#going to explore other books that they've published :)

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

Heeheehee, my library is going to be like 'This random patron is single-handedly requesting that we acquire every single book ever published by Justine Saracen...damn, are her books that good?'

(The answer is: maybe. Mostly it's just that she's about the only author who writes wlw historical fiction, and she's written at least three wlw historical fiction books that specifically take place during WWII, which is reeeeeeeally intriguing. SO YEAH, you bet I'm about to at least request all of those books!)

[songoftrillium]

Meet The Art Team

Hello Kinfolks!

I've been really looking forward to this post for a while, and it's now time to unveil the art team I've assembled to put this project together! They're some heavy hitters that y'all ought to recognize, so without further ado let's meet them!

Mx. Morgan (They/Them)

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Mx. Morgan G Robles (they/them) is a freelance artist and illustrator based in Seattle, Washington. Their work is best known for its use of macabre themes, animals, and nature. They use these themes to explore mental illness, gender identity, or simply to make neat skulls.

They're known for producing book covers for several major publishers, and they've been brought in to design our book covers as well. In addition, they've developed a number of inside pieces as well!

Dogblud She/Her

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Dogblud (she/her), is a Midwestern cryptid working as a freelance artist and writer. Her work is near-exclusively sapphic, centering primarily around werewolves, werebeasts, and their strong thematic ties - horrific or otherwise - to all forms of womanhood.

A long-time fan of Werewolf: the Apocalypse, she's joined our team to produce all of the tribe artwork for the book, in addition to a number of other contributory pieces!

Meka (Any Pronouns)

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Meka is a Scottish comic artist with a flair for the dark and extremely bloody and a long-standing love of monsters and what they let us all explore-- for better and worse. Vehemently underground, they build stories about horror, grief, depersonalisation, and the isolation that comes with being just a little too weird and too angry to swallow whole. Art and catharsis go hand in hand, as far as she’s concerned.

In a throwback to the original game series, Meka has joined to produce a 22-page fully illustrated comic for the series entitled Cracking the Bone. A postgraduate in traditional comic artistry, we're extremely fortunate to have them on the team.

M.WolfhideWinter (He/Him)

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He is a part-time freelance illustrator from Scotland. His work is heavily inspired by the rugged terrain (and rain) of Scotland with a focus on werewolves inhabiting the wild landscapes both past and present. He explores themes of mental illness, societal stigma, dark folklore, and sad werewolves in the rain.

WolfhideWinter has joined our team as our monster-maker, dedicating their time towards depicting our primary antagonists of the garou: The Black Spiral Dancers, and the Wyrm's brood! We can hardly think of a body horror artist more fitting for the role.

----

As a final addendum, we have an additional writer that's joined the team at the last minute.

J.F. Sambrano (They/He)

Patreon

J. F. Sambrano is an author of horror and (urban/dark/depressing?) fantasy and an advocate for indigenous rights. He lives in Washington (the state) and is originally from Los Angeles (the city); the differences are staggering but the ocean and the I-5 are the same. He is Chiricahua Apache (Ndeh) and Cora Indian (Náayarite). He may or may not be a believer/practitioner of real world magic. If he were, he would not be interested in your hippy-dippy, crystal swinging, dream-catcher slinging garbage. But magic is real, let’s not fuck around.

Beloved Indigenous World of Darkness author J.F. Sambrano is joining our team to depict the Bastet in the Dawn Tribes! A friend and frequent topic of discussion on this blog, we are honored to have him on the team to bring the Werewolf: the Apocalypse he's long-felt the world deserves to life!

[poomphuripan]

Producer 'Yuan' Wan Thabkrajang, CEO of YYDS Entertainment - iQIYI Exclusive Interview Transcript

[Why did you choose this novel to make into a TV series adaptation?]

First of all, I think it's the hardship presented in 2023, which is most Thai Y (BL) novels have already been chosen/bought by other production companies in Thailand. Moreover, after reviewing numerous novels from various publishers, none seemed intriguing or had a genre that was refreshing enough for me to buy the adaptation rights to make a series. So, I looked to neighboring countries like Japan, South Korea, or China. They've been rather successful with their Y/BL novels so there might have been some interesting plots. Additionally, China is a country with a flourishing novel industry and a platform, with many famous novels that have millions of readers. And "My Stand-In" is among one of the famous BL novels so I decided to adapt it into a series.

[How do you feel about this being the "first Chinese danmei novel" to be adapted into a Thai TV series?]

This marks the first time a Chinese danmei novel has been adapted into a Thai TV series. Besides, after selecting the project, there were extensive discussions with the director and scriptwriters on how to localize it effectively so that the audience can immerse themselves in the narrative. Because the original work is Chinese, the storytelling or even the storylines are all very based on Chinese culture. The key point of what we needed to do is to make Thai viewers immerse in the series, but still keep the intriguing and intense plots of the novel. This is the hardest thing. But after starting the execution, I felt like the story lines and plots of original Chinese novel can be kept in full, but we needed to choose which plot points to be the main storyline. And because there's only 12 episodes, we'd have to decide which plotlines we are going to cut/shortened. That was one of the things we have to do as well.

[What are the challenges of this series?]

The challenge is the original work, because the original novel has a lot of reader fans and has billions of views. The challenge is to make the book fans satisfied with the adapted plot while making it into a Thai version. At the same time, we needed to figure out how to make the TV series popular in Thailand. Because even though the original novel has a lot of views in China, it's still a relatively new work in Thailand. So we thought about how can we make this Thai drama popular around the globe?

[Why did you decide to work with Director Pepzi?]

It's rather a miracle, because like I had to do research first to see in the past year... So this project started around January 2023, first we started exploring over the last two years to see which BL series was kinda explosive on the market, like able to reach worldwide or international popularity. Because we aimed to create a Thai series with global appeal. And so Director Pepzi is one of the directors, who I felt, has an extensive portfolio of works, both domestically and internationally, so I tried calling P'Pepzi. And that day, that evening, we only discussed for one evening and in the morning the day after, P'Pep texted back 'Yeah Yuan, I'll take this drama" and it's decided right then.

[What are the difficulties in adapting this novel into a TV series?]

It was challenging, especially in discussions with Director Pepzi like "How do you feel about this?... how do you want this to be? like on how to portray certain scenes and characters. Or considering Joe's profession as a stuntman, which means that action scenes are a must. Because in the novel, the action scenes would be in the style of classic Chinese ancient times. However, replicating them in a Thai context proved difficult if we tried to doing them exactly like in the novel. We had to find a balance that resonated with Thai audiences while retaining the novel's essence, this is one of the hardest things. The producers also think, in this year, if we do it the ordinary or typical way, not up to certain standards or not having any challenges, then the series wouldn't meet the selection criteria of viewers. Because these days, viewers tend to select and has a demand for higher-quality content. So we collaborated with the production team to outline the requirements on how we can turn this series into a masterpiece in the industry.

I also disccused with P'Khom about the action scenes or about set designs, things like that. We also had our colleagues from the design department create new sets, for example like Joe's room, that room is originally a warehouse in which we constructed a brand new set (t/n: basically Yuan is trying to say that the design team built Joe's house from scratch because the originally the location is just an empty warehouse). I also felt that the producers were betting big on action scenes. Even though the proportion of action scenes didn't exceed 30%, they were all meticulously designed to look outstanding. This was to evoke excitement and showcase the excellent capabilities of Thailand's production team.

[Interesting facts about 'Up-Poom' and their characters 'Ming-Joe']

Regarding the casting process, it took us 8 to 9 months to finalize the entire cast. And Up-Poom is a pairing where I felt like they had very matching chemistry. Especially when they were paired up during auditions, they even switched roles, with Up playing both Joe and Ming and Poom playing both Ming and Joe. We tried switching the roles to test the chemistry between them. And we found that they were very natural and compatible together, making them suitable for the main roles. Hence, we decided we decided to cast Up and Poom.

As for Ming and Joe, you'll know after reading the novel. Ming is the most detestable character and so Up portrayed him excellently, making everyone itch with hatred during filming. We couldn't understand why Ming acted that way, feeling sorry for Poom's character, Joe, for being mistreated and have to endure to this extent. However, behind the scenes, Up and Poom were quite mischievous, often playing pranks on each other, which made us not feel as sorry for them. Nevertheless, both of them portrayed their roles excellently.

[Recommend 'My Stand-In' to everyone]

Everyone, please pay attention to Stand-in. This TV series has a fascinating plot with elements of drama, romance, and action. It's also the first Thai original series on iQIYI. Please follow it on iQIYI.

[myheartalivewrites]

(Some of) My favourite fics of 2023

2023! What a year, eh? Jesus fucking Christ.

There's no way I can start this list without making a huge caveat: unlike last year, I have NOT read all the RWRB fics that have come out in 2023, not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all. There's just been SO MUCH, and I have in no way kept up.

Anyway. These are my favourite things that I HAVE read. Rules (because who am I if not an extremely organised rule follower?): fic has to have been published in 2023; no more than one per author (some of you gave me real trouble here). Last year I only let myself put five fics on the list, this year I’ve been slightly more generous. Here we go:

muscle memory by @dumbpeachjuice: (E, ~30k) pining while fucking so good it makes me a little bit insane.

Going Platinum by @cricketnationrise: (E, ~20k) OMG the camboy!Alex AU I never knew I needed.

With so much of my heart (that none is left to protest) by @kiwiana-writes: (E, ~65k) Shakespearean actors goodness!

Sweetheart Grips by @orestespdf: (E, ~13k) I am a little bit in love with trans Alex.

coyote ugly series (part 1 part 2) by @smc-27: (E, ~12k) *the rules are being bent, no one look over here. I'm already screaming at myself for not choosing the tennis AU or the stripper!Henry entry* Pining that's worth its weight in gold.

Taste the Way You Bleed by @cha-melodius: (T, ~4k) *again it pains me to not go with spy bois or cheesemonger Henry* The Halloween Huh! fic that nearly ended me in the best way. So funny I could scream.

The Edge of Glory by @historicallysam (T, ~10k) fantastic post-canon exploration of: what if Alex got asked to back into politics, after they've had a kid?

a rich and complex tapestry by @everwitch-magiks (E, ~9k) Henry hosts a radio show about sex and relationships, Alex fucks his way through his bisexual crisis. Delightful.

And of course I couldn’t leave out these babies I helped birth (gross, I beta read them):

Underground by @zwiazdziarka: (T, ~4k) If you love Labyrinth (and Henry in tights, which--who doesn't!) then I've got the fic for you!

why are you googling vampires? by @daisymae-12: (E, ~14k) vampire Henry goodness starring Twilight obsessed Alex

***

As for my favourite out of my own fics, I'm gonna go for an outlier: Down by the Water, I Saw You (E, ~63k). I love all my fics, and the numbers on some of the post-August 11 fics speak for themselves, but this one has my heart. The journey from sad/angry exes to trusting each other again and getting over all the past hurts; to being able to dig into their hearts and find that love that they'd both buried but never managed to get rid of. I wrote it because it was what I wanted to read and it still kills me. Of all my fics, it's the one I miss the most.

***

Thanks to all of you who've read my stuff, everyone who’s sent a nice comment or message my way; everyone who started reading RWRB fic this year, everyone who watched the film then found the book then turned to ao3 because they needed MORE. I know the feeling. What a ride it's been.

[messrsrobyn]

for your anon concerned about tokenism which is a very important thing, it truly is. but what made me go easy on myself was realizing that fanfic is kinda not the place people should go for when looking for rep? now let me explain. it’s not that fics shouldn’t have rep, or that fic writers are exempted from having to incorporate it, because i don’t think it’s neither here and there. that’s not the argument we should be having. we should have rep in proper media, in things that actually make an impact in the world. that’s where the rep should happen and we should advocate for that etc etc. we also should be mindful of what we consume and how we do it and see if we only engage with cishet westernized stuff. but aside from that, if people are demanding from fic writers those things it’s kinda weird to me. like, my dude, you love the whitest, most cishet work of all times and that’s fine with you, but this random writer from xique xique bahia (brazilians will understand my joke) has to know all the intricacies of being a teen in the 70s in wales? or else they’re not doing a good work? like, maybe…! go read books that are diverse and engage in those fandoms too. a lot of HC are just like that anon said, so widely spread that just makes sense. desi harry is very dear to me. even if i also vibe with latino james. idk man, i think we can call off straight up problematic stuff. racist stuff. but if you go into fics trying to be educated maybe open a proper book and like, don’t expect fics to be a manifesto? i just want to see gay people kissing. and i think that’s the gist of it, i read books, i study, i educate myself so when i go into fanfiction im expecting to have a good time. i can also find amazing political stuff in it, but i don’t demand an academic work from writers. but some people are so braindead nowadays that the thought of actually opening a book and studying it too time consuming. so, anyways, yes please don’t be racist don’t be weird don’t be creepy, but also guys, maybe y’all should take fanfic less seriously and engage with other things outside of fandom.

I COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF ‼️‼️‼️

the beauty of fanfiction is how chill it is !!! which is something that's been lost recently with all the moral debates (noisy jegulus haters, i'm looking at you and frowning) !!!

i'm doing a lit + pol degree, and that really shows the difference for me. yes, whilst i read these works for university i'm picking apart everything, i'm cross-referencing it with the politics of the time and how they've developed, at the back of my mind i've always got this idea of representation.

i don't with fanfiction. because that's not the point.

fanfiction is the a FREE and OPEN resource. we don't have to worry about whether publication companies find value in our ideas, we don't have to worry about whether our words hold as much worth as others. we just Write.

people get too concerned with the morality of fanfic, they expect perfection from people Doing A Hobby. and i get it, i get where frustrations come from, but at the end of the day this is a bit of fun.

and yes, diversity is SO important but at the end of the day, fanfiction is already the most diverse form of media out there. if you want deeper explorations, either write them, or take your frustrations out on the core material that fandoms are derived from. take your frustrations out on the fact that we have to add diversity to fandom spaces because it's not in original media.

fanfiction is fun, it's a hobby and i am getting So So So tired of people nitpicking and deciding what words have worth when that's the exact reason i criticise official publishers.

BONUS YAP: "i think that big authors needs to step up and-" NO ‼️‼️‼️ just because they have more hits does not mean fandom etiquette doesn't apply. just because their works have more kudos does not mean they owe anything !! maybe stop putting people who are Having Fun with a Hobby on a pedestal to be your moral light.

IT'S ALL SO FRUSTRATING IM SORRY. every time i open tiktok it takes a year off my life because it's not even FUN anymore 😭 why are we policing everything

[annlillyjose]

hi ann!

what's your best advice for writing a poetry collection?

hii, thank you so much for the ask!

how you write a book is subjective to your process and goals, but here are a few things that really helped me while drafting stray ghosts:

allow yourself to be honest. i was super insecure of my poetry, and then i decided not to worry about that when i'm writing. my first draft was always more like a journal entry. if yours is, too, that's not bad at all. in a way, i think it's the perfect thing!

find your zone. poetry, for me, is like an act of prayer. it could be different for you. find out what it means to you, and create the right environment in which you can write poetry.

don't worry too much about "good poetry". writers who write prose and poetry are always confused about whether their poems are any good or if they even classify as poems. let the feeling come when it does, stay for as long as it needs, and go when it goes. don't obsess over it.

read other collections. while you're reading poems on the internet (litmags, social media, etc.), try to get your hands on poetry collections and read them. this will help you find out what you want your collection to be like.

focus on your tone. this is usually a writer-specific thing, but a consistent tone makes a really great poetry collection. this can be through the kind of words used, the stories told and emotions explored, the imagery used, etc.

take your time. i wrote stray ghosts in a year. some people write collections in over five years. some people collect poems they've written through their youth, about 10-15 years, and publish them together. there's no rush. there's no right timeframe.

be flexible. a lot of things will change as you go. your plans could go south, something better might come up, or you might fall into a slump. you might even feel like you never want to write anything anymore. they're all part of the process. it's all part of the process, and it'll all pass.

allow yourself rest. poetry is a deeply personal process. if it gets too much at times, it's always best to take a step out of it, relax, and come back when you feel truly ready.

find a friend. it is awesome to have friends who can read your poems for you, hype you up, and suggest edits if you want them to. i found my clan here on tumblr. if you find your people, it'll get a lot easier to keep going.

take it one poem at a time. while you have a collection planned, don't worry too much about it as a whole. dedicate yourself fully to the poem you're writing right now. once that's done, move on to the next. one by one, they will come together. you can always edit and put the collection together in the end.

i hope this will help. and of course, like always, all writing tips are subjective, and what works best for you works best for you. here are some other things that helped me, and could help you: titling my collection in the beginning, deciding on the number of poems (this changed in the end), creating mood boards, and submitting individual poems to litmags once they were polished and ready to go!

again, thank you so much for the ask! sending the bestest wishes for your collection!

[transgenderdoctorwhomst-old]

In your own brilliant mind, what are the Doctor's childhood books and toys?

What are the freakish things he's showing Rory to try and explain the TARDIS. Lol

note: i am, as far as i am aware, pulling the time lord information from different EU and TV sources. the EU loves elaborating on the fact time lords are alien and time-active.

Things we do know: Time Tots are given things like 4d popup books and radioactive building blocks, so i imagine he's pulling stuff out like those popup books and any other higher dimensional toys. Gallifreyan culture doesn't actually seem to encourage traditional Play that much, mostly just education, so he has a lot of educational childrens books and toys that interact with higher dimensions. stuff about aliens across space and time, probably anatomy of higher dimensional objects, choose your own adventure-type history books that can change the whole text forwards and backwards depending on what timeline variation you're looking at, etc.

(the doctor also had like, a dead lizard on a stick or some shit that he played with as an imaginary friend, because he was super normal as a child. prommy. in regards to toys we know he had.)

otherwise, he's going to use a combo of mentioned gallifreyan childrens stuff + things like 4d rubix cubes. i think he's also going to pull out whatever models humans have made as visualization. after a lot of theoretical education he'll see if he can use telepathy to show what existing as a semi-higher dimensional entity is like, if rory wants.

(because Time Lords are semi-higher dimensional entities. while having evolved in 3d space, they've done a lot of evolving and intentional genetic modification to interact with the 4th and 5th dimensions, like with their time-senses and telepathy, remembering their own future (with some highly specific techniques), having a higher-dimensional astral body, and implanted 4th dimensional DNA strand.)

right now, we actually have a few games to visualize interacting with the 4th dimension (from the third dimension), and i can think of one that visualizes what existing in the 2nd dimension might be like!

human made homework rory is going to end up assigned:

the book Flatlands: A Romance Of Many Dimensions. i actually read this book on my own in high school because i saw it mentioned a few times in the gravity falls fandom, and really enjoyed how it explores how someone might experience going between 2d to 3d space and what it looks like. (and also the thought put into evolution in a 2d space). off memory i cannot remember if it was also a social commentary or had A Lot Of Sexism because this was literally like 11 years ago since i've read it, and was published in 1884

1-d game: this is mean to simulate being a creature that lives in 2d space. it is weirdly scary???

5d Chess With Multiverse Time Travel: I can almost guarantee the Doctor plays this one recreationally. it's exactly what it says on the tin. i hear there's a strategy that involves sending a piece back in time to the start to checkmate on move 1 and destroy all the timelines. i want to play this.

4d Toys: 4d toy blocks simulator :)

Movies: Interstellar and Arrival. Both of these deal with time as a higher dimension, and existing across all points of it at once. I also enjoy them a lot, and am in love with interstellar's dedication to science-accurate sci-fi.

(There's a bunch more mentioned in this youtube video by Curious Archive, i suggest checking it out!)

[jurakan]

can I have a fun fact in youtube deep dive format?

I, uh... don't know how to do that, friendo, because this is a Wendy's a blog not a video hosting site, but! I will try to give you something interesting. Today You Learned about the tygers of colonial Carolina!

[Alright, full disclosure: this is half a conspiracy theory of mine. I went down this rabbit hole after reading Wild New World by Dan Flores.]

In 1709, John Lawson published a book titled 'A New Voyage to Carolina' which is a detailed description of the people, flora, and fauna he found while exploring the Carolinas (I think mostly South Carolina? They weren't divided then, I think).

One thing he notes that I found interesting?

Tygers.

???

[whatcha talking about Johnny, we ain't got tygers here]

Listen to this from page 31:

As we were on our Road this Morning, our Indian shot at a Tyger, that cross'd the Way, he being a great Distance from us. I believe he did him no Harm, because he sat on his Breech afterwards, and look'd upon us.

Uh, okay... um... then on 119 we get this, when he's describing the different animals you can find in the area:

Tygers are never met withal in the Settlement; but are more to the Westward, and are not numerous on this Side the Chain of Mountains. I once saw one, that was larger than a Panther, and seem'd to be a very bold Creature. The Indians that hunt in those Quarters, say, they are seldom met withal. It seems to differ from the Tyger of Asia and Africa.

Alright, what makes this odd (other than that we don't have wild tigers in the Carolinas, if you don't count tailgating Clemson fans) is that the automatic guess you'd make is that he's talking about mountain lions/pumas. They don't live here now, but they did back before colonization. Except he specifically lists what we'd think of as mountain lions as 'panthers', and makes it clear that this animal, this 'tyger' isn't that.

So what are our possibilities here?

ONE: He saw an actual tiger.

...very unlikely. You'd think we'd know about this sort of thing, wouldn't you? If there were tigers in the Americas? Nah, let's dismiss this.

TWO: He made it up.

Well, look, Lawson did actually found towns in the Carolinas, so he has a vested interest in making people go there to live. If he tells you they've got cool animals to see/hunt, like tigers, well, that would definitely attract some colonists, wouldn't it? And they'd expand westward, as he points out that they're supposedly more common on the other side of the mountains (the Appalachians, presumably), and he'd get credit for that.

THREE: He's talking about a different big cat.

He does also mention the 'tygers' of Africa, except Africa doesn't have tigers, either. Either he's confused about that, or for him, 'tyger' just means 'big, colorful wild cat'. I remember that in telling Anansi stories, one author has his characters claim that 'Tyger' back in the day just meant 'big cat', and he uses 'Tiger' as the name of 'Osebo' (which I've seen other authors depict as a leopard). And while North America doesn't have tigers, it does have another really big, roaring cat...

Yes, the US does indeed have jaguars in the Southwest, though they are very rare there, as opposed to further south (and this Border Wall business is not helping conservation efforts). Historically, before they were hunted out by settlers, they did live in Texas and as far north as Colorado, and as far east as Louisiana. Heck, until the 60's it was still legal to shoot them in Arizona. Was it possible that Lawson's 'tyger' was a jaguar? He does say his indigenous correspondents told him that they were usually found west of the mountains, and rarely that far east--and the jaguar's historical range was west of the Appalachian, though pretty far from the Carolinas. And I admit that I have trouble imagining a jaguar wandering the wilds of the Carolinas (though that would be dope).

I don't know. I have no way of knowing. But Dan Flores is pretty insistent that jaguars used to be all over the place, and so he seems to subscribe to the theory that Lawson's 'tyger' was a jaguar that wandered into the Carolinas.

Hm.

A strange zoological mystery, to be sure.

In case you were wondering what happened to John Lawson, by the by, he was captured by the native Tuscarora in 1711 while exploring and tortured to death, shortly before the beginning of the Tuscarora War.

So now you know. I hope this was the 'deep dive' you were looking for.

[themuse-if]

20 (or so) Questions with Sebastien Auclair

Let's learn a bit more about the man behind the lens. Does Sebastien have more going for him than just a charming accent and a coffee addiction?

Interviewer: Sebastien, thank you so much for coming in today! Lets go ahead and jump right in. When's your birthday, you're a Scorpio right?

Sebastien: Yeah, that's right. And my birthday is November 13th.

Interviewer: A Scorpio mystery, indeed. Do you have any nicknames you go by?

Sebastien: A few of my American friends call me Seb or Bastien. You can too if you like. *friendly grin*

Interviewer: *smiles back* Alright, I'll do that. So Bastien, what are some of your positive traits?

Sebastien: I believe one of my strengths lies in being observant and a good listener. I tend to be aware of my surrounding and pick up on things quite quickly.

Interviewer: Admirable qualities. And what about traits that present challenges for you?

Sebastien: I can be a bit reserved at times, especially when trying to express complex emotions. Words occasionally fall short for me, but I think that some words just get lost in translation.

Interviewer: A common struggle. Apart from photography, any hobbies that you indulge in?

Sebastien: I do enjoy the ambiance of jazz bars; it's a way to unwind. I actually play a bit of piano. Maybe I could play for you sometime.

Interviewer: *starts to blush* I would love to hear you play. Alright, reflecting on your strengths, what do you consider your greatest strength?

Sebastien: I believe my greatest strength lies in my ability to capture the essence of a moment. I know how to capture it through my lens, and then also take time to be present and live in the here and now.

Interviewer: A powerful skill, indeed. On the flip side, what would you consider your biggest weakness?

Sebastien: Perhaps dwelling too much on perfection. During late-night editing sessions, the pursuit of perfection can become a hindrance.

Interviewer: Perfectionism, a common challenge. Describe yourself in one word.

Sebastien: Adventurous.

Interviewer: And how do you think others perceive you in one word?

Sebastien: Mysterious.

Interviewer: A fascinating perception. Moving on, what would you say is your greatest fear?

Sebastien: I'm not really sure if I'm afraid of much right now. I'm too excited to experience this new chapter of my life. Dwelling on fear can only hold you back.

Interviewer: Fearless indeed. Considering your priorities, what are the top priorities in your life at the moment?

Sebastien: Exploring new cultural landscapes, refining my craft as a photographer, and savoring life's moments, both big and small.

Interviewer: Wonderful priorities. Tell me about your family.

Sebastien: I come from a loving family in Paris. While my parents are divorced they've both always been a part of my life. My sister and I share a close bond; she's the youngest so we definitely baby her a bit. And my brother owns a café where I used to work, which led to us becoming really close over our mutual love for coffee.

Interviewer: Sounds delightful. Looking ahead, what are your goals for the future?

Sebastien: I aspire to continue evolving as a photographer, perhaps publish a book, and explore new artistic endeavors. I think I want to see as much of the world that is humanly possible. I'm not sure I'll ever settle down.

Interviewer: Ambitious and adventurous. On a more relaxed note, how would you spend a rainy day?

Sebastien: A cozy day with a good book, maybe some film editing, and enjoying the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

Interviewer: Classic choices. Any favorite book that holds a special place in your heart?

Sebastien: "Le Grand Monde" by Pierre Lemaitre. Which directly translates to The Big World. It's a story that truly embraces life! There's romance, murder, adventure and mystery. What more could I ask for, it truly is a great escape.

Interviewer: Intriguing. And your favorite movie?

Sebastien: "Day for Night." I love to laugh, and this film is very funny. The drama and mayhem shown behind the scenes of filming a movie and showcasing the silliness of it all.

Interviewer: I've never seen that film before I'll have to give it a watch. Moving into more personal territory, do you have any dark secrets?

Sebastien: I'm not sure if I have any dark secrets. Life has been pretty simple. What I will say is that, not much can hold me back from getting the shot. Interpret that however you like. *slow mischievous smirk*

Interviewer: Getting up to no good I see. What would you say is your best physical feature?

Sebastien: I've been told I have a strong jaw. *leans forward, runs fingers over jawline* That's why I never let my beard get too long.

Interviewer: I see. And your least favorite feature?

Sebastien: I'm not sure what I would pick. What do you think, do I have any bad features? *knowing smile*

Interviewer: *smiles in return* No, but you already new that. *sigh* Ok, lastly, how would you describe being in love?

Sebastien: It's akin to capturing the perfect moment in a photograph – nuanced, profound, and timeless. Love, like art, is a language that transcends words, a story that unfolds with each passing moment.

Interviewer: A very beautiful notion. Thanks for sharing more about your life with me Sebastien. I'm excited to see your journey continue to unfold!

[thatseventiesbitch]

would love to hear more about ur verse covering the gap between t70s and t90s 😁

Thanks for the ask!

Well, it's a massive story. The longest one I've ever outlined (and I wasn't finished) - it was like 60 chapters. It attempts to bridge the two series, so it started on New Years Eve 1979 and went right up to the 4th of July 1995. Each of the characters had their own major plotline - quite complex, to explain how they got from the '70s to the '90s. I truly don't think I'll ever finish and post it, so here are some details (be forewarned, this is long 😅):

Eric and Donna of course, were the center. The story was about how they handled their unexpected pregnancy with Leia, and then raising Leia, along with navigating turbulence as their friend-group imploded, stress in their careers, and eventually fissures in their marriage. A lot of angst, which is something I haven't been writing much of these days but I rather miss it. A few big spoilers about their plotline:

Eric finally grows up when Leia is born. We see him struggling to find his purpose at the end of T70S, and when his daughter is born he finally finds it.

They end up going to college in Milwaukee, not Madison, because it's much closer to Red & Kitty (who help them immeasurably when Leia is little). Donna gets to attend Marquette - the private school she loved but was going to give up so she could go to UW-Madison with Eric.

They want to have a second child when Leia is around 5 or 6, but unfortunately Donna loses the pregnancy/has a miscarriage. When it happens a second time, she goes into her self-destructive spiral and runs away to her mom's in California (deja vu). Eric goes and brings her back home, once again.

Donna's a journalist when she graduates from college, and after several years of work she gets her dream job opportunity: writing for Rolling Stone. The job requires a lot of travel, though, and Eric is concerned by that (Leia's around 10) and nags her about it. The plotline culminates in Donna missing Leia's birthday. Things become even more tense between Eric and Donna, and then on an international work trip, she's drunk and pissed and she cheats (like, somewhere in between kissing and sex). They work through it in marriage counseling. (This storyline was partly inspired by the marriage and family therapy course I had to take in grad school, and partly by Jim and Pam on The Office 🤣)

Donna changes careers after the whole ordeal, and ends up as a writer/author. She publishes her first novel to modest success, but her second becomes a Bestseller. It's about her mom. Midge died of cancer and the book is Donna processing her relationship with her mom/her mom's death.

Obviously from T90S, they end up happy (and together). By 1995 they've worked through their stuff, and they're happier than ever. Well. As happy as you can be when you're raising a teenager (marriage and family therapy course taught me that statistically, families are at their most volatile stage when their children are teenagers 🤓)

Jackie and Kelso

I originally had Jackie with Hyde when I drafted this story, but I changed it after That '90s Show came out and I became intrigued by the idea of Jackie and Kelso for the first time. What makes them keep going back to each other time and time again? How do they work? How does parenthood change their dynamic? I wanted to explore it in a story. A few big spoilers about their plotline:

When Jackie realizes she's pregnant (and it's Kelso's), the first person she turns to is Hyde. He doesn't know why she's telling him that she's pregnant ("I don't know why you're tellin' me. I ain't the daddy,") but Jackie confesses she didn't know who else to go to. She confesses that she doesn't want to be with Michael, she wants to be with him - but Hyde gets upset and tells her it's too fucking late for that. Upset, Jackie leaves. Hyde goes after her, but it's a few moments later after he's collected himself. She's gone.

Jackie flees to her father in Boston (he's just been released from prison and has promptly remarried and is quite literally starting a new family). He's still rich somehow, and he's vowed to take care of Jackie and his grandchild. He's relieved when he learns the baby daddy is Michael and not Steven, because he 'will be easier to manipulate'.

Jackie's dad threatens and then bribes Kelso to ensure loyalty to her. He gets him a job, implied he's paying him off, etc. Jackie quickly sees through this/realizes it, but admits she could really use the help with newborn baby Jay.

Kelso just straight up ditched Brooke and Betsy for Jackie and Jay, once Jackie's dad started manipulating him. There's bad blood between Brooke and Jackie/Kelso - even though Betsy lives with them part-time (in the summers, etc).

They get divorced because Kelso reveals her dad's bribes to marry her - and because Jackie feels she can't trust him, and he's cheating (he is). Their kids (they now have another baby) are tired of seeing them fight. Etc.

Kelso has a playboy era for a few years, but it loses its appeal rather quickly and he comes crawling back to Jackie. He misses his family. She makes him work for it for a year, but when he's 'proven his love', she takes him back and they remarry.

The second divorce has to do with them being competing local news anchors, ala Anchorman.

Years in the future, beyond 1995 (this was going to be an epilogue, maybe?) Jackie and Hyde run into each other again. Jackie's kids are grown/almost grown, and she's finally left Michael behind for good and been happily single (parenting) for many years. Jackie and Hyde's chemistry is still there - until Hyde reveals he has a 7 year old. Jackie's crushed, but forces herself to ask about his wife. He grins and says no wife, just a co-parent, he's not with Jamie's mom. It ends on a flirty note and we're led to believe they get together like that, later in life. (*Found a way to make it Zenny!*) (Maybe sort of inspired by Daisy Jones and the Six)

Hyde

He turns away Jackie when she comes to him with her pregnancy - lashes out at her from a place of deep hurt and regret. Unfortunately for him, he drives her away one final time and she's married to Kelso within the year.

He eventually moves to NY, with W.B. It's related to running Grooves, he's gotten a promotion and is making quite a bit of money. Work is his life now - he never thought he'd be one of those people.

He still comes back to Point Place, though rarely. For Eric, Donna, and Leia. For Red and Kitty. He always says hi to Fez. Etc. But he avoids Jackie and Kelso.

He doesn't date or have a serious girlfriend for a long time after Jackie - like 7+ years. When he visits, Eric always tries to tell Hyde that he can have what he has too, he can settle down and find someone. Hyde just brushes him off.

Fez

Fez is completely blindsided by Jackie's revelation that she's pregnant (with Kelso's baby) when they're in Jamaica. He comes home and is devastated. Jackie was his dream girl. But Hyde assures him that his destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves. He inspires Fez to do something for himself, and he decides to go to beauty school so he can be a hairdresser.

It's hard for him to be around Jackie and Kelso. He stops having ill-will towards them after a few years, and he eventually just defaults to avoiding them. The splinter between Fez and Kelso/Jackie - along with Hyde bailing to New York - means the gang essentially dissolved. It's really hard for Fez (and some of the others). He still talks to Eric, though, and sees him and Donna every time they're in town visiting Red and Kitty.

He dates quite a bit over the next several years, even trying dating some men, but he never feels that soul connection he had with Jackie. He quietly resigns himself to settling. Until he meets Sherri.

That was a lot. And yet, only a snippet. 🤣

[spectralsleuth]

Favorite fics? Doesn't have to be rise or even turtle related

Oh man I got very excited for this ask. I have been in a lot of different fandoms for a very long time- but lets start with some of my all timers.

Now What I'm Going To Say May Sound Indelicate (Rated E)

A Reddie fic for It CH2, which I've probably reread about fifty times. It's unfinished, and probably never will be finished, but it's absolutely worth a read. The writing is incredible, and it's my singular favorite fic of all time. A lot of medical procedures and recovery, since (spoiler) someone gets impaled at the end of the movie and this is exploring how they might live through that.

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Blue Sky (Rated T (from what I remember))

PDF VERSION

I hope this link works- the first link is fanfiction dot net, which is hard to use after so many years, and the other is a pdf I found of someone who downloaded a version to share. This fic is from 2011, and is actually pretty famous. Based off of Portal 2, what happens when Wheatley gets a body? I've actually been meaning to reread it because I barely remember it at this point, but this fic came out about a year before I graduated high school and opened my eyes to the fact that fanfiction can be actual published novel quality.

Also friendly reminder that if you love a fic, download it. Not to repost obviously, but websites disappear and works get deleted for any number of reasons and you may in fact be helping an author out.

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Wow. This is fucking wild-

From Out the Ocean Risen (Rated T)

A Pacific Rim fic that started publishing in 2013- last time I reread this, YEARS AGO, the series was as of yet unfinished. It's a fantastic body-horror-esque story of the implications of aliens and hiveminds and what makes a monster. It's Newton Giezler-centric and FANTASTICALLY written-

and it JUST updated this month in 2023. I had no idea, but searching through my fic list made me notice. I thought, surely it's just an update to apologize for abandoning the fic- but no! It's an actual new chapter.

If you guys ever wanted to show support for a fic that's been abandoned, this one deserves it immensely. Show it some love, it's never too late to hop on board and enjoy a fic and you never know what someone will return to.

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Pirate King Laurence (Rated T)

'His Majesties Dragon' is a super good age of sail book series, sometimes called 'Temeraire', that's as if a Pride and Prejudice character was captain of a dragon crew. This is a little bit of an AU to that, and is one of my all time favorite Temeraire fic series.

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the run and go (Rated M)

Post Homestuck fic. 560k words. Still being updated- enough said, it's fantastic. This is probably the longest fic on my list. Involves a lot of unpacking about Dave and Bro and not just what it's like recovering from an abusive childhood, but reconciling with the person you love who abused you. Also everyone lives. Everyone.

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>Dave: survive three years on this rock (Rated T)

One more Homestuck fic for the road- there was a period of time where the Homestuck tag was nothing BUT meteor fic. If you were in the fandom, iykyk. This one was probably the most in character Dave and great portrayal of what it would be like actually living within a universe made up of date game mechanics.

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The Other Hawke (Rated E)

If anyone's gone through the rest of my fic besides TMNT stuff, they've seen my SECOND largest fandom I've written for, which was Dragon Age. More specifically, I fixated on most peoples least favorite character on the whole series- Carver Hawke. Hahaha. I just really fixate on the oddest characters, huh?

This is a fic about what his life outside of his brother is like, and giving him a lot of depth that you don't get in the video game series. Also he is getting dicked down by Fenris, which is a fantastic pairing I didn't know I needed. It's hilarious, and romantic, and very tense.

Man. I gotta reread a lot of these. Thanks so much for the ask! Sorry if it got a little out of hand haha.

[songoftrillium]

Meet The (Updated) Art Team

Hello Kinfolks!

I've been really looking forward to this post for a while, and it's now time to unveil the art team I've assembled to put this project together! They're some heavy hitters that y'all ought to recognize, so without further ado let's meet them!

Bek Andrew Evans

Linktree

Mx. Bek Andrew Evans (he/they) is a freelance writer and illustrator from Jackson, Mississippi. He's been doing art since he was young and takes inspiration from comic books (particularly in the 90s), Jhonen Vasquez, grunge, and Carvagio. His favorite mediums are loose inks, watercolors, oil paints, and digital styles that replicate the looks of traditional mediums. He uses body horror and attention to expressions and lighting to convey stories through images, often queer in nature. He explores themes of mental illness, disability, abuse, poverty, and the many intersections of these statuses.

iezeradd (They/He)

Carrd

They are a mixed media artist and writer hailing from Quebec, Canada. They explore concepts of queerness, identity, generational trauma, and otherness through his illustrations of werewolves, often contrasting tenderness and violence in his works. They use transformations and inner conflict as a reflection of his own experiences as a queer individual.

iezeradd is joining the team to provide a myriad of art, ranging from props, to textures, and tribe artwork! We're very fortunate to have them on the team!

Dogblud She/Her

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Dogblud (she/her), is a Midwestern cryptid working as a freelance artist and writer. Her work is near-exclusively sapphic, centering primarily around werewolves, werebeasts, and their strong thematic ties - horrific or otherwise - to all forms of womanhood.

A long-time fan of Werewolf: the Apocalypse, she's joined our team to produce all of the tribe artwork for the book, in addition to a number of other contributory pieces!

Meka (Any Pronouns)

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Meka is a Scottish comic artist with a flair for the dark and extremely bloody and a long-standing love of monsters and what they let us all explore-- for better and worse. Vehemently underground, they build stories about horror, grief, depersonalisation, and the isolation that comes with being just a little too weird and too angry to swallow whole. Art and catharsis go hand in hand, as far as she’s concerned.

In a throwback to the original game series, Meka has joined to produce a 22-page fully illustrated comic for the series entitled Cracking the Bone. A postgraduate in traditional comic artistry, we're extremely fortunate to have them on the team.

Mx. Morgan (They/Them)

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Mx. Morgan G Robles (they/them) is a freelance artist and illustrator based in Seattle, Washington. Their work is best known for its use of macabre themes, animals, and nature. They use these themes to explore mental illness, gender identity, or simply to make neat skulls.

They're known for producing book covers for several major publishers, and they've been brought in to design our book covers as well. In addition, they've developed a number of inside pieces as well!

M.WolfhideWinter (He/Him)

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He is a part-time freelance illustrator from Scotland. His work is heavily inspired by the rugged terrain (and rain) of Scotland with a focus on werewolves inhabiting the wild landscapes both past and present. He explores themes of mental illness, societal stigma, dark folklore, and sad werewolves in the rain.

WolfhideWinter has joined our team as our monster-maker, dedicating their time towards depicting our primary antagonists of the garou: The Black Spiral Dancers, and the Wyrm's brood! We can hardly think of a body horror artist more fitting for the role.

[kingwithpaintedfingers]

If you were the official writer for Warhammer 40k, what sort of themes would you explore and what big events do you want to happen in the Grimdark Galaxy?

Sorry for taking so long to reply to this one, for some reason this question didn't show up on mobile.

To be honest, I'd hate to be in charge of the whole mess xD I'm not good at managing people, and I'm afraid they'd be passive-aggressive if I told them to change the way they write. And besides, it ain't all about me and what I like to read! There are a lot of people who like what they currently publish, and that's okay.

But I would like to be catered to a little with canon, y'know?

So, themes I would like to explore...

If we're going to be all grim-dark, let's get grim-dark with the Astartes and Primarchs, eh? Show them having more tender sides. Explore what they really are: child-soldiers, subjected to radical medical and psychological treatments that are often fatal, all for the glory of an authoritarian government, all so they can maybe have some glory someday?? Some authors do do that. When I provided my monster list of recs, I criminally forgot Aaron Dembsky-Bowden's Night Lord series, which does explore this! It shows the tragic nature of some of the most monstrous people in 40k while also not shying away from how, y'know, fucking monstrous these characters are. So...more stuff like that, I guess? Yeah, more stuff like that! No more stoic marines.

Let's see more xenos stories, too. How about some stories from the perspective of Tyranids? Some Tyranids are supposed to have human-level intelligence, so why not stories about Tyranids fighting for their hive? Maybe at the end the protagonist, a synapse creature mortally wounded in the protection of their biomatter pools, gives the orders to their subordinates to devour them and bring them to the digester pool so that they can be one with their hive forever? Have it be an uplifting, transcendent experience for them. You've got your grimdark there, the whole...dying and being eaten thing...but also some freaking light, dying what a Tyranid considers to be "the good death." If Necrons can be rewritten to not be mindless automatons of metal, then why not rewrite Tyranids to not be mindless automatons of flesh and chitin?

More alliances. More bridging gaps. I know it's not very 40k, I know it goes against everything they've ever written, but franchises are allowed to evolve, to change over time, yes?

And finally, I'd love to read stories about the early lives and early struggles of the Primarchs. Show them struggling to overcome, show them making friends and making mistakes, learning how to become great heroes instead of just...fully forming. Show us more interesting stories and settings.

And for the love of all the gods and other entities considered holy, give us some fucking light. Have some more uplifting stories. Seriously, having everything be sad and awful all the time gets boring and it's the reason I don't read that much 40k, because it gets so damn depressing. I read for escapism, damnit, please don't make the only uplifting thing in your book be that the Imperium hates aliens so much that they're okay with gays and POC, because in some books, that's the only happy thing going on.

[salarta]

I've decided I'm going to say a few things now, instead of holding into them for another month or two.

I was informed of an article on screenrant about the Marauders issue where Kate Pryde gets to benefit most from the Genosha stuff. Two things stood out to me. Why is the article capitalizing the word Ghosts? And why are they making this article two whole ass months after the issue they're talking about was published?

That's when I started to put two and two together. This story was conceived in a manner that allowed Kate Pryde to benefit most from Genosha, where the loss of her father is treated as infinitely more important when "wrapping up" Genosha than the experience of an actual survivor of the genocide who experienced it firsthand. The story was constructed in such a way that they bent over backwards to act like Lorna has no history with the island when she's there, because to acknowledge her history would mean overshadowing what they've decided is their most important objective of fawning over Kate Pryde.

To be clear to Kate Pryde fans, I have no problem whatsoever with her getting a spotlight. I don't have a problem with her leading her own team book, or having the loss of her father and its impact on her acknowledged and explored. I don't even necessarily have an issue with her leading the action taken in those issues. I think Lorna would've been more appropriate, but this isn't the only way Lorna's history with all this can be acknowledged and respected. What I do have a problem with, though, is how the X-Men comics office is so unwilling to show even the most minimal of respect toward Polaris as a character to the point where she's clearly only here cause they think having her show up for a couple panels and whine about lack of coffee is enough involvement for her.

But here's the two and two together part of it.

I've been told by others that Kate Pryde is Jordan White's favorite X-Men character. Jordan White also knows how important Lorna's experience on Genosha and surviving the genocide are to the character. I know that second part for a fact because I told him myself back in 2018.

If Kate Pryde being his favorite character is true, then that means Kate getting to be the focus of the Marauders "wrap-up" of Genosha all while Lorna is treated like she's worthless to the story of something she survived all comes down to White's bias controlling the story. Exactly how he's controlling it doesn't matter. He could be forcing this by editorial mandate. Or the writers could be pitching this way to please him. Both reasons boil down to Jordan White being the direct cause of the X-Men comics office being this horrendously disrespectful to this aspect of the character and what it means to fans that resonate with it.

[bonesandthebees]

I don’t think these have been done yet? (For the ask game) - 19, 80, 54.

19. what are some books or authors that influenced your style the most?

if we're talking fanfic authors, then eli birdfeet I think hasn't necessarily influenced by style, but they've definitely inspired me to be a lot more gritty when trying to build an unsettling or dark atmosphere just because of how raw their descriptions are when writing that kind of stuff.

as far as published authors, rory power has definitely influenced my style a lot. I love her prose and how she describes environments so so much. I literally highlight passages in her books where I just really love the descriptions or metaphors she uses so I can use it for writing reference later.

54. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

I don't know if this is a common tip per se but I feel like it's a pretty common thing to hear about authors mentioning how the characters can often direct scenes or dialogue in a way they didn't intend. I don't try to fight this when it happens. if my characters push things in a way I wasn't planning, then I'll usually let it happen because I think it lets the story flow a lot better overall. they're taking control of things for a reason y'know?

80. do you try to put themes, motifs, messages, morals, etc in your writing? if so, how do you go about it?

I mean if you read a lot of my works I think it's pretty obvious that grey morality is a really common theme I include. that's not something I necessarily try to throw in there, it just pops up as a consequence of me writing characters in a way that feels realistic, even if it makes them messy. I try to focus on character motivations and how different characters with different motivations, even when those motivations are only slightly altered from each other, can clash. I let characters not be perfect and make mistakes because it's more interesting that way. I let conflict happen between characters I want to see bond because I love exploring how to recover from that. it's all very grey because that's just how the world is and I love showing that in so many different ways

ask game!

[robbiedaymonds]

I was tagged by @slowtides to talk about what I've been reading lately! Here's a couple things I've read this year so far. I was a little slow with reading the first 4 or 5 months since I was finishing grad school, but I've read all of the above in the last five or so months. I can talk a little about each of them!

The Eye of the World - I finally started on The Wheel of Time series this year. A friend of mine in college about ten years ago told me to read this and with the show, I decided to give it a try. I really thoroughly enjoyed this first book. I found Rand and Mat's storylines a little less exciting than Perrin and Egwyane but otherwise I really loved this and I'm already reading book two! I really want to read the whole series.

Elantris - my very first Sanderson novel. I'm so glad I started with this one as it was his first (written and published) novel so now I can see how his writing has evolved. This was such an interesting concept and really fueled my imagination and made me want to write again. It was surprisingly easy to read (for some reason I was expecting his writing to be denser and harder to get through but now I realize why he's so popular!) and I flew through it. I really want to get my own copy and annotate it while rereading it.

Bloom Into You - A manga series recommended to me by a person irl for reasons. I haven't read manga in a long time and I've never read a non-magical manga before. It was super cute!

Where the Nightmares Go - was throughly enjoyable. The first and last stories in particular were WOW. The second one (I think it was the second, maybe the third) was so terrifying that I literally could not allow myself to picture it in my head as I was reading or I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep for like a week. Highly recommend if you like horror and uncanny fiction.

The Ex-Girlfriend of my Girlfriend.... - It was good! Very lesbian centric (I was feeling a little bi-erasure) but as I'm trying to explore my queerness, I was happy to read through these situations. The latter parts of the book definitely felt a bit more bi-positive and openly queer (umbrella term) so I think it was worthwhile to read. The bright colors and illustrations were also very fun.

Nettle and Bone - After graduating I read a lot of novellas because it was easier than full novels. This was my first T. Kingfisher and will not be my last. The topic was women and breaking cycles and dealing with family and finding independence and also about hot-silver-fox-fighters and demonic chickens. Cannot go wrong.

High Times In the Low Parliament - Another novella. Totally bizarre and amazing. Fae/faeries, government, sapphics, lots of drugs. It was super enjoyable and I think maybe the first novella I read after graduating??? So it's gonna stick with me. I might even purchase a copy.

Off With Her Head - What promised to be a historical breakdown of misogyny unfortunately turned into a repeated argument for 75% of the book, with the only actually engaging chapters being the ones with historical research. It will definitely make you angry if you are a women or are anti-patriarchy, but after a while the anger will get tiring until you get to The One Juicy Historical chapter. I don't usually read nonfiction so this was maybe not the best thing for me to read.

White Cat, Black Dog - I can't say much about this except that Kelly Link is my favorite short story author and I got this practically brand new book for $10 at a used book store. One or two stories were a little meh for me, but nothing downright awful. I love the way this is retellings of other fairytales but feels sooooo different you'd never know it until you read the acknowledgements or notice that the original tales titles are written at the beginning under the titles. I particularly loved the retelling of Tam Lin.

This is for anyone who wants to write a bit about what they've been reading or what's been engaging for them lately! If you want to share, please do! Also tagging a few people: @twoheartsoneclara @antoine-triplett @actuallylorelaigilmore @spellmansabrina @thyla