#also i just finished the picture of dorian gray

[sherlockianscholar]

the additional fact that acd and wilde were good acquaintances (which is examined in a paragraph above the first screenshot) speaks volumes. maybe just coincidence, but this feels really compelling to me. just something to think about.

more info on oscar wilde's legal battles here. and the original set of articles, "Sherlock Holmes and Victorian Homosexuality" in part one and part two.

[pegasusdrawnchariots]

I just finished Equal Rites!! 🥳 and the cinder block that is The Count of Monte Cristo. While I do have books queued up to finish next (Red Side Story & Don Quixote are first), I find my 2024 book list running short... What should I add to it?

feel free to make yr case as to yr choice if u wish, or to state support for multiple! I am nothing if not suggestible...

[electrosweaters-arts]

Huh...what...that is a discord mod and his kitten.

Dorian Gray and Henry Wotton designs, because I was originally just working on remaking my Dorian ref so I'd have a non-chibified fullbody of him but gothlit discord asked me very very nicely to design a Wotton so he got to join in.

Also he got hit by a train or whatever thats not important

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

Hey so like many of you, I saw that article about how people are going into college having read no classic books. And believe it or not, I've been pissed about this for years. Like the article revealed, a good chunk of American Schools don't require students to actually read books, rather they just give them an excerpt and tell them how to feel about it. Which is bullshit.

So like. As a positivity post, let's use this time to recommend actually good classic books that you've actually enjoyed reading! I know that Dracula Daily and Epic the Musical have wonderfully tricked y'all into reading Dracula and The Odyssey, and I've seen a resurgence of Picture of Dorian Gray readership out of spite for N-tflix, so let's keep the ball rolling!

My absolute favorite books of all time are The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Classic psychological horror books about unhinged women.

I adore The Bad Seed by William March. It's widely considered to be the first "creepy child" book in American literature, so reading it now you're like "wow that's kinda cliche- oh my god this is what started it. This was ground zero."

I remember the feelings of validation I got when people realized Dracula wasn't actually a love story. For further feelings of validation, please read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. There's a lot the more popular adaptations missed out on.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is an absolute gem of a book. It's a slow-build psychological study so it may not be for everyone, but damn do the plot twists hit. It's a really good book to go into blind, but I will say that its handling of abuse victims is actually insanely good for the time period it was written in.

Moving on from horror, you know people who say "I loved this book so much I couldn't put it down"? That was me as a kid reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Picked it up while bored at the library and was glued to it until I finished it.

Peter Pan and Wendy by JM Barrie was also a childhood favorite of mine. Next time someone bitches about Woke Casting, tell them that the original 1911 Peter Pan novel had canon nonbinary fairies.

Watership Down by Richard Adams is my sister Cori's favorite book period. If you were a Warrior Cats, Guardians of Ga'Hoole or Wings of Fire kid, you owe a metric fuckton to Watership Down and its "little animals on a big adventure" setup.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry was a play and not a book first, but damn if it isn't a good fucking read. It was also named after a Langston Hughes poem, who's also an absolutely incredible author.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a book I absolutely adore and will defend until the day I die. It's so friggin good, y'all, I love it more than anything. You like people breaking out of fascist brainwashing? You like reading and value knowledge? You wanna see a guy basically predict the future of television back in 1953? Read Fahrenheit.

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are considered required reading for a reason: they're both really good books about young white children unlearning the racial biases of their time. Huck Finn specifically has the main character being told that he will go to hell if he frees a slave, and deciding eternal damnation would be worth it.

As a sidenote, another Mark Twain book I was obsessed with as a kid was A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Exactly what it says on the tin, incredibly insane read.

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin is a heartbreaking but powerful book and a look at the racism of the time while still centering the love the two black protagonists feel for each other. Giovanni's Room by the same author is one that focuses on a MLM man struggling with his sexuality, and it's really important to see from the perspective of a queer man living in the 50s– as well as Baldwin's autobiographical novel, Go Tell it on the Mountain.

Agatha Christie mysteries are all still absolutely iconic, but Murder on the Orient Express is such a good read whether or not you know the end twist.

Maybe-controversial-maybe-not take: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a good book if you have reading comprehension. No, you're not supposed to like the main character. He pretty much spells that out for you at the end ffs.

Animal Farm by George Orwell was another favorite of mine; it was written as an obvious metaphor for the rise of fascism in Russia at the time and boy does it hit even now.

And finally, please read Shakespeare plays. As soon as you get used to their way of talking, they're not as hard to understand as people will lead you to believe. My absolute favorite is Twelfth Night- crossdressing, bisexual love triangles, yellow stockings... it's all a joy.

and those are just the ones i thought of off the top of my head! What're your guys' favorite classic books? Let's make everyone a reading list!

[sthavoc]

enzo with a girl who loves to read <3 she loves books like crime and punishment, dorian gray, on earth we're briefly gorgeous, etc... she's just such a bookworm and he loves it and is always seen with a book now because of her and he talks about her sometimes to like she recommended a book to him etc...

༼ ；📚 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐒 | ENZO VOGRINCIC

·˚ ༘ pairing: enzo x fem!bookworm!reader

·˚ ༘ summary: headcanons of how you got enzo into reading and him talking about your love for books.

·˚ ༘ warnings: fluff and admiration

·˚ ༘ note: I’m not rlly a big reader but I tried my best. I hope you enjoy! this one is a small blurb

☆ You have always had a love for books, mostly novels, no one could ever catch you without a book in your hands. That’s how Enzo met you. A book in hands and with the same admiration of the words that captured your attention.

“¿Quien es la nena que está con el libro?”

☆ Even the first gift Enzo ever got you was a book, a classic, The Pictures of Dorian Gray. You had already read the book, but you never got the chance to buy your own copy, and of course, after you mentioned it to Enzo he picked up on it and made sure to gift it to you.

“Te brillan los ojitos al leer, entonces te lo compré.”

It was also that the man knew how much you wanted it.

☆ And after months of dating you he even began to get curious as to why, why did you like reading so much? And so he once came up to you in bed while you had a few candles on and was reading a new book that you had just started, titled The Black Tulip. His question made you go on a rant for hours and after he had gotten his answer he began to simply nod along so you could continue talking, and only because he loved the sound of your voice.

After you finished you let him borrow two of your favorites, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and Crime and Punishment. You were always very careful with your books and would never let anyone borrow them since you feared they would wrinkle the pages or spill something on them, but it was Enzo. You knew he was temperate with his things so he wouldn’t do anything to yours.

☆ After he read the books he understood why you loved them so much. The intrigued of not knowing what could happen next, the way the writer inked their pages, the prompt. The way the words made your heart sink, stop, have you at the edge of your seat. It was amazing.

He even started to read too, during his free time.

☆ When pictures of him would appear on the media, he would carry a book or would be reading one. He seemed at piece just like you would be.

“Look at Enzo reading a book just like his girlfriend. what a bookworm he is now.”

It was true, he had begun to buy books of his own, sometimes your recommendations, one of them being In a Shallow Grave by James Purdy.

☆ In one of the podcasts they brought up the question of, what does he do during his free time? And his answer was the obvious—

“Bueno ya llevo rato que me gusta leer. A mi novia le fascinan los libros entonces me prestó unos y los empecé a leer. Ahora llevo uno conmigo a todos lados.”

☆ Also when he speaks about you he does it in a way of admiration. He is so dedicated when somebody brings you up or mentions you. It’s like his favorite question, anything that involves you he loves.

“Se me hace tierno que le fascinen tanto los libros. Ya hasta me los recomienda, se pone muy contenta con el tema.“

☆ You were like his book, the way you would get excited to talk about them, he would get excited to talk about you. You were his reason for excitement. You were his ink on paper.

[demonvibez]

The Book Club

Characters: Satan x F! Reader ( x Asmo ) Rating: Mature [Minors DNI] Word Count: 2.5k+ Tags: smut, public sex, unprotected sex, cock warming, exhibitionism/voyeurism, masturbation, oral sex, threesome, cum in mouth + vagina, female body parts, they/them pronouns for reader, mam and levi are briefly in the story but are not involved in this smut (sry loves) A/N: just an idea that popped into my head and took off! also! highly recommmend the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde. I haven't read it in forever so I'm gonna give it a reread, but you should check it out if you can. Anyways, pls enjoy ♡

It wasn't unusual for you and Satan to hang out in the House library and read together. Whether it was for educational purposes, or simply recreational, the two of you loved being in the library. So much so that, if his brothers needed to find one of you, they would often only need look in the there. Typically the two of you took to Satan's bedroom for your more intimate affairs, keeping your sexual adventures together private. This evening, however, you had something else in mind.

There you both sit on the plush purple couch, the fire roaring in front of you two. You sit perched in Satan's lap as he has one arm around your waist, the other hand holding his copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray for you to read aloud. A soft, fuzzy blanket is draped across the two of you, concealing the fact that Satan's throbbing cock is fully sheathed inside of your tight, wet pussy. The two of you wanted to relax while you read, and nothing is more relaxing to Satan than having his cock warmed by you while reading a nice book. Cuddling with you in his lap while your warmth squeezes around him, the fire crackling in the background with the gentle melody of your voice reading to him - Satan has never been to the Celestial Realm, but he'd be willing to argue that this is better. As you shift slightly in his lap to flip the page forward, Satan can't help but to let out a tiny groan, his cock twitching inside of you. You feel so good wrapped around him, it took every ounce of self restraint not to just throw the book down and fuck into you right now.

"Careful, kitten," he whispers in your ear, "if we get too heated, we may have to-" Just as Satan was finishing his sentence, the library doors burst open. In through the door Mammon comes rushing, already arguing with Leviathan and Asmodeus who are walking in behind him. Asmodeus is wearing an annoyed expression, clearly in disagreement with Mammon, while Leviathan seems barely interested and is playing his handheld console. You could feel Satan tense up beneath you - his lime green finger tips digging into your hip, his expression stoic and expressionless. You knew Satan well enough to know that this was the calm before the storm.

"Oi, human! I've been lookin' for ya! Settle this argument we're havin'," Mammon shouts as he approaches the two of you.

"Seriously, Mammon? You really think they're gonna approve of such a stupid scheme? You're such an idiot," says Asmodeus, rolling his eyes as he stands next to Mammon with a hand on his hip. Leviathan leans against one of the study tables, his eyes still focused on his game.

"Yeah, Mammon. They're not gonna tell you anything different from us," he says without looking up. Mammon has a betrayed look on his face, turning to plead his case to you. Before Mammon can even begin to explain, Satan interjects.

"Not even a single fucking word Mammon, the answer is no."

"LOL!"

"But ya didn't even-"

"I said no, Mammon. We don't want to fucking hear it. I've known you my entire life. I know the kinds of schemes you concoct, I know that you want to drag my human into it and ultimately leave them with the mess. I don't care what it is - the answer is NO." You could feel Satan's wrath building up from his side of the pact. The two of you were supposed to be having a nice, relaxing, intimate evening, and the last thing you wanted was for Satan to fly into a fit of rage. The situation needed to be diffused before it reached a flashing point, and there was no one better in all three realms to soothe the situation than you. You squeeze your walls around him, reminding him of the situation you are in. A small gasp escapes Satan's lips, a hint of surprise in his emerald green eyes. You move your hand to gently stroke his golden blonde hair, the wrath you felt building up starting to ease. Satan's eyes can't help but to flutter closed at all of the different sensations, and as you continue to stroke his hair, you turn to address Mammon and his other brothers.

"Hey! Whaddaya mean by your hum-"

"Mammon, sweetheart," you cut him off, "I know you probably think you have a good plan...but whatever it is, if this many people are telling you it's a bad idea, it probably is."

"But-"

"No buts. You know in the end you're just gonna get strung up from the ceiling again. Now, if you will excuse us, we were busy reading Oscar Wilde before the three of you interrupted," you said, turning your attention back to the book and ultimately trying to get your evening back on the rails. You feel Satan's cock twitch inside of you once again as you take the book from his hand, forcing you to bite your bottom lip.

"Tch, whatever. Who even cares, I've got tons of other ideas," Mammon says as he sulks his way out the library door. Leviathan pushes off the table, also making his exit as he simultaneously continues on with his current in-game mission. The only brother that still remains is Asmodeus. He remains stood across from the two of you, a hint of suspicion on his face as he watches you. Unbeknownst to you, he had been observing you both since he entered the room. The obvious lust lingering in the air upon his arrival, and again a few moments ago, had been enough to keep him curious about what you two are really up to. Folding his arms across his chest, Asmo is determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Reading...sure..." he says, an eyebrow raised, clearly implying that the two of you are hiding something.

"Clearly, we are reading. We're in the middle of The Picture of Dorian Gray, a novel you would probably do well to read. Now, I don't know what you think we're doing Asmo, but why don't yo-"

"You know exactly what I am implying, big brother," he remarks, a sinister smirk on his face. "Or have you forgotten I'm the Avatar of Lust?" At the mention of lust, Satan can feel you clench around him and hold on. His breathing hitches yet again, his heart racing right along with yours, at the prospect that Lust itself has caught you in the act. "Did you think you two could hide this from me? Such blatant lust right in front of me," he says in a lightly mocking tone. You look over to Satan to see his cheeks dusted with blush and his eyes avoiding the both of you. You can feel yourself dripping down his hard length in anticipation of what could possibly happen next - whatever it is, the haze of lust grows in your mind, and you're just hoping to get some relief. It's hard to even focus on what the two demons in the room are talking about when all you can think about is your growing desire to just start bouncing on Satan's cock. It's not like Asmo would care, right? So tempting...

Before you can even make a decision, Asmo steps forward and reaches down, pulling on the blanket covering the two of you. Satan tries holding on to it but Asmo uses all of his force to pull on it, ripping it away and exposing your little cock warming session.

"I fucking knew it," exclaims Asmodeus, clearly satisfied with the results of his query. He tosses the blanket down on the ground, then goes to sit in one of the reading chairs across from you, his eyes glowing pink and his sinister grin wide. "Oh, don't mind me. Our darling human clearly needs you more right now, dear brother~♡" As much as Satan wanted to protest, he'd have to punish his younger brother later. Neither of you have the resolve to hold back any longer, and if the Avatar of Lust insists on watching, then he better enjoy the damn show. You both knew waiting was apart of the fun of cock warming, but neither of you expected such an agonizing pleasure. You had been carefully rubbing your thighs together, trying to find a small bit of relief, while Satan quite literally bit his tongue to hold in the moans - that was, until, you two had been exposed. To hell with hiding; to hell with waiting. You place your arm on the back of the couch, pushing yourself up and sliding back down Satan's cock. Moans escape from both of your lips in unison, like music to Asmo's ears. He reaches down to undo his belt buckle, the sound of which causing Satan to open his eyes and shoot him an emerald death glare. You can't help but to let out a whine at Satan's lack of attention - you don't give a damn what Asmo is doing, you need Satan to fuck you into the couch, and you need him to do it now. Hearing you whine seemed to have done the trick, because the moment he looks at you and sees the desperate look in your eyes, he starts to thrust up into you.

"Finally," you sigh happily, relieved to finally be properly taking the cock you've been craving since he slid himself into you. As you bounce on Satan's lap, your eyes flutter closed, your hand clenching into the back of the couch as the other grips one of your breasts through your shirt. You open your eyes momentarily to see that Asmodeus has taken his cock out of his pants, and is now stroking it while watching the two of you over on the couch. 'Fuck,' you think to yourself, feeling yourself get even wetter at the sight. The pace of Satan's thrusts picks up as he reaches down in front of you to toy at your swollen clitoris, a jolt of pleasure being sent through your entire body at the moment of contact. 

"Fuck...yes kitten, just like that. So good for me," Satan praises as he continues to fuck you towards your first orgasm. As Asmodeus watches the Avatar of Wrath pound into your needy hole, he did his best to match the pace of his brother's thrusts with his own hand. He'd love to be the one passionately fucking you right now, but he'll settle for watching you as long as you get pleasure. Lust being his sin, he is feeding off the two of you right now. Even if you were ordinary he'd be soaking it in - but you're his darling human and he is simply obsessed with your pleasure. You have no idea how gorgeous you look to him right now - how amazing you look when you wear his sin on your face, the gorgeous way your voice reverberates off the walls when you moan. You truly are a work of art ~ ♡

The three of you moan in harmony as you continue to make your way towards the peak of your first orgasm. Satan continues to pump into you at an unwavering pace as he massages your sex, and you can feel yourself finally being pushed over the edge of your first orgasm. A warm tingle spreads over your entire body, your moans becoming erratic and your eyes rolling into the back of your head as Satan continues on, overstimulating you in the best of ways. You ride the high of your climax until you come down, Satan slowing the pace of his thrusts to allow you to catch your breath. 

A few moments later, you feel both of his hands clasp your hips, and suddenly he's bending you over the arm of the sofa. He begins driving his hips into you, hitting spots inside of you that no one else has before. He fucks into you at a steady pace, moans and whimpers spilling from your lips with each thrust, and in your mind's lustful haze you swear you can see fireworks. In the midst of it all, Asmodeus spots an opportunity for himself. With his own throbbing cock still in his hand, he stands up and makes his way over to your side of the couch. With his free hand, he cups your cheek, stroking your bottom lip with his thumb as he strokes himself.

"Darling, you look absolutely delectable. May I? Please~?" he asks as he puts the head of his cock near your mouth, looking down at you with pleading eyes. You nod and moan out a 'yes' before he slides himself into your mouth. A sigh of relief and an unrestrained moan fall from Asmo's lips as he feels your soft mouth around his hard shaft. The way Satan is pounding into you from behind creates enough momentum to fuck you onto Asmo's cock for him - all he has to do is watch, and he is simply entranced by you. He pushes your hair back out of your face, cupping the back of your head gently as he watches you. The way you're looking up at him as you suck his cock is enough to make him wanna bust alone, and that's without taking into consideration the way it feels when you moan against him. 

Satan starts to pick up the pace, feeling his own climax starting to come close. He reaches down to massage your clit once again, his thrusts starting to become harder and more erratic. Your muffled moans grow louder, as does your orgasm once again, as the three of you frantically fuck each other, trying to get each other off. Satan can feel your walls begin to tighten around him, your orgasm being the first to hit it's peak. 

"Fuck, yes kitten, cum all over my cock," he says as he pounds away at your increasingly tightening hole, his seed spilling into you after only a few more thrusts. As you moan all over Asmo's cock, he can't help but to thrust his hips into your face, his cum shooting down your throat as he gently moans your name. Asmo pulls out of you immediately after finishing, wiping your face with his thumb to clean up any stray. A few moments later, after catching his breath a little, Satan pulls out of you and quickly fixes his pants. He sits down on the couch and pulls you into his lap, not caring about anything leaking onto him. He wraps his arms around you and you both just sit together, continuing to catch your breaths. Asmodeus breaks the silence.

"I think I'll have to come to book club more often."  The three of you erupt into exhausted laughter. Book Club may have to become a regular occurrence - in a more private meeting room, of course. 

· demonvibez ♡ 2023 · do not copy, repost or modify · · likes, comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated! ♡ ·

[wolfstarshipping]

wolfstar wips

So I'm using the @hprecfest day 12 prompt "a WIP you're following" to post a short rec list of WIPs that has been sitting in my drafts for so long now I even had to remove a fic that had been finished in the meanwhile!

Something rotten in Grimmauld Place by @plecotusauritus (8,802 words, Hamlet AU) This is a wolfstar Hamlet AU, need I say more?? I've never much cared or thought about Hamlet since I read it in school but this fic (almost) makes me want to reread Hamlet and I can't wait to see where the story goes next, I love the atmosphere this fic captures, the lovely writing style and just seeing all these characters we know so well fit into the plot of Hamlet is so, so cool!!

the oldest recipe for parsnip soup by @eyra (10.639 words, modern AU, christmas fic) Getting another fic by eyra for the holidays has been such a wonderful treat! I love the whole setting and the characters of this fic so much already, especially Sirius!! And the writing and all the descriptions are so, so beautiful, as always, highly recommend checking it out!!

Welcome to Aphrodite by @de-sire-blog & @rhabarberjunge (18.957 words, magical AU, secret identities) this is one of those fics I've read a while ago, but I keep thinking about it because I loved it so much. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but the premise is Sirius finding a hidden, adults-only club that makes people's secret desires come true, and of course Sirius's secret desire is Remus... It's hot, it's fun, and it's incredibly angsty, I love it.

Stitched into My Skin by @squintclover (19.297 words, canon divergent AU, memory loss) I love the heartache and all the bittersweetness that comes with memory loss fics so much already, and I am so obsessed with the way it's been done in this fic. The premise of the fic is Peter casting a memory loss charm on Sirius on October 31st 1981, which leads to Remus raising Harry and randomly coming across Sirius years later, only Sirius doesn't remember him. I'm so intrigued by the first few chapters already and can't wait to see where the story goes next!

Marauder FM by @hollyivydruzy (26.402 words, modern AU, radio AU, enemies to friends to lovers) I know I've recced this fic before but I will never shut up about it because I love it, and especially this fic's Remus so, so much! It's an iconic, funny radio AU set in London, and I wish the radio shows from this fic were real because I would listen to Sirius's radio show every morning if I could. I just love the vibe of all of them working at the radio station together and the slow burn enemies to friends (to lovers) is so delicious!

The Patchwork of Us by @tracingpatternswrites (27.502 words, modern AU, enemies to lovers, co-parenting Teddy) This is such a lovely fic about Sirius and Remus navigating the difficult situation of co-parenting Teddy after Tonks dies, I love the domesticity and the enemies to lovers vibe of this fic so much!

The Picture of Sirius Black by @lynxindisguise (30.049 words, Dorian Gray AU) okay anyone who has ever seen my blog knows how much I love lynx's writing, which is why I am also obsessed with this fic, even though it's a genre I'm usually not that familiar with. It's a Dorian Gray AU, it's gothic horror but especially the first few chapters are also giving victorian romcom with murder sideplot vibes (and I mean this as the biggest compliment), this fic will make you laugh and cry and want to murder some of these characters yourself maybe.

Only Fools Are Satisfied by grumposaur (@pancakehouse) (38.353 words, modern AU, tennis AU). I really love the exploration of Sirius's family dynamics in the context of him being a professional athlete in this fic, and Remus with his tanlines and freckles is everything!!

Neon Moon by @krethes (47.698 words, modern AU, cowboy stripper Remus AU, Las Vegas) I didn't know how much I needed Remus to be a stripper and a cowboy before I read this fic, but now I do and I love him!! The whole premise of them meeting at a strip club while Sirius is out on James's bachelor party is so iconic, and the vibes of the fic are just overall excellent, highly recommend checking it out!

on another ocean by @colgatebluemintygel (118.148 words, modern AU, backpacking/interrail, friends with benefits) Where do I even start? This is an incredible fic, one of my all time faves, I've reread some of the chapters several times now and am so obsessed with this fic's Remus in his socks and sandals, driving Sirius crazy with lust. Also I will not spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but the scene in the budapest chapter in the club bathroom features one of my favorite Sirius moments of all time, across all universes haha.

marginalia by @spindrifters (266.547 words, magical AU, canon divergent AU - Grindelwald won, slavery AU) I'm having a hard time trying to put my love for this fic into words in just a short paragraph. This fic is so unique in its setting, and it's so beautifully written and asks & answers the question "what if Grindelwald had won?" in such an incredible, highly political and also very immersive way, if you haven't read it already I really recommend checking it out (as well as the already complete Tedromeda spinoff set in the same world, history books!!!).

Staying Strangers by 3amAndCounting (319,368 words, modern AU, texting fic, university AU). This is one of my comfort fics, I love a good texting AU, this is quite a popular fic anyways but if you haven't read it and like modern AUs & texting fics (though it isn't all just texting) go check it out!

[sulumuns-dootah]

WHB HC's - Hades demons

A/N: I'm not that far into the game, so some of this might be ooc to the game, but i based this off of what I've seen + Ars Goetia (Solomon's book of demons)

⟡ Masterlist ⟡

Characters: Leviathan, Barbatos, Foras, Glasyalabolas

      ༺☆༻

Leviathan

If he didn't rule Hades, he would be a total hermit, leaving his house once in a century

For some reason I think he would be amazing at Just Dance

His favorite book is The Picture of Dorian Gray

Sometimes summons fluffy monsters just to cuddle with them

Can breathe underwater

      ༺☆༻

Barbatos

The softest hair you'll ever touch

Loves opera, especially italian and spanish

If MC shows him the Twilight movies, he'll get so jealous that he doesn't sparkle in sun

Can understand animal speech

Extensive knowledge about anything History related

      ༺☆༻

Foras

Herbs and Crystals are his thing

If you loose something, let him know and he'll find it within minutes

Enjoys horseback riding

Can fight with sword

Likes reading philosophy books

      ༺☆༻

Glasyalabolas

Besides the necrophilia he's also into size kink and loves King/Servant roleplay

His thighs are very comfy to sit on

Adores bunnies and even has one - obviously called Leviathan

Listens to phonk

If you come to him for an advice in relationship, he'll tell you to kill that mf before you even finish your question

[laserbeamss]

okay i know im like half a year too early to mention anything about this topic and also tumblr is raving mad about this topic and no one is actually gonna read this but. i read shakespeare's julius caesar for the first time yesterday and i need to be a pretentious fucker for a while. look the one thing i'm glad that tumblr agrees with me about is that the assassination of caesar was incredibly homoerotic like i felt like a madman for thinking that but then i discovered thousands of strangers on the internet are backing me up and i felt better.

i'm talking about the play version of events, not the historical version, by the way; though i will talk about the historical version shortly.

shakespeare really knows how to write his tragedies. that play has not left my mind since i finished reading it, which was, by the way, in one sitting about 24 hours ago. my mind has not stopped thinking about that play for an entire day and i am sure it will continue to do so in the near future.

i love the contrast between the ways caesar himself is portrayed. to some, he is a dead man walking. to some, he is the very anchor of society: the north star. to some, he is just a man, who needs to come home and rest sometimes. to himself, he is a mixture of all of those, but he only ever expresses one of those roles, because he is the dictator of rome, in his eyes, he is the rightful king, the one who has led and will continue to lead rome to glory for years to come, and there was no point in heeding the word of anyone else.

my favourite character, is, quite predictably, brutus. "not that i loved caesar less, but that i loved rome more" okay so what if i cried. (i somewhat shamelessly will admit that i have shed tears over this. as i said, the man knows how to write his tragedies.) on one hand, caesar is brutus' friend, the one who had elected him praetor of rome (i know it isn't directly mentioned in the play that caesar made brutus praetor but he is referred to as praetor and since historically caesar was indeed the one to elect brutus praetor, i think it is safe to assume the same within the context of the play), the one who had pardoned him after he sided with caesar's enemy pompey, the one whom he admitted several times that he loved. on the other hand, brutus was raised to bring honour to his family's name via bringing honour to rome; and thought himself morally righteous when he considered that he wasn't above betraying his friend to end a tyrranical rule, even if it meant allying himself with others who wanted to murder caesar for their own selfish gains. and after following through with what he perceived to be his utmost duty to his country, and his people, and his family, and himself, he is haunted by the ghost of his close friend, something which drives him into the point of his own sword.

betrayals have a special place in my heart because they are so entangled deep in conflicting emotions. to betray one is almost always to stand behind another, but inherently betrayals of others are also betrayals to yourself; there must have been a reason the betrayal was a betrayal and not a simple act of violence. because acts of violence can happen by anyone's hand, but betrayals can only happen by those who are most trusted.

cassius, that motherfucker. i feel the same way towards him as i felt toward lord henry wotton in the picture of dorian gray. egging my favourite character on to go against his homoerotic bestie, like fuck that.

i think i am most fascinated by how i do not know what i would have done if i was in brutus' place. would i have done what he has, plotted against and murdered my best friend who trusted me most, who dedicated his last words to me, who admitted defeat solely when it became apparent to him that i was among the conspirators? or would i have lived with the guilt of perpetuating tyrrany and lived with the guilt of, what in my conscience would have been, subjecting future generations of romans to suffer under a dictatorship, just to be able to greet my friend every day and not be haunted by what i have brought on against him?

that caesar truly did not expect brutus to be among the conspirators breaks my heart. that brutus acted out of duty and moral obligation only to fail miserably after having murdered his friend breaks my heart.

in my mind, these two got reincarnated somehow, in a calmer generation, and talked things through, and rode off together into the sunset.

i didn't ever think i would get so emotional over two dudes from a shakespeare play based on historical events that happened over two millenia ago but here we are. they make me want to cry like a baby.

but onto some actual history.

i'll start of with some nitpicking. when caesar is referred to as julius in the play, i physically cringed. as i cringe whenever anyone else assumes his first name to be julius. caesar's full name was gaius julius caesar (or caivs ivlivs caesar, if you will). caesar was the name with which 99% of people would have refered to him, as it was is cognomen, the name that was supposed to distinguish you from everyone else in roman society, and the one formally used to refer to you. if one were close to caesar, one would have called him gaius, which was his praenomen, of which there were only about twelve to choose from. julius, on the other hand, was his nomen, or the name passed down based on which clan he was decended from, in his case the julii. no one actually used the nomen to refer to anyone, as many, many men could be not in the least bit related anymore and yet share the same nomen. it would simply have been too confusing.

now, some common knowledge. "et tu, brute?" was never really uttered by caesar. the two most popular theories as to what caesar said after having been stabbed is that he either said nothing at all, which is what ancient scholars generally agreed upon, although it was expected of him to say something as he was expected to leave behind a legacy. some think he said "you too, child." in greek. initially, this may seem like it is a question that holds essentially the same meaning as "et tu, brute?": one of shocked betrayal, of the question of how even someone as close to caesar as brutus could do this to him. but it is more likely that it was instead a statement, and indeed the shortened version of a common roman proverb, essentially meaning "what goes around comes around". so what caesar would have meant by that is you too will meet your demise in a similar fashion, just you wait. which is very interesting to me

i think the historical relationship of caesar and brutus is very interesting (putting aside my homoerotic intepretation of the shakespeare characters for a moment). brutus' mother was a long-time mistress of caesar, and ancient scholars talked of a rumour that brutus was actually caesar's son, though they were sceptical, and modern historians also generally disagree with this. however, it is true that they were reported to have an affectionate relationship, caesar essentially teaching brutus all he knew like a father would to a son; brutus was raised by his uncle after his father was killed by pompey (also known as pompey the great), so he initially sided with caesar. however, already then, he saw how caesar was becoming overzealous and decided to switch sides and support pompey in the civil war. however, pompey was defeated by caesar in the battle of pharsalus, after which brutus was taken prisoner and eventually pardoned by caesar, granting him the ability to then build his political life in the roman senate. after that, he became one of caesar's closest friends and advisors, even being promoted to be the praetor and then proconsul of rome.

anyway, if you made it this far, have a knife (to stock up for the ides of march). take your pick: 🔪🗡⚔🪒

[and-claudia]

Against All Odds pt.5 (Joel Miller x fem! reader)

Warnings: angst, gore, reliving trauma, canon typical violence, IT'S LONG (let me know if I missed any)

General Warnings for later on: The main story will have an age gap between Joel and the reader (Reader will be 25 once we get to the main storyline), this will also be your warning that it will eventually be an x pregnant reader (if that's not your jam, I'm sorry) there is also going to be more graphic/trigger parts later on so please always to be sure to read the warnings BEFORE reading. This story will also be 18+ and TO BE ON THE TAGLIST YOU CAN NOT BE AN AGELESS BLOG (i do actually check that) also there first hand full of parts are all prologue so Joel won't actually be in it for a bit

word count: 8000+ (oopsie)

Taglist Sign-Up (read my rules carefully before filling it out)

a/n at the end, please read and give your feed back in the comments

After running through the rain for a few miles we finally made it far enough to be safe from patrol. We were in what looked like what used to be a barber shop or something. Regardless of what it used to be, now it was our shelter for the night. 

“You should get some rest, Ellie. We aren’t making it to the State House tonight.” I said to the young girl. 

She eyed Tess and Joel, clearly unsure if she’d be safe lowing her guard after finding out she had been bitten. 

“You’ll be safe, I promise.” I tried to reassure her. 

She slowly nodded and found herself a dry spot to curl up for the night. Tess and Joel stood on the opposite side of the building. I walked over to them so we could discuss our game plan. 

“So, it’s,” I checked my watch, “just passed 2:30 am, sun will be up by around 7:00 ish, we got at least 4 hours for watch. We can each take an hour and 20 minutes.” I suggested. 

“I ain’t sleepin’.” Tessl said matter of factly. 

“Yeah, me neither. Someone needs to watch the door and someone needs to keep an eye on that kid.” Joel said. 

“One: door’s barricaded, ain’t nothing getting in through there. Two: she said that bite is 2 weeks old. She hasn’t gone all crazy yet, she won’t overnight. It’ll be fine.” I tried to argue. 

“I don’t trust it. That doesn’t happen, Yn. But I mean if you want to risk yourself and-” I knew he was about to mention the baby but I gave him a pointed look warning him not to, “and sleep,” he corrected himself, “then be my fucking guest.” 

I sighed, “Well I am tiered Joel so yeah I think I’ll take the so-called risk.” 

I walked away and dropped my bag down to use as a pillow and used Joel’s jacket I took from the apartment to cover my upper body up. Every time I’ve ever slept outside the walls it had always been either with, or at the very least beside Joel as he took his watch shift. So being away from him right now felt strange, even though he was only a few yards away from me. Luckily though I was still tired enough to fall asleep fairly quickly. 

Unfortunately, I had only managed to sleep a little over an hour. I tried going back to sleep but it was no use. So, instead, I got up and walked over to Joel and Tess. 

“You can go back to sleep.” Joel said quietly. 

“I’m fine. If one of you wants to rest for a bit I can take over for one of you.” I offered. 

“We’re good.” Tess said, not taking her eyes off the girl. 

“Fine.” I sighed and grabbed Joel’s bag. 

He never checks the small, inner pocket of his bag and I had gotten into a habit of tucking a small book in there when I could, even if I wasn’t going with them I would still do it. I wasn’t sure if he ever finished reading them or not but he would always return it to me when he got back and had something to say about it. 

“What are you doing?” Joel asked. 

“Looking for something.” 

I didn’t remember him returning the last one I gave him, so I wanted to see if it was still in there. And lucky for me it was. I pulled out an old, slightly faded copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Joel gave me a weird look. 

“I mean, if you don’t need me to watch anything and I’m not falling back asleep, might as well pass the time some way.” 

I took it over to the wall and sat down. Luckily the rain had stopped, giving way to the light of the moon. This gave me just enough light to read in. Despite my efforts, I fell asleep about 30 minutes later and didn’t wake back up until the sun had risen. Sitting against the hard wall like that made my back hurt as I stood up and walked over to put my book back in Joel’s bag. 

“Ellie awake yet?” I asked. 

“Nope.” 

“Okay well, I’m going to go find somewhere to pee.” I said before walking off. 

When I got back Ellie was now awake and Joel had the rifle he had stolen from the guard pointed at her.

“Show us your arm.” He said. 

She sighed before rolling up the sleeve of her jacket, showing the scar from where she had been bitten. 

“Yeah, it’s not getting any worse is it?” She sassed. 

I walked over and squatted down beside her. 

“Can I see it?” I asked. 

I didn’t get a good look at it in the chaos last night and wanted to see it for myself. She nodded and held it over to me so I could see it better. 

“If we’re in the open city why aren’t we getting swarmed?” She asked, I turned to Joel for him to answer her. 

“Don’t worry about it.” He said causing me to roll my eyes. 

“Well, I’m gonna.” She sassed. 

“We’ll be fine.” I said quietly before letting go of her arm and standing up. 

“What was Marlene doing with an infected kid?” Tess asked. 

“I’m not infected.” Ellied argued. 

I walked over to sit with Joel and Tess, “I mean she’s right. She was bitten but not infected. I know that doesn’t happen but it did… But why were you with Marlene then?” 

“She found me after I was bitten.” She explained. 

“And she didn’t shoot you?” Joel asked harshly. 

“Clearly not.” Ellie snapped back, causing me to fight the urge to snicker at her response before she explained a little more, “She locked me up and her guys test me every day to make sure I wasn’t infected.” 

“How did they test you?” I asked before I could process what I was saying. 

“They’d make me count to ten then hold my hand out and keep it steady. But you know what I think really impressed them was the fact that I didn’t turn into a fucking monster.” 

I nodded, “Fair enough.” 

“I gotta pee.” She said going to stand up, but Joel did the same and his grip on the rifle tightened. 

“Joel. Let her go. She’s not going anywhere. You heard her, she’s worried about what’s out there.” I said quietly to Joel before turning to her, “Go back there, just find a spot. And here, use this. It’s the best we got. Just tear out a few pages.” I said tossing an old magazine to her. 

She caught it and disappeared into one of the small side rooms. 

“Nothing’s gonna kill me in here, right?” She called out. 

“No, you’re fine. I just went too.” I yelled back. 

As Joel sat down, I noticed his right hand was shaking and still bloody from last night. 

“Broken?” Tess asked having seen the same thing as me. 

“Maye a hairline, it’ll heal fast.” He replied. 

“Can I see it?” I asked gently. 

“It’s fine.” He said coldly. 

“Joel, let me see your fucking hand.” I said, holding mine out for him to put his in. 

He sighed but did as I told him. I looked it over, it was defiantly swollen. Luckily it wasn’t too nasty, the rain helped clean it out pretty well last night. 

“It’s fairly clean. I’m gonna wrap it for you.” I told him rather than asking already standing to grab my bag. 

“Joel she made it through the fucking night.” Tess said as I walked back over, bag in hand. 

“Doesn’t matter.” Joel bit back. 

I took my seat on the ground beside Joel and began to bandage up his hand. 

“It’s gonna happen sooner or later.” He tried to reason, “We’re still close to the wall, we sneak her back into the QZ, and we find a different way to get the battery.” 

“This is our best shot,” Tess argued, “If we take her back there, someone is gonna notice her arm, they’ll scan her and kill her.” 

“Well better them than us.” He shot back. 

“May I give my two cents here?” I asked finishing up Joel's bandages. 

Tess nodded for me to go on. 

“I can’t believe I’m sayin’ it but I agree with Tess. We can’t bring her back… and we can’t kill her. It ain’t fair to her. Bringing her to the State House is our best option here, rather than bringing her back to the QZ where we know she will get killed, or killing her ourselves. At least that way we won’t have to live knowing we lead her to slaughter.” I said. 

“You two both need to quit talking about her like she actually has a life ahead of her.” Joel said. 

“Maybe she does.” I argued just as we heard footsteps coming back. 

“Whatever, let’s just eat something before we have to head out again.” Joel said digging into his bag. 

“You hungry? We can share some of ours.” Tess offered as Ellied sat back down. 

“Marlene sent me with my own.” She said before digging into her bag and pulling something out of it. 

Joel passed out a couple of pieces of dried jerky to both me and Tess. I broke off a piece of mine but as I brought it up to my mouth and caught a whiff of it, it made me feel nauseous. I sat up a bit more and brought it away from my face to take a few deep breaths before handing the pieces back to Joel. 

“Here. I’m not hungry.” I said. 

“You need to eat.” Joel said, not taking them. 

“Joel, take them.” I snapped a little. 

“You okay kid? You look really pale.” Tess said, taking the jerky from my hand. 

“I’m not a kid. And I’m fine.” I lied. 

I could tell she wasn’t convinced but I am glad she didn’t ask any more questions. Instead, she put the jerky away and dug in her bag for something.  

“Here, eat these, I’ve been secretly growing them at my place. You need to eat something. And drink some water.” She said handing me a small bag of berries. 

I nodded in thanks and slowly ate them. I was so caught up in trying not to puke that I had completely tuned out the conversation Ellie and Tess were having until Tess stood up from her stool and walked closer to the young girl. Joel tried to stop her, but I grabbed his arm to keep him from doing so. 

“Why are you so special to Marlene? And don’t lie or we’ll take you back.” She threatened. 

“You take me back, you don’t get your battery.” Ellie popped off to her. 

Tess scoffed, “You heard that huh? Well, then you must’ve also heard that he wants to shoot you.” 

Ellie eyed Joel nervously before replying, “Yeah, but she said you shouldn’t, at least not yourself. And something tells me she won’t let him do it.” She said referring to me. 

Joel rolled his eyes at her remark. 

“Look, I’m gonna talk to you like you’re an adult,” Tess began as she knelt down in front of Ellie, “We’re not good people, we’re doing this for us. Because apparently, you’re worth something. But we don’t know what you’re worth if we don’t know what we have. So, answer my question.” 

I could tell Ellie thought about what she was about to do, she seemed apprehensive. 

“She told me not to tell anyone and now I’m telling the first people that I-” She hesitated. 

“Hey, it’s okay we won’t tell anyone.” I finally spoke up, trying to reassure her. 

She took a deep breath before continuing, “There’s a Firefly base camp somewhere out west… with doctors. They’re working on finding a cure.” 

“We’ve heard this all before.” Joel sighed, annoyed that we were even considering giving her the time of day to explain herself. 

“And whatever happened to me…” 

“-Is the key to the vaccine.” Joel said with her, knowing what she was about to say. 

“That’s what this is? We’ve heard this a million times before. Vaccines, miracle cures. None of it works. Ever.” He argued. 

“Fuck you, man. I didn’t ask for this.” Ellied snapped at him standing up. 

“You and me both. Tess, Yn, this isn’t gonna end well. We need to go back.” He urged. 

I stood up as Tess did the same. 

“Let’s just finish it.” Tess said, “It doesn’t matter if she is or isn’t what the Fireflies say. If they believe that she is then… we get what we want.” 

“I mean, best-case scenario she is, we hand her over, they find a cure, we get the truck and find Tommy. Worst-case scenario is she isn’t and this was a waste of time.” I said. 

“No, Yn, worst-case is we all end up dead.” Joel said harshly. 

“Can you two get over your lover's quarrel, are we going or not?” Tess asked. 

Joel sighed and grabbed his bag, “If she so much as twitches.” He warned. 

Ellied began to snarl and make choking sounds as she pretend to twitch around causing me to bite back a snicker. Joel didn’t find it amusing. 

“Don’t.” Tess reprimanded her and she stopped immediately. 

We all collected our stuff and as Joel picked up his newly acquired rifle Ellie eyed it up and said, “Can I have a gun.” 

“Absolutely not.” 

“No.” 

“Hell no.” Joel, Tess, and I all said respectively. 

“Okay, Jesus. Fine. I’ll have to just throw a fucking sandwich at them.” She said as she picked up what was left over and put it in her bag. 

Joel moved the barricade from the door and then opened it to make sure the coast was clear. When he confirmed that it was, we followed him out. 

When we walked out, the sun was shining and you could see the city around us. Or what used to be a city that was now falling apart and overrun but nature. Ellie was ahead of me and watched her with a small smile as she took in the sight before her. 

“Whoa.” She sighed. 

“I know, I had the same reaction my first time seeing it.” I said, nudging her slightly with my arm. 

“We should get movin’.” Joel said. 

And with that, we began walking. We passed some of the craters left from the bombings. Just like me, Ellie was oddly fascinated with everything we passed. 

“It’s like a fucked up moon. Are these from the bombings?” She asked. 

“Yeah, Joel or Tess can tell you more about it. I don’t really remember it.” I admitted. 

“They bombed most of the bigger cities like this, “ Tess explained, “They had to slow the spread somehow. It worked here, but it didn’t in most places.” 

We walked a little further before we got to a road that was impassable due to a collapsed building. It was really in the most inconvenient spot. If it wasn’t blocked, then the State House would have been a straight shot taking ten to fifteen minutes tops to get there. But since that was not an option we had to choose one of the alternate routes. 

“Long way or short way?” Joel asked. 

“Well, I mean it’s the long way or the ‘we’re fuckin dead’ way.” Tess said. 

“Well, I vote long way, just based on that limited information.” 

Joel nodded, knowing it was the safer route, “We have to check it from the hotel first.” 

We nodded and began walking that way. It was still eerie walking past all the abandoned cars. I didn’t dare to look in them. I made that mistake once. Most of them were empty, but not all of them. You had a chance of finding an infected or perhaps worst severely decomposing person in them. 

As we walked, Joel hung back in the back of the group, Tess lead the way while Ellie and I walked together. 

“Where the fuck are they all?” She asked. 

I just shook my head, “You’ll know it when they’re close. Don’t ask about them though, you’ll jinx us.” I warned. 

“I didn’t know last time.” She said. 

“Was that when you got bit?” I asked.

She nodded, “It was in the old mall in the QZ.” 

Tess turned around at that and waited for us to catch up. 

“You got bit in the sealed-off mall that no one is supposed to go in. Ever.” 

“Whatever. I snuck in. I wanted to see what it was like. Didn’t think there was gonna be anything in there and then one just came at me outta nowhere. I thought I got away, but.” 

“So, it was just you in there, alone?” Tess asked. 

“Yeah.” Ellie said. 

“How old are you?” Tess asked another question. 

“14.” 

“Wow. I mean, you got some balls on you, sister.” 

“Thanks.” Ellie said, smiling to herself causing me to smile a little too. 

We continued our trek down the old highway, occasionally climbing over cars that had been wrecked and flipped over. Joel was staying silent which wasn’t unusual for him. Not that I wanted to speak to him right now. 

“So Ellie,” I began, “No one’s going to come looking for you, right?” 

“Yeah, like mom, or dad or boyfriend?” Tess added. 

“Well, I’m an orphan, and ah no…” She said, “Everyone always said the outer city was crazy,” She said, changing the subject, “like there were hoards of infected running wild.” 

“Not exactly like that.” Joel’s voice startled me a bit. 

“People like to tell stories.” Tess added. 

“So, there aren’t Super-Infected that explode fungus spores on you?” Ellie asked. 

“Shit, I hope not.” Tess joked. 

“Just thinking about that makes my skin crawl.” I said with a small shutter as the thought of what facing one of those would be like. 

“Or what about ones with split open heads that can see in the dark like bats?” Ellied asked causing me to freeze. 

I had come to learn that when I had been attacked trying to get to the Boston QZ, all those years ago with my brother and Pa that it had been a Clicker. They were the final stage of being infected. It was when you became more fungus than human. The fungus grows out of your skull, cracking it open and allowing it to grow bigger. 

I took a deep breath and went to continue walking but just as I went to take a step we all froze and looked off to our left where we could hear a loud, distant howling yell of an infected. 

“What was that?” Ellie asked. 

“I told you, you would know when they got close.” I reminded her. 

“Let’s keep movin’.” Joel said, gripping his rifle a little tighter. 

We eventually made it to the hotel. When we pushed open the door the smell of murky water hit me causing me to sigh. I was not going to be able to catch a break today from horrible smells. It also looked like the rain we had just gotten had made the water in there rise a lot more. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me! You guys ever stay in a place like this?” Ellie asked. 

“Uh no,  a little out of our league.” Tess joked. 

“How do you even know what this is?” Joel asked. 

“Have you ever heard of books?” She sassed causing him to roll his eyes before he descended the few stairs down into the water. 

“Wait a minute we're going in there?” 

“Unfortunately.” I said to her as I tightened the straps on my backpack. 

“We gotta get to the stairwell on the other side.” Tess said, nodding across the way at it. 

“Well, I- I um don’t know how to swim.” She tried to argue. 

“Seriously?” Joel asked. 

“Do you think we have pools in the QZ?” She shot back at him. 

“No, smartass. I mean,” He finished his sentence by jumping off the last step and showing the water, despite being higher than usual, only came up to right around his knees. 

“I don’t know how I was supposed to know that.” Ellie said as she walked down the stairs. 

I went to walk down the too but Tess stopped me. 

“Careful, kid, they’re slick.” She warned with a knowing look. 

Fuck. She knew. 

“Thanks.” I nodded before carefully walking down with her following behind me. 

The floor was covered in slippery algae so I took my time walking across it with Tess as Joel and Ellie were ahead of us. 

“Does he know?” She asked. 

I looked at her but didn’t answer. 

“I’m not trying to pry. Just wondering if that’s got him so bent out of shape.” She explained. 

“No, me being pregnant is what’s gotten him so bent out of shape. He doesn’t want it. He said the last time he held a baby was before I was even born…” I explained. 

“That’s what happens when you get with a much older man,” She teased only partly joking, “But I guess the question is, do you want it?” 

I nodded, “Yeah.” 

“He loves you, Yn, he’ll come around.” She tried to reassure me. 

I shrugged, “I just think he has too much going on right now, and worrying about me even more than he usually has to just sent him over the edge. Like he made it very clear that he doesn’t want the baby, but wants to make decisions on what is best for me now. He doesn’t need to do that. He doesn’t want it, so let me worry about it. You know?” 

She nodded as we both stopped to look over at Ellie as she messed around with the old luggage cart. Then, when she jumped back, clearly startled by something, Tess and I were both pulling out our guns as Joel rushed over to help her. Joel helped her up after seeing that there was no immediate danger. She made her way over to us and we both made sure she was okay. Once we made it across the water, we had to climb up ten flights of stairs to get high enough. Joel led the way with his rifle, making sure the coast was clear for us. 

When we got to the top Joel checked down the hall to make sure we were safe then walked out. When Tess and I made it there we both paused for a second to catch our breaths. 

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad.” Ellie teased. 

“You try climbing ten fuckin’ flights with our knees. See how you feel.” Tess shot back in defense. 

“Okay, but what about her? She like in her twenties, why are you winded?” Ellied asked nodding to me. 

“I have my reasons.” I said. 

“That’s convincing.” She said before following Joel. 

 We rounded a corner and saw that part of the building had collapsed. 

“Well, when the fuck did that happen?” Tess asked.

We tried to open a few of the doors but none of them would budge. I walked closer to the rubble. There was an opening I could fit through. 

“Hey, what if I climb through? I can work my way around and open it from the inside maybe?” I suggested. 

“Worth a shot.” Tess agreed. 

“No.” Joel was quick to shut that down. 

“I can go. I am the smallest.” Ellie offered up. 

“No, if you die, we get nothing.” Tess said. “Let Tess go.” Joel suggested. 

“Why can’t I do it?” I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest. 

“Because you might get hurt.” He argued. 

“And if she does, Joel, it’ll be on here. She’s a big girl she can go. Come on let's get her up there.” Tess said, ending our little argument. 

They helped me up through the opening then I began climbing over hunks of cement and barbs. 

“You good up there?” Joel called out to me. 

“I’m fine. Just trying to map out a course. It’s a fucking a mess up here. Give me a few minutes.” 

I finally mapped out my route to get over the piles of concrete without getting impaled by a metal barb. Once I made it through I took a glance around me, to the street below. Fuck. There were infected down there a lot of them. We wouldn’t be able to go that way anymore. I sighed, turning around to go let the others in. 

“Joel, put your fucking gun down, if you shoot me, I’ll shoot back.” I warned as I began to move pieces of furniture out of the way. 

I got to the door and opened it, my face must have said it all. 

“What’s wrong?” Tess asked. 

“Come see for yourself.” I said, turning around and leading them to see what I saw down in the street. 

When we got over to the balcony, Ellie stepped up onto the bottom molding to get a better view. “Be careful.” I said, coming to stand beside her as she leaned over a bit more. 

“There’s so many.” She said in awe. 

I saw Tess nod from the corner of my eye, “Yeah, last time we came through here, they were still deep inside the buildings. But I guess enough people came through looking for the QZ, they went inside seeking shelter and that’s how they get more and more of the city bit by bit, year after year.” 

We watched them as they all seemed to move together. 

“They’re connected.” Ellie commented. 

“More than you know.” Tess began, “The fungus also grows underground. Long fibers like wires, some of them stretching over a mile. Now, you step on a patch of cordyceps in one place, and you can wake a dozen Infected from somewhere else.” 

“Really?” 

Tess nodded once again, “Then they know where you are and they’re coming for you. You’re not immune from being ripped apart. You understand?”��

“Tess, chill you’re scaring her.” I said. 

“I’m just being honest with her. This is important for her to know. I’m trying to keep her alive.” She said defensively. 

Ellie hopped down from where she was standing with a small sigh.

“So, guess we’re not going that way.” 

“Nope.” I confirmed. 

“So, what do we do then?” She asked, looking between the three of us. 

I looked at Joel and waited for him to confirm what I already knew he was going to say. 

“Museum.” He said and I immediately shook my head. “No. There’s other ways, we can take one of those.” I said. 

“We don’t have a secure way to check those routes. And we’re running out of time. It’s the only option now. You knew we might go that way if you’re so terrified of it, then maybe yo-” 

“Joel, I swear, if you say that I should’ve stayed back one more time I’ll push your fucking ass off this building and let the Infected have their way with you.” I said. 

He was way out of line. He knew what happened last time. He knew why I was terrified to go back there. 

It happened about 8 months ago. We were going out to trade with Frank and Bill. I decided to tag along, I hadn’t seen them since we met something always came up but always sent my best wishes when Joel and Tess went. But this time I was able to go. 

We made it out of the QZ without any issues. I couldn’t remember why but we decided to take the route through the museum. They hadn’t taken me that way last time so I was excited to see a different part of the city. We made it in without any issues. It was when we got to the second floor. Joel had told me to have my gun ready, just in case there were any infected hiding out in there. 

Tess was behind me and Joel was leading us. He had his flashlight out lighting the way. I saw it before he did. I man ran out from the shadows straight at him. He had a knife in his hand, ready to attack. Joel’s head was down, trying to get his light readjusted in his grip. 

“Joel!” I yelled, getting his attention. 

He sidestepped the attack just narrowly missing getting slashed. Now the man was running straight at me. I wasn’t sure what happened, but next thing I knew my ears were ringing, the man had fallen with a thud, and my hands were shaking as they gripped my now-raised gun. 

What had I done? 

I killed him. I killed someone. They weren’t even infected from what I could tell. Then I heard it. The howling of a dying man. I hadn’t killed him. 

“You son of a bitch! You shot me!” He yelled, trying and failing to stop the blood that was coming from his stomach. 

I hadn’t really aimed and he was so close that the bullet ripped him up pretty good. 

It got worse though. The man had clearly gone insane because next thing I knew, as I stood there in shock, the man took his rusted knife and made a cut at the bullet wound. It wasn’t a huge one, but it was enough that he could stick his own hand into it. And that is what he did. At this point, Tess had grabbed me and was pulling me backward from the way we came and Joel was walking toward us to try and block out the man. He managed to, but not before I saw him pulling out his own intestines as he continued to bellow in pain. The last thing I saw was him finally go limp on the ground. 

Once we got out, Jole made sure I was okay. I was still in shock and couldn’t find the strength to speak. So I just let him hold me for a few minutes before he began walking us back toward the QZ. 

As we walked to the museum, the scene replayed over and over again in my head. It had traumatized me. Not only was that my first time killing someone, but what he did after being shot scared me. I can still hear his screams in my sleep sometimes. 

“Earth to Yn?” Tess’s voice brought me out of my trance. 

“Sorry, what?” 

“Take this flashlight.” She held it out to me and I took it into my shaking hands. 

“Okay, more ground rules,” she said, turning to Ellie, I didn’t listen to them as my eyes met Joel’s. 

“You’ve been quiet.” He commented. 

“Yeah, just reliving some trauma… you think he’s still in there?” I asked, referring to his dead body. 

“Well, I doubt he had some kin to come collect his body.” Joel sassed. 

“Joel quit being an ass. You know that scared the fuck out of me. I couldn’t sleep for a month without seeing him.” I said, tears welling up at the thought of it again. 

“Hey, I’ll go ahead of you, if he’s there, close your eyes and I’ll guide you past it. Okay?” Tess offered. 

I nodded, “Thank you.” 

It was so weird that Tess was now being nicer to me since she figured out that I was pregnant. At least someone was, it’s not like Joel has been. 

Joel went in first. He poked his head in and made sure the coast was clear once he was sure it was he went in and nodded for us to follow. I was still shaking as I followed him in, followed by Ellie, then Tess. I was zoned out to everything around me. I had one goal and one goal only: get in and get out of here. I vaguely processed Joel and Tess talking about something Ellie found but couldn’t focus enough to catch what was being said. 

“Yn, you got that?” Joel asked, stepping in front of me. 

“Hm?” 

“Silent. Completely silent from now on.” He said and all I could do was nod. 

Any other time I would’ve processed why we were being silent, but I just couldn’t right now, but I still went along with it. We made our way up the stairs, my little “friend” was on the second landing. I hesitated as we got closer. I was shocked when Joel stopped and nodded for Tess and Ellie to go passed. He stepped down closer to me and nodded, telling me the body was still there. 

“Close your eyes.” He mouthed. 

I nodded and did so. Then he grabbed my hand and carefully led me passed him. Joel tapped my arm and my eyes opened, we had made it past. 

“Don’t look.” He mouthed before nodding me to go forward. 

I went to take a step but something caught my attention. Up at the top of the stairwell, I swore I heard something. I shrugged it off as paranoia and continued to follow Tess up. Once we made it all the way up, Joel took over leading us. I was feeling a bit better having passed the body now, but something felt off. 

We made it into an exhibit hall. Joel had once again made sure the coast was clear before we entered. We were back to our original lineup with Joel leading, then me, then Ellie and Tess in the back. I had made it through the doorway and was waiting for Tess and Ellie when I heard a rumbling sound. Just as they were crossing the threshold, the ceiling out in the hallway collapsed sending both of them to the floor. Joel and I were quick to help them up. 

Then we heard it. Screeching and then… clicking. There was a Clicker in here with us. 

Without saying a word, Ellie stayed behind me as Tess and Joel stayed ahead of me and we all moved together, slowly backing away from where we had heard the noises. I was shaking and had to bite my lip to keep from crying. Why did it have to be a damn Clicker? I would’ve much rather preferred to have another crazed man attack us than have to deal with one of them. It rounded the corner and I looked away, I didn’t even want to look at it. 

As we continued to back away, I heard more clicking coming from another hall. When I turned to look, another was stumbling out. Our backs were against a display case as it stumbled around it. I watched in silent horror as it rounded the case and began to walk behind Joel. I was holding my breath to not make any sounds. Then, it all happened so fast. Someone exhaled just loud enough for it to hear. The Clicker turned and screeched at us. 

Then, Joel was taking his gun and shooting at it. “Run!” He yelled at us as he tried to fight it off. 

I was in complete defense mode and took off running. Tess and Ellie went one way and I split off the other way. I realized it was a stupid idea seeing as I had no idea how the fuck to get out of here and the way we had come in was now blocked off by the collapsed ceiling. It didn’t matter all that did was getting away. I heard thuds and more gunshots as I turned into another part of the exhibit. There were footsteps behind me and turned just in time to see Joel running and pointing for me to go in there. He followed in behind me, bringing the Clicker that was chasing him along with him. He pushed over one of the busts and it hit a glass display case, shattering it and distracting the Clicker. We hid behind a taller one and Joel very quietly reloaded his gun. Once he was done he glanced around us. 

Then, he pointed to something past me. I turned and saw Ellie crouching behind a display by herself. I turned back to Joel and nodded before carefully making my way over to her. We got there and got her to follow us. We were inching our way to the other side when the sound of glass crunching under a boot made my heart drop. I barely had time to glance up and see the Clicker jump onto Ellie. 

It had her pinned and she was doing her best to keep it away from her. I didn’t hesitate to aim my gun at it. I shot it once, twice before it stumbled off of her. Joel got her up and began rushing away with her. The Clicker stumbled for a moment before running at us once again. I fired at it again and again until it fell to the ground and I emptied two more rounds into its head. 

I thought we were clear. I couldn’t hear the other but as I glanced around me I realized that Tess was nowhere to be seen. Then I heard it, the other Clicker. It was running at us before Tess got to it. She hit it with a hatchet which stopped its advances on us as it turned toward her. Joel quickly grabbed his rifle and aimed at it. Within two shots to its head, it too went down. 

“Is everyone okay?” Joel asked. 

“Twisted ankle, but… yeah.” Tess spoke up first before turning to Ellie, “You alright?” 

“Well, I didn’t shit my pants, so…” She said but then rolled up her sleeve, “Well if it was gonna happen to one of us.” 

“Hey,” Tess spoke up once again, “Let's get the fuck out of here.”

She began walking towards the window to lead us out and Ellie followed. Joel hung back for a moment. 

“Are you okay?” 

I nodded knowing he meant if I was physically hurt, which I wasn’t. Tears began to well up in my eyes, quickly wiped them, and just turned to follow the other two out of here. Once we got out, Joel helped Tess wrap her ankle while I helped Ellie cover the wound on her arm.  As I tied off the bandage I could feel nausea creeping up my throat. I quickly but carefully hurried across the wooden planks to the other building where it was a bit more flat. I managed to get out of where they would be walking before dropping to my knees and hurling. 

Once I was done, I sat back, catching my breath. I felt something tap my shoulder and opened my eyes to see Joel offering me his water canteen. I took it with a small nod. 

“This is why you shouldn’t have come out here. It’s gonna get worse before it gets better. It’s still not too late to head back. You know the way back to the QZ from here.” He said gently, clearly trying to comfort me with his tone but his words did the complete opposite. 

I spit out the water I was using to get the nasty taste out of my mouth before turning to him. 

“You must be out of your damn mind if you think I am going back through there alone. I’ve never been out here by myself before. There ain’t no way in hell I am turning around and heading back by myself. I don’t care if you think it’ll get worse. You made it very clear this is my issue to deal with. If you’ve suddenly had a change of heart we can discuss it when we get back. We won’t be out here forever. We’ll get Ellie to the State House, get a truck, and then go to the radio tower to find Tommy. We’ll be gone a month, two months tops. I’m roughly 7-9 weeks is what the midwife said. So we will have plenty of time to discuss it then. Let’s just take care of this.” I said standing up and handing him back his canteen. 

“Wait, you’re pregnant?” Ellie asked from where she stood near Tess. 

“Yeah.” I sighed. 

“And you came out here?” She was clearly surprised by my choice. 

“Yup. Come let’s get moving.” I said, wanting the attention off of me. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Tess said nodding and leading the way. 

We made our way to the edge of the building and from there you could see the golden top of the State House. 

“Is it everything you’d hope it’d be?” Joel asked her. 

“Jury’s still out. But, man, you can’t deny that view.” She said in awe. 

“No, no you can’t.” I agreed, stepping up beside her. 

“Come on, let’s try to get there before it gets dark.” Tess said before swinging herself around the edge of the rusty old fire escape ladder. 

I went to go next. 

“Should someone help her?” Ellie asked Joel. 

“I got it.” I reassured her. 

At least she genuinely cared. She followed behind me, and then Joel. We were pretty high up so it took a little while to climb all the way down. 

Tess kept leading the way to the State House. I couldn’t help but feel like she was walking a lot faster than we were earlier. She was also seemingly trying to keep her distance from us. Anytime we tried to catch up too much, she speed up a little more. I wasn’t sure why she was in such a rush all of a sudden. Yes, we were trying to get there before it got dark but we were making good time. 

When we finally made it, it was quiet. Too quiet. 

“Where the fuck are they?” Tess asked the question that we were all thinking. 

It was evident they had been here at some point seeing as there was one of their trucks parked out front still. They should be here. Joel went to check the cab of the truck. With his rifle in hand, he opened the passenger door and threw it open. Empty. However, I could see from where Tess, Ellie, and I were standing that there was blood splattered in the cab. Something had happened to them. Both Tess and I had our guns drawn ready to help Joel should he need it. He disappeared around the other side and when he didn’t signal us to follow or show up again we grew impatient and went to see what he had found. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Tess asked. 

“I don’t know.” He replied, staring at the empty truck. 

“They went inside.” 

We all turned to see what Ellie was talking about and sure enough there was a trail of blood leading up the steps. Then, without warning, Tess pushed pasted both Joel and me and grabbed Ellie by the arm, and began forcefully leading her up the stairs. 

“Come on!” She said to the girl. 

I turned to Joel to see if he had any clues about what just happened but he looked just as confused as I did. We both then followed after them. We were all shocked by what we found when we got inside. Everyone was dead. Tess looked panicked. 

“I mean there’s gotta be like a fuckin’ radio or somethin’, right?” She asked as she began to frantically look around. 

“Who killed them, FEDRA?” Ellie asked. 

“No,” Joel began as he rolled the body closet to him over with his foot, “One of them got bitten. The healthy ones fought the sick ones. Everyone lost.” 

I turned to see Tess still frantically looking around for something. “Tess, what’s going on?” “Where did Marlene say she was taking you?” She asked, ignoring my question and quickly approaching Ellie. 

“I- I don’t know. Just west.” 

“Just west.” She repeated to herself, “Fuck. Okay. Well, I mean, one of them’s gotta have a map on them right?” 

Joel and I continued to watch her. 

“Can you two help?” She snapped at us. 

“No! Tess… it’s over.” Joel said. 

“They wouldn’t risk having a map, Tess… I’m sorry.” 

“Come on. We’re going home.” Joel said. 

“That’s not my fucking home!” She yelled before taking a deep breath and standing back up, “I’m staying,” she said, much calmer, “I mean… our luck  had to run out sooner or later.” 

“Shit.” I whispered under my breath knowing what she meant. 

“She infected.” Ellie said. 

I watched Joel, wait to see how he would react. 

“Show me.” 

“Joel.” She went to take a step towards him only for him to take one back, away from her. 

With a sigh, she grabbed the collar of her shirt and jacket and pulled it down revealing the infection at the junctor of her neck and collarbone. I covered my mouth and tried to breathe slowly as I felt a wave of emotions hit me. We may not have always gotten along the greatest but I’ve been around her for so long now that seeing her infected still made me sad knowing this would be the last time we saw her. 

“Ellie take off your bandage.” She said. 

The girl did as she was told and to my surprise, her bite was already almost completely healed. Tess walked over to Ellie and grabbed her arm to show Joel. 

“This is real, Joel. She is real,” She then turned to me, “Promise you’ll get her to Bill and Franks.” 

“I don’t know the way.” I said shaking my head. 

“He’ll go with you. He would never let you go by yourself. He won’t have a choice but to go. So, please, promise me you’ll get her there. They’ll take her off your hands. They’ll handle it from there.” 

I was nodding gas Joel kept saying “no” and arguing that they wouldn’t take her, but Tess was adamant that they would. 

“Joel, this is your chance to set it all right. All the shit we did. Please say yes, Joel.” Tess pleaded. 

I was watching with teary eyes, not crying yet, waiting for him to agree. But before he got the chance to say anything an infected screeched. I immediately pulled Ellie to stand behind me and brought my gun out and shot it. Joel still hadn’t answered. Instead, he ran towards the door. I was about to ask him what the hell he was doing but as soon as he opened it I heard the snarls of a hoard of infected coming our way. When I shot that one it must have woken all the others nearby. 

“How many?” Tess asked. 

“All of them.” “How long?” I asked. 

“Maybe a minute.” 

My heart dropped. 

Everyone stood trying to think of something to do, knowing it was practically hopeless. Then, suddenly, Tess grabbed the rifle and walked over to one of the barrels. He knocked its cap off them and dumped its contents onto the floor. She did the same to two more. Then grabbed a basket of grenades and threw them down too. 

“What are you doing?” Ellie asked. 

“Making sure they don’t follow you.” Tess replied. 

When I realized what she was going to do, my heart broke a little. 

“Tess.” I began. 

“Don’t. Don’t cry me. We never really got along anyways.” SHe joked half heartedly. 

I laughed sadly and nodded. 

“Hey, take care of them and save who you can save.” She said. 

I nodded one last time before turning around. 

“Hurry, let's go.” I said, grabbing Ellie’s arm. 

“We can’t leave her!” She yelled. 

“We have to!” I yelled back, following Joel out of the building. 

We had made it less than a hundred yards when the explosion happened. We dropped to our knees for a brief second before standing back up and turning to face the building again. Joel and pulled out our guns, ready to shoot any infected that came our way. I could see them stumbling out of the building, on fire, but none came our way. When we decided we were as safe as we could be, we lowered our guns. I turned to Joel only to find him already staring back at me. Neither of us said a thing. There was nothing to be said. We just turned around and began walking away from the raging fire behind us. 

a/n: are y'all okay with this long of parts or would y'all rather me break them up into smaller bits?? So far for this and the last part I've been doing a full ep a part... so would yall rather me keep them shorter or are yall cool with longer ones like this??

taglist: (if you filled out a form and aren't on this list that means either a) your blog is not coming up in the searches so I am unable to confirm that you are 18+, or b) you did not follow my rules for being tagged in this fic)

@sexyvixen7

@joelmillerslays

@elliaze

@little-lovely-darling

@swimmjacket

@watercolorskyy

@mserynlarsen

@sebby-staan

@beelanie

@fan-g0rl

@paige96

@pedropascalfanclub

@ameliadraws

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@belliedellie

@rhaenyrasgf

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@nani-kenobi

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@drewharrisonwriter

@littlwitchgoblin

[legallybrunettedotcom]

do you have any book recommendations? i’m coming out of a reading slump and i just think you have good taste in everything lol. i saved the one you added to that post (dead famous) bc it looked interesting, so if you have any other suggestions i’d appreciate it 🤎🤎🤎 i hope you’re well!!

hii omg thank you!! hope you're well too! 🫶 short stories and plays tend to help me get out of a reading slump. I read The Last Days of Judas Iscariot this year and was blown away by it, immediately scoured for full productions available online. one of my favourite short story collections is Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. if you enjoy those sort of American small town/rural stories and imagery then this is perfect. Walden by Henry David Thoreau as well as Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet are both some of my favourite books and whether you're in a reading slump or a life slump, they're both very comforting. on the other hand, a heavier but still a relatively short read is Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata for all the strange women who feel so very off in this world. if you want something more on the horror side, The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones will keep you on the edge. The Picture of Dorian Gray and Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla are also a good way to get out of a reading slump. oh Venus in Furs by Sacher-Masoch if you want something scandalous.

I was writing a paper on criminalization of activism last semester so can recommend Criminalization of Activism: Historical, Present, and Future Perspectives edited by Valeria Vegh Weis. the already mentioned Dead Famous book is also pretty good, it's not a difficult read at all, it's just a lot of historical tidbits. just finished Ten Myths About Israel by Illan Pappe, currently reading Edward Said's Orientalism. a really good book that I'm always recommending to people is Chromophobia by David Batchelor, it's a short book but so insightful and interesting. Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond is a fun and fucked up read. if you enjoy science, and like pop physics, Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension by Michio Kaku. I love vampires and everything about them, a must-read for every vampire aficionado out there is definitely Nina Auerbach's Our Vampires, Ourselves and if you want something more folklore, less popular culture then Vampires, Burial and Death by Paul Barber.

[justalittleprince]

I just came to remember The Grays from Netflix ig??? while I was taking a bath after work and I was like

Like I know maybe not many people are talking about it now but I haven't complained about anything today and since I can't be happy, here I go. Because oh boy, I have A LOT of things to say about this

Starting with the modern environment. I know, the story could work in a modern environment because of the context of the whole story and it's meaning. But I can't help but think in a more superficial way (which I KNOW they are) the portrait itself doesn't work... Internet filters, Photoshop, PLASTIC SURGERY IDK. There, problem solved. I'm just saying incoherent stuff at this point bc I want to complain about something. But going to the thing that actually matters...

Dorian's and Basil RELATIONSHIP. Who tf told them it was a good idea to make them siblings??? SIBLINGS.

They're ruining their complete relationship, Basil's whole character arc. They're changing it completely and I don't like it. His own thoughts about Sybil Vane. There was a scene in the book that broke me, where Dorian, Henry and Basil are on their way to the theater and the absolute heartbreak that was reading to Basil's thoughts alone during the whole ride, it's something I won't have. THE LOVE CONFESSION.

That is such an important piece of the story, it's indicative for Dorian that he has power over Basil. Of course, that was also changed in that weird movie back in 2009 (the only piece of cinema I've seen because I cannot find the others 😞) but at least personally I liked the kiss part, idk.

I just DON'T LIKE WHAT THEY'RE DOING

And like, 2 things came to my mind, one more possible than the other

1. They're gonna do really weird stuff

2. The most probable one, they are literally changing things so much that at this point it won't be The Picture of Dorian Gray, it will be just a random story with their names on it (except for Basil my poor baby doesn't deserve this)

And last but not least... Henry. What are they going to do with him, what are their plans? I am not really informed what the whole thing is going to be, but I don't know what's going to be with Henry. Modern environment, knowing how Henry is the minimum thing he would say and he would be absolutely BLASTED in social media, cancelled on Twitter and all /j

Or, just my thoughts I really don't know, but seeing how things are going they could change his character so much he wouldn't be Henry Wotton and would be more like Enrique Waton

Anyways, I finished rambling now, imma disappear for another fifty centuries

[being-of-rain]

Oh hey, The Confessions of Dorian Gray is half price atm! If you're interested in a good supernatural horror audio series, I really recommend you go check it out! It's about the immortal Dorian Gray who lives past the end of Oscar Wilde's original novel and through the whole 20th century. That means each episode is set in a different time and place (and has a queer main character. There's a gay vampire romance, obviously.) It's part-full cast drama, part-first person narration by the silky smooth voice of Alexander Vlahos. And episodes are usually only half an hour, making them satisfying little things (with great music too.) Eps are only a dollar or two each. (Just be aware the series is intended for mature audiences, and has things like adult themes, some odd violence, and the very rare short sex scene.)

LINK

Super Quick Listening Guide for the Morbidly Curious:

-The first episode is 'This World Our Hell', and if you're looking for the popular gay vampire ep in series 1 it's 'The Heart That Lives Alone'.

-There's some minisodes that are always free! I don't think any of them are as good as most of the full episodes, but they've got Vlahos' voice in them so worth checking out.

-If you want to dive in, then the collected 'Series 01-02' is good value for money. Just be aware it puts the episodes in chronological order rather than release order—I'd recommend release order for your first time, but they can be listened to either way. (As well as some other bonus features, the set also includes the episode of Bernice Summerfield that first tried out the Immortal Dorian Gray concept. But I wouldn't listen to it first, it's not part of the rest of the Dorian series and assumes you know the Benny characters.)

-After series 2, Big Finish also made an adaptation of the original Picture of Dorian Gray novel. I'm not sure I'd recommend listening to that first either; it's a lot longer and perhaps not quite as captivating as the series itself. If you've read any summary of the original novel, you'll be more than prepared for the Confessions of Dorian Gray.

[blond-jerk-tourney]

Honey Bracket: Round 3, Poll 1

Rose illustration by @wraith_ly on twitter!

Propaganda from submitters Under Cut

Rose Thorburn Jr.

uhh. i can't actually give or read full rose propaganda because i haven't actually. Finished reading the book. and i guarantee she does some real heinous shit when she gets back that i don't know about yet. but rose fucking sweep. rose thorburn kill them with demons.

She certainly doesn't get *less* jerkish across the story, I can tell you that

Rose is literally responsible for multiple people getting CONSUMED BY DEMONS. She was LITERALLY designed to be a Machiavellian piece of shit and it’s only by pure luck that she has any kind of heart or compassion, greatest girlboss I’ve ever seen, bless her heart (she deserves hell)

Rose thorburn was given a sapient clone of her but if she was a better person (and also a guy) to use as a sacrificial lamb slash meatshield against the assembled magical and karmic forces attempting to kill her for her family's history of using demons for Evil Shit & in response she knowingly manipulated him towards those ends while selfishly seeking emotional comfort from him, e.g forcibly hugging him despite being fully aware that he has intense trauma around touch + finds it triggering. she is a cunt. she is an icon. she is knowingly allowing herself to be possessed by the literal incarnation of conquest because it's making her better at being a cunt. and that's just in the part of the obscenely long webnovel i have actually finished thus far

Dorian Gray

Look okay every film adaptation has gotten this wrong but in the original book Dorian has blond hair and blue eyes and is described as looking "like an angel." also his whole thing is that he ends up being a hedonistic brat and is canonically so mean to he girlfriend sybil at one point that she... uh... vacates the story with some poison. he also killed his totally not gay buddy basil after he found the portrait.

the original hedonistic brat. my son that i am always disappointed in. had two shots at love and decided to be a dick about it. has a haunted portrait that gets uglier each time he sins. what a guy, really.

Dorian drove a lovely young girl to suicide and I think that's worse than men dying

Dorian killed the man that was in love with him (Basil) because he found out about the painting and didn’t want to get exposed as being the horrible person that he is. Also all the stuff with Sybil (the girl he manipulated and drove to suicide) Also Sybil’s brother is so righteously angry at Dorian for the event that he hunts Dorian down to kill him. He doesn’t succeed cause dorian destroys the painting first. Like, even his last stand was a bitch move. Dorian was a coward to the end and died alone in an attic after pushing everyone that loved him away with his terrible actions.

[isapolvorita]

So i finished the picture of dorian gray.

I may say

I never thought i was gonna hate so much the little man.

I liked so much the end, i was expecting that Sybils brother was gonna kill him but when he died i was really worried that Dorian was gonna have a "happy ending", glad he is so fucking dumb.

My hate to Henry fluctuates along the book but he is really the villain of the story and Dorian his monster. Im sad he never knew (or at least admit he knew) what Dorian did, i wanted to see if he changes somehow, if he can feel bad for what he did.

Like Dorian was bad bad but also he was sort of a victim of a man with a nice voice and dangerous words, and if he fell in love for that i cant blame him. Like Dorian even with the painting keeping his "bad emotions" he still felt bad sometimes for what he did. But Henry??? He doesnt give a fuck about anything god i hate him even when Dorian said he wanted to be good he is always there to influence in him let him alone you bitch.

And Basil my poor poor Basil he was just in love, imagine watching the man you fell in love with turning in a monster, imagine that part of the fault is yours. He didnt deserve that ending.

Anyway, good book, all the yapping of stones and clothe was a little too much but oh well

[mysteryofvampires]

hiii, I found acc, very cool tbh! I was wondering if you'd make a list of book that you have read/know that you think people might like, by the genre. I've read tsh recently and im in love. Also, id like to recommend a book to you - The Starless Sea (by Erin Morgenstern).

First of all thank you so much for the book rec I'll definitely give it a try!! :)

Okay books one might like if you like the secret history:

If we were villains by M L Rio a rather famous dark academia novel. A lot of people don't like it, but it's one of my favourites. I think it's tsh with a bit easier writing and more "likable" characters.

The goldfinch by Donna Tartt same author as tsh and it's so good. Not as good as tsh but still amazing and breathtaking.

Bunny by Mona Awad. I have read this recently and it also takes place in New England and is about a cult. It's so good.

The bell jar by Sylvia Plath. I just finished it yesterday and it's amazing!

The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde a classic gothic novel with gay themes. It also has the kind of dark academia vibe.

Wuthering heights by Emily Bronte. A dark classic with characters that are similar unlikable as in the secret history.

Hope this helps :)