#laurie's lore corner

[thedndgoblinwholivesinyourwalls]

the idea of an evil twin version of you showing up is actually rlly cool in fiction i can cook with this

[bugsinshoes]

ok, so your ocs are backupsmore students, right? what are they studying and how did they meet fidds and ford?

OKAY YES THEY ARE SOOO !!!

laurie does art and jocelyn is taking nursing/medicine/human biology/psychology !!!

as for how they met fidds and ford, i dont have a concrete idea yet (most of backupsmore lore/time period is MASSIVELY undecided) but i like to imagine jossy and ford share the same bio class and THATS how THEY know each other, but maybeee laurie breifly met ford and fidds at some college party NONE of them wanted to go to, so they just loomed in the corner or smth idk ???

its all still a wip atm, so dont expect anything coherent bcs im NOT AT ALL SURE ABOUT IT FBKHJSIHIUI

ive had these goobers for just under a year and i didnt really start developing them PROPERLY PROPERLY until like 6 months ago so they still have SO much room to grow (thats my excuse)

i also had the idea they lived in the same dorm building? so theres that i can throw out there ig

[allthistrashtalkmakemeitchin]

BTR x Dead By Daylight

Because I love horror and horror-themed aus. Also, it's a spooky month.

The boys in the band make up a perfect survivor team. (Four survivors vs. one Killer.) You cannot tell me Kendall would not main Dwight. He's the leader of the group, and so is Dwight. The four perks he would use are: Babysitter, Urban Evasion, Slippery Meat, and Fixated.

James would either play one of the girls or play someone funny like Nicholas Cage (yes, he's a survivor in the game). Bro would 100% be screaming at his friends for heals or screaming while the killer is chasing him. The four perks he would use are: Better Together, Camraderie, Dark Sense, and Clairvoyance.

Carlos is a Bill main, idk how to describe it. He would gravitate towards the old war veteran as soon as he starts up the game. The four perks he would use are: Left for Dead, Unbreakable, Second Wind, and Flashbang.

Logan would take Jake. He would love sabotaging the hooks. I'm 100% certain that he would be upset about BHVR nerfing iron will because it's his favorite perk. If he bought DLC, I think he would play Leon Kennedy just because of flashbang or the perk that makes you shut up when healing. The four perks he would use are: Deja Vu, Bite the Bullet, Iron Will, and Calm Spirit. He would also bring a med-kit with addons and sacrifice a White Ward so he can keep his stuff.

That's just if they were playing the game. If the entity brought them there. It would be a whole different story.

I'm sorry, I love Kendall, but he would shit his pants. He and James would huddle in the map's corner, crying. Kendall's perks would be like Dwight's only because he's a team player who would thrive off of helping his teammates.

James has that razzle-dazzle. He would have perks that have something to do with distraction or aura-reading. For example, if he hides in a locker or gets chased by a killer, he can see where to vault or see his friends. As for distraction, he would probably scream to alert the killer where he is and then book it from that spot ASAP.

Logan's perks are technical. They would require him to repair a generator for one state or heal a survivor for the equivalent of one state. He could see generator auras or get a haste effect like Deja Vu, where you get a haste effect for a short while if you work on a highlighted generator. The three generators closest to one another would be highlighted.

Carlos causes destruction. He would fight back against the killer. His perks would use the environment around him to blind, stun, or stall the killer. When he's caught, he would be able to fight back like Laurie Strode, to be honest.

Now, if Katie played. (Ms. Knight would scream her head off if she found out.) I know she would play a killer. They would play custom matches, and she would decimate them. Her favorite killer would be Ghsotface because he can crouch and go undetected, and he can stalk his survivors to injure them. She would 100% bring a memento more just to fuck with them. And it works because James starts freaking out. (mori's allow you to kill a survivor when they're downed or if they're the last one alive or if you've already hooked them.)

(I'm not putting her in the mist. I can't. Lore wise, the smog is horrible for survivors. They're pulled out of their worlds seemingly out of nowhere, and when they're not in trials they are sitting around a campfire with very little supplies.)

[darksigns-exe]

Lore corner question for poly origins: How did Nick and Laurie meet? 💜

They would have been fairly young when they met at a shared friend's place. They were introduced by friends with that classic "I know this person I think you'd like" scheme, and the rest is history.

[all-seeing-ifer]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tysm to @spaghettisaurusrex for tagging me!!

1. How many works do you have on ao3? 18

2. What's your total ao3 word count? 83,346

3. What fandoms do you write for? At the moment it's mostly Angel, with a bit of the Oklahoma revival as well! What a combo.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? From number five to number one:

A Series of Statements Regarding Sunnydale, California (btvs and tma crossover that I wrote the first four chapters of and then stopped updating over three years ago. sorry everyone),

looking up for heaven (vaguely angsty little women fic that I wrote in an afternoon bc I was In My Feelings about jo and laurie, but is honestly pretty good),

Those I Love, It Rends (really really angsty little women fic that I wrote in more than an afternoon bc I was In My Feelings about jo and laurie, and is also honestly pretty good),

Coming Home (little women fic about jo and laurie reconciling that's still a personal fave of mine),

sincere and honest conversation (tma fic about jon coming out to the archive team that I wrote in like a day for aspec archives week and it..... guys it sucks. it sucks so bad. can people please stop leaving kudos on this one i'm so sick of getting emails about it oh my god. not even linking this one fuck that

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I try to!! I'm always super excited to get comments and also have chronic won't-shut-the-fuck-up disease so I'll usually leave some kind of response, even if I have no idea how to respond to positive feedback half the time lol

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? probably triptych? feels like cheating since it's really just a character study of the actual ending to ok19, but surprsingly enough I don't actually have that much written that ends angstily

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? oooo I'm gonna say Coming Home - I probably have written fluffier fic but I find that one very cathartic and think the ending to it is just generally really strong

8. Do you get hate on fics? ehhhh I've had a couple of annoying comments in the past but nothing I'd call hate lol

9. Do you write smut? nope, and I probably never will! I wrote like. one vaguely suggestive scene for give them all that they can drink bc I kind of had to for story reasons and jesus it felt like pulling teeth. I simply do not enjoy it. anyway if like a year from now I've written myself into a corner where I have to do that again feel free to laugh at me

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I mean I'm currently in the process of trying to finish my Oklahoma/Magnus Archives crossover fic so I think there's your answer. Actually funnily enough all the crossover fics I've written have been something crossing over with tma. What can I say, I just really love the tma lore and enjoy applying it to other things!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not as far as I know!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Again, not as far as I know!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope! Closest I've come is Miles helping me out with editing to be a king of a ruined world and us bouncing off each other with our ok19 fic thoughts in general

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? I'm with you on this one El - can't answer this question my ability to have an all time favourite is hindered by my brain jumping from interest to interest like some kind of fucked up flea. also I mostly write gen anyway so. eh.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? oh dear lord there's so many. Like every couple of weeks I contemplate going back to this wishverse au I wrote where buffy and angel survive the battle against the master and proceed to have a deeply fucked up relationship and ruin each others' lives. It was vaguely inspired by the silt verses and the wolf 359 minisode variations on a theme. It was kind of about aromanticism. It was mildly unhinged. And it will probably never be finished because I couldn't figure out a good direction to take it in. Pour one out.

16. What are your writing strengths? Imagery!! People always tell me my imagery is super vivid and memorable and you know what? They're right! I think I have a knack for coming up with imagery and metaphors and motifs and weaving them throughout my writing. Doesn't hurt that I edit my fics like they're academic essays so even if they're not interesting they at least always have strong throughlines

17. What are your writing weaknesses? hmmmm I feel like pacing is something I struggle with. Also while I think my imagery and metaphors are strong I also have a really hard time figuring out how like, subtle to make them? Like I just Do Not have an intuitive sense of what's too heavy-handed or what's too oblique, so I feel like it can end up leaning a bit on the obvious side. it's something I'm working on!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? It's not something I've ever really thought about, to be honest! Probably not something I'd do myself, but that's really just because I'd be likely to mess it up lol

19. First fandom you wrote for? Lost, which is truly something I can never live down. guys I really really like that one insanely underdeveloped ghost-talking guy

20. Favorite fic you've written? either give them all that they can drink or how ridiculous I was as a marionette. much as I clown on myself for writing not one but two ace cordy fics that were meant to be short and ended up being 9k, I can't act like I don't think they were both excellent. oh, and I'm also always very proud of what exists of to be a king of a ruined world, though I feel like I can't call it my favourite on the grounds that it's only like. a third done.

tagging @discocaptain @ramiroangel @beatriceeverytuesday and @jennycalendar

[bookwyrminspiration]

@timid-booklover-in-a-corner requested the titles in a readable list, so here you go! every book I physically own but haven't fully read, of which there are exacty 200 atm, in alphabetical order by author last name :)

feel free to talk to me about any or all of these! or talk to me about any of the books I have read, of which there are more, though I haven't given you a full list of those

(note: just because it's on this list doesn't mean i think it will be good sometimes things just end up in my possession and i'm stubborn <3)

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

Half the World by Joe Abercrombie

Half a War by Joe Abercrombie

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

Loki's Wolves by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr

The Stars Below by David Baldacci

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

The Interstellar Age by Jim Bell

I Have Lived a Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson

Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne

Frost Blood by Elly Blake

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Gender Outlaws by Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Shores of Spain by Kathleen Cheney

Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Stormcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu

The Lost Book of the White by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu

The Shadowhunter Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel by Susanna Clarke

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer

The Vampire in Legend and Fact by Basil Copper

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

The Silver Moon Elm by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi

The Cursed Sea by Lauren DeStefano

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Enchanter by Sara Douglass

The Erotic World of Faery by Maureen Duffy

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards

Runes by Ralph W.V. Elliott

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Undaunted by Kat Falls

Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine by Lindset Fitzharris

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

The Shadow Wand by Laurie Forest

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Finale by Stephanie Garber

The Conductors by Nicole Glover

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

Twilight Director's Notebook by Catherine Hardwick

In the Serpent's Wake by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes

The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes

Aztec Myths by Jake Jackson

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd Jones

The Wild Huntess by Emily Lloyd Jones

The Iron Knight by Kulie Kagawa

The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Legends by Julie Kagawa

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

The Legends and Myths of Hawai'i by Kalakaua

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmi

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

Endsinger by Jay Kristoff

Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins

Tribulation Force by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins

Nicolae by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins

Soul Harvest by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins

Starflight by Melissa Landers

The Defiant by Lesley Livingston

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

Code Name: Lise by Larry Loftis

Human Remains: Dissection and its Histories by Helen MacDonald

Dragons for Beginners by Shawn MacKenzie

Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi

Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi

Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi

Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Majia

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

Toponymity by John Bemelmans Marciano

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady martine

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Nil by Lynne Matson

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Crepúsculo by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight in Spanish)

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (in Italian) (I don't speak Italian)

The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide by Stephenie Meyer

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Furysong by Rosaria Munda

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan

The Apprentice Witch by James Nicol

Wrath of the Storm by Jennifer A. Nielson

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielson

The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielson

The Continuum by Wendy Nikel

The Grandmother Paradox by Wendy Nikel

The Cassandra Complex by Wendy Nikel

The Causality Loop by Wendy Nikel

Sabriel by Garth Nix

A History of Weapons by John O'Bryan

Flying Lessons & Other Stories by Ellen Oh & Others

Titans by Kate O'Hearn

Titans: The Missing by Kate O'Hearn

War of the Realms by Kate O'Hearn

The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson

Madame Fourcade's Secret War by Lynne Olson

Dawn of the Dragons by James A. Owen

Eldest by Christopher Paolini

Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck

Everything Will Be Okay by Dana Perino

The Dragon Nimbus by Irene Radford

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

The Lightning Queen by Laura Resau

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

The Conference of the Birds by Ranson Riggs

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs

Neon Gods by Katee Robert

The Mythical Creature's Bible by Brenda Rosen

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Epic Tales: North Myths and Tales by Dr. Brittany Schorn

Gallant by V.E. Schwab (in Spanish)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

The Warlock by Michael Scott

The Enchantress by Michael Scott

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Henry IV Part 1 by Shakespeare

Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein (1831) by Mary Shelley

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

The Toll by Neal Shusterman

A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies by Clark Ashton Smith

The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith

Renegade by J.A. Souders

The Umberland by Wendy Spinale

The Youngest Templar by Michael P. Spradlin

The Only Ones by Aaron Starmer

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater

The Fallen Country by Somtow Sucharitkul

Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage by Claude J. Summers

Cursed: Wickedly Fun Stories by Susan Abel Sullivan

The Martyr Presidents by William Makepeace Thayer

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

Celtic Tales of Magic and Enchantment by Liam Mac Uistin

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne Valente

Radiance by Catherynne Valente

Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer (3 in 1)

Herophilus: The Art of Medicine in Early Alexandria: Edition, Translation and Essays by Heinrich Von Staden

Sting by Jude Watson

Wildwing by Emily Whitman

100 Cupboard by N.D. Wilson

Dandelion Fire by N.D. Wilson

The Christmas Killer by Patricia Windsor

Favorite Folktales from Around the World by Jane Yolen

The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne young

The Shack by William P. Young (as a CD)

Classic Horror Tales (an Anthology)

A Dragon-Lovers Treasury of the Fantastic (an Anthology)

The Diné Reader (an Anthology)

Reader's Digest Condensed Books Volume 1 1967 (an anthology)

Reader's Digest Condensed Books Volume 3 1967 (an anthology)

Reader's Digest Condensed Books Volume 3 1981 (an anthology)

Best Sellers from Reader's Digest Condensed Books (an anthology)

Steampunk (an anthology, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer)

The Duchess of Malfi, The White Devil, The Broken Heart and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore by John Webster and John Ford (4 in 1)

since picker wheels are for making decisions i put every single book I own but have not fully read (some i've half-read, some are anthologies) into one

note: reading is my primary interest, that's why there's so many; I do intend to read all these. also, as a reader, you tend to accumulate books from others/libraries/etc--i did not seek out or pay money for all of these; some I know nothing more than their titles, some i got when i was 13, and some were for classes. do not judge me im being vulnerable here okay this is for sillies <3

[aioleis]

The Child in the Country, Colin Ward

English literature abounds in the kind of autobiographical novel in whose opening chapters our young hero (for it is seldom a heroine) is seen in the ancient small-town grammar school, daydreaming of the woods and fields, while his elderly teacher is droning on about Latin declensions.

Once let out of school, his real life begins – wandering by the river banks and up through spinney and copse to the hilltops, observing nature with a learning eye and absorbing the wisdom of shepherd and gamekeeper, forester and farrier, from the lovable old poacher with a heart of gold and from the scary old hermit whose tumbledown cottage is really a treasure trove of country lore and bygones.

In the urban equivalent our hero is rather lower down the social scale. Once released from his stern mentors in the board school, he is out and down the street like a shot, everybody’s friend in the market, besieging the old lady in the sweetshop on the corner, begging orange boxes from the greengrocer, nicking coal from the railway yard, all as a rough-and-ready apprenticeship to the life of the city. Years later (for such stories are always set in the past) these stereotypes have become successful citizens, and when they unbend to the young graduate seeking the hand of their favourite daughter, they usually confess that, ‘I was educated in the School of Life’, The point that they and their creators are making is the truism that our homespun philosophers invariably call it, is no substitute for Life Itself. The stereotypes are, of course, intensely literary in origin. The first owes a great deal to Wordsworth and his immense influence on the British imagination, with the long shadow of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s cult of the ‘natural man’ behind it, and the second belongs to a picaresque tradition stretching back through Dickens to Defoe. Teachers of English have for years sought to democratize and update these stereotypes of the separateness of urban and rural experience. Think of the whole series of excellent books with which vast numbers of children have been made familiar as they became set books for examination purposes. I am thinking of texts like Flora Thompson’s evocation of Victorian rural childhood in Lark Rise, Alison Uttley’s Edwadian The Country Child, Laurie Lee’s idyll of the years after the First World War, Cider With Rosie, and Ronald Blythe’s assemblage of his neighbours‘ recollections in Akenfield. Excellent books, all of them, in their examination of the relationship between children and their environment, but I often wonder if their popularity among teachers is precisely because they promote a picture of a purified identity of rural childhood, uncontaminated by urban influences which muddy and confuse the image. In exactly the same way, travellers returning from Polynesia report that secondary school pupils there are obliged to read Margaret Mead’s Growing Up in New Guinea and Coming of Age in Samoa, the fruit of her research in the nineteen-thirties, to learn about the world they have lost.

Read

[gothixm00nz]

Okay, so I fully understand why Nancy's actress in the Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 remake didn't like filming it. It's just sad that her characterization of Nancy was unlikable and bland.

Quentin on the other hand is the best addition to the story. I don't care if you disagree because I have to respectfully tell you that you're wrong. Quentin should have been the main character, because he's the only one who actually moves the plot along. Every pivotal point in Nancy's part of the story, Quentin is there to be the person who actually does shit. This isn't a fault of the actors but rather a fault of the writing. They made Nancy a damsel in distress....

Which is why Quentin being the only survivor in the Nightmare on Elm Street DLC for DBD fits better. Not only does Quentin do much more for the plot, he's also the perfect support based character. Not to mention he was only brought into the fog because the Entity was amazed by how pissed he was. Like an creature beyond our understanding saw Quentin and went "oh shit, he's fucking P I S S E D. He's mine now" which in a weird way is almost a compliment?

Quentin is one of the better licensed survivors in my own personal opinion because not only does his lore go BEYOND his storyline in the movie, it also characterizes him as a more compassionate alternative to Laurie (who's clearly done with this shit. QUEEN.) and makes him much more useful for protecting the team.

Quen is a fucking Chad and if you say otherwise, I will have a minor disagreement with you and cry in a corner afterwards.

[thestalkerbunny]

The Week continues to be hard. Make more Shadow Oaks NPCS to make brain feel better. You can really see where my art ranges from looking cute and acceptable to ‘Oh no. Oh NO baby. Oh NO.’

The Hitchcocks

Farish is a hairdresser and Danny's primary caregiver in the family. He's a sweet man who loves his wife Amitya a lot. He often pesters Helena to at least let him fix her split ends. Danny often spends a lot of time at the shop with him. Farish is much more laid back than his hardworking wife and doesn't have any qualms with being the 'male wife' as kids call it nowadays.

Amitya is real estate agent for the next town over; while the Hitchcock family moved to Shadow Oaks so Helena could go to a less problematic school, Amitya still has to drive 40 minutes to work every day. Must like Romero's mom Polly-Amitya worries about Helena not making friends as easily as she thought she would. She also frequently worries about Danny who keeps running off from babysitters and escaping the house some how despite their best efforts to get him to stop.

Danny is the Hitchcock's adopted Kenku Son. He's roughly 5 years old, his favorite thing in the world for some reason is Danny Devito and he absolutely ADORES Helena to the point where he keeps escaping the house or babysitters or daycare to go be wherever she is. Danny seems to think she is a very large Crow and that they are a FLOCK now.

The Garten Scouts are an organization of Scouts who promote 4 ideals of Good Morals, Good Ideals, Good Service and Good Behavior. Much like girl scouts, they go around doing good, raising money selling cookies and go camping once a year during the summer. Not...not the Shadow Oaks branch. The Garten scouts in Shadow Oaks are actually a bunch of highschool aged gnomes fishing damaged boxes of cookies out from a dumpster behind the super market, repackaging them and donning uniforms to resell them in other towns soley for the purpose of hustling a few hundred dollars out of idiots. Not everyone in Shadow Oaks has caught on, but a good portion have.

Laurie 'Lord' Edge is a vampire from Celeste Craven's Colony. A colony in vampire terms can be as small as a family unit to large as a whole town-usually minded by one or two Alpha vampires and several of their bitten 'drones'. Laurie Edge is actually a vampire who was bitten after Celeste was given the boot for her arc events to take her place in her colony. He biologically is the son of a very wealthy family known for forging and making swords, knives and daggers thru the ages known as 'Cutting Edge' and always expected him to be a fighter and to take over the family business. Ever edgey, he rejected his family's desires and ran off-letting himself be bitten and adopted into a Colony. While he still doesn't know how to use any other weapons than swords, katanas and knives; he'd much rather be a barbarian as that's much 'cooler' according to him. Which there's not much hope for that given his noodle body. He unironically has a reddit account and all his clothes are red and black. Despite being edgey and posting nihilistic things and always trying to shock people-he has a horribly weak stomach and can’t stand gore sites or horror movies.

Catfish is a half elf who works at the Gas Station just outside of the National Park-the last one in fact for 423 miles before the turn off, so people who plan on taking the driving path thru the park to get the interstate usually hit up Catfish's place before they go. Catfish spins a lot of weird tall tales and he seems to be a provoker in the Hag Myth-claiming he's seen the Hag in the forest herself.

Grandma Meep Meep is Catfish's grandmother and has been living in the town almost as long as it's been founded. Legally, this woman shouldn't be on the road but it doesn't stop her from driving. She has been banned from the Senior center of cheating at bingo, causing general havoc at the senior singles mixed dance and running someone over with a power chair. She's often at the gas station as well, more as a fixture who sits in the corner to keep Catfish company and make chit chat with the regulars. She keeps a long legged Jackalope she calls Butters. There has been at least 12 butters as far as Catfish can remember.

The Hag The Hag is a blair witchesque entity that has existed as long as the town has. The first recorded note of the Hag's existence was in the town's foundling days when it was more of a fort to hold down the area during a war (Shadow Oaks is actually the site of a large skirmish that happened) Several Soldiers on either side had gone missing and after a search party was sent out-their remains were found eviscerated near the creek. Hag sightings began to kick up after that.  Park Rangers don't want to perpetuate the belief in the hag to tourists because they don't want kids with cameras getting lost out there as the Park is also meshed with the fey wild-but because much like people who work in haunted houses, some claim to have seen her. It is not advised to Whistle or Clap as that may attract her attention. If you're camping-leave a necklace or something on a string outside of the camp so if she does come across you, she'll be more inclined to leave you alone as lore states she is fond of 'things on strings'. She often leaves a unique set of tracks as one of her legs is lame and she drags it about most of the time rather than put weight on it-but she is known to move much faster on all 4s. It's also believed she will turn into a massive barn owl with a woman's face. Catfish claims he saw her at the creek, hunkered on all fours drinking from the creek like an animal. Other than the one incident years ago-The Hag hasn't really done anything other than possibly terrorize campers in rumor.

[darksigns-exe]

thank you so much for the tags <3 <3

my wips:

strap treatment <3 polyverse nick x noah x laurie (ofc), smut

into your eyes like a grave matt x fem reader

be my angel nick x teddie (ofc) 90s au

nick x noah angst as it says on the tin (request)

i'm playing: 3x3, lore corner (ask me whatever you want about the wips, anything goes <3)

tagging: whoever wants to join in on the fun

FERN'S WIP WEEKEND GAMES

Hey y'all! Let's force each other to work on our WIPs, even if it's just to talk about them or think about them!

EACH WIP WEEKEND RUNS FROM FRIDAY 5PM UTC-5 TO SUNDAY 11:59PM UTC-5

To participate, reblog with up to 5 filenames of your WIPs, and also which games you want to participate in this weekend (example at the bottom of this post).

Each game is basically replying to asks about your WIPs in different ways! For that reason, please make sure to search the reblogs to find other players - send them an ask, keep the game going, force each other to work on their WIPs!

If you see this, you are invited to play, even if you weren't tagged!

There are 3 different games. You can play all of them, or only the ones you like best:

1) Three by Threes: The OG WIP Wednesday game. For each filename you receive in your ask box, reply to the ask with 3 NEW sentences on that WIP. Then, send 3 asks to other WIP Weekend players!

2) Lore Corner: Answer questions about your WIP. It can be anything from headcanons to backstory that you have for your WIP that don't even make it into the fic. Askers - get creative with your questions! (If you are playing Lore Corner, please give a single-sentence description of each of your WIPs so askers have some context)

3) Moodboard Mania: Make a moodboard for your WIP! Askers can also specify a moment or a character-specific moodboard relating to your WIP so that you're not making the same moodboard over and over.

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MY WIPS:

the universe and us in the night (vampire!Jolly x girl!Noah) - Ever romanced your sleep paralysis demon? Ever embraced the void of night? Ever lost your fucking mind? Noah's really going through it in the pandemic.

rainy ghost (Nicholas x Noah) - Church boy Noah is caught in the closet with the pastor's adult son and is excommunicated, destroying his life and effectively leaving him homeless. Thankfully, Folio's dead distant relative owned a big, spooky mansion on the coast that needs tending. Nobody told Noah about the ghosts, though.

sugar daddy Noah (sugar daddy!Noah x sugar baby OC) - Exactly what it says on the tin. An AU where Noah's musician career hadn't gone quite as planned.

more fae shit (fae!Nick x Noah) - what it says on the tin. bit of the ol' orpheus eurydice vibes

GAMES I'M PLAYING: three by threes, lore corner

Tagging @throughwoodsanddirt @the-way-of-words @blessedwithabadomen and everyone else who wants to play!

[wheres-my-sanity]

We were just children pt.1

Summary:  What happens if you meet your childhood best friend after 15 years again? On the other end in a nightmarish fog that only seeks to kill its inhabitants. Old wounds get reopened and scars show. But there always a change of forgiveness. You just have to take it.

Pairing: Felix Richter x Élodie Rakoto

A/N: I wanted to write this since I read Élodies lore for the first time, but never had the time or motivation to do it. In this first chapter I will heavily focus on Élodies arrival. Felix will only be mentioned. The second chapter will be focused on their reunion. Also I want to thank harcourtholmesii again. I hope you enjoy my story.

„Come Felix, it’s going to be fun!” “Élodie, I really think we should turn back.” “Oh, don’t be such a coward, it’s just abandoned tunnel. See, I go first, just trust me.” “O-Ok I’m coming.” “See, as long as we are together nothing can happen.”

Élodie woke up, tears in her eyes. The moon wash shinning on her sweaty skin. She stood up from her bed and walked out on the balcony. Another nightmare. They had become more frequently than usual. She looked down at the messy streets of Paris. Why now? Her life was going ok. A few weeks ago, the doctors came to the conclusion that Élodie had fully recovered from the loss of her parents. She had found this apartment, which, granted wasn’t really big, but it was enough. Élodie didn’t want to sit in some house, no, she wanted to explore and discover. While she had told the doctors that she just loved being outside, the only thing she really wanted was to continue the search. Her parents were somewhere out there, she just knew it.

Élodie let herself fall on her couch and thought about what she had missed. She had been at every graveyard of the city, on every dark and dusty corner, but hadn’t found anything out about the whereabouts of her parents. Where had she not looked? What did she not see? The catacombs. Unlikely, but possible. Tomorrow she would inform herself about how to get into the underground. In a week she could maybe find a guide. She would find her parents, no matter the costs.

Élodie awoke with a groaning head. Of course, the catacombs were a bust, what did she expect? Élodie expected to be either in police station or the clinic. Neither of both was the case. She was at some kind of wreck yard, as the hundreds of crushed car-piles told her. She also could make out the distant shape of a giant lodge. The whole area seemed to be surrounded by a stone wall with a metal fence on it. The place seemed forsaken. Élodie stood, wondering how the hell she got here. On her left she could some kind of giant generator. The wires of the thing seemed to reach over the whole place.

“Hello, is anybody here?” No answer. As Élodie wanted to ask again, she could suddenly feel strong hands covering her mouth and a male voice say: “If you don’t shut up, he’s gonna hear us!” As Élodie turned around she could see the face of big man with a nose that looked like it has been broken more then once. Suddenly Élodies heart began to beat loud and fast. Apparently, the man seemed to feel the same. He gestured to come with him. Since Élodie had no idea where she was and the man seemed really worried, she decided to follow him. The man leaded her to a pile of tires where he hid behind. Élodie raised an eyebrow, but questioned not any further. Seconds after she hid too, a giant man, at least 2 meters high, walked by. He wore a black worker attire and long shoes, but the two most notable things on him were in his hand and on his face. A giant kitchen knife and a white emotionless mask, both covered in blood.

After a minute Élodie could feel her heart beating slower and they could see the man with the mask walk away. Just when she started to feel relieved, she could her a scream that made her flinch. The man with the broken nose cursed and then said: “Wait, here, until me or another man named Dwight return. The names David by the way.” With that he took his leave. 5 minutes later, Élodie heard another scream, this time a different one. A few seconds after she could see something huge moving on the sky. A paint breathing made her look down again. Another man approached. He had a pair of glasses and a key in his hand. And he was bleeding. A lot.

“D-Dwight?” Élodie asked nervously? The man nodded. “Where’s David?” Dwight shook his head and pointed at something behind her. Élodie turned around to see a hatch, she could have sworn wasn’t there before. The man slowly walked over to it and opened it. He waved at her, before he said: “Come.” With that he straight up jumped into it and disappeared. Before Élodie could even blink she could feel her heard beating again. She looked back only to see the man with the knife approach. Without even thinking Élodie jumped into the hatch, only to see darkness again.

When Élodie could see anything again, she could make out Dwight next to her. Magically he seemed to have stopped bleeding. They were in some kind of forest it appeared. All of the sudden Dwight rose up and began walking in a direction. Élodie sprinted after him. She chose the most obvious question first: “Who the hell was that?” Dwight seemed to be exhausted but still answered: “His name is Michael Myers, but we just call him the shape. Could you please wait with any other question until we reach the campfire?” While Élodie wanted to know where she was and how she got here, she decided to be quiet. Since this man saved her life the least, she could do was to leave him alone for a bit. After 10 minutes of walking, they reached a clearing. In the middle was, what she guessed to be the campfire that Dwight had mentioned. Around it sat around 25 people. “Hey Guys we have a new one again.” Élodie looked up to see the semi-interested looks of all of the people. “May I present to you Meg, Claudette, Jake, Nea, Laurie, Ace, Bill, Feng, Quentin, David, Kate, Adam, Jeff, Ash, Nancy, Steve, Yui, Zarina, Cheryl and… “FELIX?” Élodie shouted. “Élodie?”.

[thedndgoblinwholivesinyourwalls]

making my dnd campaign plot. and wuh oh (if you're a party member i'm looking at you koymoa and stardustbard)

It's ended up like voltron. HEAD IN HANDS ITS A GOOD PLOT THOUGH FUCK

[iamcinema]

IAC Reviews #19: Wishbone (2000)

Hey, is anyone still alive out there? I hope so.

Coming off of last year was a disaster, and well, we didn't enter 2021 on the highest of notes. I guess you could say I've been burned out and not having a ton of motivation to do a lot, even with how much I've been grinding on Letterboxd over the past few months. I think I'm ready to come back, and since there's a storm is brewing outside, let's make today a movie night...and boy, do I have a treat for you.

I think I've made it kind of apparent that I have a weakness for terrible, low-budget, trash fires. There's something oddly charming about them where they always find a way to lure me in, and given the scene on Letterboxd, there's a bunch of SOV masochists out there waiting to get their next fix. While digging around for material to cross off my lists on titles to find and add, I was reminded of a terrible, low-budget film that was shot in my hometown over 20 years ago. I'm full of fear for what's to come, and you should be too.

________________________________________

Wishbone is a 2000 horror film directed by Timothy Gaer and co-created by Michael Fasciana, centering on a woman named Laurie who receives an unusual artifact from her eccentric aunt she acquired from a pawn dealer that causes those around her to disappear when they make wishes on it. Hmm, seems simple enough. Let's what we're in for, and I'm absolutely not ready because the IMDb page says this shit is over two hours long, despite a version on Youtube having it just a bit over 90 minutes. Let us pray.

Wishbone in One Gif:

This acting is might be the death of me, but I'm not sure what's going to be the catalyst that causes me to fall down the stairs and break my neck: the sound quality, the weird editing, or the music...oh, god what the fuck is the music doing? So much noise, noise noise!

Okay, so let's dig into this before I take too long of a break and I don't come back to this. I've already had to pause the movie a few times to catch my breath or just rewind and go back because there's a good amount that I keep missing because, apparently, the star of the film is the score and not Laurie. This is so, so slow. I've seen a lot of long horror movies, but at least with those, it feels like things are happening. Even Blood Lake had filler that did something to some degree, and with that, it was consistently bad. This movie doesn't even know what it wants to do. So, as a disclaimer, there's a good chance I'm probably missing some key details that I didn't hear because it seems that characterization isn't important if the music insists on talking over everyone.

________________________________________

So, to date, this might be one of the worst horror movies (and movies in general) that I've ever seen and it might be one of the slowest things in the entire megaverse. This is over 90 minutes of, somehow, nothing and something happening simultaneously - if that makes any sense.

This takes its sweet ass time moving along and there's so little pay-off. The majority of the characters are either nameless or we aren't introduced to them in a way that matters enough for us to care about them. It's kind of like with Violent Shit and other low-budget slasher films where the majority of the characters serve no purpose but to be disposable. Next to the two main leads, Laurie and Joe, and maybe a few others, everyone is just forgettable and even then I couldn't honestly tell you anyone's name if it was explicitly brought up. IMDb isn't helpful either, and at this point it just makes me care even less. I'm not sure if my patience has been tested too much with this, but it's kind of sad that I'm more invested in seeing what the background characters are doing than Laurie and Joe - even though I can't really hear what the hell they're saying.

Yeah, I really can't move on without talking about the sound and the music. Why is it always the audio with these movies? This has an estimated budget of $100,000, or $154,779.43 today in August 2021. How do you have the ability to somehow not make this look like a potato for the most part, well for the day shots that is, but you don't have it in you to get a good mic and someone who knows how to mix and edit correctly? I would sort of understand if you spent the majority of the money on talent to cut corners, but this is just ridiculous. Did they use the cameras' built-in mics to catch the audio here?

I feel like I need to interrupt the movie constantly to tell them to speak up because if I turn up the volume, I'm just getting bombarded with this really weird soundtrack that doesn't fit. I shit you not, during one of the kill scenes, the music booming over it sounds like it was ripped from Kevin MacLeod's "lounge" library and then the reverse happens where ominous music is playing over a more touching scene - and that's not even a dig at Kevin as an artist. That's just how inappropriate and unfitting this editing is. The weird fucking thing about this specific kill scene is that it sounds like the audio is stacked, so there are two different instrumental tracks going on.

How do you fuck something as basic as tension up like that? The audio choices are so painfully inconsistent and it doesn't know what it wants to do. There are moments where you can hear the dialogue just fine, but then the music comes in out of nowhere to segway us into the next scene and it starts to muffle things out. If it isn't that, then the dialogue is just so soft that you'd think there was a pillow on the mic or we're hearing them from the opposite side of a sound-dampened room.

This is what I meant earlier when I said I apologize in advance if I miss anything crucial because I can't make out half of these conversations. So, I'm having to keep going back if I care enough or just having to pause and take breaks because there's only so much I can handle. This means that there's a good amount I'll blank on because I have to keep going back because I can't remember the majority of these no-named characters. Who the fuck are you people? Why am I supposed to care?

If I'm understanding the non-existent rules of the wishbone, you're connected to whoever dies in some way. So, why is any of this relevant to what's going on? If it's random, then it's another reason for me not to care just because some frat kids made a wish at some point. Again, who the hell are you and why am I supposed to lament over them? Why is there so much useless filler here? Did I mention that this is over 90 minutes long and there are *three* fucking party scenes? Party scenes are to Wishbone as ten-minute-long jetskiing and beer game scenes are to Blood Lake.

Oh, speaking of other shit that's annoying. Let's talk about general editing because the sound isn't the only thing that's a mess here.

I swear that almost every single scene in this ends with a fade-out/fade-in shot. Only one or two scenes come to mind where this doesn't happen, and the first time it did I thought my browser was freezing because it abruptly cut to black and then smash cuts to a party scene. I've never, ever seen a movie that abused this that much before and it's on par with something I would have seen made by a bunch of high school kids. So, when we have a moment where this doesn't happen and it plays out normally, it feels like a breath of fresh air. I'm sure this movie's run time could have been shaved down by at least a minute or two if this wasn't a problem, along with all the useless close-up shots that serve nothing to the plot.

It's such a waste of time. I'm so fucking tired. How was this movie's budget $100k? Did they spend most of it on renting the Scranton Police Department for a few shots or did it go towards their impromptu trip to Party City? I'm so tired and I don't care anymore.

Do you want to know what the real kicker is? With just barely twenty minutes left, the whole lore about the monkey's wishbone paw comes back and that's when Laurie and her friend Karen think something is weird. Isn't this whole realization trope that happens within the first or second act, not now with your Great Value brand version of the Dream Warriors?

Also, it's not specified how much time has gone by since the start, but it has to have been at least a week or two. It's incredibly weird how they paint the main characters and the unnamed background ones as such good friends that they don't think it's weird how almost all of them have disappeared - especially one girl who doesn't seem off-put that her boyfriend (or ex) disappeared after getting into an argument at one of the parties and none of his friends could reach him either at his own house.

The final showdown is an utter pain in the ass to get through because the conflict ends as abruptly as it starts and it's so unsatisfying. We get to see the face of our villain, I guess, and then more or less cut to our leads holding hands down the street set to the same looping lounge music we've been dealing with for over 90 damn minutes. Is everyone else who went with them dead? Did they live? Who cares! That's one thing the movie and I can agree on since we never see them again. We end on a shitty cliffhanger that's supposed to prepare us for a sequel, which thankfully never happened.

________________________________________

And that was Wishbone. Holy fucking shit, I've never been so thankful for a movie to be over in my life. It's 11:07 PM as of tinkering with some minor revisions and I've been in purgatory with this for over five hours, and yet, it feels like an entire lifetime has gone by.

I've raved about how bad Blood Lake was with its incredibly bad pacing, but this is next level awful and a testament to bad filmmaking if I've ever seen it. I expect a lot of the things I complained about from super amateur filmmakers who are shooting on an actual shoestring budget, not people who had that much money to fuck around with. How did they have that kind of a budget, and the most they can give us is bad audio, Windows Movie Maker levels of basic editing, three wrap parties, and a few crumbs of gore that we could see?

This was physically painful to see and I'm in much worse shape having endured it than I would have been if I sat through something liked Boardinghouse, and that has a two-and-a-half-hour-long version tied to it. This is just a marvel and I mean that in a so-bad-it's-bad way, not like how SOV enthusiasts who love this stuff pine over. If I had to give one thing going for it, one single granule of gold that I enjoyed from this, it's the limited shots we get of the area so I could make a game out of seeing what local spots I recognized. If playing I Spy is the only way for someone to endure your movie, then I don't know what else to say.

Wishbone is a hot mess where shit's happening, but also nothing is happening at the same time. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. In fact, I wish this movie never existed or would die in the ether and never return to our mortal realm ever again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go have a smoke and hope I don't get run over by a hearse tomorrow.

RATING: 0.5/10

[darkstrangevirgilanxiboi]

i wanna hear the story with the wild plot twist that was mentioned in your high school post PLEASE

OKAY BUT I WARN YOU I WROTE THIS WHEN I WAS 15 I MAKE NO PROMISES ABOUT THE QUALITY( It's been a few years and I lost the original paper but I remember it well enough I think ) Here we go , the story that got me sent to the school counselor for a month of therapy , the one that about gave my teacher an existential crisis. First a breakdown on the assignment- we were asked to write a scary story , and it had to utilize ghosts . At the time , 15- year-old me was super into ghost lore so I was READY Here goes , hope you're not disappointed " This Lasting Echo " The renters ignore me. I don't expect us to get along well or anything like that , but a mere nod or 'hello ' would be nice. They moved in about three years ago , a polite -seeming couple that my parents trusted entirely. I'm not sure why my parents decided to rent out the spare rooms , we don't need the money and we don't really live in a renting kind of neighbourhood. I asked my mom about it once , when the renters moved in, but she wouldn't talk to me. Dad's almost never home anymore , and when he is home , he spends his hours shut away in his office . I tried not to be offended by the renters. After all , they were a kind couple , who filled the house with lovely music and art. The wife is a painter , breathing beauty into every corner. The husband is a musician , who sends his crescendos into the house with such passion it feels the very walls are in tune with it. Mom is always asking him for songs of spring , lyrics of light and joy , yet no matter how uplifting the notes are , my mother hasn't smiled. As the months with the renters went on , I began to notice things. How my mother would hesitate when setting the table , how my father avoided my room on his way into and out of the house. My pictures slowly began to vanish from the walls, and though I confronted my mother about it , she gave no reply. The renters were no help , of course. Neither of them ever looked at me. I grew angry , and began trying harder to gain a response . I broke my mother's favorite vase in front of her, ruined my father's favorite chair , stole paints from the renters , and yet still nothing. I took to hiding in my room , the place that no one but me ever touched. I would lurk and listen to muffled conversations as my parents and the renters passed. " It's a beautiful home , Don , but there's just something unsettled about it. The landlady doesn't talk about it but something's left her heartsick . " " Laurie , I understand you don't like the place just yet , but give it time. We'll get the house used to us. " Heartsick? Yes, it does seem that way. My mother hesitates beside my door , hand outstretched to knock , and yet every time she leaves , a bitterness to her eyes that makes me follow after her , crying out to her , desperate to ease the despair in her face. " Mom ,talk to me , okay? I'm sorry if I upset you! Just don't ignore me ! "But nothing works , she continues walking away from me , and I am left distraught and lonely once more. " Emmie , dear , isn't it time yet ? How long are you going to hide this from them ? They're going to ask eventually , the neighbors have already! " " Nate, I can't! I can't tell them , I have to protect her! What if she hears me? If I....if I say it , then... Then it's final. If I say it , then nothing can ever go back to how we are now. Our family is happy now! Don't ask me to break that, Nathan ! " " Happy?! You call this happy ? Emmie... I'm worried about you. This isn't healthy. If you let me help you -" " Help me ? Like the way you've been hiding her things away from me ? The way you're stealing the traces of her ?! You're going to hurt her feelings! You're making our daughter feel unwanted!" I am confused by this argument , but I still don't understand how it can be that they won't look at me . My reflection in the mirror is as solid as ever , I don't feel any less there. I feel cold , but I believe It's only the fury in my veins . So while my father is away at work, I break into his office , determined to find the source of my mother's heartache. I find it on the desk , a small pamphlet worn with touch . My own face stares back at me , but it's three years younger. Beneath my picture are a set of dates. A funeral pamphlet ?! It can't be real ! I pick it up to throw it away , and beneath I find newspaper clippings. " Tragedy strikes local family " This must be a joke. The date of this article is just two months before the renters moved in. " Local Detective's Daughter Found , Killer Still At Large " Another picture of me, this time lying very still on the driveway of my home. The clothes I wear in the picture.... My stomach sinks. These clothes are the same as I wear now. " Grieving Woman Insists Her Child Is Still Alive " The way my mother hesitates setting the table , the way she pauses near my room. The way she sometimes whispers my name at night with such a broken voice. " Locals Worry Over Detective Wife's Mental State " The renters ignore me. And why shouldn't they ? I am only an echo of my former self .

[soliloquyjewelry]

I was tagged by my friend and fellow artist Leia of @lunation_leathers to show my face and share about myself. Here I am in one of my favorite places (Salem, Ma -- reposted from my personal IG @kerinskali, 📷 by @thewildpine). 🔮 My deepest passions and interests are jewelry, stones, literature, and witchcraft. In my art, I aim to combine these elements as much as I can. 🔮 I was the first person in my family to go to college, and my degree is in Modernist Literature. The genre is heavy on symbolism and allusion, techniques which greatly influence my creative vision. 🔮 I was born in the cusp of Aries and Taurus, also known as the Cusp of Power. 🔮 I have a sleeve of images from stone-centered narratives in mythology and lore. It was drawn and tattooed in woodcut style by @jeff_hardiman_tattoo. 🔮 I am from and still live in the square mile neighborhood of Charlestown (in Boston). As many of you noticed in my live session yesterday, I have an accent. 🔮 I am one of six, in between two older sisters and three younger brothers. My siblings are my best friends and my favorite people. 🔮 I have been interested in witchcraft for as long as I can remember, spent much of my childhood in Salem, and still go there often. I have studied with Laurie Cabot, the official witch of Salem. 🔮 I was a competitive swimmer for about ten years, and my stroke was butterfly. To this day, nothing centers me the way swimming does. 🔮 I have a fairly severe case of misophonia, which is when certain sounds, and in rare cases visual stimuli, inexplicably and involuntarily trigger fight or flight impulses and intense reactions of rage and/or panic. The sound of chewing and lip smacking, whispers, certain S sounds, and repetitive movements that I can see from the corner of my eye like someone bouncing their leg or fidgeting, are my strongest triggers. I've lived with this since I was about 10 or so, and it really sucks. 🔮 On a happier note, I am so astounded by and thankful for how many of you support me and my art. 💙 . . . #salem #witchhouse #witchcraft #witchywoman #blackhouse #artistlife #portraitoftheartist #misophonia #madeinboston #girlboss #jewelryart (at The Witch House)

[scientistofdeduction]

Filling the Holmes void

Some more recs for post-Sherlock, and for people who want to expand beyond the canon into the corners of Sherlock Holmes that are interesting, comforting, and well-written. These are books to escape the world from for a few hours, to go back to when you need a home in comforting pages and good friendship in a story. You want your Holmes and Watson lasting no matter what the time period or struggle? Your well-written female characters? This list is for you. (All my rec lists can be found HERE) (this list contains only book recs, check the others for other mediums)

1. The Mary Russell Memoirs (series) by Laurie R King

Technically, this series is how I first entered the world of pastiche. This is a very loving look at Sherlock Holmes, and a speculation both into what his years of “retirement” would look like, and also, what it would take for him to find romance (it’s purely heterosexual, but it’s one of the best slow burn romances ever). Begins with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, the most recent was Mary Russell’s War. 

It starts with young Russell, stumbling upon the famous Sherlock Holmes as he is studying bees (and making dark plans, according to a short story from Holmes’ perspective). It then whisks the two across the world to deal with old enemies of Holmes’ and new enemies of them both. The series is an absolute tour de force of storytelling, and a wonderfully sweet telling of a relationship.

2. Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye

I will refrain from gushing too much over this. But it’s possibly my favorite. Dust and Shadow shows Holmes and Watson taking on the case of the Jack the Ripper murders, and shows a very good take on their relationship in the meantime, as Holmes is pressed very far by the severity and public nature of the case, as well as the dangers of it. This book has honestly my favorite of the portrayals of friendship between these two. But besides that, shows the extreme strain of tackling a case this complex without the modern ways of solving crimes, even for a man like Holmes.

3. The Veiled Detective by David Stuart Davies

Right up there with Dust and Shadow in my favorites to recommend, is this book. In the canon, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson met as young men. This book makes that youth very realistic, and also takes on the question: what if Watson was not all he appeared?

Sherlock Holmes is living in Montague street, preparing to launch his detective career fully. Watson has just left the army, but not under the circumstances we know, and has caught the attention of a Professor Moriarty to be a pawn in his game against Holmes. The rest should be history, but not completely as we know it.

In this book, as in others, the friendship and integrity of the two famous characters prevails above all. And watching that friendship being forged under trying conditions is absolutely wonderful to read.

4. Sherlock Holmes: Year One (graphic novel) by Scott Beatty, art by Daniel Indro

This shows a young Holmes, attending university classes, going in disguise to stop a burglary, and meeting Watson a while before the events of A Study in Scarlet. It also introduces Victor Trevor and Irene Adler in different ways, taking Adler along for the journey, and making Trevor a more tangible part of Holmes’ backstory.

The art in this story is very cool and the story and over-all case, as well as how it ties into Holmes Lore, is very well-thought out and fun to read. Keeps you turning pages. Across London, people are being murdered, the only clue being how and the notes in Latin left with the body. “I watch this detective and I watch him some more...” 

(this one will show up on another list of mine)

5. The Irene Adler Adventures by Carole Nelson Douglas

Irene Adler, in full form of the canon, a true and believable tale in book one showing her making friends with a young woman named Nell, and how she got mixed up in events that would lead to the story of Scandal in Bohemia. Her side of the story explains for her acting as she did, and then in further novels takes her beyond that, as she tangles with other adventures, and investigations that lead her to butt heads with Holmes a few times more.

The thing about this series is that it has a friendship as strong as the one between Holmes and Watson, while still being in that same universe. It’s also a world with events painted very cinematically.