#darker stories

[purolibro]

This reminds me of Jim Shepard’s short story collection You Think That’s Bad which has one of my fave stories in it called “The Track of the Assassins” (woman adventurer story) and also one of the most disturbing stories I’ve ever read in my life called “Classical Scenes of Farewell.” (Medieval serial killer story. Which turns out to be based on a historical figure. Faith in humanity takes a beating) It’s good writing anyway.

And also I just finished reading The Witches of New York by Ami McKay and on the one hand I love it. It fits Fall Vibes and Halloween Vibes so well. Female friendships, young witch coming to her power, and the little historical details that make it come alive. On the other hand, religious mania stories do give me some visceral negative reactions. And there’s a lot of dead women in this one. Still recommending it everywhere I go.

I think some people forget that some literature and some media is meant to be deeply uncomfortable and unsettling. It's meant to make you have a very visceral reaction to it. If you genuinely can't handle these stories then you are under no obligation to consume them but acting as if they have no purpose or as if people don't have a right to tell these stories, stories that often relate to the darkest or most disturbing parts of life, then you should do some introspection.

[lordofomens]

"Phaenomenal...Unnatural...Abnormal...Sacrificial...

It will tell you the story of the phaenomenon omens, who have gone across the multiverses, invading the interdimensional homeworlds, discovering the legends that were told the darker stories among the phaenomenons. In the exposition story, the omens are not only abnormal beings like the phaenomenons that are believed to foretell the future, but also unleash powers beyond the capabilities of their bloody births and the shadows of the eclipse."

In another words, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

[bunnieswithknives]

Fop redesigns for funsies but also bcs I saw some star heel boots and had to put Dale in them immediately.

[venriliz]

Kiandra.

i did @birdietrait's random cas challenge and got plantsim and fantasy/colorful eyes °-° is it cheating that she actually isn't really a plantsim? am i a cas-challenge cheater??? :<

[random-mailbox]

Tis the season for everything dark and spooky. I will reblog the October posts over the next week. Starting with the darkest and moving to more lighthearted closer to actual Halloween.

If you want to read ahead - original 52 posts are all linked in this one

Random-Mailbox's Favorite Sailor Moon Fics - Week 5 - Darker Stories

Since it is October and the season for everything scary and dark, this week I was originally going to do the single saddest post of the entire series (including upcoming instalments) - “Unhappy Endings”. HOWEVER, after talking to @master-ray5, we decided that maybe it is best to stick to some darker stories that are angsty to start but have a happy ending, something that was dubbed “The Road of Suffering.” All of the below end on a positive note, which is something I personally crave. If someone does want to read a sad one, I will link 3 of them at the bottom of the post - but proceed at your own risk and be prepared to cry. 

As always, my apologies in advance for spoiling some of these for you (Fic Titles are linked to either FFN or AO3 entries).

Alone - Draegyn

Sailor Moon disappears without a word and leaves Tuxedo Mask to protect the city with her other guardians. She comes back to Tokyo 10 years later on her own mission but does not want to be recognized or work together with her former teammates. Eventually Mamoru manages to piece together who she is and tries to stop her from leaving once more, finally starting to understand the horrors she had faced while on the run and away from him.

Untethered Universe Series - @gottagetmeoneofthese

When Mamoru’s star seed was taken, he felt only the darkness and his inability to get to Usagi when she needed him most, constantly calling out to her. This series explores the nightmares, the disconnect and the fears, with Usagi realizing what Mamoru needs the most to help re-ground himself and move forward. 

Blue - @caelenath

In this one-shot, Usagi deals with her loneliness while trying to get a project she insisted on undertaking (to break up her monotony and bring Mamoru closer to her) completed around their new house before the birth of Chibi-Usa. 

i'll tell you my sins (and you can sharpen your knife) - winterbones

This two-parter tells the story of Minako dealing with her memories of Silver Millennium, Kunzite and other Shitennou’s return and not being able to trust them after everything they did under Beryl’s control. As the other Senshi slowly restart their relationships, Minako struggles with letting go and allowing herself to fall in love again.

If I only belonged to you - @beej88

Dark Kingdom got defeated without Usagi realizing that she is the Moon Princess or finding the Silver Crystal. This story is part of the Doom Tree-AU where, as Usagi and Mamoru fall in love, she worries about him having to eventually choose the princess from his dreams over her. Especially after having seen what their potential future could look like (This one has the BEST ending!)

Crimson Haze - @reispinkoveralls

Mamoru has a very debilitating panic attack after seeing someone who looks like Queen Beryl at his university library. His better half comes to his rescue and makes sure he is alright.

The Ghosts of Yesterday - @master-ray5

After many years away, Usagi comes back to Tokyo for work, but also to face her past and the decisions she had made, ending up in a car accident on the first day. With her own conscience taking on an almost physical manifestation, she has to face Mamoru, old friends and her parents that she had left behind, as she tries to piece together what went wrong and how can she move forward. This was one of the stories I talked about in more detail during my episode of Oshioki Yo! Podcast. 

That Original Lifeline series - @idesofnovember

Mamoru and Usagi are trying to find their footing after the events of the Stars Arc. Mamoru, in true anime-centric fashion, is having hard time articulating what he needs now that he is trying to readjust to a new normal, planting new doubts in Usagi's mind. 

The Runner-Up - @daikon1

In this AU story, Usagi is plagued by self-doubt about her chosen profession, her abilities as a Senshi and how Mamoru REALLY feels about her, as she tries to have a casual “not-quite-friends"-with-benefits relationship with him to help her de-stress. I have re-read this one a few times because of how much I relate to the way Usagi is written, I identify a lot with her insecurities and occasional inability to see past those - the "Imposter Syndrome" is definitely real.

This post ended up being a little longer than the other installments so far but I love all of these and could not bring myself to cut any out. As mentioned at the beginning, here are a few of the stories I was going to originally include in this post when it was all about "Unhappy Endings":

My Worst Fear , In the Dark , and The Crystal Tear

Next week's post was originally going to cover "Wrong Impressions" but we will move that one to November, and do "Potions" trope of @floraone's matrix instead. Which is way more in line with the Halloween theme!

Here are the links to the previous posts to explore more amazing works based on different tropes: Sex Positivity, Established Relationships, Groundhog Day, Unfinished Stories

[wolfythewitch]

In my brain somewhere the hadestown au is cyclical in a way where everyone, once, a lifetime ago or now, has in some way been Orpheus and Eurydice. Jon and Martin were Orpheus and Eurydice before tim and Sasha were, and the story was still the same. Jon turned to look and came up to the surface alone. Their Hades and Persephone were Peter and Elias. Maybe even before that, maybe Peter and Elias were Orpheus and Eurydice once. One of them must have turned. Someone will be Orpheus and Eurydice after, and maybe Tim and Sasha will be their Hades and Persephone. Orpheus will always look back. Eurydice will always forgive him

[howlsnteeth]

and are you really okay? are you really okay?

[climbdraws]

im so so sick of the infantalizing takes of "this children's media is soooo dark its not for kids!!!" and it's just a millennial recounting scene for scene what happens like this

[enden-agolor]

my bf and i made a jesskas stardew valley au and we have been playing like crazy nonstop like it’s all i think about right now so here’s a bunch of doodles for it 😍

in the au jesse is the farmer who moves into town from the city and lukas replaces a character named penny, basically living her life (they both share interests in a few things and both have such kind, caring personalities so it fits trust me bro). for those who don’t know… penny’s life in game is kind of horrible. if you are familiar with the game, i’m sure you know what penny’s deal is and the dark reality she is living with her mother who happens to be an emotionally abusive alcoholic. so lukas deals with that, along side a few other things that kind of make his home life way worse (i’m so sorry lukas) but finds solace in the new farmer that he hadn’t met until about a whole year into jesse already living in beacon (pelican)town.

more art under cut

‼️warnings for implied emotional abuse involving a parental figure‼️⬇️

[moominmanoneandonly]

I present to you my favorite love piramid!

The three genders: Malewife, Furry and Gaslight

Like, you do not realize how insane this shit is. The green guy/Sakuya is probably like the most brain changing character to me couse like..

What do you mean you can brainwash an entire school district? What do you mean you can be remebered as a school klown and a social butterfly by everybody just like that

What do you mean you saw a guy once, trought he's cool(pretty gay btw) and make him believe you are his childhood best friend and that you bonded over lost parents and that you are his everything?!!

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE A SHRINE OF THAT GUY, AND ARE A CONFIRMED YANDERE

What do you mean your backstory is having your older sister pushed from the balcony by your parents for insurance money and then them doing the same to you?!

What do you mean you stuck in the war between your found family who slowly going insane and the love of your life?!

Like sakuya is such an insane character, he should be on some power scaling list for sure. And the fact that Mahiru still wanted to have him as a friend after all that is amazing.

HOW ARE THEY NOT CANON?!!

+ kuromahi of course since they are the main characters

They got that old married couple dynamic perfected and get to trauma bond half of the time.

Just three biches who would rather die than deal with their problems. They deserve each other

The fact that this manga is under "horror" is the biggest 4ss pull I ever seen. Just an avarage gay person experience. You never had a sin of Sloth sleep in your house and had to handle his family drama while your worldview entirely colapses, you start to question morality of imortality, some deppresed dude tries to become an only child and your best friend turns out to be a creep? Clearly you're not gay enough.

[skishie]

👋🌏💪💪

[firethekitty]

i'm glad studio orange showed off the models not just bc it's really cool but also because we can see the skin tone they chose for wolfwood without any environmental lighting and see that it’s almost the exact same as tri98 wolfwood’s. which proves my theory that it’s not intentional colorism on their part but just that their lighting system desperately needs to be improved to make it so he doesn’t look like a sickly victorian boy when he’s in the sunlight

[sidsinning]

Guys marigami is so homumado coded its crazy

-Madoka/Marinette= clumsy sunshine babies

-Homura/Kagami= awkward cool girls

-magical girls

-is Marinette being Ladybug/the Guardian not her being completely self-sacrificial to save the world, like Madoka becoming god to save all magical girls for eternity?

-Homura is a girl who seems very stoic and emotionless, even harsh and offputting to others, when on the inside she is actually kind, very emotional, and feels deeply- much like who exactly in mlb???

-the way Homura fixated on/devoted herself to Madoka bc she was her first friend who opened her up to others; hello Marinette being Kagami's first gf who was THE friend to open her up to other people, while still remaining her best friend above them

-now lets think of all the times Kagami has been akumatized from feeling possessive over her s/o, possessive like how Homura selfishly took Madoka away from the magical girls who had only her as their savior????

-Kagami has gotten straight up akumatized bc Marinette wasn't talking to her in Perfection; much like Homura being corrupted as a witch bc of her sadness at Madoka's absence in the world????

IS IT JUST ME????? HELLO????

[lucyshypemaster]

honestly, kotlc lol

[novelconcepts]

In watching more interviews with Liv about Van and the escalation of Van's pragmatism to such dark degrees, I find myself genuinely baffled that anyone could ever think Van the bad guy. I mean, I'm perplexed at finding ANY of these girls The Bad Guy. The bad guy is the situation. It's being lost. It's freezing. It's starving. It's being scraped down to the barest bone of being alive. They make choices that might be snippy, or cruel, or hard-headed, sure--Shauna refusing to just hash it out with Jackie; Jackie being too stubborn to come inside; Taissa refusing to discuss her situation plainly; etc--but by the time we reach the end of season 2, it doesn't even matter. Petty bullshit doesn't matter. Jealousy doesn't matter. Those things are still going to be present and complicated, because--for all their choices, for all the distancing they're trying to do--these kids ARE still human beings. But it isn't the point.

The point is survival. Plain, simple, straightforward. Van's pragmatism is survival. It is the difference between living another day with blood on your teeth or dying pretty. It is the difference between fighting forward through the fire and the snow and the hell of it all, and laying down to die. Van knowing, in watching the ritual violence of Shauna beating Lottie nearly the death, that they will be killing and eating one another soon. Van coming up with the cards for the hunt. Van not blinking when the moment comes, Van choosing a weapon that doubles as a tool to bring the body back, Van refusing to apologize for staying alive--it's not evil. It's not Bad Guy behavior. It's purely about survival, because there is nothing else left to her--or to any of them. They can play the pretty little Sweet Angel Girl game and die, or they can get dirty, bloody, horrific and fight. Van chooses the fight. Van chooses to fight for herself, for her lover, for her team, even knowing not everyone is going to make it out...because the alternate path there is that no one makes it out. Van knew the baby wouldn't live. Van knows the rest of them won't, either. Not unless they start making the hard choices.

And, honestly, the fact that Van sees this narrative coming. Comes up with this plan. Brings out the cards. To me, that is the opposite of Bad Behavior. That is as close to justice as anyone can find in the wilderness. If someone else came up with an idea, maybe it would have come down to voting--but that would have had such a human element to it, with bitterness or hostility or whatever ultimately petty shit always comes of humans selecting who to Other. The cards don't leave room for that. It isn't fair, because the situation isn't fair, because Man vs. Nature isn't fair, but it's as close to a just system as they could possibly find. It's the kindest solution to an unwinnable game. Not to bring it back to American Gods again, but all I can think is "it's easy, there's a trick to it: you do it, or you die." Van gave them that.

[please-let-this-work-oh-my-god]

NO POCS IN 2.2 WE LOST

(Anjo Nala is limited btw)

THE NEW SKINS THOUGH

PV: https://youtu.be/cWFz-l5vYfY?si=UcRmfclQrq8Zp21s (MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING FOR 1.9 ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE) (skip to 2:23 to NOT get spoiled)