#spooky month: the novellized version

[sunny6677]

It's Spooky Month! - Spooky Month: The Novellized Version - Book 1.

Summary:

After eagerly waiting all day and night for the month of October to finally spring—a kid who calls himself Skid goes on wacky adventures with his friend who goes by the name of Pump! What sort of adventures will they get into? What sort of antics will arise? The answers are kind of unknown, because there's no predicting what can possibly happen when they're around!

Chapter 8: The Candy Club.

TWS FOR GRIEF, MORUNING, IMPLIED NEGLECT AND UNHEALTHY COPING MECHANISMS

————

It was still a night under the cold chill of the black sheets that blanketed the sky—flickering with all sorts of stars that appeared to stare down at the town. Almost, as if watching. The moon shone down as well, bathing anything within the radius of its rays with such glowing light.

And beneath the light—two small children walked along the sidewalks. Vehicles passed by with simple whir, and a brush of air flowing against them for a brief second before quickly evaporating into the atmosphere. They giggled, and of course, the two small children in question—wearing giant pumpkin and skeleton masks, were Pump and Skid.

They hopped, barely being able to hear the crickets chirping from nearby areas as some people walked past them or rode on bikes past where they were running. They had passed by a donut store along the way, a simple diner down the street that had closed a little while ago, a mall. Yet none of these places were their destination—there was only one destination these two had in mind.

And of course.. as they turned a corner, they gasped.

"Oh, hey! Eheheh! Look—there it is!"

Pump giggled, pointing in the direction of a slightly giant building with white walls, blue painting on the lines of the entrance, and yellow coloring around its windows. Within the interiors of its windows were gigantic, seemingly fake lollipops in bright green and pink coloring. Bright, artifical light seeped from out of every single pane of glass on the building. And there was a neon pink, bright taffy wrapper shaped sign from on high that simply read in white bold writing: "The Candy Club."

They didn't stop in their tracks, now quickening their pace and nearly stumbling along the cracks of the sidewalk below as they got closer and closer. Wind brushed wildly against their little faces while they giggled, and giggled—until they eventually came to a mild decrease in pace in front of the yellow plastic doors. They were automatic (obviously), and very much see-through. So see-through in fact they could see the cashier from inside just standing there at the counter.

The two quickly ran foward—the doors came open with a slight whir. The moment they ran onto the white tiled floors of the store, a chill enveloped their little bodies. It even felt so cold that they nearly shuddered upon entering the store. Still, they kept running, and their little eyes began to curiously look around the place.

The interiors held dark and high magenta walls, the ceiling from on high being tiled and white. Artifical square lights hung from the ceiling in various rows. All around them were large machines containing different candies—from almost comically large gumballs, some kind of liquid that must have been a sweet one, jawbreakers. There were little boxes from below the machines too—containing taffy candies, chocolates, hard candies covered in wrappers. There was even a poster on the wall in blue and pink coloring that was seemingly an advertisement for the place—only stating, 'The Sweetest Candy Store In Town! Come Down and Get Yourself A Treat!"

In front of them though was a white plastic counter, with such a reflective surface they could practically see their own reflections in it. Behind it though was a man they hadn't seen before. A tall man, in fact. He had black bangs in front of in hair that was so curled it almost appeared like a swirl, the bottom half of his hair poking out like he had gotten it cut by a really bad barber or something. His face was slim and long—with tan, warm-brown skin.

His brows were black and arched. Beneath his brows though were a pair of half-lidded eyes with dark brown pupils inside. The man had his head cocked to the side, a thin smile plastered on his lips. His neck was long, but thin. And on top of his head was a single cap that seemed almost a bit too big for him—with a singular pastel pink c written on the top, and a blue line plastered across the roof of his cap.

He was skinny. Lanky, in fact. With a white button-up over his slim body, his sleeves with a singular pink stripe across seeming almost a bit too big over his long arms. He wore a bow-tie around his neck, with a pink bow that was shaped like a wrapper, and a white swirl drawn upon the center. They couldn't see his lower half, so it was hard to tell what pants or anything else he must have been wearing.

They weren't able to think about that for long though—for then he spoke. In a low, nasally, almost croaky voice—"Hi." He smiled. "What would you two kids like?" He said with a slight tilt of his head.

Skid paused to think for a split second, the scent of candy seeping into the holes of his mask and all the way to his nostrils. He gave a giggle, "We—eheh.. we want candy!"

"Yeah—do you have any—any gummies?" Pump asked, raising his hand.

"Uh.. no." The man slowly answered. "Sorry, kids. We're kinda out of those."

Their smiles faltered, and the man looked upon them for a moment, his frown quickly becoming a big wobbly as he spoke.

"We're—uh—we're selling candy cans though!"

"Candy cans?" Pump repeated.

"Yeah. They're.. like a bucket of candy. And they're free right now, so.. I can just give you those."

The two paused, and then slowly started to grin again. Skid nodded rather rapidly while jumping up and landing back down on the floor. "Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes!"

"Yeah! Give us—give us candy cans!" Pumps lispy voice practically yelled out.

In a matter of a few seconds, they both began to yell out at the same time while the man's smile on his thin lips slowly began to twitch downward. He arched a brow, looking upon them with what looked like confusion, and something else.

"Give us candy cansssss!" Skid beamed.

"Give us candy cans! Give us candy cans!" Pump said in a sing-songy tone.

The man was quiet, and then sighed. "Okay—okay. You don't need to shout at me."

The man then turned around. From behind him on the shelves were several items of candies. Some of them were lollipops, other were triangular rock candies. From a row of plastic yellow buckets with pink lids and a pink taffy symbol over it, he grabbed one of the buckets, and then another before finally turning back around.

He then held his arms out. Skid looked at the bucket with wide eyes, giggling with slight excitement, and Pump only smiled at his—eagerly taking it in his little hands the moment the man held it out.

"..well? Are you gonna take it?" The man asked Skid.

"Yeah! Eheheh.." He took the bucket in his hands right then, holding it close to his chest. Looking up, he tilted his head. "Oh—uh.. who are you?"

"..me?"

"Yeah—we haven't seen you around!"

The man arched a brow, but answered. "Uh.. I'm Kevin. I just kinda got a job here, so thats probably why."

"Ohhh! Eheheh.." Skid giggled. "Well, we just wanted to—to come here to see the new candy store my grandma was talking about!"

"Yeah, the candy tasted spooky!"

"Your grandma—" Kevin repeated, and then stopped. "Wait—how come you're both wearing costumes?"

"Cuz it's spooky month?" Pump answered. "Duhhh!"

"..its.. not even Halloween yet though."

"So? It's still spooky month!"

"Yeah, but it's still not time to trick or treat—"

"Its still spooky month!" Skid insisted, frowning.

"..yeah, sure. Okay." He flatly replied. "So.. do you two want anything else, or are you just gonna stand there?"

"Mmm.. no! It's okay!" Skid shrugged. "We just wanted candy."

He then turned around, giving a simple giggle. "Let's—" He whispered, "Let's go check out the graveyard again!"

"Ehehehe.. okay!" Pump whispered back.

Skid then turned his head around briefly, "Okay—we're gonna go now! It was really nice to meet you, Devon!"

"Kevin."

"Yeah—Kevin! Bye-byeeee!"

The two then began to make their way back over to the artificial doors, giggling the whole way as they did so, and seeing the plastic translucent yellow doors get closer. They felt Kevin's eyes simply watch them from behind as they ran. He muttered something neither of them could hear.

Yet it didn't matter, for as soon as the doors opened wide, they ran back into the chill of the night.

————

Skid sat beside Pump on the bench with his shoulders minorly slumped, letting his eyes gaze at the street in front of them while his candy can sat on the ground below. Pump ate mindlessly from his own jar—crunching and chewing random candies he ate as he did so.

Crickets filled the empty silence. And after a while, Skid spoke.

"Hey, Pump?"

Skid asked as Pump sat beside him on the wooden bench in front of the gates of the cemetery.

"Yeah?"

"..you ever miss your parents?"

"Uh.. yeah, I do."

"..."

"You ever miss your dad" Pump asked, taking a piece of candy from the bucket beside him, and opening it slowly.

"..yeah."

"Is.. that why you keep coming here?"

"..."

Pump was silent. The sky was still a sheet of black, with barely an people around on the lone street as the two simply sat in silence. The moon shone down. Skid had his shoulders slumped, looking down at his lap from behind his mask. He sniffled, feeling his eyes begin to water.

As they sat, Pump looked up at the sky, and then widened his eyes. "Well, that's okay! Let's not think about it. Let's just—get back to spooky month."

"..yeah." Skids voice brightened a little as he spoke again, "Yeah—let's do that!"

[latteandjacks]

Okay you all I need to ask you something and I need all of you to be honest with me

If I made a comic for a spooky month au that has a "choose your own adventure" kind of dynamic, would any of you be interested? And before answering please read because the " " are there for a reason

The comic for this au can very easily be just another comic without all of this, but given that is based of a visual novel (Yes, another Rachel novel don't judge me I'm hyperfixiated) and this one has been on my mind for longer than the MIR/Doomed au, I got the idea to make it interactive somehow

The dialogue options all will end up leading to the main story and they're there only to get different interactions in a short amount of time, as well as choosing location will eventually lead you to the place you NEED to go to progress the story, only the final options will determine what ending is gonna happen All of this will happen on polls, not all the comic parts will have polls only in the ones where you need to chose something, since I'm not fast at drawing comics and will split it to make it easier for me Every option will eventually be made once all endings are posted, going for the second most voted (in cases where there's 3 options) or the second one (for the ones with 2)

The au is based on Cold Front and I recommend to play it or watch a gameplay of it if you haven't as I will be changing multiple things, it's based on the story but the characters will behave differently, this is set in Halloween instead of winter and most importantly, there's a third ending and more dialogue options

This is smaller than another au I plan to use this same dynamic because this one has a linear story and the endings are something that you can easily go back to with one option, meanwhile "A candy store after dark" is gonna be WAY messier as the options can affect the whole story, and If you all are here is because you enjoy my weird antics and ideas for some reason, figured I might give this a shot and see if it's of interest

With no further do, I'll leave you with the references and the poll, it will stay up until nest monday, I'll give it time and in anyway I'm going on vacation so I will see when I come back

[pharawee]

🖇️BL WATCHLIST OCTOBER 🎃

🎬Jack & Joker - IQIYI - I love everything about this show but Monday is the worst time for this to air. I barely have enough time to watch this, and with so many other shows I don't really have the time to catch up either. I really hope I can beat my own worst enemy (FOMO) and go back to enjoying myself.

🎬Fourever You - WeTV | YOUTUBE - I love this so much that I'm paying for the youtube sub to watch this uncut. 🤡

🎬Kidnap - GAGAOOLALA - I was apprehensive at first because I haven't really been able to get into any gmmtv BL in a while now but somehow this feels fresh and earnest while simultaneously speedrunning every trope under the sun - and I'm loving every second of it!

🎬The Hidden Moon - WeTV - I renewed my WeTV subscription for this and I wasn't disappointed. It's intriguing with a promising plot and beautiful shots of Chiang Mai.

🎬Every You, Every Me - GAGAOOLALA - One of my most anticipated BLs of the year, with Mick Monthon, Top Piyawat and Fiat Patchata. Supposedly this has fated lovers and parallel realities - which sounds amazing.

🖇️CALENDAR (THAI PRODUCTIONS ONLY)

🖇️UPCOMING

🎬Perfect 10 Liners - YOUTUBE - I'm 95% sure this isn't for me but never say never. I'll try and watch the first ep and then go from there.

🖇️ FINISHED

🎬I Saw You in My Dream - GAGAOOLALA - I love everything about this show. EVERYTHING. Dee Hup and Director Tee never disappoint.

🎬Monster Next Door - GAGAOOLALA - Kongthup is love. Kongthup is life. Except if you're a turtle.

🖇️ ON HOLD

🎬Battle of the Writers - YOUTUBE - I want to like this (especially for Mark Sorntast) but I just don't have the time and if I manage to catch up with one ep it's kind of all over the place.

🎬Addicted Heroin - I've decided to switch from the cut version on youtube to the uncut version but that one doesn't have a fixed release because it's often missing subtitles. For now, I really like this show and the way it's filmed. It's respectful of the actors' ages and beautifully filmed.

🎬First Note of Love - GAGAOOLALA - I'm watching this with the gf and we're currently a few eps behind.

🎬Bad Guy My Boss - GAGAOOLALA - I kind of want to pick this back up but I don't have the time to. 😭

🎬Love Sick - IQIYI - I really love this show and I hope I can catch up this month.

➕ MDL | ABOUT | ALL WATCHLISTS | COMMENTARY & NEWS TAG | THAI BL NOVELS | BL INDUSTRY | UPCOMING | SPOOKY BL

[richincolor]

Hispanic Heritage Month: The Spooky Version

Since it's spooky season and also Hispanic Heritage Month, I thought I'd highlight a few thriller/mystery/horror books by Hispanic authors that have come out recently. I haven't had a chance to read all of these books yet (my TBR list is long) but I'm looking forward to getting scared by these wonderful authors. Check out my review of "They Thought They Buried Us" on Nov. 1. 

They Thought They Buried Us by NoNieqa Ramos

Horror fan and aspiring film director Yuiza gets a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As one of the few students of color at Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy, Yuiza immediately feels out of place. A brutal work-study schedule makes it impossible to keep up with the actual classes. Every expense, from textbooks to laundry, puts Yuiza into debt. And the behavior of students and faculty is… unsettling. Yuiza starts having disturbing dreams about the school’s past and discovers clues about the fate of other scholarship students. It’ll take all Yuiza’s knowledge of the horror genre to escape from Our Lady’s grasp.

Click below to read more!

Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore

The Soler sisters are infamous in polite society—brazen, rebellious, and raised by their fashionable grandmother who couldn’t care less about which fork goes where. But their grandmother also knows the standards that two Latina young ladies will be held to, so she secures them two coveted places at the Alarie House, a prominent finishing school that turns out first ladies, princesses, and socialites. Younger sister Isla is back home within a day. She refuses to become one of the eerily sweet Alarie girls in their prim white dresses. Older sister Renata stays. When she returns months later, she’s unfailingly pleasant, unnervingly polite, and, Isla discovers, possibly murderous. And the same night she returns home, she vanishes. As their grandmother uses every connection she has to find Renata, Isla re-enrolls, intent on finding out what happened to her sister. But the Alarie House is as exacting as it is opulent. It won’t give up its secrets easily, and neither will a mysterious, conniving girl who’s either controlling the house, or carrying out its deadly orders.

Lucha of the Night Forest by Tehlor Kay Mejia

A scorned god. A mysterious acolyte. A forgetting drug. A dangerous forest. One girl caught between the freedom she always wanted and a sister she can't bear to leave behind. Under the cover of the Night Forest, will Lucha be able to step into her own power...or will she be consumed by it? This gorgeous and fast-paced fantasy novel from acclaimed author Tehlor Kay Mejia is brimming with adventure, peril, romance, and family bonds--and asks what it means for a teen girl to become fully herself.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

Check out Audrey's Review

[thusspoketrish]

Ten People I'd Like to Get to Know Better!

Thank you to @smehur for the tag! I loved reading your responses 💗

Last Song: The Gold - Phoebe Bridgers Version (this is sorta on repeat for me right now 😮‍💨)

Favorite Colors: Haha, shades of black, if it's going on my body. Purple is great, too

Last Book: Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley (a thought-provokingly creepy folk-horror-meets-desolate-cottage-core novel that explores grief, the occult, and the insidious, cyclical nature of history).

Last Fic: Yours is the Earth (Hold on, Hold On) by chickenlivesinpumpkin

Last Movie: The Babadook (I'm doing a 31 Days of Horror Movies Challenge w/ some friends, but are you guys noticing my theme here? It's spooky season! 🎃👻👹🕸️👽)

Last TV Show: Love Is Blind Season 7 (my guilty, guilty pleasure).

Sweet, Spicy, or Savory: Sweet!

Relationship Status: Single and ready to mingle! 😏

Last Thing I Googled: Eggplant Parmesan recipe. This one looks promising.

Current Obsession: Finishing my Drarry WIPs for this month!

Looking Forward To: The weekend. Can't come soon enough.

Tagging (but no pressure + sorry if this is a repeat for you!): @lizziedrip @edieblakewrites @newskyillusion @its-the-allure @thisbloodycat @tripably @sortofshea @pixiedunhoff @artmistersealy @daydreamingfoxglove

[thenightling]

Addressing some old confusion about Nightmare before Christmas

Tim Burton is getting a lot of attention lately because of the new Beetlejuice sequel so a lot of his other work is being talked about. The Spooky season also leads to conversations about his work. And every year it's the same thing. Someone will list their favorite Tim Burton movies and someone will go "Umm... Actually, Henry Selick directed Nightmare before Christmas." Yes, he did. But I am willing to argue that three men deserve the bulk of the credit for Nightmare before Christmas. First we need to go backward to the early 1980s when a young Tim Burton was working for Disney as an animator, uncredited, for The Fox and the Hound. An unpleasant aspect of working for Disney is anything you create while working for Disney... belongs to Disney. While working for Disney Tim Burton doodled the characters that would become the main characters of Nightmare before Christmas. He also wrote a long-form story book / poem in the style of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss. It wasn't until the early 1990s that Disney finally agreed to allow this story to be adapted into a film, and also allowed the book, itself, to finally be published a mere few months before the 1993 release of the movie adaptation. In the early 90s there was a cinematic trend that the author of a Gothic book was in the movie title such as Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. But as Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley are long dead, no one mistook them as the director of their movies. The easy mistake may have been deliberate on Disney's part since Disney was preying on the (then) current rising success of Tim Burton's film directing career. (The 2004 Halmark mini-series of Frankenstein is closer to the Mary Shelley novel than the movie called Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, by the way.) Early in the production of the movie Tim Burton went to composer Danny Elfman's home and told him the story piece by piece. Danny Elfman immediately related to the protagonist Jack Skellington as he was in the middle of his own identity crisis as a the lead singer of New Wave rock band, Oingo Boingo. Danny Elfman had recently discovered his talent for and love for film and TV composing. Danny Elfman soon had eleven songs composed that made a full opera of the story Tim Burton told him. In fact, according to Danny Elfman, Tim Burton is uncredited but wrote some of the lyrics. Danny Elfman became so attached to Jack Skellington that he was also the character's singing voice for the movie. Danny Elfman's opera version of the story (just the songs without dialogue between them) became the basis for annual concerts that were performed as recently as last year at the Hollywood Bowl.

Henry Selick was the director of Nightmare before Christmas (the movie) and he had to deal with the tedious work of overseeing the entire stop motion process, probably the most painstaking part of the project. Caroline Thompson wrote the script for Nightmare before Christmas but only after the eleven songs were composed, the dialogue she wrote for the movie consisted of less than ten minutes of the movie's running time. So for the confused: The director of Nightmare before Christmas was Henry Selick. He had to oversee the entire stop motion animation process. The score, song lyrics, and Jack Skellington's singing voice was Danny Elfman, who wrote all eleven songs before there was a script and wrote them so well that they could stand without a script. (But he says Tim Burton wrote some of the lyrics but is uncredited). Tim Burton wrote the original short story / poem that was published the same year as the movie's release as an illustrated children's book. Tim Burton wrote some of the lyrics, chose the color pallets of the sets, and even was the one who decided Sally's socks would have to be striped when the puppet couldn't stand up right because her ankle were too small. Yes, Henry Selick should get credit as the director. But Tim Burton should also get credit for the original story, the character designs / concept art, and Danny Elfman needs the credit for all The scoring, most of the lyrics, and Jack Skellington's most passionate moments as he was the singing voice and Jack did a lot more singing than talking.

These three men, together, with their collective talents, are why we have Nightmare before Christmas.

[musingsbycaitlin]

HEY! Writeblr Intro!!!

Hi, my name is Caitlin, and I’m a third year Creative Writing student in rainy England. I’ve got a couple WIPs but none are set in stone so you’ll have to bear with me for a while haha.

- I’m here for a good time so my writing is solely based on my mood and vibe at the time, please do not expect consistency.

- I write short stories mainly but am trying to branch out into novels so you’ll hopefully be seeing a bit more of that in the future.

- I am a university student with anxiety and decision fatigue so things change drastically around here every so often but I promise if I go quiet I will come back.

Let’s get into the WIPs (these will be constantly edited and changing) and feel free to ask me any questions about any of them, even ones that might have been removed from this list if you’re interested.

IF I GIVE UP, SO MUST YOU - a Wild West literary fiction novel

STATUS: currently drafting (on hiatus)

GENRE: literary fiction, sapphic romance(?)

CURRENT WORD COUNT: 3,995

Okay, so a bit of info about this project. I started writing it a bit ago purely because I wanted to write a Wild West novel and then it turned sapphic and then it became literary. It follows an unnamed narrator as she navigates life outside of her small town after she is targeted by bandits in a raid. A coming of age novel that explores what it means to figure things out for yourself whilst battling with false truths engrained into your from a young age.

NIGHT SWIMMING (working title) - a short story collection

STATUS: literally haven’t even started :/

GENRE: literary, horror, surrealist

This collection is my version of NaNoWriMo this year because there is no way I can feasibly write a novel in a month where I also have to write my dissertation first draft and three other short stories like no. I’m hoping to do an update on my page whenever a story is complete, so I will also update this section to include the names of all the stories going in. Stay posted is all I’m saying ;). All I know is I want it to explore the everyday in a surrealist way (as most of my stories do).

DAMAGED GOODS - a dystopian sci-fi novel

STATUS: currently drafting (on hiatus)

GENRE: dystopian, sci-if, speculative

CURRENT WORD COUNT: 2,323

So, I haven’t done an intro post to this yet simply because I had to put it to one side once university started again. A brief summary is this: Auden, an average guy, husband, and father, has gotten into a dreadful car accident. In this society, however, surgery is replaced with metal transplantation. Due to Auden’s extensive injuries, he now must live in suburbia with a completely metal head, arm, and leg.

I’m super happy with this concept and the initial 2,000 words I’ve got I’m pretty okay with. The main issue is where to take it and if it will be a full novel or more of a novella.

EAT YOUR YOUNG - a gothic horror novella

STATUS: currently drafting

GENRE: gothic horror

CURRENT WORD COUNT: 4,950

I haven’t done an intro for this project because I honestly wasn’t sure I’d return to it but the spooky season is upon us and I really want to get back into writing this. Brief Summary: Mr Gerard is an accountant hired by the Heron Manor estate to deal with the affairs of the three sisters residing there after a mysterious death of the man of the house.

This is going to me my main personal priority other than my short stories for now and I’ll try to get an intro out soon.

Okay, so that’s all for me folks. Like I said, any questions please feel free to send me an ask or a message, don’t be a stranger. As a writer I always wanna talk about my projects, OCs, and anything else writing craft related!

I’m tagging some mutuals, if you wish to be tagged or removed :( - let me know x

@annlillyjose @dallonwrites @aesa @winterandwords @iannicellis @isherwoodj

[mi6-cafe]

It's Occult October!

Sp00qy season is upon us! This month we want you to make or rec fancreations that involve Bond characters and anything that’s uncanny, wyrd, monstrous, magical, or spooky. (Or, you know, anything that has to do with the characters celebrating Halloween or related holidays.)

Tag us in your recs and creations so we can reblog them. As always, all ships, gen fic, and genres are welcome! You can also add anything to our AO3 collection.

Sp00qy fanfic readalong

On October 31st at 9pm eastern, join us for a special night of reading spooqy fanfics on discord!

Fics are not limited to 00Q, but we do prefer shorter ones so we can read a lot for our special event. If you have stories you'd like to suggest, please add them to the list here.

Last Drabble Writer Standing has begun!

Each week, for four weeks, we will be sending out a specific prompt to our LDWS participants. Prompts include a topic or image, a word count, and sometimes a genre or an extra challenge! Each writer creates a drabble inspired by the same prompt, and then those drabbles are posted anonymously and voted on/given feedback by amazing readers! 

In addition to the weekly rankings throughout October, there will be one final drabble writer at the end who has the top number of votes overall--the Last Drabble Writer Standing! Also, the long fic readalong crew is reading the drabbles every Saturday night and see discord for other offers for similar in other timezones.

The first week has concluded, but check #LDWS 2024 for round two coming out on Saturday!

Saturday Cafe: October 5 and October 19

Come join us in the fandom Slack as we write, draw, sprint, plot, brainstorm, cheerlead, and generally have a good time trying to get things done together. If you’d like an invite to the Slack, go ahead and message @castillon02 or @spiritofcamelot!

Bond Book Readalong, Saturdays at 9pm ET

The longfic readalong crew is taking a break from fanfic to go back to the source material. We will be taking a couple months to read Diamonds are Forever. This is a proper detective novel full of diamond smuggling, Felix Leiter, and a really over-the-top bad guy. Not to mention our latest Bond girl: Tiffany Case.

We will provide a digital version of the text for you to follow along, but we also recommend seeing if your local library has a copy. We’d love to see you there. You are welcome to listen if you don’t or can’t read aloud!    

When: Saturdays at 9pm eastern/6pm Pacific.

Where: We’ll be reading on discord in the readalongs channel. (Invite to discord here)

Please join us to read or just hang out.

Other social events

We have loved all the movies, game nights, even TTRPGs that happened during Fest this year and we hope to see more of them throughout the year!

In October, Linorien will be hosting watch parties for Candela Obscura - Needle and Thread. This is a horror-themed mini Critical Role campaign. Please check the watch party calendar linked below for the times and join us in discord.

This month especially, we will happily promote other watch party events of spooky movies or whatever else you would like to organize.

Weekly events:

WIP Wednesday: You can post an excerpt of your WIP on our post or make your own post and mention the @mi6-cafe. Either way it’s a fun way to show people what you’re working on, Bond fandom or otherwise.

Weekly Bond movies: Hosted by womble every Sunday at 8am Pacific time, join us in Discord to watch one of the Bond movies. Keep an eye on the watch party calendar linked below for updates.

Want to host your own event in the Discord or elsewhere? Let us know about it so we can add it to the calendars!

Calendars

Watch Party Calendar MI6 Cafe Calendar   If you need help adding these calendars to your personal one, check out this post.

[sydney-carton-of-sour-milk]

The Many Illustrators of A Tale of Two Cities 16: Richard M. Powers

...& I've saved the spookiest of this month for last...

Richard M. Powers was an illustrator best known for his many, many illustrations for the covers of science fiction novels.

For this last week of the spooky subseries, we look at his work on this 1962 edition of A Tale of Two Cities.

(As a brief note, some of the images have a blur in the edges of the pages - this is because the book was huge and barely fit on my scanner.)

"The figures of a horse and rider came slowly through the eddying mist, and came to the side of the mail, where the passenger stood."

"'Now your dinner is done,' Carton presently said, 'why don't you call a health, Mr. Darnay; why don't you give your toast?'"

"He threw out a gold coin for the valet to pick up, and all the heads craned forward that all the eyes might look down at it as it fell. The tall man called out again with a most unearthly cry, 'Dead!'"

"It lay back on the pillow of Monsieur the Marquis. It was like a fine mask, suddenly startled, made angry, and petrified.'"

"He had a strong idea that the coffin he had seen was running after him; and pictured as hopping on behind him, bolt upright, upon its narrow end."

"'I make a circuit by the prison, on my way to my work. There I see him, high up, behind the bars of a lofty iron cage, bloody and dusty as last night.'"

"The Château was left to itself to flame and burn."

"'We have borne this a long time,' said Madame Defarge, turning her eyes again upon Lucie. 'Judge you! Is it likely that the trouble of one wife and mother would be much to us now?'"

"'Her eyes were dilated and wild, and she constantly uttered piercing shrieks, and repeated the words, "My husband, my father, and my brother!" and then counted up to twelve, and said, "Hush!"'"

"The two stand in the fast-thinning throng of victims, but they speak as if they were alone. Eye to eye, voice to voice, hand to hand, heart to heart, these two children of the Universal Mother,"

And so we close out October. I've been so looking forward to sharing all three of these sets here this month - I hope you've enjoyed as much as I have!

& the standard endnote for all posts in this series:

This post is intended to act as the start of a forum on the given illustrator, so if anyone has anything to add - requests to see certain drawings in higher definition (since Tumblr compresses images), corrections to factual errors, sources for better-quality versions of the illustrations, further reading, fun facts, any questions, or just general commentary - simply do so on this post, be it in a comment/tags or the replies!💫

[himehikoshrine]

Mary Jane and Frankenstein 

In honor of Spooky Month and the imminent arrival of Mary Jane Day, I have done the scariest thing imaginable, returned to tumblr dot com to write a meta/analysis post.

[image description: images side by side of the top of the Mary Jane poster, showing Mary looking down sewing Jacob, next to the 1831 edition front panel illustration of Frankenstein, showing Victor looking down on his creature in horror]

This is a mostly informal attempt to collect my thoughts on the fact that Neji’s little spooktacular, in addition to being a very pointed exploration, as all of his plays are, of art and theater, the school, himself and his classmates (without their permission, the menace) and just, a lot of fun, is perhaps one of the best piece of Frankenstein related media I have EVER seen in relation to the original novel. 

This is pulling a lot of things from the Stage Script rather than the in game version, which summarizes a lot of the things I'm mentioning specifically. You can find the full Stage Script in the game menu, or

[ here ]

because I love this play so much that I needed a searchable version.

Caveat Emptor here is that it’s been a long time since I’ve read the novel in its entirety. If this game gets me to read it again, I may have to revamp things. But again, largely informal. But very long, somehow.

Oooops.

If you're curious about anything in here and want to expand on it more, or hear my thoughts on it, please feel free to reblog, send an ask, or message. Or ask me elsewhere if we're already connected there. There's a lot I glossed over, especially at the end of this. I have a lot to say, and if we're back to writing metas on tumblr dot com the chances of stopping at one are slim.

Mary as Frankenstein, Mary as Mother

Mary’s name is acting as several allusions at once. I mean, there are at least 3 Mary’s in the bible one could point to - Mary, Mother of Jesus is absolutely at play. But Lazarus’s sister is also a Mary. And while technically Mary Magdalene is often misrepresented and amalgamated with other characters in retellings, the idea of “purifying” her has canon precedent - having had seven demons driven out of her.

Of course, Neji’s twisting all of it, in his Neji way.

(Interestingly enough, these are the Three Marys of the Quem Quaeritis - widely considered a point of "rebirth" of theatre in Europe during the middle ages.)

But Mary is also the name of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of Frankenstein. And this, this is a Frankenstein story. It is, in fact, a beautiful inversion of so much about the book that gets left out in most far more serious attempts at a Frankenstein story. 

The original book is about motherhood and its inversion. Much could be said about when during her life she wrote it, or her own mother’s death shortly after she was born, or any number of things that have been hashed and rehashed a thousand times from AP English to the ivoriest of towers. But, fan of Death of the Author that I am, I posit you don’t need any of that to see in the text.

Victor creates a person with science, rather than by ‘nature’. It is an unnatural birth. And Victor is just about the shittiest possible parent. The Creature spends a good deal of time explaining to him, when they meet up again, that Victor is his father, and that he was literally abandoned as a newborn, and maybe that was kind of the worst possible thing he could have done. It’s not a mantle Victor has any desire to take up, the role of a parent. He wanted to create life, but he didn’t want to be a parent. But that’s what it means to create life. 

By gender swapping the role, you’re already inverting the inversion - but Mary’s creation is no more “natural” than Victors. But it is different. Neji, ever witch-coded himself, has Mary put one of her own hairs into every doll. It’s returning the shared body to the act of bringing these creations into being.

But even without that. Mary considers herself a mother. She considers herself a mother despite having no memory of one herself - Mary knows lots of things she shouldn’t, and doesn’t know many things she should. But she calls herself a mother. Even before any of the dolls move, she is their mother. A motherhood she wants to desperately share with others. She considers the act of selling a doll a kind of ‘adoption’. These are her children. And they know it. It’s stitched into every stitch in their doll bodies. They know Mary is their mother. And they know she loves them.

[image description: screenshot of Mary in her workshop. The text shows Mary's line saying "I'm back, dear dolls. Mommy's home."]

The Creature comes to think of Victor as a father - an absentee one at that, and craves that love, a love he is never shown. Mary averts this spectacularly. She creates out of love. 

Names

Mary takes great care in naming Jacob, and ends up doing so, though she doesn’t say it, after a biblical pun (Jacob, in the bible, is explicitly named such as a pun on the word “Heel”). But names are important to Mary, and she is sure to give one to Jacob as soon as he’s fully formed, even before she sees him wake up. Victor very particularly does not name his creature. Instead, he tends to throw around insults, many of which are demonic or satanic. When they finally meet again, the Creature says to him “I should have been thy Adam.” Mary averts this mistake, among so many others, spectacularly. Being called by her name is important to her, and she extends that offer to Jacob even before he’s fully “born.” Like a good mother.

[image description: a screenshot showing Fumi and Kai dressed as Mary and Jacob, as seen from the stage with the audience in the background. Kai is saying Jacob's line "I did, Mary. You are Mary Jane. My mother."]

Not only does she give him a nice biblical pun of a first name, she shares her last name with him, again before he’s even more than a doll. That’s her boy, that’s her best friend. That’s her family.

The song here, which is only sung and dance AFTER Mary has given him a name is called "A Friend Without A Name" Almost as if specifically calling attention to this fact. Mary is as much the friend without a name as Jacob, if not more. She is the one that has never heard another voice say her name, where as Jacob is called his before he's even awakened by the Island's magic and Mary's love.

[image description: the screen from just before A Friend Without A Name showing Mary and Jacob's CG of Mary Stitching Jacob.]

Mary as a Good Mother

Some of the weirder moments in the play actually make a lot more sense when you look at them through this light. Jacob randomly saying he hates Mary in a fit of jealousy? It’s because he’s a child. He’s a baby. That’s a baby boy. Mary, herself quite childish, forgetting so much of what’s important, as the Island is known for, reacts incorrectly, but understandably. This is her first friend - and far more of one than the others she thinks she’s made, in terms of mutual respect, compassion, and small acts of kindness. But this level of connection and emotional reciprocation is still new to her. She’s hurt. She runs.

And The Order of Shadow’s duo is quick to tell her that that’s just the nature of ghosts, telling themselves a little joke about how they have been lying to her from the start, and fully intend to stab her in the back, far more than any ghost. Victor’s instinct is to consider his creature a monster, a fiend, a demon. Mary is told by characters positioned as far more knowledgeable about the world than her that he must be exactly that.

And how does Mary react? She refuses to believe it. Even hurt as she was, even with someone who just said this is their entire expertise telling her it’s in his nature to be cruel, Mary refuses to accept it. She still loves him. She makes the right choice. That’s her best friend. That’s her family. That’s a (un)life she brought into this world, and she stands by him. No matter what. She would risk her life to rescue him. She will fight for him.

This is why that scene has to be there. Because she has to be given that temptation, that trial. And she passes spectacularly in a way Victor will not, to the end.

It’s also a thematic explanation for the garbage scene, which is probably there as much to be silly as anything. I mean, it’s also there to show many other things — Mary’s eccentricity is ingenious in its own quirky way — the islanders who hated her, who she didn’t understand, give her the tools to save Jacob and the others — Mary not even considering the same level of violence — it being a moment of empathy between Mary and the islanders who never showed her even a shred of it back — she understands that they couldn’t tell which food was rotten. She sees things from their point of view. And many more besides.

But, from the point of view of Mary as a Mother, Mary succeeding brilliantly where Victor failed… Mary is literally willing to coat herself in filth to rescue Jacob. Parenthood is messy. It involves a lot of gross things. Even Victor's, sanitized of the normal processes and cloaked in science, was made of corpse parts. But the play actually brings back a part of parenthood that Mary had been able to avoid thus far - the mess. Mary, once again, doesn’t hesitate. For Jacob? She’ll do anything.

Jacob is shown love and kindness, and he responds with the same. He has the same unnatural strength as Victor’s creature, but he’s only ever shown using it to rescue himself and others. When Mary asks for a handshake, he replies that he can’t, because such would be an invitation for a duel. And that they should hug, instead. Mary didn’t even know what that was. Far from disgusted by the lack of warmth she feels from his skin, she looks beyond that, to the emotional warmth and connection.

Frankenstein’s creature, famously, lashes out in violence. While Victor views this as his responsibility only in so far as he brought a demon into the world, he doesn’t understand, even when the Creature eloquently explains it, that the Creature was a being who had only known cruelty.

Jacob knows love. He knows kindness. He knows sadness and loneliness and pain. And refuses to engage in any form of touch that could even be considered violence. They hug.

Which is not to say Mary’s creatures can’t kill. But they do only to protect their mother, and only after Mary has risked everything to protect Jacob. They are Mary’s children, not Victor’s. Even their violence is an act of love. And in another inversion - they are the ones telling Mary to run. Something she does not want to do. She doesn't want to leave them behind. After all, they are her children. She departs from them only at Jacob's literal tug away, and with an apology and a thanks.

[Image description: screenshot of Fumi, dressed as Mary Jane, shown from stage view, with the audience behind, while a Doll's lines "Protect Mommy, let mommy run away." are shown below.]

Boats and Framing

But the parallels are not only in the most famous part of the novel - consider this - Frankenstein, the novel, is written as a series of nesting framing narratives. The bookend narrative, the one we open and close on, is a boat. Most Frankenstein adaptations cut the boat trip frame, but Mary Jane very specifically opens and closes on a boat at sea, and its ending is EXACTLY the reverse of Frankenstein’s. If for some reason you’re this far in and don’t want more spoilers for a 200 year old book, now’s the time to click away, I guess.

The boat is on a course to the Arctic. Victor is on board, telling his story, because his creature has fled there, away from humanity. Victor intends to pursue him endlessly, to kill him, fully aware that he is almost certainly going to die, frozen and alone, in the process. We don’t get to see this happen - the story ends merely with the certainty that this is what is coming. Victor, on a boat, intending to go to the ends of the earth alone to kill the Creature he brought into the world, treating it like some burden and punishment. 

[image description: a screenshot from Mary Jane, with the CG of Mary and the Ghosts on the ship, with the summary text overlayed on it reading "Friends together, fun forever."]

How does Mary Jane end? With Mary, and Jacob, and a cast of playful characters — her friends — sailing off for the ends of the world, together, in pursuit of life and happiness - even in death.

Ghost Party ends the play because its a triumph. Neji throwing out Horace’s Ode to Cleopatra in there because he can’t not do silly things like that — but Frankenstein famously contains many references to classics — many made by the Creature himself, who was forced to educate himself via books, lacking a parent to help him. 

Mary Jane takes a section of sheer joy out of a poem of complex mixed emotions, and says them repeatedly. This is a party. This is a triumph. Mary leaves on a boat for the ends of the world a success, a good mother, a friend. And a human.

Humanity, Connection, Isolation

The play deconstructs so wonderfully this question of humanity. Mary doesn’t find any joy in it, despite barely understanding it herself - until she is able to use it to help others. The first time in her life she’s been glad to be human - something she only really understands as “needing to eat food” - is when it gives her the ability to save her ghost friends. If that’s what humanity is, the ability to care for others, the ghosts of the chapel, the play is telling us, are far more human. 

One of my favorite exchanges in the play is after Charles and Figaro explain to Mary that the corpse parts used to make Jacob were their friends. Mary is not malicious in the least. She has no concept of this act as sacrilege or desecration. She is genuinely childishly innocent in most of what she does. And she can’t understand it.

Mary says “If you can love unmoving corpses so much… How can you not feel for living ghosts...?"

[image description: Mary in front of the burning town. She's saying "How can you not feel for living ghosts...?"]

Charles responds that she must be completely off her rocker. But she’s correct. Mary sees life in front of her, even undead life, and wants to protect it. Even the Islanders, who only ever treated her with distain, who only ever made her miserable — she doesn’t want them to die, even knowing they are already dead. 

Outside of Mary, her oddball eccentric self, in this play, the more human someone is, the crueler they are. Figaro and Charles are only ever here to mess with her before dragging her off to be killed. They have no willingness to even try to understand anything outside their world view. The Islanders, who think themselves human, revile Mary, and make up terrible rumors about her. 

Both of these groups do so, in part, for similar reasons. Because to have empathy would force a realization on them they cannot bear. The last thing Figaro realizes, before he’s dragged into the most poetic of justices, is that the dolls have SOULS. They are ALIVE. It’s a moment of anger and madness, but it’s a last minute realization that he’s been wrong now that it’s too late. Of course it’s not a revelation he’ll remember. You tend to forget what’s important on Kakuriyo Island.

If Mary averts all of Victor’s mistakes, Charles and Figaro make many of them. Seeing the Creature as a collection of corpses, as demonic, as an abomination against God. Reacting only in anger, in cruelty, in violence. Chasing something they view, wrongly, as an abomination to the ends of the earth, until it kills them. Mary has Victor’s role, but Victor’s actions and outlook are given to the antagonists. 

It’s fascinating to me, then, that there are two of them. In the version of the play that gets performed, they’re twins - doubles. Two halves of one whole, who egg each other along in their cruelty. But they also exist to show that even these two are capable of empathy and connection. They do in fact understand the thing they tease Mary with. They have the ability and understanding to extend that to Ghosts, or to Mary. They simply refuse to. Figaro really does love his brother - his grief at his death is genuine. It’s a clever way to show that.

In the book, Victor is extremely isolated, by his own choice. He withdraws from everyone in order to work on his creature, and after he runs from it, he keeps to himself just as much, now blaming the idea that he can tell no one what he’s done. Even when he’s surrounded by family, he is utterly alone. By choice. The Creature eventually lashes out and kills the woman Victor intended to marry. In Victor’s mind, he cares about this girl, but it is not in his actions. Like much else, she exists more as a creation of Victors mind than something in the world for him to interact with and care about. Until she dies. Then he’s furious. And decides to spend the rest of his life chasing down the Creature to kill him for it. 

This contradiction in Victor has always read as intentional to me. The book is calling out his hypocrisy here. He doesn’t actually desire connection - the connection his Creature eloquently explains his longing for. But if it is denied him, he acts like he’s been affronted, painted with a shallow layer of sanctimoniousness or justice. Murder is bad, of course, and the Creature shouldn’t have killed an innocent young woman to get at Victor, of course. But the discrepancy between the way Victor reacts to her in death and the way he does when she’s alive is intentional.

Victor has every chance for human connection. Time and time and time again he’s given that chance and refuses it. Even to the very end, on that boat. He could stay with the crew. Sail back home. Let it go. The Creature has run away from humanity which it has come to despise as much as its absentee father disdained it. There is no need to keep chasing. But Victor cannot let it go. 

The Creature longs for connection and is denied it. Victor disdains and refuses it, even when it’s available to him.

Mary as The Creature

Contrast this with Mary — It is Mary, rather than Jacob, that is in the Creature’s situation here. Mary is constantly chasing connection. Constantly trying to find something to reflect humanity (compassion, life, emotions — rather than the matter of blood and flesh that Figaro and Charles always talk about it as) back at her. And she can’t get it. She, like the Creature, hides in the bushes and watches it from afar. She, like the Creature, chases after it only for people to run away, to treat her with cruelty. Mary is Frankenstein, but she is also a reflection of the Creature. She is both in one, in this sense.

[image description: screenshot of summary text over the church and figures of the church ghosts. it reads "The friendless Mary dreamily watched the ghosts as they sang a happy song.]

Her costume specifically makes her look nearly as much the doll as the ones she makes - in the world of the story, because she's sewing both - but thematically, it ties her to them not only as their mother, but as a reflection of the Creature, herself.

Like the Creature, Mary is an odd mix of naivety and childishness, with startling gaps in her knowledge, and extreme skill and adult abilities. She knows what she knows well. Like the Creature, Mary has no memory of kindness, of family, of parents. She has only ever seen it in the way the Islanders interact with each other. She is the Creature here - raising herself, learning of the world through watching it, being reviled for every attempt she makes to reach out.

One thing the Creature explains to Victor is that he didn’t even understand, at the time, why he was being treated this way. He had no awareness of his own nature and what he looked like in the eyes of others. Only that they ran in fear and chased him away, and reacted with violence.

Mary Jane inverts this. Mary is human, but the humans around her are something she cannot understand. Like the Creature, Mary doesn’t understand why people react this way. The book expects you to come to the same conclusion as the play - the fault lies not with the Creature anymore more than it does with Mary, at this point. It is those around him, those around her, that are at fault, that are a thing neither can understand. Human’s are cruel. Ghosts who think they’re humans are cruel. It is a disconnect between themselves and the world around them they don’t understand, and desperately try to bridge over and over.

Even Mary, as quirky and childlike as she is, is on the verge of giving up, of being consumed by the Lonely Darkness. We don't know what her fate would have been if the Order of Shadows had not come. Victor's Creature, far more morose than Mary, gives up on connection, as well. He is denied the most basic of needs, and eventually, he learns the violence and hatred being directed at him, and, newborn that he is, lashes out.

But, ultimately, companionship and connection are the Creature’s goals, and it is that that he requests of Victor, who refuses to provide it himself. Make for me a mate. Mary is the Creature, and she is Frankenstein. She makes a friend for herself. Her motivation in creating Jacob is not science, it is not in defiance of  death or God — very pointedly — it is out of loneliness - the same motivation that the Creature gives for his desire that Victor make him another like him. And when Mary does so, she’s a good mother, and a good friend.

Religion

Frankenstein’s full title is Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus - it is about forming people, but it is also about stealing fire from the Gods. The question of if creating life out of death the way Victor does is an affront to God is something that Victor himself thinks about, but the book is much more interested in exploring it as the way characters view it. Victor punishes himself, it is not the Divine that punishes him. The Divine acts not as a force, but as an idea. One that both Victor and the Creature end up grappling with and trying to find their place within.

So that Mary herself seemingly has no concept of it, is fascinating. She goes to watch a chapel every night, but I don’t know she knows what a chapel even is. She mentions God once herself, saying that the smell of the garbage would be enough to affect even God, but she also talks to the Moon as a companion and a friend. Her worldview is uniquely hers, in relation to all things. As I said, the idea that making the dolls the way she does, or using corpse parts to do it might be sacrilege does not even occur to her.

Rather than go the route of the novel, Mary Jane twists this around too. In the world of Mary Jane, religious objects hold not only the power of an idea but an actual force. And it is a force that is completely, within the world of the show, amoral and nonsensical. The blessed weapons and fire the Order of the Shadows use are “holy” as a property, but that gives it no moral weight within the world of the play. And the play is messing with it the whole time. Holy wood or water can destroy a ghost, but they live in a church. Something that Charles and Figaro comment on, but cannot interrogate in terms of what it means for their conviction. But they’re split on how to proceed - the fact that ghosts can live in it doesn’t shake their faith, though. Sister Ghost is there largely for this joke. A nun who is constantly evoking the divine, who would be killed by a consecrated item. 

[image description: the summary text over the chapel backdrop with the text of "the chapel where Jacob and the others were left behind was being filled with the scent of holy water.]

If I could add something to Mary Jane, I would have loved for Mary or Jacob to ask Sister Ghost what “God” means (this is a conversation that happens in bonus material for Tokyo Ghoul once, actually). I would have loved to have that brought up more explicitly. But it’s also very funny that it never is.

The first definitions for a God we get are them being applied to Mary herself, with plenty of ambiguity on if the Order’s faith itself has a mother figure at its center or not. And either way it’s a fascinating play on the idea, and the themes of the novel.

Closing Thoughts, Other Connections and Ideas "Beyond the Scope of this Essay"

Anyway, all of this while playing around with everything else going on in this play, Neji’s totally, without permission, commentary on Fumi, on Tsuki’s legacy (please read the stage script, somehow the game thought it was a good idea to cut that whole specific reference even when making Kisa pick between an “erase Tsuki” option) and on Kai. On himself as an artist. ("I am the one who is strange. With my changing moods, with my hobbies. That is why everyone thinks I'm strange and avoids me.”). As with several other plays, a commentary on authority, and on creation, and on isolation and friendship and connection. 

And, of course, what I’ve been holding back this whole little essay is that Mary Jane is, thematically, at its core, playing off the exact same situation as I Am Death. Like — both of these plays center around a woman pouring her emotions into an undead creature. I see you Neji. You can’t hide from me. Reading I Am Death as a Frankenstein Story remixed into an old Japanese mytho-history is a LOT of fun to do, but is, as the academics say, beyond the scope of this essay.

(and, I Am Death itself is about Neji and Chui, and the twisted, messy love-hate revenge drama they are acting out across all the routes in the game. Neji writes the plays that introduce Chui to the world. Then he runs. And spends the whole game trying to beat him (affectionate.). “Make me another like me” you say… 

Literally the only thing I’ve come up with to make the “bad end” CG more compelling to me, is that this is what it’s riffing on. I like my I Am Death costumes way weirder.)

Mary Jane is a Frankenstein Story, I Am Death is a Frankenstein Story, Jack Jeanne is a Frankenstein Story. The other, other thing I’m leaving out here is that the Order of the Shadows are OBVIOUSLY pulled from Tokyo Grand Guignol, aesthetically. And the most famous TGG play is Litchi Hikari Club, which is, say it with me, a Frankenstein Story. Also one that takes the themes of the novel (gender, love and sexuality, childhood, genius, violence, blind pursuit to the point of madness, god complexes) harder than most, but runs with it in nearly the exact opposite direction. But again, very much beyond the scope of this essay.

Also also also leaving out the fact that Tokyo Ghoul is... kind of ... not not a Frankenstein story. It certainly riffs on the motif quite a bit. Even if you've never read it, you've seen the mask design (an in universe riff on the joke.).

Even just one dimension of this play, and look how many words you've made me write Neji-senpai.

[image description: image from the bottom of the Mary Jane poster, with the cast list, showing the chapel ghosts with a focus on Ushinoko, Neji's character, looking towards the 'camera'.] Some little Halloween Spooktacular you’ve got there. Bravo.

[sunny6677]

It's Spooky Month! - Spooky Month: The Novellized Version - Book 1.

Summary:

After eagerly waiting all day and night for the month of October to finally spring—a kid who calls himself Skid goes on wacky adventures with his friend who goes by the name of Pump! What sort of adventures will they get into? What sort of antics will arise? The answers are kind of unknown, because there's no predicting what can possibly happen when they're around!

[pharawee]

🖇️BL WATCHLIST NOVEMBER 🍂

🎬Jack & Joker - IQIYI - I still love everything about this show, and thanks to Daylight Saving Time I finally have the time to actually watch AND gif it.

🎬The Heart Killers - IQIYI | GAGAOOLALA | YOUTUBE - I'm watching, yes, but I'm more hoping I can passively enjoy this show through my dashboard.

🎬Fourever You - WeTV | YOUTUBE - I love this so much that I'm paying for the youtube sub to watch this uncut. 🤡

🎬Caged Again - WeTV | GAGAOOLALA - I love one (1) show. 🐧🐈‍⬛

🎬Kidnap - GAGAOOLALA - I was apprehensive at first because I haven't really been able to get into any gmmtv BL in a while now but somehow this feels fresh and earnest while simultaneously speedrunning every trope under the sun - and I'm loving every second of it!

🎬Love in the Air - 恋の予感 - GAGAOOLALA - You have no idea how excited I am for this. I'm not even going to compare the two versions. I'm just going to have so much fun. Plus, I get to have two Rains! 🥳

🎬Every You, Every Me - GAGAOOLALA - One of my most anticipated BLs of the year, and I wasn't disappointed. MickTop have really outdone themselves. I don't even mind that Ep4 caused me psychic damage. I welcome the pain. Namping is now one of my most favourite characters ever.

🖇️CALENDAR (THAI PRODUCTIONS ONLY)

🖇️UPCOMING

🎬Mhom Ped Sawan - I'm still waiting for subs so I can start watching this. 🤞

🎬Winter Is Not the Death of Summer But the Birth of Spring - YOUTUBE - Who had Thai prison BL on their bingo card for 2024? This looks really intriguing though, and I love the indie feel of it. Hopefully this will have English subs for release. 🙏

🎬Petrichor - IQIYI - Another series with Max as a support character, this time in a pairing with Na Naphat which... YES PLEASE?? But also this (hopefully) is the GL crime series I've been waiting for all these years. 🤞

🎬Spare Me Your Mercy - ?? - It's finally happening! After the recent one31 scandals I'm no longer 100% excited but it's based on my favourite Sammon novel so hopefully this production was spared the same questionable treatment.

🖇️ FINISHED

🎬The Hidden Moon - WeTV - I renewed my WeTV subscription for this and I wasn't disappointed. It's intriguing with a promising plot and beautiful shots of Chiang Mai.

🖇️ ON HOLD

🎬Bad Guy My Boss - GAGAOOLALA - I kind of want to pick this back up but I don't have the time. 😭

🎬Love Sick - IQIYI - I really love this show and I hope I can finally catch up this month (I already said this last month but I really mean it).

➕ MDL | ABOUT | ALL WATCHLISTS | COMMENTARY & NEWS TAG | THAI BL NOVELS | BL INDUSTRY | UPCOMING | SPOOKY BL

[talesfromthebacklog]

Adding to The Backlog: Christmas Sale Pickups.

This is the time of year I pick up the most titles (which I then work on for the rest of the year.). And why not? Everything is on sale! I actually budget for this time of year.

It’s “Tales From The Backlog” not “We buy nothing until I finish the backlog”. The backlog will never be finished.

So let’s go over what I got! Links for everything will provided. As I find people are more likely to engage if the work was already done for them. Me included. This is not necessarily a suggestion list. If you want to see if any of these games are actually any good follow my blog. But I do think it’s interesting to show people what kind of gamer you are, the games you’re attracted to, their difficulty level.

A gamer’s library says a lot about a gamer, in my opinion.

For Playstation 5:

Goodbye Volcano High:

TLDR: I put this one first because if you don’t see any of the other games on my pickup list, I AT LEAST want you to consider this one. This was the only Playstation title I picked up on sale (It is also on Steam). This is pre(historic)-apocalyptic coming of age visual novel with killer animation and music. I’m surprised I don’t see folks talk about this one more. It’s maybe the most stunning looking visual novel to come out this year. (At least at a glance)

Which is a hefty claim considering titles like Jack Jeanne and Virche Evermore: Error Salvation dropped this year. I can’t WAIT to play this one.

For Nintendo Switch:

Roots of Pacha:

I came back around to this one. It looks like Stardew Valley but with cavemen. You don’t see cavemen touched on a lot anymore so it seems different and interesting.

Wylde Flowers:

This is one see that keeps popping up in conversations and videos as a great cozy game. It’s supposed to be really good. I’m honest enough to admit that it being on the Apple app store as well as Switch makes me REALLY skeptical. But I’ve seen enough gameplay where I’m willing to take a chance.

Coromon:

I enjoy Pokemon-like titles. I don’t think we get enough of them. I love Pokemon. And you’ll be seeing my update on how I feel about Scarlet/Violet’s last piece of DLC the Indigo Disc here pretty soon.

However Pokemon is so domineering on the market that a lot of these smaller collector games get unnoticed. This seems to be a very unapologetic Pokemon-clone much like Monster Crown. Which is fine by me.

Nexomon + Nexomon: Extinction bundle:

Another very obvious Pokemon clone. But it’s obviously prettier than its Coromon counterpart. (Kinda wish the names were more unique.) I have nothing new to say here.

Monster Sanctuary:

Pokemon… but it’s a Metroidvania. $3.99. I swear the theme wasn’t intentional they just all popped up on sale at decent prices.

2021 Moon Escape:

This is from the same people who did Traumatarium. I did a review on that one a few months back. It’s on sale for $2.49. And this ISN’T my cheapest pickup for this year. The gameplay reminds me of Zelda or Star Tropics. But I don’t know much about it other than what the trailer already shows us. But also it was $2.49. It’s okay with me if it’s just okay. Not all games have to be 10/10.

Mythic Ocean:

I have a soft spot for ocean games. Even the more spooky ones like Subnautica or Dredge still have this serene element to them. Mythic Ocean is no different. You apparently help a pantheon of gods find themselves. Which in turn those choices shape the world around you. Sounds simple, short, and cute. It looked a bit explorable too? We’ll see. I’m unsure about that part. It’s on sale for $1.99. And this was my cheapest pickup this season.

For Steam:

Sonic Forces: Overclocked (Steam version REQUIRED for this)

I have, in no uncertain terms. Have played this game. I 100%ed it even. I like the game. Played better but I still like it.

HOWEVER. I haven’t played Sonic Forces Overclocked. Which requires the PC version of Sonic Forces!

This is a FAN MADE incredible mod that blows the original game out of the water apparently. This is, perhaps, my most high priority game purchase of the YEAR. And it’s only $10 to buy Forces right now. This is literally a no brainer.

Slay The Princess:

I felt like videos on this one sprung up seemingly overnight on Youtube. I watched someone play the demo and it was an awesome looking game. A horror visual novel about saving a princess is a neat little premise. This one was barely on sale, but I see myself playing this one soon because of the hype. The full voice acting is great.

Magical Diary: Wolf Hall

The original visual novel Magical Diary: Horse Hall was a game a friend showed me back in high school. Pretty innocent and cute. When this dropped in 2020 I was surprised the game got a sequel at all. The thing I remember most about Horse Hall was that there was a route where you could date Professor Snape. That wasn’t his name but… it might as well have been.

[mangotortoise]

Finished four books this month! (Technically three books and a novella):

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw: fucking amazing. Their style lends perfectly to the weird, slightly ambiguous, apocalyptic world of the setting and I enjoyed the unconventional romance (unconventional because how tf else am I supposed to describe the relationship between a mermaid and a sorta immortal plague doctor?) I might need to read it again, but the print version. 4/5

A House at the Bottom of the Lake by Josh Malerman: Super eerie, especially at the beginning. Kind of had this wonderous, childlike, dreamy quality to the story that still has me not sure which bits were real or not. Not a super spooky horrorific read, but enjoyable. 4/5

Beartown by Fredrik Backman: Lost my fucking mind this was so good. Was knitting through part of the audiobook and had to stop knitting and lie on the couch for the last twenty minutes. Got chills with the last line. 5/5

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon: A DEBUT NOVEL? THIS GOOD?? Yeah no the style here was excellent and I usually hate Sci-Fi and loved this (the Worldbuilding was subtle which is more my jam.) Absolutely horrific given the subject matter (sort of a sci-fi twist on a spaceship with an antebellum style caste system. Heed the trigger warnings on this one.) Anyway Aster is an amazing protagonist. 5/5

[fireflys-locket]

The first month of the year is over already. And I'm sick. Again. After about 4 years of avoiding it, I finally succumbed to Covid. Ugh. (Good thing I usually write favorites in advance.) Other than that, video games dominated my January.

Palia: Palia is a free game that's a mix of MMO and farm sim. The thing that keeps me from MMOs is usually the pressure of the subscription price. But Palia has more going for it than the fact that it's free. I really like the characters and the world, and I enjoy the mechanics for the most part. Problem is there's horrible lag on Switch, so play it on PC if you can!

Blanc: I played this short but sweet game with my bestie and loved it. It follows a fawn and a wolf cub trying to find their families. You work together to solve puzzles. (Though you can also control both in single player, if you prefer.) And though it was a little glitchy at times, I appreciated this artistic game. 🥲

Paranormasight: This is a spooky mystery visual novel that I absolutely loved! I don't want to give away too much about the plot, but the style of this game is top tier for visual novels! (Even my more cynical bestie said it should be the "gold standard".) And the character designs are fantastic... save for some odd lip movements with a few. 😆 Also, I love Mio Kurosuzu. Quick warning: the game is not visually gory, but there are some pretty disturbing descriptions in a few situations!

Quantum Break: This game is about time travel and choices. Two of my favorite things in games! I loved the story and the unique ways it was presented, in both game and TV show form. Beth's part of the story was fascinating to me, as someone who has written some vaguely similar stuff regarding time travel. And I have a soft sport for Charlie, too. 😆

Mario RPG: I'm back to playing this and trying not to be sad that I'll eventually finish it. 😅 I struggle with favorite things ending, okay?

Honorable Mentions: Return of the Obra Dinn & Homebody.

Music Favs: My Photo in the Newspaper (Kate Miller-Heidke), 400 Lux (Lorde), The Girl (Woodes), Pale Lung & My Hand (Robyn Sherwell), Castles Crumbling (Taylor's Version), Artangels (Grimes), Heart to Hand (Lemolo).

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[crossover-enthusiast]

HSHSHSN

Dude my mind is like guilt tripping me into writing the novellized version of Spooky Month rn 😭 It keeps saying I promised and that I should do it now /lh

Sunny's brain stop being mean 😡😡😡 /silly