#and spooky season is the perfect time for a reread i think!

[gingerteaonthetardis]

𝐌𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐒 (2/?) | A Ghost Story

by @kelkat9

ᴛᴇɴ x ʀᴏꜱᴇ, ᴇ, 75ᴋ+

"Wait a minute. You're in my bed, in my house," Rose commented slowly as the bizarreness of the situation sank in. A clock started to chime. She looked around and the room darkened.

"It's not safe here, Rose." His glasses were off and his eyes reflected sadness and fear. "You should really leave."

"You took my tea," she said as the temperature dropped and a chill swept over her.

"I miss tea. It's been a while and you have such a kind smile."

[the---hermit]

The Book Of Lost Things by John Connolly

This is a reread of a book I first read two years ago (and here's the post I wrote at the time which I did not reread but I am linking in case you are curious). After just one read this book made it to my favourites shelf, I adored every single thing about it, and I loved my time reading this novel a second time. This is exactly the type of book I like. It's a dark fantasy with fairytale vibes that have a horror-ish spin to them. I didn't remember how graphic some scenes were, but that just made the contrast with the fairytales even better for me. The story is focused on a boy who is dealing with the grief of losing his mother as well as the anger for his father's new life with a second wife. His grief and anger, as well as his loneliness, make him vulnerable to a creature that lures him into his world. This fairytale like world the main character finds himself in is extremly dark and violent, an obscure forest where days aren't bright and every creature is probably dangerous. The streght of this book in my opinion is how well the author worked in popular fairytales like snow white, and red riding hood. He took all these stories we all know so well and turned them into dark and sometimes even violent aspects of this world, still somehow keeping this fairytale atmosphere. I don't know how he did it but it worked so well. I picked this book up, as it was recommended online as the book that will ruin your childhood's favourite stories in the best way possible, and honestly that is a great way to put it. I also recently found out the author published a second book set in this world, and I cannot wait to put my hands on it. I think this is the perfect book for spooky season, and I highly recommend it.

[sidgeno-ficrecs]

at the mirk and midnight hour by @fanforthefics (StormDancer)

sidgeno (2018, T, 10.9k)

The Fae don't let go of their own. Neither does Geno.

“Three names, and heart enough to hold them all.” She presses her hand in once, then lets him go. “The heart is enough. Heart can bind even the greatest of us.”

“What? Not make—”

“You welcomed me, and so I give you luck in return.” She bows, formal. “Good luck, Evgeni Malkin. To you and your captain.”

There’s a bang, and Evgeni looks away, towards the sound—Flower messing with his goal—then back. She’s gone.

He turns to the rink again. Flower’s fixing his goal, but Sid is staring at him, at where the Fae had been. His skin is snow as he stares, and his eyes are the inside of a tree.

happy spooky season :)

pretty soon here, we're going to have a plethora of fics from @sidgenospookyfest to ready—but i wanted to recommend a few fics that remind me of fall and halloween while we're all impatiently waiting and rushing to meet the deadline!

i love a fic where we dive right into the world these characters exist in, without a lot of setup—as a reader, i enjoy exploring at the pace the author sets to me, and learning more about the setting as we go, and this fic does an excellent job of that. an immediate reference to the fair folk, along with the barest hint that something is Wrong With Sidney right from the jump? excellent, i am so in.

a real highlight of this fic is geno's quiet, steady devotion. he loves sid—adores him—and doesn't think anything could ever happen, but that doesn't cause major angsting or upset. it is what it is, and he's more than happy to spend every day with sid, to bask in the light of his friendship and affection even if it won't ever lead to anything more. it's only when things start to go terribly, terribly sideways that he has no choice but to do something.

this is a gorgeous story. the wordsmithing in this is truly breathtaking, with some turns of phrase i had to pause and reread several times just to let them fully sink in before i was able to move on. the way the author describes the fae closing in, and their impact on sid, is so excellently described that i found myself holding my breath at parts, crossing my fingers and hoping.

and, of course, my hope paid off in a wonderful, dramatic, fairytale ending.

i've revisited this fic many times, whenever i want to read something that's deeply absorbing, emotional, and lovely to read. it's perfect for a quiet evening, when there's a chill in the air and leaves on the ground and you've got a warm beverage at your side.

read it here on ao3!

and don't forget to leave a comment!

[smilesrobotlover]

I’ve read most of the mangas so I think I’m gonna rank them all since nobody asked for it. I haven’t read the tp manga just yet and I’m not including the skyward sword Hyrule hystoria manga for the sake of my sanity (and the mangas that are one story separated into two books are counted as one except for oracle of ages and seasons)

1. Four sword- the characters are so fun and are great to play around with. Shows perfectly how important characters are to a story. They had to give each Link a defining personality different from each other and the way they bounce off each other was just so much fun. Not to mention the dynamic with shadow was interesting and adding a father to Link was also fun to read. And I was fond of this Zelda! A more sweet character but could also roast you if needed. I liked how she fought with her words more than anything else.

2. Oracle of ages- again, great character dynamics and a very interesting story! It wasn’t the damsel in distress trope so it was more refreshing to read than the others. And sir raven is just… a perfect man. Also Impa my beloved

3. Majoras Mask- the way this was written was so beautiful. The weird spookiness from the game was perfectly captured (for this being released without playing the game, that’s impressive) and the story was so… sad yet wonderful. The emphasis on loss and death just kinda makes it somber. And Skull kid’s backstory legitimately makes me want to cry everytime I read it. Poor kid :( the ending was epic too, gosh I loved watching Link put on the FD mask and going ape 💩 cuz of the righteous anger he feels towards majora, and him condemning the Happy mask salesman was also nice. You can tell this Link matured from oot. Also Kafei and Anju were so pure.

4. Oracle of seasons- I really enjoyed the beginning of this! Sometimes the mangas are so short that everything feels incredibly rushed and chaotic but this one was more chill! I mean, we saw Link hang out with the traveling performers for a while, a lot longer than I expected, and it really helped the pacing a lot. I also liked the characters Link hung out with. Ricky, Maple, and the chicken had fun dynamics! Overall, much better pacing than the others.

5. Ocarina of time- this one was pretty great, I loved how Sheik was written, he was the most interesting part of the story imo. I also loved Link, very kind and gentle but sometimes mischievous and just a great guy. Very determined. My only issue is how Zelda was written. I loved her in the beginning wanting to be a normal little girl, but naturally, as any Zelda with an alter ego, she fell short compared to Sheik, who was fantastic. And these stories can’t go 5 seconds without a damsel in distress so. But I liked it! And I liked the side characters! The whole Lon Lon ranch thing was fun too! Also Impa my ABSOLUTE beloved

6. Phantom hourglass- A more simple story but a fun one. Loved Ciela and Linebeck’s dynamic and the style was so fun. Also the ending was better written than the game imo. This is the only licensed Nintendo thing made that didn’t do tetra DIRTY. She was the girlboss she was meant to be, and tho she needed to be saved, she had a much different personality than the other Zelda’s so it felt less redundant. And not to mention, she acted more like a capable captain in the end and it was SO GOOD. I also personally liked that Bellum went after the ocean king, that was a cool scene too see. Shame it ended so quickly. My only issue is not enough Dadbeck 😔

7. Minish cap- this one was pretty fun! But I wasn’t a huuuuge fan of how Link was written. But he was tiny the entire time and it was adorable, and the ending was so bittersweet . Also Minish Vaati was adorable, honestly all the Minish were adorable. There’s just not a lot to say about it tho. Nothing really stuck out to me. Zelda had the same personality as every other Zelda so not much to say about her either.

8. A Link to the Past- not the best story. It’s not a rereadable story and it’s kinda boring. I adore Link’s personality and lbl legend is based after him, but the other characters were more eh. I liked the thief girl a little. But my biggest gripe was Zelda. I feel like Zelda’s in these mangas are all written the same but she’s written differently in a bad way. Apparently she was made more soft for romance but that just made her flat, boring, and also annoying. There were a lot of interesting characteristics to be done with her personality tho, but it wasn’t done. Which is a shame. But I did like the ending. It was very sweet (again, Link is an absolute sweetheart).

[secrettastemakerland]

5, 6, 20, and 29 for ao3 wrapped writer’s edition please!

as you wish <3

5) What work of yours got more feedback then you expected?

aftereffect had a lot of unexpected hype, Chloe even declaring it her fav right out the bat lol and i'm not ungrateful bc i had fun writing it and trying something new but (like the question says) it was really unexpected. writing menma is always gonna be hard i think since we saw A) Really Evil Menma and B) a more Chill Menma (in tenten's infinite tsukuyomi dream) and it's hard to get a right sense of who he really is (to me at least lol) and then when i was reading it the day before posting, i thought it was really bad 🙈 so i was a little worried about posting it but i'm glad i did bc everyone liked it 😆

6) Favorite title you used

either Spooky Season, we could have had everything, or give it a whirl

20) Which work of yours have you reread the most?

confession time: i don't really reread my fics. yes, boo me if you must but i only really read them again after someone's suddenly commented a few days after i posted.

29) Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

i'm gonna cheat again and do two:

"I also have Earl Grey," he pointed out.

"I hate Earl Grey."

"I hate Green tea."

via aftereffect

now you may be wondering secret why are these pathetic little lines your favorite? well. these lines are so real, like real things you could say to anyone, to everyone. and yeah, dialogue is things being said but something about these ones just hit!!! like they are having a conversation!! that i could have!!! if these lines aren't domestic personified then idk what is. ps i am not ashamed to admit i was giggling like a school girl writing these.

And it felt ridiculously cliche and almost something out of a fairytale, sharing stolen kisses from a princess away from prying eyes and virtuous cousins, how perfect it all felt.

via ready or not

okay i just think that this are the most romantic sentence in my entire naruhina career. i really wanted to capture the only two people in the world feeling and i think i can successfully say that i did that. i also really like the imagery aspect of being hidden from prying eyes, kissing like the world depends on it.... i just really like ready or not lol

[darling-archeron]

Hello I have returned! 🧑🏻‍🎄 I hope this past week was good as well! I don’t think i have any more questions regarding the fic except the one below 👀. I’m still working on the outline and will be getting started with writing the actual fic soon! I have to finish some work assignments first before I dedicate all my attention to writing😩

Are you going to want snippets? Nothing spoilery👀 but fun little lines as I go? Or do you want it completely a surprise?

I think it’s perfect timing that Christmas is your fav holiday ngl, hopefully this will be a gift you love! But also happy Halloween!!! 🎃🍬🍭🍫 I think Halloween is probably my favorite, with Christmas as my close second! Winters where I am are pretty mild, I live in a place that doesn’t get any real seasons😅 absolute worst holiday though is Fourth of July ☹️

I love the lentil scene too!!!! But Rhys in acotar in general is so good😌 In Acomaf, I love how his face drops when he picks her up the second time. He goes from being so happy and playful to being terrified for her so fast🥹 idk I guess I like putting Rhys through it and making him suffer a little😅 also her finding out about the bond from the suriel and dropping him off😂 In acowar my favorite is probably also the reunion and the whole fight in winter. I don’t really remember much about Acofas except I did love meeting emerie! And I loved every Valkyrie scene so much in acosf! The other scenes not so much 😬

Song of Achilles broke my heart 😭 I love Greek mythology so much (I was a pjato kid from elementary school onward! It’s where I got started in fanfic☺️) but I don’t know if I could ever reread it💔 the other two are in my reading list!!! I’ve been putting them off for a while while I reread some of my other favorites. I would say what they are but unfortunately I already talk about them a lot on my blog so it will have to wait until after the reveals😅

Have a good next week!!

Hi Santa! Good to hear from you again :) I hear you about being busy, I'm juggling school, work and fandom right now as well! Are you up to any spooky activities this Halloween?

I would love little snippets! <3

You're so lucky that you get mild winters! I spent 10 minutes scraping ice off my car today after a surprise snowstorm, I'm not here for this weather.

I also love to make Rhys suffer a little! Those little angsty moments with him and Feyre are so good. But I always love to give my man a happy ending! :)

Have a great week, Santa!

[baldwinboy5ive]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! This is so amazing! I'm so totally overcome, I can't believe you even thought to do this at all! The trailer is wonderfully spooky, I LOVE IT SO MUCH, there's a swimming pool and the eerily empty dining room, and - AAAHHH! It's so cool! It's so AWESOME that you made this!!! Thank you thank you so much thank you so so so many times!!! I loved that little flash of the hand from The Wolfman! LOVE me a good ol' bipedal werewolf!!!

And now I'm rereading my fic and trying to imagine the whole thing being narrated to me by Peter Stormare, which is pretty damn delightful hahahaha. I think he would do it so perfectly. He would sound so snarky while judging you, the Reader, for trying to romance Eli when clearly he does not want to be romanced by anyone but Demetri, hahaha.

Thank you again for this cool trailer, it's so atmospheric and honestly so perfect. Well, it's actually spookier than my fic really, hahaha, but that just means I wish I did a better job in that regard!

This fic was written between season 6 parts 1 and 2, but I think it still kind of slots in nicely there even in light of having seen part 2 now. Like this weird wacky otherworldly thing happened and everyone goes, "Well, that was weird. Let's not ever talk about that ever again." "Agreed." Hey, they have a karate tournament to go to, after all.

I would be totally honored if anyone would like to check out this fic - link in the original post above! Thank you @asphodel-storm for making this extremely amazing thing that I treasure so much that I have already rewatched it dozens of times, and thank you also to everyone who already took a look at this fic and gave it a chance, I really appreciate you guys all so much!!! I feel a little embarrassed to admit this hahaha but I did put (way too much) work into this, and it is very gratifying and rewarding seeing some folks enjoying this fic!

@baldwinboy5ive wrote an amazing, intricate choose your own adventure fic called Wrong Floor (please check it out it is SO good!). The fandom is Cobra Kai and the genre is slasher. You can die and I did many times before reaching a happy ending. It was a wild ride.

I made this as a gift for Iris/to celebrate the fic! It's a parody of the Until Dawn announcement trailer because reading the fic reminded me so much of games like that.

(warnings: kind of a spoiler, fast cuts, and snakes)

[blysse-and-blunder]

Night of the Living Commonplacebook

halloween ~ 10pm on monday, oct 31, 2022

in the words of your favorite seasonal dubiously scientific monster movies, IT'S ALIVE! that's right gang, this post series lives. i'm resuscitating it, resurrecting it, and maybe myself while i'm at it. building this post up from the skeletons of various incomplete ilcb posts made on earlier sundays in october (16 and 23, specifically), so it's not really halloween themed-- so please imagine there's a nice pumpkiny aroma and/or some spooky music playing as you peruse. and enter, stranger...if you dare.

reading finished or what you will, jo walton, which i began back in august and have mentioned before-- this one was trying Some Things with like, metanarrative and art about art, writing about a writer who was writing, etc. i think i liked those aspects of it more than i did the actual fantasy bits-- or, really, i liked the narrator's voice and role the most when he was at his most abstract. love to have been right when they finally reveal his name (but how could it really have been anyone else?) i liked the random victorian characters, dolly and tish, and the historical-fantasy meditations on firenze/florence, but the story-within-a-story reminded me of margaret atwood's the blind assassin in a way and kiiiiind of just made me want to go reread that? the meditations on a middle-aged woman's life, her past, canada in the 80s, whatever, that was all fun and also...very atwoody. i picked this book at random from my library's available jo walton e-books, and picked her more or less at random as one of a few welsh authors from a list on the storygraph reading wales challenge (which i thought i'd try but it's looking bleak as to whether i'll finish before the year is up). i didn't realize this but she's actually sort of a big name in fantasy, a bit? anyway there's an actual vox piece about this book, which i'm just now finding.

also finished the traitor baru cormorant but i don't actually think i can talk about it. the first chapter of this book might be one of the most perfect first chapters i've ever read, foreshadowing at the same time as it's hitting this incredible elegiac / retrospective tone, and everything that comes after is much more chaotic and hard (for me) to describe. it was...nice to realize that there was a plot reason for the narrative distance i noticed early on, even though it's a hard reason to accept. i think it meant i was also holding myself at a narrative distance from this one, so...in a way i guess i relate to baru over that. also finished a desolation called peace which i LOVED, no holds barred, which swept me along and made the eleven hours i spent reading it (libby keeps track of your pace, helpfully) feel like absolutely nothing at all. i loved all the narrators, i loved that we got more of mahit and yskandr while also having each of those new voices, i love three seagrass so! much! her particular form of blithe, hyper intelligent and hyper competent and perpetually-excited energy, she ends so many of her pov observations with an exclamation point! which you'd think would grate eventually but somehow never did. i also...love cure, the little spy, and would like to give him a hug please. i love the names in this series, fuck. i love swarm! i love that this novel made me look up the scientific name for the hibiscus, and hoot and holler when it is, in fact, mallow!

this is a long-ass reading section (that's what happens when i let myself accumulate a ~back log~ so i'll note for the record that i also finally finally finished the raven tower (ann leckie) and chocolate (joanne harris) and will maybe write more about them soon. placeholder.

watching andor! but i'm not caught up. lower decks! but i'm not caught up. my housemates and i stormed through the newest series of the bbc show ghosts which was excellent, and has definitely left themselves room for a next series (fingers crossed). we also began a ted lasso rewatch, because it's fall and E hasn't seen it (it's basically a prerequisite for living here, at this point). but the real entry here is for the new league of their own series, of which i've only seen the first three episodes, but which has so far made me deliriously happy even though i have had to Much to Discuss with various friends about it. shoutout to lupe, since i am afeared for her (nothing like seeing a tough character scared, her eyes on the mound in the last episode live in my head rent free) and also sort of understand that her appearances might be numbered for plot reasons. between her, max, and greta, is it like...warm in here? a little? just me?

listening hoisting myself out of a music rut with some intentional listening, mainly to the two big album releases of the last few weeks-- not to pit two bad bitches against each other, as the saying goes, but it's been crj vs t-swift and luckily the real winner here is me. both the loneliest time and midnights are...fine! they're fine. they've got moments i like, moments that i've found underwhelming, neither has really hit me where i live in the way i was sort of hoping, but as far as background bops and thematic soundtracks, they're both fine. i think, like with many things on the first listen, i will simply find i like things more, the more familiar with them i become. i will admit to having had antihero stuck in my head at least once, and will similarly drop in carly rae's no thinking over the weekend here because, yeah that's the goal!

i also saw basia bulat live last weekend, after hemming and hawing for days about whether i should go when i hadn't Earned the ticket by Doing the Work I Promised Myself I Would-- do self-imposed rewards and penalties ever work? no? but it turned out okay, i accomplished the thing and this was a very memorable and restorative little escape, it was really cool to experience the full band (and to feel how much more present the drumkit was live, than it is on the recordings-- maybe they let the percussionist juice it a bit--it made some songs i was meh about actually so much better?), the arrangements rocked while keeping the full string quartet as well. swoon. another thing you don't get from spotify, her smile is radiant. her joy in performing is radiant.

playing the second dnd campaign is ramping up in a very cool way, as in, we are in a murder dungeon that is based on historical events which i the player know about (having read devil in the white city) and which i keep making metaphorical eye-contact with @dimir-charmer about but which my sweet lil character can't avoid because she doesn't have that advantage! they let me tune in just over voice chat one night when i had maybe!food poisoning and folks, there's just something special about hearing voices of people you trust yell about a spooky situation!

making i baked like three dozen pumpkin cookies this weekend, many of which will come with me into my department for the weekly wednesday Bake Off (i don't expect to get points but it'll be nice to show up with something to share), plus i cobbled together two different versions of a black cape + black vest + black ram/devil horns + big makeup halloween Look for my social engagements this weekend and was even rewarded with a giftcard to Nationwide Bookstore Chain. keeping up my spotty but much prized tradition of placing in costume contests, begun in second grade-- i love this silly holiday.

working on now that i have Speaking Engagements 1 and 2 out of the way (october has been...fun! like actually fun. minor panics here and there.), hello children it's chapter time. the thing about it is, no one explains to you how to write a chapter? or what it should look like? i have various meetings and prof lunch / coffee / zoom chats lined up all week to try and sort out how to turn all of the stuff i've been saying in public into...written work than can count for my term progress and also someday a dissertation maybe.

[enigmaticxbee]

✖️✖️✖️ 9x06 Trust No 1

The one where... someone (actually John Locke from LOST) has been surveilling Mulder and Scully for years and gets Scully to summon Mulder home (via email at an Internet cafe - remember those) but then things go wrong on the train platform and Mulder’s train doesn’t stop 😩

Tagline: They’re Watching

Best: The whole cold open is lovely - from the music (Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons, Op.37b: VI. June) to the black and white images of Mulder and Scully in moments mundane and meaningful throughout the show to Scully’s words to William: One day, you’ll ask me to speak of a truth - of the miracle of your birth. To explain what is unexplained. And if I falter or fail on this day, know there is an answer, my child, a sacred imperishable truth, but one you may never hope to find alone. Chance meeting your perfect other, your perfect opposite - your protector and endangerer. Chance embarking with this other on the greatest of journeys - a search for truths fugitive and imponderable. If one day this chance shall befall you, my son, do not fail or falter to seize it. The truths are out there. And if one day you should behold a miracle, as I have in you, you will learn the truth is not found in science, or on some unseen plane, but by looking into your your heart. And in that moment you will be blessed - and stricken. For the truest truths are what hold us together, or keep us painfully, desperately apart. Frank Spotnitz gets it.

Worst: I will never forgive the show for making me (and Scully) think we would get to see Mulder. I knew he wasn’t coming back for good - but it made me think we were getting a surprise cameo and getting my hopes up like that was just Mean.

❌ Flashlights

❌ Woods/Desert

❌ Slideshow

✔️ Autopsy

✔️ Evidence Disappears

❌ Scully Misses It

✔️ Mulder Ditch (I hold this one against the show, not Mulder)

❌ Sunflower Seeds

✔️ Voiceover: Scully intro VO

✔️ Catch Phrase: Scully (TTIOT) & Mulder (TNO)

❌ Scully is a Medical Doctor

❌ Mulder is Spooky

✔️ Muullllderrrr! (when she yells at the train 😭)

❌ Fox/Dana

❌ Inappropriate Touching (that I am here for)

✔️ Casual Scully

❌ Casual Mulder

❌ Trench Coats

❌ Bad Tie Watch

❌ Glasses Watch

✔️ Taking! It! Personally!: Scully

50 States: DC x90 (44/50) - unclear where the other locations were

Investigate: Apart 😭😭😭

Solve Rate: 83%

✔️ Bechdel Test

MSR: 🐝🐝🐝🐝

Goriness: 👽👽

Creepiness: 👽👽👽

Humor: 👽

Rewatch Thoughts:

William check-in: So now we’ve got either Mulder or William must die situation set up 😬

Missing Mulder: Dearest Dana. I can’t even explain to you how much this bothered me during the original run. I’ve pretty much gotten over it, but it felt SO out of character - was this a secret code or something?? But he’s called her Dana before in personal, emotional moments. And he’s feeling lonely and missing her and they’re still navigating a change in their relationship where they can acknowledge what they mean to each other finally. I just wish it wasn’t a complete switch over to Dana, that it had been thrown in there once and the other times he called her Scully, maybe then it wouldn’t feel so jarring.

I love their email usernames - I mean, they’re first thought, but perfect: trust_no1@mail.com (mail.com?!) and queequeg0925@hotmail.com

Would going to an internet cafe in her neighborhood really have provided any protection over her own home computer? 🧐 That was her email account (it said Welcome Dana Scully) not a secret account or anything. In season 7 in En Ami CSM was intercepting emails to her and responding as her!! Be better at subterfuge you two!

SHE PRINTED IT OUT so she could carry his email around with her and reread it 😭

She needs a mom friend 🥺 But didn’t the whole Per Manum episode (and the Essence episode and and and) teach her anything?? I guess it turns out the couple was telling the truth but we never see Patti and her super-daughter again 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s funny, for characters that we’ve seen surveilled at home and work multiple times they always seem shocked - and it is a huge violation! But shouldn’t they be expecting it by now? In fic they’re always getting the Gunmen to sweep their apartments for bugs but the show doesn’t seem to have thought of that lol

The sequence where she’s following his series of instructions is really good and tense.

I hope her phone was fully charged... because she apparently drove west for an entire day (woken up by the phone at 6am, drives until dark) - where do we think she was supposed to be? West Virginia? Kentucky? (Also unclear where that quarry at the end was supposed to be because there isn’t one by that name in that area, but someplace less than an hour outside of DC.)

I don’t know if CC really intended for the one lonely night story to be true (probably, knowing CC, he would only let them sleep together once for the purpose of William) but I think you can read Scully’s reaction as in response to that violation even if they only caught them one of multiple times.

Her hint of a smile as she tells Doggett she’s sent for Mulder 😭

Scully: I wanna see him so bad. 😭😭😭

I like her coat and scarf at the train station. She looks so nice for her thwarted reunion with Mulder 😭

Mrs Landingham! And Mallory also from The West Wing, that’s funny.

Of course Locke is magnetited before he can give her any answers about William 🙄

I will never not think What the fuck is magnetite?! 😂 Thank you Paley Center.

[thepartyresponsible]

Hey, could you perhaps label the chapters with their prompt? I find myself rereading your previous and now whumptober works and I don't have the chapter memorized :(

I do think, in general, you should just post the prompts separate no matter how short they are. It's puts off a lot of people to see the wall of tags, and your works are well built enough to stand alone! That's more my opinion though!

hi, anon! thanks for the advice! i think you're right about these fics doing better as standalones. i received a few similar asks last year, and i want to explain why i post whumptober the way i do.

before tumblr banned explicit content, i posted whumptober/spooky season here. usually, when i post something on ao3, it's complete. i might write a sequel, but i won't introduce new characters or decide what i really wanted was more vampires. tumblr was more of a sandbox, more of a "this is what i have now, but who knows what it'll look like when i'm done."

when tumblr stopped being an option, i lost my rehearsal space, but i don't actually consider any of the whumptober fics to be complete. two of the fics from last year have been expanded and re-posted as standalones. two or three from this year probably will, as well. ao3 has a much wider audience and a much longer memory, so i'm not entirely comfortable posting these on ao3, but it's what i have.

it's breakfast time for me, so here's a bakery metaphor: when i post a standalone on ao3, i've made a cake for a party. it's as fancy as i can make it, i've spent as much time on it as i'm going to spend, and i want as many people as possible to see it and try it. whumptober is a tin of a cookies i've made for my friends. these cookies aren't perfect, there's some weird stuff in there, and i've tried a few recipes that i won't try again, but they're gifts i've made for people i like. i am not prepared for the whole of ao3 to descend on these cookies and tell me they hate raisins and i should've added more nutmeg. it's my favorite month. i'm trying to have a good time. i like not having to spend time arguing with myself over titles and summaries. i like the smaller audience of people who already know they like what i write. i like checking in multiple times (sometimes daily!) with the same people.

so i won't be posting these as separate fics, but i've never thought of including the prompts in chapter titles. that's a great idea. i'll do that going forward. i'm certainly not trying to make it difficult for you to track down a fic you like. i'm just trying to find a way to get all these weird, spooky, whumpy, works-in-progress cookies to my friends.

[popatochisssp]

In honor of the spooky season, what costumes do you think the new boys would wear? I just reread your Halloween drabbles from last year, and they are adorable!

For spooky season, I suppose I have no choice...!

Ash (Undergloom Sans): Most likely to be spotted wearing a skeleton onesie, minimal effort, maximal comfort, and c’mon, a skeleton dressed as a skeleton? The people love it and he barely had to try at all, it’s perfect. He’ll probably also get some use out of it after Halloween, too, if it’s cozy enough, so that’s just even more bang for his buck on this.

Yrus (Undergloom Papyrus): He’s too shy to go really big or goofy on a costume, so it’s subtle. Most people are definitely gonna miss it, too, because the khakis and glasses and pin-striped button-up aren’t at all out of line with the kind of things he usually wears, and even the loose dark tie he has on isn’t too out of the ordinary. ... Well! He was going for Evelyn Carnahan/O’Connell, from The Mummy, so don’t tease him for not wearing a costume!

Brick (Horrorfell Sans): Oh you know he’s going for the Grim Reaper--spooky, classic, and low effort all in one. He definitely accessorizes the cloak and scythe with a terrible plastic skull mask, so if anyone has a comment about how cheap it is, he can flick it up and mouth ‘boo’ to freak out anybody who wasn’t expecting to see a real skull under the fake one.

King (Horrorfell Papyrus): If he’s going to do it at all, he’s going to do it right. If you’ve seen The Conjuring 2, you’re definitely going to recognize his Crooked Man costume--his height and proportions actually make it quite unsettling to look at him for very long when he’s dressed up like that, and the sharp teeth in his smile and exaggeration of his movements if he catches someone’s eyes lingering on him just make it creepier. He’s having fun! >:)

Merc (Horrorswap Sans): He’s going as Spock, this one wasn’t even in question. He loves sci-fi, loves Star Trek, he’s literally doing the whole Vulcan non-emotion thing right now (while he’s sorting his DT out), of course he’s going as Spock. He’s 50-50 on whether or not he’ll attempt to stick some fake pointy ears on his skull with some spirit gum, but the science blues and a little shimmer of eye-shadow over his sockets for extra authenticity are a sure thing.

Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus): He’s going niche, but he knows it’s niche, and he doesn’t really care if anybody gets it or not. He’s definitely gonna get a lot of all over the place guesses--leather jacket, fatigues, a cowboy hat???--but unless you’re a special kind of nerd who’s into cult horror classics, R.J. MacReady is going to go right over your head. The Thing is probably his favorite film, and he’s a little proud of being able to stump people over it, but if you do somehow manage to guess his costume, he’s delighted to talk about it with you ad nauseam and may even suggest a watch of it right then and there.

Pitch (Horrorswapfell Sans): He’ll go as Daredevil, the Masked Man version from the Netflix show. It’s easy to throw together, comfortable to wear, and anybody who already knows him will make the connection. Those who don’t already know him... well, he can have a little fun messing with them, especially if they just so happen to ask how he can see through that mask--he’s going the extra mile for authenticity, you see! Plus, besides all that, he knows he looks good in black and he doesn’t mind an opportunity to flaunt that.

Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus): A plague doctor costume is right up his alley. It’s spooky in the spirit of the season, nobody will harp on him for being quiet on account of the mask over his face, and there’s a little built-in distance people tend to take when you’re covered up head to toe, dressed like that. Participation of the holiday, plus increased levels of comfort, socially, for him--it’s a win-win.

Sunny (Gastertale Sans): He probably cycled through a dozen fun and goofy ideas, but then forgot about Halloween altogether until the last minute and had to scramble to get something together in time. Luckily, his...unique...fashion sense made it pretty easy to pull an unnervingly accurate Marty McFly costume out of his closet in about fifteen minutes, and then he got to spend the rest of the pre-Halloween week working on his accessories. ...Ask him if his hoverboard works. :)

Aster (Gastertale Papyrus): He decided on simple and classic, nothing especially unique or extravagant, but he put time and work into pulling it all together. By the time he debuts his custom-made Ghostbuster costume, he looks like he could’ve stepped right out of the actual movie. ...Ask him if his proton pack works. :)

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

finally fall book tag

@wormwoodandhoney had an open tag so I’m jumping in even though it’s spring where I am :p

1. In fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting! Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero had an amazing sense of place with its spooky, small-town setting and the burnt out mansion on the island in the middle of the lake...

2. Nature is beautiful… but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (my edition was translated by Ebba Segerberg). it’s the most gorgeously written, atmospheric, haunting novel I’ve ever read but for the love of all that’s good and holy, check the content warnings because it’s also the darkest, goriest, most violent novel I’ve ever read

3. Fall is back to school season: share a non-fiction book that taught you something new.  Growing Up Disabled in Australia, edited by Carly Findlay, taught me so much about disability history in Australia. this beautiful nonfiction anthology should be required reading for every nurse, doctor, carer, teacher and politician in the country.

4. In order to keep warm, it’s good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you’d like to be a part of.  the years come and go but after all this time I’d still love to hang out with the Baudelaires and the Quagmires at Prufrock Prep...

5. The colourful leaves are piling up on the ground: show us a pile of fall-colored spines! [skip]

6. Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story.  Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis! I’d love to see more people reading her novels 👀

7. The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read.  Horrid by Katrina Leno! a dilapidated mansion, family secrets, sign me up

8. The days are getting colder: name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody’s cold and rainy day.  Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan, an oldie but a goodie. I find most of his books incredibly comforting

9. Fall returns every year: name an old favourite that you’d like to return to soon.  I think I want to try rereading the Vampire Academy books next year and then dive in to the Bloodlines series. maybe one a month?

10. Fall is the perfect time for cozy reading nights: share your favourite cozy reading “accessories”! the cat, my slippers, Maltesers and an old favourite movie or TV show <3

I’ll leave this an open tag too so people can join in as they please!

[annacoleman]

tag 9 people to learn more about their interests!

tagged by @juliansbaker, thank you!!!💖

MUSIC

fave genre? pop punk / whatever warped tour had going on

fave artist? the maine

fave song? (un) lost - the maine is my all-time, but current is dirty, pretty, beautiful / anxiety in real time (both also by the maine)

most listened song recently? everytime we touch - cascada (lmao)

song currently stuck in your head? malibu - miley cyrus

5 fave lyrics? the world is ours but for a flash, and you are not allowed to be anybody else. control what you can, confront what you can’t, and always remember how lucky you are to have yourself ( (un) lost - the maine ) / call me spineless but at least I’ve got a heart between my lungs ( winter - pvris ) / it’s only just the weight of the world, not the end of it, you know? ( if your light goes out - the maine ) / I think it’s time you had a pink cloud summer, ‘cause you’ve gone too long without a smile. I think it’s time you found another reason to stay for a while ( daylily - movements ) / modernity has failed us, and I’d love it if we made it ( love it if we made it - the 1975 ) 

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

fav book genre? young adult fiction.

fav writer? leigh bardugo

fav book? crooked kingdom - leigh bardugo

fav book series? six of crows duology

comfort book? anna and the french kiss - stephanie perkins

perfect book to read on a rainy day? anything spooky or cute (depends on my mood)

fave characters? nina zenik!!!!!!!!💖

5 quotes from your fave book that you know by heart? the only iconic one I can think of right now is “no mourners. no funerals.”

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fave tv/movie genre? for tv - 2000s teen dramas/comedies/crime shows, for movies - comedies/rom-coms

fave movie? the perks of being a wallflower

comfort movie? high school musical 2/3, hairspray, lemonade mouth

movie you watch every year? hairspray, the high school musical series, usually star wars too (re-watching rn actually)

fave tv show? one tree hill, chicago pd, teen wolf, degrassi: the next generation, the office, the vampire diaries, and gossip girl

comfort tv show? one tree hill

most rewatched tv show? one tree hill for sure, also friends, and the first 4 seasons of the vampire diaries.

5 fave characters? brooke davis (and most of the oth cast), terri macgregor, isaac lahey, tyler lockwood, and antonio dawson

tv shows or movie | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

tagging: @janackermns, @natanscott, @maxfenig, @naiey, @sashafierce, @neve-campbells, @sirrgwaine, @riviageralts, @glitterandsummerdaze. @stilestilinskies  (only if you want to ofc!)

[karnsteinreview]

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Carmilla on Goodreads

Release Year: 1872

Format I Read: audio dramatization (previously read the ebook)

Length: 2h 22m

Genres: Horror, Gothic, Vampires

This review is going to be a little different.

Since we’re in the midst of spooky season and Halloween is less than a week away as I’m writing this, I decided now would be a good time to reread and discuss this book. The fact that audible is giving away a dramatization of this book for subscribers also helped, and though I’ve read Carmilla before, the dramatization is the version I went with for the reread. The dramatization is really good, all the actors are wonderful and Rose Leslie in particular really said gay rights with her performance.

Carmilla is a book that I’m always surprised by the people who do know what it is and the people who don’t. I feel like it has gotten a lot more recognition over the past few years with the web series of the same name being pretty popular among internet gays, but even some people who watched that web series didn’t realize that it was based on a novella from the 1800s (though it said as much in the credits).

In case you don’t know, Carmilla is a novella that revolves around a young woman named Laura who lives in Styria with her father, and under weird circumstances they take in a house guest: Carmilla, a girl who appears to be of a similar age as Laura. Assumptions can be made when I say that this is a vampire story, and its ones that predates Dracula by several decades. It’s also very gay and the namesake of this very blog you’re reading now.

I don’t think spoilers really ruin the book, and I think a lot of the “spoilers” that I’m going to discuss are rather obvious, but here is your one and only spoiler warning. Normally I’d be more careful, but as I said, this is a different sort of review.

Given that I named my blog Karnstein Review, after the Duchess Karnstein herself, it should be fairly obvious that I adore this book. It’s a book I knew at least hinted at some sort of sapphic relationship between Laura and Carmilla, but when I’d first read it, I assumed it would just be hints. And subtle hints at that. It was written in the 1870s, after all. Well, it’s very very very gay. I’m not sure how else to describe it other than that. The gayness is not only overt, they blatantly discuss love and romance and kiss each other. It’s a lot more than I expected from a 19th book.

But, I also have to acknowledge that it is a 19th century book about a lesbian, and it’s one written by a man nonetheless. Things don’t end well for Carmilla and Laura’s relationship, and there’s pretty intense judgement on any kind of sexual feelings, much less sexual feelings between two women. The message that Carmilla’s seduction of Laura is wrong and immoral is as blatant as her seduction of Laura is. So why do I like this book so much?

Well, for one thing, I’ve always been a sucker for vampire stories (my god I only realized that pun after I wrote it). I think that a lot of queer people who grew up with religious backgrounds are drawn to vampires and vampire stories, and there’s a reason for that. Particularly with these older stories like Carmilla and Dracula, one of the major themes of vampire stories is sexual fear, desires, and moralizing about those things. Vampires represent something that we are told is dangerous. Something that can kill us and even hurt our very soul. Vampires will seduce you and take something from you that you need to live a normal happy life. They may even steal your salvation. In Carmilla when I was rereading it, I noted that her need for blood is never described as thirst or hunger. It’s called lust, specifically “lust for living blood.” Many who grew up with feelings for people of the same gender have been told similar things about those feelings. Vampires are those feelings. And these vampire stories were often written specifically to express and moralize about sexual feelings. Of course vampire stories are attractive to us.

With Carmilla the sexual moralizing plain, and it would definitely not be something I let fly in a modern book, but there’s something strangely familiar about it here. The book is told from Laura’s perspective, and she herself described her confusing and intense feelings for Carmilla. She’ll say she’s in love with Carmilla and repulsed by Carmilla in the same sentence and it doesn’t feel like a lie either time. She’ll be clearly very troubled by Carmilla’s overt flirtation and courting, but also keep doing things that put her close to Carmilla. She’ll keep flirting back and keep acknowledging the feelings that she has. It’s paradoxal, but it’s a familiar feeling. It’s someone just realizing that they have feeling for someone of their same gender and being very, very troubled by what that means. Laura’s words and thoughts feel very familiar to me, and I don’t think that J. Sheridan Le Fanu was purposely trying to accurately portray my own gay panic, yet he definitely did.

I don’t think that Carmilla is the perfect story. I keep imagining all the ways in which I’d like to rewrite it, which all involve me just giving Carmilla and Laura a happy ending, but I think it’s an important to the history of gay fantasy and horror. I also think that it’s a story that can still mean a lot and speak to queer people today, as evidenced by the very popular web series adaptation of it. It’s a book I would happily suggest, but it’s also a book I’d suggest you know what it is going in. It’s a lesbian vampire story written in the 1800s, and all the implications that come with that are true.

[lazybakerart]

I know how you feel. I get that feeling often. I feel like that right now. But it’s okay to feel that way. I’ve come to think of it as your brain telling you that you need to take care of yourself in some way. It’s okay to take time out for yourself without the pressure of producing something. This is gonna sound like one of those help articles but genuinely these things help me when I feel brain off and soul hollow creatively.

If you don’t feel like reading something new, reread a favorite you’ll always finish. Doodle or write out a “silly” idea you’ve had just for yourself without caring if it’s perfect, or don’t—imagine out all those scenes. It’s okay to just let your mind play and wander. Explore new music. I find dance and short exercise sessions helpful too. If you love the spooky season like I do, enjoy it! Think of anything but the act of writing. Repeat as long as necessary.

It'll be all right. <3 This feeling will go away. It always does, whether it's the next day or the next year. Take the time you need and recharge yourself. You're a great writer and a great artist, and not churning out new stuff every week changes that.

thank you for the suggestions!! :D i'm sorry you experience the same thing too, it's really very frustrating! i have ideas but i can't get any of them out of me. trying to force it has gotten me nowhere. 

you're right! i just gotta get out of my own head. do something different. hit restart on the old noggin.

[myassbrokethefall]

1, 4 and 5.

1. Do you relate more to Mulder or Scully?

I love the hell out of my beautiful wide-eyed impulsive baby Mulder, but I am a definite Scully. I’m reserved and cautious and I need evidence. I think I have more of a Mulder sense of humor though. 

4. If you read fic, what is a story you’ve reread many times?

Machines of Freedom. Once I start rereading it I have a hard time stopping. Forever Season 10 in my heart. 

5. Who do you think started having romantic thoughts about the other first, Mulder, or Scully?

Hmmm. First started having thoughts? This is a tougher call than I would have expected. 

I’m gonna go with Scully. I think she walked in there and was like, holy fuck, THIS dreamboat is Spooky Mulder? What the whatttt ok ok be cool Dana, be cool. PROFESSIONAL. OK. He’s asking me about extraterrestrials what the actual...science science science. YOU CAN DO THIS. EYES ON THE PRIZE, GIRLFRIEND. Oh shit he is...so handsome. And he’s also funny? And sensitive? Fuckkk

I don’t think Mulder was far behind though. I think it took him, like, at least five minutes to get over his defensiveness and be like, who is this little perfect science person??? What do i dooooo