#Lenore. Lenore with like. Glitter in her hair

[enjamin-the-benitor]

I should be allowed to do costuming for a production of poe party I think

[joleenjackalope]

So I have some Lenore thoughts, I like the idea of her a lot. But I don't think she's worth her price. So here are just some of my thoughts, as well as my doodling out some of those thoughts. I don't think she necessarily needs all these things, it's more that I let my internal rants about how she could be better guide me out of my art block these past couple days.

Part of why people pay more for collector dolls is because they have some type of attachment to them. Either being a Monster High character they already love, from an IP they love, or even the Off White had some brand recognition. (just not from me) And I felt like Lenore COULD have been the lady in white/weeping woman ghost story that just about every town has.

That being said- What is with the glitter tears?? If she had a unique sculpt that actually had a downturn on the brows and a sad face, and actually LOOKED like a weeping garden ghost, that alone would have made her more appealing!

Then why unpainted accessories? Why one big unpainted accessory her main focus? I like the vines (I didn't go very detailed here) but either paint them or make them smaller. (What I did) But if you want me to believe that the doll is WORTH $75 then you need to show that some actual care and effort went into her manufacturing and paint her damn accessories.

I just wanted an excuse to draw the spider. I don't like the human face but I only like a few of any of the MH pets anyway. so...

Put her damn hair up. Just like with the accessories, show me she is WORTH her price.

All of the above combined, the collector dolls stray further away from the High school aspect of MH and although Victorian/period fashion isn't necessarily my thing, I know a ton of collectors would have loved her looking like a ghost who's been haunting for a long time. And since she's not a character that's being portrayed in the high school - a collector doll would have been great! There's lots of adult/non-student characters.

Mini notes- I didn't draw patterns for her clothing, but the pattern on her dress as is would have still looked lovely on a bigger, fancier gown. I didn't do full body and I have no notes on shoes. They're not my specialty. And I would have appreciated her not having a full white sclera.

Also, line art for this piece is available here, tag me if you color it! I'd love to see. ♥♥♥

[syrips]

this started off as a meme (literally me excitedly responding to a silly poll where we voted this was lenores halloween costume) but it came out super cute and i could not stop. i even threw in glitter!!

💜 happy halloween!! 🧡

"Look, Ireena! I can use a gun too! ... -click click- ... Oh, I think this one's broken...?"

my barbarian PC lenore (left) and ireena-with-a-gun (right) decided to dress up as each other!! 🧡💕

if the eyes or hair of ireena are wrong, no theyre not. this is how lenore sees ireena. and she's like. pretty sure those are her colors. probably, yeah.

[ladyyatexel]

Not spectacular photography just snaps from my couch that I was using to share with a friend, but hey, I bought Lenore accidentally! Things you should not do while a little delirious with sleep and Too Many Thoughts include shopping perhaps!

Her hair is so so soft which was kind of a mind fuck because I am used to looking at Monster High and bracing for sticky impact. The candle in her Lantern glows in the dark. She has a little strappy black dress underneath the big one.

She came with a very long stand which makes me feel like she should be able to be displayed hovering off the ground but it keeps sliding back down.

Her hands are such a soft material that it's a little difficult to get them to stay in position and hold her lantern.

Edges of the fabric are not hemmed but are completely coated in very fine black glitter design. There is a lot of fabric. The Indigo fabric that makes up her dress is pretty sheer, which will probably look cool if you put a light source behind her. I like the pattern on her sleeves and the bottom of her skirt.

I Really like her, which is why my half asleep brain bought her, and I think I will equally like touching up all her accessories so that they look like flowers and not dead Dalek guts, but she's not $75 worth of doll to me. I don't think she was to crazy tired me either, I think I just wanted to Add To Cart for feelings reasons. Absolutely happy to have her and I could afford to be surprised with an email that said 'your pre-order has shipped', but would not trust these folks to price anything reasonably and would probably not do this on purpose again. Which is not a new take by any means, but here's further confirmation if you want it.

you can tell it's mattel - you're in hell!

[dollsinvogue]

have you seen the new mattel creations lenore doll? what are your thoughts because i think shes really pretty but definitely not 75 dollars pretty

ABSOLUTELY NOT WORTH $75

I first saw her and I really enjoyed the concept, me and @toychest321 were talking and we said it gives haunted mansion vibes and I was obsessed with that movie as a kid so of course I thought Lenore was cool looking! I also thought she gave “mourning Victorian lady” vibes and I can’t remember where but there was a show where a mourning mother came out of a lake and she gave me that vibe at first, not whatever a “garden ghost” is

As for her design, like you said I definitely think she’s pretty and I definitely like elements of her design (those glitter tears are my fave!) but certain elements of her are not great, unpainted accessories? Really?she is so not worth $75 for what she is!

Again, toychest321 and I were discussing things and neither of us really like her hair, I believe that because Rebecca Shipman designed her with a Victorian aesthetic in mind she should definitely have a more elaborate Victorian hair style, or maybe even something dramatic like a Marie Antoinette style hair! Maybe even her having completely slick “wet” hair would be cool but I’m definitely just thinking of her as some sort of “emerged from a swamp” ghost and I don’t know why, but I think it’s an amazing concept!

[little-red-rabbit]

Boomerang back at you! What form does your OCs’ glimmers take? And what of their fears?

For Marcel it is the Glimmer of Compassion it is a flock of glittering golden butterflies, he is driven to survive because there are others who depend on him. Marcel fear is the Fear of Past Failures a twisted broken thing that crawls along the floor on all four with heavy stones chained to it's back and weapons' pricing it's body. It look out at Marcel threw a vail of black hair with the faces of each person who had died holding Marcel's hands.

Nivek has the Glimmer of Creativity it a beaver, Nivek can't die here he was far to many projects to complete and far to much left to give to the world.

Nivek's fear is the Fear of Silence it is a bound thing it eyes, ears and mouth smother is white cloths. It's body empty dead space that such all the sound from a room leaving you along with only your thoughts for company.

Molycap's glimmer is the Glimmer of Wonder, it takes the form of a aven, Molycap is a fairly new being everything she interacts is wonderfully new and wonderfully terrifying in equal measures.

Molycap's fear is the Fear of the Deadhord, a mass of skeletons their metal skin melting into one another and crawling along with grasping hands. Molycap dose not know why she find this so scary she dose not even know what they are, but some primordial fear bubbles up deep within her spark.

Serrabeth's glimmer is the Gimmer of Adventure it's a parrot, Serrabeth is in the second wind of her life after being set free from Ixalan and there is so much more to see.

Serrabeth's fear is the Fear of Old Age, it is a decrepit thing practically mummified sitting in a rotting rocking chair wrapped in shawls. It cackles in a voice like dust at Serrabeth acting like a young woman when her time is so quickly approaching.

Segara glimmer of Glimmer of Confidence it is a peacock and it represents the confidences Segara has in himself to overcome this challenge and to meet the next one to head on.

Segara fear is the Fear of Confinement it is a gilded cage with a small emaciated bird trapped within. The cage is held by numerous ghostly hands that clutch it possessively.

Angelique has the Glimmer of Faith a small golden bird that sings with the faith Angelique has in herself and others.

Angelique fear is the Fear of Betrayal it appears almost human as it approaches. It is only when it is to late do you realize that it is nothing more then the lure of a far worse nightmare.

Valentino his glimmer is the Glimmer of Love, it takes the form of a pair of love birds that Valentino gave the names of the children he and Lenore had wanted.

Valentino's fear is the Fear of Loss, it thing made of empty air and morning mist that take the form of his wife Lenore. It look upon him with dead accessing eyes, as it whispers to him all his failures.

Anise has the Glimmer of Discovery it take the form of meerkats! There is nothing to be scared of once the mystery has been solved.

Anise has a Fear of the Unknow, you never really see it until it is to late, but you know it is there. Shadows that should not be there, a flash of something just outside your eyes, unplanned noises. As a member of the Obscura Anise knows, what you don't know can hurt you.

[mh-dreamscape]

Monster High WIP Q&A:

Lenore Loomington!!

Just like all of my other redesigns, I tend to start planning them around the time we get the first reveals. There were a few things I wanted to change especially with the skin and outfit, but I just ran out of inspiration after the face.

What Changes Did I Make?

- Eyes that looked like Spectra’s and were almost “see through” showing the color of her hair instead of the whites of her eyes

- Pout instead of a smile since she’s crying

- Tears are different shapes and lighter colors with more glitter since the original ones are barely there

- Made the pink in her eyeshadow standout more and added glitter to the one closer to eyebrows

Why Did I Stop Working on Her?

I couldn’t get the hair right. I sometimes brainstorm with my sister on redesigns and we had an image in our head for what the hair should have: some sort of updo bun with the bangs curled around her face and some blonde hair due to the Edgar Allen Poe poem mentioning it. I kept trying to figure out how to incorporate all the different colors and I just couldn’t get it to lay right

What Other Ideas Did I Have?

- Faded brownish forearms to show she died in the garden and had some dirt residue

- With the candles, I almost wanted to make some her look burned from the wax dripping

- Roots forming up her ankles and legs to show that she cannot leave the garden - I wanted her story to be almost solemn. Like she went to the garden happy to stay at first but slowly realized she’d never be able to leave

Will I Ever Revisit Her?

At the moment, I’m not sure. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve even worked on her but maybe some day I’ll get inspiration for her once again.

[silksinging]

A list of things I’d suggest to make Lenore Loomington’s design work better:

1. Since she’s a ghost, I think it would be only right for her to be translucent. She even has the eyeband makeup from Haunted! It baffles me that she isn’t translucent already.

2. Either add some painted detail to the plastic accessories, OR make them glow in the dark. Personally, I’m leaning towards the second. I think thematically, since she’s supposed to be an eerie ghost walking through a garden at night holding a lantern, it would only make sense for there to be glow in the dark details. (It even looks like some parts already might be but?? Since they’re not making a show of it I’m presuming they don’t actually)

3. Please put her hair up. Not only would it help sell the Victorian vibes they’re going for, it would also better complement her headpiece (which, let’s be honest, looks kinda silly on its own) . Also it would make her stand out more! As it is she looks like someone just put her on the default settings…

4. This is the sort of thing that might be easier to draw than to explain but…. I think the plastic chest piece would be better if it covered less area. As it is, it completely obscure the top part of her dress, and it overall makes her look very messy and formless. I’m thinking something like a spiderweb-shaped under bust corset would’ve left more room for the dress to shine, and been a bit more flattering. Tbh just cutting off the top half of the current design might work.

5. I think something’s off about the stock pictures ngl. The fabric of the dress is So Dark, which obviously isn’t bad in itself, but, especially since the lighting itself is pretty dark, it means most of the details of the dress are completely obscured. Alternatively, they could’ve used a more reflective satiny material, so the texture difference would make printed on detail pop more.

6. Finally, and perhaps most importantly… her face up. I think there was an opportunity sorely missed in not making her look sad. Edgar Allan Poe’s poem is a tragic one! Make her look like a tragic figure! Give her sad brows, like how the Rochelle face ups have! Give her downturned eyes! The glitter tears are a solid idea and probably my fave detail, but I think it could’ve gone harder! Make them run down her cheeks!! Maybe even make them darker, so they really stand out!!! Honestly I genuinely think just changing her brows would make such a huge difference, it would make her seem more like a character with a personality and with whom you can relate to…. Which is especially important because she is this brand new character that no one has an emotional connection with. Make! Me! Care!!!

So yeah that’s my take.

[taybatwo2]

Lenore Loomington Doll Review Part 2 of 2

Let’s finally take a look at her dress (the post before this one looked at her accessories and in box photos)! Ugh, that belt thing just keeps getting in the way of everything and will NOT sit well on her torso.

Lets remove the offending piece to actually look at her dress…

Much better (I was so afraid of breaking her clip, I had her hanging from her neck for many of my photos). I love that the cut of the dress is WAY different to any other Monster High dolls I’ve seen, and I like the idea (I assume) behind it: looking at silhouettes of plants and animals on a night sky.

Buuuuut I feel like it could have been elevated a bit more for such an expensive doll. Give us some glow in the dark/sparkly dots acting as stars going up her skirt, finish her sleeves and dress train with some lace, oh, or maybe sew some “vine like” ribbon/fabric hanging off of the train or sleeves. Oh! And I feel like her short black lacy piece is kinda a second thought, I’d have made it longer in the back or give it a more ragged cut (so it’s not so reminiscent of a tutu or petticoat). I say this all, because both the color and the cut was honestly better executed by:

The one you got vs the one you ordered. Yeahhh, it very closely resembles Moonlight B.B’s dress (shirt/skirt), but feels like a poor rip off due too MGA’s looking a lot more tailored (and use of multiple fabrics) and a more expensive clothing piece. more review and doll comparisons under the cut:

Aaaand here it is off the doll:

The dress is not hemmed around the bottom of the dress or sleeves, but I don’t see them fraying any time soon. I like how thin and flow-y the fabric is it makes it look a bit ethereal. And oh? But what’s this?? A secret secondary dress/slip??

What a cute little surprise. It’s fully hemmed, has a little lace on the bottom, and has a bit of a stretch to it. Also, Lenora’s arms are wrapped in plastic to prevent staining.

Here it is off the doll. Be forewarned, I low key struggled redressing her. That larger dress didn’t want to nicely slide back over her smaller dress.

Let’s finally take a look at Lenore’s face.

My Lenore’s eyes are printed up a bit too high and her lipstick is both smudged and incorrectly filled in in the top left side. 😬 At least a little bit of acrylic paint can fix her lips….

Her glitter tears are really pretty and seem pretty well attached and her “ghost mask” is a lovely addition to her face (it’s a nice gradient).

It took me awhile to notice she has cute little pink eyelashes mixed in with her black ones.

Her side profile and lightly pointed ears (by the way, the back of her head is marked as 2023). I do wish her eyebrows were a bit darker and looked like Rochelle’s worried ones (@mistyxxart’s, on instagram, drawing of Lenore is what I WISH her eyebrows looked like).

This artwork is fangtastic and has given me so many fun ideas on how I want to upgrade my Lenore.

Lenore is pretty well covered now; let’s look at how she compares to come other ghouls (I apologize for many of these photos being a bit blown out - the lighting in my kitchen is kinda sucky).

The OG Spectra!!! Two very different ghostie ghouls. Monster High’s oldest vs MH’s newest. Spectra has clear body parts, no ghost mask, and colored sclera. She also has kanekalon hair vs Lenore’s saran. I think they stand on their own as pretty different characters honestly.

Let’s let a few more come across the veil.

So many ghosts!!! Ari, Ari, what are you looking at?!? Sweetie. Stop longingly staring at Spectra.

Okay, so they actually don’t seem to have very much in common with Lenore either. Ari has a milky/shimmery body (much more akin to the Haunted releases of ghosts) and Lenore has a shimmery body without looking like she has milky skin. Her shimmer has more of a blue tinge than the yellow tinge that Ari’s has.

The Create a Monster Ghost (I always forget how hard they went on her outfit: skulls amassed behind a fence with a blood-dripping belt; I love it when MH sneaks in stuff like that), has the ghost eye mask (I don’t like hers as much as Lenore’s) and uncolored sclera like Lenore, but her pupils are black - like Ari’s. Both CAM ghost and Spectra have clear limbs.

There is something these ghouls all share in common:

Mother of PINK! The Monster World must have very limited shoe material that ghosts can wear and it’s all in similar shades of pink and magenta.

I wonder how she compares to the Haunted dolls…? POOF!

Ask and you shall receive! Technically River is a grim reaper and Kiyomi is the daughter of a noppera-bō, so not just comparing “ghost ghosts,”but why not throw them in here too?? Porter, Vandala and Kiyomi all have very milky skin, Lenore’s plastic is very opaque in comparison with that pearl/shimmer finish.

~shimmer shimmer~ Porter has colored sclera like Spectra and Vandala doesn’t have black pupils, like Lenore. I wonder if there is a reason for some ghosts to have colored/regular sclera and pupils. Maybe it’s a ghost genetic trait like attached ear lobes….

River was wondering what all the hubbub was about in comparing them to this new ghost. Well, until I told River how much Lenore cost compared to them. River couldn’t say much, but just proudly showed off her clear limbs: “I cost less than a third of that and I have clear limbs!” ….I wonder how she’ll react when I tell her the ghoul that received her original head sculpt idea cost double Lenore’s price.

And POOF!

What a lovely menagerie of MH ghosts (pretend like my Symphanee got here quick enough to also be in the photos).

Perfect! Can’t even tell….

Oh! And Vandala brought her girlfriend Sirena along so I could compare Sirena’s skin tone to Lenore’s. Her skin glitter is not as fine as Lenore’s and she has a yellow tint to her skin….I wonder if Ari’s and Sirena’s is due to age.

Hand splat in face.

Before I wrap up, let’s compare Lenore to some MH dolls that look like the main ingredients they blended up to create Lenore.

Your progenitors!!! (my G1 Twyla has been de-glued with LA’s Totally Awesome, but her bangs are discolored and are waiting to be retrobrighted this summer). Hmmm, a dash Twyla’s skin color, a major helping of Vandala’s face mold and monster type, and an inspirational sprinkle of Amanita’s outfit and pieces.

I can see the comparisons with G1 Twyla (more in person than in a photo). Lenore’s skin has a purple hue from the pearly finish. Also, Lenore’s hair streaks are more baby blue than the minty green of Twyla’s hair color. They both have pink eyes, and wear dark colored clothing.

Now, Lenors and Amanita, look like they could have been in the same line (when I actually have Lenore fully dressed). Amanita believes that she would have still been the only deluxe, store exclusive of the line. “Maybe you could have been like the Big Lots or CVS exclusive to Gloom and Bloom.” Amanita! That is uncalled for! “You’re right, how about a K-Mart exclusive because they’re as dead as she is.” Lenore thinks this is one plant she doesn’t want in her garden.

They both have long wavy hair, flower shoe clips (but Amanita’s is sculpted to be a lot more three dimensional and it’s painted).

Both have extra make-up around the eyes, a hair decoration/accessory, and a thin, slightly see through dress covering a surprise mini dress (I still feel like Amanita’s has more detail, but that pleather portion will rot off someday).

Yeah, she is more than welcome to pose. I think that Amanita might have pulled off the look a bit better…. :/

And a face comparison!

Similar, but Amanita’s/CAM Vampire Girl’s head sculpt is not the same.

Avast ye!! We might have a match! Vandala’s face does look closely the same (I should have taken out Vandala’s earring for all of these photos)…

Hmmm…..

Hmmmmmmm…..

HMMMM, Lenore’s ear looks a little bit more defined (when I don’t have the light GLARING right ONTO it).

Man, Vandala, I need to de-glue your head whenever I get more LA’s Totally Awesome in. You are a grease ball!

Well, Lenore might have used Vandala’s head sculpt base, but they went in and refined some parts…like her chin being a bit blunter, her nose and ears being a bit more defined, her lips might be a bit bigger (or they were just over painted).

Whelp anyways….Lenore…Lenore….I am glad I bought her, as she has some cute surprises, a lovely face, soft hair, but she’s very overpriced from the get-go and would have (in my opinion) not gotten such backlash had she been released to stores and Mattel creations as a 40-55 dollar G1 release and if she had not been SO HYPED UP!!

What are your thoughts? Would you buy her? What would you change?? Do you think Mattel has a huge wheel in their board room to spin and assign value to their dolls? Should I double check pictures to make sure they turned out alright before I put all my dolls away?? (Yes, yes I should).

[campgender]

from “Muscles of the Mind” by Dorothy Allison, published in Trash (1988, reprinted 2002)

image description under the cut. content warning: anti-Romani racism (g slur) at the top of the 2nd image (first full page), ableist c slur at the top of the 4th image (third full page)

At the concert last week, I kept walking back to Cass and the little bottle of Jack Daniel’s she had in her coat pocket. “Have a drink, darling. It’ll open your eyes,” she’d say, her pupils hidden behind half-closed lids. I shook my head no and gave her a quick lick on the neck that made her cheeks flash pink and her eyes open wide. All the women near us, most of them Cass’s friends from work or the pool hall, had their own bottles. I tried to get Cass to keep her little bottle down in the shadows. The crowd kept pushing past, their eyes hooded with too much dope and skin sour with cigarettes—women in party clothes: loose trousers, velvet vests, hats, high-heeled boots, glittering necklaces, and elaborate hoops dangling from their ears. Most of them looked like they belonged to the same gypsy troupe, their tribe indicated by the slogan-bearing buttons pinned to their collars and jackets. I saw Anna go by with her new girlfriend, Gayle, and then three of the women from the house—Judy, Paula, and Lenore. But none of them seemed to have seen us, and they all quickly disappeared into the audience. I felt Cass slip her hands around my waist and turned my face into the shelter of her neck.

“Where do they all come from?” I was only half serious. There were more women in the audience than I’d seen at any demonstration up at the capitol building.

“Oh, these only come out for the music,” Cass laughed. “Just like me.”

“You know, culture, women’s culture.” Cass’s friend Billy leaned over us, her hand sliding past my butt on its way to the bottle in Cass’s pocket. “An’t you heard about women’s culture?” I looked down at the black ink tattoos standing out all over her forearms. Billy was wearing her usual uniform—jeans so old and worn they looked like gray sky over the ocean at dawn, and a denim vest buttoned up tight to flatten her breasts. Her arms were bare, and every time she stretched her hand out, I could see white flash under her armpit from skin that was never exposed to the sun.

“You mean to tell me we an’t here to listen to rock and roll?” Cass slapped Billy’s shoulder and giggled. It had taken two weeks of teasing and arguing before Cass had agreed to come to this event, and she’d insisted on getting Billy and her girlfriend Roxanne to come, too. “Got to have somebody to talk to,” she’d insisted.

Billy had thought the whole notion a hoot. “They don’t know how to dress,” she kept saying, “but some of these chicks an’t bad-looking.”

Roxanne just kept biting the lipstick off her lips and kicking her heels against the wall behind us. “I don’t see nothing here anybody’d want to take home with ’em.” She lit a cigarette and gave me a look of pure malevolence. I wondered if she had seen Billy’s hand on my ass. I leaned back into Cass’s embrace and tried to look happily innocent of any interest in Roxanne’s woman. That wasn’t too hard. Cass was just about the sexiest woman in the crowd, big and rough-looking in her worn denim jacket with her black hair cut close around her ears, but with soft brown eyes and a quick smile. She was a good-natured woman who liked me more than she was sure she wanted to. More important, she didn’t seem to feel the need to push her girlfriends around that Billy did. I loved having a woman in my life who prowled like a big old tiger, yet cuddled me close like a kitten licking mama’s ears. Billy talked about Roxanne as if the woman was a not quite bright child, and clearly had decided I had to have some special hidden sexual talent if Cass was so ready to put up with my sass. Part of what kept me seeing Cass was her casual acceptance of my temper and habits, and her grinning dismissal of Billy’s half-serious flirting with me. Cass was also nearly as tall as Billy and had told me frankly that they had become friends only after everybody they knew kept pushing them to fight each other.

“We was supposed to do the fight of the week or something, and let everybody know who was butcher than who, you know. But providing that kind of free entertainment just an’t my style. Billy and I put them all through some changes when we took up with each other, I’ll tell you.”

Two women I had met at the Women’s Center wiggled past us. One of them looked me in the eye and then up over my head into Cass’s face. I could feel Cass’s grin in the way her hands wiggled on me. The woman looked away quickly.

“Did you hear about Angie?” her friend asked.

“Yeah, I heard.” The woman pushed away from us hurriedly. “Don’t talk about her here.”

“Did you see her face?” Roxanne spoke with her cigarette held between her teeth. “That woman needs to reconsider going without makeup.”

I felt the heat come up in my face and didn’t know for a moment if I was angry or ashamed. I watched the expressions on the faces of the women who filed past us, then felt the skin at the back of my neck pull tight. We could have been animals in a cage from the way they looked at us. I kept going from indignant anger to shame with no pause between. The anger felt healthy but wouldn’t stay with me, while the shame was continuous and crippling. I wanted to be proud of Cass’s hands on my hips, to glare back coldly at the women who frowned at her. I was proud of her, but my pride wasn’t holding any better than my anger. I wished I didn’t care what anybody thought, but I did. Beside me Roxanne kept getting her mirror out and pulling a few curls forward down over her eyes. Her hands were shaking, her makeup streaking on her neck where sweat was trailing down. For a moment, she looked like my little sister looking up at me, wanting my help but unable to ask. I could have cried. Instead, I took deep breaths trying to calm myself and finally just gave it up and took a couple of pulls from Cass’s bottle.

Cass hugged me again, her eyes watching me closely. “We can always leave.” She didn’t look as if the idea bothered her at all.

“The music hasn’t even started.” I drank again, concentrating on feeling angry rather than self-conscious or ashamed. The last of the audience was milling past us while a piano chord sounded from the front of the hall. A little group of men and women passed us, the women defiant in silky skirts and the men holding the women close to them. One of the women stared at Billy and giggled when Billy grinned at her. The man with her looked nervous and impatient, but the woman didn’t seem to want to head for her seat. Like a pigeon transfixed by a snake, she was pinned to the far wall by Billy’s green-eyed stare. I almost laughed out loud.

“I don’t care who they sleep with,” I whispered to Cass, “I just wish they wouldn’t tell so many lies about it.”

“Mean bitch,” Cass quipped, not meaning it at all.

Roxanne looked over at me strangely, her face working as if she were making up her mind about something. She looked up at Billy, who was still watching the woman against the far wall. “Hell,” Roxanne said, “these days I can’t tell who’s lying and who is just passing time.”

“Passing time,” I repeated. I ignored Cass’s offer of another drink. Instead I turned and put my arm around Roxanne’s shoulders, watching with her as the audience settled down and Cass and Billy whispered behind us. I watched the way the women moved, the muscles that stood out in their necks, the way their eyes went from dark to light in the changing light. My teeth clenched, but I just held on to Roxanne, and kept my hip pressed close to Cass’s long legs.

[alittlefirebirdtoldme]

The glittering electric lights bouncing off ancient, crystal chandeliers that hung above a glorious, rambunctious party told one all one could hope to know about Lord and Lady Coldstones. Theirs had been quite a scandalous marriage. It must have been some fifty years ago when a charming rancher from Sturmovia won the heart of the wild and flighty lady knight. Of course, no one knew the whole story, and neither would tell the same tale twice.

Among their guests, both Lord and Lady Coldstones shone. Neither had aged a day in those fifty years. He was painted in earthen tones, warm browns and ambers, that contrasted with the blade-like cut of his cheekbones and jawline. He smiled easily and spoke in a soft drawl, an old accent he'd never shaken, even if he now forewent the cowboy hat that had once made him the talk of every party. She, meanwhile, was ethereally pale, save for the fiery red of her lips and hair and eyes, which gleamed in the bright light. She laughed often, but there was something hungry in the way her eyes roved over the crowd. She seemed to dine on the occasional, pretty bauble of society, but her husband was unto her a lavish feast to be devoured. The electric hum of the new wiring was nothing compared to the buzz between them.

Tonight, they played a game. It was a simple objective: bed the prettiest human. The stakes, too, were simple, but intensely private. Every game between them was, even if every guest in the manor knew they were pawns in an elaborate marital chess game. No one cared too much, except as part of their curiosity. So this was what a couple with eternity to spare would do? Did it matter, so long as the spirits kept flowing and the dance floor stayed hot? They hired the best bands and had the best booze.

And those who had been fortunate enough to become their playthings said they had the best bedroom etiquette too.

But Lenore Davenport-Coldstones was dreadfully bored tonight. The humans were fine things to admire. But how often did she and Cedric play this little game? It was time to change the rules. She approached him from behind, raking her nails up his chest and nuzzling his neck with her soft lips. She nipped right below his ear and shuddered with delighted anticipation.

"What if we agreed on a single human tonight?" she asked. "I want to share a new toy with you or not share you at all tonight. Is that really such a losing situation?"

Cedric inhaled sharply as Lenore's nails grazed his skin, letting his eyes flutter closed and head loll backward as she nipped at the lobe of his ear and the soft of his neck. Sweet Seldraine, he knew how to play the game. He could pick out the prettiest of part-goers and pull from them the most satisfying noises as they rose in chorus to the same down the hall. He could dance through a crowd and smile that crooked smile over a glass of elven wine or dwarvish brandy, letting the drawl fall over his lips like honey to lure in the willing. He could play at devotion, or at least a good time, in a way that left him with no complaints and more than a few friends. But nothing ever captured his attention, made him burn so deeply and so long as his own wife. He'd made it his mission to please her as best he could for as long as he lived, and regardless of how things progressed, whenever she pierced his skin or moaned his name in pleasure he was sure he was absolutely robbing her blind. How could it ever feel fair, he wondered, when she brought him so much joy? How could he ever feel as if he didn't owe her for simply allowing him to love her?

"Lenore, ma'am, you know I couldn't refuse you even if I wanted to." Cedric sighed and turned in her arms, pulling her hand up to his lips for a kiss that was slow and lavish, if slightly ungentlemanly. "To be yours, all yours, only yours for the night is an invitation that has never left me disappointed. Who on this green earth could consider it losing to be allowed to worship you?"

His soft, warm eyes made contact with hers over her knuckles, and he bowed in a way that seemed far out of modern fashions but would always seem at home with the way he adored this woman. He'd leave the party at her word, lower himself shamelessly to his knees to make her smile even here in front of these now suddenly unwanted guests.

"Will you have me to yourself tonight? I promise to do my best to serve Your Excellency as she sees fit."

[johaerys-writes]

Fandom: Castlevania

Pairings: Alucard/Trevor Belmont/Sypha, Hector/Lenore

Summary:

After Trevor gets grievously injured by a night creature, he and Sypha return to Dracula’s castle to seek Alucard’s help. The man they find there, however, is but a shadow of the friend they left behind.

Meanwhile, in far Styria, Hector does his best to survive in the vampires’ court, a lamb amidst wolves. Little do the wolves know, the lamb has fangs of its own.

Chapter 11: Where Shadows Dwell is up! Hector and Lenore have an important conversation, while Trevor, Adrian and Sypha spend a cosy morning in bed 🥰

Read on AO3! Or read from the beginning

There is a faint breeze blowing through the gardens. The fabric of Hector's cloak whispers about his feet with every gust of wind, his skin prickling. He gathers his cloak tighter about him, stealing glances at Lenore beside him.

Swaths of dark blue fabric peek through the folds of her white fur coat. Moonlight glitters on her porcelain skin, swims in the blood-red cascades of her hair. Her perfume reaches him every time the wind blows: jasmine and cherry wine, and something else, that's just her. 

"You're quiet, Hector," she says softly, and her voice glides down his spine like a caress. "Is something on your mind?"

Hector huffs a dry laugh. Is something not on his mind? He can't stop his mind from tirelessly working when he's with her. It's as if it's working at a million miles an hour to prevent any oncoming disaster.

Will it be enough? he wonders. 

"Not much," he replies. "I was simply remembering that the last time we walked together, I was wearing a collar. It's hard not to think of that, in fact."

He expects Lenore to flinch or get angry at him. But she only laughs. "Well, I'd call this an improvement, wouldn't you?" 

No, Hector wants to say, but he holds his tongue. The leash he's wearing now is impossible to break, not without destroying himself in the process. 

They walk together through the snow-tipped trees of the garden, close but not quite close enough, their arms brushing every so often when they move.

When he remains quiet after that, it's Lenore that speaks again. She tells him about her work, the letters she's had to send that day, the gold and resources she's tried to secure. Morana and Striga are still on the road, securing the surrounding countryside closest to their castle. After the first bases have been established, their plan will be set in full motion.

Hector listens silently, unease coiling in his stomach at the thought. If the sisters are so close to implementing their plan, then they will soon be needing the undead armies he'll be making for them. He will soon need to finish creating his hammer. He's stalled long enough, but he knows it's only a matter of time until he's incapable of doing that anymore.

Truth is, he's not entirely sure why he's stalling. His life would have been easier if he went along with everything the sisters wanted of him, if he gave them everything they asked for. But something within him withers at the prospect. He doesn't want all those people to be killed or used as mindlessly as he has been, by his hand or his creations'. There was a time when he hardly cared how many humans were killed in Dracula's war, as long as they were not brutally savaged. But things are different now. Vampires are no better than humans in their cruelty, he's learnt that well. And he feels compelled to resist them, even if he ends up getting hurt in the process.

More than anything, he wants Carmilla to fall and eat fucking dirt. His entire being rebels at the thought of helping her do anything. He'd rather burn in the flames of Hell for eternity rather than do that. 

"Morana keeps calling me through her transmission mirror from the field to whine about her aching feet and the lack of proper baths," Lenore chuckles beside him, oblivious to the storm that's raging within Hector's mind. "In truth, I'm surprised she's even lasted that long. I don't know what she expected: she loves luxury, but there's none to be had when you're on the road with Striga. I've found out the hard way once or twice. But there's no prying those two apart." She shakes her head, and a fond smile appears on her lips. The low heels of her dainty black shoes click on the hard stone floor. "I envy that, sometimes," she says softly. 

"Being on the road with Striga?" Hector asks flatly, shivering a little when the wind whips through his hair again. 

"Not quite." Lenore laughs, glancing up at him through her thick lashes. "No. At least, not exactly." 

Hector follows her up the wide marble steps at the edge of the garden, then on the wide balcony they lead on to. Lenore leans against the railing with a soft sigh, gazing out into the valley below. Snow and ice stretch as far as the eye can see, glittering like diamond dust in the moonlight. 

"There are times when… I envy their companionship," she whispers, her voice almost carried away by the rustling of the night wind. "No matter what happens, they have each other."

Hector's fingers curl around the railing beside her. He can feel the frozen marble through the leather of his gloves. "I thought that this was the case with all four of you," he says. "That you crafted those rings so that you would always be together. Is that not so?"

"Yes. We'll always be there for one another; I know my sisters would give their life for me, if needed and I would do the same. But Striga and Morana are sworn to each other in a way they are not to Carmilla or myself. They care about each other. They love each other. What they have is different from friendship or sisterhood, it's… deeper." She glanced up at him with her sanguine eyes. "Don't you think?"

Hector gazes into those eyes for a moment longer than perhaps he should. "I wouldn't know," he says. He looks away, focusing on the expanse of snow below. "No one's ever cared about me this much. And I have never been this close with anyone." 

He speaks to her in earnest, but he can't quite help the bitterness that rises with it. Hector has never really known love. His own mother thought him a monster; to his father he was worse than a dog. He's learnt from a young age to care for himself, to rely only on himself. It hasn't always worked, obviously —if it did, he wouldn't be here now, in this predicament— but the sentiment is there all the same.

Trusting others is as good as signing his own death sentence. Hector doesn't know much, but he knows this. 

Lenore stays silent beside him for a long while. When she speaks, her voice is almost carried away by a sharp gale. "You don't really believe that," she says, "do you?"

Read the rest on AO3!

[tabletopmayhem]

I feel like I should post my notes on this new batch of NPCs for our Vampire game so you can see how b a d my notes generally are.  Anyways here they are.

they are all changelings

Corelleon C. Cree- Lord of Japes, Mischief, and Lies- Their Majesty’s Lawyer  (CC by Hummingbird, Trip by Xochitl)

Tall, thin, cadaverous, in a burgundy velvet suit with a black tie.  Slicked back black hair with a widow’s peak, looks more like a vampire than you guys do (kind of like the guy from the munsters but a lawyer)

Bimpenny Jones- Steward and Keeper of the Bees (boggin)

Short, round, friendly.  Giant dimples, graying hair like a haystack- in her formal overalls.  THEY ARE FORMAL OVERALLS.  (there are actual bees and there are keys to the bees the bee keys) 

Hummingbird Cotswallow- Lady Hummingbird of Blackberry Briar Manor, Office Manager

Long, thin dreadlocks twisted into an elaborate bun with a net of black faceted gems and silver.  Wearing a long black dress, and an absolutely glorious gossamer shawl in colors of iridescent blue, purple, and green.  warm and friendly but above all professional lots of greetings.  

Xochitl of the Poppy Fields- Lady of the Everbloom, The Neverfading, The Gilded Sunblessed Scion, Stylist

Floor-length black hair, as she moves her dark bronze skin glitters and gleams, she’s COVERED head to toe in a gold body glitter- iridescent shimmer.  Bright orange mini dress and gold heels.  KNOWS PEOPLE.  on tuesdays we wear pink lol.  but actually seriously.

Every Day- Intern (boggin w/delusions of grandeur)

Big brown eyes, stubbed nose, looks like an early 2000s popstar type, bleach blonde with brown roots, cropped velvet sweatpants and hooded top  like early 2000s christina aguilera cosplay but she’s too cute and round for it.  Pakistani

‘Coffee?  Coffee?’  they’re vampires!  Go find blood!

How do I find blood?!

You’re the intern, you figure it out!

Paul ‘Paulie’ Petrovich (satyr)- Acquisitions, owns a rental place for inflatables.  Wacky Waving Inflatable Tube Men, Bouncy Castles, Ball Pits, Seasonal Decor, Dunk Tanks, Carnival Games of the inflatable variety, ofc.  Weird terrible man that likes being drunk and also everyone else being drunk but is cute.  dirty blond friendly big feelings not big man.

terrible sorry

Winsome- Branch Manager- literally her job is to train the trees and vines that make up the living throneroom and the gardens. It’s a pun lol (boggin)

small silvery hair dark skin big brown eyes bad 2000s boho fashion minus awkward bindis but definitely that one brown skirt u had

Gavin- Prince Consort Gavin (gavin), Roamer of the Endless Night,  the Rawgabbit- gossip columnist (sidhe)

announces themselves in the third person at all times when entering a room.  Tall, attractive, big nose, long brown hair, leather pants, doesn’t know how to keep his shirt closed. lol a dumbass

an attractive dumbass.  Knows People.

Ives the Salish (pooka, otter)

Canadian fanboy.  v fanboy.  tall long dark hair high cheekbones earnest nonsense.  Super into Lenore.  Super into feeling his feelings.  Blog boy.  A Nice Fellow (sort of he is fairy)

Their Majesty  x x x x all the titles go here (sidhe)

Kind of deer-like.  Knows Everyone.  [redacted for spoilers]

[whatdoyouexpectthistime]

Fangs, Horns and Halos: Part 1

Fandom: Castlevania Type of Fic: Continuation from end of Season 3, with some OCs. Contains: Angst, fluff, smut, violence all the good Castlevania stuff. Will attempts be made maintain cannon characterisation? Yes. Will I feel the need to Karen because I’m a purist? If you have to ask this question then the answer is a definite, yes. This is my fic and I’ll do what I like - you don’t have to agree, but I’m not interested in your haircut or your nastiness. Can I, or an OC of mine be in it? It’s possible, I write my friends’ OCs into stories all the time. Maybe you should drop me a note and say hi!

Should I comment and reblog? Um, yeah, because that’s what keeps my interest and inspiration high and continuing writing. I’m also open to ‘wonderings’ and ‘suggestions’ so by all means, talk to me!

If you would like a tag, just let me know.

<3 B

@loverofdeath666

_____________________________________

Hector was used to the monstrosities his gift created - after all, one could not expect dead flesh imbued with a hell-soul to resemble perfection. That is why he now found himself paralysed, staring at the creature on the stone slab before him.

Not twisted.

Not teeth and claw and scale.

Not slime and acid and brimstone.

She laid in perfect proportion, not a single blemish upon her naked skin, with a crown of mahogany waves draped about her head. The generous round of her breasts rose and fell with steady breath, and though her eyes remained closed her long, dark eyelashes trembled with the suggestion of dreams.

When her fingers twitched he scuttled back, his Forgemaster’s hammer held in a bloodless grip.

It didn’t make sense, but there it was.

In a growing panic, he looked to the door, expecting Lenore to appear. She would sway across the room, disapproval if not rage hidden beneath the pale of her face and demand to know the meaning of such a creation.

This was not a warrior, a machine of war; how could he possibly explain the presence of this vision?

Destroy it?

Again he considered his hammer, but in this next moment of pause the woman sat, and blinked, her lips slowly parting.

“Say nothing,” he told her in a sudden fluster.

If he had forged her, she was bound to him, bound to loyalty and obedience as he was to Lenore.

“What is this?” she asked, demanded, her tone quiet yet somehow enraged.

Without waiting for him to respond, she swung her legs to the floor - but they seemed to lack strength and she wobbled.

The moment Hector’s fingers came into contact with her skin - a reflexive attempt to prevent her from falling - he was struck with an almost overwhelming sense of ecstatic dread.

Paradoxical joy and impending doom.

She was not cold or clammy like the death he knew, nor torrid and feverish as he knew Hell could be; no, her temperature was mild and pleasant, that of any woman waking from a pleasant nap.

Except she was obviously not any woman.

“What is that?” Lenore’s voice cracked from the foundry door, her normally placid expression a sharp reflection of venom.

���Ah,” Hector fumbled, his palm still flat against the woman’s hip, his grasp lightly holding her forearm. “I just…”

Before he could make a sentence resembling comprehensible, the unclothed woman pulled ree and stepped away from him, a little closer to Lenore.

“Did you forge this thing?” Lenore barked, peering through to Hector as if the brunette was transparent.

“This thing is unimpressed by your demeanour,” the woman announced, coldly glaring at the haughty vampire.

Not at all used to being reprimanded, let alone by a night creature - however it looked - Lenore blinked in shock: shock that a night creature bound to Hector, who was bound to her, could even be so insolent.

With all the speed of her ilk, Lenore lashed out, pointed fingernails going for the throat; but she let out an unflattering and most undignified cry, she found her wrist caught.

As if in slow motion - so unfathomable was what occured next- Hector watched Lenore be flung across the foundry like a spineless ragdoll. Awkwardly, she crashed into the stab, her head cracking solidly against the bloody stone as she cartwheeled over its gorey surface.

A panic exploded in Hector’s chest, though his thoughts remained his own on that matter of what Lenore deserved, he was compelled to fly to her assistance. Not that she really needed it.

With an inhuman shriek, she sprang toward her foe, a flash of heavy cloth across Hector’s field of view that…

… suddenly stopped…

… and dangled…

… in the grip of the woman, awe inspiring and majestic with the wide spread of black-tipped white feather wings spread out behind her.

“Wretched,” she growled into Lenore’s face, dark eyes flashing with terrible promise, “and accursed.”

Though astonished, Hector’s body was compelled toward Lenore, but he could not reach her before an impressive spray of blood painted nearby walls. A strangled croak emerged from Lenore’s crushed throat, ribbons of vitae winding down the naked woman’s arm until she tossed the vampire to the side.

“Bu… how?” Hector panted, his pallor more blanched than usual as he drew Lenore’s gasping body into his lap.

No answer was forthcoming.

The angelic woman darted for the window and did not pause; she leapt through the glass, a spray of glittering shards against the stormy night sky.

Then she was gone.

It was a long night.

Though Alucard told himself, over and over, he was better off alone because people simply could not be trusted, the betrayal by Sumi and Taka truly left him more lonely than ever.

As dawn extinguished the stars, he made his way out of the dilapidated castle and wandered through the forest with a fishing rod over his shoulder. Light began to filter through the trees, and animals awoke to provide a peaceful accompaniment to his morning trek to the river.

Upon reaching the gently sloping bank, however, his attention was drawn to the nearby growl of wolves and the harsh caw of crows. Against the green and grey, a white figure laid face down and half submerged - headless, no, head obscured by a tangle of hair and leaves.

The animals looked to Alucard’s first step in their direction, then fled the superior predator by his second. It seemed an unlikely place for a corpse to wash ashore, but Alucard noted the beginnings of a beaver dam had altered the river’s flow: but even over the water’s soft chatter, he could hear the faint sound of something not belonging to the forest. It might have been voices, or chimes, a choir in full song in a language he could not understand; it was beautiful, incomprehensibly divine and yet every now and then the Devil’s chord struck out a sinister whisper.

This caused him to hesitate, to be furtive and suspicious, but he could not deny the curiosity that eventually drew him within arm’s reach. It had the form of a woman, but Alucard had known enough monsters in his time to understand that shape alone meant nothing.

On high guard, he carefully crouched and touched against her shoulder blade.

He gasped, filling his lungs almost to the point of bursting.

With significantly greater urgency, he rolled the figure over and her limbs limply followed. She did not open her eyes, but now he could see the slow movement of her bare breasts - amid scratches and bruises, bite-marks and gashes. The map of her skin told him she had faced many attackers, and traces of congealed filth beneath her fingernails suggested monsters had been her foes; and yet she was still alive.

Silently, Alucard fought with himself.

The last people he had welcomed into his home had turned on him. Their skeletons - now picked clean by birds, insects and time - still adorned the steps of his castle.

But his mother flickered in his mind’s eye, looked out at the dishevelled woman, and he knew he could not just leave her here to die of her wounds or exposure.

That didn’t mean he was going to lay her upon a bed of roses nor give her the run of his abode. No.

With great caution he settled her in a room with slender windows - too narrow for a person to squeeze through - one with a fortified door. It was not quite a cell, it was not in the dungeon, but it was secure enough Alucard believed he would not have to worry about being unexpectedly pounced in his own bed.

Diligently, he tended to her wounds, then tucked her beneath warm blankets - always with the call to his sword on the very edge of his consciousness. During the whole process she did not stir, but the soft, compelling sound that lingered around her like an aura, became stronger, more certain.

“But no heartbeat,” he thought, though she was definitely not a vampire.

There were other things in the world.

As he sat by her bedside he contemplated what he’d do when she woke. Of course this depended on what and who she was, but even then the question remained whether he should send her on her way immediately.

But the ridiculous little effigies of Trevor and Sypha he’d made, reminded him how there was a part of himself that needed others now - if he was not to become like his father. He was not stupid, not blind to the traps laid out before him by loneliness.

Those that Dracula had fallen into.

“I ferried him to Hell,” a voice declared, soft but sure, and Alucard focused back in on his ‘guest’.

“Who?” Alucard frowned, his muscles tensing in readiness for confrontation.

“Your father,” she replied, peering up at him with eyes that cast back only his reflection.

Finally she blinked, and as if released from a spell, Alucard rose slowly from his seat.

“Who are you?” he questioned, tone edged with warning, but the woman remained still.

“I… don’t have a name,” she answered, frowning in consternation. “I am just one of many… and yet…”

Her frown became a scowl and she seemed to be in some pain.

“Perhaps you remember what you were doing naked fighting night creatures?” he offered, not moving to offer her sympathy or assistance.

“Fighting back,” she corrected through her teeth, then threw back the blanket. “And nudity is such a… human concept.”

In line with her statement, she didn’t seem the slightest bit abashed at her unclothed state, and was on her feet to inspect the bandages wrapped around her torso and one thigh.

“Hmm, I suppose I should thank you,” she murmured, flexing her fingers, watching them curl toward her palm and then extend again. “You’re the first to not try to kill me since I…”

She scowled again and massaged her temples, eyes half closed.

“Ugh, this body is so… so…”

Alucard bit his tongue to withhold the way he would have finished her sentence.

“No thanks needed,” he said instead. “I try not to kill everyone I come across.”

Her movements were graceful, she had a distinct poise and yet, she was studying herself like she was confused.

“Well that’s reassuring to kno…”

The end of her sentence broke off, her expression one of significant affliction.

As she crumpled, Alucard lurched forward to offer support before easing her back onto the bed.

“Why can’t they hear me?” she cried out, as pain ripped through her skull.

“Who?” Alucard prompted, half-couched before her with his hands at her elbows.

“My brothers. My sisters! Why don’t they come for me?”

Frustrated, Alucard found himself no more knowledgeable of the woman or her circumstances than when he’d found her - everything she uttered was only part of a whole, and he couldn’t fill in the blanks alone.

“I cannot answer that,” he admitted, softening his tone in an attempt to mitigate her distress. “But you are safe here.”

“Am I?” she exhaled, her following inhale slow, like she feared the expansion of her lungs. “Everything is in chaos,” she expounded. “My thoughts, my memories, not meant to be contained by this… this mortal flesh.”

“If not mortal flesh, then what?” he urged, and again she planted her gaze in his, a stare from which he could not look away.

“Death,” she answered, and as she spoke the word that inexplicably melodious choir thrummed in Alucard’s ears. “Souls conveyed to Heaven, souls condemned to Hell.”

“You said you’d ferried my father to Hell,” Alucard recalled.

“Yes,” she answered, her chin dropping a little. “For all the carnage wrought upon the world, born from his insatiable hatred,” she elaborated. “As you drove a stake through his chest. The fall of his head to the Belmont’s blade. The combustion of his body in the Speaker’s fire. I was there, Alucard, to judge his life, sentence his soul and escort him hence.”

Alucard’s eyes widened.

Of course the specifics of Dracula’s demise was not public record, nor had he shared his name with her - but she recounted his father’s death just as it happened.

“Are you suggesting you’re an angel?” he queried, and his hands fell away as she moved to stand once more.

“I was an angel,” she spat, a disgusted sound accompanied by the stretching rustle of wings.

Unfurled, they spanned the entire length of the room, brushing the brickwork with their dusky tips.

“Now… I....” she stammered, her eyes welling. “The Forgemaster has bound me to this plane… how?”

“Forgemaster?” Alucard repeated, his expression darkening, and the woman’s wings slumped, forming a cloak of sorts that seemed to hang from her shoulders.

“He keeps reaching out,” she sneered thickly. “I feel him, pulling at me, desperate to bend my will to his.”

“Forgemasters draw souls from Hell into dead flesh,” Alucard pointed out.

“I know what they do!” she shouted, her body pulsing with a suddenly light that caused the half-vampire to back away. “But here I am! And everything is so… so… broken!”

[aion-rsa]

Nightbooks: A Kids Movie That’s Too Scary?

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

I’m not quite sure who Nightbooks is for. As marketed, the latest Netflix original film appears to be a fantasy-driven horror film for kids and tweens. But the movie itself, which deals with themes of child abuse and features some objectively terrifying monsters, may be too dark for that demographic. This can be an issue with book-to-film adaptations. What works for kids in a literary format can sometimes be too scary once brought to life on-screen. That being said, for adults and kids who have a high tolerance for horror, the Sam Raimi-produced Nightbooks is definitely worth a watch. A gorgeously rendered horror world with a character-driven mystery at its heart, director David Yarovesky’s adaptation of J.A. White’s 2018 middle grade story is a truly rewarding spooky season experience that’ll appeal to adults and kids who are willing to delve into its secrets.

Nightbooks doesn’t waste time throwing its protagonist, kid writer Alex (Winslow Fegley, in giant spectacles), into a scary situation. The movie begins with Alex in distress, driven from the safety of his Brooklyn apartment by his own overwhelming emotions. We won’t learn why Alex is so upset until the film’s climax, one of a few mysteries at the heart of Nightbooks that will keep viewers emotionally engaged through the terrors that follow. At first, all we know is what happens next: Alex is lured into a magical apartment by evil witch Natacha, played by a terrifying and unpredictable Krysten Ritter. Natacha easily makes the decision to dispose of Alex until he convinces her of his value: He can write scary stories. Natacha stays her magical hand, and Alex lives on one condition: he must tell Natacha a new scary story each night.

Alex isn’t the only prisoner of Natacha’s (honestly gorgeous) apartment. There is Yasmin (Lidya Jewett), a slightly older girl who has been left understandably jaded from her much longer tenure as Natacha’s plaything. Yasmin, who has a penchant for science and magical botany, tends to Natacha’s plants and does other chores around the massive apartment, which cannot only expand to hold anything Natacha might need or want, but also can travel anywhere in the world—kind of like an evil TARDIS. Finally, there’s Lenore, a figuratively prickly cat who can literally turn invisible at will. The cat probably has the best character arc in the entire film, which is not to say that the film doesn’t do interesting things with its characters, just that Lenore’s journey is the most complex and unexpected. Overall, Nightbooks keeps its cast of characters small, which lends itself to a story that is not as interested in creating complex dynamics as it is unfurling the mystery of each characters’ individual psychology.

If this movie were bad—which it is not—it would still be worth watching for Ritter’s performance alone. Natacha is the perfect encapsulation of an evil witch for the millennial generation: donning blue hair and immaculate makeup, Natacha struts into each scene with some of the coolest and most refreshing witch looks this side of 2018’s A Wrinkle in Time. Girlish and pretty, Natacha’s enviable costuming and makeup informs her characterization, as the film’s antagonist can turn from bored to wrathful in the blink of a glittered eye. In a movie that features spider-like creatures with claws that try to poke characters’ eyes out, and psychedelic candy that turns our heroes into mindless gluttons, Natacha is still the scariest part.

If some of these descriptions sound familiar, that is because Nightbooks is actively engaging with some classic stories and fairy tales—interestingly, not the ones we usually categorize as horror, but that are truly horrific when you start to dwell on them. While the many foundational texts are obvious, Nightbooks uses its classic literary framework in clever ways, never leaning so far into the been-there-done-that plot points of 1,001 Arabian Nights or Hansel and Gretel to sacrifice its originality. It helps that much of the film’s uniqueness comes not from the story itself but from the excellent art direction, production design, and costuming. While Natacha may be the character who best exemplifies this rich world-building, it is integrated into the world she inhabits and controls.

I hope this film finds an audience. Kids need horror movies too. Being a kid—being a human—can be a terrifying experience. And, in the end, the edges of this cinematic experience may be enough to give some children the kind of catharsis only the horror genre can offer. After all, in movies, kids always defeat the monsters in the end.

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[derogatory-duck]

Lenore Phoenix

Is really into robotics and mechanical engineering.

Is definitely a gamer (will steal your netherite armour and try to tame every minecraft animal she comes across. Polar bears included).

Date time? The movies, a library or a planetarium (she's a nerd okay)

She hordes plushies, glitter pens and hoodies like her life depends on it.

Gift her some succulents and she's yours forever.

Urgently requires therapy but is broke.

Hits the McDonalds drive-thru once every week.

Volunteers at an animal rescue shelter.

Is the type of person to roast people on reddit.

Drives a Harley Davidson.

Hobbies? Photography, singing, learning new languages will fight the Duolingo bird for 1 corn chip

Does stand up comedy for the extra money.

Wants to dye her hair but too scared to actually do it.

Owns about 5 different musical instruments but doesn't know how to play them, Spotify playlists are a mess.

PLEASE, IF YOU SEE THIS, SHARE THINGS ABOUT YOUR OCS IN THE MODERN A!U I AM BEGGING