#but definitely reading the darren shan books again when I have time

[dreamlandcreations]

I'm so happy you're reading the Murtagh book!! I swear every time I open one of the Inheritance series books I get transported back to when I was 11, it's such a good feeling 😊

If you are planning on writing something about him I would most definitely die of happiness. No pressure of course, there's just so little out there for him and he and Thorn deserve the world.

I was so happy to see gifs and mentions of him pop up on my dash I had to run over and say something. Hope you're having a good day!! ❤️❤️❤️

Hi! 🤗

I'm really slow with this one tbh 🙈 I get angry every time my poor baby is hurt(ing himself) and I have to stop for a while 🙈

SAME! I started to think what were my faves back then, and now my bookshelves are a mess bc I started to look but I got sidetracked and decided to reorganize 🙈🙈🙈

I have at least one fic in me... I think... or rather one base idea but I've got mini ideas as I get further into the book and the mini ideas are starting to get contradicting so maybe there's gonna be more here when I finish it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also Thorn is such a kitten he deserves his own little blurb 🥺🥰

Anyway, I'm making GIFs now bc there are not enough of them on here! 😤

Thank you for dropping in, hope you have a good day too 🥰

[jasminedragonart]

I don't want to get EXCITED excited yet but one of my favourite book series from when i was a kid is getting its own tv show/ maybe movie.

It's early days and it's not a renowned film company that's took it but I will still sign up to watch it when it comes out.

That being said I am now going to gush about this book series because this literally shaped my childhood.

I don't know what people's experience with young adult horror is but Darren Shan's Demonata series reshaped everything for me.

I remember being young, in secondary school (year 7 I think) and being invited to those free book fairs that they sometimes have. For some reason Wolf Island, the ninth book in the series was on the table. Now, I have always been interested in werewolves and vampires and everything supernatural, I literally spent all of my year nine years reading twilight on my morning and lunch breaks because it was twilight and that was the hype back then. So, naturally, when I saw that cover of a werewolf with a half man half wolf face I had to pick it up.

I read it in like a week, and it was... confusing. But I liked it. I really liked it.

Then I found out it was the ninth book in a series and I had that lightbulb moment that this was the reason I didn't understand half of what was going on. I set about buying the rest of the books and reading them.

My first read around I skipped the second and fourth books in the series. In my opinion even now when I go to read the series I always skip them because I'm more interested in Grub's story than I am theirs. That being said when I did read the second and fourth books I did enjoy them, they were fun and I thought that if they were maybe just like extras instead of actually joining into the main plot I would have probably read them after I finished reading the others and not avoided them the first read around.

Now, onto the good stuff.

So I, as an adult, have been putting off rereading the Demonata series because they are for younger readers and I was afraid they wouldn't hold up. This is slightly true and it's making me wary of reading the vampire series (which I also read as a child but didn't enjoy as much as this one.) My main issues with these books are how they're written. Darren Shan has a very interesting writing style that often feels like it's third person even if it's told from a first person perspective. His sentence structure is short and snappy and oftentimes will be the odd word that works in some parts but not in others.

It's not bad. But it does sometimes bother me when I'm reading. Again, this is because I'm older and reading this. For kids, this is great. It works and it makes the books easy to read. I literally finished the first and third book in like a day because of this.

Another gripe I have is that after the fifth book the series kind of goes down hill. It's fine. But, like the vampire series I don't think Darren Shan had a definitive end for these series and ended up cobbling something together to maybe satisfy whatever time frame he had been given to write these books in.

But, again, it's a fine series and the first, third and fifth books are amazing.

I don't want to get too into it because I don't want to spoil anything if you do want to go and read it. All I will say is that it is an extremely interesting take on the werewolf myth. Also, magic and demons and, it's so good and I'm very excited.

Also, if they even end up making another Cirque Du Freak movie I think that would be cool too. I did see the one they made but I think it would have worked better as a series than a movie. Too much happens to whittle it down to an hour and a half and also Darren is like 12.

But the Demonata series could easily be movies and I... if they made Slawter a movie I would actually scream from the meta take of it all.

[supercantaloupe]

SO happy you rbed that book rec ask meme again, i was afraid i'd missed it: 1, 3, 8, 13, 22, 27, 28, 37, 43, 55, 61, 131? 💞🌺

aw jack 💖🥺 admittedly some of these questions are about genres i don't really read but i'll do my best!

1. a book that is close to your heart - listen i know Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is cringe or whatever but middle school me ate that shit up. i'm still very fond of it and a lot of what it has to say -- namely its optimism re: human connection/friendship through the internet and unashamed & nostalgic fan culture

3. a stand-alone that you wish was part of a series - none come to mind; when a book is well written, imo, it has an ending satisfying enough to stand alone. more often i find myself wanting to read more similar standalone books by the same author than i do wanting to read a direct continuation of a single book into a series; see all of Andy Weir's space novels (The Martian, Artemis, and Project Hail Mary) as an example.

8. a book you finished in one sitting - Project Hail Mary! okay, not technically one sitting, but pretty much. i finished it within 24 hours and loved it

13. your favorite romance novel - not much of a romance reader tbh! i suppose i still have a fondness for John Green YA from middle school. The Fault in Our Stars, if i must pick something overtly romantic, but i do prefer Paper Towns, if you'll allow me to stretch what "romantic" means in terms of a book's plot

22. your favourite thriller - i don't really know exactly what constitutes a thriller in a book? i don't really read these. does Moby Dick count? i liked moby dick

27. a book with a purple cover - God Bless You Mr. Rosewater again! love me some vonnegut. (my copy is purple, i think other editions have different covers tho)

28. a book you wish you could read as a beginner again - "beginner" i'll assume here means "for the first time". i kind of wish i could go back to elementary school and relive reading Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak series again. i tore through all twelve books. i think if i tried to revisit them now it would lack a lot of what i now look for in a book, but i remember the series so fondly as a kid

37. your favourite heist book - another genre i don't read much of. it's been ages since i read this series, but i remember enjoying Gail Carriger's Finishing School series. if i recall correctly at least one of the four books (likely more) had heists in them. also i haven't read it yet since i literally just got it but there's a book called Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth that's about two guys who try to steal all the chickens from an egg farm? i'll keep you posted if it's any good lmao

43. a book that you have read more than three times - The Martian my beloved 💖💖💖

55. a book with a satisfying ending - i really like how The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood ends (which is part of why i haven't bothered reading its recent sequel yet, lol). i have a feeling my definition of a "satisfying ending" is not the same as everyone else's, though, lmao

61. your favourite horror novel - yet another genre i don't read much of. i do remember reading this one book called H2O by Virginia Bergin in middle school. it's about an apocalypse in which all the water on earth (save for sealed ccontainers) becomes infected with a deadly parasite and it fucked me up and stayed with me since.

131. recommend any book you like! - The Anthropocene Reviewed! John Green's latest book, a collection of essays on various things as viewed through a human lens, each rated on a 5-star scale. shockingly heartfelt. highly recommend!

[ask meme]

[blurrypetals]

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer - blurrypetals review

originally posted aug. 12, 2020 - ★★★★☆

My O.G. shitlord lives. My relationship with Twilight is a long and complicated thing. Without getting into it too much, I kind of sort of fell in love with reading because of this series. I was in the seventh grade in 2007, when a friend of mine recommended the first book to me and, like many others of the time, I was instantly hooked. It was the biggest book I'd ever read by myself without the help of my mom reading it out loud like she did with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Because of Twilight, I got into authors like Scott Westerfeld, Darren Shan, and, the granddaddy of all my favorite authors, Christopher Moore. The first book is still, to this day, the novel I've read the most times, sitting pretty at 5 whole times, which isn't even taking into the account the dozens of times I've skimmed the pages, memorizing the pages, the chapters titles... My enchantment with the series died a quiet death about a year and a half later, in 2008, when the final book in the series came out and, a few months after that, the movie adaptation came out, silencing just about any enthusiasm I might have had left in me for the series as a whole. That said, any time Stephenie Meyer has released something new, be it Twilight related or not, I've always picked it up. Apart from The Chemist, which I just haven't gotten to, I read the Bree book in 2009, I read the strange and incredibly ridiculous Life and Death in 2015, and I watched every movie adaptation as they came out, even though most of them brought me great pain. I pay respects to the roots my reading habits were born from and sometimes it's fun to revisit this ridiculous melodrama. So that all brings us to May 2020, right? Sort of! Another thing that killed my love of the series was the Great Midnight Sun Leak of 2008. When those first 12 chapters were leaked back then, I read them, and, besides The Host, I felt it was the best thing Stephenie had ever written. It was fun, Edward made for a more interesting protagonist. Its biggest problem was that it just wasn't finished. And now we're in 2020! One of the worst years on record and May hits us with what I consider to truly be a gift: We're finally getting Midnight Sun. It's finally finished. Our nostalgia fodder is on its way. So what do I think about it now that it's finally here? I fucking love it, man! Besides The Host, it is still the best thing Stephenie Meyer has ever written and it was an absolute joy to read. I think this book is kind of a genius move on Stephenie's part, as it inoffensively and canonically adds context and breathes new life into the first book. Twilight as a book is now better for having this book as a companion. I honestly wasn't sure I could ever bring myself to fangirl over anything Twilight-related ever again in my life, but my god the extra things, all the things Edward and the rest of the Cullens got up to when they weren't around Bella were all fucking great! There is a part earlier in the novel where Edward observes through his mind-reading powers that Ben and Angela each have crushes on one another but they don't really have the guts to ask the other person out, so in their Spanish class they have with Ben, Emmett asks Edward very loudly if he's asked Angela Weber out yet, and it gets Ben to finally ask Angela out and it's so fucking cute and the things it did to my heart made me think I was 12 again. There are also a lot of lovely flashbacks, including a scene about Edward's first Christmas with Carlisle that very nearly evoked a couple of tears from me. This book was honestly the medicine I needed for the ailment that is 2020 as a year. It also made me ache in a certain way I wasn't expecting, but it was because I enjoyed this book and its nostalgia that I began to wish for something I haven't wished for so deeply since I was 14 years old: I wished Breaking Dawn was a different story. Breaking Dawn is what dealt the heaviest blow to my enjoyment of the series, and my severe hatred of that book stems from many areas: the creepy half-vampire baby, the truly horrific pregnancy Bella goes through, the fact that it kind of sort of almost definitely condones pedophilia in a quiet yet still disturbing way, the utterly ridiculous conflict-non-conflict that is the final act of the book, and so much more. However, there is almost nothing I found more disappointing at the time than the fact that, several hundred pages spending time with these characters and their desires, Bella is turned into a vampire, and that never made sense to me, especially in Edward's story, where we are told time and time again that being a vampire in this world is basically torture for people like him and Rosalie, it never made sense to me that Bella ended up as a vampire. In all my months of theorizing how the series might end in the time between the releases ofEclipse and Breaking Dawn, I always expected for a cure for vampirism to be found and that would be how Edward and Bella would get their own small forever together. No awful pregnancy, no baby, no pedophilia, just a way for them both to get what they always wanted: to be together, have a life together. This isn't a review of Breaking Dawn, but the reason I bring this up is I kept hoping for this book, Midnight Sun to pull a Life and Death. For the uninitiated, this means that, like the crazy gender bender, Life and Death, which, despite being nearly identical to Twilight as far as the general plot goes, has a different ending from its forefather to tie up the idea of rewriting the entire series in this new gender-bent universe, and I found myself wondering whether Stephenie might be moving toward a similar change. This book deals very much with Edward's humanity. It's more than twice as long as Twilight and much of it is added content like the Christmas with Carlisle scene I mentioned before, but much of that extra time is spent learning how Edward thinks of himself, how he wants to be, what he wishes were different, and his desire to live a human life and, moreover, to let Bella live a human life, is extremely powerful. It makes the fact that she's turned in Breaking Dawn even more disappointing. There was a part about halfway through this book where Edward listens to Alice's mind as she has a vision of Bella's future as a vampire, and I genuinely felt crestfallen by the idea, even though I have known her fate for over a decade now. We get to see how Edward views Bella and, on top of that, we get to hear their conversations in much greater detail than before. It honestly was wonderful, finally getting to see what he sees in her, and I really do see it. Bella is actually really cute and funny in this book in all of the added content and I found myself appreciating her as a character in a way I had never done before. I would be excited and interested to read the rest of the series from Edward's point of view, especially if Jake Abel, who translated beautifully from an actor on the screen to an actor on an audiobook, returned as the narrator. I would really like to see the events of New Moon in particular through his eyes. He is a genuinely fun and interesting protagonist and I would relish in just about anything else Stephenie might feel like adding to his story. This was a really fun, melodramatic, and honestly really cute adventure. I'm truly delighted that Stephenie Meyer finally got to release it after not only the leak that happened in 2008, but also how, as soon as she decided to get back to this in 2015, E.L. James decided to release her own "first book told from the main guy's POV" book in Grey, delivering what I can only imagine to be a devastatingly demoralizing blow. She finally wrote the thing and it's pretty fucking good. Good on ya, Steph. Good on ya.

[richtea-biscuit]

The Ultimate Tag

Thank you @penicillinjimin for the tag, I feel like maybe this will be a bit boring for you to read though because you know most of it

Part 1: Personal

Name: Bethany

Nickname(s): Beth, mum, richtea biscuit, small Beth

Birthday: 4th February

Zodiac: Aquarius

Nationality: British

Languages: English

Gender: Female

Sexuality: definitely on the asexual spectrum, I just haven't ruled out demi yet

Height: 5'7

Meaning behind URL: I’m just unimaginative

Part 2: Favs

Favourite animals: Any kind of cat but especially cheetahs

Favourite books: Saga of Darren Shan

Favourite colour: pink

Favourite fictional characters: Castiel (spn), Jin Sunmi (a korean odyssey), Buffy Summers and Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Larten Crepsley and Mr Tall (The Saga of Darren Shan, RIP), Rhysand (A Court of Thorns and Roses) and many more...

Favourite Flower: Do cherry blossoms count?

Favourite scent: vanilla and raspberry together. Get the original source shower gel people

Favourite season: spring

Part 3: Random

Average hours of sleep: lol between 5 & 10

Cats or dogs: cats

Coffee, tea or hot chocolate: tea

Current time: 10:13pm

Dream Trip: to go see cherry blossoms in Korea, particularly Busan

Dream job: I refuse to have a dream job anymore

Hobbies: I like to dabble. I do some writing, some reading, researching whatever random topics cross my mind, in the before time I used to go random places on the bus

Last movie watched: St Trinian's

Last TV show watched: Citrus (anime)

Last song listened to: One - Swedish House Mafia

Number of blankets you sleep with: a duvet

Things you're looking forward to: seeing my friends again

Random fact: I once put a heart rate monitor on my barbie and got very upset when it turns out she did not have a hear beat. I was 3, cut me some slack. I do actually remember it though

I'm tagging @sodagiraffe if you get bored :)

[nomiliy]

Spotlight Saturday

Make a post recommending a someone else’s fic that you love. Whether it was posted this week or whether it’s been in progress for a while and is currently updating, tell everyone you know that they should check it out.

Reblog artwork and gifsets from other fan creators. Recommend someone you think others should follow - and why. Share the love for your fellow fans, creators and consumers alike. Be the Will Smith meme for your fandom.

The House of the Rising Sun by lochness8

"There is a house, in New Orleans. They call The Rising Sun. And it's been the ruin, of many a poor boy, And god, I know I'm one."

Darren Shan was a good kid who only wanted to help his sister. He never meant to get mixed up in all of this. But what had originally been a plan to get some quick cash quickly goes south, and now he's stuck in the world of betrayal, violence, and organized crime. He can only hope he makes it out of alive. He better watch his step, because "The Leopard" stalks at night.

And he always catches his prey.

Cirque du Freak + Mafia!AU? Sign me the hell up! But, really, I’m a sucker for fics that go deep to blend canon characterization with an AU setting. The setting as a stand-in for the vampire/vampaneze tension is great, and could really start a whole trope for the CDF fanfic community. Like, really, why aren’t there more Mafia!AU fics? It’s just a cool idea! Ness also does a spectacular job with dialogue! It’s smooth, mirrors canon fairly well, and just sets the pace so well. Plus, it merges CDF with SLC, so if you’re a fan of either series then you should definitely bookmark this fic~ (Plus, Ness is on Tumblr! Go say hi and support her work!)

Dirty Chai  by roxypony

"I didn't HAVE a kid with you. I FOUND a kid with you. There's a big difference."

Becoming co-parents to an orphan toddler wasn't in Mika or Kurda's plans. And they REALLY didn't mean for it to bring them closer in any way, shape, or form. But we don't always get what we want. Mika/Kurda is absolutely the endgame here.

Wanna binge read something in bed for three days and completely forgot that you have a life? OF COURSE YOU DO! This is 250k+ of MikaKurda goodness complete with family feels and impromptu adoption and good slow burn into the romance. Oh, and Mika is a major sass-master. Like, the dark prince has some wicked burns in this; you feel the heat just reading it! The whole series is all about Mika and Kurda, and they are both written wonderfully. Their banter is amazing and really pushes the pace to this fun, witty place but also slows it down for me heart felt moments. And Roxy is a champ at updates. This is a four part series that she pumped over 200k into in the past 5 months. I don’t bloody know how she does it, but this is an amazingly written fanfic for a wonderful rare pair with consistent updates. What more could you ask for?

(Roxy’s also on Tumblr, so go support her and flood her inbox with asks :D)

War Of Fate by moongatah

Being the Lord of the Shadows seems tempting....but there are things Steve Leonard would rather change about his destiny. And in thinking this he causes yet another war, with forces nobody could ever comprehend, forced by circumstances to team up with those he thought he’d never ally with...not again, that is.

“What happens when you go to war with Destiny?” “Two possible outcomes. You either get a chance at writing your fate yourself, or you cease to exist.” “....sweet.”

I couldn't do this without recommending a Starren fic! I love how Steve is written; he’s insane, manipulative, power-hungry, and utterly Steve. And I love how Darren is written as well; his grief is a very palpable force in this series that really drives his character after the death of his mentor. The series is only 2 chapters in, but we already have a great cast of characters that I can’t to see more of. And, dude, Evanna is there and, Lord, I love her to pieces. I really hope the author continues this series because I’m so interested to see how a romance between Darren and Steve could transpire after the events of Book 9. 

(And, look they’re on Tumblr too :D Go say hi~ OH, and they have another really cute/funny Starren crack fic that gets me every time, so go check that out too~!)

[ellis-reviews]

Sunburn by Darren Dash

★★★★☆

(Maybe more of a 3.5, but given how much I liked the second half I’ll put it at 4).

I’ve read almost all of Darren Shan, he was one of my favorite authors as a child/teen so I thought it was time to start reading some of his adult books!

Overall I did enjoy it, but I would definitely rate the first half of the book lower than the second half.

The beginning is kind of slow — there’s a lot of background to cover and explanation. We need to get to know the characters after all, but I found it a little tedious and slow. It took quite a while for anything to happen, and while it took a very long time before the monster and action appeared, the other things that happened were still interesting to me so I did like that.

The book is sectioned into six (6) parts; I think around part three (3) was when I started to really enjoy the book. I’m hesitant to say that everything up to that point was unnecessary, because I don’t believe that. I just think it might have been dragged out a little too much, but at the same time it did let us get to know the characters very well.

As for the characters, none of them was very likable, but I kind of liked them despite that too. Personally I think that made them more real to me, because while they weren’t likable, their flaws felt like what most people actually do think and do, we just try to hide it. On the other hand you never really knew when or if you wanted to root for them or not, but again, I personally kind of liked that, so it’s a preference thing.

We also got some insight from the monster too, and while I don’t usually like a change in the perspective, I did enjoy it in this one!

It wasn’t much we got to see, so I think that’s what made me enjoy it — in fact I found myself wanting to see a little more (which never really happens for me) so I think Dash did amazing with giving us just enough to making us wanting more!

For the plot it was indeed interesting, and very unique. Like I said, I liked the parts toward the end a lot more, mostly because more happened and the pacing changed.

I will say that I wished to see more of the ‘after’, but it also makes sense to end where it ended and then the readers can sort of decide what happened afterwards. Another preference thing, I guess.

Dash also delivered with the gore — as I expected. Once the horror and gore began, boy did it begin. It was horrible — but in a good way!

All in all I did enjoy the book! While it did take me quite a time to get through the first parts, once things started to happen it was so hard to put down!

It’s not my favorite, but I liked it, and would recommend it for those who like horror and gore — but I would also warn about the beginning being kind of slow, and that once you’ve gotten through that, it’s really good!

[malicedragoness]

Malice Dragoness? Who is she?

Just a little bit more about myself. I’m hard at work on everyone’s drabbles, and I’m super excited to present them to you!

But if you were interested to see a little more of who I am. I thought I might share. :)

Malice Dragoness? How did you get that name?

When I was middle school I started reading R.A. Salvatore’s Drizzt Do’Urden series. I really liked the character Matron Malice, even though she was a total bitch. I tend to like the villains in stories more than the actual heroes. So when I joined a forum specifically for his books, I went under the name Malice the Dragon Girl. I was twelve years old and thought it was dope. (God I feel so dumb). 

Then I shortened it to Malice Dragon. But apparently other people liked that screen name. So, I added the -ess at the end to make it sound a little more feminine. Like baroness, mistress. You get the idea. So Malice Dragoness was born.

Who are you?

My name is Nichole. I’m married, I’m a mother of one. 

I just got back into writing again. I’ve felt more inspired than ever to sit down and finally put to paper. And it’s definitely the first time I’ve shared my work online where I’ve felt comfortable about it. I remember writing fan fiction yeaaaars ago. And my god was it awful! I look at it now and cringe.

But everyone has to start somewhere. And it only gets better the more you write. Sometimes, you just have to throw words on a page and keep going before you find out the direction you want to take.

I’m certainly in a much better mind set than I was about two years ago. I was very cynical, sarcastic, and not very much fun to be around. But I’ve certainly grown as a person, as we all do. You won’t be the same person you are five ago. Which is fine! Maybe you’ll be that person you want to be five years in the future! :D

There’s that positive thinking I love so much! I try to approach everything with a better attitude, which my daughter helps me out with alot. She is my little star that I do everything for. If I can pop out a beautiful daughter that makes me happy. Then I know I can do anything I put my mind too.

How old are you?

Hah! You may be surprised, but I’m 28 years old. (some lovely ladies thought I was 25 at the oldest! Oh how wonderful of them! *looks at the Kabal chat group*) My birthday is in April, I’m an aries.

What do you do for a living?

I’ve been in the animal field for over five years now. I worked at a shelter for four and half years, and have been working at a clinic for almost year. Yes, it’s cute to see all the fuzzy animals. But it’s also a very heart breaking career to be in. Not everything ends so wonderfully like you see on facebook or twitter or whatever.

There’s some stupid people, non responsible owners, and people who just don’t give a shit. It’s not always happy go lucky.

However, I think it’s time to move on from the animal field. Mainly that clinic I work at. Because I really don’t appreciate the male aggression that seems to be perfectly acceptable there. >:C

 What other things do you like besides Mortal Kombat?

I’m really more into fantasy than sci-fi. But my favorite things are: Elder Scrolls, Dragon age, Darth Maul, Legacy of Kain, X-Men(not as much anymore), Swamp Thing, The Witcher, Magic The Gathering, wrestling.

My top five favorite games of all time, that I can play at any given time: Star Wars: Republic Commando, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Dragon Age: Origins, Blood Omen 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Favorite comic books: Irredeemable, Swamp Thing, Sandman, Rat Queens, X-Men, Shadowpact.

My favorite book series: Drizzt Do’Urden sagas by R.A. Salvatore (this is what inspired me to start writing and world building), Demonata series by Darren Shan, The Lies of Locke Lamora by: Scott Lynch, and a lot of Forgotten Realms books.

Who are your favorite characters?

In no particular order: RC1207 Sev, Darth Maul, The Plutonian, Jarlaxle, Storm, Mileena, Swamp Thing, Drizzt Do’Urden.

Anything else you want to say?

Well, if anyone wants to talk to me, please feel free to do so. I won’t bite! I’m just kind of socially awkward at first. And if you ever want to talk about writing ideas, or just need help to brainstorm, I would be more than happy to help!

I love when people find their creative spirit and just get to writing, drawing, making music, or whatever floats your boat. It’s a truly wonderful and enjoying thing. And sometimes you just need a friendly stranger to cheer you on.

Have a nice day! :D

[peepingtoad]

Anonymous Fanmail // always accepting

Good evening (or day) to you anon! Let me say first off how touching it was to see this message pop up earlier on! I know my activity has been spotty as hell lately, with inspiration being flaky and my attention span even more so--so it really is encouraging to hear that the little I've managed to do in the past couple of months is still well received.

From reading your message it seems like you have a great handle on writing and vocabulary, but I also know that English really can be a bastard of a language whenever it deviates from the standard. So I can only commend your commitment to gaining even more understanding.

So to answer your question, under the cut are some of the authors/works that have influenced me most. I’ve not really had a chance to make my way through my huge reading list, or read much for a couple years now, so I’ll just mention some of the ones that really stuck in my mind:

Darren Shan 

I really must start with Darren Shan, because for a teen author his descriptions of monsters and violence still are some of the most viscerally gross and visual I've ever read. So you can imagine what it was like reading him as a 9/10 year old! I don't get to show it very often on Jiraiya, but I really do love to write a bit of nasty gore where I can. This probably shows more when I'm writing certain toad stomach themed jutsu scenes... but yeah. This author really inspired me as a kid, and fantasy-horror for young adults is still a genre I'd love to write one day (if I ever come up with a solid original idea, that is)! Which leads me on to--

Stephen King

Who, honestly, I haven't really kept up to date with. The novels I read by him were his classics: Carrie, Misery, Pet Sematary... which I think were all written before I was born, now that I think about it. I know he can be a little long-winded for some, but I really appreciate how he builds up tension and works with multiple threads at a time. His are some of the few books that actually made me scared in my teens, his psychological horror is great, and he doesn’t shy away from a sex scene, even if they’re usually horrible. I always love an author who goes into nitty-gritty, not necessarily pleasant detail.

J.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R. Tolkien

A predictable one, I'm sure! But I've definitely drawn influence from the sheer world-building of Middle Earth, which has inspired worlds for my own OCs, but in regards to fandom has made me want to delve a little deeper into areas the canon leaves unexplained (it really is my goal to one day fill in all the blanks in Jiraiya's life, working with what little we were given and the messy timeline). And while Tolkien's characters can be a little wooden and overly functional at times, the true joy I find in his works is the sprawling descriptions of nature and the world, and how well-linked all of the characters/figures of the past are to each other. Also I feel it's an unpopular opinion, but I absolutely adore the songs/poems. Every one of them. Especially 'The Ent and the Entwife'.

Richard Adams

Most known for Watership Down, and his style again contains lots of beautiful nature imagery (with a very strong environmentalist lean). It's a pretty traumatic story, as anyone who has seen the animated film from the late 70's will recall, but what the book offers on top of that is a whole mythology that the animals believe in, world-building, animal characters that are both intelligent and believably still animals, gorgeous descriptions of the English countryside... yeah. It's one of my all time favourites! I’ve yet to bring myself to read The Plague Dogs, however, because I know it will upset me a whole lot.

Whoever the hell wrote 'The Soddit' and 'Bored of the Rings'

Yes, seriously. I'm a sucker for a good spoof, and these made me laugh out loud. I recall many terrible euphemisms. Not to be read with a critical mind whatsoever :’) they are kinda trash, but I really enjoy content that doesn’t take itself very seriously.

Terry Pratchett

Count this as a relatively new inspiration--I'm an absolute newbie when it comes to Pratchett, if I'm honest, which is ridiculous because it’s right up my alley. I’ve only fully read Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman), read halfway through a few of the standalone Discworlds, and watched several of the animated and BBC series adaptations, but I’m definitely inspired. It's just really daunting to know where to start with the main body of Discworld in particular. But I think after spending my childhood enjoying comedic fantasy in general (I also thank the Fable trilogy of games for that), it was only natural that I found his tongue-in-cheek, conversational to the point of being mundane, playing with tropes style a perfect fit for me. All of that, with some pretty immense world-building in too! It’s great to see such a loved world that is written in such a light, funny way (from what I’ve read), especially since I do my best to let humour inject itself into my writing wherever possible.

Oscar Wilde

And more specifically, The Picture of Dorian Gray. This is just peak gothic sexy decadence, I assure you. And it's one of my all time favourites... again, for gorgeous descriptions, but it's more sensory than physical. And of course, high-key gay subtext. And did I mention it's sexy? Not in the obvious way, just in a 'this level of indulgent description of luxuries and hedonism is downright slutty' kind of way. If you want obvious sexy though, definitely check out the film starring Ben Barnes too!

Anaïs Nin

Ok look, so in answer to one of your other questions, I do indeed read fanfic. Not as much now as I used to or would like to, but I certainly do. And Anaïs Nin is one of the few well known erotic writers I’ve read that I think is better than the best fanfiction stuff I’ve read. Because honestly, lots of them are dudes (sorry Jiraiya) and it’s just... nah. I’ve always thought that the erotic writing in decent fanfic tended to be high tier for somebody not paid to do it. Anyway, when it comes to Nin the writing is beautifully sensual, but I’ll warn you for questionable content at times--and I mean triggering content. I think that a lot of her erotic short stories were commissioned by others, so I don’t judge her, but there is also a lot of symbolism within the taboo so... that’s my warning about that.

John Keats

Time for a poet, and one of my favourites is this guy. Pretty much covering the Romantic/Gothic cusp, all the poems I remember reading by him were long, indulgent, sensual and low-key filthy. I can’t really say much other than read Keats! ‘Isabella, or the Pot of Basil’ is a favourite!

Seamus Heaney

My favourites are ‘Death Of a Naturalist’ and ‘Blackberry-Picking’. Get that gross, kinda visceral nature imagery. Nice.

Wilfred Owen

Mostly studied him in college, which I enjoyed a lot, but I ended up revisiting his war poetry when I started writing Jiraiya. Something about the way he questions patriotism and feels for the ‘enemy’ related a lot to him for me, and the poems themselves are so tragic they really spark up your empathy.

... As for songwriters? Hmm. Lyrically, I always enjoy pretty gloomy stuff. Nick Cave, The Cure, Placebo, Depeche Mode. A lot of it very spooky and sad-romantic. I definitely have a type :’) a definite favourite is also Björk, both for her surreal lyrics, and the crazy stuff she can do with her voice also helps!

I’m honestly struggling to think of more off the top of my head, because I know I have read and enjoyed more books/poetry than this. Sadly I’ve been too preoccupied with other things to branch out into more world literature, but it’s something I want to make an effort to do--especially Chinese and Japanese literature, some of which are on my current book pile. But these are some of the few that came straight to mind for me, and are probably my biggest influences. Hope you enjoyed my lengthy rambling nonetheless. And again, thank you so much for your kind message! It really lifted my spirits <3

[arnoldjaime13]

Blog Tour: ARCHIBALD LOX VOLUME 2: ARCHIBALD LOX AND THE KIDNAPPED PRINCE by @darrenshan With An Excerpt & #Giveaway! @Jabbotage, & @RockstarBkTours

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the ARCHIBALD LOX VOLUME 2: ARCHIBALD LOX AND THE KIDNAPPED PRINCE by Darren Shan Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

  About the Books:

Title: ARCHIBALD LOX AND THE FORGOTTEN CRYPT (Archibald Lox #4)

Author: Darren Shan

Pub. Date: July 1, 2021

Publisher: Home of the Damned Ltd

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 144

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD

When a couple of assassins catch up with Archie, he's forced to flee to the Merge in search of friendship and safety.

As his skills develop, he opens a gateway to a long-forgotten crypt, where ancient secrets are revealed.

In a city of ice, the greatest gropsters of the six realms have assembled for a legendary Tourney, but a small group of plotters are more interested in kidnapping... Book four of the Archibald Lox series by Darren Shan, the New York Times bestselling author of Cirque Du Freak and Lord Loss. This is the first of three books in VOLUME TWO of the series.

  Title:  ARCHIBALD LOX AND THE SLIDES OF BON REPELL (Archibald Lox #5)

Author: Darren Shan

Pub. Date: August 3, 2021

Publisher: Home of the Damned Ltd

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 197

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo

The Tourney has kicked off, and it's the biggest draw in the Merge.

Archie has a ticket to every match, and is soon caught up in the excitement.

But when a scheming king sets his sights on the young locksmith, all thoughts of grop are swiftly forgotten, and Archie might fight for his freedom and his sanity...

Book five of the Archibald Lox series by Darren Shan, the New York Times bestselling author of Cirque Du Freak and Lord Loss. This is the second of three books in VOLUME TWO of the series.

  Title:  ARCHIBALD LOX AND THE RUBICON DICTATE (Archibald Lox #6)

Author: Darren Shan

Pub. Date: September 1, 2021

Publisher: Home of the Damned Ltd

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 211

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo

The kidnapping of a prince shocks the Merge and turns the Tourney on its head.

In New York, a desperate Archie and Inez play a cunning game of chess with the fates. But if they are to force a checkmate, they must travel to the heart of an enemy empire and face down the rulers of a merciless realm... Book six of the Archibald Lox series by Darren Shan, the New York Times bestselling author of Cirque Du Freak and Lord Loss. This is the third of three books in VOLUME TWO of the series.

  Grab Volume 1 Now!

    ARCHIBALD LOX EXTRACT

I focus on the people crossing the bridge. Many are tourists. A few joggers pant past. Men and women in business suits march by, talking loudly on their phones. Foreign students on school trips.

And then I spot the girl.

She’s my sort of age, darker skinned than me. She has black hair cut short, and wide brown eyes, dressed in plain cream trousers and a red, long-sleeved top. Her boots are navy, scuffed and stained with dry mud.

She comes running along the bridge in a panic, stops near where I’m standing and starts grimacing bizarrely. Her nose twitches, her lips gurn, her eyebrows shoot up and down, her tongue flickers out and around.

At first I think she’s pulling faces at me and I open my mouth to snap at her, but then she throws a worried – no, terrified – glance backwards, and I realise she hasn’t even noticed me.

Two men are striding towards us. They’re dressed in white suits, white shoes and white ties. One is black, the other pale like me. Both are bald, except for a curved, thin strip of white hair that arcs across their foreheads, the tips of the crescents pointing towards the backs of their heads.

The pale man is holding a long, narrow knife, the sort they called a stiletto in the old days. The darker man is carrying an axe, swinging it through the air in short, menacing strokes.

It’s clear that the men are chasing the girl and will kill her if they catch her.

The girl gulps, then pulls more faces. She’s staring at the paving slabs. I want to cry out and warn her of the danger, but she’s obviously aware of the threat. I can’t understand why she isn’t fleeing, why she’s drawn to a halt and is wasting precious time pulling those ridiculous faces.

I think about intervening – I could tug the girl away from the onrushing men and help her escape – but I’m rigid with fear, breathing shallowly, eyes wide, shocked by what’s happening.

When the men are several metres away, a couple of slabs in the bridge shimmer and a hole yawns open. I think it’s a trick of the light, so I do a double take, but it’s definitely a hole, a gap where a moment before there had been solid stone.

With a victorious yelp, the girl throws herself into the hole. The men’s faces twist with rage and they pick up speed, but the girl yells something, and in an instant the slabs are back in place.

The hole is gone.

The bridge is solid again.

The girl has disappeared.

  About Darren Shan:

Darren Shan is a globally bestselling author who broke onto the fantasy/horror scene with Cirque Du Freak in January 2000. He has published more than fifty books, for children and adults, including the 10-book Demonata series and 12-book Zom-B series. Cirque Du Freak was adapted into a major Hollywood movie and it was recently announced that the Electric Shadow Company and Fantastic Films have teamed up to adapt his Zom-B series for television. Shan’s books have sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, in 40 countries and 32 languages. He has topped the bestseller charts in the US, UK, Ireland, Japan, and elsewhere. He lives in a small village in Ireland, with his wife and children.

  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

  Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a $10 Amazon GC, International.

3 winners will receive ebooks of ARCHIBALD LOX VOLUME 2, International.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

8/2/2021

Two Chicks on Books

Excerpt

8/2/2021

Jaimerockstarbooktours

Instagram Post

8/3/2021

The Momma Spot

Guest Post

8/3/2021

The Momma Spot

Instagram Post

8/4/2021

BookHounds YA

Guest Post

8/4/2021

BookHounds

Instagram Post

8/5/2021

#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Excerpt

8/5/2021

#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Instagram Post

8/6/2021

Rajiv's Reviews

Review

8/6/2021

Kelly Smith Reviews

Review

Week Two:

8/9/2021

@pagesofyellow

Review

8/9/2021

More Books Please blog

Review

8/10/2021

Mocha Girls Read

Guest Post

8/10/2021

Mocha Girls Read

Instagram Post

8/11/2021

Addicted to Media

Review/Excerpt

8/11/2021

Reveal + Review

Review

8/12/2021

TLC Book Nook

Excerpt

8/12/2021

Jaime's World

Excerpt

8/13/2021

popthebutterfly

Review

8/13/2021

popthebutterfly

Instagram Post

[firstdove15]

Book Tag

@thevajunglebook tagged me for this meme! ❤💕 Thank you!! 😘

1. Which book has been on your shelf the longest?

I’m not sure cuz I’ve moved so many times and nothing stayed the same on the book shelves. 😵

2. What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?

Current read: Remains (admittedly got side tracked re-reading Ranma ½ and reading the latest English volume of Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun but still)

Last read: When Dimple Met Rishi

Next read: I bought so many books in the past month it’s not even funny and I don’t know where to begin. Probably Iron Cast? It’ll be one of the ebooks.

3. Which book does everyone like and you hated?

Back in high school everyone loved 1984 and I struggled to see what was so amazing about it. I fell asleep. Several times. It legit took me two hours to finish 14 pages….

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read but you probably won’t?

Haha, the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Doesn’t help I watched the American remake of the first book….

5. Which book are you saving for retirement?

All the YA novels that are under ten years old

6. Last page: read it first or wait until the end?

Depends on how stressed out I am by the book. Like if it’s getting super depressing or dramatic, I HAVE to know if it ends well.

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?

Definitely interesting. Plus it’s common courtesy to thank the people who helped you get your book to where it is. That and the acknowledgements I’ve read so far each had their own personal flair (e.g. some silly, some inspirational, some lovingly snarky, etc.)

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

Good question. Most of the characters I adore live in worlds where, while fantastic, I’m better off where I’m at. :P Hmmmm… screw it, I’ll go with Elizabeth Bennett.

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life?

Not particularly. I guess I can say the Darren Shan saga fueled my obsession with vampires???

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.

The most interesting thing to happen to me is have a woman from a yard sale recommend and dump around 8 books on me all for a buck. XP For what it’s worth, I enjoyed them and they helped shape my perspective on God and spirituality as a whole.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?

No. If it meant something to me and I think someone I adore will like it, I’ll just buy them a copy. I’m kind of stingy when it comes to books. XP

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?

Not applicable. Any book I’m reading goes anywhere with me, save for ebooks. I hate taking my tablet out in public.

13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?

I’ve calmed down on my initial hatred of 1984 and can respect what it was saying, but I’ll always remember it as being the first book I fell asleep on. :P

14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?

A few notes here and there but nothing worth remembering.

15. Used or brand new?

I don’t care; books are meant to be read and worn anyway. Just as long as it stays in tact.

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?

It’s a shame that I pretty much have like…75% of his books thanks to my older second cousin but the only thing from him I’ve read in full was On Writing. And the man knows what he’s talking about so I’ll go with literary genius.

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

Yes and because I want to live, I’m not saying which. 😝

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?

See above.

19. Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?

Yes. The Girl Who Chased the Moon. I’ve been wanting to try and bake a Milky Way cake for years (and I don’t even freaking eat Milky Way) and the book has the recipe too!!! I just want to bake all the cakes really. Again, the author provides recipes. She knew what she was doing. :P

20. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

Stephen King. Again, he knows what he’s talking about in On Writing.

I tag @riahchan @fleurdufeu @fictionfangirl @womanlymuppet @zoetekohana @robinsmercy @nopiewinston @memberoftheliterati @youthbookreview (only if you want) and anyone who’s reading this and wants to answer ❤💕

[kraken-spines]

Book Discussion Challenge: Vampires

May 26

I’m going to reminisce about vampire lit that I’ve read starting way back from 2002. All aboard my nostalgia train, it’s got vampire books on it*. Warning: It’s only  me prattling on about my history of vampire books for about  ~2,000 words. 

2002  The Year of Scholastic Vampires, 8-9 years old

This was the first vampire book I ever read: 

Cracked Classics: Trapped in Transylvania by Tony Abbott. I got it when it first came out (at one of those school book fairs or something) at around 8 years old and reread it over and over again. I read the other books in the series too but this one was special. It’s a portal fantasy about two kids Dylan and Frankie who get transported into books via the “broken” but ~magical~ library security sensors. What this book showed me was that I needed more vampire books and fast.

So I went on the prowl and found:

The Cirque Du Freak series by Darren Shan - it felt so edgy for an 8 year old. And I loved it. It was probably the first series that I actually completed finished. (No I haven’t read the Larten Crepsley Books...are they any good?) I loved the worldbuilding, the vampire culture, though now looking back, it does seem pretty sexist with the  “Women don’t stay vampires for long because they want babies too badly so they go crazy and die lol” thing (did that happen or am I confusing it with another series?). But that’s besides the point, that flew over child-me’s little head. 

2003, The Year of Pulp, Folklore, and Teacher Interventions, 9-10 years old

After that there was several other books a lot that have since faded from memory: A lot of “Vampire Encyclopedias”, pulpy and gorey obscure nonsense - from the child friendly to the “Your child is drawing bloodthirsty wolves again” and some truly trashy stories.Which of course I delighted in.

-I actually found this book again at a Book Sale. Funny enough, I think it’s my copy. So I bought it again. I’ll have to give it a reread someday. 

I remember reading this one in particular cover to cover in the summer by the pool in ‘03. Unfortunately, I moved often I don’t have my original books anymore. But it had all sorts of different vampire folklore, filmographies, medical illnesses, hoaxes all wrapped up in one heavy tome. I did manage to watch A LOT of vampire movies this year. 

Speaking of vampire movies, I was a fan of the Blade movies and because of that I read: 

I think most people would notice by now that I had free reign over whatever I wanted to read or watch. Which was so liberating. I don’t think people realize how children aren’t given much control over their lives and free time. And that choosing reading materials without judgement is so freeing for this age group. Enough of that. Blade was awesome. The movies were awesome. The comics that I read perpetually out of order so I never understood the continuity were awesome.  

2004,  The Year of Bloodthirsty European Castle Dwellers, 10-11 years old

At eleven, I saw this exact copy of Dracula:

 -And it told me “You have dawdled enough, it is time,”

So my mom bought me this copy. (Don’t ask why it had to be this exact one, I don’t know my reasoning.)

I absolutely loved it. I was nervous to start reading it but decided I was prepared. I watched countless vampire movies, many of which were Dracula inspired, I read other vampire books, and all I did was hope that it would hold up to my expectations. Nothing compared to the chemistry the characters had in this book and the devotion they had to one another. At eleven I remember thinking it was a “cool team”, and I paid attention to the markers of vampirism and the difference between the movie versions. 

After reading Dracula I wanted to know more about ‘Vlad the Impaler’, Transylvania, and these historical events Stoker drew from and thus came this book: 

I read a lot of articles online as well. The origins of vampirism fascinated me as a kid. I marveled at the worldwide phenomena of vampiric folklore. I wanted to know more about Elizabeth Bathory since she had vampire hoaxes, rumors, and allegations hurled at her. So then I got to reading more about this woman: 

Mostly articles online. Which was for better or worse. I remember weeding through a lot of conspiracy theories in order to get to more realistic, evidence backed, biographies. And there are many, many, many weird theories about Elizabeth Bathory out there that 12 year old me should not have read. 

2005, The Year of  the Plague of Crappy Vampires and the Birth Year of  My Pettiness, 11-12 years old

I don’t know how I got this book (actually I think it was my little sister’s and she gave it to me), Vampire Plagues: London 1850. It’s important to note that I was incredibly petty as a child and despite reading the first three books, I still loathed it. I think this was a series child-me was rage reading. Sorry, Sebastian Rook, it seems I never gave your series a fair shot. 

I’m only sticking with the ones I definitely read in definite years -for the sake of linearity! I saw this next book at the library: 

Thirsty was a weird gay allegory that depressed me. I didn’t like how it equated being gay with being vampire even though I know the author had good intent. I read Feed before I read this one. Which I liked a bit more. 

2006,  The Year of the Sacrificial Vampire,12-13 Years Old

I had A LOT of books. But unfortunately, they couldn’t all come with me. So I lost a lot of my favorites. My Cracked Classics was falling to pieces anyway, it was thrown away long before then, Dracula survived, Weird Tales and a lot of my other pulp anthologies got lost or I got rid of. (I did, believe it or not, have other interests besides vampires) so it seemed only natural that some vampire books would need to be sacrificed for the sake of my newly culled collection. Cirque du Freak made it only because the series wasn’t quite complete yet it got culled in a later year if I recall correctly.

A lot of people’s first Westerfeld is Uglies, which is a fantastic series, but I started with Peeps. I got it from the library and read the duology over a weekend. I remember enjoying the concept of the disease but the plot and characters were ultimately mediocre. 

2007,  The Year of: “HAVE YOU READ TWILIGHT YET?” The Apex of My Pettiness or the Stalemate, 13-14 years old

In my group of friends Blue Bloods was the “in book”. Not Twilight. Even though Twilight was HUGE. Even before the movie. My friend Skyler was angry that Twilight was so popular when she believed Blue Bloods to be superior. I never did get around to the Blue Bloods books even though she gave me the first in the series. I think this book was lost into the oblivion in a later year. Sorry.***

I did wind up reading the first two Twilight books to spite Skyler. I didn’t enjoy the series enough to continue it. Vampire Academy came out this year too. But I never read that either. (I think).

Another vampire book I did remember reading in 2007 was Vampire High. It’s some obscure book that I only remember because I thought it was unremarkable. I think I read it to spite Skyler actually because I remember pretending to love it at the time. 

2008, The  Year of Edgy High School Freshmen Watching True Blood, 14-15 Years Old

The first vampire book of the year was probably this one: 

It was my first Stephen King. And weirdly enough, I haven’t read another since even though I thought Salem’s Lot was good. I don’t know why I haven’t gotten back to King actually. Huh. That’s weird. Anyways, in this summer I found this book: 

 Sucks to be Me was adorable. I don’t remember reading the sequel. But it was the perfect summer read for me at the time. I liked Mina as a character and thought how vampirism takes place was neat-o.

2009, 15-16 Years Old, The Year of SOOKEH Ends With a Were-Tiger

I never watched Vampire Diaries or any other vampire show. Kolchak was my one and only. And even though there were other monsters in the show, it’s still kinda a vampire show because they did turn up in one episode. I did watch True Blood. And because of that during the summer I read this: 

I read the Sookie Stackhouse books poolside in the summer and poolside on winter break. I had a lot going on that year and thus I read a lot of light stuff in my spare time. I think I stopped reading these books at #6 because then it started getting ridiculous and the plot holes got bigger and bigger. Around 2011 is when I lost interest in True Blood as a TV series. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. 

2010, 16-17 years old, The Year of the Coupon Clipping Vampire

Around this time is when I got my first Kindle. I didn’t mention my first Nook (which I got because my nook was a loathsome creature that hid under my bed and growled when I tried to awaken it from it’s dormancy). My Kindle, didn’t. And it was an awesome fellow. 

Around this time I found various free or 99 cents books. Some had vampires some didn’t. Some were  a bouquet of typos some weren’t. But discovering something that was good enough, was a fun process. One of the more notable titles that I read through was: 

My Blood Approves for those who don’t remember it was very popular. Like a #1 best seller on amazon or something extreme. I was lured into reading it by the very low price tag. It was a bit of a guilty pleasure and again I had a hectic life so this series was an easy read. Except, then she never finished the series. It was like a B-movie in book form. The Bloody Bros were real annoying at times. And my teenage blood did not approve of Jack or Peter I really didn’t like how Jane was offed either. 

2011, 17-18 Years Old, The Year of  Letting the Vampire in a Year Too Late

I didn’t get to watch Let Me In (2010) the previous year. Because unlike vampires I do have a life. But, I did get to read the book in 2011:

Notice how I read more in my childhood versus adolescence? Heh. That’s high school extracting my soul. Let The Right One In was amazing. I remember making all these theories about it, putting sticky notes in my beaten up dogeared coffee stained library copy and doing an in-depth read.

2012,  18-19 Years Old, The Year of the Dorm-room Dracula

So this is the year I graduated high school and when I went back to Dracula, same edition from my childhood. It was one of the first books I read in my college dorm room. 

Except this time I noticed the xenophobia, how women were treated throughout, the religiosity, and how it really did reflect a Londoner’s thought process at the time. I still love it but understood it on a deeper level than the eleven year old who saw friendship conquering evil, cool monsters, and familiars.

2013, 19-20 Years Old, The Vampire Gap Year

No vampires here. No fun here. No anything here. 

 2014, 20-21 Years Old, The Year of Fickle Lesbian Vampires

I read a lot of J. Sheridan Le Fanu and of course when one reads J. Sheridan Le Fanu they read:

Camilla. I don’t know why it took me so long to read. But it did. I really enjoyed it. Now reading this in the present day it’s cliche and predictable. But then, it was a one of a kind sort of story. 

I also read from the same era-ish:

Varney The Vampire was originally a serial, in it’s final book published form it reads a bit awkwardly and it’s contradicting. Varney is an erratic and fickle train-wreck. The book is full of oddities like the author had so many ideas where to take the story and couldn’t choose on which way was the best way. So he took them all. 

It felt relevant at the time to me. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I knew I couldn’t do everything at once - and if I tried it would wind up being a penny dreadful that no one bothers to read anymore. I knew I had to make a choice and I knew I had so many choices out there. But I could only choose one. Varney gave me the motivation to not be a fickle train-wreck basically.  In a “don’t be like me,” fashion.

2015, 21-22 Years Old, The Year of The Baby Vampire

So this year I actually chose a vampire book for an assignment it’s not one you would expect: 

Going full circle, I started again with an even younger version of Dracula than Cracked Classics. It’s only a counting primer for very young children. And I used it in an essay about inspiring children to become readers. Whether abridged works encourage or discourage children from reading the originals, to using comic versions of classics, modern young adult versions of classics, etc. Even though this book wasn’t around as a young child, it’s definitely one that would be cute for an infant’s library.   

2016, 22-23 Years Old, The Year of Dirt Filled Coffins

Nothing happened here. Keep going. 

2017, 23-24 Years Old,  The Year of Vampires Returning For Good (Maybe)

And now we’re almost at the point of departure. I’m most likely going to read Dracula again this year, unfortunately I lost my old Dracula book at college. I’ll need to go to the library to get a good edition. (I want an annotated edition). I’ll have to buy a new one someday though maybe I’ll choose a different edition this time. Besides the same old Dracula by Bram Stoker here are a few other vampire books I have on my TBR: 

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler 

The Vampyre by John William Polidori

The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee 

The Powers of Darkness by Bram Stoker & Valdimar Ásmundsson  

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin

I think the big question now is why? Why did vampires appeal to me? Vampires appealed to me as a kid because I didn’t want to grow up, I didn’t want the responsibilities that came with it, (and, to be honest there are some of those responsibilities I’d rather not have now).

 Vampires seemed like an escape to a youth that no one could age out of. They often live swankily, stayed up all night, didn’t really have responsibilities, and had supernatural powers including charisma (the inhuman kind), flight, shape shifting, super vision, and/or super strength. And who wouldn’t want that?

I had no idea that such a generous portion of my life could be solely explained by vampire books that I read throughout my life. I had no idea this post was going to be as long as it is. This apparently happened. Get off the nostalgia train, we’re done for now. Unless of course you have vampire books you would like to recommend.

*Thanks for reading. I didn’t think anyone would bother reading this. Wow. 

**Not her real name. Obviously. 

*** I didn’t read Blue Bloods because Skyler refused to read 47  AND The Decoy Princess - two books I adored at the time and desperately wanted to talk about them to someone. (Granted neither of them were types of books she was interested in anyways she didn’t like time travel and didn’t like fantasy that wasn’t urban/in our world fantasy) This is why “Stalemate” is the alternative title of the year. I guess the stalemate is still in play because as far as I know she still hasn’t read either of them and I still haven’t read Blue Bloods - There’s just a lot less pettiness and more nostalgia attached to it now. 

[alloverthegaf]

tagged by @mayonnaisetoffees, answer questions, add one of your own, tag people

1. Coke or Pepsi: Coke. Pepsi is gross.

2. Disney or Dreamworks: Disney, don’t go wild over either though

3. Coffee or Tea: coffee fuels me like nothing else

4. Books or Movies: I prefer reading but for a while now I’ve found it easier to get lost in a movie

5. Windows or Mac: Windows

6. DC or Marvel: Marvel, even though they keep stomping all over me and my fave characters

7. Xbox or Playstation: Xboss bruh

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: Only played Mass Effect

9. Night Owl or Early Rise: If left to my own devices I become nocturnal

10. Cards or Chess: have so much more fun with cards

11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Vanilla

12. Vans or Converse: what are vans

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash or Adaar: what does this mean

14. Fluff or Angst: I came into fandom being all about the angst but now I am old. I am tired. I am weary. Fluff is a comforting blanket. It keeps me warm. Thank god for fluff.

15. Beach or Forest: I’m so torn here

16. Dogs or Cats: stop making this difficult

17. Clear Skies or Rain: let it rain for daayyyyyssss

18. Cooking or Eating Out: eating out except for the rare occasions when I get inspired and make some horrific monster of foodstuffs that actually tastes okay

19. Spicy Food or Mild Food: I Am Weak

20. Halloween/Samhain or Solstice/Yule/Christmas: yuck to both

21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: too cold. Sick of being hot.

22. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? I’ve always thought technopathy could be fun. The ability to stop time would be so useful.

23. Animation or Live Action: live action

24. Paragon or Renegade: what

25. Baths or Showers: baths are nice but you end up feeling grimy all over again. In Winter I love taking hot showers and indulging in a minute or two of just sitting on the floor under the spray.

26. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: #protectTony2kforever

27. Fantasy or Sci-Fi: Stargate

28. Do you have three or four favourite quotes? If so, what are they:

“War isn’t hell. War is war and hell is hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. There are no innocent bystanders in hell.” Hawkeye Pierce

"Here’s lookin at you kid.” Lil J

"This horror story is real. And it starts... on a toilet.” Darren Shan

29. YouTube or Netflix: Youtube has more variety around here.

30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: Never read Percy Jackson but it definitely sounds like something I’d enjoy. I read the first four Harry Potter books when I was six and refused to read anything but Harry Potter until I was twelve because I didn’t think anything else would compare.

31: When You Feel Accomplished: when I make someone laugh

32. Star Wars or Star Trek: Star Wars. To be fair, haven’t seen Star Trek.

33. Paperback Books or Hardback Books: paperbacks

34. Handwriting or Typing: I have become a typing gremlin and writing has become unnatural to me.

35. Velvet or Satin: yuck to both

36. Video Games or Movies? Gimme them gaimz

37. Would you rather be the dragon or own the dragon? I’d be the happiest in the world with either

38: Sunrise or sunset: I dunno man, the sun’s just moving, it’s just a giant ball of fire in the sky, you know? Why’s it gotta be so special? Why does it get two whole times of day named after it? Chill dude you’re a glowing orb. I can get the same scenery from a damn light bulb.

39: What’s your favourite song? September’s Children by Rise Against or Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen. Honourable mention to Hooray for Beer and I’m Gay, both by Bowling For Soup.

40: Horror Movies yes or no: hell yes it’s how I bond with friends I love shitting my pants

41: Ketchup/tomato sauce on pasta or not? Why... why would you put tomato sauce on pasta... wtf the fuck...

42: Favourite film when you were a kid? Anastasia was my JAM

43: something every favourite character of yours seems to share? lack of self-worth, shitty self-preservation instincts, parental figure issues

tagging @free-gavin @justmaghookit @ficcyshit @panagiota-k and @dementorsatemysoup

[dave-meowstaine]

All the asks :-)

I knew this was coming haha

1: Full name - Tyler Alistair Wilson-Poole

2: Age - 19

3: 3 Fears - Being alone, complete darkness, clowns

4: 3 things I love - Lizzie, music, video games

5: 4 turns on - Long hair, glasses, dark hair, intelligent 

6: 4 turns off - Unhygienic, rude, annoying, arrogant 

7: My best friend - Ed Culling and Lizzie

8: Sexual orientation - Pan

9: My best first date - This is hard… honestly, and I’m going to count this as a first date because it technically was our first date together, when Lizzie and I went to the arcade, played bowling and pool, and then went to Pizza Hut. It was the night before she had to go home and honestly I couldn’t ask for a better way to end our time together

10: How tall am I - 6ft

11: What do I miss - I miss Lizzie so much it fucking hurts..

12: What time were I born - Around 6 in the evening

13: Favourite color - Definitely red

14: Do I have a crush - I have a pretty big crush on a certain woman ;)

15: Favourite quote - “It’s not about the hand that you’re dealt, it’s how you play it.” I said this to Lizzie when she was convinced we wouldn’t get to be together and we ended up being together in the end so…

16: Favourite place - In bed snuggled up with Lizzie

17: Favourite food - PIZZA

18: Do I use sarcasm - Naaaaaah ;)

19: What am I listening to right now - Basshunter LOL

20: First thing I notice in new person - Usually their height. I’m pretty tall, so I notice a person’s height straight away

21: Shoe size - Size 6

22: Eye color - Dark blue eyes

23: Hair color - Dirty blonde. It used to be REALLY blonde but it got darker and darker over the years

24: Favourite style of clothing - Band merch, obviously. But honestly, Lizzie has made me fall in love with dressing smart because it really compliments my figure and makes me look hot as fuck

25: Ever done a prank call? - Yeah, only a couple though

27: Meaning behind my URL - Dave Mustaine. Cats. Need I say more?

28: Favourite movie - John Carpenter’s The Thing

29: Favourite song - I don’t really have a favourite song. It changes all the time

30: Favourite band - Again, it changes all of the time. If I was pressed, I would probably say Slipknot though

31: How I feel right now - Happy because I spent the past 3 hours on the phone to Lizzie but now she’s gone back to work and she won’t get off until 5am my time..

32: Someone I love - LIZZIEEEEEE

33: My current relationship status - Happily in a relationship with Lizzie

34: My relationship with my parents - Really good. I love my parents and we get on super well

35: Favourite holiday - Probably Scotland

36: Tattoos and piercing i have - No tattoos but I have my septum pierced and three hoops in my left ear lobe

37: Tattoos and piercing i want - Too many tattoos to count, and I’m not sure about piercings.

38: The reason I joined Tumblr - My sister used to use it YEARS ago (like a good 7 years ago) and got me into it. I went through several different accounts before finally getting into it properly and that was this account.

39: Do I and my last ex hate each other? - I don’t hate her. I can’t say whether she hates me or not, seeing as we didn’t exactly end on good terms and she blocked me lol

40: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts? - The only person who would do this is Lizzie and I wake up a good 6 hours before her in the morning, and we always fall asleep on the phone together. Yeah, time differences are a bitch. I haven’t slept in 34 hours ayyyyy

41: Have I ever kissed the last person you texted? - The last person I text was my mate Choc and no I haven’t kissed him

42: When did I last hold hands? - I held my sister’s hand when it was my Grandad’s funeral last week

43: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning? - Literally about 10 minutes. Unless I shower, then about 20-30 minutes.

44: Have You shaved your legs in the past three days? - Never shaved my legs before

45: Where am I right now? - In my room

46: If I were drunk & can’t stand, who’s taking care of me? - Lizzie would be there. Although if I was drinking, she would probably be drinking too. And we like to get shitfaced together so…

47: Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level? - LOUD

48: Do I live with my Mom and Dad? - I do

49: Am I excited for anything? - I’m just trying to keep everything together until I get to be with Lizzie again

50: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to? - Yeah, Lizzie

51: How often do I wear a fake smile? - A lot, to be honest. Mainly in college and in front of family.

52: When was the last time I hugged someone? - I hugged my mum not too long ago

53: What if the last person I kissed was kissing someone else right in front of me? - I don’t even want to think about that..

54: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not? - Not that I can think of

55: What is something I disliked about today? - Nothing, to be honest. Today was a good day

56: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? - Can I meet Lizzie again? I wanna be with her so bad

57: What do I think about most? - Lizzie 

58: What’s my strangest talent? - Umm… I can puff the underneath of my chin out

59: Do I have any strange phobias? - I don’t really have any phobias

60: Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? - In front of, to be honest. I love having my photo taken

61: What was the last lie I told? - That something was fine when it wasn’t

62: Do I perfer talking on the phone or video chatting online? - Depends who it is. If it’s my friends, then just on the phone. If it’s Lizzie, definitely video chatting online

63: Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens? - I’m not sure about ghosts, but I think it would be cool if they did exist. Aliens definitely exist. We simply just can’t be alone in this vast galaxy

64: Do I believe in magic? - Again, it would be cool if it was real but no, I don’t.

65: Do I believe in luck? - Yeah

66: What’s the weather like right now? - Really fucking cold but otherwise clear. It was snowing heavily on Sunday though

67: What was the last book I’ve read? - Demon Thief by Darren Shan

68: Do I like the smell of gasoline? - Fucking love the smell of gasoline

69: Do I have any nicknames? - Not really. Not anymore.

70: What was the worst injury I’ve ever had? - I’m really lucky and never really had any bad injuries.

71: Do I spend money or save it? - Spend it unless there’s something that I must have. Or a certain person needs something

72: Can I touch my nose with a tongue? - I can’t

73: Is there anything pink in 10 feets from me? - Some parts of my bed sheets are pink

74: Favourite animal? - Chimps

75: What was I doing last night at 12 AM? - Reading my book in bed

76: What do I think is Satan’s last name is? - It’s just Satan

77: What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it? - Africa by Toto

78: How can you win my heart? - You can’t. Lizzie already owns it

79: What would I want to be written on my tombstone? - I honestly have no idea…

80: What is my favorite word? - Don’t really have a favourite word.

81: My top 5 blogs on tumblr - I don’t do favourite blogs

82: If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say? - REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

83: Do I have any relatives in jail? - Not that I know of

84: I accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow me with the super-power of my choice! What is that power? - Teleportation. I would love to just go anywhere in the world whenever I wanted to. I would go grab Lizzie first and take her where ever she wanted to go

85: What would be a question I’d be afraid to tell the truth on? - Nothing that I can think of. I don’t like lying and don’t have anything to hide

86: What is my current desktop picture? - It’s a screenshot from World of Warcraft. It’s my Human Fury Warrior riding the Iron Bound Proto-Drake across Tanaris in front of Argus. 

87: Had sex? - Many times

88: Bought condoms? - Many times

89: Gotten pregnant? - Lol no

90: Failed a class? - LOL I straight up got kicked out of my old school

91: Kissed a boy? - I have

92: Kissed a girl? - I have

93: Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain? - I can’t recall but I’m sure I have

94: Had job? - Yes, I have had job. Very good, very nice. 

95: Left the house without my wallet? - I went to Scotland last week without my fucking wallet…

96: Bullied someone on the internet? - No

97: Had sex in public? - Not outright had sex, but done stuff

98: Played on a sports team? - Yeah, a lot actually

99: Smoked weed? - Yep

100: Did drugs? - One of the drugs, please. Nothing except weed, to be honest

101: Smoked cigarettes? - I do

102: Drank alcohol? - When I can. I love going to the pub with my mates

103: Am I a vegetarian/vegan? - I used to be, but then I really needed to put weight on so I started eating meat again

104: Been overweight? - LOL have you seen me?

105: Been underweight? - My BMI used to say I should be dead  :)

106: Been to a wedding? - I haven’t. The first one I will go to will probably be my own

107: Been on the computer for 5 hours straight? - Only five hours?! 

108: Watched TV for 5 hours straight? - Pretty sure I have

109: Been outside my home country? - Several times. Been to Greece and Holland a couple times each 

110: Gotten my heart broken? - LOLOLOLOLOLOL

111: Been to a professional sports game? - Yeah, I used to go watch the Ice Hockey every weekend with my dad

112: Broken a bone? - Thankfully not

113: Cut myself? - Unfortunately yes

114: Been to prom? - I actually didn’t go to my prom

115: Been in airplane? - Yeah, several times

116: Fly by helicopter? - Nope

117: What concerts have I been to? - Hold up, I have a list for this one:

♫ Slayer♫ Anthrax x2♫ Megadeth♫ Metallica♫ Napalm Death♫ Alestorm♫ Children of Bodom♫The Raven Age♫ Kvelertak♫ DragonForce x2♫ The Heavy♫ Hawkwind x5♫ Pulp♫ The Kills♫ The Strokes♫ The Vaccines ♫ Echo and the Bunnymen♫ James ♫ Seasick Steve♫ Jack White♫ Neil Young and Crazy Horse♫ Dengue Fever♫ Afro Celt Sound System x2♫ Goat♫ McFly♫ Rolf Harris

and many more that I’ve forgotten to list

118: Had a crush on someone of the same sex? - Yeah, I’ve fancied a lot of guys in the past

119: Learned another language? - I “learned” French for GCSE but nothing I can remember. Lizzie needs to and is going to teach me Spanish, though. We want our kids to be bilingual like she is so I need to be able to speak Spanish as well

120: Wore make up? - Yeeaah

121: Lost my virginity before I was 18? - Lost it when I was 16

122: Had oral sex? - A lot. Given a lot too

123: Dyed my hair? - I dyed it once purple and red

124: Voted in a presidential election? - I’m British but I voted in the general elections

125: Rode in an ambulance? - No, thankfully

126: Had a surgery? - No, thankfully

127: Met someone famous? - I’ve met so many famous band members

128: Stalked someone on a social network? - Yeeaah

129: Peed outside? - Hasn’t everyone?

130: Been fishing? - Nope

131: Helped with charity? - Yeah

132: Been rejected by a crush? - Too many times to count lol

133: Broken a mirror? - I once dropped a mirror on my toe. Blood everywhere

134: What do I want for birthday? - I need tattoos so probably that

135: How many kids do I want and what will be their names?

Nova Lynn Wilson-Poole

Lara Mileena Wilson-Poole

Anri Sophia Wilson-Poole

Raiden Aldren Wilson-Poole

Furion Axel Wilson-Poole

136: Was I named after anyone? - Nope. My middle name is my dad’s name, though

137: Do I like my handwriting? - My handwriting is the worst handwriting I’ve ever seen. Many people will back that up

138: What was my favourite toy as a child? - I didn’t have a favourite, I loved them all equally

139: Favourite Tv Show? - At the moment, Wilfred. LIZZIE WE NEED TO FUCKING FINISH IT COME BACK HERE SO WE CAN

140: Where do I want to live when older? - In Malmesbury still, where I currently live, to be honest.

141: Play any musical instrument? - Guitar, bass, and a bit of the drums. I also used to play the trumpet and my teacher said I was the best student he ever had

142: One of my scars, how did I get it? - All of my scars: self harming

143: Favourite pizza toping? - Meat feast

144: Am I afraid of the dark? - Only complete darkness

145: Am I afraid of heights? - I get really bad vertigo. We went to the museum in Edinburgh and went to the top floor, and I completely freaked out. My head was swimming so bad that my whole body felt like it was continuously falling

146: Have I ever got caught sneaking out or doing anything bad? - Not that I can think of. I never sneaked out of did anything particular bad when I was younger. Then I got to an age where my parents believed that I need to make my own mistakes and that I was old enough to take the consequences and make my own decisions in life

147: Have I ever tried my hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end? - Lol too many times to fucking count

148: What I’m really bad at - I’m bad at communicating how I feel a lot because I’m scared how I feel like hurt or upset others or cause an argument. It’s past mental abuse great?

149: What my greatest achievments are - I probably have loads but I’m honestly too tired to think right now..

150: The meanest thing somebody has ever said to me - I’m sure there’s some fucked up shit people have said to me, but I don’t make a habit of remembering that sort of stuff

151: What I’d do if I won in a lottery - Pay off the rest of Lizzie’s lease on her apartment, go over to America to meet her friends and family for two weeks, and then buy her a  one way plane ticket to fly back with me. 

152: What do I like about myself - I’m perfect  ;)

153: My closest Tumblr friend - Nick @chuck-fenriz

154: Something I fantasise about - Lizzie. A LOT

Took me a long ass time, literally an hour, but here you go! Sorry that I ran out of steam towards the end haha :)