#have to read 100 pages of dracula

[lesbiantrish]

its all so hopeless isnt it

[silencedrowns]

rating Halloween toilet decor at my local Michael’s

The classic skeleton on a skeleton shaped toilet. 8/10. you cannot go wrong with a spooky dookie but the book made of bone is definitely not it

Ichabod Crane toilet. 7/10. Points for originality with a less common Halloween figure and the satisfyingly smug pumpkin face, but points lost for confusing denim boot covers and the way the pumpkin isn’t reading the book whatsoever. Also makes me wonder if the axe is for toilet paper.

Dracula toilet. 4/10 for boring sculpt, bad paint job, baffling makeup, and the fact that Anne Rice says vampires don’t need to use the bathroom. Not that I believe Anne Rice about everything, but it’s funny to bring up the time Lestat gets body swapped into a normal body and spends way too many pages describing the feeling of peeing.

Frankenstein’s monster. 10/10 this is perfect. The pose, the sculpt, the self referential book… this monster knows what he’s about and even though like all these other toilet figures he’s wearing pants, it’s fine. Top tier silly. I love his face and I genuinely contemplated buying this for about 30 seconds before I realized then I’d have to own and find a place for a Frankenstein toilet figure.

Edgar Allan Poe on the toilet. 9/10 this is the only time I’m deducting points for “but he’s still wearing pants!” because this is an actual human figure, but I’m adding a ton of points back for how scrunkly he is and the large amount of accessories.

Laptop skeleton toilet. THIS IS PERFECTION 100/10. The pose, so familiar to anyone who’s had to use a computer for news or bad social media or zoom. The silly ghost not quite Apple logo. The jointed knees letting you bat at the feet like a cat with a toy. You cannot improve on this. One of my favorite objects in the Michael’s Halloween section of all time. This skeleton is a mood and an icon and I love it so, so very much.

Hey Michael’s? What in the actual fuck is this. I’m not even going to rate this because this is literally just a regular toilet, not a Halloween toilet. “Oh it has a snake on it” snakes alone do not make something Halloween or have we all forgotten about Britney Spears with the yellow python (top 10 “how did I think I was straight” moments). Send whoever designed this embarrassment to remedial Halloween school where they have to design anatomically improbable skeletons. IT DOESN’T EVEN HAVE A SEAT YOU’D FALL RIGHT IN THIS THING SUCKS

[dailydemonspotlight]

Backbeard - Day 61

Race: Foul

Alignment: Dark-Chaos

July 1st, 2024

ZEHAHAHA- wait, no L. Unfortunate. Today's Demon of the Day is, strangely, a modern version of a classic type of monster, and one that originates from a very specific source- a manga. Yep, we have another one that leads you in circles in research, though in this case, it's because it might not even exist. Enter Backbeard, a yōkai that originates from GeGeGe no Kitaro. Before I start digging into what little there is to offer, I'd like to give a huge thank you to @kanekocribs 's fantastic post about this subject, which also had a great delve into Porewit, which you all know my very... intense feelings about.

For the most part, Backbeard's origin is incredibly hard to trace; the purported origin of the yōkai in the book "100 Ghosts and Hauntings of the World" seems to have just been made up by the SMT fandom wiki, as the closest thing I can even trace to that name is the series of woodblock prints from the 1830's called "One Hundred Ghost Stories" which can be further traced back to a set of parlor games called "Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai." In these sources, though, I can't find any reference to Backbeard or even just a single-eyed entity, which appears to be the primary trait for a lot of depictions. Even going back and trying to find anything related to an August 1965 edition of Shonen Book, which the wiki page cites...

Sends you right back to GeGeGe no Kitaro. Please get some sources cited Megaten wiki. Regardless, though, what on earth is GeGeGe no Kitaro even about? It's about yōkai, of course! In the story, Backbeard appears as a major antagonist, leading scores of the 'Western Yōkai,' effectively meaning groups of classical horror movie monsters such as the Wolfman, Dracula, Witches, etc. He's seen as the main antagonist of several of the stories, but in most adaptations he's cut for more personal antagonists. I'm not well versed in GeGeGe no Kitaro, especially because I haven't read it, but the design says all it really needs to say.

Later on, it's attributed and believed that Backbeard may have taken inspiration from several sources conglomerating together, though I could not find a source for the LIFE OF ME regarding the first one. TW for body horror and bugs below, but some people purport that Backbeard may have been based on the 'Eye Bugs' from the aforementioned magazine '100 Ghosts and Hauntings of the World,' though again, I have no idea where this picture comes from, and searching is turning up diddly squat. The second picture, though, I can attest to existing- a piece of art called the Shinjuku Phantom Chimera by Masatoshi Naitō.

Ironically, I pulled this from another blog! Special thanks as well to @littleeyesofpallas for this post about Bleach that ALSO goes into Backbeard. Finally, we can trace the inspiration for Backbeard and Shinjuku Phantom Chimera all the way back to the 1800's, wherein we have this painting by French artist Odilon Redon, simply called Eye Balloon.

So, cool! What do I do with this? I have no idea! There isn't really a moral at the end of this, or any grand message, and my hours of digging have dealt me many, many headaches with not much else in return. I guess, at the very least, I satisfied my curiosity, and also found out that Bleach has a GeGeGe no Kitaro reference in it.

[mutantjellybeans]

Not to go on about this again but like it does get a little frustrating sometimes when people incorrectly announce that something is 100% canon for real in the comics based solely on like a single panel they saw someone else post online, it’s mostly harmless because, yeah, they’re fictional comic books but yall should know by now people can make jpegs do anything they want so next time you see a panel with someone insisting that its contents are 100% canon for real:

Have you read the comic the panel came from? The panel could be taken out of context and have an entirely different meaning within the story itself or it could actually say something completely different all together

Did the OP provide a comic name and issue number? If OP doesn’t provide an issue number that’s a major sign that the panel could be edited, especially if the character is saying something particularly outlandish

Speaking of outlandish: is the text in the panel a reference to another piece of media or do you think it might be a reference to another piece of media? This could be a sign it’s taken from an incorrect quotes account and not an actual comic

Does the text look weird? Is the text different sizes/fonts or weirdly spaced in the bubble? This one might be hard to notice if you’re not into graphic design or typography so no judgement if you don’t but things like letter/word spacing, text size, font, bubble shape, etc is something that’s taken very seriously, bubbles need to be easy to read, pleasing to the eye, and take up as little space as possible, that’s why lettering is a whole separate job in the comic book industry. For example, in these panels “sons…” would not be left on it’s own in one line, “ya basic” would be given more impact, and all the text in the bubbles on the second panel are way too squished together (notice how the words are basically touching the outside of the bubble and how “devastating” is squished and small)

Similarly, is the text a higher quality than the rest of the image? In the infamous “I know you’re here Dracula, where’s my goddamn money?” Moon Knight image that a lot of people thought was real, for example, there’s a certain graininess to the image that doesn’t extend to the text bubble, which is notably clean-looking, in higher quality versions of the image you can even see the pixels of the text bubble that was slapped over the original text (which shouldn’t be possible considering the comic came out in the 80’s)

Did you look at OP’s page? Are they a fanartist? Some extremely talented fanartists dedicate a lot of time and effort to mimicking the comic book style, and they can be really good at it, though unfortunately these fanartists’ work are often reposted without credit which can lead others to believe they’re canon when they’re not, in this case remember: 1. look for an issue number, 2. reverse image search to see if you can find where the panel came from, and 3. keep in mind…

An A-list superhero being canonized as queer is a huge fucking deal, like mainstream news big deal, if an A-list character was confirmed as queer it would be absolutely goddamn everywhere, from IGN and comic book YouTubers to fucking Joe Rogan and late night talk shows, you wouldn’t be able to hear the end of it, so if you think “hey, shouldn’t this be a bigger deal?” stop and investigate further

And finally, the most annoying question: are you sure this is the right version of the character? Comics are filled with alternate timelines, parallel universes, clones, shapeshifters, and so on, are you absolutely positive that the panel you’ve found is the classic character from the main timeline? For example, people frequently used to use Harley and Ivy’s kiss in Bombshells as proof that their relationship was canon in the main DC timeline (it wasn’t, but it is now!), and people still use Logan and Hercules’s relationship in X-Treme X-Men #10 as proof that Wolverine is bisexual in the main 616 universe, which he is not, though it is kind of implied sometimes

I know a major part of this is me being an annoying, nit-picking comic book elitist and, yes, this is all mostly harmless BUT I also think this could be a really great way to exercise your media literacy skills as well as a good, harmless lesson in not taking everything you see online at face value and, hey, it might even get you to read some really great comic books in the process!

Improve your media literacy and critical thinking skills one edited comic book panel at a time! K thx, love you, bye!

[booksbluegurl]

Day 25/100 days of Productivity

15th July, 2024

Academia:

NEET:

Did 10 questions of Cell

Watched lecture 1 of Motion in 1D.

Read a few pages of NCERT and did some NCERT based questions of Cell.

LANGUAGE:

Went through turkish alphabets and thier pronunciations.

Did 20 flashcards from Anki of Turkish.

Practiced 60 different flashcards from Anki of Korean.

ENG LITERATURE:

(nothing today)

Non Academia:

Read 20 pages of Dracula by Bram Stoker. I'm at 152 and honestly, I'm scared, I was scared, just a little bit. Update: At page 187, the story is going at an interesting turn. Update: At 202 now, and finally people are starting to know about the mystery.

I had a good time today. I downloaded and subscribed to an app that helped make sense of all the time I spend on doing whatever I do in the day. Though I started in late afternoon, therefore I don't have much to share, but I'm hoping to have an established routine from tomorrow onwards.

-Tanishka.

[mswyrr]

“Carmilla” (1872) thoughts

1) The heroine's pov is very straight - however, she writes "I, at the date of my story, [was] only nineteen. Eight years have passed since then." It's a workable interp. that she's looking back and de-queering things in retrospect. esp. considering that she and carmilla were sharing passionate embraces while carmilla killed several women; it would make sense that in 8 years she wants to distance herself both from the queerness and the erotic Horror/Gothic aspect of it 

2) i found it interesting that the writer allowed Carmilla herself to place herself and her behavior within nature - as something natural and ordained by Nature/God it's not entirely the homophobic screed i had been expecting, in that sense - more complicated 

though, there’s also the scenes where the singing of hymns pains her and such, and her desire for women is wholly fatal and predatory, so i’m not saying it’s pro gay in any way lol. there’s just a flash of something more interesting in this moment.

3) The writing is more enjoyable than I expected! For the time period, it’s quite fluid and readable actually. I particularly enjoyed these passages:

It’s short (100 pages) and in the public domain, so it can be read for free on Project Gutenberg, if anyone is curious. It pre-dates the famous Dracula novel and I didn’t regret the time I spent with it at all!

[yours-etc]

Pancakes For Dinner

Short little ficlet based on this song <3

Pt. 1, Pt. 2 (coming soon)

————————————

Eddie is pacing his living room back and forth back and forth back and forth back and—

“Dude will you sit down you’re making yourself more stressed!!” Chrissy yells at him from their couch. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me Chris, I'm a writer this is what I do! So why is it so fucking hard to write a best man speech for my best friend, besides you of course Chris” Eddie adds to the end in quickly to cover his ass. 

“probably because you’ve been in love with him since high school eds! And you need to tell him, because if you don’t he will marry that stupid rich bitch his mommy set him up with who he’s only marrying to make her happy and because he thinks he has no shot with you! And somewhere down the line probably 6-10 years in they’ll get a terrible divorce and he’ll have an early midlife crisis and buy a boat or a condo in Florida. he’s settling and he knows it and you are ignoring it.” 

Eddie stops in his tracks and looks at Chrissy. they grew up together, practically siblings. eddie’s mom nannied for her family and eventually, Eddie was born and so was Chrissy. Raised together like siblings as Chrissy was the youngest of 3 sisters who were all moved out by the time Chris could walk. she has been here through every broken bone (4), every school play (6), a gay crisis, and one big fat crush on his guy best friend.

Steve and Eddie meet in freshman year English class. well, not Eddie’s freshman year, Steve’s. Eddie was two years older than Steve and so ended up being his English tutor to get extra credit in his own lit class. Eddie was smart, he just hated school. And yeah he repeated senior year twice making him and Steve graduate at the same time, but they both got the same degree in the end. 

“I just don’t get it!” Steve would yell about Romeo and Juliet and Huckleberry Finn and Frankenstein and Dracula and pretty much any book he had to read…

Eddie would always smile and say “Don't worry steve-o, that’s what I'm here for”

Eventually tutor sessions turned into to hang out sessions turned into smoke sessions turned into crashing on one another’s couch. and yeah they’ve woken up a few times in… not totally platonic positions, but they were high and half asleep, no one could be blamed, so they didn’t talk about it. but Eddie and Chrissy did. 

“Chris he doesn’t like me like that!” Eddie finally says responding to her. 

“Bullshit! If he’s not in love with you then Robin and I are a straight couple!”

“That doesn’t make sense—“

“Shut up it doesn’t matter. how about you write two speeches. one where you pore you’re heart and soul out to him declaring your undying gay love, and then write the one that’s appropriate to say at his wedding. I would say just tell him now, but you know it’s your life, all I know is you need to get it off your chest one way or another.”

She was right. Eddie kissed her on the head and walked to his room and locked the door. 

————————————

Eddie didn’t even make it two steps into the bar before Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and Will, some kids Steve started babysitting in high school to make some extra cash who grew up to be both of their favorite gaggle of kids, cornered him by the door. 

“so what are you going to do?” Dustin asks

Eddie looked at all four of them, “I plan to get him shitfaced, hold his hair back when he eventually throws it all up, and have the perfect hangover cure for him waiting in the morning so he can… make it down the aisle.” 

Mike rolls his eyes, “You know that’s not what we are talking about.”

“We are talking about you stopping Steve from marrying the Richie Bitch!” will whisper yells. 

The envelope in Eddie’s coat pocket suddenly weighs about 100 tons. He didn’t know why he brought it. The letter is about three pages long with lots of chicken scratch and eraser marks, but it’s all of Eddie on paper. And maybe he’ll give it to Steve, maybe he won’t. He hadn’t quite decided yet. “What makes you think I can stop him?” Eddie asks. 

“Because you’re the only one he listens to, besides Robin, but even she’s getting desperate!” Lucas pipes in. 

“Guys, I’ve tried, We’ve all tried. He’s not budging, all we can do is be there for him through all of it. Eventually, it will crash and burn but until then, we put on fake ass smiles and we are happy for him.” Eddie says addressing all of them, “Now I’m going to grab a table, order a round of drinks, and I expect all of you to just focus on making Steve’s party the best part it possibly could be.”

He shoved past them to grab a booth, set his jacket down, and went to the bar. And yeah he downed a couple, maybe a few, okay a handful of shots, for confidence, that's all. The longer he sat there the more he wanted to pull his hair out individually by each strand. He knew he couldn’t let Steve go through with it, but he didn’t want to lose Steve completely, because that would break him. Like completely and totally shatter him into a million pieces that would get scattered into the wind. And yes, Eddie was aware of how cliche he was starting to sound. 

Eventually, he made it back to the table with a round of drinks for everyone, Steve walked in looking, well looking gorgeous. It’s like that moment in the movies where the whole room disappears and it is just the two main characters. There’s a love song playing, except this is a crowded dive bar and they are playing some Zeppelin song that Eddie can’t take the time to name because Steve walks in with too tight a shirt and too tight pants and Eddie is only a man. 

And suddenly the envelope in his pocket is not only 100 tons but also on fire.

————————————

Pt.2 coming soon...

[sofipitch]

Anne Rice Female Force comic

Have you been longing to read a biography of Anne Rice but her regular biographies seem too boring? Have you longed for one narrated by Dracula and featured the most miserable design for Lestat ever created? Look no further!

Click here for a link to a Google drive where I scanned the comic in its 20 page entirety. Last page also features what I assume are horrible Louis and Lestat designs. It doesn't shy away from the Amazon rant but I wish it had mentioned her firing her editor, especially bc the quote by her next her list of works is actually 100% about why she fired her editor. Kind of a biggie for her career

Sneak preview of what you will see (this is a picture with my phone the actual scans are legible I promise):

[blacksurvivalnostalgichanges]

Black Survival characters as mythological/supernatural creatures

Adela:vampire adela is convincing but you know she could be fae with that sort of “you have already lost” thing she has

Adriana:i want to say fire elemental, but that’s too obvious. it’d be poetic if she were instead something that’s constantly cold like an ice elemental or something

Aiden:he is canonically pretty much a supernatural creature. all i can do is nudge towards son of zeus or suggest he’s that one thing i saw somewhere of a being that turns into electricity and travels in power cords (this parenthesis is of me sending this out. what the fuck is this last bit. i have zero clue)

Alex:i think all secret agents would be shapeshifters or changelings. he does have a lot of This Man Is Unfindable vibes, so he’d probably be a shapeshifter

Arda:so tempted to say he’s the human in the story. but ok i’ll name something. i think he has elf-y vibes. at least immortal. like, he’s the type to have lived through a lot of things to me

Aya:maybe it’s because i think she’s kinda similar to kujou sara genshin impact, but i’m thinking tengu

Barbara:human with tons of metal prosthesis (this is me from the future/present. boy that’s a cyborg. pretty sure i described a cyborg)

Bernice:werewolf. hunter of the night, sad about hurting people, that’s werewolf baby

Camilo:either a siren or a sexy vampire

Cathy:necromancer. god i picture someone being like “h... he’s dead.....” and she cracks her knucles like “i didn’t get my medical license revoked for nothing”

Celine:mage or witch vibes to me. all her spells are fireball

Chiara:the nun enemy in horror games. whether she’d be a ghost, or a demon, or a whatever-the-hell is ambiguous, but that’s what i’m seeing. maybe a fallen angel too. good omens au with emma, see my vision

Chloe:witch. like, wears-a-hat, potion-making, cat-having witch is what i’m picturing except instead of a cat she has a small child

Daniel:i’ve compared him to alucard and dracula and vampires too many times for me to say anything but vampire

Echion:hes kind of a cyborg right. i don’t need to try

Eleven:whatever flutterina from she-ra had going on (me from the present/future again. that’s a forest elf. she-ra has a wiki page)

Eva:yeah this one’s obvious. just. magical girl. there ain’t much to work with

Emma:magical girl skin is compelling but. again. good omens au

Fiora:so much medieval knight slayer of dragon vibes coming out of her

Hart:i got nothing. muse? elf? she’s too Normal Person to read

Hyejin:if she were chinese she’d slay in a danmei so hard. she’d cultivate so hard. so when it comes to korea it’s something akin, i guess. don’t know if i want to deep-dive into korean culture for this

Hyunwoo:i never watched teen wolf but he’d be a werewolf in there. source:dude trust me. but with all his stuff going on i wouldn’t be surprised if he was cursed

Isol:ehehe werewolf isol

Jackie:there’s this one episode of grimm where they reveal jack the ripper is a ghost/demon that just comes back every 100 years and possesses someone to go to murders. i think that’s what she’d be

Jan:too much of a normal human being for me to read as well. he’s maybe the character with the least skins too so no clue. not even a halloween costume, i feel like he’d just wear one of those skeleton full-body costumes and call it a day

Jenny:i think it’d be neat if she were a ghost possessing a theater, or something akin to walpurgisnacht from puella magi madoka magica. but she also has elf vibes since she’s full of herself and pretty and stuff

Johann:cleric. what do you want from me

JP: he’s got to be some sort of trickster spirit. if he’s chinese then there’s definitely a few to pick from there

Laura: her whole character is a sort of fetish so if you append “sexy” to it she could be anything

Lenox:dryad. why? she’s afraid of fire. checkmate

Leon:merman

Li Dailin:she’s so regretful and bitter and self destructive. that’s a wraith baby

Luke:he seems like the sort of shapeshifter to turn into a horse to be inconspicuous

Magnus:dude in greek stories who learns not to dare the gods

Mai:that one pokemon that makes fabric. but well. elf. sure. all skinny vaguely pretty people could be elves

Nadine:werwolf is too obvious. but it’s obvious because it fits too perfectly

Nathapon:my guy is beatrice portinari from ordem paranormal, he can’t remember the rituals they did on him

Nicky:is it cruel of me to name dwarf because she’s short. do i get a short joke pass. if i can laugh at my friend when he says the wind

Rio:elf, i think. archery, general appearance. i think it’d be cute if she wore the Elf Outfit Thing but it included a hood with cat ears. something to consider

Rosalio:soul eater weapon thing but he’s a baseball bat with nails that nobody wants to meister

Rozzi:brazilian legend of the iara is what i’m going with, because honestly there’s enough aspects that work well imo. the summary is that it’s a siren but with ~lore~

Shoichi:man i got nothin. his vampire skin is cool and there’s some symbolism there that works since vampires are either rich aristocrats, gay, or both (me from the future again. he’s also ashamed of himself and wouldn’t want to show his body to his child. that is so vampiristic!!!)

Silvia:whatever quicksilver from the avengers had going on for sure

Sissela:Ghost. It makes too much sense, but I briefly considered jiangshi ig

Sua:i think it’d be cool if she was a library ghost. maybe a dryad that lives on as a book idk, but i think it’d be cool if people entered a library and tried to find a book and this sweet disembodied voice goes “it’s on the top shelf”

Tia:she’s already fuckin marina from monica’s gang, what can i say on this one

William:soul eater weapon thing but he’s a boomerang that also no one wants to meister because william is a strange oddly bitter man

Xiukai:ok i need you guys to stay with me through this one, i’m going somewhere. there’s this one urban legend show that ran years and years ago in brazil, and this one episode is about this big boy house that these girls are staying in for a vacay that one of their boyfriends let them stay in. they dirty the floor and stuff because people be like that, and then they start disappearing. that aforementioned boyfriend explains he lived in this house as a kid, and he was a shitheel as a kid who deliberately made a mess for his maid to clean up, but one day she tripped and died. now her ghost (who isn’t sure she’s dead and just cleans up the house as usual) turns people into framed photos. WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT STORY IS, is what i think xiukai would be

Yuki:that one ghost hunter skin is too good for me to be able to imagine him as anything else. i am sorry. i’d love to be like “ah he’d do a good kitsune” or whatever but my mind drifts instantly to him cutting a ghost with a katana

Zahir:i’m like 60% sure he’s already based on a hindu legend so can’t talk too much on that tbh. can’t say for sure since i know very little on that subject but i’m pretty sure they’re basing his backstory off of something

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (26 May-1 Jun 2024)

Lady Parts are BACK and I am beyond delighted!

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 The Red House Mystery (AA Milne, author; Simon Hester, narrator) - a really entertaining golden age detective story. Genuinely sad he only ever wrote the one.

😊 Someone who cares (Just_my_latest_hyperfixation) - cute, entertaining single dad Steve/nanny Eddie fic

😐 Strange Medicine: Dr. Maxwell Thornton Murder Mysteries (S.C. Wynne, author; Matt Haynes, narrator) - p much a standard but entertaining cozy in thoroughly fictional small town. Until the surprise fatphobia in the epilogue! And the epilogue was literally just setting up the next murder so it was TOTALLY SKIPPABLE! I wish I'd known bc I would have just stopped and not had my mostly pleasant experience tainted. I do have to say that the narration was really stellar on this, doing a great job with the buttoned-up, tense voice for Maxwell and the relaxed drawl for Royce

💖💖 +102K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

What’s Your Order? (JJK) - 9-1-1: Buck/Tommy, 18K - "5 Times Buck Guessed Tommy’s Coffee Order + 1 Time He Didn’t Have To"

eight ways to say i love you (middyblue (daisyblaine)) - 9-1-1: Buck/Tommy, 8K - "Homemade tomato sauce; a team barbecue; a drunk dial; getting ready to meet the parents; a basketball sub; sex; oranges; a stolen sweatshirt. Whatever he’s feeling, he doesn’t need to put a name to it right now. He can keep an eye on Evan’s tomato sauce and enjoy dinner with him and cradle this warmth in his chest until they’re ready to say it out loud."

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

The Brokenwood Mysteries - s10, e5

Thousandaires - s1, e1

D20: Misfits & Magic - "Class Conflict" (s10, e2)

D20: Adventuring Party - "True Facts About McDonald's Apple Pie" (s5, e2)

D20: Misfits & Magic - "Family On Six" (s10, e3)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Wet Fire (and Bad News Brooms)" (s5, e3)

D20: Misfits & Magic - "We're The Heroes" (s10, e4)

D20: Adventuring Party - "That's The Squad" (s5, e4)

D20: Misfits & Magic - "Misfits and Magic Holiday Special" (s10, e5)

Doctor Who - s1 (series 14), e4-5

We Are Lady Parts - s2, e1-6

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

⭐ What Next: TBD - Why Hospitals Keep Getting Hacked

Re: Dracula - May 26: Count Me in Every Time

⭐ Working - A Classic Opera Gets an Overdue Update

WikiHole - Saving Private Ryan (with Jason Mantzoukas and Paul Scheer)

Re: Dracula - May 28: Despair Has its Own Calms

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Terrible but bingeable TV shows

The Allusionist - 195. Word Play 5: 100 Pages of Solvitude

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Canada Obscura: The Feral Horses of Sable Island

Shedunnit - Dylan's Whodunnits

Shedunnit - Bonus: Poets, Politics and Popularity

99% Invisible #352 - Uptown Squirrel [update]

Vibe Check - Your Fate Has Been Decided

⭐ Code Switch - White evangelical Christians are some of Israel's biggest supporters. Why?

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Canada Obscura: The Giant Orange Sphere

Pop Culture Happy Hour - We Are Lady Parts rocks with bracing honesty and nuance

Consider This - How these newly included MLB stats recognize the legacies of Black players

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Nursery Rhymes

Ologies - Anagnosology (READING) with Adrian Johns

Short Wave - A Silky Shark Named Genie Swam 17,000 Miles, a Record-Breaking Migration

Re: Dracula - May 31: New Scheme of Villainy

NPR's Book of the Day - Two books trace the social and historical impacts of food

Dear Prudence - I’m 39 and in Love With a 67-year-old. I’m Concerned About Judgment From Others. Help!

⭐ Pop Culture Happy Hour - Best Fictional Bands And What's Making Us Happy

Endless Thread - SwordTube, En Garde!

t's Been a Minute - Is it time to re-name "summer?" Plus, prom fashion is all grown up

⭐ Slow Burn - Gays Against Briggs | 6. The Murders at City Hall

⭐ Slow Burn - Gays Against Briggs | 7. Turn Around. Fight Back.

Welcome to Night Vale #249 - Rifts

Welcome to Night Vale - Bonus Episode: Behind the Scenes (May 2024)

Hit Parade - The Bridge: Girl Groups (Lindsay’s Version)

�� MUSIC 🎶

Bonnie Raitt Radio • Chill

Pop Radio • Upbeat • 1970s

Shaun Cassidy radio

The Partridge Family radio

Pop Radio • Romance

We Are Lady Parts (Music From The Original Series - Seasons 1 & 2)

[kelemvorr]

NINE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW BETTER ♡

— @dameaylin tagged me TYSM!! i love a lil tag game

— tagging @baldursgate2 @mrdekarios @bhalspawn @dameayliins @arcanetower @gortash @bg3 @unsettlingcreature @reaperkiller : if you don't wanna do this no worries! also sorry if you've been tagged already aksjakjs

favorite color. GREEN, the only shade of green i don’t like, is that very brownish green that a lot of armies use lmao. no army green for me!

last song. pretty boy by joji! i saw him at a concert last month and he was so amazing i loved it

last movie. twilight breaking dawn part I LMAO

currently watching. the twilight movies akskaks my partner had never seen them so we are watching. the torture is almost over!

currently reading. i'm such a bad reader i pick up books to leave them. i've been reading anna karenina by tolstoi FOR FIVE YEARS. and i only have 100 pages left akskajs. i'm also "reading" bramstokers dracula and moominsummer madness by tove jansson

current obsession. me obsessed? never. (it's bg3 wow)

sweet, savory, or spicy? spicy spicy spicy! i love making myself have a runny nose when eating

currently working on. well i should be working on uni stuff so i can finally get my bachelors lmao, but more truthfully i'm working on playing bg3 and making silly lil gifs

[gendiebrainrotreceipts]

Girl boss culture is so stupid and you radfems are making it worse. You think you’re making women look so bad but it’s just toxic don’t come crying to men when it all backfires. There are many rumours and beliefs about mystical phenomena happening every time Constantinople was attacked. What I did not know is that apparently this is mentioned in Ottoman scripts as well. That’s certainly interesting. In any case, this is folklore at this point and I am not at all sure it is credible. I read there in the comments below the video someone saying that there must have been some sort of high voltage produced in the midst of the battle. Or maybe a lightning stroke the church for all we know. Surely it must have shocked medieval people but I believe there was some natural explanation for it or that in the heat of the moment people certainly made it out to be more otherworldly than it actually was. something abt fate's glamorization of historical figures (including giving them tits) seems so epic at first glance, then u skim thru their wikipedia page and they're like... *lives after the Great Schism of the Catholic and Orthodox church*, "which Council of ____ are we following?", *invaded by an empire that just disbanded 100 years ago*, political marriage and matchmaking is hard, "our city was terribly ransacked after the fourth crusade back in 1204, we can't ask help from the West!", *civil wars in neighboring states probably*, *Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They might be giants playing in the background*, the Habsburgs family tree is dangerously getting close to being a vine, Margaret of Anjou GiRlbOsSinGggggg her way thru England, maybe another chapter of the Hundred Years War. constantine xi was like existing with by social and political forces of their time. sucks to be him though! imagine being a legit heir of capital R=Rome, only for the austrians to like rebrand themselves as the Holy Roman Empire which according to Voltaire is neither holy, nor Roman nor an Empire while u, the legit remnant of the glory that is Rome is shrinking with forces beyond your control. the city has fallen and you're still alive, you stand singular against the invaders. the glory that was Rome is in you and you'll perish with it. On right there is the antithesis, Dracula, on a background of blood-red. A simple stylized city is shown behind the theatrically dark-clad Dracula, and a many-tailed dragon roars before his feet. In this way he is presented as the saint of death, as the Dragon is a mythical being most closely associated with evil and destruction. In the Biblical book of Revelation, a seven-headed dragon appears in sky, being one of the heralds of the End Times. ‘The Christian dead totalled about four thousand, many more were wounded, and tens of thousands were taken prisoner. Blood flowed in the streets of Constantinople, encircling the cobblestones like red mortar. Some of the bodies were thrown into the Dardanelles, where they "floated out to sea like melons in a canal". Others were piled up as there had been no time to bury them; the stench was terrible, but even more terrible was the task of identifying the bodies of friends and relatives, because many had been beheaded.’

[fairy25]

Girl boss culture is so stupid and you radfems are making it worse. You think you’re making women look so bad but it’s just toxic don’t come crying to men when it all backfires. There are many rumours and beliefs about mystical phenomena happening every time Constantinople was attacked. What I did not know is that apparently this is mentioned in Ottoman scripts as well. That’s certainly interesting. In any case, this is folklore at this point and I am not at all sure it is credible. I read there in the comments below the video someone saying that there must have been some sort of high voltage produced in the midst of the battle. Or maybe a lightning stroke the church for all we know. Surely it must have shocked medieval people but I believe there was some natural explanation for it or that in the heat of the moment people certainly made it out to be more otherworldly than it actually was. something abt fate's glamorization of historical figures (including giving them tits) seems so epic at first glance, then u skim thru their wikipedia page and they're like... *lives after the Great Schism of the Catholic and Orthodox church*, "which Council of ____ are we following?", *invaded by an empire that just disbanded 100 years ago*, political marriage and matchmaking is hard, "our city was terribly ransacked after the fourth crusade back in 1204, we can't ask help from the West!", *civil wars in neighboring states probably*, *Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They might be giants playing in the background*, the Habsburgs family tree is dangerously getting close to being a vine, Margaret of Anjou GiRlbOsSinGggggg her way thru England, maybe another chapter of the Hundred Years War. constantine xi was like existing with by social and political forces of their time. sucks to be him though! imagine being a legit heir of capital R=Rome, only for the austrians to like rebrand themselves as the Holy Roman Empire which according to Voltaire is neither holy, nor Roman nor an Empire while u, the legit remnant of the glory that is Rome is shrinking with forces beyond your control. the city has fallen and you're still alive, you stand singular against the invaders. the glory that was Rome is in you and you'll perish with it. On right there is the antithesis, Dracula, on a background of blood-red. A simple stylized city is shown behind the theatrically dark-clad Dracula, and a many-tailed dragon roars before his feet. In this way he is presented as the saint of death, as the Dragon is a mythical being most closely associated with evil and destruction. In the Biblical book of Revelation, a seven-headed dragon appears in sky, being one of the heralds of the End Times. ‘The Christian dead totalled about four thousand, many more were wounded, and tens of thousands were taken prisoner. Blood flowed in the streets of Constantinople, encircling the cobblestones like red mortar. Some of the bodies were thrown into the Dardanelles, where they "floated out to sea like melons in a canal". Others were piled up as there had been no time to bury them; the stench was terrible, but even more terrible was the task of identifying the bodies of friends and relatives, because many had been beheaded.’

Bro you lost me at Constantinople, if you want to insult me please just get to the goddamn point

[radicalcoffeeclub]

Girl boss culture is so stupid and you radfems are making it worse. You think you’re making women look so bad but it’s just toxic don’t come crying to men when it all backfires. There are many rumours and beliefs about mystical phenomena happening every time Constantinople was attacked. What I did not know is that apparently this is mentioned in Ottoman scripts as well. That’s certainly interesting. In any case, this is folklore at this point and I am not at all sure it is credible. I read there in the comments below the video someone saying that there must have been some sort of high voltage produced in the midst of the battle. Or maybe a lightning stroke the church for all we know. Surely it must have shocked medieval people but I believe there was some natural explanation for it or that in the heat of the moment people certainly made it out to be more otherworldly than it actually was. something abt fate's glamorization of historical figures (including giving them tits) seems so epic at first glance, then u skim thru their wikipedia page and they're like... *lives after the Great Schism of the Catholic and Orthodox church*, "which Council of ____ are we following?", *invaded by an empire that just disbanded 100 years ago*, political marriage and matchmaking is hard, "our city was terribly ransacked after the fourth crusade back in 1204, we can't ask help from the West!", *civil wars in neighboring states probably*, *Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They might be giants playing in the background*, the Habsburgs family tree is dangerously getting close to being a vine, Margaret of Anjou GiRlbOsSinGggggg her way thru England, maybe another chapter of the Hundred Years War. constantine xi was like existing with by social and political forces of their time. sucks to be him though! imagine being a legit heir of capital R=Rome, only for the austrians to like rebrand themselves as the Holy Roman Empire which according to Voltaire is neither holy, nor Roman nor an Empire while u, the legit remnant of the glory that is Rome is shrinking with forces beyond your control. the city has fallen and you're still alive, you stand singular against the invaders. the glory that was Rome is in you and you'll perish with it. On right there is the antithesis, Dracula, on a background of blood-red. A simple stylized city is shown behind the theatrically dark-clad Dracula, and a many-tailed dragon roars before his feet. In this way he is presented as the saint of death, as the Dragon is a mythical being most closely associated with evil and destruction. In the Biblical book of Revelation, a seven-headed dragon appears in sky, being one of the heralds of the End Times. ‘The Christian dead totalled about four thousand, many more were wounded, and tens of thousands were taken prisoner. Blood flowed in the streets of Constantinople, encircling the cobblestones like red mortar. Some of the bodies were thrown into the Dardanelles, where they "floated out to sea like melons in a canal". Others were piled up as there had been no time to bury them; the stench was terrible, but even more terrible was the task of identifying the bodies of friends and relatives, because many had been beheaded.’

We need to bring back character limit for asks actually

[deadpool-scar-bro]

i'm almost done reading dracula and i guess i have an enormous question

i've watched the movies before reading the book and like

where the fuck did they get the idea that mina and dracula were ever in love??? like who was the dude that wrote about that whole thing that's always referenced in the movies were dracula says that mina is the reincarnation of his lost love and bla bla bla

like dracula is a dick that doesn't give a fuck about anyone but himself and mina literally only has eyes for jonathan

unless something truly happens in the last 100 pages like where the hell did that come from???

[puttingwingsonwords]

November Reading Wrap Up

This month I finished more books than ever before; granted, several were started earlier, so page-wise the difference is smaller, but still there. I think this is mostly because I didn't spend a lot of time gaming.

Shit I just noticed one of the books in the graphic isn't aligned but I'm not going back to change that.

Stats

total books read: 17

2023 reading challenge progress: 96 out of 100 (somewhat ahead)

formats: 3 digital, 4 audio, 9 physical

Books

I finished several 5 star reads this month. My absolute favourite was, no surprise, @re-dracula (yes I'm counting it as a book. in the end I did read Dracula after all).

• Re: Dracula by BloodyFM, Bram Stoker (audio, podcast)

rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This chronological audio adaptation of Dracula is the best Dracula adaptation out there with an incredible cast, fantastic sound design and awesome bonus songs. I cannot recommend it enough. Together with the Dracula Daily tumblr community it re-enlightened my special interest in vampires and Dracula to the point that I'm still thinking about it every day.

• Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid (audio)

rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Dark fairy tale meets gothic horror in this retelling of The Juniper Tree. Absolutely loved it!

• Stemmen uit de bodemloze diepte by Anne Resseler (audio)

rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A Dutch YA horror novella that makes you feel the primal fear of the depths of the ocean in an atmospheric, even comforting way.

• The Seep by Chana Porter (digital)

rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This sci-fi novella with a unique take on alien invasion is wonderfully strange and existential. The short story included in this edition is also great.

• Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver (audio, ARC)

rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I had read and loved Chameleon Moon once before, but the audio version made me love it even more! It's intense, emotional, and has amazing effects for ghostly and computerised voices as well as two original songs.

• Activestills: Photography as Protest in Palestine/Israel (physical)

rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A big book full of photos from Palestinian and Israeli activist photography collective Activestills, accompanied by essays and interviews. I greatly admire Activestills' work.

• Stories from Palestine: Narratives of Resilience by Marda Dunsky (digital)

rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Interviews with people of varying occupations from all around Palestine, combined with data and historical and political context, paint a picture of every day life in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.

• A Map of Absence: An Anthology of Palestinian Writing on the Nakba (digital)

rating: 4 out of 5 stars

A great introduction to Palestinian writing, containing poetry, short fiction and excerpts from novels and essays.

• The Queer Girl Is Going to Be Okay by Dale Walls (audio, ARC)

rating: 4 out of 5 stars

A great YA contemporary following three queer high school friends, examining the nature of queer love.

• The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan (physical)

rating: 4 out of 5 stars

A fun book in the Percy Jackson saga, with lower stakes than usual which makes it a lighthearted adventure that still packs the occasional punch.

• Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan (physical)

rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Highly enjoyable modern take on Jules Verne feat. deep sea adventures, alt-tech, and an exploration of the weight of legacy.

• Spy x Family Vol. 1-6 by Tatsuya Endo (physical, borrowed)

rating: 4 out of 5

Action comedy that's just a lot of fun and unexpectedly touching.

Currently reading and TBR

I've just started, or am about to start (I've only read the introduction) Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis. I'm also reading the poetry collection Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear by Mosab Abu Toha, which is currently available for free among many other books for Read Palestine Week (link below).

I have a few more indie books on my TBR for Monster Manor Indie Autumn (extended through December), and A Thousand Steps into Night is my last 12 books for 12 friends read this year. (Send me a message/ask or fill in the question box on my instagram story if you have a rec for next year!)