#merricat is a ghost?

[ladyswartzrot]

“My niece Mary Katherine has been a long time dead, young man. She did not survive the loss of her family; I supposed you knew that.”

- Uncle Julian

We have always lived in the castle - Shirley Jackson

This would explain everything honestly...

[anchorhcld]

finished we have always lived in the castle

[barnbridges]

the real castle/tsh discourse in my head is always, is it camilla or marion who is a stand in for constance

[resident-rats]

Top ten favourite female characters!

Thanks for the tag @goodpointsandbadpoints !!

Tagging: @b0n3d0g @ghostdice @vizishereig @courtofparrots @welcome-leon and literally anyone who wants to do it, consider yourself tagged 🫡

[lovelaceisntdead]

<3 Q's for the soph 1, 4, 6, 15 (where are the babies, can never resist asking this ), 22, 47

Thanks b. bites you.

1. who is/are your comfort character(s)?

Eleanor Vance, Merricat, Van, Tara Maclay, Leslie Knope, Donna Noble, Riverdale (the character), Keisha, Fenwood House. I could go on but I will stop there.

4. which cryptyd being do you believe in?

I like the theory that the loch ness monster is a dinosaur ghost. Also mothman.

6. why did you do that?

Because I love you 🥺

15. are you a parent? (all answers qualify)

The children

22. what type of person are you?

Scared

47. what was the last message you sent?

It was to you I said 'and usually I'm into that'. Will not be elaborating for the audience.

asks

[monstraduplicia]

daddy's little girl he broke in thirty: a dean winchester mix

1. abuse me - silverchair 2. adam raised a cain - bruce springsteen 3. alcohol - sisyphus 4. alibis - marianas trench 5. animals - nickelback 6. anyone who knows what love is (will understand) - irma thomas 7. black-eyed - placebo 8. blown wide open - big wreck 9. blunt force concussion - the dirty nil 10. break me - mcfly 11. burn & shine - the posies 12. call of the playground - shudder to think 13. carry that weight - the beatles 14. christian brothers - heatmiser, elliott smith 15. colossus - idles 16. coward's son - the ballroom thieves 17. daddy - korn 18. daddy's daughter - merricat crellin 19. damage control - the dirty nil 20. degenerate - the jesus and the mary chain 21. the devil you know (god is a man) - face to face 22. discipline - nine inch nails 23. don't let the sun catch you cryin' - jeff buckley 24. the drowners - suede 25. father - the front bottoms 26. father and son - cat stevens 27. father figure - george michael 28. father of mine - everclear 29. feel the pain - dinosaur jr 30. fiddle about - the who 31. forgiven - alanis morissette 32. fortunate son - creedence clearwater revival 33. freak - silverchair 34. friends in the sky - the dirty nil 35. fuckin' up young - the dirty nil 36. ghost - sky ferreira 37. girls - the dare 38. good boy - patriarchy 39. hang yer moon - the dirty nil 40. hard times - ethel cain 41. he needs me - shelley duvall 42. i burn - toadies 43. i know it's over - the smiths 44. i'm with you - avril lavigne 45. i need somebody - the stooges 46. infra-red - placebo 47. i woke up in a strange place - jeff buckley 48. judge yr'self - manic street preachers 49. last night i dreamt that somebody loved me - the smiths 50. life becoming a landslide - manic street preachers 51. lightsabre cocksucking blues - mclusky 52. loverboy - you me at six 53. low self opinion - rollins band 54. monster side - addict 55. moodswing whiskey - jeff buckley 56. mr. self destruct - nine inch nails 57. nancy boy - placebo 58. o death - rhiannon giddens, francesco turris 59. oh comely - neutral milk hotel 60. pain - four star mary 61. papa was a rodeo - the magnetic fields 62. please hurt me - the crystals 63. please please please let me get what i want - the smiths 64. prayer - big wreck 65. pretension//repulsion - manic street preachers 66. renegade - styx 67. runnin' with the devil - van halen 68. samarians - idles 69. send the pain below - chevelle 70. sex and violence - the exploited 71. the shining - badly drawn boy 72. simple man - deftones 73. slab - silverchair 74. song against sex - neutral milk hotel 75. story of isaac - leonard cohen 76. (they long to be) close to you - carpenters 77. thoroughfare - ethel cain 78. a trophy fathers trophy son - sleeping with sirens 79. two-headed boy - neutral milk hotel 80. two-headed boy pt. 2 - neutral milk hotel 81. unloveable - the smiths 82. wanted man - ratt 83. the weight - the band 84. western nights - ethel cain 85. what will you say - jeff buckley 86. whipping post - allman brothers band 87. you are a runner and i am my father's son - wolf parade 88. you can't always get what you want - the rolling stones 89. your flesh is so nice - jeff buckley 90. youth gone wild - skid row

[xxdrowninglessonsxx]

Book Review - We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

I will preface this by saying that this is a masterpiece of a book. Personally what I picked up on at first was the foreshadowing because the reader is essentially told from the beginning that Merricat “did it” with the famous opening paragraph. It’s up to the reader to accept that Merricat is the murderer and an unreliable narrator. It’s evident she’s stuck in the headspace of when she committed the crime because she spends a lot of her time daydreaming and thinking about killing the villagers and walking over their dead bodies. The way Shirley Jackson writes the foreshadowing is, dare I say, perfect because it leaves the reader guessing as to what is going to happen next and what has already happened in the past. Not to mention, Uncle Julian’s dialogue is framed in a way that gives the reader just enough information to stay curious and keep reading. Personally, I guessed it was Merricat from the beginning but I truly knew she killed her family when Uncle Julian said the Merricat had died in the orphanage when Constance was on trial. Merricat and Uncle Julian never actually interact with each other once throughout the book if you go back and look, whether Julian believes her to be truly dead, or whether Merricat forbids herself, or even a mixture of fear from both parties. I suspected as well when Merricat would say things along the lines of how she isn’t allowed to prepare the food or do certain things, as if giving herself rules. The dialogue toys with the readers mind, as if interacting as the story plays out. I’ve seen other people on the reviews say that the story drones on, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The story, in fact, refuses to drone on; it gets straight to the fact of the matter. Every word, line, and paragraph have meaning. Shirley Jackson wrote a story so great within 200 pages what other authors couldn’t achieve in 500. The climax is phenomenal - the symbolism of the house burning shows the cruelty of the townspeople and how they see the Blackwoods as “other.” They destroy their house more after the fire is put out, breaking windows, destroying the property, forcing Merricat and Constance to flee with only strengthens what is best described as a trauma bond because they feel so ostracized. Then, once in the woods, Merricat states she wants to poison the villagers food, and Constance replies with “The way you did before?” And Merricat replies back and says, “Yes, the way I did before.” The long asked question is finally answered.

As I was saying before, every interaction and the behavior between characters has a meaning, and it is so crystal clear. Take a look at the OCD rituals both sisters exhibit. How Merricat feel “guilty” and wants to make a point to be kinder to Uncle Julian. I say “guilty” because I don’t believe she truly feels guilt. It should be noted that her goal is to be isolated with Constance. After the climax (the fire and the reveal of the murderer), despite what Merricat has done, Constance reprises her role and continues to choose Merricat, choosing to be complicit once more. Think of how Constance washed the sugar dish because “there was a spider in it.” Ultimately, Merricat gets exactly what she wanted because to my knowledge, Merricat allows Constance to believe that Charles was the one who burned the house down even though Merricat was the one who threw the pipe in the trash can. Because of this as well, the reader realizes Merricat doesn’t feel guilty because she met her end goal. She even tells Constance that she knew she would like “living on the moon.”

However let’s not forget about Charles. By no means is he a good person. Merricat equates him to a ghost and a demon after he arrives, comparing him to their father. He sleeps in John Blackwood’s room, wears his clothes and jewelry, and even eats at the same spot at the dinner table, and it’s implied that he has similar behaviors as John Blackwood. He’s a trigger for Merricat because he disrupts their isolation and he’s after their money. In Merricat’s mind, he intends to steal Constance away, and Merricat refuses to allow that to happen.

I could go on for longer, but whoever reads this review will understand the point. Shirley Jackson has a way with words, and I would be lucky to write a story with just an inkling of the power that this story holds. She deserves to be more appreciated. I’m going to read The Haunting of Hill House next.

[weremerricat]

i do like the idea of merricat is a ghost it fits the narrative it enhances it even my niece mary katherine has been dead a long time and i had not questioned why uncle julian does not call out to merricat i don’t recall that he acknowledges her merricat is not allowed in uncle julian’s room or to touch his wheelchair or any of his belongings if he sees merricat he does not give her acknowledgment if merricat is to be kinder to uncle julian and place a feather on the lawn where uncle julian will sit in the sunlight he will not be phased on how that feather came to be there because it is the very air of the house that has decided to be kinder to him

[free-for-all-fics]

Obscure Characters List - Female Edition (A-M)

Obscure Characters I love for some reason - Female Edition (A-M). (By obscure I mean characters that have little to no fanfic written about them. Not necessarily characters nobody’s ever heard of.) Don’t ask me to explain why. UPDATED: I had to split these up into separate posts because tumblr is being a butt about post length or something and won’t let me add more to either list idk.

A

Abigail Bishop/Emily (Let’s Scare Jessica to Death)

Agnes (Downfall Redux)

Agony Symbiote (Marvel Comics)

Alice (Apsulov: End of Gods)

Amanda Ripley (Alien Isolation)

Amelia (Underworld)

Anastasie “Tasi” Trianon (Amnesia Rebirth)

Annalise, Queen of the Vilebloods (Bloodborne)

Anna Valerious (Van Helsing 2004)

B

Baroness Clarimonde Catani (The Vampire Happening)

Belle (A Christmas Carol)

Black Canary/Dinah Drake/Dinah Laurel Lance (DC Comics)

Blackfire/Princess Komand'r (DC comics/Teen Titans)

Blind Mag/Magdalene DeFoe (Repo! The Genetic Opera)

Brides of Dracula (any version)

C

Cala Maria (Cuphead)

Calendar Girl/Page Munroe (DC Comics/The New Batman Adventures)

Catherine Chun (SOMA)

Charlotte Elbourne (Vampire Hunter D)

Charlotte Thornton (Nancy Drew, Ghost of Thornton Hall)

Chrissy/Mildred Pratt (Deadstream)

Constance Blackwood (We Have Always Lived in the Castle)

Cora (Devil’s Carnival 2)

Countess Marya Zaleska (Dracula's Daughter)

D

Dana Newman/The Angry Princess (Thirteen Ghosts remake)

Dolirra (Fariwalk: The Prelude)

Doll Face (The Strangers)

Dollisa (Fariwalk: The Prelude)

E

Edith Finch (What Remains of Edith Finch)

Elisabeth Williams (Maid of Sker)

Elizabeth Eilander (Rusty Lake Paradise)

Elizabeth Shelley (Frankenhooker)

Empress Tihana (Amnesia Rebirth)

Erin (You’re Next)

Estella (Great Expectations)

Esther/Leena Klammer (Orphan 1 and 2)

Evelyn “Evie” Carnahan O' Connnell  (The Mummy series)

F

Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

G

Ginger Fitzgerald (Ginger Snaps)

Glorificus “Glory” (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Goody (Vampires)

Grace Le Domas (Ready Or Not)

Gwendolyn “Gwen” Grayson/Royal Pain (Sky High)

H

Harper Thornton (Nancy Drew, Ghost of Thornton Hall)

Hel (Apsulov: End of Gods)

Hero (Much Ado About Nothing)

I

Imogen “Idgie” Threadgoode (Green Fried Tomatoes)

Iris (30 Days of Night)

Isabelle/The Bride (Spookies)

J

Jane Doe (Autopsy of Jane Doe)

Jayme/Red (Blood Fest)

Jennet Humfrye/The Woman in Black (The Woman in Black)

Julia/Subject Three (TAU)

Juliette Waters (Sylvio)

Justine Florbelle (Amnesia the Dark Descent)

K

Kate Drew (Nancy Drew, The Silent Spy)

Kathy Rain (Kathy Rain)

Katrina Van Tassel (Sleepy Hollow)

Kissin’ Kate Barlow (Holes)

L

Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower (Bloodborne)

Lady Sybil Crawley/Branson (Downton Abbey)

Lamia (Stardust)

Laura "Lorelai" Wood (Lorelai)

Laure Richis (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)

Laurie (Trick ‘r Treat)

Leech Woman (Puppetmaster series)

Lena (Underworld: Blood Wars)

Lily (V/H/S Amateur Night/SiREN)

Lily Munster (The Munsters)

Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree (Elden Ring)

Lucille Sharpe (Crimson Peak)

Lucy Billington (The Invitation)

Lunar Princess Ranni (Elden Ring)

M

Malenia the Severed (Elden Ring)

Marni Wallace (Repo! The Genetic Opera)

Mary Katherine “Merricat” Blackwood (We Have Always Lived in the Castle)

Mel (Nancy Drew, Warnings at Waverly Academy)

Melanie Ravenswood (Phantom Manor)

Melina (Elden Ring)

Millicent (Elden Ring)

Milk Maiden (2001 Maniacs)

Mirror Queen (The Brothers Grimm)

Miss Brixil (Level 16)

Moder (The Ritual)

[abbatoirablaze]

Ghost Of You, Charles Blackwood

Word Count:  974

Warnings:  slight angst, mentions of ghosts/spirits, mentions of character death, implied smut, dark Charles Blackwood.

“Just one more dance,” he begged, his cold hands gripping your waist tightly.  You tried to shrug him off of you, but it was no use.  He was far too strong, “come on.  Don’t be like that, sweetheart.  I just want one more dance before we retire for the night.  Before I take my beautiful wife to our marital bed.”

“Charles, please.”

“I love it when you beg me,” he purred seductively against the shell of your ear.  You whimpered at how his chilly breath sent yet another shiver down your spine, “beg me for it, angel.”

“Charles…”

“Just like that!” he cooed, growling against your ear while his erection grinded against your thigh.  You tried pulling away and got as far as turning around before he whipped you back to him, your body colliding harshly with his own, “you’re mine, angel.  You belong to me.  And we’re finishing this dance.”

You shot up in your bed, a cold sweat making a shiver run down your spine.  You were alone in your quiet, dark bedroom, but the normally stale air of the old home that you’d bought off of a sisterly pair just a few weeks ago was ice cold. 

“He-hello?”

Just as usual, no one had answered. 

And no one would. 

Before Constance and Merricat had moved they warned you that something not so nice was in the air of the house, but you hadn’t believed them.  They told you that despite their best efforts to get the spirits to evacuate the house, one pesky soul remained. 

That of their distant cousin, Charles, who had died in a raid and fire that the townspeople were responsible for nearly ten years ago. 

When you had bought the house, the townspeople warned you, not of the fire, but that of the wicked sisters.  But when you met the pair, they were just two women that wanted to get away from the pain that they had endured living in the house their entire lives.

They had managed to avoid the townspeople for a long time, but after the fire, it became harder.  They had to use parts of their family fortune to restore the house, which included inviting some of the very same looters back to them.    

Charles death had made it unbearable. 

His ghost, according to the sisters, haunted them at every turn.  At first you didn’t believe them, even hiding your giggles as they told you about their cousin and his odd habits.  But as the weeks grew, and spring turned into summertime, you were starting to see why they had sold it to you for such a reasonable price, despite how they had fixed it up to its former glory.

“I just need to go back to sleep,” you whispered to yourself, “ghosts don’t exist.  Spirits don’t exist…it’s just me here.”

“Oh, I exist very much,” a warm voice responded into the darkness of your room.  Your eyes snapped in the direction of the mirror that was near the closet.  And in its reflection, you could see a man, standing shirtless at the edge of the bed behind you.  His dark hair was dripping, the beads of water gliding down his bare, toned chest only to be caught by the towel wrapped loosely around his waist.  Your heart raced as his steely eyes pierced your soul.  You shuddered and felt the weight of the bed dipping behind you, but you were far too scared to turn around, “Look at me princess.  I know you like what you see…I can practically smell your arousal.”

You clung to the sheets and turned slowly.  But when you arrived at the point in the bed where he should have been, he was gone.  You released a breath you hadn’t realized that you were holding in, until you saw the firm handprint on the end of the bed. 

You looked back to the mirror, but there was nothing.

“I-I must have done it,” you tried to reason, “i-I’m going crazy…I need a dog or something.  I-“

“Sweetheart, you’re not crazy,” the man’s voice growled.  You whipped around once more, but nothing.  With a few shaky breaths you tried to convince yourself to lay back.  And with another heavy breath you closed your eyes.  But something felt off.  A pressure on either side of you.  Your eyes opened, and not even six inches in front of you were a pair of dark, steely eyes boring into your very soul once more.  You opened your mouth in a silent scream.  But nothing came out aside from a gaspy breath.  He gave you a devious smile, one hand moving as he balanced himself on an elbow, while the free hand reached down, pulling the covers from your body.  He licked his thin bottom lip in hunger as he eyed your nightie, “you know, it looks way better on you than in your drawers…”

“Y-you’re not real,” you whimpered softly, not wanting to believe that the apparition had appeared in your dreams and was now in front of you, “y-you’re not real.”

“I’ll prove just how real I am,” he growled sensually as he ripped he covers from your body and lifted your negligee until you were exposed to him.  His frigid hands touched your bare core and you shuddered, “god, it’s been so long…but don’t worry, angel.  I’ll be gentle.  Fill you up nice and slow all night.  I mean, you are my little wife after all.   You signed the deed which means you belong to the house…you belong to me…”

“N-no…”

“Oh yes, princess,” he cooed.  His erection bounced against your thigh and you shuddered at the coolness from his skin, “like I said though, I’ll break you in nice and slow tonight…after all, we’ve got the rest of time for me to explore that pretty little body of yours…”

[ugfriends]

Poor old Uncle Julian Blackwood It is imperative to be understood He used little sugar on blackberry He nearly took the river Styx ferry With Charon as Stygian tour guide From those berries he almost died You see his niece Merricat her goal Was to lace their silver sugar bowl With arsenic a family murder plan His moderation kept death on ban Constance to coverup and hide her Washes the bowl she said of spider Jonas doorway Constance by stove Ghost visit seeking a treasure trove Charles has Blackwood coins desire Merricat and pipe is a house on fire On a moon we in starlight unfurled Look down on the dead dried world In the Castle sisters are in fine fettle Grimm allusions to Hansel & Gretel Witch you have a gingerbread house Boys have gone too near that house You might make a gingerbread man Name him Charles and eat him plan They catch little boys and they ---- Hold you down make you eat candy I wonder could I eat a child well done Constance: I doubt if I could cook one

[laufire]

last 5 characters that intrigued you?

I'll keep this to characters I had little to no familiarity with before, putting aside characters I'm ~revisiting or that I know well from other alternate versions (comics, ammirite), one way or another.

Duke Thomas (DC comics). I just started skimming through his appearances (I want to include a small part for him in one of my WIPs, and I'm a big Canon Is King gal as everyone probably knows now lol), and I really, REALLY like him.

Tuya (Monstress). "Monstress" has AMAZING characters all around, but Tuya is definitely the one I find most fascinating. I've really been missing her the last handful of issues LOL.

Pearl Prynne ("The Scarlet Letter"). Fascinating child lmao.

Merricat Blackwood ("We Have Always Lived in the Castle"). She really speaks to me lmao.

the lead character in this little short film called "no hay fantasmas" (there are no ghosts) I watched this summer. she's inspired me with one of my OCs, so.

Honorary mentions: Bruce Wayne ("Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham"). This version of him is Extra Unwell lmfao.

And Talia al Ghul (Harley Quinn's animated show). I love a #girlboss.

[hangingthoughts]

"I was thinking that being a demon and a ghost must be very difficult, even for Charles; if he ever forgot, or let his disguise drop for a minute, he would be recognized at once and driven away; he must be extremely careful to use the same voice every time, and present the same face and the same manner without a slip; he must constantly on guard against betraying himself."

— Merricat, pertaining to Charles, We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson

[richkidcityfriends]

thinking about we have always lived in the castle as a haunting. thinking about merricat being the ghost 

[grenkids]

I’M SUCH A FUCKIN DUNCE

modern au where tilde and algot are ghosts

DUUUUHHH

[bookishdiary]

Great classic Books under 200 pages

1. The turn of the screw by Henry James (108 pages)

One of the must read gothic horror tales: The story begins when a governess arrives at an English country estate to look two young children, Miles and Flora. At first, everything appears normal then one night a ghost appears before the governess.

2. Letters to a young poet by Rilke (80 pages)

A must read for everyone who loves poetry and writing: In 1903, a student at a military academy sent some of his verses to a well-known Austrian poet, requesting an assessment of their value. The older artist, Rainer Maria Rilke, replied to the novice in this series of letters

3. The Aleph and other stories by Borges (200 pages)

A great collectio of magical storys full of phlosophical puzzles and supernatural surprises: "The Aleph is a point in space that contains all other points. Anyone who gazes into it can see everything in the universe from every angle simultaneously, without distortion, overlapping, or confusion."

4. Hunger by Knut Hamsun (180 pages)

Hunger has been hailed as the literary opening of the 20th century and an outstanding example of psychology-driven literature. Set in late 19th-century Kristiania, the novel recounts the adventures of a starving young man whose sense of reality is slowly fading away.

5. The Sandman by E.T.A Hoffmann (40 pages)

A classic short story for every gothic horror lover. Read it and be prepared to get your mind blown.

6. Chess Story by Stefan Zweig (120 pages)

Driven to mental anguish as the result of total isolation by the Nazis, Dr B, a securities expert hiding valuable assets of the nobility from the new regime, maintains his sanity only through the theft of a book of past masters' chess games which he plays endlessly, voraciously learning each one until they overwhelm his imagination to such an extent that he becomes consumed by chess. Chess Story is Zweig's final achievement, completed in Brazilian exile and sent off to his American publisher only days before his suicide in 1942.

7. Bartleby, the scrivener by Herman Melville (70 pages)

Another great short story that will really make you think about capitalism and a man's free will: Set in the mid-19th century on New York City's Wall Street, it is, perhaps, Herman Melville's most prescient story: what if a young man caught up in the rat race of commerce and overworking finally just said, "I would prefer not to"?

8. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (160 pages)

This haunting and controversial novel is Baldwin's most sustained treatment of sexuality, and a classic of gay literature. In a 1950s Paris an American finds himself unable to repress his impulses: After proposing to a young woman, he falls into an affair with an Italian bartender and is confounded and tortured by his sexual identity as he oscillates between the two.

9. The Stranger by Albert Camus (123 pages)

Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."

10. We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson (160 pages)

Living in the Blackwood family home with only her sister Constance and her Uncle Julian for company, Merricat just wants to preserve their delicate way of life. But ever since Constance was acquitted of murdering the rest of the family, the world isn't leaving the Blackwoods alone. 'Her greatest book ... ... the deeper we sink, the deeper we want to go' - Donna Tartt