#still prefer the Munsters

[mist-touchedxiv]

The Addams Family in Kimonos by @matsuyamamiyabi . Not mine!

[theheadlessgroom]

UNNECESSARILY  DETAILED  LIKES

muse name : Randall Huit Pace  favorite nickname : Ol' Hatty (by his friends/the mortals); any and all terms of endearment affection (my love, darling, dear, honey, and so on) by Emily favorite color : White favorite season : In-between summer and fall favorite weather : Clouded and stormy, with lots of rain and plenty of thunder and lightning (just so long as he doesn't have to be out in it)  favorite—hot or cold :  Hot favorite holiday : Halloween favorite food : All of his mother's cooking, but especially her homemade potato soup, her corned beef, or her crawfish boil  favorite drink : Coffee, preferably black, but also wouldn't say no to a glass of lemonade or iced tea favorite scent :  Roses, freshly-brewed coffee, Emily's perfume favorite sound : The Graveyard Band and the Singing Busts playing outside, the Organist playing from the ballroom, Emily's voice favorite book :  The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux favorite movie :  Anything with Lon Chaney Sr. favorite tv show :  Doesn't have a favorite, but likes The Munsters and The Addams Family favorite school subject or area of study : Fashions across the centuries (especially when it comes to headwear) favorite aspect of their job : Making little kids scream and squeal and shriek-he knows they're enjoying themselves the most out of all the guests, and knows they're having fun being scared, and that gives him the satisfaction of a job well done  favorite person : A certain Mrs. Pace, of course! favorite trait in others : Compassion favorite place : His attic home, particularly the little living room he and Emily put together with the old furniture and a finicky (if still working) old TV put there by the Imagineers favorite thing about themselves : His hard work ethic  favorite sexual position: Missionary favorite daily chore : Organizing his assortment of fabrics to his preference at his work station favorite style of clothing :  Very, very vintage, bordering on antique favorite activity : Sewing and stitching favorite thing about being in love : How it makes him feel less alone in the world, and how he can make the one he loves feel less alone too

tagged by : Stolen from @arachnofille! tagging : All who'd like to do it!

[recipesfromhome]

Perfect Grilled Cheese

Ah, the humble grilled cheese sandwich. So deceptively simple, yet so universally beloved. So hotly debated on Reddit. So nostalgic for so many.

It seems I'm on some sort of nostalgic foods kick. Maybe I'm just in that kind of mood lately, haha. It was raining today and yesterday, so maybe it's the weather that brings it out in me. The cold and damp just makes me want to curl up in front of the fireplace with a cup of rosemary tea and a grilled cheese.

When I was a child, my dad made our grilled cheeses on whole wheat bread with American cheese and ketchup. When I was a kid it was the best thing in the world. These days, that's... a bit conceptually gross, but I still get the craving for how those sandwiches used to taste to my undeveloped taste buds. For a long time, I wanted to recapture that feeling- make something that tastes as good to me now as crappy grilled cheese tasted to me then.

It's not as good as popping home for the weekend, but it's the closest I can get. Please enjoy a recipe for objectively flawless grilled cheese.

Perfect Grilled Cheese

Serves 1

Ingredients

2 slices sourdough bread (Any bread is fine, but I prefer something with lots of structural integrity, and I like the taste of sourdough.)

Mayonnaise

Munster cheese (enough to cover bread)

2 slices tomato (Fresh from the garden always tastes the best but any tomato is fine in a pinch)

Salt and pepper

Directions

Prepare your sandwich assembly area. Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium heat until water splashed on the surface "dances." While pan is heating, apply mayonnaise to one side of one slice of bread. Sprinkle salt and pepper over tomato slices, to your taste. (Garlic salt could also be good here. You can never have too much garlic.)

When pan is hot: Place one slice of bread mayonnaise-side down on pan. Add a layer of cheese.

Place tomato slices on layer of cheese. Add another layer of cheese.

Add remaining slice of bread on top, then spread mayonnaise on the outside. (Note: There is a reason I recommend doing the steps in this order. Assembling the sandwich on the griddle will keep you from getting mayo everywhere and make it less messy to transfer. Sandwiching the tomatoes between the cheese ensures there is always a layer of "glue" adjacent to the bread. This will keep your ingredients from sliding around as you eat your sandwich. Mayo fries better than butter; it's tastier and burns less easily.)

Press down gently with a spatula. Cook until edges of cheese start to droop and appear slightly translucent. If you're unsure, you can flip the sandwich to check. Cooked bread should appear golden brown.

Flip sandwich. This can be tricky; a flat spatula, or pancake flipper, will make your life easier. You can also stabilize the sandwich with another spatula.

Cook until cheese is gooey or until both sides are golden brown. (Note: cook times will depend on your stove or griddle and the heat you're cooking over. Cooking your sandwich hotter will make it done faster, but using a lower heat helps avoid a sandwich that is burned on the outside and not melted on the inside.)

Cut diagonally and serve hot.

[hmel78]

In conversation with Long Distance Calling ...

Very occasionally I come across a record that really stops me in my tracks. “TRIPS”, from Munster based “post rockers” ‘LONG DISTANCE CALLING’ [released April 29th], did just that. Appropriately titled - “TRIPS” - the bands 5th studio album, takes you on a journey through a soundscape of rock, pop, metal, alternative, and ... Prog!   Along the way, the band themselves saw a change of line-up (the amicable departure of Martin Fischer, and the addition of Norwegian vocalist Petter Carlson), suffered the deaths of 5 grandparents, and experienced the birth of a child - so on a number of levels, this record pushed them out of their comfort zones ; but ... ... ... they’ve created something that is truly stunning. When presented with the opportunity to speak to Jan Hoffman (bass) and Florian Funtmann (guitar), I wasn’t going to refuse!

HR :  As a band,  ‘Long Distance Calling’ were once described as ‘living in their own bubble’ - before you entered the bubble, who  or what inspired you both to become musicians?

Jan Hoffman : Wow, that´s a tricky question J Well, I always had a very strong connection to music. Not as a musician in the first place, I started playing an instrument pretty late - about 17 I think - But I always had a strong emotional connection to music since I was a kid; it made me feel good or made me cry. I always felt a strong bond. I guess that´s what made me become a guy in a band, so I could create and share my own emotions through music. I guess my first love was Michael Jackson, haha. Later I started to dig Pink Floyd, Metallica, Tool etc. I don´t really care about style as long as it´s good and it´s able to set me on fire in some way.

Flo Funtmann : There are lots of different kinds of music which inspired me to become an artist and musician myself.  My first contact with music was Cat Stevens and Bob Marley, because my parents were listening to them and I really loved it. They were also listening to soul and 70s rock. When is was 9 I got my first record, as a present, which was AC/DC. From that day on I was totally in love with rock music. Soon after that I discovered Guns N Roses which was like an epiphany: “This is what I wanna do :-)”.  When I got older I started to listen to different kinds of rock music and began to step into the world of death metal while still listening to all the other stuff I liked before.  Nowadays I consider myself more as fan of good music in general than of a certain genre. Though I have to say my preference is still rock music.

HR : “TRIPS” is ‘Long Distance Calling’s 5th studio album, and it would actually seem that you burst the bubble, stepped outside of the box, pushed the envelope ...  Is it very different to your other albums? Was it as challenging to make, as it sounds? What did producer Vincent Sorg bring to the process?

FF : The whole process of writing, rehearsing and recording the album was very challenging but fun at the same time. For this record we knew we had to do something different than before. We knew we had to get out of our comfort zone and Vincent was the right guy to do the job.  He pushed us to try harder and to question every idea someone came up with. He pushed us to work harder on arrangements, grooves and melodies.  He also was like an observer sometimes because we had so many ideas for this album that we needed someone to separate good from bad and ok from awesome.

JH :  I don´t think it´s very different from the last album, ´cause we also had about half of the songs with vocals there and we had one vocal song on every album so far in the past. But I think it´s the most emotional and diverse album we have done so far. Like you said, we pushed the envelope and tried to leave our comfort zone, and we are really happy how it turned out.

HR : For anyone who might never have heard your music until now - what should they expect from listening to “TRIPS”? Is it true to say that they may never have heard anything quite like it before? If someone said “Oh you sound like ...” - Who would you feel most proud to be compared to?

JH : It´s hard to say from the band´s perspective but I really think we have created something unique. It´s a trip through different sounds and styles, all under the LDC umbrella. I could live with the term “Modern day Pink Floyd” probably.

FF : I always say we sound a bit like an modern and heavier version of ‘Pink Floyd’, who spent a day in the desert jamming with ‘Kyuss’ while listening to ‘the Cure’.   Actually it’s not easy to classify our music and especially “TRIPS” in one certain genre. Of course it is rock music. Maybe atmospheric rock. HR : What is your favourite track on the album? JH : Wow, that´s hard to say!  It changes from time to time (which is good I guess) but I reeeeally like “Rewind” and “Plans”. All in all, I´m really into all the songs on the album and I am proud of it.

FF : Yeah that’s a difficult question because at the moment I like all of them very much. I can say that I like “Getaway” a lot because it´s something we have never done before and I totally love 80s Action Movie soundtracks.  Beside that I really like “Plans” because it´s split in two different styles - The first half is very chilled and dark, while the second half is just simply stadium rock.

HR : Have you started to think about a 6th album? How far are you prepared to push the boundaries of your own creativity as a band? Do you think you have found a working formula that you are going to stick with for a while? Will you return to just instrumentals,  or will Petter Carlson remain as vocalist? 

JH :We are not really thinking about it yet J. We want to enjoy the new stuff now for a while and we never plan in advance, we just go with the flow. And we try to avoid formulas!  Regarding Petter: definitely maybe J

FF : That’s true - for us every album stands alone.  There is this whole cycle with writing, recording, waiting for the release and touring for every album. After this is finished we start to think about our next album. I know that on our next album there will again be something different from the previous ones because we like to experiment and try new things. Like you said to push the boundaries of our own creativity. You never know what will happen. And I love to do it like this!

HR : You’re heading out on tour soon. In the past you have toured with some big names, and played at some huge festivals - what has been the LIVE highlights of your careers so far?

JH : Yes, we can´t wait to finally hit the road again soon! We were really lucky with tour supports in the past, that´s right. There are many highlights but for me personally maybe the show at Rock am Ring and the shows with ‘Deftones’ and ‘Dredg’.

FF : There were lots of great things to remember. For me as a music fan it´s always nice to play shows with your idols and to find out that they are really nice guys. When we toured in Russia that was very nice and special as well, because I just thought: “holy shit – I am the guitar player in a band - like 50% of the people I know are as well and I get the chance to play in Moscow and St. Petersburg and there are actually people coming to see me/us perform on stage!” In general I love to travel the world and see places that I might had never seen without being in the band.  I´m very thankful that I have the chance to do what I do, and people are interested in what I do.

HR : There’s a recurrent theme throughout “TRIPS”, and that’s time travel. There’s a great lyric in the song  ‘Presence’ that says : “We all have our time machines don’t we? Those that take us back are memories, and those that carry us forward are dreams”.If time travel was ever invented, and you had the opportunity to explore -  where would you go first? JH : That’s  very good, tricky, and dangerous question! I think it´s good that it´s not invented (yet?) because we are human, and humans tend to do stupid things. Maybe I only would go back to one day in my childhood just to see if this matches with my memories and to see my (now dead) grandma and grandpa in a good time of their lives.

FF :  I would go back to the late 70s to steal ‘Bostons’, “More Than A Feeling” and become rich as f@ck :-)

Jan Hoffman Flo Funtmann

Further musings with Jan ...............

LONG DISTANCE CALLING - BOUNDLESS

2018 is already looking like a great year for new music - starting with the forthcoming masterpiece from German post-rockers ‘Long Distance Calling’. “Boundless” once again finds the band as a 4 piece  - Florian Funtmann (guitar) , Jan Hoffman (bass), Janosch Rathmer (drums), and David Jordan ( lead guitar)  - and their return to producing a fully instrumental album. I will admit that it came as a surprise to me following the success of 2016’s “TRIPS”, which sits firmly in my Top 10 albums of all time, and incorporated, for me, a perfect balance of vocal and instrumental tracks. So, curious to know what prompted the decision to return to instrumentals, I caught up briefly with bassist Jan Hoffmann :-

JH : We just started writing last January without any plan behind it, but realised pretty quickly how easy and fun the writing process was with just the four of us in a room, like in the early days, so we decided to go on like this, and go a bit back to our beginnings as a band. As much as we like the last two albums, they were pretty complicated to write - but we needed to leave our comfort zone back then.  Now we feel well, and comfortable, to be back to the core of the band and let the chemistry between us do the tricks.

HR : For some people, it’s difficult to listen to instrumental albums because there’s often a need for lyrics that help to tell a story - what were you imagining when you were creating the songs?

JH : When we write songs (especially instrumental songs), we always want to create a soundtrack to a feeling and this topic was very important for the new album. It should be the soundtrack to the life and to a journey into the unknown, that´s why the album is called “Boundless”.

HR :  You know, they are soundtracks to feelings. I was drawn in from the first listen, and I think you capture emotion in a number of ways - which is almost impossible to try to explain to anyone who hasn’t yet heard the album, so we should let listeners know what to expect ... In three words Jan, can you describe the album? JH : Wow, that´s difficult haha but ok: DARK,  INTENSE,  BEAUTIFUL

And I agree entirely! I feel that the band have every right to be proud of what they have created with “Boundless”  -  it really is nothing short of phenomenal. It’s very thoughtfully composed and a compelling listen, from start to finish. If you’re particularly into soundscapes and soundtracks, then you MUST check it out - equally, if you’re a fan of prog, hard edged melodic rock, with maybe some electro thrown in, or if you just simply love the sound of soaring guitars, then I’m sure you will hugely appreciate this record too.

Judge for yourself on February 2nd 2018, when “Boundless” is released through InsideOut music. More info at www.longdistancecalling.de In the meantime, here’s their official video for “Out There”

[nonbinaryhatboxghost]

Spooky Season Favorites

It's September, I'm in a good mood, and I haven't made a list in a minute so here ya go:

-The Addams Family/Addams Family Values (Values is the better movie but the first one is also lovely, definitely watch the version that puts the full Mamushka musical number back in)

-The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (specifically the Legend of Sleepy Hollow portion)

-Alien: Covenant (yes, original Alien is a classic/better movie, but this one is so specifically gothic and extra, hence its placement here)

-Annabelle Comes Home (it's such a fun time)

-The Bride of Frankenstein (one of my all-time favorites, the ultimate Universal Horror/Monster movie)

-The Cabin in the Woods (pretty much can never go wrong with this one)

-The Changeling (legit classic, definitely on the gloomier side with its grieving lead, but still a fun watch with a group)

-Christine (it's an evil car, it's a John Carpenter movie, you'll have a good time)

-Coraline (this is tumblr, you know this movie's great)

-Creepshow (Stephen King and George Romero make an anthology horror movie, what more do you need to know?)

-Crimson Peak (one of del Toro's most underrated movies)

-Doctor Sleep (Director's Cut only, an amazing achievement, highly recommended for King fans that don't love the Kubrick movie)

-Dracula (1979 version, my personal favorite Dracula adaptation)

-Faust (the F.W. Murnau silent movie, specifically the version scored by Timothy Brock if you can find it)

-The Fog (one of my favorite John Carpenter movies, honestly weirdly relaxing)

-Freaky (Christopher Landon's run from Happy Death Day through this and also We Have a Ghost is just non-stop home runs)

-Friday the 13th Part 2/Part VI: Jason Lives (Part 2 is the ideal old-school slasher, Jason Lives is an early self-aware comic slasher. both are great.)

-Goosebumps (the first Jack Black movie is a fun kid-friendly movie, I enjoyed it)

-The Guest (pushing it, but it is set around Halloween and it also rules)

-Halloween (both the original and the 2018 entry. Kills and Ends are not good but they're fun goofy watches)

-Halloween III: Season of the Witch (an iconic weird movie, has nothing to do with Myers, see it just to see what you think)

-Happy Death Day/Happy Death Day 2U (see above re Landon)

-Hellboy (both del Toro movies rule, but this one is far more of an autumn watch)

-The House with a Clock in Its Walls (a delightful gateway horror movie, underrated as hell)

-In the Mouth of Madness (Sam Neill in a John Carpenter movie that mashes up the sensibilities of Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft, an awesome movie)

-The Innocents (an incredible adaptation of The Turn of the Screw, super atmospheric and unsettling)

-Jennifer's Body (you're on tumblr, you know why this is here. unrated version, preferably.)

-Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (it's a dinosaur haunted house movie and it rocks)

-Last Night in Soho (Edgar Wright made a horror movie, so yeah I love it)

-Malignant (James Wan's masterpiece?)

-The Mist (grim but amazing, black and white version only)

-Mockingbird Lane (Bryan Fuller's version of The Munsters, possibly the best pilot I've ever seen, truly a crime that it wasn't picked up)

-The Mummy (1999 version, of course)

-Nightbreed (Clive Barker's X-Men, essentially. director's cut only.)

-The Nightmare Before Christmas (again, you're on tumblr)

-A Nightmare on Elm Street (specifically any of the first three or Wes Craven's New Nightmare, which is my favorite Wes Craven movie)

-Oculus (it's an early Mike Flanagan movie, so it's the usual quality work but slightly meaner)

-Ouija: Origin of Evil (another Flanagan movie, made in the style of gateway horror from the '80s, a very good time)

-Over the Garden Wall (it's perfect)

-ParaNorman (another instant classic from Laika)

-Poltergeist (Spielberg and Hooper make a horror classic, it still scares me)

-Psycho (it's another classic I love)

-Return to Oz (if you have never watched this low-key insane miracle of a movie, do it with no research done beforehand, you'll thank me)

-Salem's Lot (the original 1979 miniseries, a little dated and slow-paced, but if you're cool with that, some iconic stuff in this)

-Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (I am very very fond of this one, and I did not read the books as a kid. came out the same year as It: Chapter Two and was superior to it in almost every regard.)

-Scream (any of them are a good choice for different reasons. except maybe 3, I've never been able to enjoy watching that one)

-Sleepy Hollow (Burton's movie is a perfect Halloween movie, a goth/emo/angsty queer kid classic)

-The Thing (the Carpenter version, yet another stone cold classic)

-Tragedy Girls (a very fun dark comedy)

-Us (I'm still surprised to hear there are folks that don't like this one, but it's so off-putting and fairy-tale-esque, I love it)

-Van Helsing (the worthy B-side to the 1999 Mummy, underrated)

-Werewolves Within (a fun murder mystery and a surprisingly sweet movie)

-10 Cloverfield Lane (yeah I'm running out of variations on "I love this movie", so yeah it's here and I love this movie)

[breaniebree]

SNEAK PEEK!

Chapter 346 -- The One Where We're Not Gonna Take It

Ron kept his eyes peeled as he stood at the front entrance hall with Hermione and Professor McGonagall.  He and Harry had an unspoken agreement that he was going to find the snake and after Neville had insisted that he take the sword…  well, to say that he felt pressure was an understatement.  But he knew with absolute certainty that he would not let his best mate down.

He wore the sword of Gryffindor sheathed at his side.  It felt heavy at his hip, but in a good way.  He was ready to use it and he had been practicing with Theo in Defence Club over the last few weeks.  Theo had been helping Professor Rhiannon teach the art of sword fighting when Egan Kerry, Laoise Munster, and Fiadh Tipperary weren’t able to attend class.  Tipperary’s ability to use two swords at once was incredible and only Theo had even come close to her level of swordsmanship.

Theo had this thing called a Dara Knot that he used and he shared it with the others.  It had been a gift from Finn to help him train and Theo had mastered it.  The Dara Knot was spelled to bring forth warriors to fight against and Ron had never see anything so incredible before.  Not to mention that the warriors took no prisoners and only Theo had ever been able to to defeat them.  Finn had definitely taught him a lot about sword fighting and the fact that Theo used his sword every day was obvious to anyone who watched him fight.  

He was a natural.

The muscles in his arms proved it and told Ron how much he didn’t work out his own arms as much as he should.  Sword fighting took a lot of upper body strength.

After practicing, Ron knew that he would never reach that level of skill that Theo possessed, but he was prepared to use the sword of Gryffindor for more than just the bloody snake if necessary.

“Are the archers ready?”  McGonagall asked, pulling Ron from his thoughts.

“Yes, Professor,” Hermione said, quickly.  “Seamus has control over them.  I’ll be going up to help as soon as we’re done here.”

The archers were under the guidance of Dean and Seamus who had both done very well with archery under the help of Tara’s Royal Guard.  Kellan Cork had done wonders with the archers and Ron knew that Hermione had learned a lot from him.  Ron still thought that watching her use a bow and arrow was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.  He was starting to think if they lived through this, he definitely needed to tell her about his fantasy of her with the bow naked.

“What about getting the young ones to safety?”  McGonagall demanded.

“Mandy Brocklehurst, Anthony Goldstein, Hannah Abbott, and Tracey Davis,” Hermione answered.

“The Gryffindors?”  McGonagall prompted.

“Hannah will take care of it,” Hermione assured her.  “Dennis Creevey is doing a head count with Daire Donovan down in the Chamber.  Mandy and Anthony have lists of every student who is part of the Defence Club and every student who should be down in the Chamber.”

McGonagall pursed her lips.  Ron knew that no matter how all right she was with the plan, she much preferred that all of the students were gone from the beginning.  But it wasn’t going to happen.  Too many of them had refused to flee and Ron was proud of them for wanting to help in any capacity.

Ron put his hands in his back pockets and stared out across the bridge at the gates that led to Hogwarts.  Those gates had always represented such goodness; that thrilling excitement for a new school year.  A new adventure.  Arriving at the station in Hogsmeade and taking the carriages through those gates and up the bridge… now, he was seeing them as the first line of defence in holding back an army.  

Suddenly the big wrought iron gates and stone pillars didn’t look as inviting so much as not strong enough.  

Ron knew that Voldemort would be descending upon the castle soon and the wait was even harder to do knowing that he was on his way.  He almost would have preferred the surprise of it.  

“Let’s do this,” Ron said, his eyes meeting that of the headmistress.

McGonagall raised her wand and snuck a look over her shoulder at them.  “Between you and me, I’ve always wanted to use this spell.”

Ron couldn’t help but laugh as she waved her wand and yelled out: “Piertotum Locomotor!”

The large stone statues sprang to life.  

[luv4fandoms]

A little info on my OC Ellie Mills

(posting this for my own reference when writing really lol)

𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿 〜 if your oc can drive, what kind of vehicle do they have? do they have a dream vehicle?

Ellie drives a 1968 Ford "Highboy F250 "Survivor". She learned the basics of how to fix cars when she was little from her brother Jason before he left.

𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻 〜 what does your oc wear to sleep? do they have a dedicated set of pajamas or do they just wear whatever?

Honestly she would just wear a tank top like this and underwear. Unless you had company. Then she'll throw on a pair of boxers.

𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗮 〜 if your oc has a bag or a purse, what are five things that’d be inside?

1. Wallet

2. Keys

3. Phone

4. Pocket knife

5. Book

𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 〜 what was one of your oc’s favorite tv shows/movies as a child? do they still enjoy it now?

Tv shows, she loved things like The Addams family, Bewitched, The Munsters, and yes she still watches them. Movies, she loves Desperado and Silence of the Lambs the most and to this day will watch them any chance she gets.

𝘄𝗼𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗼 〜 what’s their relationship like with their parent(s)/guardian(s)?

She has a really good relationship with her mom and stepdad, very loving. She doesn't talk to her dad as much since she hasn't seen him in years.

𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮 〜 does your oc have any disorders or disabilities?

ADHD is her worst one, had a hard time keeping her mind on one path. Other than that she suffers from depressive episodes.

𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮 〜 who are some of your oc’s best friends?

She had some friends back home but wouldn't call the close. Her mom is pretty much her best friend. Ellie finds it hard to trust people so she doesn't make friends easily.

𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 〜 describe your oc’s personality

Ellie is pretty laid back and chill. She's more of the motherly type and will take on that role most of the time at family gatherings. Not much of the party/drinking type, is definitely the person making friends with the dog at any sort of party. That doesn't mean she doesn't know how to have fun, but just prefers to be herself around people she knows. Isn't afraid to speak her mind if the situation calls for it, but is usually the quiet one that observes. That being said she's usually the jokester type in her friends group, as well as the one most come to for advice.

𝗷𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱 〜 has your oc ever made any choices they regret?

Honestly she would say her ex's but to her they are lessons.

𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 〜 post some images or a moodboard that fit your oc’s aesthetic

𝗱𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗮 〜 post a song or a lyric that fits your oc

Meredith Brooks- Bitch

𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗶 〜 does your oc’s name or design reference anything? i.e. music, movies, etc.

Nothing that she can put her finger on, she's kind of a combo of Hobbit, meets woodland witch, meets cottagecore/grannycore.

𝗺𝗼𝗷𝗶𝘁𝗼 〜 does your oc have any tattoos and/or piercings? if so, what are they? if not, do they want any?

She has her ears pierced, as far as tattoos she has a feather tattoo that her whole family has on her chest, other than that she has vines,leaves,and flowers going up her arms and shoulders. Stopping at her wrists and chest. Though she would like to get stuff on the back of her hands.

𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗶 〜 is your oc a smoker? (tobacco, cannabis, etc.) if so, do they plan on quitting?

No she doesn't smoke and doesn't really drink either.

𝗺𝗶𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗮 〜 has your oc ever committed any crimes? if so, what did they do? if not, what would they be most likely to commit?

She hasn't committed anything besides maybe ripping music and movies. But crime she's most likely to commit? Honestly she would murder someone to protect a loved one.

𝘁𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 〜 what kind of hobbies does your oc enjoy? is there anything they’ve always wanted to do but never had the time/resources to try?

She enjoys cooking/baking, gardening, crocheting, sewing, embroidery, painting/drawing and writing. Really anything she can be creative in.

𝗺𝗮𝗶 𝘁𝗮𝗶 〜 how was your oc’s life growing up? did they do well in school if they attended? do they have any awkward teenage memories?

Her childhood was very sheltered, until it was all flipped upside down. She went to public school for a few grades but went back into homeschooling eventually. She doesn't really have any awkward teen memories unless she counts her first kiss.

𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗶𝗶 〜 does your oc speak any other language(s)? if they didn’t learn to speak the language(s) when they were growing up, when and why did they learn it?

She only knows a few words in Swedish and Japanese and that is simply from shows and movies.

𝗰𝘂𝗯𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗲 〜 if your oc wears any perfume/cologne, what’s their favorite?

She doesn't really have an all time favorite, but she does prefer more woodsy/floral scents.

𝗰𝗮𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗮 〜 what does your oc’s voice sound like?

I picture her to sound like Rachel Maksy

𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘆 〜 what does your oc consider to be their best feature? alternatively, what’s something they’re most self conscious about?

She really likes her eyes because they are green and she knows that green eyes are not as common.

She is most self conscious about her tummy and breasts cause she has a pooch and small breasts. She's a pear shape, only having B cups and wide hips.

𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗻 〜 what kind of people does your oc hate the most?

Anyone who would hurt children

Anyone who would hurt someone who they deem "weaker than them". This can be a man to a woman, a woman to a man, man to a man or woman to a woman, she doesn't care, it pisses her off.

Toxic controlling people

Manipulative people

Liars

Cheaters

[xxgothchatonxx]

Oh, so we’re talking about Bryan Fuller’s Mockingbird Lane reboot again? Ok, um... well, here’s a recap of what I think.

Did I like it? Yeah. I still prefer the original show, obviously, but I liked it!

Do I understand why other people (particularly Munsters fans) didn’t like it? Absolutely.

Is it the absolute worst thing to happen to a beloved family-friendly franchise about the paranormal?

...oh darlings, Mockingbird Lane isn’t even fucking close to THAT shit. 

So in conclusion - I get why people hated Mockingbird Lane... but I’ll never understand the Worst Reboot Of Anything Ever consensus. (Also Eddie Izzard was just *chef’s kiss* as Grandpa, and I’m so glad Bryan brought her over to Hannibal when the Munsters reboot didn’t work)

[creaturesfromelsewhere]

The Addams Family in Florida & how I became a Goth

"You're dearer to me than all the bats in all the caves in the world." -Gomez to Morticia

Yup, you read that correctly - there is an episode of The Addams Family that takes place in Florida (full episode above). It's not the original b&w show from the 60's, but the cartoon that followed in 1973. The cartoon is terrible - I mercifully never saw it until recently. Nevertheless, the Addams Family in Florida is canon, which finally brings my favorite family within the domain of Florida Gothic.

The premise of the cartoon is that the Addams clan has loaded up a motor home and are traveling about the country. While this opens up interesting plot opportunities, the execution leaves much to be desired. In this episode, they arrive at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and are targeted by a couple of con men, fly about in a rocket, and are staggeringly unfunny.

The Addams Family first lurched onto the Saturday morning cartoon circuit via The New Scooby-Doo Movies when Scoob & the Gang meet the Addams Family in episode 3 of the series, "Wednesday is Missing".

The New Scooby-Doo Movies are also pretty bad, but "Wednesday is Missing" at least boasts the main cast from the 60's TV show, John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Cassidy, voicing their characters, plus the bonus of a young Jody Foster voicing Pugsley. Here's that episode as well, because if you watched all of the one above, you must enjoy suffering so help yourself to some more:

I'll revisit Scoob & the Gang later, since they also have a Florida episode. Anyway, someone at Hanna Barbera got the idea to spin the animated Addams assemblage from Scooby-Doo to it's own show where it somehow managed to run 16 episodes over 2 seasons before collective sanity was restored and it was canceled. Astin and Jones wisely passed on the series and only Coogan and Cassidy reprise their characters because money. There was some small amount of creativity involved, as their mobile home is cute. A coffin and a tombstone comprise the front of the vehicle, while the rest is styled to resemble the Addams mansion. It even has a tower with a permanent thunder storm over head and bats circling about.

When they stop someplace where they'll be parked at for a while, a back hoe arm emerges and digs a moat complete with sharks and a drawbridge. I would have totally dug this souped-up set of wheels as a kid, but I still don't think I could have managed to watch an entire episode.

That's about where the creativity ends and all that remains is cringe. With that out of the way, let's move along to my preferred iteration of The Addams Family:

There are quite a few 'how I became a goth' videos on Youtube and blogs on Tumblr of late, and they're actually rather interesting. It's fascinating to see what path folks took to reach their particular dark aesthetic, but it got me to thinking what it was that lead *me* down said path. Unlike many others who were first entranced by goth music's siren song, my path was a bit different. I was first seduced to the dark side by this irresistible goth beauty:

Reruns of The Addams Family aired 5 days a week in the late 70's and were conveniently on right after I got home from school. I had just enough time to settle in, and then da, da, da, dum, snap, snap. I wanted the Addams clan to be *my* family. My own family was perfectly normal and average, although I already wasn't, and this show reinforced the wasn't. Morticia imprinted herself upon my mind with the skill of Wozniak programming an Apple II. All my girlfriends have been Morticia - dark hair, pale skin, penchant for black clothing, creepy, kooky, ooky, and prone to sword fights in the living room. Well, perhaps not that last part. I also watched re-runs of The Munsters, and while I liked that show, too, it never struck the same chord within me as The Addams Family did. For a delightful while, perhaps an entire year, one was on right after the other. Cool, right?

So there I am, an impressionable youth immersing himself almost daily in this strange black & grey world of harpsichord music, baroque decor, and gothic beauty. Why, it was almost as if I were being pre-programmed for:

And that, is how I became a goth.

CreaturesFromElsewhere 6/2/2021

[carrieneuman]

Emer on Offer

Emer walked on a rough path through thickets of brush left to grow wild. They helped hide the stone walls of the king’s fortress home, but they ended at the heavy wall around the garden. She was trapped here while her father met with the king.

After sending Cu Chulainn off to Alba with vague promises, her father had wasted no time in trotting her off to Munster. As far from Cu Chulainn as he could get her.

Emer turned a corner around a large boulder dappled with moss and found Lugaid mac Nois waiting for her. She made her greeting, and he smiled warmly at her.

“Enjoying the wild garden?” he asked in his slow cadence. He was a bit older than her father.

“I am. I suppose if I end up here, it’s something to look forward to.”

She must have failed to say it convincingly because he cast her a quizzical look.

“I see. I suppose there’s some flashy young man back home you’d prefer?” There was a hint of humor in his voice at that.

She shrugged. “Prefer might be too strong. Besides, Father sent him off to Skye so Scathatch could kill him.”

Lugaid raised a brow at that. “I see. Still, I gather you liked him better than the idea of marrying an old man with heirs already?”

She stopped and turned to him. “Please don’t think of me like that. I don’t dislike you personally. I just prefer to stay chaste.”

“And your young man knows this?”

She laughed lightly. “He won’t have any trouble amusing himself. Ladies are drawn to Cu Chulainn.”

Lugaid started at that. “Little Setanta, who could use a man’s weapons at seven? Culann’s dog? That’s the man you have an understanding with?”

She nodded, wondering at the change that had come over him. Lugaid’s face had gone a dark red and his hands shook.

“I think your father and I need to have a talk. Don’t worry, Emer, I won’t be the one to separate you from Cu Chulainn.” He started back and she barely caught the muttered words, “I doubt anyone could.”

Something about that made her feel a bit warmer inside when she thought of Cu Chulainn.

[game-boy-pocket]

Today, I beat Fester's Quest, another game that was featured in Nintendo Power #8. I think I may have actually owned this one as a kid, either that or I had a relative who owned the game... or maybe it was on an ad inside the box for another one of my games, either way, I didn't play it... there was just something about the box art for this game that I found so very... frightening.

Fester is suppost to be pretty ghastly looking, but as far as I know he was never pure white with blood red lips. And that horrid spider on his forehead, that gloomy mansion with the thunder clap in the background... aparantly I wasn't the only one this box art made an impression on, as KC Green parodied it quite clearly for the comic book Graveyard Quest.

Somehow not as frightening when it looks MORE corpse like than Fester does.

I wasn't an Adams Family fan back then and I still only think they're okay, I'm much more of a Munsters guy. This was released before the films made the series go back into mainstream popularity after nearly 25 years prior...

I don't know why Sunsoft wanted to make an Adams Family game, I hear the license was cheap... but they could have just made this game star Jason Frudnik and sold it as Blaster Master 2, because this game is almost literally Blaster Master without the tank in a very loose Adams Family Skin. Like, even the enemies feel more like they should be in blaster master... hell, the frog boss from blaster master is actually in this game as a shrunken down version as a regular enemy.

This game has a very pad reputation, and I can kind of see why, but at the same time, I'm probably missing something because I played a patch of the game that applies the changes Sunsoft made to the European version of the game after American feedback to the NTSC version, which fixes your shots being stopped by walls and lowers the health of enemies to make them less bullet spongey, while raising the price of healing items.

As for my experience.... 's alright.

The one thing i'll say this gets right where Blaster Master fails is that your weapon doesn't downgrade when you get hit. There are item debuffs that you have to avoid collecting. That one change would have made Blaster Master a lot better ( but not completely fixed it's problems )

I almost rage quit this game to be honest. The bosses are nearly just as bullshit hard as Blaster Master, but I learned something quite crucial to beating this game. You have to explore, and use your keys on the buildings to get essential items. An invincibility potion and a health refill potion being the most crucial, as well as a whip that is super effective on certain bosses, and an item that removes a the "slower walking" status ailment. And these items actually get refilled every time you beat a boss, the game is actually not so hard if you save these items on the bosses.

The game sends you back to the starting point if you die just once, which is kind of shitty, but all the bosses stay dead, and you don't lose weapon upgrades, I almost would have preferred Blaster Master do this instead of just not have continues. I actually let myself die to collect missing items, and it was pretty quick to get back to where I died. I think the worst thing this game does is hide one of the only two health upgrades in the game in a area that you can only access by walking through an invisible path into a secret house, I wouldn't have known about it but I had a video walk through playing to give me a boss strategy.

Do I recommend this game to others? If you liked Blaster Master, or you're just in general an NES fan, then maybe, sure, but do not play the vanilla USA version, get the patch I told you about. I'd link it but tumblr seems to have broken that feature. Good job tumblr. If you're an Addams Family fan... I'd say skip it, this has fuck all to do with the series other than you playing as Fester, and there being a few compressed JPEGs from the show... I guess if you want to stretch it Fester lights up the underground with lightbulbs like how he can power lightbulbs with his mouth in the show, but that's about it... there's a SNES Fester game that feels much closer in spirit to the show, and plays a bit like Zelda, but that will come later.

Last thing i'll say is, before issue 8 of Nintendo Power, Fester's Quest got a preview, and I love how the NP artist drew Fester as this funny little druid dude with a megaphone ( it's meant to be a blunderbuss. )

[rachelbethhines]

Vintage Shows to Watch While You Wait for the Next Episode of WandaVision - The 60s

So the 60s is the era that Wandavision pulls most heavily from for it’s inspiration. So much so that one could make the argument that each of the first three episodes are all set in the 1960s. Episode one pulls from the early 60s with multiple Dick Van Dyke refences, episode two is very Bewitched inspired, and episode three is aesthetically very similar to The Brady Bunch which started in ‘69. As such it was hard to narrow down the list for this decade and I had to get creative in some ways. 

1. The Andy Griffith Show (1960 - 1968)

The Andy Griffith Show gets kind of a bad rap now a days for being, supposedly, a conservative’s wet dream. People claiming it as such have apparently never actually seen the series. Oh yes, it’s very much set in white rural 60s America and will occasionally present the obliviously outdated joke, but the story of a widowed sheriff being the only sane man in a small town full of lovable lunatics, who prefers to solve his and others problems with negotiation and hair brained schemes as opposed to violence has far more in common with modern day Steven Universe than whatever genocidal fantasy fake rednecks have in their heads.  

As the gif above shows Andy Griffith was very subtlety progressive for its time. Andy was a stanch pacifist, pro-gun control, treated drug addicts and prisoners with respect, and all the women he would date had careers, ect. and so on. It’s not a satire making any sort of grand political statements but the series had a moral center that was far more left than many realize. 

But if it’s not a satire, then what type of comedy is it? 

The Andy Griffith Show excels in what I like to call, ‘awkward comedy’. See everyone in Mayberry is far too nice to just come out and tell a character they’re making an ass of themselves, so therefore whoever is the idiot punching bag of the episode’s focus must slowly unravel as everyone looks on in helpless pity until said character realizes the folly of their ways and the townsfolk come together to make them feel happy and accepted once more. Wandavision takes this polite idyllic awkwardness and plays it up for horror instead of laughs.  

2. The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961 - 1966)

The creators of Wandavision actually met with Dick Van Dyke himself to pick his brain and learn how sitcoms were made back then. Paul Bentley also took inspiration from Van Dyke in his performance of the sitcom version of Vision, while Olsen stated Mary Tylor Moore had a heavy influence on her character of Wanda. But more than just being a point of homage, The Dick Van Dyke Show was hugely influential in modernizing the family sitcom and breaking a lot of the unspoken traditions and ‘rules’ of the 50s television era. It’s also just really, really funny.  

3.The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962 - 1965) 

Bit of a cheat here. Alfred Hitchcock Presents actually started in 1955 as a half hour anthology show, but in ‘62 the show got a revamp and was extended into a full hour tv series. I knew I wanted The Twilight Zone to be covered in my episode one recap, but ‘The Master of Suspense’ couldn’t be forgotten. While The Twilight Zone reveled in the surreal and supernatural, Alfred Hitchcock pioneered the thriller genre and made real life seem dangerous, horrifying, and other worldly.   

4. Doctor Who (1963 - present day) vs Star Trek (1966 - present day) 

Just like how westerns dominated the air waves during the 50s, science fiction was the center of the cultural zeitgeist of the 60s. From Lost in Space to My Favorite Martian, space aliens and robots were everywhere. So naturally I had to name drop the two sci-fi juggernauts that still air to this today. If you thought that the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek was bad then you’ve never seen a chat full of Whovians and Trekkies duking it out over who is the better monster, the Borg or the Cyberman. But which one has the more influence over Wandavision?

Well Star Trek owes it’s existence to sitcoms. As with The Twilight Zone before it, Star Trek was produced by Desilu Productions and it’s co-founder and CEO, Lucille Ball, was the series biggest supporter behind the scenes, lobbying for it when it faced early cancelation. As with all things sitcomy, everything ties back to I Love Lucy in the end. However despite that little backstory, it would seem that the series has very little to do with Wandavision itself beyond being quintessentially American. 

I would argue that Wandavision owes much to Doctor Who though. Arguably more so than any show mentioned in this retrospective. Time travel, alternate realities, trouble in quite suburbia, brainwashing, people coming back from the dead, ect... just about every trope you can find in Wandavision has also appeared in Doctor Who at some point. As a series that can go anywhere and do anything, Doctor Who was a pioneer of marrying genres in new and interesting ways. 

5. Bewitched (1964 - 1972) and I Dream of Jeannie (1965 - 1970)

It’s hard to pick one series over another because they’re essentially the same show. A mortal man falls in love with a magical girl who upends their lives with magic filled hijinks as they try their best not to have their secret discovered by the rest of the world. And both have their fingerprints all over the DNA of Wandavision. 

There’s only two core differences; Samantha and Jeannie have completely different personalities, with Sam being confident and knowledgeable and Jeannie being naïve and oblivious, along with their relationships with their respective men, Sam and Darrin being married and in love at the start of the series and Jeannie chasing after Tony in the beginning in a will they/won’t they affair, finally only getting together in the last season. 

6. The Munsters (1964 - 1966) vs The Adams Family (1964 - 1966)

Fans of these two shows are forever sadden that there never was a crossover between them. Because they’d fit perfectly together. Both shows are about a surreal and macabre family living in American suburbia and disrupting the lives of their neighbors with their otherworldly hijinks. Sound familiar?     

The main difference between the two shows is the way the characters viewed their placement in the world they inhabit. 

The Munsters were always oblivious to the fact that didn’t fit in. They just automatically assumed everyone had the same personal tastes as them. Whenever they encountered anyone who behaved strangely around them they would write that person off as being the odd one rather than questioning themselves. As such the main cast was structured like a stereotypical sitcom family who just happened to be classic movie monsters. 

The Addams were well aware that they were abnormal and they loved it! They lived life with in their own little world and didn’t care what anyone thought of them. As such the characters were far more colorful and quirky as individuals but there was little in the way of refences to other horror franchises beyond just a general love of the twisted and strange. 

7. Green Acres (1965 - 1971) and the Rual-verse (1962 - 1971)

So the MCU is not the first franchise to bring viewers an interconnected universe to the small screen. Far from it, as sitcoms had been doing this for decades, starting with the ‘rualverse’. Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres were all produced by the same company and were treated as spinoffs of each other, complete with crossovers and shared characters and sets. 

Of the three, the last show, Green Acres, has the most in common with Wandavision. A well to do businessman and his lovely socialite wife settle down in small town America on a farm in order to get away from the stresses of city life, only to find new stresses in the country. Eva Gabor, herself a natural Hungarian, plays the character of Lisa as Hungarian making her one of the few non-native born Americans on tv screens during the cold war. Despite her posh nature and original protests to the move, Lisa assimilates to the rural life far easier than her husband, Oliver. Who, as the main comedic thread, can’t comprehend his new quirky neighbors’ odd and often illogical behavior.  

8. Hogan’s Heroes (1965 - 1971) and Get Smart (1965 - 1969)

So as comic fans have been quick to point out, it’s looking like both A.I.M. (Hydra) and Sword (Shield) will be players in the story of Wandavision. To commemorate that here’s two shows to represent those opposing sides. Although in truth, neither series has anything else in common with each other but I need to condense things down someway. 

In Hydra’s corner we got Hogan’s Heroes. A show all about taking down Nazis from within. 

I love, love, love, ‘robin hood’ comedies where a group of con artists try week after to week to pull one over the establishment. The Phil Silvers Show, Mchale's Navy, and Top Cat, just to name a few examples are all childhood favorites of mine. However while those shows had a lot of morally ambiguous characters, Hogan’s Heroes has very clear cut good guys and bad guys, cause the bad guys are Nazis and the show relentless makes fun of the third reich as should we all. In fact I was watching Hogan’s Heroes while waiting for the GA run off election results. Fortunately my home state decided to kick out our own brand of Nazis this year. 

For Shield, we got the ultimate spy spoof, Get Smart. Starring, Inspector Gadget himself, Don Adams, as the bumbling Maxwell Smart. Get Smart, is a hilarious send up of Cold War espionage but the real selling point of the show, imho, is Max and his co-worker 99′s relationship. You can cut the sexual tension in the air with a knife all while laughing your ass off. 

9. Batman (1966 - 1968)

First was Superman and then came Batman. Yet while Superman was a serious action show, Batman was a straight up comedy. Showcasing that superheroes could indeed be funny. 

Also shout out for Batman being the only show on this list to have an actual crossover with it’s competitor, The Green Hornet. 

10. Julia (1968 - 1971)

Since episode two features the first appearances of Herb and Monica, let’s highlight the first black led sitcom since the cancelation of Amos ‘n Andy over a decade earlier. The show focuses on single mother and military nurse, Julia, as she tries to live her life without her recently decease husband, who was killed in Vietnam, as she tries to raise their six year old son on her own.  

The series is cute. It’s more of a throw back to earlier family sitcoms where there’s no fantasy and life lessons are the name of the game. It’s the fact that the main character is a single black woman is what made the show so subversive and important at the time. 

Runner Ups

There’s much good stuff in the 60s, so here’s some others that didn’t make the cut but I would recommend anyways. 

Car 54, Where Are You? (1961 - 1963)

I call this the Brooklynn 99 of the 1960s. Bumbling but well meaning Officer Toody longs to do good in the world and help anyone in need, but often screws things up with his ill thought out schemes. He often drags his best friend and partner, the competent but anxiety riddled, Muldoon into his escapades. 

Mr. Ed (1961 - 1966)

The grandfather of the sarcastic talking pet trope. 

The Jetsons (1962 - 1963 and 1985 - 1987)

Hanna-Barbera often took popular sitcoms and just repackaged them as cartoons with a fantasy theme to them. The Jetsons has no singular show that it rips-off but is rather more a grab bag of sitcom tropes that feature, robots, computers, and flying cars. 

The Outer Limits (1963 - 1965) 

The Outer Limits was The Twilight Zone’s biggest competitor in terms of being a sic-fi/horror anthology series. 

Gillian’s Island (1964 - 1967) 

The only comparison to WandaVision I could think of was that this is a sitcom about people being trapped in one place. But by that point I was running out of room on the list. Still it’s one of the funniest shows on here. 

So yeah, this took longer than expected cause there’s a lot, here. Hopefully the 70s will be easier. Which I’ll post on Friday. 

[twistedtummies2]

Count-Down: Number 15

Welcome to Count-Down! All throughout the month of October, I’m counting down my Top 31 favorite portrayals and reimaginings of the King of the Vampires, Count Dracula! Today’s Dracula proves that family matters. Number 15 is…Al Lewis.

This is the last of the “Funny Draculas” to be featured on the Count-Down. We’ve had a few earlier in the Top 31, and several in the Honorable Mentions. And out of all the Funny Draculas out there, he’s one of the most classic and iconic. When I think of Funny Draculas, the first three I think of are The Count, Count Chocula, and this fellow. And since the latter two aren’t TECHNICALLY Dracula, this is the only one that can count highly on the list. I am, of course, referring to Sam Dracula (yes, they give his name as Sam in this version), better known as Grandpa, from The Munsters. The Munsters was a 1960s sitcom released as a direct response to the success of The Addams Family; the two are often compared and contrasted with each other, given the similarity of their subject matter and sense of humor. Between the two, I do prefer The Addams Family, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the Munsters. The show focused on a family of characters inspired by the classic Universal Monsters: among them was Herman Munster, the patriarch of the family (and one of apparently several Frankenstein Monsters), his son Eddie (a young werewolf; his Uncle Lester was the actual Wolfman himself), his wife Lily (Dracula’s daughter), Grandpa, of course…and Marilyn, the “Ugly Duckling” of the family – a beautiful young girl who vaguely resembled Marilyn Monroe. While she looked the most normal, her personality and senses of taste and so on were identical to the rest of her family. The show primarily centered on the antics between Herman and Grandpa, with Lily often acting as the peacemaker between the two (although, naturally, Eddie and especially Marilyn had subplots and focal episodes of their own). Al Lewis – who had worked with Herman’s performer, Fred Gwynne, on the show “Car 54, Where Are You?��� – was cast to play the geriatric Dracula. Lewis’ makeup and costume are obviously meant to evoke the iconography of Bela Lugosi’s famous 1930s portrayal, and he does have many of Dracula’s classic traits beyond that: his advancing age (which is pretty old, even by vampire standards) has not mellowed his literal taste for blood, though he apparently mostly gets it via visits to the blood bank. (Har Har.) He can still turn into a bat, a wolf, mist, and pretty much anything else he wants. However, he doesn’t seem to have any allergies to the daylight (although he DOES still prefer to do things at night), and things like crosses, Holy Water, and the like I don’t think ever get brought up, let alone do we know if they have any effect. Lewis’ comedic character may have had some superficial similarities, but the actual portrayal was entirely his own. Owing to the style of the series, Lewis speaks with a distinct Brooklynese dialect, and has a personality that is both jovial and snarky: he will insult you to your face and laugh good-naturedly immediately after. He likes practical jokes, and is more of a mad scientist than a typical vampire: always tinkering with new inventions or brewing strange concoctions in his underground laboratory, usually with some sort of nutty get-rich-quick-scheme in mind. Occasionally cantankerous, but always loveable, he was one of the most important and fun characters in the show, and his fast-talking, quick-with-a-comeback persona left one with a snicker every time. In many ways, I think he might have been my favorite character in the series…and given how iconic the Munsters remain for many, even nowadays, I’d say he’s earned his place easily in my Top 15.

Tomorrow, the countdown continues! Hint: “You…Are My Number One…Guy!” (Well…technically number 14, but let the reference rest.)

[stayspookymockingbirdlane]

You ever think about how Marilyn Munster could do a lot to fit in with her family better? She could dye her hair black, wear spooky clothes, carry weapons, get into magic- but she doesn't. Even though she wants to look more like them and doesn't, she still prefers her natural blonde hair, florals and pastels.

Marilyn Munster: confirmed rebel.

[teatitty]

Fuck it here’s some little tidbits about my mythos verse! I’m going to assume you’ve all seen my notes about Fionn and Diarmuid’s original designs for this verse but here’s some extra things anyway

1: As stated in my design notes, Fionn is a masc presenting non-binary person who uses all pronouns (but mostly he/they) and is Bi/Pansexual + Polyamorous. Diarmuid, in contrast, is genderqueer/genderfluid and frequently “shifts” his body into whatever appearance he feels like at the time, including mixing and matching his physical sex. He’s also bisexual and polyam like Fionn

2: They’re both royalty in their own right. Fionn, of course, becomes Ireland’s “Seventh King” and Diarmuid eventually inherits one of many fae thrones, becoming the King of the Munster Domain. Their relationship is what solidifies peace between the fae and human realms (they’re also in a threeway marriage with Oonagh but that’s for another post maybe)

3: They met a few times as children, usually because they were taking the same jobs or simply working in the same area. This eventually lead to them travelling together for a while after each meeting until their paths would inevitably diverge

4: The boar curse exists but the love spot doesn’t, though Diarmuid still has a few beauty marks on his face: two beneath his eye and one below his lip. Fionn often jokes that this is because those are places he’s been “kissed the most”

5: As a child, Fionn’s hair was often likened to being “spun from honey” because of its rich golden colour. This, coupled with his grey-blue eyes and skin so fair it never weathered despite his frequent travelling, gave him a surprisingly distinctive appearance

6: Though they are both quite calm and mild as adults, these two were fairly ill-tempered as children, often getting into arguments with eachother over the pettiest of things and getting themselves into more trouble than they really ought have

7: There was a fair amount of useless pining before they got together. It was dear Muirne and Aengus Og who eventually got them to sort themselves out

8: When Diarmuid was very young, and first learning how to balance himself on bladed edges, he got quite pissy that his father was always working and never paying him attention so he climbed to the top of Donn’s tower, stood on the very edge of the needle there...and promptly ate absolute shit by losing his balance 2 seconds in, tearing open his foot and part of his ankle on the needle and then tumbling halfway down the tower before Donn’s arm whipped out of one of the windows to grab him by his scruff. He got a bollocking for being so reckless but afterwards Donn took him back to the roof and taught him how to better balance himself on such tiny points and it’s one of Diarmuid’s fondest memories

9: Deimne never had any ill feelings towards his biological mother but he was very anxious about meeting her after he left home, because he knew that she had had another child after himself so it caused some worries to manifest. Worries that went unfounded, as the moment she caught sight of him in the gardens she shoved all her things into someone else’s arms and skidded onto her knees to wrap Deimne into her embrace, and wept tears of joy into his hair. She also cuffed his head for attracting fame but Deimne had never felt quite so happy about a scolding before

10: Diarmuid is older but Fionn is taller, something they both tease eachother over relentlessly. Diarmuid taught Fionn how to dance and Fionn in turn taught Diarmuid how to write poetry

+ Bonus: Oonagh is agender and if pressed would admit to being sapiosexual and having no real preference outside of that

[stonerfreed]

@hopingforjustice said: libera me - write a drabble about why your muse is awake at 2 am.

i had a drabble meme somewhere... oh well.

     11:49 PM, OCTOBER 31ST, 2011 :  HALLOWEEN NIGHT.

romeo hasn’t returned her calls. or even her texts. halloween was supposed to have been a big night for them. she was due to meet his friends that were already in college, according to plans the couple had made two weeks prior. considering the events of this past week, she doesn’t blame him for not being on the ball. she’s not back on it yet herself.

being off the ball is one thing. giving her the cold shoulder when she needs him more than ever is a cruel game to play. she spends the day entrenched in an internal back-and-forth. as the night comes to a close, she decides with defeated finality against crashing the party at romeo’s house and giving his audience the kind of hell only a scorned young lover can dish out.

“hey, mom?” jolyne walks into the living room, emerging from the dark confines of her bedroom after spending the whole day locked inside it.

her mom tears her eyes away from the television, wearing an expression of shock. the woman is still in her witch costume; her purple wig is askew and her makeup is feathery around her lips. it’s been a long night of handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. jolyne stifles a laugh.

“oh my god! i thought you weren’t home, it’s almost midnight! what’s the deal? is romeo running late? did he— if he canceled on you without saying anything again... jojo, i swear, that boy—”

“no, i...” jolyne scrambles for words, engulfed in embarrassment. of course her mom knows what a flake romeo is, no matter how many times jolyne’s brushed it off. “i canceled on him. i didn’t feel like going to a party after all.”

her mom sets aside the bowl of candy in her lap and extends a beckoning hand. “you still feeling sick, honey?”

jolyne’s stomach twists. sick is how she explained away her behavior after coming home on the 28th in a daze, eyes red, unable to steady out the hammering within her chest.

“a little,” jolyne sits beside her mom on the couch and allows the woman to feel her forehead and cheeks. “the plasticky smell of my costume made me wanna spew.”

her mom frowns. jolyne’s temperature isn’t cause for concern, so she shares her pumpkin-themed blanket with her daughter. “i’m sorry. what were you gonna be tonight?”

“sailor moon.”

“aw, that would’ve been cute. hey, maybe you should get some rest. you’ll feel refreshed come morning and—’

“can i hang out with you tonight? please?”

“you want to spend halloween with me?” her mom sounds surprised, but delighted. jolyne’s heart melts. as if there’s anyone else she’d rather spend her favorite holiday with. “just promise not to spew all over my lovely costume.”

“no spewing, i promise! what are you watching?”

“tv land’s doing a munsters marathon. i always preferred this particular band of freaks to the addams family. although, not even i can deny gomez and morticia’s fiery, passionate romance.”

jolyne laughs. “hot couple aside, the addams family are just goths. they’re not even monsters.”

her mom gives an approving gesture with the tv remote. “my thoughts exactly.”

the marathon is never-ending; the constant stream of black-and-white ‘60s sitcom nonsense, along with her mom carding her fingers through her hair, provides a sea of calm for jolyne to be cast away in.

this the first moment of peace she’s found since the car accident. and it’s the longest she’s been able to be around her mom without wanting to die of shame.

suddenly, it’s two in the morning.

the guilt is eating her alive. she’s stuck in an endless loop of hearing the sound that man’s body made when it hit romeo’s car, feeling his form going limp in her arms and the warmth of his blood as it mixed with the humid rain falling on her skin...

“mom?”

“hm? what is it, jojo?” her mom’s voice is painfully soothing and it makes her feel so small. jolyne curls into herself with her head on her mom’s lap, unable to look the woman in the eye. if she does, she’ll burst into tears.

“—i... i’m getting kinda tired. you can keep watching, though.”

“go to sleep. i’ll turn the volume down.”

“thank you. i love you, goodnight.”

“i love you too. happy halloween.”