#a) it's a bit early for gothic tbh

[seven-saffodils]

.

[seireitonin]

What alternative subcultures the Creepypastas would be in!!(pt 1)

This was an ask I accidentally deleted! Oops! I also listen to all the music I put in here! So it’s also a small glimpse into what I listen to! Also as some of you know I’m in the scemo and goth subcultures! But I know a lot about alternative cultures period so this was fun to make!

LJ: VICTORIAN GOTH 100%!! / Victorian Circus Core

I mean he’s literally from that era

The feathered shaw, the black and white color scheme, the black lipstick and guy liner with the pale white face!!

Literally a goth king. That’s an outfit I would definitely see at a goth club!(I’ve been to many)

Another part of goth culture is liking horror/ monsters. Since LJ is a monster he’d fit right in!

He’d be accepted by most goths despite his looks bc goths have morbid dark fashion senses themselves!

So if they saw his swirly cone nose and sharp teeth they’d be like: omg! I love your look!

He’d definitely listen to classical music and other goth music Specifically Switchblade symphony and Cocteau Twins

He definitely listens to old PATD

I can see him wearing other Victorian inspired clothes too!

Like dis:

Jeff: Metalhead/ with 90s emo(for nostalgia.)

I mean look at him

He’d definitely shit on nu metal and still listen to it

The long greasy black hair, not showering, thinking he’s better than everyone else yeah sounds like a metal head to me/ hj

He listens Cattle Decapitation, Peeling Flesh, Suicide Silence, Cannibal Corpse, Avatar and literally anything with machine gun drums

He listens to some 90s emo but will never admit

Definitely wears band shirts especially the ones he got from concerts when he was a teen

He loves a good mosh pit

You know, the ones where you come out all bloody?

Yeah he loves those

He can hurt people in them and it’ll be fine? Sign him up! (Man has no pit manners smh)

Definitely a metal elitist

“You like SOAD? Ugh that not REAL metal”

Stfu Jeff.

Yeah. Metalhead to his core.

LJill (I love her, so underrated)

Victorian goth as well, but she leans more in the gothic Lolita side of it

Wears pretty gothic Lolita dresses with lots of black and white lace, buttons and she’ll have a matching bonnet and parasol to match when she’s feeling extra fancy!

She feels so elegant and feminine when she puts her multiple layers of petticoats on! She wouldn’t be caught dead without them!

Her makeup and lipstick is always perfect.

Her hair is always either perfectly curled or perfectly straightened

The goal is to look as doll like as possible ( also because she is one!)

She listens to music box like music if that makes sense?? For example Swan Lake by Fairy Lullaby or Porcelain Eyes

She, like LJ listens to classical music and goth music

But mainly classical and music box!

Will go to tea parties and knows how to make tea cakes and sandwiches

Just a lady all around!

Jane: Trad Goth/ Casual Goth/ Amy Lee

Since Jane is always on the move and doesn’t really have time to get all dressed up

So she’ll usually be in a simple black dress or black pants and a turtleneck

But when she does get a chance to dress up

She dresses trad goth mixed with Amy Lee

She’ll have her hair long with bangs covering her forehead

Trad goth makeup, but a bit more modern,big eyeliner and arched brows

She’ll be wearing corsets and waist trainers

Long skirts, ripped leggings

High heel platforms

She goes all out and she looks great!

Listens to music like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, New Years Day and The Birthday Massacre

Can do goth dances very well

God she’s beautiful

Toby: Midwestern Emo/ early 2000s emo/ a tad grunge/ indie

He just looks like one tbh

But seriously he had a hard life and emo music gives him comfort

Toby wears flannel shirts, grandpa sweaters, simple tee shirts and pants that are loose but not too loose

Hiking boots, sneakers

He listens to Chidos, The Front Bottoms, State Champs, Real Friends, Nirvana, Yawning, Hail the Sun, The Used, A Lot Like Birds, Static Dress, Mild High Club and many many more

He can play the guitar, drums and sing pretty well

He needed something to keep him busy while he was homeschooled after all! And it took his mind off of the horrible things he was going through

Plus with him feeling no pain, he could practice his hands bleed so his hands are really calloused

He likes to sit in the woods and just listen to music sometimes

He’s a loner like that

Especially in the fall when the leaves are so pretty

He feels almost peaceful. Almost

EJ: Tbh I can’t put him in a single box I feel like he’d be everything

He’ll listen to whatever whenever

Except religious music it freaks him out

Ya know because of the cult that took his eyes

But I see him liking dark ,dreamy music if that makes sense

His taste actually lines up with Toby’s pretty well

Static dress, MGMT, YKWIM by Yot Club, Homage by the Mild High club, My Bloody Valentine, Grouper

Also anything with sad guitars like wish by sign crushes motorist (Toby likes music like this too)

Sometimes even lo-fi if he has to unwind

Jack wears all black most of the time. Just so he doesn’t look too dirty

Black hoodie, black shirt, black pants, black shoes

He also feels like any other color won’t go with his now grey skin

But yeah EJ is just a dude with a wide music taste

We love that for him

Nina: Obviously Scene+Emo= scemo

Do I even have to explain?

She listens to Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens, Bring Me the Horizon, Paramore, AFI, FOB, Get Scared, Hey Monday, MCR, Ghosttown, Millionaires, Brokencyde, Medic Driod, Dot Dot Curve, A Skylight Drive, ISMFOF ,everything Toby listens too as well(and many more)

Nina wears either all black with colorful hair or has her signature black and pink with more colorful outfits

Cheeta print, skulls, DIY stuff, band shirts, tube tops, tutus, skinny jeans, brass knuckle necklaces, hoop earrings, black eyeshadow, big teased hair with raccoon tails

Yeah she’s 2000s emo fs

Goes to raves and concerts like crazy

But she’s not opposed to any kind of music and will do goth makeup for fun

And wear Jane’s clothes

She thinks goth is really pretty but it’s just not her

She’ll stick with scemo lol

Jason The Toymaker: Steampunk/ Victorian Circus Core

The copper in his clothes

The bright red hair

The long flowing jacket with intimate details

Yeah he’s definitely steam punk

Im not sure what kind of music steampunks listen to but I’d like to know!

Jason definitely listens to Emilie Autumn and old PATD

BEN: EDM

I mean…it was obvious

Skillix, deadmouse, xxxanteria, Luci4, old Flying Lotus albums, 9lives

He’s literally code so I think he’d like it

Not much else to say here tbh

I’m getting tired so lmk if you want a part 2 lol

[lifetimeoftired]

Now I rarely do character design, or draw for that matter, but when it came to Anthem of Our Dying Day, I felt a little inspired. Sam and Dani (called Elli in-story) haven't shown up yet, and won't for a few more chapters still, but they and Danny got the most changes to their overall designs. Yes because it's been 7 years since the events of the show, but the changes are for reasons that will eventually be explained in-story. I have more designs in mind of course, but I gave my poor hand a cramp doing just these three. So I'll have to come back with Jason's ghost form and Danny's eldritch form (possibly an update to Valerie's look, but honestly her outfit in the later episodes was incredible I don't think I can improve on that in any way shape or form) at a later date.

Anyway, thoughts behind why I gave them the designs that I did are A Lot so I figured I'd ramble in a tumblr post instead of in the AN's.

Danny:

Listen to me. Listen. This man was raised on the vibes of the 90s and early 2000s. Long trench coats were PEAK fashion back then. We all saw the Matrix. Danny also was dragged to the Underworld movies multiple times while dating Sam (who's opinions on those movies are radioactive because they are cult classics and I'll die on this hill). So Danny absolutely thinks trench coasts are cool as shit and make him look cooler. And listen to me very carefully; They're still peak fashion. Slapping a leather trench coat on a mildly gothic character and you have cinema. Also he has a hood because hey! Hoods are so cool and perfect for us 90s kids.

As for the color choices, I didn't want to change too much from the classic black and white hazmat suit but honestly? He really makes it work. I also added the green because the color pop looked cool as shit but also because I felt like, as Danny gets older, he starts to produce his own ectoplasm in ghost form and, similar to how some ghosts have 'flaming hair' to show off their power levels, Danny's over production of ecto culminates within his outfit. This is in part due to him becoming the prince of the Infinite Realms, but also he's just a strong mfer.

Why's the coat torn? Spoiler reasons.

Sam:

I'm actually really pleased by hers turned out because she was the one I was the least set on. The main vibes I wanted from Sam (who's hero name is 'Nightshade' btw) was 'Mad Nature Scientist'.

It's not easy to see, but the mask is actually meant to be flower petals like her skirt. The buttons on her lab coat are also leaves. This is in reference to her time as Undergrowth's chosen and of course her love of the environment, but she's also liminal enough to have a special way with plants. Not to the extreme Poison Ivy does (much to her dismay), but they're important to her and she wouldn't have a hero suit without them I believe.

As for the science bits, in story she's working with the Fentons to study ghosts. Also helps test their weapons (all non-lethal and exist to help her keep up with stronger ghosts), as well as picking up a lot of science-related skills thanks to her years of studying various biology in college and working with Jack and Maddie for several years. While Danny tends to handle the big fights while she runs support, but she's also acting as the brains when it comes to ecto poisoning, making more ecto-dejecto and understanding how ectoplasm reacts with living beings.

The corset is, of course, because she's goth. Why cover her up so much aside from the tiny tit window? That's story-related reasons and we'll get there when we get there.

Dani:

My favorite outfit of the bunch tbh.

In-story Ellie (so I the writer don't get confused by two Dan-es) did eventually return to Amity Park and settled in to be adopted by the Fentons and go to school for realsies and in general get to live something of a normal life. But I maintain that Sam (Valerie too, but Sam was dating Danny and around quite a lot) was a big influence on Ellie once she settled in. She's more 'punk' than 'goth', but finding herself through changing up her fashion was heavily encouraged by Sam. And, of course, Danny's protective older brother dismay. Which is honestly a huge bonus to her.

Like Danny, she produces a lot of her own ectoplasm, but less than he does. And her's is a lot less pure so hers is a different green- She's not too broken up about it because it shows that she is different than her 'template', but also because it matches Sam's green better. (Sam and Danny might not be dating anymore, but Ellie still considers her to be an older sister figure and being more like Sam delights her). She does have 'fire' flicks on her clothes and tbh I actually messed up coloring those. I meant to stop coloring partway up to give a bit of a fade to white effect and make the flames white the same as her shirt, but, alas. I don't think the all black boots and gloves look bad at all.

As for the hair, Ellie's core has an element same as Danny's, but hers is Air. And being that her hero name in Wraith, I really wanted to go for, kind of a ghostly floating/flickering fire long streak. More like Starfire's big curly hair from the comics the shows are cowards give her the poofy hair back!. Also the 'non ghost' hair cut uuuh, I'm not an artits but it was supposed to be that side braid with bangs that fall over? But yeah that's her hair when she's in human form.

That's about everything for now! I'll definitely be coming back to this with more designs once I've jotted them down. Hope to get chapter 3 out soon but that fucker is fighting dirty :(

[pumpkinsy0]

Do u have headcanons about or what do you think about a 90s or 00s AU (maybe) where Curly Shepard is a punk and Ponyboy a goth or a babybat? ^_^ Like imagine purly but ponyboy tries to show his obsession for edgar allan poe and curly or the gang JUST DON'T GET IT 😭

wym anon that literally already IS purly🙄🙄

BUT YEA I DO HAVE HCS!!!! o(^-^)o

(for context who dont know, baby at is the name for like ppl who r newly goth basically, theyre just starting out listening to music n stuff like that)

•since curly is punk here and the whole idea of punks is essentially anti establishment and love individuality i will NOT make him make fun of pony for being goth, especially when hes a babybat hes just embracing himself

•also curly is curly i feel like hes a bit morbid himself and would be at the very least interested in edgar allen poe, so even if he wasnt punk he wouldnt make fun of pony for liking him, even if he does thats just bc hes being friendly and just does NOT like poetry

•ill place this in like, late 90s and early 2000s, so there is that huge thing against goths and punks for being ‘weird’ and against god or something along those lines

•curlys pretty used to being targeted for being different for his punk style and such while pony isnt exactly used to that so i imagine that hes more protective while ponys trying to figure himself out in that regard

•some bands pony would b interested in is evanescence, the cure, and siouxsie and the banshees, london after midnight, of course there IS more but these r like more so his favs

•how pony found out about gothic bands was like, a song was playing in darrys car radio and darry didnt rlly like it so he changed it but the song was already stuck in ponys head

•he brought it up to curly but pony was just like ‘idk maybe itll pass’, it in fact DID not pass and later they was just chillin in curlys car and the song came back on the radio and pony was like ‘neuron activated’

•curly was personally not rlly into the song, but hey, ponys happy so its whatever

•personally i imagine that pony doesnt have a gothic STYLE more so he has a love for gothic songs and literature, yknow what i mean??? but maybe he does borrow some clothes from curly thats more on the gothic side or thrifts some clothes

•other than edgar allen poe, he does like phantom of the opera, frankenstein, dracula, carmilla, dr jekyll and mr hyde, also he would like ruby gloom (thank my gf for this hc)

•his art style is kinda influenced by those media actually

•as for what type of goth he is i could mostly see him being like a geek goth, but he is interested in the looks of victorian goths and gothabilly goths

IVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT PONY FOR TOO LONG NOW ON ABOUT CURLY

•tbh, not much to add for this guy, punk curly is literally just regular curly but more understanding of who he is and what he wants in the world yknow??

•think of curly but actually a lil more, idk thought provoking in his own curly way with a better understanding of the world

•MAY I INSERT MY HC OF CURLY HAVIN AN AFRO MOHAWK HERE🗣️🗣️

•he is from a haitian household tho and haitian moms especially tend to be more, religious and all that jazz, so while tim and angela get their ears yelled off for well being them, its especially happening to curly bc in his moms eyes hes “turning away from god” n what not being a “vagabon” as many haitian moms would put it

•he likes customizing his own clothes, he thrifts and gets a bunch of hand me downs so might as well make them look cooler

•hes a graffiti artist and hes acc pretty well known, everyone knows its him but they dont rlly say anything cause 1) hes curly shepard but 2) his work rlly isnt that bad actually

•i could totally see him liking green day and he does NOT like fall out boy but he does like a coulle of songs from them (much to his dismay

•hes picking up guitar (how he afforded it??? i payed for it lets just say that)

WHEN IT COMES TO THE GANG, they dont rlly get pony being goth, they support him of course, but they do tend to make fun of him a bit</33 but darry, soda, and johnny do try to understand him more, its rlly just two

ps anon my gf said she loves u for ur idea (shes goth, u got the goth stamp of approval)

[monstersandmagicians]

Anyways, cheered when I checked my inbox this morning. Been waiting months for this announcement.

So, thoughts:

-Avallon Hotel and Spa: obvious Arthurian connection here. Healing springs. Will be fascinated to see the level of significance here - I think Maggie typically names with easter eggs in mind whereas I try to dig as deep as possible when analysing these choices, so we'll see.

-WONDER: so, Stiefvater said that she is trying to writing Wonder as opposed to Horror. The synopses, especially the QBD one, are written as if for a gothic-ish sort of novel, the sort that leaves you feeling claustrophobic. Considering the effect Sinner had on me, I do trust Stiefvater to achieve what she is setting out to do.

-Synopsis: again, the sort of synopsis I would read, think has the good bones for a story, but know it will make me depressed so I'd skip. Again, I have faith.

-"class conflict, an ensemble cast, about four different kinds of love": from the email. Book's set in the Appalachian mountains in the 1942, so the class stuff will be good. Willing to bet on some good sibling content, even though we only have two named characters. Obviously, this will be an adult novel, but I feel its going to sit comfortably next to The Scorpio Races in my head.

-Cars: nothing has mentioned cars, even the bits that have talked about it being a Stiefvater novel. Still, I expect cars, in loving details.

-June Hudson: Okay, so June Hennessy was my first thought on seeing the name, then the fact the book is coming out in June. Hudson? All I've got is the Hudson River folks. From the synopsis I don't think I can make an assumption about which way Stiefvater's taking her character, but I'm assuming she's a Responsible, Practical one. Is described as enigmatic

-Tucker Minnick, FBI Agent: Love the name, again, look forward to finding out where the components were plucked from. Despite working for the FBI, the main synopsis* suggests he hails from the Appalachian. Class conflict bound up in one man?

-Cover: so, a cover had been included. It's white and purple with a house on. Generic and I don't see people pitching a fit over it, but it includes a "sticker" saying "Cover to Be Revealed". That makes sense, we're ages out from the release. Still, feels like the publisher creating problems for Stiefvater there. Looking forward to the real cover and I hope it feels more Stiefvater-y, even if others aren't fond of it.

-The Listeners: while I'm stomping on hornets' nests, the title. Simplistic, but evocative. Would love to know what is listening to who and how many ways this title can be applied.

-Betrayal: the QBD synopsis uses the word betrayal. Could mean anything, tbh.

-The Nazi Thing: has the potential to be really interesting and insightful, if Stiefvater hands it well. Considering her experiences with fandom, I imagine she has proceeded with more caution than others (*cough*Chibnal*cough).

-Length and Date: According to QBD, the paperback is 416 pages (a very satisfying number). Penguin has the hardback at 384. This suggests longer than MI, shorter than CDTH. Penguin has release date at June 3rd, while QBD (Australian Bookstore) has the 10th. The email just says June, so I would say, expect early June.

-Bears: I would rather approach a bear than the TRC fandom, tbh.

*(QBD synopsis differs from the one Stiefvater released; doesn't include Minnick at all)

[blueiight]

I was reading your tags to dre's published ask. Do you think while writing about these blood sucking monsters, Anne deliberately made one of them a former slave master? I mean the way this man during his mortal times had benefited by preying on the black race and the reflection of it in his fate where he is now in literal terms an entity who survives by preying on people? Or is it like twilight ( movies) where Jasper's past as a confederate soldeir is just dropped as if it's the most casual thing to shrug away.

( something is up with vampire media and all of them being connected to slave trade my god. Either it is a social commentary or people really do not have any self awarenesses?

i dont know about twilight book or movie to make a meaningful comparison to louis’s book counterpart. i wish i knew. and tbh, its hard to prescribe authorial intent on a dead woman who wrote a sprawling epic of 20+ books for 50 years , especially with shifting perspectives , namely pivoting away from louis to lestat as her MC bc of what fantasy/POV was more interesting to her. but i think in the first book there was some intention there, i cant just say how much. lestat wants to hunt the runaway slaves along the freniere plantation, and louis discourages him from doing it not out of compassion for enslaved people (which would be condescending and abysmal writing for a slaveowning character), but for his proximity to the freniere’s as fellow planters. ive talked about it a lot how its really interesting in the first 2 books that the american planter is created both literally + vampirically by the european aristocrat.. and theyre both parasitic beings in relation to the enslaved people, eventually draining them+ burning the plantation down. iwtv early book louis is resentful of lestat in part bc he thought lestat wanted his plantation, but when he learns who lestat is + where he came from, the power and will he has. hes far more genial to him. its a very dark book, and i think the fact that these characters are so vicious + melancholic is intentional on the authors part. i dont know how much race based chattel slavery is meaningfully explored from the perspective of the slaveowner, but book louis thinking of people in his captivity as fixtures, as creepy ‘things’ more proximate to the supernatural bc of their ‘african nature’ (that had yet to be ‘trained’ out of them) is a very probable, chilling, and haunting perspective of a former slaveowner to take even a hundred and some years removed from it. or if we take it as book louis immersing himself in his perspective @ the time. either way. and its pathetic when fans try to flatten book louis into ‘he was a good slaveowner’ cuz at that point theyre just conflating the movie with the book. i kinda joke that book louis is the vampire it girl bc he was such a terrible mortal LOL. im still indeterminate on the exact mode or purpose, or how much it was just about the aesthetic of gothic horror (re: the earth’s a savage garden). especially bc later books fixate on very discrete modes and metaphors of servitude/subjugation ‘being a slave to the blood’ is a recurring motif running antiparallel with the motif of ‘purifying the african/asian/foreign’ (through ‘admixture’ with the ‘european’) (s/o poacher bro gabi + talamasca bro dave ig) and in later works, theres the cycle of slavery through marius & armand.. marius, whos mother was a slave, purchases armand. chattel slavery took inspo from the romans in the idea of maternal based slave caste inheritance.. idk. idk. ive had very long rambly convos w ppl on here in the past (& im still a bit embarrased abt it) on this, but i think the reasons why fans dont rly get into it is cuz most ppl got into these books at a young age + was just into the cool lore or the queer shit and were able to handwave things as just aesthetic/era/quirky anne things etc. idk.

[vacantgodling]

thank you @sergeantnarwhalwrites for tagging me to do this i looooove talking about myself PFF. i’ll leave this as an open tag for anyone else who wants to do it! tag me if u do i wanna hear ur responses 👀

about me

When did you first start writing?

i’ve been writing pretty much my entire life—making stories since i was like 3 with my grandmother and then transitioned to writing them down pretty soon after. i can’t think of a time in my life where i wasn’t story crafting tbh. but i think if you want a “traditional” start time, wherein i started writing anything that could resemble a Proper wip, then that was when i was 12 in 8th grade lol.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

nah, they pretty much go hand in hand. i love reading gothic lit nowadays and a lot of my recent wips have sort of dove in that direction. in general, you can tell what was really intriguing me or what i was reading based on the wips i made at the time. vdtrt was super inspired when i was in my percy jackson era, purple haze (started) when i was into more comic/slapstick kid humor (like captain underpants or diary of a wimpy kid or that one journal book with the girl with the purple pen… i can’t remember what it’s called tho), but then transitioned into what it is now when i started getting more into romantic dramas. etc etc.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you're often compared?

not one that i’m often compared to, but the great gatsby did a number on me beginning to take prose and description seriously. that book is gorgeous to me (prose wise) and i really think between that and the goth/1700-1900s books that i’ve read really influenced me to put more emphasis on prose than on dialogue, tbh. i used to be a more snazzy, ya style writer—and while there’s nothing wrong with that per se it never sparked as much joy as me nailing an overly complex description does nowadays.

in terms of comparing myself or wanting to emulate someone specifically i don’t really. i think my friends are all amazing writers but i’m pretty self centered when it comes to my writing (both positive and negative connotations besides) so i tend to try and focus being the best version of myself and what i’m trying to write. this isn’t to say i don’t get jealous of how some of my friends write occasionally lol. i just don’t particularly want to be like them when the inner demons aren’t being shit, if that makes sense.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

tbh, a lot of times i write at work. i tend to finish my tasks early and no one tends to bother me so i kind of write to keep myself from falling asleep. i need silence and no distractions to write lol so its easier for me when im there. so its at my work desk and on my work laptop a lot of the time LMAO. when it’s not there i tend to write on my phone when im out and about or on the bus or whatever—same principles of wanting to be by myself and have no one bug me so i can think lol.

What's your most effective way to muster up some muse?

ngl, and this is gonna sound kinda bad, i kinda force myself to. lmao. like when i write at work esp i kinda just decide “what am i gonna work on today” and i sort of do it. it doesn’t always work mind you, like if i’m not in the mood or im tired or distracted or whatever then i’ll just end up doing something else.

when it comes to making new ideas i don’t force those, they just kinda come. i’m always thinking about stories and ideas tbh so it’s a matter of if i get obsessed with an idea enough to make it into an actual thing.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

nah with 2 caveats. purple haze specifically is a more fictional retelling (split between 2 mcs) of when i was 18-20 years old. lots of details changed but some of the main bits are shit that happened to me then that really fucked me up at the time that i wanted someplace to work through. as i’ve gotten older and healed from things, or taken to poetry to talk about stuff, emphasis on that wip has taken less precedent bc it doesn’t hurt me as much as it used to. secondly, the town braebrooke, where jenna lives in jenna the reaper is actually named after a street name that drivers always get lost going down near where i grew up. but i don’t tend to like to live in reality and real life. it sucks and it’s boring. stories have always been an escape for me so i don’t like to base things on real life if i can avoid it.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

honestly i would say yes, i have recurring themes in my writing but no they don't really surprise me. i tend to write about things that are important to me and because i'm quite introspective i'm acutely aware of the things that i tend to gravitate towards. fucked up/complicated family dynamics where people care about each other (toxically in many ways) but express it horribly, queerness (as a whole, especially when it comes to the masculine), focus on the individual instead of the whole (in most cases) etc... it's all things i think about quite often. stories are just the vehicles to explore it.

my characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

because i have so many wips it should be "hard" to sit down and say that this (or these) are my favorite characters. but from every single wip i definitely have a brain rot character, and so from my "main wips" the brain rot characters are:

PARAMOUR (tfog) -> hyacinthus shrapnel, obviously. if i had to pick a favorite character of all my ocs its definitely him. he just DOES SOMETHING for me he is literally every obsession i have rolled up into one beautiful, piece of shit.

TCOL -> this one is more difficult because i have a few contendors bc the cast is ENORMOUS and still growing, but clear brightendale will always be my number one frfr. love of my life. my SON. i birthed him, and i'm obsessed with him. he would be followed closely and tied with lath, guardian of valor as well as MIZDARR in terms of other faves tbh.

VDTRT -> darren de leon, also somewhat obviously. he's my favorite guy. what a lad.

BTAF -> sjaak de witte. the first time i truly understood the appeal of a pathetic wet meow meow character archetype because he is all of that and i'm obsessed with him.

Which of your characters do you think you'd be friends with in real life?

conceptualizing being friends with my ocs is weird to me because i hate percieving myself, and i'm kinda weird about friendships. i think i would be actually genuine friends with either the friend group in vdtrt (consisting of: darren, olice, vlad, moonglend, gabe, demi, marco, and awilda) or the friend group in sixteen candles (consisting of: ranger, nanette, vani, roger, and tucker). but overall, i actually don't tend to make ocs with super similar interests to me a lot of the time and bc of the 'ism i have a hard time making friends?? so like take this with a grain of salt. i'd rather observe my ocs and play with them like dolls frfr.

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

there are SEVERAL but if i go against the grain and i don't pick overt villainous characters (like tagetes, madja, silvano, etc)... probably the entire cast of btaf in some way or another tbh, like they just make decisions that while i (the creator) understand and think are fun in a "look at this shit" kind of way they would piss me off in a common sense kind of way. they are all dumb.

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

characters kind of take a few basic routes for me. either: i like a preexisting character (or am fascinated by them cuz lbr i don't like twilight lmao) and i want to make 'my own version' in which i have control of them or i can amp up/explore other aspects of their personality with free reign bc they're mine now (ie: darren/percy jackson, sjaak/jacob from twilight, kirsi/magda from helix waltz, etc) OR i come up with a plot and i need a character to fill that plot so they start as a utility, then become their own character as i develop them more. (ie: jenna has a crush on someone in school, so i made chloe mathilders and now she has her own personality. the entirety of donut wip existed bc i wanted to make a horror wip and so they kind of came with the stereotypical horror archetypes; juls as the final girl etc).

it's actually not quite often that i have characters appear directly out of the aether for me to just have to deal with. jenna is honestly a rare exception to this because she is the ONE character i can think of who straight up manifested herself. i think that's why her power is manifestation bc she broke the grain of how i usually come up with ocs so. good on you girly lmao.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

yeah, i definitely have character types i gravitate towards, especially when it comes to characters who are my faves-though i do try my best to make it so all of my characters feel like distinct people, even though i do have 'archetypes' that i fall into with them. off the top of my head i can think of:

beautiful asshole (always masculine) -> hya, toph, dove, ranger, aenlin

masc femmes/adjacent that should break my neck -> nyseah, beki, piper, erecia, azelie, almine

"healing" characters, aka has never done anything wrong in their life ever -> aloe, karenza, vani, iole

resourceful underdog -> kirsi, julissa, darren, dagmar, nevaeh, chidori, noh, n

god just help them -> sjaak, di, clear, quill, prosper, hue, graves

i could go on but yeah like most of my characters can fall into some kind of archetype of some kind

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc)

honestly i don't have much of a visual imagination. the ocs that i can picture, i tend to draw out on my own characters so i picture them mostly in a more... stylized and what i wish i could draw version of my own art. otherwise i don't really picture them visually altogether. but this is mostly bc i can't visualize lmao.

my writing

What's your reason for writing?

i love stories, and i love story telling. there isn't really much beyond it. i've been doing it for so long, its literally just the fabric of who i am as a person. my literal first word was book lmao. like i just can't imagine existing without writing or storytelling in some form.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

honestly i'm greedy. i want to hear specific reactions and i love when people go into deep depth to react to what i've written and really take in every single detail and then kind of give me a play by play of how they felt and things they liked. it makes me want to write more to get that reaction <3

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who "gets" the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

um. idk if i want to be thought of in a particular way, but i guess i just want my stories to resonate with people. as long as they resonate and i can see how they do/the reaction people have to what i'm written then i'm happy. i think my stories should preceed me, if that makes sense. i don't necessarily need to be remembered for who i am but only for the stories i create. i guess?

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

prose and description

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

pretty much the same thing. a lot of people tend to like my more poetic and winding prose which makes me happy lol. i've also been told i'm really good at depicting complex emotions.

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

i love it, i think i'm talented asf. shame that the timeline and the state of the publishing industry won't let it be shown to more people but y'know. i would be lying if i said i didn't think that the only real talent i think i have is writing lol

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

YUUUUUP. writing is for me first and everyone else second. i like sharing bc i like validation, but i would be so hype to just be able to create stories on my own with zero interruption. tbh in that scenario i would probably make up so many stories that i would just die eventually bc i forgot to care for myself.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it's a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

if i wrote what others enjoyed, i would be publishable. i only write for my own interest.

[jeongyunhoed]

Writer Interview Game!

Thanks @gothic-lottie for tagging me~

When did you start writing?

I think I started writing as early as elementary (grade school, for those of you who live in my side of the world). My first actual story was about two flowers, believe it or not. It kind of escalated as I got older when I discovered the wonders of fanfics especially after I got obsessed with Harry Potter.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I...am not sure....I don't think so, though. I tend to stick with works in the same genre/s and theme/s that I also write myself.

Whats your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Constant daydreaming. And playlists. Those always work.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

My writing space is my room. Within my room is one small folding table because my room is very small. It's packed with all kinds of stuff - makeup, my bluetooth earphones, several charging cables, a separate keyboard, a separate mouse, a dangling usb adaptor too.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I don't think anyone would want to write like me tbh. But I'd be honored if I would get compared to Nora Ephron, or maybe Ernst Lubitsch, Rod Serling, Charles Beaumont, those types of people. They have written so many of the media I consume today (Twilight Zone, Meg Ryan-Tom Hanks romcoms, and Golden Age movies)

Are there any recurring theme in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Death, I think. Internal struggles, most especially. The main characters are almost always struggling internally that it can take some work for them to get out of their heads. It's not surprising given that I am always struggling internally.

What is your reason for writing?

I guess it's my way of expressing myself and my feelings toward a piece of media or a person/persons. Like I need to write it out or risk drowning in my feels, if that makes sense.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Any comments I'd receive would be nice and motivating. I can't say I've experienced that a lot.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

Just someone who wrote something that could possibly mean something to them too.

What do you feel is your greatest strenght as a writer?

I think it's because of my being a film major that I think my strength lies in keeping everything simple. No flowery words or descriptions, just writing the scene as it is.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I feel like I could always improve, that's about it.

Tagging @nateezfics , @ellivenollivander , @applinsandoranges and the rest of my writer moots if you haven't done this!

[heartofstanding]

Rewatching old favourite crime dramas...

I just finished rewatching Vera up to Series 9, am in the middle of a rewatch of Death in Paradise and have started rewatching Wallander as well and am having some thoughts so I'd thought I'd write a post instead of just stewing in these thoughts.

Vera

I love her, your honour.

I love Vera, I love the location and how it's so beautifully shot, I love the slightly gothic edge to the mysteries. Most memorable episodes for me are "The Crow Trap" and "The Deer Hunters". It holds up really well too - sometimes I'll rewatch a crime drama that I once loved and find myself getting increasingly intolerant of the way it deploys certain tropes, like the tortured brooding lead detective with anger issues and/or a tragic backstory or "internal investigations are bad actually" or "it's fine for the lead detective to lose his temper and almost murder someone" which spoiled Waking the Dead and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries for me (the latter in the final seasons, mostly). Vera lacks most of that kind of drama. Vera is, in a way, a tortured, brooding detective but it never takes over the story.

One thing I did pick up on is that while I don't really have any preference for Aiden or Joe as Vera's offsider, I do miss the way that Joe's character opened up different storylines. We don't get nearly as much about Aiden's family and home life as we do about Joe's, and we got more about Vera's past and private life with Joe, like the subplots about her half-sister and her angina. I do feel cheated that Joe's exit happened off-screen, between series, but apparently he's coming back in Series 13?

(n.b. I finished at Series 9 because I don't have Series 10 on DVD, I started Series 11 but it was a bit too fresh in my mind and Series 12 isn't out on DVD yet.)

-

Death In Paradise

This isn't the first rewatch of the show I've done (the early seasons I've rewatched multiple times, they're very familiar and I can remember whodunnit) but I haven't watched any of the newer seasons since Series 8, except for a couple of episodes (I watched the one with Sam West and the one where Camille came back). I'm halfway through Series 9 at the moment so officially this is no longer a rewatch but a first-time watch.

It's interesting to see how my opinions have changed. I still think the show was strongest in relation to its core concept in Series 1 and 2. You can really tell the way they were planning the show to unfold had they managed to hold onto Ben Miller as Richard and Sara Martins as Camille, and I do really like that version of the show. But they didn't and the show had to change and that's fine. I used to be very fond of Humphrey but I found him painful in the rewatch - he hits my second-hand embarrassment squick much too hard and his unrequited love for Camille was... ah, not good? I was glad to see him go, tbh. Perhaps because of that, I appreciated Jack a whole lot more - I previously felt he didn't really have much of a character beyond "rambling Irishman" but that is really unfair. I just watched his last episode and I'm very sad to see him - I also felt his ending felt a bit... contrary to the character and the way he threw himself into island life, becoming part of the community in a way neither Richard and Humphrey never did. Neville seems a bit of a return to Richard, in that he doesn't want to be on the island, except by making him have so many medical issues, it really feels like that yeah, he really shouldn't be there.

-

Have been pondering how awesome it'd be if the next Death in Paradise detective is in the model of Vera.

-

Wallander

I needed something to watch in the space where I normally watched Vera and I remembered how I was going to try and watch some things in Swedish in effort to help myself learn Swedish better (I'm doing the Duolingo course, it's not going well), and well, this isn't in Swedish but it's set in Sweden so it might just do for now. I went... slightly insane* over it in my first and only watch but I thought I was safe now.

Yeah, well that happened again.

The thing I really like about it is Tom Hiddleston's face the way in which it spends a fair amount time of the affects of coming face-to-face with violent, brutal crime. How intensely Wallander feels everything, how involved he gets, and how all of that just means he's held at a remove from his family, friends and co-workers. He has this remarkable empathy that keeps him cut off from them.

It's also beautifully shot and I'm obsessed with the title credits.

Parts of it hold up fairly well - I feel "Faceless Killers" is still very pertinent to today, though I suspect there would a bit less... "both sidesing" within the main cast. Parts of it do not hold up well, like "One Step Behind" which, uh, is kinda extremely transphobic in a way that does not refute the transphobia.

The language and accent choices throw me occasionally in this rewatch. I think what they ended up going for is the translation trope/convention where the characters are not actually speaking English but are actually speaking Swedish, we just hear them in English, and a similar logic applies with the British vs. Swedish accents. When we see text, it's in Swedish, not English, which tends to confirm my hypothesis. Given the unlikelihood of the BBC doing the series in Swedish and the perils of getting the cast to put on an accent (no one wants to accidentally invoke the Swedish Chef in a brooding crime drama), I think this "they're speaking Swedish, we just hear it as English" thing works pretty well. But there still moments where it pulls me out of the story because the dialogue sounds so terribly British.

Random note: the cast of the first episode is like, full of pretty damn famous people? Obviously, there's Kenneth Branagh and a pre-Loki Tom Hiddleston as series regulars. Plus there's Nicholas Hoult and Rebecca Ferguson in guest roles. There's also a lot of people who are the sort of people you know for turning up in British TV shows, like Sarah Smart and Sophie Stanton (who, most memorably for me, was Falstaff and Caliban in the Donmar Warehouse's Henry IV and The Tempest).

Also, this reflection from when I first watched the show is still true. I thought I was over my Hiddleston phase but he's so fucking pretty in this show. It's distracting. It's literally sir, sir, sir, I am trying to watch Kenneth Branagh have a mental breakdown while solving crime in Sweden here. Take your cheekbones and go somewhere else.

Which he does at the end of Series 2 and then I miss him. Obviously, it doesn't impact the series that much - I enjoyed Series 3 and 4, his character isn't important to the story and isn't that interesting. But I liked the dynamics of the team and I dislike losing that (we also lose Lisa at the same time, and Ann-Britt only sticks around for a bit longer before she's gone too). I'm sad we lose that. I'm also a depraved whump lover and frankly think it was a wasted opportunity. Send Magnus off horribly (as Ann-Britt and Svedberg were sent off) and let Wallander writhe and wallow around in the guilt and grief. Also, I am completely shallow and didn't really want Hiddleston to take his cheekbones and go.

* I, uh, may have written an 87k word thing that's 3/4 whumpy fanfic and 1/4 origfic because it was November and I was doing NaNoWriMo and I was too hyped up to research and too scared to commit fully to the fanfic. I've reread and I feel like it holds up ok. I think the Kurt voice is good, as is the "gets too invested without being able to show it" thing. I am experiencing the urge to turn it into proper fanfic. I need to see how S2 ends and S3 begins but it could even work well as a "and that's where Magnus went" fic. But I don't think there's a fandom for the show outside of the migratory Hiddleston smut fandom.

-

That last point is one of those things with British crime dramas. It's quite common for some of the regular cast to leave between series and you might get a throwaway line about why they're no longer there but there's no proper send-off, no real resolution for the character, and sometimes there's no explanation. It happened in Vera, Death in Paradise, Wallander, Waking the Dead, and probably more than I just can't think of. I understand why it happens but it does make for frustrating storytelling.

The most egregious is Joe leaving Vera - he was the most important character after her! We were invested in his relationship with his family! The relationship between him and Vera was so paramount to the series! And he just disappears between series and his departure explained in a line about a "big promotion". Sure, this ties up one of the parts of his storyline quickly but there's no scene to say goodbye to him, no sense of closure. He's just gone.

-

Both Vera and Wallander are based on novels by Ann Cleeves and Henning Mankell. I've read a few novels of both series (and Cleeves's Shetland series) and I have to say... I feel the TV series really elevate them. With Wallander, maybe it's a case of a bad translation or something else but it seemed to lack something - perhaps the prose felt too simplistic or too blunt? With Cleeves, I think it's a case of has all the right elements, just doesn't have the ability to take it to the next level... I find I enjoy her novels more when I haven't seen their TV adaptation or are significantly different, but they're still not novels that I have to read. I wish the Shetland series had stuck with adapting Cleeves' novels because I'm obsessed with their first/second series (it was released as one series in Australia) which were based on the Cleeves novels, and I feel like the Shetland novels that weren't adapted would make excellent TV.

There are also four Death In Paradise spin-off novels that feature Richard - I've only read two of them and only really remember the first, which was OK - not great, not as fun as the show but still fun. It's nice to get more Richard but it comes with a trade off: Camille, Dwayne and Fidel play much, much, much smaller roles than they do in the TV series.

[thehappyscavenger]

Books Read in July 2023

This month was crazy. I can't believe I read 8 books. True they were also shorties but I started 2 really huge books as well and made headway into them. WTF.

The House of Skin by Karina Lickorish Quinn

This is a really short novella (about 60 pages) that is a haunting gothic piece. A London artist is adopted by this family of patrons who bring her to their mansion to work. More of a mood vibe than anything. Really liked it.

I Am A Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter

This was Hofstadter making a stab at human consciousness and trying to explain what makes humans different from machines. I'm not sure it works fully but the ideas are interesting. The first third has a lot of math explanations I found confusing tbh so that was a bit of a slog to get through but I enjoyed it overall.

My Stupid Intentions by Bernardo Zannoni

Something about books about anthropomorphic animals just get me every time. This is about the exceptional life of a beech marten and is just absolutely soul crushing and beautiful. Pitch perfect, loved it.

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

This was recommended to me by someone as the best book they read all year and, while I liked it while I was reading it, upon reflection it really falls apart and I hated it.

Part of it is about the rewilding of wolves in Scotland and part of it is a murder mystery following the lead character, a twin, and her sister who was abused so thoroughly she stopped talking. I found the abuse narrative like... shockingly dumb. I mentioned this on a book discussion forum I frequent and they mentioned lots of other books about the Scottish rewilding so I'm excited for that!

Fruit by Brian Francis

So I first heard of this when it came out around 2004 and it sounded interesting but it took me this long to read it! 19 years till I carved out time for this book during which it's become something of a modern Canadian classic.

This is about a little 8th grader in Sarnia who is fat and is struggling with his friendship and sexuality. Just pitch perfect and funny and heartbreaking. Hard recommend.

Bluebeard's Castle by Anna Biller

I got this as an ARC. I like Biller as a filmmaker and I was wondering how her unique style would work as a novel since her dialogue is so weird.

Oddly as it turned out. I feel like a lot of people are either going to hate this or not get it but while it's a very modern book her style of outright stating themes and blaring plot in neon lights is very reminiscent of early gothic works. Like 1700s gothic morality stuff. By the end I was won over by this so worth a shot imo.

Promise by Christi Nogle

Black Mirror-esque stories of worlds set in the near future. Like all short story collections this was mixed but there was plenty to enjoy and it left a favourable impression overall.

Blackouts by Justin Torres

I can't even explain this book except to say it's pretty brilliant. Even though I read an ARC of this I think I'm going to buy it.

It's fictionalized history and reminded me a bit of Autobiography of X even though it's about real people. I loved it though. Highly recommend.

[your-local-uwu-artist]

charlotte ref : more design notes/funfacts and additional doodles under the cut

-a lot of her early designs gave her shoulder length messy hair or braids instead of pigtails

-her silver hair is inspired by sophie from “miss vampire that lives in my neighborhood” as well as good smile’s milla vampire nendoroid doll

-tbh those 2 characters inspired her design alot in general, personality wise she’s more sophie inspired sense sophie is simmilarly nonchalant 

-her early designs had dangly feet/no ankle and also only had a blush mark instead of a nose, (tho the blush mark and noses do look very simmilar djnak) these design aspects were changed so that she could better fit in stylistically with the mario characters shes to be drawn with

-however I made sure to keep her traits distinct enough that her design can be translated into different art styles, so she can be either super cartoony or very anime

-shes mostly triangular, with her skirt, puffy sleeves, ears, mouth, and her 3 point hair ruffles

-i wanted her to have that gothic lolita anime girl aesthetic

- I tried to make her have a good balance between being “neat and tidy and fancy” and “lazy and unkempt and tired” 

-not slouched/good posture but does have like turned inwards body launguage (like shoulders tucked in and pigeon toes: the kind of body launguage given to shy characters)

i try to keep her main facial shapes in mind when drawing her expressions~ mostly her semi circle eyes~ 

her bat form has semi circle shaped ears, keeps her ribbon and frilly collar, her little like face fluff/whiskers idk, is in groups of 3 just like her hair, and her body is shaped like a tear drop, her ahoge reminds the same as well. and of course her bat forms colors are grey to match her hair

id be getting into spoiler territory if i discuss these in too much detail but i do encourage people to read into them lmao fnsdkjafkds

her ahoge is the same but her bangs are much neater, her pigtails have the same group of 3 tuffs tho, im thinkng that her hair was probably a bit more saturated when she was human (like a bit closer to a greyish blue than bluisih grey) also i think her human eye color would have been a shade of purple

charlotte was probably around ages 6-8 when she died, and remembers nothing from when she was human nor how she became a vampire

[monstraduplicia]

as much as I like the iwtv tv show and really enjoy a lot of what they're doing in terms of story, i do have to agree that it's sanitizing the gothic elements and taking a genuinely gutwrenching and thrilling story and making it. utterly palatable. while this is natural bc it's tv so the writers want it to reach a broader audience, i think when comparing it to the film specifically you see just how much the show missed the mark when it came to the storys gothic elements

specifically with like. the kills. in the film version lestat specifically seduces his victims before killing them. there is flirtation or kissing and lestats knowing, narcissistic smiles before finally taking what he came for. cat and mouse, hunter and prey, pretty cut and dry sex appeal with a dark twist. but in the show? the victims might be toyed with or tortured, but there is no second layer! its clear lestat isn't attracted to these people and there is no feeding as sex or even feeding as rape. show lestat seems to view humans as walking blood bags, fun to toy with on a sadistic level, but the gothic romance/sexuality is removed which is boooooring

most egregiously is the treatment with Claudia. they completely missed the marc imo of claudias horror of being a woman stuck in the body of a child save with the one scene where this is explored and she has a nervous breakdown early on. she doesn't have a romantic fixation on louis which removes incest connotations, which like. incest is horrifying, especially when its someone you love wanting something from you that you cannot give. in the film, Louis is clearly struggling with a life alone with Claudia as she wants to become his wife and he desperately tries to find some middle ground as to not lose her. imo tv claudia should have asked Louis why he doesn't want to watch her use the bathroom like her uncle did and take it as an insult that he doesn't. the closest we get is the "who's gonna fuck me!" line which while great still doesn't quite reach what it needs to

then there's claudias murders. in the film, she sees a naked woman and yearns to be her, because that is what she is supposed to be. the horror of her mind not matching her body consumes her so much that she kills her and keeps her corpse to rot in her own bed, hidden beneath lestats dolls no less. the music is a cacophony of wailing violins as lestat removes the dolls one by one to reveal the corpse, naked as a rape victim and kept as a living memento of what physically can never be. claudia has become so enraged by her wrongness that she hacks at her hair only to scream a classic horror scream when her doll curls immediately return. this is horror! this is terrifying! this perfectly captures the psychopathy at play. in the show? it's comedy. claudia is drunk and has to play wheres waldo as she scrambles to find missing pieces, all while her latest victim moans from the closest. we're told she's become a crazed serial killer, piling up bodies and cutting off trophies, but there's no feeling it. theres no deep sense of oh God what has she done. what has this child done. it's played for laughs.

its a good show and i genuinely adore a lot of choices, but for a horror show about vampires who do fucked up things im asking for a bit more meat on the bone tbh

[angel-bruises]

Is the ask game still going? If it is 2,3, and 6

2. What was your first piece?

So my first ever piece was an awful Gothic Lolita & Punk JSK that I bought in camden when I was 14. I've shared it on here before, and tbh I don't really count it as proper lolita.

The first real lolita piece I bought was this Bodyline dress:

3. What is your most recent piece?

I've bought (& traded) quite a few pieces recently. One of those was Strawberry Princess OP by Angelic Pretty

6. How has the way you wear lolita changed since you’ve been in the fashion?

So as you can see from the photo above, my style has changed quite a bit since I started wearing lolita. When I started, I was 14/15 and relied on saving up pocket money to buy bodyline which was basically all I could afford. Since I was new, it was very easy to get caught up in what's popular, so in the early days I was very influenced by the OTT sweet trend and by Princess Peachie since she wore a lot of bodyline. I realised that the ultra sweet look wasn't for me and slowly veered more classic, trying historically inspired coords for a while. In 2014 I kind of realised that trying to follow the trends when I couldn't really afford to wasn't much fun, and that what I loved most was oldschool. That was what I'd originally fallen in love with as a kid. Plus at the time old school was dirt cheap because it wasn't very popular, which was perfect for me as someone who didn't have much money.

Obviously since then I now wear exclusively old school, I wear sweet gothic and classic but tend to avoid ultra sugary sweet, and my wardrobe is majority 2nd hand brand compared to mostly new bodyline. Also my makeup skills are better lmao.

Funnily enough I still own and use the handbag in the photo above in coords today lol.

[maxdurden]

gimme uhhhhh fuckin UHHHHHHHHHH 23 (strange habits), 29 (best way to bond), 58 (four talents you're proud of having), 66 (fave flower(s), 88 (greatest wish), and 98 (favorite historical era)!!!! :3

23: i'm so used to my own idiosyncrasies that identifying strange habits is hard lmao. i make a lot of weird noises!! i try to keep it to myself but if i get excited or whatever i'll like,,, make this grinding noise??? and i have a lot of weird little phrases that will get stuck in my head, or that i just physically have to say out loud in certain situations! (honestly face masks have been a life saver as far as this is concerned because now i can just mutter "oh dick" or some random german sentence under my breath after fucking something up and no one has to know!!!!)

29: oooh!! i think i'm exceptionally easy to bond with lmao. just,,, talking about blorbos and stuff (either having someone tell me about theirs or letting me yell about mine for a while), also talking about/sharing music!! and activity-wise i don't think there's anything better for the social animal in me than playing video games with people. whether that's jack box with a big group, or stardew, or just co-gaming and playing separate games while hanging out i think there's nothing better for the soul tbh

58: four??? yeesh uhhh idk if i would call it a talent, but i very much enjoy writing and i think that's neat. oh! i think i'm pretty good at socializing (in that like,, it's a thing that takes a lot of brain power and has been a Journey for me and so i'm always happy when i can manage to have a normal and pleasant conversation with someone lmao. also working in customer service it's just something that's really handy at the moment). i like to think i'm fairly emotionally intelligent lol? idk if that counts as a talent either. boy i sure do like to think i can be funny sometimes so that'll be my fourth one lmao

66: i think my favorite flower is probably lilies of the valley! there was this bush outside of my childhood home inside of which my siblings and i created a little hideout and the path was surrounded on both sides with lilies of the valley. also magnolia flowers! partially because of gang of youths and partially because there have been magnolia trees in a few cool places throughout my life and they've left a good impression

88: greatest wish is intense ough,,, i think just to feel fulfilled and feel supported/surrounded by a good community! i'm at the point in my life where i'm just striving for stability and a lil comfort ig lol

98: this is hard because i don't think i have favorite eras as much as i have favorite little pockets. it could easily be argued that bronze age greece should be up there, for sure, but i think i'm mostly interested in the fantastical/mythological elements of it. i really like pirates! but i'm not necessarily a fan of the early 1700s in general lol. i also saw you said you like the victorian period and i have to agree!! cowboys and gothic vibes in one time period?? impeccable vibes, and spiritualisms popularity during this time period has always been something that's fascinated me! mostly i just like bits of history that remind me that humans have always been the same kinda goofy guys, i think it's neat

[gravesshifts]

°₊* PINNED POST *₊°

˖ ۫ ݂ ⌗ ABOUT ME

*.･ ˚ hi! i'm Graves

*.･ ˚ latine (not hispanic)

*.･ ˚ queer & non-monogamous

*.･ ˚ they/them

*.･ ˚ intj

*.･ ˚ libra sun, gemini moon, taurus rising

*.･ ˚ b. early 2000's

*.･ ˚ disabled (cr & drs)

*.･ ˚ on my shifting journey since late 2023, mini-shifted twice, trying to get a better grapple in lucid dreaming

*.･ ˚ tumblr veteran, long-time shiftblr lurker

*.･ ˚ byf & dr list under the cut

˖ ۫ ݂ ⌗ BEFORE YOU FOLLOW

*.･ ˚ i'm looking to interact with fellow shifters. manifestors are welcome as well!!

*.･ ˚ i'm fine with recieving asks.

*.･ ˚ blog still under construction tbh. if you see me messing with themes, no you didn't.

*.･ ˚ this is a sideblog. shoot a dm or an off-anon ask if you want to be moots!

*.･ ˚ dm for my discord tag.

*.･ ˚ i'm a bit of a h*rry p*otter (media, not character) hater for various reasons. i'm not looking to interact with the fandom or exclusive h*gwarts shifters. this doesn't mean "h//p fans dni" but please be mindful that i might not be down to talk about your h*gwarts dr. (yes, this includes the marauders crowd) (fuck off if you endorse jkr)

*.･ ˚ basic dni criteria applies (terfs, zionists, anyone into shipping discourse, exclusionists, gatekeepers, anti-shifters, gtfo out.)

*.･ ˚ i don't mind people who shift to be in a relationship with the same people as i do interacting.

*.･ ˚ my shifting journey, as well as my views on shifting, are personal and complicated, and i'm still a bit of a skeptic despite having shifted myself. please understand that.

*.･ ˚ complicated views about killing people in other realities as someone who has (legally) killed someone in this reality.

˖ ۫ ݂ ⌗ DR LIST & TAGS (tag links not added yet)

waiting room | takes the form of a haunted gothic manor. only reality i have shifted to yet.

dc dr | a reality based on some of my favourite dc comics live action adaptations, including the batman (2022), the sandman (2022), lucifer (2016), and elements from the comics. bruce wayne and selina kyle are my s/os, lucifer morningstar is my parent. fully scripted, not shifted to yet.

tma dr | a reality based on the wonderful horror podcast the magnus archives. no s/o, elias bouchard is my father. not scripted yet.

daredevil dr | a reality based on my favourite marvel adaptation, netflix's daredevil (2015), with the avengers in the background. matt murdock is my s/o. not scripted yet.

shifting posts | tag for useful shifting posts i want close access to

shifttok | tag for re-posting (and possibly translating) useful shifting titktoks i found.

graves.txt | tag for my rambles.

graves answers | tag for answered asks.

graphics tag | tag for reblogging or linking interesting psd templates that i might use in my scripts. note that many of them might not be originally intended for shifting.

templates tag | tag for reblogging google docs and notion templates that i might be using for my scripts. note that many of them might not be originally intended for shifting.

extras tag | posting or reblogging aditional things to script.

music tag | self-explanatory.

aesthetics | self-explanatory.

queue | queued posts, therefore not posted/reblogged when seen.

[wah-pah]

8, 12, 25, and 29 for the bookish asks?

With gusto, @eroticfriendfictions . Thank you. :)

8: Why are you reading the book you’re currently reading?

I am currently reading Ann Radcliffe's "The Mysteries of Udolpho" because last year I re-read Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey".

The latter is a satire of Gothic novels as embodied by the former and Udolpho is actually mentioned as one of the books Catherine Morland, the lead in NA, is reading.

I have to find out what's beyond that damn veil!

12: Tell one book story or memory (what you were wearing when you were reading something, someone saw you cry in public, you threw a book across the room and broke a window, etc.)

It may not be that dramatic, but this is the first thing that pops into my head: it was before we carried Internet in our pockets as easily as we do now.

I was reading Chris Bohjalian's "The Double Bind" and it weaves characters from The Great Gatsby into it at some point. I don't know exactly what happened in my brain but I got rather confused because I could swear TGG was fiction and now the main character was talking to some of those characters in their old age nowadays? While I read TGG for the first time probably a little early, it became one of my favourite books ever right then and the whole thing was messing me up because I would swear it was fiction. And messed-up I continued until I finally found my way to a desktop with Internet.

While it deals with some heavy topics, as a book, I still recommend The Double Bind, BTW.

A broader but very nice memory I have regarding books was when I was a teenager and during the Summer going to the supermarket with my mother and being allowed to pick a book to buy (I got money for Christmas and birthdays not an allowance and it usually went into too many clothes. Oops).

How many afternoons were spent reading those books. *sighs*

25: A book that you think about and you cringe because of how terrible it was

As a reader of many many years, I've obviously come across my fair share of terrible books but the first that popped into my mind was an awful Da Vinci Code knock-off I couldn't even finish it was so bad and The Alexandria Quartet - or better said Justine, just the first of them because I will probably have to be paid to read the rest.

I know some people will probably think I am commiting some terrible literary blasphemy but it is so boring, the women characters are basically kleenex-thin and awfully written. I do say that I found most of the descriptions of Alexandria very evocative though.

Curiosly, last year I came across a customer that was reading it and I asked if he wouldn't mind if I asked what he was finding of it. He said that he had read it when he was about 20 (so roughly 50 years ago) and while it gave him the chance to travel outside the reality he did know like books can do, he didn't like it much. He was re-reading it now thinking that maybe having lived a life meanwhile would make him like it more but nope. Still wasn't enjoying it.

Dishonorable mention to the already mentioned So Much Life Left over by Louis de Bernieres, but I think that brought me more anger than cringe tbh.

29: Favorite female protagonist.

I have plenty but I'll single Jordan Baker from The Great Gatsby out this time.

As I mentioned above, I was probably too young to fully understand TGG when I first read it but she was my favourite from the start. I liked her sarcasm (obviously) and the certain fearlessness she has to herself. Probably envying it in a way as well.

Thank you again for sending these numbers to me, Michelle.

I'm afraid my answers may have run a bit longer than desirable but books 🤩🤩🤩🤩. I am sure you understand.