My work friend loaned it to me with the statement, "This has such good reviews but I don't know if I 'got' it -- I am really curious to know what you think of it!"

The Girl Before - J.P. Delaney. 2017. She loaned me this one too, with a more glowing recommendation.

Everything You Want Me To Be - Mindy Mejia. 2017. Aaaand one last rec from my seasonal work friend before our projects took us in separate directions.

The Dog Year - Ann Wertz Garvin. 2014. Dog on the cover + synopsis was basically a list of tropes I love: a woman (a doctor to boot!) grieving loss of husband and unborn baby; dogs; a new love interest who is one of my favorite professions to pair with doctor (cop)...

Losing Gemma - Katy Gardner. 2002. "So basically this is the victim backstory to a Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders plot? Dude, sign me UP; I can so see this friendship!"

Uncharted - Tracey Garvis-Graves. 2013. The companion novella to a book I loved.

The English Boys - Julia Thomas. 2016. Mom checked it out of the library, "guy in piney unrequited love with his best friend's fiancee" intrigued me enough to open it, and by 3-5 pages in I was hooked.

The Broken Girls - Simone St. James. 2018. Abandoned boarding-school ruins, a murder mystery from the past being solved in the present day, possibly tied to a second murder from the past?? Yeah, give it.

Heart-Shaped Hack - Tracey Garvis-Graves. 2015. White-Hot Hack - Tracey Garvis-Graves. 2016. Proven quality romance writer's latest books feature a professional super-skilled hacker? Sounds right up my Scorpion-obsessed alley. First book was plenty good enough to launch me into Part II.

Shine Shine Shine - Lydia Netzer. 2012. In my continuing quest to find books in which to cast Walter/Paige, I searched the phrase "her genius husband" and this one's summary matched my desires well.

Learning to Stay - Erin Celello. 2013. Ever eager to expand my hurt/comfort scenario stockpile, I went looking for something where a husband suffers a TBI/brain damage that mostly affects their personality. The bonus dog content sold it.

The Fate of Mercy Alban - Wendy Webb. 2013. Came up on my Goodreads timeline. I read as far as "spine-tingling mystery about family secrets set in a big, old haunted house on Lake Superior" and immediately requested it from the library.

Rated PG - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 1981. I was rereading her Make Lemonade trilogy when I saw a quote in her author bio that said, "I did write an adult novel. Thank goodness it went out of print." Curious, I looked it up, and between its age and the fact that it sounded more like YA than a proper adult novel, I was immediately more intrigued by it than her boring-sounding middle grade books.

Someone Else's Love Story - Joshilyn Jackson. 2013. "Young single mom with genius son meeting a possibly-autistic scientist who protects them during a gas station holdup/hostage situation and later bonds with her son" was the exact literary approximation of a Scorpion AU I wanted in my brain. By the time I realized that was not the endgame ship, I had already flipped through it and fallen in love w/ William and his romantic memories of his wife instead.

Driftwood Tides - Gina Holmes. 2014. Cool title + I love the "young adult adoptee bonds with the spouse of their late birth mother" trope.

The Haunting - Alan Titchmarsh. 2011. Title caught my eye at the library near Halloween; I dug the "dual timelines" setup with a mystery from the past to be solved in the present, and hoped for ghosts.

The Lost Hours - Karen White. 2009. I searched "scrapbook" in the library catalog.  A family member's formerly buried old scrapbook, an old house, and unearthing family history/secrets? GIVE IT TO ME.gif.

The Etruscan Smile - Velda Johnston. 1977. Slim (quick read), attractive cover painting, an exotic Italian countryside setting in a bygone era, and a young woman investigating the mystery of her sister's disappearance all appealed to me.

Stay Away, Joe - Dan Cushman. 1953. All I could tell from the book jacket was that it was somehow Western/ranch-themed, possibly full of wacky hijinx and had once been deemed appropriate for a high school library. I just wanted to know what the heck it was about!

-------------------

YOUNG ADULT

(I’m kind of guessing at the line of demarcation between teen and middle grade audiences for some of these, especially the older ones -- another reason that I should give up on categories in the future -- but let’s just go with it)

These Shallow Graves - Jennifer Donnelly. 2015. Seemed like a YA version of What the Dead Leave Behind (which itself I was using as a Crimson Peak AU), from an author whose work has always impressed me.

Snow Bound - Harry Fox Mazer. 1973. Always here for survival stories! Also, this is a good author.

The House - Christina Lauren. 2015. I LOVE evil/haunted mansion stories.

The Masked Truth - Kelley Armstrong. 2015. It looked like Criminal Minds in a YA novel.

Things I'm Seeing Without You - Peter Bognanni. 2017. Went googling for stories that sounded like contemporary variations on Miles & Charlie Matheson [Revolution]. "Teen shows up at estranged father's door" fit the bill.

Even When You Lie to Me - Jessica Alcott. 2015. I always turn out for student/teacher stories, given enough suggestion of it being mostly an emotional connection rather than an illicit hookup.

Too Shattered for Mending - Peter Brown Hoffmeister. 2017. I also dig stories where teenagers have to take care of/fend for themselves in the absence of a parent/guardian.

The Devil You Know - Trish Doller. 2015. I enjoyed a previous book of hers, and I always like road trips and teen thrillers.

The Raft - S.A. Bodeen. Terror at Bottle Creek underwhelmed, so I thought I'd try a YA/female protagonist option for a survival thriller, not least because the girl on the cover reminded me of Under the Dome's Melanie.

Ghost at Kimball Hill - Marie Blizard. 1956. Picked up randomly at an estate sale; the vintage cover and incredibly charming first 2 pages won my heart.

A New Penny - Biana Bradbury. 1971. The rare idea of a teen shotgun marriage in this era -- when it would still be expected, but also more likely to fall apart and end in a young divorce or separation -- fascinated me; I was curious to see how such an adult situation would play out.

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer - Katie Alender. 2013. I mean...it is really all right there in the title and/or the awesful puns all over the cover. ("Let them eat cake...AND DIE!") Pure unadulterated crack, combining my two fave specialty genres of history and horror? Yes ma'am.

Me And My Mona Lisa Smile - Sheila Hayes. 1981. I was looking up this author of a Little Golden Book to see what else she had, found one that suggested a student/teacher romance, and bolted for it.

To Take a Dare - Crescent Dragonwagon/Paul Zindel. 1982. 50% due to the first author's cracktastic name and my full expectations of it being melodramatic, 50% because I was still on my "Hellbent" high and looking for similar teen runaway stories.

To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie - Ellen Conford. 1982. The last one from my attempt-at-a-Hellbent-esque-storyline set -- girl hitchhiking cross-country is picked up by a middle aged man who may or may not have pure intentions, by an established quality author.

Be Good Be Real Be Crazy - Chelsey Philpot. Bright cover called out to me; I was in the mood for a fun road trip novel for spring/early summer.

This is the Story of You - Beth Kephart. Kephart's name always gives me pause due to her fuzzy writing style, but I loved Nothing But Ghosts, so I could not resist the promise of surviving a super-storm disaster.

A Little in Love - Susan Fletcher. "Eponine's story from Les Mis" on a YA novel = immediately awesome; I LOVE HER??? Also it's just my fave musical, generally.

Adrift - Paul Griffin. 2015. I've been really digging survival stories this year, and while stories about survival at sea aren't typically my fave, they keep popping up in my path so I keep poppin' em like candy.

Life in Outer Space - Melissa Keil. 2013. After delighting my brain with concept sketches for a high school AU, I set out to find the equivalent of Scorpion's team dynamics/main relationship in a YA novel, and by god I found it.

Everything Must Go - Fanny Fran Davis. 2017. The brightly colored cover drew me in, and the format of being like a scrapbook of personal documents/paper ephemera lit up the scrap-collecting center of my brain.

Going Geek - Charlotte Huang. 2016.

originally I thought it might be like Life in Outer Space, but once I realized the title geeks were all girls I shrugged and went, "Eh, still a solid contemporary YA novel at a cool setting (boarding school)."

Like Mandarin - Kirsten Hubbard. 2011.

By the author of my beloved Wanderlove, I was drawn in by the title, intriguing cover photo, rural Wyoming setting and the concept of a high school freshman girl latching onto/idolizing a cool senior girl.

Sixteen: Short Stories By Outstanding Writers for Young Adults. ed. Donald R. Gallo. 1984. Tripped over it at the library, and immediately wanted to consume a set of 80s teen book content from a pack of authors I know and love.

A & L Do Summer - Jan Blazanin. 2011. In the summer, sometimes you just want to vicariously relive the feeling of being a largely-responsibility-free teen in a small-town location.

The Assassin Game - Kirsty McKay. 2015. Looked like the (Welsh!) boarding school version of Harper's Island. (spoiler alert: it is rather less stabby than that, but still fun)

We Are Still Tornadoes - Michael Kun/Susan Mullen. 2016. "College freshmen? Writing letters to each other? Sure, looks solid."

Nothing - Annie Barrows. 2017. It looked relatable: like the kind of book that would happen if I tried to turn my high school journals into a book. (spoiler alert: dumber)

The Memory Book - Laura Avery. 2016. Contemporary YA about a girl with a(n unusual) disease, but mostly, the title and promise of it being a collection of entries in different formats.

Kindess for Weakness - Shawn Goodman. 2013. LITERALLY AU RYAN ATWOOD.

Make Lemonade - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 1993. True Believer - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 2001. This Full House - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 2008. I reread the first two so I could give them proper reviews on Goodreads, and then realized I hadn't read the last one at all.

Blue Voyage - Diana Renn. 2015. A hefty teen mystery in a unique exotic location (Turkey) -- with an antiquities smuggling ring! - called out to me.

Girl Online - Zoe Sugg. 2014. I was really in the mood to read something on the younger end of YA, something cute and fun, when I saw this at the library.

Wilderness Peril - Thomas J. Dygard. 1985. Reread of a book I rated 4 stars in high school but couldn't remember, which happened to be lying next to me on a morning where I didn't wanna get out of bed yet.

Survive the Night - Danielle Vega. 2015. The cover had a GLITTERY SKULL. Give me that delightfully packaged horror story for the Halloween season!

The Hired Girl - Laura Amy Schlitz. 2015. I've been digging into my journals and old family photo albums lately, really fascinated by personal historical documents (also recently obsessed over The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt), and when I saw a diary format book set in 1911 -- a housemaid's diary, no less; that must be interesting as far as recording grand house details -- it spoke to me.

Fans of the Impossible Life - Kate Scelsa. 2015. The colored-pencil-sketch cover gave me Rainbow Rowell vibes.

All The Truth That's In Me - Julie Berry. 2013. Someone who favorably reviewed The Hired Girl also recommended this one; the cover caught my eye, and it sounded like a thriller.

Girl In A Bad Place - Kaitlin Ward. 2017. I heart YA thrillers featuring girls.

Facing It - Julian F. Thompson. 1983. I was in desperate need of a book one night and my only option was to buy one off the library sale cart, so I snagged the one that looked like some entertaining 80s melodrama with a fun (summer camp) setting. (Spoiler alert: fun and entertaining it was not.)

A Good Idea - Cristina Moracho. 2017. "Rural literary noir," promised the cover blurb, and as I just mentioned: I heart YA thrillers.

Something Happened - Greg Logsted. 2008. Short/easy read + I was hoping for either a misinterpreted Genuinely Caring Teacher, or scenarios to use in an appropriate age difference context.

In Real Life - Jessica Love. 2016. My shipper radar pretty much looked at the summary and went "THE AU CHRISTIAN/GABBY SETUP OF MY DREAMS."

The Black Spaniel Mystery - Betty Cavanna. 1945.

Adorable cover (and dogs!) from an established quality author.

--------------

CHILDREN’S / MIDDLE GRADE

The Cloud Chamber - Joyce Maynard. 2005. The cover made me think of Under the Dome, and the MC immediately reminded me of Joe McAlister.

Terror at Bottle Creek - Watt Key. 2016. After rereading Fourmile, I got a hankering for more books I might be able to cast with the kids from Under the Dome, and figured more Watt Key + a thrilling survival adventure was the ticket for that.

Swampfire - Patricia Cecil Haas. 1973. One of approximately 100 unread vintage horse books I own at any given time; finally in mood because it was short and sweet.

Baby-sitting Is A Dangerous Job - Willo Davis Roberts. 1985. Reread a childhood favorite in order to give it a proper review on Goodreads.

In The Stone Circle - Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. 1998. Same as above.

Wild Spirits - Rosa Jordan. 2010. Clearly the "Kat & Tommy take Justin under their wing" Power Rangers AU of which I have always dreamed, in my very favorite version of it: the one where Kat surrounds herself with animals.

Claudia - Barbara Wallace. 1969. Picked up cheap at a book sale, standard cute vintage Scholastic about a girl and her school life. Comfort food.

Reasons to be Happy - Katrina Kittle. 2011. The cover and the 5 reasons excerpted in the summary were so cute that I wanted to know what more of the reasons were.

Dark Horse Barnaby - Marjorie Reynolds. 1967. Needed a quick read and I'll p. much read any vintage horse book.

Runaway - Dandi Daley Mackall. 2008. Start of a companion series to my beloved Winnie the Horse Gentler, featuring some favorite themes: foster care + animal rescue.

Wolf Wilder - Katherine Rundell. 2015. Pretty cover, girl protagonist, historical Russian setting, wolves. All good things!

Backwater - Joan Bauer. 1999. Sounded like a beautifully tranquil setting.

The Dingle Ridge Fox and Other Stories - Sam Savitt. 1978. Animal stories + author love = automatic win.

If Wishes Were Horses - Jean Slaughter Doty. 1984. Overdue reread of a childhood favorite because I needed some short books to finish the reading challenge.

-------------

NONFICTION

Junk: Digging Through America's Love Affair with Stuff - Alison Stewart. 2016. I mean, I am definitely an American who has a love affair with stuff.

Keeping Watch: 30 Sheep, 24 Rabbits, 2 Llamas, 1 Alpaca, and a Shepherdess with a Day Job - Kathryn Sletto. 2010.

As soon as I saw my favorite fluffy creature on the cover, I felt an immediate need to transport myself into this (dream) hobby farm setting.

(Side note: this is probably the lowest amount of nonfiction I have read in 1 year for a decade, but I was just so busy hunting down specific types of stories that I could not get distracted by random learning.)

[poolsidescientist]

Banana peel prompt anon here: I didn't have a specific pairing in mind, but for me it kind of screams Mulder. But whatever you want to do I'm gonna love!

Hey anon, finally finished :) hope you’re alright with angst. This is set during Scully’s abduction in season two.

The mess in the basement office could only be described as resembling a warzone. As someone who had once fought in an actual warzone, FBI assistant director Walter Skinner was deeply distressed by this fact. The office had been messy as long as agent Mulder had occupied it. Agent Scully had attempted to make it habitable, and was somewhat successful. Even after the X-Files had been shut down, both agents still occasionally made their way down there from time to time. What Mulder and Scully did down there was the subject of much watercooler gossip. A.D. Skinner was not one for gossip.

A.D. Skinner was one to care about his subordinates however, and though he was hesitant to admit it, he did have a soft spot for the troublemakers downstairs. They investigated cases that nobody else would. They were his favourite team. Or so they used to be until Duane Barry abducted agent Scully off to God knows where. Agent Mulder was heartbroken, agent Krycek was nowhere to be found, and Skinner’s office stank of cigarette smoke. Other than a case out in California, Mulder had holed himself up in the basement office. He read old files obsessively, looking for clues that he may have missed. Mulder blamed himself for everything.

It was 1:00am when Skinner made his way down to the basement. He had been arguing with his wife as of late, and took to burying himself in his work. The way he always did when he was stressed. After overhearing the janitors complain about the state of the basement, Skinner figured Mulder needed someone to check in on him and that he needed to stretch his legs.

Skinner smelled Mulder’s office before he saw it. Something had rotted somewhere, though Skinner did not have any desire to know what or where. The place stank. Files were everywhere, and papers littered all visible surfaces. The trash bin was filled and so were mounds around them, covered in black dots that Skinner quickly realised were a swarm of flies. There were pencils in the ceiling and films stacked haphazardly against the wall. Somewhere in this mess was Mulder. He took a step forward, not realizing what he was stepping in and fell backwards straight into one of the piles of garbage. Flies swarmed around his head which had crashed into a pile of decomposing mush that Skinner didn’t dare ask the content of.

“Dammit!” he yelled. At this Mulder in his rumpled suit with bags under his crazed eyes emerged from behind a stack of files.

“Assistant director, what are you doing here? It’s one in the morning?” His shirt was spotted with grease and coffee stains.

“I could ask you the very same question agent Mulder.”

“Wait, did you seriously just slip on a banana peel?” Skinner looked down at his foot, sure enough a brown and slimy banana peel was stuck to his shoe. He kicked it away, though most of the flies surrounding it continued to hop around his leg.

“With all due respect agent Mulder, what the fuck? The janitors don’t even want to come down here. This office is a health hazard. Agent Scully would be ashamed of you.” Skinner brushed empty sunflower seed shells and candy wrappers off of his head and crawled out of the trash pile he had fallen into.

“Don’t you DARE question my loyalty to agent Scully. I would do anything for her and you damn well know that.” Mulder’s posture stiffened, yet at the same time he was on the verge of tears. The man was an absolute wreck. Not that Skinner was doing much better himself.

“And agent Scully would do anything for you. Working yourself to death won’t save her, you think she would want to see you like this?” Skinner stood up, looking down on Mulder. In the man’s eyes he saw a frightened child, “Mulder, when was the last time you ate something that wasn’t out of a vending machine?”

“Seeds.” He pointed to the bag on his desk, sunflower seeds scattered across the files and on the floor.

“Other than seeds.” Skinner wiped the remaining shells off of his suit.

“Probably that banana you just stepped in.” How Mulder had lived as long as he had was a mystery to Skinner.

“Agent Mulder-”

“I should probably go eat something. There’s a 24 hour diner three blocks away that has sweet potato pie. That counts as a vegetable.” Mulder said sheepishly. At that moment, Skinner’s own stomach started to growl and he realised that he had eaten nothing since lunch.

��I should probably eat something too. It’ll be my treat.” Mulder looked up with both curiosity and suspicion.

“As my boss?”

“As your friend.”

[swissmissficrecs]

Underrated Fics, Part 7

In honor of hitting the 900 follower milestone (thank you!), here is the most recent installment of my Underrated Fics series: excellent fics with fewer than 200 kudos on AO3 at the time the list was compiled.

An exciting adventure in the vein of an Agatha Christie mystery (if Agatha Christie had written gay smut). Note that this is really a BBC fic even though it is set in the Victorian age and bears no relation to the TAB episode. The Seafarer; or, A Question of Time (40573 words) by DoubleNegative Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: “Put two ships in the open sea, without wind or tide, and, at last, they will come together. Throw two planets into space, and they will fall one on the other. Place two enemies in the midst of a crowd, and they will inevitably meet; it is a fatality, a question of time, that is all.” - Jules Verne The Indian Ocean, 1880: John H. Watson, MD, meets Sherlock Holmes and is deduced. ===== A beautiful hurt/comfort piece with John taking the investigative lead, this is a fascinating foray into esoteric psychology and a neat twist on the undercover-as-boyfriends trope. Lucifer's Gardens (32679 words) by ampersand_ch Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Other Male Character Summary: John goes undercover for an investigation as a favour to Lestrade in a village in Suffolk. The events surrounding the case awaken deep-seated fears in Sherlock. While John begins to come to a realisation of what he needs in Lucifer's Gardens, Sherlock tries to find a way to reach John – in more ways than one. ====== This is an involved and complex casefic that ties in all the threads of Moriarty, Magnussen, and Mary, along with new threats and allies. Spider tattoos, spies, secret siblings, and shocking deaths make this a carousel of adrenaline, adventure, angst, and ardor, with Sherlock and John in the midst of it all. Really a fantastic piece. When the East Wind Falls Silent (32346 words) by ampersand_ch Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: Sherlock is called back from exile by his brother in order to catch Moriarty, who has resurfaced in a televised message. The task which awaits Sherlock goes far beyond anything he feared. Starts at the end of HLV. ====== A marvelous piece of mindfuckery, this is definitely one you'll want to read twice! Ford (31744 words) by theshopislocal Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson, John Watson/Original Male Character(s) Summary: He turns back round then and looks down at me, eyes curious. “Your name, W.S.S. Holmes.” That’s not my name. “Is it Walter? Or Wilbur? Maybe something really awful like, er,” he smiles wryly, “Willoughby? Winchester?” I feel my face go blank as my body numbs over. “Scott,” I say, voice devoid of emotion. “My name is Scott.” ====== This is a genfic with preslash overtones; the Mature rating being for mental, physical, and sexual torture as we descend into the dark, depraved recesses of Moriarty’s psyche and his obsessions with Sherlock, fairy tales, games and power. A disturbing yet compelling read with Major Sherlock!whump, not for the faint of heart, but with a tender, optimistic ending that should heal at least some of the wounds inflicted. The Blue Light (31381 words) by Lorelei_Lee Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson, Sherlock Holmes & Jim Moriarty, Sebastian Moran & Jim Moriarty Summary: Moriarty abducts Sherlock several times in a row, bringing him to a secret location where his victim is at his mercy. Thanks to a special drug cocktail, Sherlock has no memory of the abductions. But he begins acting strangely back home. So strangely that John finally notices... ====== This is a very atmospheric piece, set largely in Siberia, with some of the worst angst short of major character death. But don't be put off, it's deeply Johnlock with some stunning character choices. And retirement in Sussex beckoning. Building Jerusalem (26426 words) by ampersand_ch Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John finds out that Sherlock has more secrets from him than he ever imagined. The discovery threatens to destroy their relationship. ====== This is a slightly older fic (published in 2013) and should really have more kudos and hits. I thought at first from the summary and tags that it would be similar to a Pirate!lock adventure, but it’s not that at all. It’s set in modern times but with a touch of magic, lots of romance and yummy insecure!Sherlock and BAMF!John. A really terrific story with an underlying mystery and a surprise reveal. The Case of the Fleeing Frenchman (26035 words) by PenelopeWaits Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Captain James Watson and his son John have been protecting each other and their beloved Harriet for years. Where will true safety reside when a handsome sailing ship and her haunted captain arrive and he makes a shadowy proposal? This is a crossover with the myth of the Flying Dutchman. John is Senta. ====== Set within the Victorian world of The Abominable Bride but with no direct connection to the episode, this is really a very well presented and written story that I would encourage readers to give a chance even if it’s not your usual pairing. I especially liked the exploration of Molly’s character with the duality of her presentation, along with Lestrade’s personal story that shed light on the problems even someone who would otherwise be happy adhering to societal norms might be faced with. The Case of Doctor Hooper and Inspector Lestrade (16917 words) by Sapphire_Princess Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Molly Hooper/Greg Lestrade, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson/Mary Morstan (background) Summary: Inspector Gregory Lestrade liked Doctor Hooper and found that the more he spent time with him, the more he wanted to do so. But he wasn’t naive - not in the way Sherlock Holmes thought he was, and he was unfailingly honest with himself. His growing attachment to Doctor Hooper shouldn’t go any further than it had already. Equality for the sexes was one thing, this was quite another. ====== The summary doesn't say much, but this is a really cleverly done piece, angsty and sweet. Preliminary Experience With A Specific Remedy In A Specific Syndrome Of Human Insanity (15193 words) by mydogwatson Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: A study of Sherlock Holmes's nature. ====== This is a terrific author and a good old-fashioned, high-tension casefic, an exciting plot with juicy Johnlock emotional entanglements. The real mystery is why it doesn't have more kudos. The Last Case of Dr. John Watson (14468 words) by Susan Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: If he really had less than twenty-four hours to live, was it too much to ask that it be sunny? Being poisoned and soaked to the skin on the same day seemed to John a bit of cosmic overkill. Sherlock's only hope of saving John is finding the antidote before it's too late. But where does he start? ====== This was an interesting intellectual exercise, along with being exciting, poetic, fun, and deeply satisfying. With an alternate take on ASiP that makes everything even more right than in canon. Balance (13939 words) by Laur Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Each universe was like an intricate game of cat’s cradle, or a complicated blanket of crochet, billions of threads interweaving and crossing and tangling. Some threads never touched, never even came close, but when one thread was plucked the entire fabric quivered in reaction. Each stuck in a universe where the other does not exist, a distortion of space allows Sherlock and John to meet each other through touch alone. ====== Basically, John smokes a cigar. In the hottest, most erotic, filthiest, most creative and deviant way possible. Light me up! Thank You for Smoking (13242 words) by Lorelei_Lee Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Sherlock encourages a suspect to smoke inside Scotland Yard... so that he can (secretly) inhale the smoke too. Too bad John took Sherlock's promise seriously that he had quit smoking. John decides to teach Sherlock a lesson he won't soon forget ... ====== Another Victorian TAB fic, this story posits a Sherlock and John who are able to openly communicate their feelings, and a Mary who is completely okay with the results. An awkward/sweet first time that doesn’t quite go to plan, but that’s what second times are for! Your bed should be a refuge (11744 words) by TooManyChoices Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson Summary: Sherlock and John finally face their mutual attraction, but is it too late? John's married (and happily so). Is there any way that John can have it all? ====== Super angsty, this shows us what is and what might have been in all its painful glory. Beautifully written, hurts so good. the knife I turn inside myself (11308 words) by polyommatusblues Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan Summary: There are a million parallel universes out there in which Sherlock and John are happy—universes in which Sherlock never jumped, John never married, and things never went to hell. Sherlock knows that this is not one of universes. It could have been, he imagines, but it’s not. They make do.

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: Andrew Offutt, The Broken Sword, Walt Simonson, Siege of Malta, Lovecraft Lunch Bags

Authors (The Silver Key): Andrew J. Offutt was a complex, deeply flawed man. A resident of rural Kentucky, Offutt was a husband and a father who supported his family with a successful insurance business, a job which he did not love and ultimately abandoned to make the bold leap into full-time writing. He was at one time a promising science fiction writer. He also subjected his children to emotional neglect, held baseless grudges against various personages, lacked a full emotional maturity and cohesive personality, and held a life-long obsession with pornography.

New Release (DMR Books): Next week will see the release of the 20th title from DMR Books. After publishing numerous excellent authors past and present, for the first time I’ll get to release a collection of my own writings! Necromancy in Nilztiria contains thirteen stories of adventure and wonder with a touch of gallows humor. A few of the tales have appeared before in other publications, but most will see print here for the first time (including “A Twisted Branch of Yggdrasil,” which was supposed to be included in the ill-fated Flashing Swords #6).

Fiction (Dark Herald): It was written in 1954, you can tell it was written in 1954 because it couldn’t be written today. This is a work of high tragedy that is strongly influenced by the Norse sagas.  If you like Game Thrones but would prefer that it be written by a non-sadist that can actually fit a story that should only take two hundred pages, into two hundred pages.  This is the book for you.

  RPG (Kairos): A speculative element is what sets the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror apart from literary fiction. There’s no element more speculative than magic, and it’s become a common term of art to speak of an SFF universe’s “magic system”. By reader request, here is my philosophy of magic in genre fiction–with advice on how to handle magic in your secondary world.

    Lovecraft (Tentaculii): So, kiddies, it’s back to school on Tuesday 1st September. Here are a few suggestions for last-minute rush-orders for school stuff, to arrive Monday. All available now on eBay… The H.P. Lovecraft shoulder bag for all your stuff, robust in black and blood red…

History (Compagnia san Michele blog): A common misconception is that the siege of Malta of 1565 was a one-on-one battle between an army of Hospitaller Knights against an all-Turkish invasion force. The opposing forces, in reality, were composed of troops hailing from a number of locations. In this write-up we will look at some foreign forces assisting the Order of St John in the defence of Malta. According to contemporary sources such as the diary of Francisco Balbi di Correggio, who served as a harquebusier during the siege, and from later historiography such as the work of Giacomo Bosio, the total defending force comprised of approximately the following:

Art & Philosophy (Chrislans Down): Over at Amatopia, Alexander Hellene discusses nihilism, primarily in art. It’s a good post, worth reading. There’s one segment of it that I want to discuss, though, because I think that it somewhat misses the bigger picture. There are two ways in which this misses the bigger picture.

Fiction (Amatopia): The Fall of Hyperion may as well be titled Hyperion: Part Two, as it picks up right where the first book in Dan Simmons’s Hyperion Cantos abruptly ends. Yet The Fall of Hyperion doesn’t merely pick up the story, it runs with it into wild, exciting directions before delivering a deeply satisfying conclusion that actually resolves mysteries while creating a few new ones to propel the narrative into the final two books of the series.

Pulp Science Fiction (Pulp.Net): Ray Cummings (1887-1957) is one of the “founding fathers” of pulp science fiction who unfortunately never got out of the “pulp getto.” During his career he wrote some 750 works, most for the pulps, and mostly science fiction. I was surprised to learn he had written quite a bit outside of sf. His most well-known work is Girl in the Golden Atom. This was his first original professional sale as the short story “Girl in the Golden Atom” in All-Story Weekly in 1919.

Science Fiction (Porpor Books): ‘Cestus Dei’ (283 pp) was published by Tor Books in June 1983. The cover art is by Kevin Eugene Johnson. This novel first was published, in greatly shortened form, as a hardback book titled ‘The Strayed Sheep of Charun’, issued by Doubleday / The Science Fiction Book Club in 1977. ‘Charon’ was John Maddox Roberts’s (b. 1947) first published novel. Roberts went on to be a prolific sci-fi and fantasy author during the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, writing novels for the Dragonlance and Conan franchises, as well as for his own ‘SPQR’, ‘Stormlands’, ‘Cingulum’, and ‘Island Worlds’ properties.

History (Western Fictioneers): Happy National Rum Day! This Sunday (August 16) is National Rum Day. I felt inspired to write an article about my personal favorite form of alcohol – along with some other libations your character would have been exposed to in the Old West. The first North American distillery began making rum in present-day Staten Island, New York (or New Amsterdam) in 1664. The earliest spirits distilled in the colonies were rum, gin, and brandies.

Comic Books (Diversions of the Groovy Kind): Walt Simonson’s birthday was this past Wednesday. If you ever wondered how much Ol’ Groove loves the handiwork of Walter Simonson, just check out any of the 66 (this will make 67) posts he’s featured in here on DotGK! There’s a reason the Marvel Bullpen nick-named him “Wondrous”! Here’s a huge pile of spectacular Simonson masterworks for you to ooh and ah over–then go check out all those other posts to give it all some context–and yourself added joy! Happy 74th, Mr. Simonson! Groove City loves you tons!

Edgar Rice Burroughs (DMR Books): The two defining works of ERB’s career, A Princess of Mars (1912) followed shortly after by Tarzan of the Apes, hit the pulp readership of All-Story Magazine like a bombshell. Nobody had ever read anything quite like those novels. Movies and hardcovers soon followed. For the mass market impact, the movies were more important. However, the hardcovers allowed young, aspiring writers who never had a chance to read the original pulp appearances–authors like Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore and Fritz Leiber–to devour the early Burroughs classics.

  Alt History (According to Quinn): One of the causes for the decline and fall of the (Western) Roman Empire is the revival of the old enemy Persia under the vigorous Sassanid dynasty. This gave Rome a major military threat to the east at the same time the Germanic tribes were growing larger and more organized and the weaknesses of the Roman imperial system (namely how the armies could make emperors in the provinces) were becoming apparent.

Pulp & Comic Books (Mens Pulp Mags): Lately, I’ve been on a Mike Shayne kick. My reading and watching involving that famed Miami-based Private investigator has led to a series of posts on this blog, starting one about the first appearance of a Mike Shayne story in a men’s adventure magazine, “The Naked Frame” in BLUEBOOK, February 1953. I blame my Shayne trip on my new friend Bill “Mad Pulp Bastard” Cunnigham and my old friend, novelist, editor and retromedia maven Paul Bishop.

RPG (Monsters and Manuals): Dickheads bring sexual content into a gaming session. This is one of the fairly large number of things that traditional conservatives and woke types can merrily agree on: don’t bring up the issue of sex unless you are really sure it’s appropriate. And never bring up the issue of rape at all, because: why are you doing that other than to either be deliberately edgy, or be a creep?

Dickheads hog the limelight. If you feel like you are talking too much, you probably are. If you don’t, you still probably are.

Fiction (Chrislans Down): Over on Twitter, Benjamin Kit Sun Cheah wrote a very interesting thread on Wuxia (Chinese heroes) and the meaning of this genre. He kindly gave me permission to quote it in full here since that’s much easier to read than a Twitter thread if you’re not used to Twitter.

Fiction (Paperback Warrior): Using a combination of the names Ian Fleming (James Bond) and Alistair MacLean (Where Eagles Dare), author Marvin Albert (1924-1996) conceived the pseudonym of Ian MacAlister in the early 1970s. The prolific author of crime-fiction, tie-in novels, and westerns authored many books under his own name as well as the names of Al Conroy and Nick Quarry. Conveniently, at the height of the 1970s high-adventure market, Albert used the MacAlister pseudonym to write four genre novels.

Paranormal and Fiction (Tellers of Weird Tales): Six months ago, before the world fell apart, I wrote about the evolution of the flying saucer from nineteenth-century airship to twentieth-century flying disk. Now I write again. It seems to me that the conceit of the nineteenth century was both progressive and romantic. The conceit was that Science, this new and exciting force, could be and would be used to solve previously intractable human problems. Airships were a symbol of this kind of thinking, the belief being that airships, because of their great power, would render war impossible to wage.

Crime Fiction (Pulp Serenade): I initially reviewed Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg’s By Hook or By Crook, and 30 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year (2010, Tyrus Books) when it was new, and when we could count on new anthologies from its editors every year to highlight a fine array of stories from writers new and old, our favorite writers of today and tomorrow. How I miss those times. Cancer robbed readers of both of them, Greenberg first, in 2011, and Gorman in 2016.

Manga (Karavansara): Hiroaki Samura’s dark fantasy Blade of the Immortal was the last manga that I bought regularly before I decided it was too expensive a hobby, and I did not like the local fandom anyway. The fact that the Italian publisher of the series went belly up halfway through the comic’s run was also part of my decision to let it go, and with it let go of the whole hobby for a decade or two.

RPG (Skulls in the Stars): Operation Seventh Seal (1985), by Evan Robinson. Let’s look at an adventure from another TSR roleplaying game, Top Secret! Top Secret was introduced in 1980 as a contemporary espionage roleplaying game, designed by Merle M. Rasmussen and published by TSR. Looking back on playing Top Secret as a teen, I’m struck at how strange it is: it is effectively “spy D&D,” with a group of 4ish spies accomplishing missions. But can you imagine anything less practical than doing espionage as a *group*?

Sensor Sweep: Andrew Offutt, The Broken Sword, Walt Simonson, Siege of Malta, Lovecraft Lunch Bags published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[londontheatre]

Ottilie Mackintosh as Louise & Romayne Andrews as Justin – A Fox on the Fairway

A note in the programme from A Fox on the Fairway playwright Ken Ludwig may well suit American audiences (the Samuel French Acting Edition of the script encourages theatres to include it in their programmes, even to the point of advising that a free online copy is available on his website), but it comes across as slightly superfluous to a Home Counties one. It is, however, interesting to note how people on the other side of the Atlantic are briefed on what Ludwig calls “the great English farce tradition”, and I daresay it proved a useful reminder of its illustrious history in any event.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with assuming no prior knowledge, and theatre productions should be appreciated and understood without having read up about it beforehand. Here, British accents have been retained by the cast in a play originally set in America. For instance, a line where one character asks another “Are you English today?” in response to a quaint turn of phrase becomes “Have you been reading PG Wodehouse again?” It works to some extent, particularly when there is a rain delay to golf activity.

But, in the end, the production’s creatives can take the play out of America but don’t entirely succeed in taking America out of the play. Let’s just say two things. Firstly, employment laws over here are somewhat different – employers cannot fire people just because they don’t like them. Secondly, the obsession with winning at any cost or consequence is distinctly American. Anyway, to rank amongst the best of farce plays, British or otherwise, this one needs to be substantially pacier than it is.

While the entrances and exits are aplenty, there seems too much of a gap between one door closing and another opening, physically and consequently figuratively speaking. As ever with comic farces, one must not read too deeply or analytically into the plotline – it is, after all, supposed to be ridiculous. If anything A Fox on the Fairway starts off a little too credibly, and it’s a while before anything significantly zany happens.

The set sufficiently portrays a prestigious country club – the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch workshop department clearly had fun constructing it. In terms of casting, it’s the ladies who steal the show between them. Muriel Bingham (Sarah Quist) makes a late entrance in the evening’s proceedings but is a breath of fresh air, whilst Pamela Peabody (Natalie Walter) proved confident and headstrong. It’s Ottilie Mackintosh who shines brightest, as Louise Hindbedder, an employee of the Quail Valley Golf and Country Club, run by Henry Bingham (Damien Matthews). Hindbedder’s reactions to events as she sees them (jumping to conclusions, yes, but reasonable ones purely based on what is in front of her eyes at any given moment) were priceless, and a constant source of amusement. Quite rightly, she gets to say the show’s epilogue.

I thought Matthews’ Bingham could have been a little more vocal – a tad more explosive, if you will, given the importance he claims to attach to the golfing tournament underway during the play. Some good physical theatre (think ‘Cocktail Counterpoint’ in La Cage Aux Folles, for example) livens up the show before the interval. I think I would have preferred the William Tell Overture at the curtain call as suggested by the playwright in his curtain call instructions in the script – the alternative choice of music (I won’t say exactly what it is, as that would too much of a spoiler) seemed out of kilter with a distinguished golf membership club.

Shooting under par (a good thing, for the uninitiated in golf terminology), this is one of those shows that in lesser talented hands, could have been taxing and arduous. For those who “stay the course” (to quote Louise Hindbedder), although it’s not entirely clean, this is a gently comical and entertaining production, and there are more than a few laughs to be had. If it comes across as reticent and understated in places, perhaps it is rather genuinely British after all.

Review by Chris Omaweng

It’s the day of the annual golf tournament between rival country clubs. Bingham, president of Quail Valley, discovers that his star player has switched sides. Wagering his wife’s antique shop on the outcome now seems like less of a sure bet. Fortunately, he discovers that his new young assistant is a phenomenally good golfer.

Bad weather, the lead lost, the shop is under threat, and Bingham’s wife catches him too close to his stunning sex-starved vice-president! What else could possibly go wrong…? Golfing has never been so outrageous!

Cast: Damien Matthews as Henry Bingham Natalie Walter as Pamela Peabody Sarah Quist as Muriel Bingham Simon Lloyd as Richard ‘Dickie’ Bell Romayne Andrews as Justin Hicks Ottilie Mackintosh as Louise Hindbedder

Creatives: A Fox on the Fairway By Ken Ludwig Director Philip Wilson Designer Colin Falconer Lighting Designer Johanna Town Sound Designer Max Pappenheim Assistant Director Sally Wippman Assistant to Lighting Designer Jess Bernberg

Running Time: 120 minutes (including interval)

Queen’s Theatre Billet Lane Hornchurch RM11 1QT

http://ift.tt/2wnNHUd LondonTheatre1.com