#mary shelley was such a badass honestly

[mo0nagedaydr3am]

Who the fuck gave Mary Shelley permission to write such brilliant, life contemplating, beautiful things like:

"It had then filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy.”

and

“Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.”

and

“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.”

and

“The labours I endured were no longer to be alleviated by the bright sun or gentle breezes of spring; all joy was but a mockery which insulted me desolate state and made me feel more painfully that I was not made for the enjoyment of pleasure.”

AND

“I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe.”

[buildarocketboys]

Crimson Peak notes @tumbleclub

So I took notes throughout my rewatch so under the cut is basically a live blog of my thoughts and feelings - spoilers for Crimson Peak throughout since I refer to what happens later in the movie from the start.

The main things I want to say about this movie though are 1. It's such a masterpiece of gothic horror. The aesthetic, the story, the characters, the relationships, the SYMBOLISM...all so on point that it almost feels TOO on the nose at times (except it doesn't because I love it. It's perfect, mwah). And 2. I love all the characters. They're all so compelling, they're all, in some ways, sympathetic (yes even Lucille...god forbid women do anything etc etc). I just love watching these fucked up (and less fucked up, shout-out to Alan, you the real MVP) relationships play out, it's so *chef kiss*

Anyway, here's my play by play thoughts. Warnings for incest, murder, horror and gore (although I don't actually talk about the gore much, it's a fairly gory movie when it comes to the murder/attempted murder and such though)

- 'a parasite with a title' go off Edith

- also she'd prefer to be Mary Shelley because she died a widow. She's so metal

- her relationship with her dad is so cute. Shame he dies

- Thomas coming in dressed in black from head to toe...

- also immediately clocking Edith and flirting with her...he knows what he's doing

- the red clay is fucking genius

- London... Edinburgh... Milan 👀

- her dad sees right through him from the start...we have to stan

- For being who are only trying to help Edith, they sure are scary

- LUCILLE!

- THE NOT QUITE LIP KISS

- He really is pushing all Edith's boundaries (and society's boundaries) from the very beginning huh

- "I don't want to close my eyes. I want to keep them open." is an interesting character quote for Edith

- Love Alan indulging her ghost obsession.. besties. But also him mentioning ghosts being minerals in the earth... very interesting..

- from my fiancée @judasisgayriot - "love that this is supposed to be a sunny day but the colour palette is so washed out and dull"

- Lucille ultimate goth queen. Feeding the butterfly to the ants... (Also just noticed that on the DVD cover a butterfly is sitting on Edith's hand...we love symbolism)

- "it's mine I want it back" about the ring. Because she took it from their mother when she killed her but also because SHE'S Thomas's wife

- Dad sees RIGHT through him

- "thoroughly break her heart" and then he comes for her writing. God. Yeah. Fuck him. But he clearly means it "perfection has no place in love" which makes it hurt all the more

- Love that the obvious way to kill him is to either use the razor or drown him in the sink, but no, Lucille fucking bashes his head in on the sink. Kind of badass ngl

- The thing about Edith is she really WANTS to be a protagonist in a ghost story, which is probably why she ignores alllll those red flags

- That said, I DO think she should have picked up on some of them, Jesus girl

- "you've been married a while" + one of the previous wife's dog as soon as they arrive...

- This house is a fucking wreck Thomas!! This would not pass health and safety regulations!! Girl run!

- He really has to stop himself from kissing Lucille. Then definitely smells her

- The bloody pipes... honestly you could be forgiven for thinking it's too on point. Not me though, I love it. The more obvious symbolism the better

- I love the fact that Thomas chose her BECAUSE he actually fell in love with her. Which Lucille CAN'T know (and TBF idk if Thomas even knows himself completely yet. He's playing a role but also he's not)

- GREEN GDT BATHROOM!! One of the jankiest ones, but it's still (crimson) peak!

- I love the bloody mist effect on the ghosts, like they're still bleeding but they're in gaseous form now so so is their blood

- Lucille creeping through the keyhole...

- Edith's fantasy of their childhood vs their Flowers in the Attic reality

- "I don't want her to miss a single thing we do" STAN LUCILLE

- Love her trying to get the lowdown on whether Edith and Thomas have fucked yet

- The huge moths thriving as opposed to the butterflies being eaten...

- Thomas like "You're not like other girls"

- Thomas's workshop and inventions are nice and make him more sympathetic. Definition of poor little miaow miaow. Terrible but also sad and pathetic

- Also these ghosts are fucked up, they definitely didn't just die of being poisoned or whatever.

- Surprised her father's ghost doesn't make an appearance...all the ghosts are women (except for Thomas right at the end)

- Edith: "Has anyone died in this house." Thomas: "Duh, it's a really old house. Americans 🙄"

- Oop...crimson peak mention...too late for poor Edith

- Ohhh shit she's coughing up blood (gdi Lucille giving her poisoned tea)

- I love that she tries to commune with the honestly pretty fucking scary ghosts. She's such a horror girlie

- Oh this one took a cleaver or something to the head

- I'd just stay in the post office and refuse to leave tbh. It looks cosy

- Love that Edith is a writer girlie too

- She's SOOOOOO fucking mad that she slept with him, she almost brains Edith with a fucking saucepan

- Ooooooh the bloody footprints from the clay

- Also Edith doing her little detective bit, stealing the keys

- The basement with the clay vats is so creepy. I mean so is the entire house but yeah. God. Perfect place to hide a body

- She's so mad that he wants Edith to see it

- Lucille DOES love to trauma dump on Edith lol

- Love that this is the first time Thomas explicitly acknowledged the poison tea and tells her not to drink it

- "We stay together. Never apart." "Never apart."

- "You couldn't leave me. You wouldn't." "I can't."

- ALANNN

- Also love that they're talking about the murders, sure, but also the incest. This is a conversation they've had multiple times. And in this one thing, Lucille sees it clearly. Thomas doesn't, or doesn't want to, wants to believe that he can make this work with all three of them, somehow (boy you're dreaming)

- Oop here we go with the sibling fucking!!

- Lucille is so possessive and victorious lmao

- Love that Edith immediately jumps to "you're not his sister" because incest does not compute

- Alan knows her so well so he knows what she means by her mother and crimson peak

- Yassss Thomas stab him non-fatally! King shit (lmao)

- Wow burning the book...cold

- "None of them ever fucked Thomas"

- Poor incest baby 👶

- THE HORROR WAS FOR LOVE

- This speech is everything to me.

- IT IS A MONSTROUS LOVE AND IT MAKES MONSTERS OF US

- "You should have seen him as a child. He was perfect." (Vs perfection has no place in love 👀👀)

- They're so sad honestly. I can't help but feel sorry for them. Even Lucille

- "you lied to me" "I did" "you poisoned me" "I did" "you told me you loved me" "I do" AGGHHHH SO GOOD

- The fact that he thinks they can all start a new life together. Oh honey.

- Interesting that ghost Thomas is white to match the snow instead of red or black like the other ghosts

- She literally heard you the first time Lucille! God! (Badass of her actually)

- Edith's speech with Lucille's ghost playing piano at the end...so good

[thewritingsofdreamers]

ARC book review: Villainess by @ author_s_bacchante on insta!

For starters, this book is easily, a 4.5/5. I have never read this genre before (gothic fantasy), and I must say, for my first book in this genre, I very much enjoyed it. It was creepy, bloody, and completely subsumed me until I was done.

This book has a few points I want to touch on,

1) Writing style, 2) Plot, and 3) Characters

*also y’all, I have a TLDR at the end of each point*

1) Writing style:

In short, think of it as a mix of Shakespeare, Mary Shelley and Jane Austen. And for the record, content/plot wise, only Mary Shelley could (somewhat) compare. I’m solely basing this off of writing style. To elaborate, the book is written very poetically, every sentence was mapped out and twisted into a very beautiful writing style that Jo really hit well. Some quote example are:

“Only fools let pride whisper in their ear. Next to pride, even honor seemed the better advisor, although both lacked practicality.”

And

“The library was a living being. bred from a thousand stories, a thousand secrets. Within its bones all the knowledge she couldn't hope to read within her feeble lifetime. Ancient, yet ageless. Old and immortal.”

Like I said, although there isn’t any Shakespearean dialect, or Austen’s romance, the writing is lyrical and kept me captivated throughout.

TLDR: The writing is poetic and reminds me of Mary Shelley, Austen and Shakespeare.

2) Plot:

This plot is not fast paced, and that’s not a bad thing! In fact it’s kinda comparable to Throne of Glass (or the whole Sarah J Maas style) where it’s the last 100 pages that really go up in flames…but in a really good way.

I’m hesitant to say much because I don’t want to spoil, but I’ll do my best. This was my first (and certainly not the last) gothic fantasy book that I have read. It took on a very different take then I was used to, much darker, bloodier and way more vicious then what I’ve read.

To try and compare, I’ll use Throne of Glass. In ToG, the main character may kill people, and commit crimes, but the death of people does phase her and she has a conscience of someone who has grown up believing that murder is necessary, but it’s not right. (Don’t come at me, I know the MC is an assassin, but throughout the series she isn’t often killing just to kill, there’s reason and she has a moral compass of a sort.)

However in Villainess, you see a stark contrast. Death is everywhere, people live and die. Sacrifices and even the drinking of blood is seen as common and not a strange occurrence. Not that it’s a good thing, it’s just the differences. It’s really interesting seeing a perspective where our MC just grows up in a world where death is ever prevalent, it’s something I’ve yet to see truly explored and I think Moonless did it very well.

Overall, the plot started slow because you need to get used to the world-building (like any fantasy book), but once you get past the first few chapters you will be hooked.

TLDR: A lotta death, but good plot cause we have a badass main character.

3) Characters:

I’ll talk on the main 3 and then maybe discuss a few side ones.

Kasdeya: Our main character.

Oh. My. Gosh. Genuinely I adore her. She is the classic badass female character but make it darker. Is it cliche? Probably. Do I care? No way.

I could go on about her character but instead I’m going to just give you a few quotes and see what you think.

“My selfish desire is to read until I'm sick of it, day after day.”

“Tie your tongue in a knot and choke on it”

“you can’t kill your fate.” - Alexander

“I will if he stands in my way.” Kasdeya

I think I can leave it at that, she’s iconic and I love her.

Icarus: THIS LITTLE BABY. I LOVE HIM ALSO. He’s the oldest of the group but just so adorable. Idk I love him.

On of my favorite quotes by him is. “People will tolerate anything to avoid loneliness.” And I just AKDNSJJW. He’s a little baby and I love him.

Alexander: Honestly, he’s my favorite character, hands down. I love Kasdeya but she’s a close second to this absolute fantastic man. Alexander is also known as the Jester and my gosh he fulfills that role beautifully.

Here are some of my favorite quotes by this man.

“I know you, (insert name). I know your ticks and tendencies, your patterns and reactions. You’re a muscle memory to me.”

“Be mad with me.”

“Anyone would be honored to bind their fate to yours.”

And lastly, I want to add a few ‘call and answer’ quotes that were my favorite.

“Shut up.”

“Bite me.”

"Tie your tongue in a knot and choke on it.? Her blood roar gripped by a storm.

"Oh, that's a new one!"

“I’m so angry, I sometimes don’t even recognize myself.”

“I recognize you.” (This one made me scream)

TLDR: The characters are all cinnamon rolls and I love them all.

Final Thoughts:

This book is a definite recommend for anyone looking for a good, gothic fantasy book that will be a series and has very good world building imo. I hope you all enjoy it as well as I did.

[musingsofahistorymajor]

YO YOU GOT ANY COOL WOMAN'S HISTORY FACTS ALSO HISTORY IS POG LIKE I GOT A LECTURE WORTH OF STUFF ABOUT JAMES CAGNEY

Oh my god SO MANY! Where do I even start!! Here is a quick and short rundown of some of my favorite womens history facts:

Women in the military during ww1 and ww2 is one of my favorite subjects. Let's talk about that for a second:

Women served in every branch of the U.S. military throughout both world war 1 and world war 2

Did you know women served in the US Army and as such were stationed in every front of the war during WWII?

Female switchboard operators served in the trenches of France during ww1.

The most feared bombers in ww2 were Russian women flying wooden planes and physically throwing the bombs out

Women were the ones to help break enemy codes

Women helped planned D-Day

Russian snipers were fierce badasses.

We have computers thanks to women. Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, Hedy Lamar, etc.

DNA's double helix form was discovered by a woman. Rosalind Franklin.

Women got us to space by performing complex mathematical calculations by hand during launches.

Science Fiction was started by a woman. Mary Shelley.

One of the most fearsome pirates ever was a woman. Ching Shih. She was undefeated and was one of the few pirates who retired.

Hypatia was the last last librarian of the Library of Alexandria and is said to be the first female mathematician

The first female historian was Anna Comnena of the Byzantine empire

Sybil Ludington was a 16 year old girl who joined the famous "Midnight Riders" and rode from Putnam County, New York to Danbury, Connecticut to warn of advancing British troops.

Hatshepsut is the the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, after Sobekneferu

Deborah Sampson was a woman who served in the army during the American Revolution. She disguised herself as a man and served admirably

We wouldn't have airplanes without Katherine Wright who made sure her brothers had everything they needed. She ran their family shop, booked speaking engagements for them, was basically their marketing director and made sure these two idiots didn't die from starvation.

Agent 355 was a female spy in the Culper Ring during the American Revolution.

Virne “Jackie” Mitchell, a pitcher, was the first woman in professional baseball. During an exhibition game, she struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

The first novel. As in the very first novel. Written by a woman. Murasaki Shikibu who wrote the Tale of Genji in 1000 AD

The earliest recorded female physician was Merit Ptah, a doctor in ancient Egypt who lived around 2700 B.C. Many historians believe she may be the first woman recorded by name in the history of all of the sciences, making her achievement all the more impressive

Victoria Woodhull ran for president in 1872.

Julie d’Aubigny was a French bisexual opera-singing sword fighter from 17th-century France. A total badass.

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to go in space.

Stephanie Kwolek was an American chemist who invented Kevlar

Lyudmila Pavlichenko is the most successful female sniper in human history. Initially barred entry into the Red Army to due to her sex, Lyudmila would go on to rack up 309 confirmed kills in WWII. Her terrifying skills as a sniper and impressive kill count earned her the nickname “Lady Death” from her German enemies.

Nancy Wake who killed an SS Officer with her bare hands

Khutulun was the great-great-granddaughter of legendary conqueror Genghis Khan. Taught the inner workings of military life by her father, Khutulun became a skilled and powerful warrior. For her marriage, she proposed a challenge: any man that could best her in a wrestling match would have the honor of taking her hand in marriage. If they lost, they would have to give her a horse.

Boudicca was a queen of the Iceni tribe of Celtic Britons, who led an uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61.

Honestly I can go on forever. There are so many amazing and interesting women in history and I can't learn enough about them. This is only a very small list and a condensed version of their stories. I highly recommend looking into each of them more.

[thecaffeinebookwarrior]

Monster of the Week: The Undead!

From spooky scary skeletons to the original zombies, let’s have a look at the undead who have risen around the globe! This will not include vampires (which I have already compiled a post on) or ghosts (which I plan to compile a post on.)

Note that many of these can best be understood -- or only understood -- in their original cultural context, and I encourage you to continue your research if the lore interests you.

Skeletons/Skeletal Creatures

I am, for whatever reason, enthusiastic about skeletons. There’s a drama to them. They look like they’re perpetually grinning, or grimacing, which makes them oddly relatable. As an artist, I’m always thinking about them as the framework for poses. 

More importantly, there’s one in all of us -- sorry if that made you uncomfortable -- which makes them a universally recurring being in global folklore. Let’s take a look at just a few.

Gashadokuro

Literally translating to “rattling skull,” the Gashadokuro is also called Odokoru (giant skull) or simply “the hungry skeleton.” That basically tells you all you need to know. 

These big boys (and I mean REALLY big) wander around the countryside at night. Their name derives from the eerie rattling noise produced by their giant skulls. As chill as this may sound, the Gashadokuro is not actually chill at all, and if you come across them they will not hesitate bite your head off. This may seem like a jerk move, since they don’t even have a stomach, but they need the energy of the living in order to sustain themselves.

Like most undead fellas on this list, the Gashadokuro has its origins in the real world. They are thought to originate from the mass-graves, usually of those who died under violent or inhumane circumstances, the supernatural byproduct of countless skeletons. 

The first Gashadokuro was thought to have originated after a specific bloody rebellion, in which the bereaved, sorceress daughter of a samurai summoned a giant skeleton from the mass grave of the rebelling soldiers and used it to attack the city. Queen behavior, if you ask me.

Santa Muerte

Image Source

Let’s conclude this portion with my favorite skeleton (excluding Baron Samedi, who doesn’t count, as he is often depicted as a man, or a man with a skull-like face), the goddess/folk saint Santa Muerte.  

I still have a lot to learn about the rich folklore surrounding Santa Muerte, but to my understanding, she was born of a combination of pre-Columbian Indigenous religions and Mexican-American folk Catholicism. 

Depicted as a skeleton in beautiful, feminine attire and considered to be embodiment of death, Santa Muerte is a healing and protective figure. She is beloved by legions of worshippers, despite condemnations from the Catholic church, and symbolizes a culturally positive relationship with death. 

Despite appearances, she is a life-affirming figure.

Zombies and Reanimated Corpses:

The Draugr

When we hear “zombie,” we don’t traditionally think of “Norse mythology.” And yet, the Nordics had their very own zombie mythos, boasting some truly terrifying undead.

It is said that they first emerge from their graves as little more than wisps of smoke and a stench of decay, before adopting a humanoid form that boasts superhuman strength, the ability to change size at will, and the ability to shape-shift. 

They aren’t mindless -- far from it. They boast an anthropomorphic intelligence, which makes them all the more dangerous.  

As to what drives them from their graves? Jealousy and bitterness towards the living. Relatable, honestly. 

The Jiangshi

(Note: I wish they were all as adorable as the one in this gif.)

This Chinese hopping corpse may have evolved into more of a vampire by Western influences, but it was originally far more zombie-like. And a unique zombie at that. 

Due to rigor mortis, the Jiangshi hops stiffly from place to place, holding its arms straight out. What’s even more singular is their origin. Try to guess. Go ahead, try. You won’t be able to.

The Jiangshi is what occurs when a bereaved family, lacking the proper funds to send their loved one’s body back to their ancestral land for burial, hires a necromancing corpse driver to reanimate the cadaver and guide it as it hops back to its resting place. They’d travel at night to avoid or minimize decay, either prodded by a stick or to the beat of a drum.

Other ways to create a Jiangshi include improper burial, suicide, or possession.

Looking upon a Jiangshi is said to be bad luck, and presumably very unpleasant. However, the real problem is their insatiable appetite. 

But fear not: if you see an unhealthy looking fellow hopping towards you with pasty, possibly decaying skin, you can protect yourself with mirrors, the hooves of a black donkey, or the wood of a peach tree. They can also be scared off by the sound of a crowing rooster, though that would require a bit of planning, and the cooperation of the rooster in question. Which, knowing roosters, is unlikely. 

Haitian Zombies

All legends of the undead have roots in real tragedies, but this one is particularly upsetting -- and the source of the zombie legend in the Western world today.

The enslaved people of Haiti believed that death would set them free, sending them back to an idyllic version of their homeland unburdened by colonialism. But only if death came naturally. Suicide would turn them into mindless husks, carrying out the drudgery of their captors. A haunting parallel to the practice of slavery itself. 

The concept was introduced to a contemporary audience by the 1932 film White Zombie, which sees a white “voodoo master” (who clearly didn’t know anything about the actual Voodoo religion) using witchcraft to create obedient slaves. He eventually uses this (ahem) “”voodoo”” on a white woman to try and force her to fall in love with him. 

With the term “zombie” in public consciousness, it became an applicable allegory for all of society’s ills, and can now be used to refer to anything from mob mentality to consumerism. But few are as haunting and as disturbing as its origins.

Videos on zombies: 

The Origin of the Zombie, from Haiti to the US

Where Zombies Come From

100 Hundred Years of Zombie Evolution in Pop Culture

Best Contemporary Zombie Movies*

*That I know of. Will update with more.

Night of the Living Dead - Though White Zombie introduced the term, it was arguably this film that popularized zombies as we know them today, particularly as an allegory for herd mentality and consumerism. Its successors, including Day of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead, prove similarly influential. 

The Evil Dead Trilogy - Established that zombies can be fun, while also serving as an allegory for various societal problems. Also features undead that are refreshingly ravenous and evil without necessarily being mindless.

The Re-Animator - These days, the average zombie movie pushes the bounds of creativity is “make ‘em faster!” The Re-Animator’s take on the genre, however, would make Mary Shelley proud. Based loosely on the Lovecraft story, “Herbert West - Reanimator,” the films greatest triumph is its ability to have fun with its grisly premise, and compel the audience to have fun, too. It’s also a cautionary tale about why it’s important to be careful while getting a roommate. 

Shaun of the Dead - I’m not kidding. This film is great, and shows that you don’t need a serious tone to be heartfelt, scary, or provide a thought-provoking social commentary. Way back when I was a sixteen-year-old college freshman, I turned up to class as a zombie cheerleader, and my psychology professor recommended Shaun of the Dead to me. She’s a woman of impeccable taste, and it did not disappoint. 

28 Days Later - Before Cillian Murphy gave us Tommy Shelby, a gangster so pretty he could give Al Capone a sexual identity crisis, he was proving his mettle in the zombie-addled UK. For 2020 reasons, watching him wander the abandoned streets of London with a questionable haircut feels very topical. Add a stellar performance from Naomie Harris, and there’s a reason it sent me into a bisexual panic it’s considered a modern classic of the genre. 

Little Monsters - An egregiously underrated flick, featuring a kindergarten teacher (who happens to be, you know, Lupita Nyong’o) protecting her class during a zombie outbreak. A must watch if you want a zombie movie with a powerhouse lead, a happy ending, and perhaps the most badass kindergarten teacher in cinematic history. 

[voiceoftheashari]

Book Rec Ask Game: all of the 3's

3. a stand-alone that you wish was part of a series

Uprooted by Naomi Novik! I LOVED that book SO MUCH

6. a book with a pink cover

My copy of Pride & Prejudice is pink...

9. your favourite book of 2020

Ooo probably a tie between Beast Boy by Kami Garcia/Gabriel Picolo and Final Girls by Riley Sager.

12. a book that mentions food in the title

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

15. a book rec you really enjoyed

Final Girls by Riley Sager.

18. your least favorite book ever

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett. I've never gotten almost to the end of a book and then quit because I couldn't stand it anymore. Tied with Court of Miracles by Kester Grant. I hate read the rest of it.

21. a book with a red cover

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs by Caitlin Doughty

24. a book on your nightstand

I don't have one currently on my nightstand but I do have Neon Gods on my coffee table.

27. a book with a purple cover

The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

30. your favourite middle grade book

Truth or Dare by R.L. Stine.

33.. a book with a white cover

Kill Creek by Scott Thomas

36. a book that mentions time in the title

Gonna go easy with this and say A Wrinkle in Time

39. a book featuring your favourite character

Critical Role - Vox Machina: Origins. And if you want a none comic/graphic novel... Winter by Marissa Meyer

42. a book that made you want to scream by the time you got to the end

There's too many to count but recently.... The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab.

45. a book featuring the friends to lovers trope

Grishaverse first triology by Leigh Bardugo.

48. your favourite sci-fi novel

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

51. a book that you found underwhelming

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.

54. a book with the best opening line

I honestly don't remember opening lines whoops!

57. a book you want to hit bonk your head with

Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeler. It was marketed as Moulin Rouge meets Phantom of the Opera meets magicians and I just... couldn't by the end of it.

60. a book that you think about at 3am

I think about Crooked Kingdom a lot.... it hurts.

63. a book that actually made you laugh out loud

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

66. a book that fucked you up

Lord of the fucking flies man. That shit wrecked me for daaaays

69. your favourite mythological retelling

Not Mythos so much as fairy tale but the Lunar Chronicles are REALLY good.

72. a book with a gorgeous cover

Spinning Silver or Uprooted by Naomi Novik. They're not fancy but I love how much they tell visually.

75. a book featuring the I'm not like other girls trope

All of the Throne of Glass series

78. your favourite royal read

The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette by Carolly Erickson. Or those books that were fake diaries meant for children of badass ladies from history.

81. a book that mentions flowers in the title

Flowers for Algernon. So sad.

84. your favourite dystopian read

I'm a basic bitch but Hunger Games.

87. a book with a predictable ending

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

90. the longest book you've read

IDK I don't keep track but it ain't Les Mis... I didn't finish that lmao

93. a book featuring an unreliable narrator

Twilight.

96. a book with a restaurant/food setting

I know Persepolis has like mac n cheese in a big pot?? IDK I can't remember any book every whoops

99. a book with a strong female protagonist

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.

102. your favourite dark academia read

Does Hamlet count?

105. your favourite crime novel

Final Girls by Riley Sager. Twist after twist!

108. a book with a small town setting

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James.

111. a book writing a book

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. I hated it.

114. your favourite chick lit novel

The Bridgerton Series....

117. your favourite anthology

Anything by Shel Silverstein

120. a book about childhood friends

Nancy Drew series count?

123. a book recommended by a celebrity

I don't have any on my list because I don't trust them lol

126. your favourite spring read

I always get a hankering for reading The Wicked Lovely, but I never do...

129. a book with beautiful prose

Scythe by Neal Shusterman has passages that hits me hard.

132. who is your favorite person to go to for book recs?

My coworker always gives really good recs and @cassiefisherdrake always has a rec or two up their sleeve!

135. recommend any book you like!

Everyone should read the Grishaverse books, they're too good not to!

[vveissesfleisch]

I love your enthusiasm for Goth Nicky so much! Honestly, what’s more goth than an immortal former 11thc priest with a black hoodie and a longsword who is also a sniper and makes weird, adorable existential comments whenever possible?

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM SAYING!!! Nicky is The Elder Goth™️, the king of the dark and disturbing! This is a man who has broken down the unknowable perspective of a being who has walked the earth for 1000 years into unsettling little sound bytes so he can look you right in the eye and say some buck wild creepy shit about death coming for us all! This is a man who has kept his badass sword from the FUCKING CRUSADES for the esthétique!! His and Joe’s homes are always stocked with candles because Nicky prefers the candlelight. He’s kept at least one super freaky reliquary because he can’t let go of that tiny, lingering bit of #superstition. He was VERY good friends with Mary Shelley. He has always owned many articles of black clothing with hoods, even if nowadays they’re mostly sweatshirts. He does yin yoga while blasting playlists stacked with Heilung & Rotting Christ & Chelsea Wolfe because he has reached PEAK FUCKING GOTH IMMORTAL STATUS without even realizing it, that’s how goth he is!!!! *mic drop*

[thealmightyemprex]

90′s Prestige Horror ranking:The Monster/Villain

.....This ones hard ,cause honestly the villains/monsters  are pretty solid  in these 90′s Prestige horror movies .I have ranked and reranked this one ,only my number one has remained consistant .Just keep in mind this list is just for fun and arbitrary .Also spoilers fro Sleepy Hollow and Wolf 

5.Ray Park/Christopher Walken and Miranda Richardson as Headless Horseman and Lady Mary Van Tassel

.......So if Headless Horseman himself was the only villain he’d be easilly be number two.He is terrifying ,a relentless unstoppable kjller ,with Park bringing physicality when he is headless ,and Walken bringing an uneasiness and intensity (And those sharp teeth are horrifying and badass ).Yeah  him going “ARRRGH” is a bit silly   but he is an effective horrifying monster ......But theres a problem....He’s a henchman ....To Queenie from Blackadder .OK thats not fair ,Miranda Richardson is a terrific actress ,and she has played some good villains(Mrs Tweedy from Chicken Run comes to mind ).....But LAdy Van Tassel is not one of them .First half of the movie she’s rather dull and a minor character,and once the big reveal happens  her motives  and plan are super convuluted .Now hers and the Horsemans final fate is fantastic but as a whole I feel her inclusion is one of the weakest parts of the movie 

4.James Spader  as  Stewart Swinton in Wolf 

This guy is such a slimeball .Stewart .He is trying to steal the main character Will’s job ,is sleeping with his wife and is just a opportunistic douche .However he goes from jerk to monster when he becomes a werewolf ,reveling in killling among other things.He is a creep and is scary ..What holds him back is sometimes Spader chews too much scenery,he’s not a major focus of the film and honestly ,he is kind of one note compared to some other villains here  in this group.Still a good baddie though

3.John Malkovich as Edward Hyde in Mary Reilly 

So this is a very interesting take on Edward Hyde cause from what I can tell he is close to the book :He’s a man younger then Jekyll and is not the traditional monster most versions portray him as .Part of this is because the film wants  a darkly romantic Hyde  with his relationship with Mary (Which doesnt quite work but thats an entirely diffrent list there ) but it makes him interesting .Malkovich plays Hyde with a playfulness and youthful quality ,while also being very soft spoken while clearly enjoying both messing with Mary’s head and engaging in his dark activities .The big thing is the film tries to both make Hyde more murderous.....While weirdly not showing it .That said Malkovich himself is great and I wish the performance was to a better script .As it is it’s a highlight of the film 

2.Robert De Niro as the Creation in  Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein 

So the modern perception of The Frankenstein monster is as a lumbering sympathetic  childlike creature......That is not the monster from the book ,and this film  delivers a book accurate monster ,in terms of personality .The Creation is intelligent and philosophical ,and is without a question a villain,albiet an incredibly tragic one .Throughout his existance he is treated with fear,hatred and hostility ,and thus responds with violence .I adore his design,really feeling like he is a patchwork being made of several corpses .The casting of De Niro is initially  distracting but he is so excellent I got used to it .He steals this entire movie .

1.Gary Oldman as Count Dracula in Bram Stokers Dracula 

I ADORE this performance .There have been MANY great Draculas .....Oldman is my second favorite ,behind Christopher Lee .He both a brooding romantic  while also being a intimidating powerful demonic force .Like this is the role that made Gary Oldman a superstar for a reason .I think he plays the romance well  while also being a terrifying creature of darkness .You feel how powerful Dracula is  .I also like alll the diffrent shapes he can take,he can be a wolf monster,a bat creature,he can be old, he can be young ,he can be whatever he wants really .You get a sense of power but also of a broken soul.He looms over this entire movie  and is easilly the best thing about the film 

@cinefantastiquemitho​ @ohiwannatakeyouhome​

[iilovemusic12us]

Hey there ❤️ I was wondering if there's a specific theme or trope you loved to explore, or hope to explore in your Pathfinders fic?

Hey! Thank you so much for the question! ☺️ you don’t understand how much I appreciate it. Like ive been so scared to post my writing but this fic is my baby and is so important to me. And I’m really happy to begin sharing it. (Also I apologize if this post is all over the place).

Oh boy where. Do. I. Start!

This story is a whirlwind of emotions. As someone who has been bullied for what they believe in, it really manifested this story. The loneliness of being outcasted by your friends because they refuse to acknowledge one part of you hurts. It’s a pain that I explore a lot in this fic. It makes you feel as some sort of monster. Which is definitely what both OC’s grapple with. And then add being a woman during the 1940’s and a war on top of that.

I also just finished rereading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, (Who is a badass by the way). Which also had a heavy influence on me. The emotions of the Monster and Victor are very human. It is something everyone can draw from. Which my two OC’s greatly relate too.

I don’t really have a specific trope. If anything their is some friends to lovers that occurs. I don’t want to say with who just yet! (Y’all might not be ready for it, but I have a feeling it’s obvious). But overall I really wanted to emphasize the OC’s transformation and thought process. Everyone deals with grief and trauma differently. And a number of people use religion as a tool or guide. But in war and after everything people witness, it is interesting to see who only strengthens their belief system and who completely abandons it.

I also would say the sisterhood that is created between my two OC’s was my favorite to explore. Them both coming from completely different backgrounds, who have never had any solid relationships besides that of their families and faith. Their personalities and interests completely opposite of each other’s. And now after enduring hell to get into the Airborne they have an unspoken support system that’s new to both of them. Even though they fully don’t trust each other. And honestly just seeing them grow together makes me want to cry.

Then they have to intergrate with Easy!

Thank you so much for an amazing question!! I can’t wait for you to read The Light Bearer’s.

[luffles424]

whippedforkook replied to your post “25 ❤️”

Hahahahaha when I sent this one in I forgot it was WIP related. How about in general? Any books or authors that inspire you to write overall?

lmao it’s ok, i realized after I posted, that this question probably was meant more generally but I wasn just too lazy to go fix it and I figured if you wanted more then you’d ask.

Hmm, in general, probably Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files series. Both just in general and in terms of doing modern fantasy worlds (it’s a wizard who lives in modern day chicago). That actually helped me with ideas for Lucidity (and to a lesser extent Into the Woods too) in terms of like secret supernatural societies that just chill among us and we have no idea. 

Lemony Snicket too, that series was a really big part of my childhood and contributed to my love of books and writing from a very young age. 

There’s also classics and the like that I really enjoy like Frankenstein (Mary Shelley is a badass) 

Honestly I read so much, it’s lowkey hard to keep track but those are some of the big ones.

[snowdropheart]

prague, vienna, lisbon, athens for the cities asks!

Heylo, Fee! Thank u for the ask I love u <3

Rivers or forests?

How dare you make me choose!  Rivers and forests go hand in hand! What do all the forest birds harmonize with, if not a whooshing river, snaking through the forest floor? If a tree falls in a forest and does not become a natural river-bridge, what has it fallen for? Where would the critters take cool baths in the summer, and quench their critter-thirst? What is a forest if it doesn’t have that magical deep-water-Great-Forest-Spirit zone, like in Princess Mononoke? 

Do you enjoy classic literature?

I really, really wish I did. Like, I cannot express just how deeply I wish I could. I want to be fluent in the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen and Mary Shelley! George Eliot! Sylvia Plath! Emily Dickinson! Virginia Woolf! Are all of these women actually classic lit authors? I’m not even sure--I just know they rank a Smarter Level Of Reading than my brain likes to engage in. 

I am a Very Bad English major, lol. I have often beaten myself up for not enjoying this kind of literature. I know I should read them, especially if I claim to be a writer--and a poet, no less--myself. But, alas, I am lazy, and I like to rot my brain by scrolling aimlessly on my phone. My ability to use words should be revoked by the Literature Police. 

If you had the chance to become a prince/princess, would you?

In actual, real life? Hell no. I mean, I really only know the most about English princes and princess, but I know what it did to Diana. And there’s a reason Meghan Markle yeeted herself outta here. The stress of not only being hugely in the public eye, but of benefiting tenfold off of a gross, outdated system? That sounds like hell.

But, in Fairytale land, where being a princess just means talking to birds and little critters, wearing gossamer dresses and prancing across a lovely meadow by a crystalline pond? Count me in, motherfucker! 

Favourite Greek myth?

My knowledge of Greek myths are a bit fuzzy (I haven’t read Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods in ages! I’m kidding. Actually, I’m not. That honestly is where I’ve gotten all of my Greek mythology knowledge from, not the mythology class I took in the fall. Not remotely). 

I like the myths of Artemis. I like how she was like ‘fuck this’ and decided to be a maiden forever, just hunting monsters with her badass band of preteen hunters. I also like the myths of Medusa (what I wouldn’t give sometimes to have turn-to-stone-snake-hair!), and I had a deep fascination with Hestia when I read pjato. I don’t know much about her outside of Rick Riordan’s depiction, but I loved her as the last Olympian. I loved how she was small and calm, but also very, very fierce and terrifying. 

Honestly, I just love any Greek myth about a woman with agency, just doing her think in ancient Greece. 

[bogbodybitch]

Honey Hawk Interview Questions

This post is part of @alexprompts WIP weekly event. Thanks for these great questions!

SETTING:

From what I understood of your WIP, there are a number of various places involved, including Alraykin. What is your world building process, and what would you like to share with us about the setting?

            Honey Hawk all takes place on Earth, in one region. However, vantarians are native to Alraykin, which will be the location of the sequel. Originally Alraykin was just a desert planet, but I spent some time on the Sea of Cortez and was inspired to create a planet with a huge intertidal zone so it could have a bunch of tide pools. I had to add several features to Alraykin for this to be plausible, including a larger, closer moon, flatter coastlines made from hard rock, and small continents. Obviously this affects what society looks like, though I won’t get into that here since it’s more relevant to the sequel.

            Basically for world building I have a few core ideas I want to include, and then I build the rest of the world for those to make sense. My plot works the same way; I take the characters, themes, and events I want to write and figure out how they could all be connected.

            How do you choose the names of the places?

            Honestly, I don’t know. A lot of my vantarian names come from Latin names for sea creatures, which I mess around with until it sounds like a name. I don’t remember where Alraykin or Jarda came from. The Estera region is named Estera because it’s around an estuary, once again inspired by the Sea of Cortez.

What do you think are some of the most important aspects of the setting, both in terms of generally in relation to writing, and specifically to your WIP?

            In terms of my WIP, the most important aspect is that all of Earth is under apartheid, and humans are the dominant power. The Jarda region, where the majority of Honey Hawk takes place, is split into a human state and a vantaric state. Humans can enter the vantaric state, but vantarians cannot enter the human state, and the vantaric state is still under human control.  

            As for setting in general, setting has a huge impact on how people develop so that has to be taken into account during character creation.

CHARACTERS:

Which is your favourite character to write, and how do they interact with the other main characters?

            I can’t decide between Alder and Sefynne. I love writing them and I love writing how they interact with each other. Creating a healthy enemies to lovers arc between them was tricky because of the external forces at play, which ultimately made it more satisfying.

            Alder and Sefynne are both fundamentally kind in their interactions with others, although they express it in different ways. Sefynne is reserved, but always willing to show up for others. Alder has more of sunny disposition, and is also a helper. Alder’s behavior is informed by past emotional abuse, although this is never directly described or stated.

What qualities have you given your two main characters, and where do you draw these traits from?

            Sefynne and Alder outwardly appear as very different people, but actually have many shared values. This is key for their relationship and the plot. They both have a “justice by any means” mindset, which is a strength and a weakness. I draw this from the feelings of frustration I’ve had with American politics (well, and world politics in general) and the frustration I have with people who don’t walk their talk when it comes to taking action. I had to make sure I’d established this mindset in Sefynne and Alder early on, because they both end up making sacrifices that most people wouldn’t.

They’re also both willing to put other people before themselves. Writing healthy relationships for caretakers can be challenging, so that’s something I had to be intentional about.

As for their differences, Alder is naïve and optimistic at the beginning of the story and ends up losing that view along the way (they’ll regain some of their optimism in the sequel). Sefynne begins the story with a cynical lens, but still strives for positive change regardless.

When (or if they get to) your characters grow old, what do you think would be their fondest memory which takes place in the time span of your novel?

            The start of Sefynne and Alder’s friendship and romantic relationship would be a fond memory for both of them, but some of the darkest moments of their lives are happening at the same time. So their memoires would be bittersweet.

How do you come up with the names of your characters?

            I spoke to how I name my vantrians (though I don’t remember where Sefynne’s name came from). For the humans in my story, a lot of them have plant names because I figure after the climate apocalypse humanity got sentimental about plants from Earth. Earth’s native species have been reintroduced now, but the tendency for plant names stuck.

INSPIRATIONS:

What various types of media inspire your creative process, in terms of development, style and world building?

            My inspiration comes from a lot of different places. I’ve spoken in the past about how Sy Montgomery’s “Soul of an Octopus,” Star Trek, and tide pools have been incorporated into Honey Hawk. I’ve also taken some political theory/social justice classes as part of my human development degree, which have contributed to my world building.

            I’ve also been influenced by media that shows me what I’m sick of. I remember after I saw the first fantastic beasts movie I decided I was done writing cishet people and mediocre white people altogether because aside from the social justice component, it’s just gotten SO boring.

Which authors do you admire the most, and why?

            The last author I was really into was Sarah Dunant, who writes historical fiction. Her stories are well crafted and her writing is pretty, and I admire people who write historical fiction because it takes a lot of research. I also have to mention Mary Shelley for being the badass who created science fiction and being a great writer in general.  

THE FUTURE:

What are your long-term plans for Honey Hawk? 

            I think I want to self-publish it, because I self-published a novel in high school and it was a lot of fun. I’m not looking to make a career out of writing (I’m currently in grad school to become a counselor), but it’s always been an important hobby for me.

Do you plan on sequels/other works in the world you have created?

            Yes, the sequel to Honey Hawk is going to be my nano project! The current title is Turning Tides, and it takes place on Alraykin. Sefynne and Alder are going to recover from some of the stuff that happened to them during Honey Hawk, and examine what the goal of the revolution on earth should be (there are a lot of vantaric movements with conflicting goals, and a lot of people only know what they don’t want without a clear sense of what the solution is).

            I’m excited to write about Alraykin because it has other intelligent species besides vantarians, and a bunch of fun creatures and cultures.

Tag list:

@dove-actually @astro-writing @velvetlighthouse @behugs-and-blood @traumatizedbydescription

[opcelia]

name/alias & pronouns: 

cat, she/her.

favorite book & author:

wow! listen, this is a HUGE question because I have so many and idc, I’m going to ramble tf out of this Right, so straight off the bat - anything by Lemony Snicket ! A series of unfortunate events were my LIFE ! I also would die for Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid’s Tale & Blind Assassin being my faves ! Ian McEwan’s Atonement destroyed me for my A-Levels, and urgh, the fucking tropes and urgh !! I adore Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, like seriously, I have written is back to front, analysed the shit out of it and still love/hate it lol. The Catcher in the Rye seriously changed me, I got it for my thirteenth birthday and am ever so grateful for it. Sharp Objects, The Beautiful and Damned, The Great Gatsby are also serious favourites. ANGEL MOTHER FUCKING LETS DESTROY THE PATRIARCHY CARTER, my badass bitch - with the BLOODY CHAMBER.  the classics - PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, LITTLE WOMEN, JANE EYRE, OF MICE AND MEN !!! SHAKESPEARE (I Know he WrItEs pLaYs) , but HAMLET & MACBETH & ROMEO AND JULIET - fucking classics. SPEAKING OF PLAYWRITES - THE CRUCIBLE BY ARTHUR MILLER!! LIKE ARE YOU JOKING ME ?? I SAW GOODY PROCTOR WITH THE DEVIL. AND ALL MY SONS. and ofc, THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS were my childhood, and fill a hole nothing else every could.

pick one: 

ancient, medieval, or modern literature?: modern literature.

if you could be any deity, who/what would you be?: 

APOLLO ! what a g ! able to bring such light, music, happiness - warding off evil !! the fucking prophecies !! ALSO being able to give and or take diseases !! 

which skeleton has caught your eye & why them?: 

honestly. all of them. but, i definitely have my eyes on MILLER as my heart weeps for a tragedy. I long for muses with backgrounds that destroy you, and with little hope to cling onto.

would you accept an invitation to a society such as invictus yourself?: 

accepting seems as though you an have option. So yes, I think I would. after all, who wouldn’t wanted to be accepted? gfre4fr3edw but i would be vv shit, not really turn up to meetings !!

[thetygre]

30 Day Monster Challenge 2 - Day #19: Favorite Minions/Henchmen

1.      Minions (Overlord [Video Game])

There is only one creature we call ‘Minion’ in this house, and it is the Minions from Overlord. (The game, not the anime.) The Minions are the perfect… well, minions. They’re design is mostly goofy, but there’s also something kind of horrible to them; they’re like somebody threw an imp, a spider monkey, and a goblin in a sack and didn’t open it up again until the screaming stopped. Those buggy yellow eyes, the hunched backs, the crooked tails, the shrill voices; this is what pops into my head when I think of what an evil minion is supposed to be like. They are utterly and totally devout to their master; they have one purpose in life, and that is to serve you. They think absolutely nothing of throwing themselves into a forge just to upgrade your weapons or taking on a monster just because you tell them to.

Watching them swarm over a cyclops like a nest of army ants is always fun, but that hivemind mentality shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of individual. The Minions are kind of precursors to the uruks from Shadow of Mordor; the longer they live and the more fights they survive, the more unique they become. They’re given names and titles, and they start gathering weapons and armor. It’s never made clear what exactly the Minions are in Overlord, but the implication isn’t that an Overlord chooses them; they choose the Overlord. Without the Minions, and Overlord is just some spooky adventurer in a suit of armor. The Minions make the man, and the fact that you need them as much as they need you is a pretty interesting power dynamic.

2.      X-49 (Samurai Jack)

Just… do I really have to say anything? It was one of the best episodes in Samurai Jack, one of the best animated series of all time. And the music and the writing and the cinematography and oh god it’s all coming back at once

3.      Igor (Young Frankenstein)

There never was an Igor in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; he’s a fabricated character at least partially concocted from Edgar Allan Poe’s Hop-Frog that somehow wormed himself into horror mythology. And honestly, thank goodness for that or we wouldn’t have had Marty Feldman’s fantastic performance for Young Frankenstein. Feldman looks like he was born for the role; his exophthalmos was a problem he dealt with his entire life, but Igor is just one example of how he incorporated his condition into his comedy personas. Igor is a good comedic counterpart to Gene Wilder’s Frankenstein in a classic double-act kind of way. Where Wilder’s Frankenstein is driven to escape his destiny or conform to it, Feldman’s Igor is committed to his role from the beginning, with no real perspective on it in the grand scheme of things. Igor undercuts Frankenstein’s deliberate melodrama to remind the audience that it’s all a joke.

4.      Kobolds (Dungeons and Dragons)

Kobolds are one of the greatest success stories in tabletop roleplaying monsters. Kobolds have been in Dungeons and Dragons since the beginning, but they spent 1st and 2nd edition as basically another kind of goblin. Outside a few rare exceptions, kobolds were just an adventurer’s in-between step as they transitioned from clearing out rats in cellars to goblins in caves. For 3rd edition, the designers felt they needed to give kobolds something; a hook, a feature, a raison d’etre. So the design team though, “What if the littlest monsters had dreams about being the biggest? What if kobolds thought they were dragons?” The rest is history; kobolds became dragon minions, cultists who firmly believe that they are descended from the great wyrms they worship. Inside ever little kobold beats the heart of a mighty dragon, and their pluck and determination pushes them to reach for heights most humanoid races never even dream of. Kobolds are not only great examples of how to make a monster interesting from a game design perspective, but also of how endearing characters can be when you give them goals.

5.      Pleiades (Overlord [Anime])

It always bothers me when evil overlords leave their castle staff of their minions list. A great villain should have their power displayed in everything around them, from their captains to their cooks. That’s why Ainz Ooal Gown’s Pleiades are so great; the castle maids for an evil fortress, each on is an individual fighter with her own superpowers. Following organization rules, each of the maids is also a monster; werewolves, shapeshifting oozes, a sentient swarm of insects, etc. And that’s the kind of creativity and attention to detail I love to see in an evil overlord’s forces. Look at where there isn’t a superpowered minion, and say, “No, this will not do. More evil.”

6.      Hunchbacks (Castlevania)

I remember that my mind was blown when I finally realized the ‘fleamen’ from Castlevania were supposed to be hunchbacked Igors. While I was kind of disappointed that bizarre insect men hybrids, I am still happy that Castlevania didn’t neglect a favorite horror trope. Castlevania actually has a pretty unique staff; undead maids, zombie butchers, a plague doctor groundskeeper, and skeleton butlers. But it wasn’t until the Lords of Shadow games that the hunchbacks started being explored. One of the good things about Lords of Shadow was the implication that Castlevania itself is alive; the castle has always existed, and can’t even really be fully pulled through to our world. When the castle needs repairs, though, someone to repair it and expand it, it summons the hunchbacks out of nowhere. The hunchbacks are tied to the castle; they’re like cells in its body. They might know more about Castlevania itself than even Dracula, but they aren’t letting on. Their only job is to serve their master, whoever or whatever it might be.

7.      Maleficent’s Goblins (Sleeping Beauty)

Maleficent’s goblins are little bundles of medieval monstrosity with enough character to be charming. They’re like the Minions, where I honestly can’t imagine them existing without a master. It wouldn’t surprise me if it turned out they were just demons conjured up by Maleficent from her firepit. The odds and ends of medieval armor and weaponry on top of their gargoyle aesthetic makes me think of very early Tolkien, like the first covers for The Hobbit and Return of the King. These little guys were the forerunners to orcs, uruk-hai, parademons, and every other evil monster army. Sometimes I still wish we could go back to minions like these.

8.      Lurch (Addams Family)

The quintessential creepy butler. I feel like Lurch parallels Marty Feldman’s Igor in some pretty interesting ways. They’re both essentially half a joke, part of a comedy routine that requires someone else to land the punchline. The difference is that while Igor undermined Frankenstein to lighten the mood, Luch is deadly serious to contrast the Addams’ playfulness. Lurch wasn’t just a straight-man; he was a brick wall that you could throw anything off of. To be honest, I always kind of wondered what exactly Lurch was; I never really thought of him as human. My favorite theories are either that he was a flesh golem (since he was clearly based off Karloff’s Frankenstein), a homunculus grown for the family and passed down through generations, or just some really tall guy in a suit.

9.      Dwergi (Van Helsing)

The Dwergi in Van Helsing have an unnecessarily cool design for what amounts to being Dracula’s grunts. The goggles, spines, and full leather outfits make me think of aliens or something that would be working for Clive Barker’s Cenobites. I can’t help but think of the ‘jawas’ that were through the gate in Phantasm. But I think that I love the Dwergi most as concepts for evil dwarves; ‘dwergi’ most likely derives from ‘dvergar’, a German word for dwarf. There are even evil dwarves in Dungeons and Dragons named duergar and derro. And that connections opens up so many possibilities for me. Imagine a dwarven sub-race mutated to be classical Igor characters, or adventurers encountering derro dressed all in mad scientist gear underground. The Dwergi have hidden depths when you know where to look.

10.   Stormtroopers (Star Wars)

Out of the standard henchmen armies, Stormtroopers are still my favorite. Stormtroopers are up there with Red Shirts in terms of incompetence and mortality rates. Every now and then some random Stormtrooper manages to stand out and look like a badass, but even they usually have a lifespan of however long until the heroes arrive. I’ve heard some people argue that the humanizing elements of Stormtroopers, the way they talk about their day or are just trying to do a job, makes the very Nazi-coded Empire too sympathetic. But I would argue the opposite; the human aspects of the Stormtroopers make it clear how actually farcical the whole Empire is. The Stormtroopers aren’t some elite kill-force, they’re bumbling idiots. Whatever brutal efficiency they’re ascribed usually happens off-screen, and it quickly gets drowned out by the chorus of Wilhelm screams heard while trooper after trooper dies ridiculously. The Stormtroopers make it clear how fascism doesn’t raise the individual up but uses them as a disposable resource. The Stormtroopers as human characters make the Empire look inept, not empowered.

[marzipanandminutiae]

can we please let historical women be historical?

NOTE: I AM REFERRING HERE TO AESTHETICS, NOT MORAL/SOCIAL ATTITUDES. RACISM IS GROSS AND ENOUGH PEOPLE IN ~YE OLDEN TIMES~ WEREN’T RACIST THAT IT’S NO EXCUSE

papers are praising Emma Watson to the highest heaven for refusing to wear stays and a hoop skirt in Beauty and the Beast and honestly, I’m kind of sick of it

yes, it’s a fairytale, but Belle is living in 18th-century France. she probably would have worn stays because they’re a basic foundation garment that provides breast and back support and pretty much every woman wore them. probably hers would have been laced more loosely because she’s not upper-class. and yeah, she would have worn some kind of hoops or panniers under her fancy ball gown. which would have been significantly fancier than the new adaptation is making it and needed the support and can you tell how hard I am side-eyeing the designers

in a fairytale it doesn’t matter so much. I’ll concede that the movie’s not actually set in real-life 18th-century France, so they can do what they want. but it’s a trend I see a lot in historical fiction, too. Miss Whatsherface is a Liberated Strong Female Character and doesn’t wear a corset! how shocking! how perfectly tailored to appeal to our modern sensibilities!

here’s a truth-bomb: women wore corsets. most women didn’t lace them at all tightly and some took them off upon returning home for the evening like we take off our bras today. nevertheless, they did wear them, in almost every echelon of society. factory girls, servants, farmers, sex workers, artists, aristocrats, the earliest female politicians and doctors- almost all women. the only time I’ve seen “liberated woman doesn’t wear corsets” done well was with a character in the Artistic Reform dress movement started by pre-Raphaelite artists in the late 1800s. and then the author actually did research to reflect that Artistic Reform was more than just not wearing corsets

most women also wore skirts most or all of the time (with notable exceptions like Amelia Bloomer, Anne Lister, and other singluar ladies who defended their right to pants). many also wore hoop-skirts, panniers, or crinolines. and guess what? they were still badass.

Ada Lovelace made her groundbreaking mathematical discoveries in the dorky balloon sleeves and puffy skirts of the 1830s

Madame C.J. Walker became the first black female millionaire in the US and ran her beauty empire in bustle skirts and corsets

Mary Shelley invented science fiction in stays and an Empire-waisted dress. Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake got commonlaw married and wrote reams of poetry in the same

Dr. Shih Meiyu got her medical degree from the University of Michigan in a corset, as did Dr. Kang Cheng at the same time

these women were products of their time aesthetically and we shouldn’t have to divorce them from that or denigrate it to appreciate their accomplishments. the same holds true for historical fiction. if your female character can’t be just as strong dressed in the typical clothing of the era, you need to go back to the drawing board

[faunaflanaganarchive]

sawyerhudson​:

Text: Dressed like Percy Shelley, maybe? Except I am a fan of Mary Shelley and didn’t try to stop her publishing Frankenstein so that couldn’t work. I mean, we still like each other’s posts in a way old friends do but I could hit him up, it’s been a while. I will try, Lady Raccoon. That’s a promise. Yeah, I saw some horrific things in high school with the cheerleaders, it probably has more injuries than football, honestly so I’m good with that. Emma tried her best, she was just a bit misled. Is it just girls Rory’s into or can we broaden our horizons to the guys around here, because there’s some nice guys who are single, as far as I know?

Text: It was a lot of fun, and you’re an amazing submissive, even as Regina. I think I like the idea of us looking after each other equally honestly. You can trust me with anything, and I trust you with anything too. Okay, I’m proud of you. I’m proud of you. I’m so, so very proud of you.

Text: You could be dressed as William Godwin, Mary Shelleys DILF? My man wrote in like every genre, married Mary Wollstonecraft and then opened a childrens library, what could be more badass? Do you talk to a lot of your friends from high school, should I be learning their names for one of those reunion things that Americans do? I plan to have exactly zero horrific things happen to me via cheerleading, because I fly responsibly and honestly Buck is like the most amazing base. Also I refuse to let Santana hold me ever. Rory is into everyone as long as they make him laugh, they absolutely have to have a sense of humour or he will post them back like an Amazon return. I think he’s also really into knives at the moment so that might be something to consider.

Text: Regina is something else, I think she’s plotting against me… though I have a lot of fun playing her. Good because I’m not entirely sure that you could stop me even if you wanted to, I’m actually very strong you see. Guess what? Uno reverse I’m proud of you too, for looking after all of your siblings so well and telling me about everything and growing to be so amazing.

(Sawyer) Text: You need to stop leaving me such adorable gifts, Kitten, I feel like I can't compare. Thank you though, as always, I love them.

Text: First off I love all the gifts you’ve ever given me and second love giving you gifts 💕 I’m just glad that you like them! I used my spare time this week to make you the bracelet, I’m hoping it will be lucky because I wore it at my Cheerios contest yesterday and we won.. ergo you will win. Almost slipped off my wrist though because I had to make it in your size.

@sawyerhudson