#this was written for a horror short story contest

[the-corvidae-know]

The man in the woods

The Stranger: Hey there newcomer, Come sit by the fire for a while. It's warm and bright. God knows what’s out in those woods tonight, eh? Please, sit, sit! There's plenty of room. My buddy Billy here won't bother ya'. He don't talk much, really. Hasn't for a while. I don't mind it though! I talk enough for the both of us, eh? How about we talk a little bit more. I ain't really feeling the old sandman comin' for me so why don't I tell ya' a story, to pass the time. Consider it an exchange for an actual conversation partner for once! Not to hate on you o'course, Billy my long time pal. But anyways, a story, right? Well… Here's something we done on the road here. We're from out west - round Wyoming. It's where my family's always lived but we started movin' east after our farm went south. South as in outa business because some folks didn't like our kinda business. Farms don't move on their own, yanno! Well, we was on the road for a few weeks - this was back when Billy was more talkative - and well - he dropped some book he was reading and it fell down into a ditch a ways away from our path. This was when we were still over in Wyoming. You ever been? Naw, I assume not. I'd know if someone like you was over in my part 'a Wyoming at least. Wonderful forests and we was right in the smack dab of it. So, I says he should go an' grab the book, seein' as it's his and he walks down real fast and I lose sight of him. I expect him to be quick but he don't come back. I call out for him. "Billy, Pal, where'd you go?", but he don't answer. I was getting a bit confused so I went down out in the ditch too. It was steeper than ida' originally guessed and I slipped and fell the rest of the way down. When I brushed off the dirt it was a hell of a lot darker than it had been up on the trail. I kept walking, calling for Billy all the time. Now I ain't one of those fools who gets scared by noises in the woods - I was just about raised in the woods yanno? So I keep walking and calling but I feel as if I'd been walking for hours before I give up and go silent. Instead of thumping and calling I slink in an outa' the trees. I know how to not make a sound movin' through the woods, specially when it's woods I know. I was thinkin' I oughtta think of it like I was hunting. I went hunting a lot back in the day. Me and my whole family would go out and come back with a great haul. But anyways, I'm looking for Billy and then I see a shakin' and a shudderin' in the trees a distance away. Then the sound of footsteps. Then the smell of a scared human. So, I start running towards him. Silent o' course - the first rule of hunting is to not startle your prey, yanno. So I approach the sounds, and praise the Lord, I find Billy there. Except Billy ain't doing too hot. He was laying on the ground, cowering and shaking. Yanno, the best thing to do when facing a wild animal is to play dead! But I guess Billy didn't know that because suddenly he starts screaming and crawling away from something out there. Of course I couldn't have that; who knows who'd hear him! So I grab him and teach him my best lesson on staying silent in the woods. Billy took to it real well. Spent the whole time back to the trail struggling with it but eventually I beat it into his thick head how it works, yanno. Well, we never did find that damn book, but after that Billy didn't feel much like reading or talkin' or doing just about anything anyway. So we've been keeping on moving. Yanno, you've been a good listener, I can feel the sun just about rising over in the east there. You do look awfully tired though. I can tell you're about to be dead on your feet! Feel free to take a rest around here if you want. No? You'll move on? All right pal. Well. Wishing you well. I think I'll go out and look for some breakfast. Maybe I'll see you around.

[dyrewrites]

I am in a weird place. Not here, specifically. You are weird Tumblr...but it's why I love you. More a life...place?

I'm an author, this is what I'm told, this is what I answer when asked what my occupation is--as being a raccoon wife is apparently not an answer. It doesn't feel like I am though, on account of people have always made it seem that 'author' meant 'writes and publishes novels' and while I have written novels...I've not published them. I plan to, but until I do my name will bring up short fiction.

All my experience with writing and publishing is through a lens of short horror and flailing around on my own to get it out there.

And it is the wrong way. That's what all the articles say anyhow. All of those 'how to publish' pieces where they tell you to study the market and what the 'ideal' word count is for what genre and whatnot.

Those 'experts' insist you can't publish short fiction, unless you're joining in on an anthology (not your own, mind, apparently that's for 'established authors' whatever that means), and expect people to care.

You're meant to submit short stories to magazines or contests. You try for a big payout instead of publishing it yourself and hoping for pennies.

Because people don't buy short stories. They buy novels.

Well, I did submit to magazines. I read all those articles, followed their advice, researched magazines and found which ones would accept what I wrote. I even read through the magazines to make sure my stories fit their vibe.

My stories were rejected. I expected them to be, honestly. That's what writing and submitting is. Takes many rejections to get in, right?

But I also got a few claiming they didn't take the genre I wrote, despite having it listed in their submission guides as approved. Instead of saying, "this isn't for us" or "we don't like this" they said, "we don't take this genre"

How bad could it have been that they didn't even see it as part of the genre?

Killed me dead. Obliterated.

A friend who read it insisted I just publish it on my own, because she liked it and thought others would. Which they did! Quite a few even.

So I've not submitted anymore stories.

I've been publishing on my own and while I've not made enough for the government to think I'm employed, I have sold enough stories to prove people wrong about short fiction.

You can publish it on your own and people will buy it. They'll even rave about it and leave reviews and tell others. You know, like people do with novels.

I had a point to this, I really did, I think I might have lost it somewhere?

I just...I see other writers worried they're not real because they write shorts or serials and I want you to know that's bullshit and your gremlin needs a gag.

You're real. People love short stories as much as any other story and they've love yours too if you put it out there.

So put it out there.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 57 – Pale by Wildbow

I have been reading Pale as it released from the very beginning in 2020 until the end. As such I am clearly suffering from a severe and acute case of Stockholm Syndrome, and you shouldn’t trust a single thing I say. But to try and step back a bit – Pale is the best 4 million word serial I have ever read, and very nearly even good.

The story follows Avery, Lucy and Verona, precocious and for various reasons marginalized teenagers in a decaying Canadian ski town. They are recruited by a council of the various ghouls, ghosts and goblins who live in the shadows of the town to be its Official Witches and investigate the mysterious death of the Carmine Beast, the greater spirit who stood as judge over all contests of struggle and violence in the region (less in the hopes that find anything and more so that any nosy outsiders can be truthfully told it has already been handled). Being of a protagonist-ey bent, they rapidly exceed their new patrons’ expectations, especially the ones among them who had a hand in the murder. After that it’s basically just literally several million words of things escalating further and further out of anyone’s control.

Or, I kid, but it really is impossible to talk about Pale without forgrounding its length and medium, I think. This is a serial which ran continuously with at least one update a week for more than three years, and (to grab another story about child wizards to compare) is roughly four complete Harry Potter series’ in length. Beyond being an entirely superhuman accomplishment as far as writing productivity goes, this had unavoidable effects on the story as it was being told. It also makes it literally impossible to provide anything like a complete plot summary in a review short enough that anyone will read it. So just take my word that there’s a lot of it, and we’ll come back to the others length-related issues.

This is an urban fantasy book, and a kitchen sink one at that – it’s clearly one of the underlying principles of the setting that it should, insofar as possible, be able to fit every type of storybook monster and horror movie plot and twilight zone episode within it somewhere. Underlying and ordering it all is the axiom that (almost) nothing magical can lie. The world will only respond to your word if its actually worth something – contradicting or gainsaying yourself harms your karma and sets the universe against you, breaking a sworn oath is an open invitation to fates worse than death. The natural consequence of this is that every practitioner (wizard, basically) worth shit has been trained from birth to be an asshole genie and most of the really powerful Others (catch-all term for supernatural creatures) come by it naturally.

None of which is new – this is the second serial Wildbow has written in the setting – but they do combine to make a bunch of amateur detectives investigating a murder really, really fun. The heroines POVs also offers a great way to introduce the setting to the reader, or, at least, provides an excellent justification for in character exposition dumps – and to be clear, this is a series with lore. I consider this an absolute win, but if you don’t like elaborate asides about random monsters or marginal otherworlds that clearly exist only because the author thought they were cool, then this is not the series for you. (On the other hand, most of them are absolutely cool). The world is vast, and the story is full of asides and tangents about things that could easily sustain a novel in their own right.

The other way the exposition is provided is through occasional Extra Materials mini-chapters (quite regular during the beginning of the story, less so as it goes on), which are just excerpts of in-universe documentation – specifically things that the protagonists or occasionally another major character would have been reading. Everything from class notes to chatlogs to investigation summaries as written by one of the girls to local social media posts to a dozen other things. Surprisingly good graphic design on most of them too, which really helps sell them as in-universe artifacts and as ways to characterize the implied authors/readers. It’s very much to the serial’s detriment that these fade away as it goes on.

The series has three protagonists, and chapters alternate between each of their POVs and internal narration. It actually does an excellent job differentiating between Lucy, Avery and Verona and giving them their own distinct voices and making each compelling in their own right (not that I don’t have my favourite, but). While the book’s not perfect about it, on the whole they mostly feel like unusually bright and dedicated teenagers (and increasingly incredibly traumatized child soldiers with variably healthy coping mechanisms), rather than short and legally disabled adults.

As is fairly common with web serials, the normal chapters are intercut with interludes from the perspective of some more minor character. Across all Wildbow’s works, these are honestly where he really shines most, I think. They’re each essentially short stories introducing and providing the history and characterization of someone from their own point of view, in the process more often than not totally recontextualizing their role in the story so far, with how they advance the actual plot almost incidental half the time. If I wanted to sell someone on the setting with as little investment as possible, I would probably just link them the first interlude – the first 90% of the chapter is a really quite good standalone horror story about a totally normal kinda shitty kid getting drawn into and being consumed by an occult living ritual (with its own creepy song! And cannibalism!)

Wildbow is actually an incredibly gifted character writer - both as a web serial author (but on the whole that’s not really any great accomplishment) and just, generally. Despite having an absolutely comically sprawling cast (like, dozens, minimum. If you told me hundreds I’d believe you), he manages to give the vast, vast majority of ones that matter their own distinct aesthetics, voices, and even their own little character arcs and plotlines. Even as much as I complain about bloat and pacing, it never stops being a joy to just spend time in any of the three protagonists’ heads, and I was deeply invested in them achieving their dreams in a way I rarely if ever am for fictional characters.

Now, the complaining. Wildbow is, as I said, one of the best character writers I know working today. The same cannot be said for his skill writing action scenes – which is incredibly unfortunate, because there are so, so fucking many of them. Some serve a real narrative purpose or showcase some bit of characterization, but most could honestly be cut by 90% and you wouldn’t lose anything except wordcount – even the ones which should be there tend to drag on past their natural end because of the book’s love of making things as desperate and hardwon as possible. Which I wouldn’t necessarily mind but like, there are individual action set-pieces that are longer than some published novels. At a certain point exhaustion sets in. If I had to guess, I’d put this down to the fact that when you’re writing 10k words a week and don’t have any concrete ideas of where to go next with the plot worked out, just extending the action scene and throwing some new monsters or puzzles or reversals of fortune at the heroes can eat up a chapter and buy you some time – but just because it’s an understandable consequence of the serial format doesn’t mean I need to like it.

Perhaps reading far too much into it, but if I had to guess, I would say the story’s more structural issues stem from the same thing. Pale was originally planned as a (relatively) short and (relatively) light serial, but in the process of writing rapidly ballooned past all planning and expectation. Which like, as I said, I just enjoyed spending time in the various protagonists’ heads and seeing them develop, but at a certain point you can absolutely start to see the plot starting to outpace all planning and spinning off in multiple entirely new directions that were pretty clearly informed by whatever idea Wildbow was turning over in his head at the time. Sometimes this worked out very nicely – I still love Avery’s whole Thunder Bay/accidental love triangle arc. Sometimes it’s a bit mixed – Wonderkand is a very fun idea, but tonally and aesthetically is kind of a mismatch with 90% of the rest of the setting. Sometimes, well – did anyone like the extended Aurum/Dark Fall trial sequence? But even aside from individual arc quality, if you are someone who cares even slightly about things like ‘pacing’, ‘narrative discipline’, or ‘plot points/foreshadowing not going in weird directions or fading in the background because the author just forgot/kind of lost interest in them in the course or writing a novella weekly for three years’ then oh boy is this not the story for you.

A similar sort of thing happens, I think, with the story’s themes. Pale is from the beginning very explicitly concerned with ideas of punitive versus rehabilitative justice, an already slightly fraught use of the subjugation/binding of magical creatures as a metaphor for oppression and colonization, and just generally with the idea of building a better world in the hidden corners of the current one. The story, well, remains very interested with those subjects, but having any coherent viewpoint on them falls to the wayside compared to coming up with ways to advance the plot or dilemmas to throw at the protagonists or just vivid bits of imagery in the moment. This more or less generalizes – I kind of get the sense that Wildbow set out wanting to write something that goes against his narrative reflexes/habits, but as the story went on and the writing piled up they just kind of crept back in. Certainly for a story that take pains at first to emphasize how hellish and cruel long term binding and confinement are, the happy ending involves a lot of various cruel and torturous prisons that are portrayed as somewhere between necessary and just. The big final villain also more or less works on a character level, but thematically is basically the single worst choice of anyone the protagonists faced down across the entire story.

I’m accentuating the negative here, and part of that is just because I’m a miserable husk of a human, but it’s also just that Pale’s real problems tend to be structural, while its high points are much more particular and specific, and hard to sell without immense amounts of context – there are so many random side characters who get more compelling stories than the actual protagonists of some books I’ve read this year, and a half dozen scenes that are pretty permanently burned into my memory. My favourite dynamic involves a character whose only present for, like, 3% of the story max.

At one point the story was intended to end with Arc 13, followed by a hiatus and then a sequel. I still think this would have been the correct choice, even that ending would rip my fucking heart out and also possibly get Wildbow literal bombs mailed to his house. Still – if you can stand that sort of ending and also are the sort of person to read million-word web serials to begin with, that would be my recommendation. Get to that point, and then decide for yourself how invested you are in spending time in the heads of the protagonists and in the world. Or read Pact, which is like a fifth of the size and ostensibly set in the same setting – though leans so much further into horror than urban fantasy for tone that functionally there’s a lot of discrepancies.

All of which said, Verona Lucy and Avery are going to live in my head for the rest of my life and I make no apologies about this.

[juniperhillpatient]

Alright I’m ready to review Terrifier 3. I’m giving it 3/5 stars. For context I’d give the first Terrifer 4/5 stars & I’d also give All Hallows Eve 3/5 stars. It should be obvious that Terrifer 2 is a masterpiece in the horror genre & objectively one of the greatest films of all time & deserves 5 billion stars & no one can contest that or they’re objectively wrong & didn’t understand the movie.

Okay fine & I’d give Terrifer 2 5 stars. At least.

(There’s no use getting into why All Hallows Eve got only 3 stars. It’s simply because Art wasn’t fully developed & it’s just a fun forgettable Indy slasher. It’s nice & all but it’s only earned iconic status thanks to Art & the Terrifer series so its low ranking is really pretty self explanatory.)

Here’s my short spoiler free review of Terrifer 3:

Positives:

The Sienna vs Art lore & dynamic continues to thrive & that’s really the most important part of this series. We learned so much about Art & the demon & Victoria Heyes & Sienna & her part in all this & her magic sword! Ahhh we learned so much about the lore surrounding that sword & also nothing at all. 4 better have more flashbacks with the dad!

I loved Beth’s ghost & Siennas struggle with PTSD & not knowing what’s real versus also she legitimately DOES know about a whole secret world most people would never believe! So well done & scary & I love Sienna more than ever.

The Sienna & Gabby & Sienna & Jonathan dynamics 🥺 Sienna is just a sweetheart who wants to take care of younger family members 😭 She can be brutal & violent but only when she needs to & to protect the people she loves! This movie really just made me want the world to be soft to Sienna & her loved ones 🥺 (obviously not ACTUALLY that would be boring but you guys know what I mean lol)

As always David Howard Thornton KILLS it (pun intended) as Art. His facial expressions & body language are brilliant!!!

Also I loved Victoria Heyes & the Joker & Harley if Joker & Harley were NC17 dynamic with her & Art.

This movie really upped the ante on grossness & creative kills. I love that Art doesn’t have a signature weapon & instead gets to be crazy creative. No other franchise is doing practical effects & death scenes like this.

Negatives:

This is harder to talk about without spoilers. Basically I’m a bit concerned that they’ve written themselves into a corner & I am not sure about some of the creative decisions & set up for 4. But perhaps I should trust the team’s vision. However, I also just feel like this one got off to a slow start & at times it just felt like they weren’t 100% sure where they were taking it & it just kept going in different directions at times idk.

Below the cut more detailed thoughts MAJOR SPOILERS

I hate that Jonathan died. Let’s get that out of the way. In my completely unbiased & correct opinion Sienna & Jonathan’s dynamic brought heart that was very much needed to the story. Without them you’ve got a slasher series like any other except a little more gory. There’s nothing wrong with that but for me personally, if I’m going to be truly invested, I need a sibling duo with ✨trauma ✨ some really interesting & compelling characters & dynamics to latch onto. Sienna & Jonathan brought something that the first movie lacked & the lore around Art & Sienna was what brought this franchise from campy fun to a genuinely compelling story with a complex world & a hero we want to root for.

I think the choice to kill Jonathan is interesting & I can understand WHY they did it especially after introducing Gabby but I do see some issues with this going forward (which I’ll explain shortly). Now Sienna has nothing. No ties to the world. Except…. She has Gabby & the desire to save her from whatever Hell dimension she was sucked into. Also, Gabby has the magic sword. I love that the sword can’t hurt Sienna btw! That bit at the end with her hands healing was sooo good!

Now…. Here’s the problem. I can understand why they felt like either Jonathan or Gabby had to die. And I can understand why Gabby, the adorable little cousin designed to bring out the humanity & softness in Sienna, got to live. Ish. BUT…, well what now? That’s my issue. They really can’t kill Gabby or else this entire journey will feel pointless & like a waste of emotional time & energy for the audience for Sienna to go through all that she’ll surely go through in 4 to save Gabby. So how will they raise the stakes?

Much like with Scream & Sidney I think audiences will reach a threshold where we don’t want Sienna to have anymore surprise important family. I’m sure 4 will have to have some new characters but it’s hard to imagine them showing us someone else Sienna will care about like Jonathan or Gabby given her familial ties & history with them.

And I want to say I obviously do like Gabby. I don’t see how anyone could see the way she adores & looks up to Sienna & NOT love her. Their dynamic is very sweet & there is a certain horror to someone so tiny & helpless being taken to some horrific hell dimension!

However, I think having Jonathan survive would’ve made more sense & either killing him in the last movie or (my personal preference) letting the Shaw siblings walk away from this bloody & damaged but alive & together would’ve been the move.

So, I’m curious what will happen in 4 & that’s all I got. I didn’t hate it but it was weak compared to 2 & even to 1.

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

hello can you do a xavier thorpe with midnight rain ?please

This has been in my drafts for so long and I did not plan for this to be over 2.7k, but here we are. Midnight rain is one of my favorite on Midnights so I couldn't not write this

my taglists are here + you can send requests here at any time

—

You've dreamt of writing novels since you could hold a pen.

At nine years old, you wrote your first short story, a dark mystery starring you and your sister Wednesday. Your English teacher was both impressed and horrified when she read it. She sent it to a writing contest for young writers, believing your writing skills deserved to be read by bigger names, but the judges preferred a tooth-rotting romance written by a typical American sweetheart.

You never stopped writing. On the contrary, you were spending more time with your typewriter, perfecting your storytelling and expanding your vocabulary. Those judges were too narrow minded and weak stomached to appreciate your writing.

At eleven years old, you met Stephen King at a book release event. You were the youngest in line and may or may not have skipped school in order to meet him. Sorry, Mrs. Jackson, but Stephen King was of greater importance than your lecture on World War I. You got him to sign your favorite book and dropped a folder with your name on the cover. The horror writer was confused, thinking it was something else you wanted him to sign — it wasn't.

''It's my first novel. I would like you to read it.''

His opinion mattered more to you than those judges from the young writers contest.

Wednesday, the ever so pessimist, kept telling you he would toss your novel in the trash and move on with his day, but a few weeks later, you received a handwritten letter from the man himself. He had read your short story. He called it macabre and at times disturbing, which was a praise coming from him.

Ten years later, you were standing in the very same bookstore you met Stephen King. But this time, you were the one sitting behind the table and signing books.

It felt surreal seeing your name on a book cover.

The New York Times listed you as one of the promising authors under the age of thirty, which made the sales of your novel go up.

You were getting ready for your signing, making sure you had enough pens and that your dark lipstick was not on your teeth when Eleanor, your personal assistant for this book tour, came up to you holding a bouquet of flowers.

''These were sent to you, Ms. Addams,'' she said, placing the bouquet of black dahlias on the table.

You looked at it in confusion. ''Who are they coming from?''

''They aren't addressed to me, I legally cannot check.''

You nodded in understanding and sent her off. Whoever had sent these knew your favorite flowers. Most assumed it was black roses, but you preferred dahlias — like the murder.

You took the small card attached to the bouquet and read it.

Congrats on the novel. I knew you were gonna make it.

X.

A rush of emotions swarmed through you. You had recognized the handwriting, the perfect calligraphy of the boy who once owned your heart.

Sometimes, you catch yourself wondering what your life would be like if you hadn't broken his heart during your last year at Nevermore. You would be lying to say you didn't miss him. Xavier was more than a teenage romance. He was the love of your life, but your and Xavier's vision of the future, life after Nevermore Academy, didn't align. He wanted a comfortable life, away from the spotlights. You wanted the world to know your name.

You tried to make the relationship work, you really did. You thought you could do it, true love can get through the hardest ships, but you started focusing on your writing more and more, and lessening the time you spent with Xavier. He was understanding, knowing how important writing was to you. Sleepovers became less frequent as your nights were spent with your typewriter, weekly dates turned into monthly dates, and the 'I miss you's outnumbered the 'I love you's.

This wasn't fair to Xavier. He deserved someone who wasn't always going to make him second in her priorities. You had always been driven by a greed to succeed, the desire to accomplish your dreams. Love had come to you when you least expected it. It had never been part of your life-plan.

With a heavy heart, you found yourself turning the page on a relationship you thought would last your lifetime, because when you love someone, sometimes you need to let them go. Even if it hurts.

''Madelaine is asking when we'll begin,'' your assistant asked, pulling you out of your mind.

You shifted your eyes away from the card, hiding it in the pocket of your trousers.

Eleanor averted her gaze from you, turning to the beautiful flower instead. She was curious of their provenance, but knew it was none of her business. ''Eh, sorry. I didn't want to interrupt—''

''What is it?'' Your tone was a little rude, but you didn't get to apologize.

''There's a line outside that extends to the café and the owner is complaining that it's blocking the way and interfering with his business. Madelaine is asking when we'll begin.''

You glanced at the large clock on the wall. ''I'm meeting Wednesday and Enid for lunch at 1pm. I need to be finished by then.''

Eleanor nodded. ''I'll tell Madelaine to let the people in, then.'' She gave you a smile, then walked away.

*

After having dinner with Enid and Wednesday, you returned to your hotel. On the walk there, your heart jumped in your chest when you saw a tall man with his hair tied into a bun waiting to cross the street. Your mind immediately made the connection, the piece of paper in your picked feeling suddenly heavier.

According to Wednesday, Xavier lived in New York. He bought a loft somewhere in Greenwich Village and displays his paintings in a gallery. She and Enid had attended his last exposition a few months back.

It made you happy to know his paintings were displayed in a gallery. You always knew he was talented and could make a living off his art. You wondered what his paintings looked like. He must have improved since high school. Was he still using his nightmares as inspiration? Had he moved on to a more abstract style? Did he still have that painting of you?

Your questions remained unanswered, having reached your hotel.

Eleanor must have come into your room after the signing because the black dahlias were placed on the table along with the few small gifts you had received from your readers. You removed your coat and walked up to the flowers, a feeling of nostalgia filling your heart.

The first time Xavier got you black dahlias was on Valentine's day. While everyone got their significant other roses, he got you a black dahlia. The special attention had touched you. You had only mentioned once that they were your favorite. It was at his shed and he was painting. You thought he wasn't listening to you, but he was. He always listened.

You gave one last lingering glance to the black dahlias on the table, then called your mother through your crystal ball. A phone would have been more practical, but you weren't a big fan of technology.

Shortly after summoning her, Morticia appeared through the crystal ball. ''You look tormented, my little stormcloud.''

You couldn't hide anything from her.

Before you told her anything, she noticed the flowers behind you and immediately understood the provenance of your torments. Fortunately for you, heart matters were Morticia's favorite. She had a preference for those involving cursing a lover who did you wrong, but she was still very pleased to be of help.

''What's stopping you from reaching out to him?''

Flashes of Xavier's teary eyes haunted your thoughts as guilt and regret filled your guts. ''I broke his heart, Mother. I cannot show up at his apartment.''

''If he is the love of your life, why not give it a shot? Love makes us forgive the heaviest mistakes, my darling.'' Morticia paused, thinking about her own past mistakes. ''Besides, he sent you flowers, didn't he?''

*

The cab ride to Greenwich village felt interminable. You almost told the chauffeur to turn around fifteen times, but when would you be in New York again? This was your chance.

The car stopped in front of Xavier's building. It was tall and most lights were out. Maybe he was asleep? Xavier has always been a night owl, the chances he was asleep at this hour were very slim.

You paid the driver and took the stairs, your heart hammering behind your chest as you got closer to Xavier's door. You paused before knocking, deciding to use the secret knock you and Xavier used at Nevermore when sneaking in each other's dorms. It's been a few years, but you hoped he remembered.

The door opened and you momentarily forgot how to breathe. His green eyes looked down at you and an army of spiders swarmed your stomach, making you feel like a teenage girl.

Xavier stepped back to let you inside, then closed the door, plunging you in the silence of the apartment.

''You don't seem surprised to see me.''

He casted his eyes down and shook his head gently. ''I had a dream about you last night,'' Xavier explained, shifting his gaze back to you. ''You were here, standing by the large window of my apartment, looking absolutely stunning by the moonglow.''

You crossed the large room, your shoes clicking on the wood floors, and stood by the window adorning the street, trying to recreate Xavier's dream picture-perfectly. ''Like this?''

A soft smile spread on your old flame's face.

''I didn't know if it was my mind playing and trying to hurt me or if it was premonitory,'' he said as he walked over to you, his pace slow and calculated.

The moonglow hit his face, making his beautiful eyes glisten.

You wanted to kiss him.

Shaking that thought from your head, you cleared your throat. ''Thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful.''

''I saw a poster with your face at the bookstore last week saying you would be having a signing. I wanted to come, but I didn't know if you would have wanted to see me...'' He got closer to the window, watching the city under.

''I always want to see you, Xavier.''

He scoffed, an ache in his heart. ''That's not what you said a few years ago.'' The wound was old, but it had never healed completely.

Guilt and regret swarmed your guts. You wanted to apologize, but no 'sorry' would be enough to amount how much you regretted those words. You had lied to him, right to his face, that night. You had watched his green eyes fill with tears as his heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

''Would you have thought of me today had I not sent you flowers?''

''Yes,'' you replied with no hesitation. ''Just because I'm a published writer doesn't mean I've forgotten about my past — our past.''

Shaking off the flashes of the past, Xavier blinked back his tears and tightened his jaw to camouflage his emotions. ''Why are you here, Y/N?''

The question was simple, yet you didn't know what to answer. You couldn't exactly blurt out 'because I still love you'. Although it was the truth, you knew this would not work with Xavier. You broke his heart and if you wanted him to let you have it again, you'll have to mend the pieces.

''I want to fix the past.'’

It was naive and silly to say, but you couldn't find anything better.

You continued. ‘’When we’re young, we think we know everything — we don’t. Decisions we think are right at the time sometimes are not and we only realize so when we grow up. I made a tremendous mistake when ending things with you, Xavier. I’m genuinely so sorry for all the hurt I inflicted upon you that night and all the ones that followed.’’

Xavier glanced at you for half a second, then looked away again.

‘’I wish I could say I wish I never pushed you away, but I can’t. If I hadn’t, I would never have realized how important you are to me. How I miss the deep connection we shared, the way we understood each other without words and having someone to share my greatest achievements with. I miss our late nights together, me writing or reading and you painting. I miss Sunday mornings at your dorm and seeing your sleepyhead beside me—’’

‘’Just because you miss these moments doesn’t mean anything. We all miss things from the past, it’s called nostalgia.’’

‘’I know what nostalgia is, and this ain’t it!’’

Frustration was beginning to build inside you and you were starting to think you were fighting for a love that was too far gone. A flame that had been killed and would never ignite again.

Tears welled in your eyes, but you blinked them away.

‘’Back then, I believed my career was the most important thing. I thought if I made it and became a writer, I would feel fulfilled, but all this time I’ve been away from you made me realize that love is important too. What’s the point of living my dream if the person I want to share it with is not there by my side?’’

When you got the email from a publishing house saying they loved your novel and wanted to publish it, Xavier was the first person you wanted to call and tell your big news to. Your finger had hovered over his name on your phone for several minutes.

Instead, you had called your mother.

‘’When you're young, we make mistakes we thought were right at the time. When you grow up, you realize and come back to what you need. We’ve accepted that our lives grew apart, but what if I don't want our lives to grow apart? What if I want them to meet in the middle?’’

‘’Do you know how different our lives are, Y/N? I live in New York and you…I don’t know where you’re currently living. How are they supposed to meet in the middle?’’

‘’We make them meet in the middle,’’ you answered simply.

‘’We’ve tried that before.’’ Xavier scoffed, shifting his body toward the window. He could see your reflection in the glass, but tried to ignore it and focus on the street below. ‘’It didn’t work.’’

‘’We didn’t try hard enough.’’

The room was filled with a mixture of longing and uncertainty as your words were left pending. Xavier's skepticism was evident, his doubts stemming from the geographical distance that seemed to separate your lives and the flashes of the past. A part of him wanted to jump in and take a chance, but another reminded him of the tough heartbreak he went through when you broke up.

‘’I’m ready to give my all into this relationship, if you’re willing to give us another chance. New Jersey is not that far from New York. I…I could move here! I have a computer now, we could video-call. Or you could come spend a few days at the Addams manor?’’

Xavier turned his gaze from the window to meet your eyes. Like your sister, you had always been reluctant to submit to technology. He was surprised that you owned a computer. ‘’It’s called Facetime.’’

You drew your eyebrows together. ‘’What?’’

Xavier couldn't help but chuckle at your response. ‘’Video-calling,’’ he mocked. ‘’It’s called Facetime.’’

Right. Facetime. Enid had told you many times.

You rolled your eyes. ‘’Excuse me for not being a slave to technology for as long as you,’’ you retorted, turning the teasing around.

Accepting defeat, Xavier then shifted back to seriousness. ‘’You really think we can do this?’’ he asked, his voice tinged with a mix of hope and uncertainty.

You took a few strides toward him, raising your eyes to meet his. ‘’If we put our hearts in it.’’ You took his hand in yours, holding it with both hands.

A moment of silence enveloped the room as your words hung in the air. You were trying to be optimistic, but the longer the silence was getting, the less optimistic you were. He was going to push you away...

His green eyes shifted from your hands, distracting himself with the dainty rings on your fingers. You still had the one he gave you for your fifteenth birthday. You were just friends back then, so it didn’t have anything romantic tied to it.

‘’Okay.’’ He covered your hands with his other one, making you look up at him.

‘’Okay?’’ you repeated, making sure you had heard correctly.

Xavier nodded. ‘’Just…don’t break my heart again. Please.’’

You couldn't make that promise. ''I'll try,'' you said instead. ‘’And if you break mine?’’

‘’We’ll say we’re even.’’

—

Wednesday taglist: @sofiaadler @partyfly @hoodforcalum @thelilacmourning @ellessecretobsession @su-alteza-emia @achoo---uu @not-leaprvt @xaviersgf @peterparkerdilf @roadworkaheadisurehopeitdoes @dragon-chica @coldtacozinepanda @wrldofsage @eddiemunsonsluvrrr @capriaura @officialsaturn @babyfiva @maevaomizzolo @kelloggs-world @whosljt @ajpanda181 @belovedrey @emerycrt @elizabitchsshit @heaven-hiding @lilithlikestoread @est-liber @moonisu @dessxoxsworld @parker-nite @bellblake121890 @vesperazhier @kaldurahms-lover @beeebo234 @nephilimsss @mayuphoenix @sweetheartlizzie07 @watermelon-18 @snixx2088 @555stargirl555 @robinscardigan @chumchum19 @lilttblog @aphex2winn @heizenka @mystargirl-interlude @hwrtsiren @babygirljay20 @wildflowerlyss @strangersomeone @openfandoms @charlottelaffin @iheartmaddyperez @starless-starkov @ali-r3n  @poppet05  @ell0ra-br3kk3r

 @rhaenyraswife  @teaganthemorningstar  @aphex2winn @moompie  @ifevilwhyhot @oliviah-25 @spenglerslime @wetwilliam02 @yellowcupcakes @haileyismoo @theyslayallday @wrldofsage @manofworm @rhydianissuperior @supersanelyromantic @nicangel13 @toylewestinnyc @meme-queen-1999 @rottenstyx @mxxny-lupin @idli-dosa @silenzju @ar40s @sweeterheartxamerica @renaissancewhxre @jordierama @lilppsblog @harrystylesfp  @katsuki420 @ravenssh1t @izzy-laufeyson @iluvwomenblog @kenzi-woycehoski @arunaposeidondottie @liidiaaag  @lilaconner @katsukis1wife @momoewn  @amithesimpoffandoms @chaotic-fangirl-blog @hawkegfs  @lyxrix @mommyruuetrue  @acornacreacure

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[painsandconfusion]

idk if anyone's asked this already but i was going through some of my old stuff recently and i found the ideas for an original character i made at like. eight. they weren't very comprehensive or creative but they were funny looking so. and it got me thinking, do you remember your very first oc? how did the idea come to you? what happened to them?

me, personally, it was a minecraft mod. yup.

I do. Vividly. I latched onto her and started to write a stttuuuuuuupid bad vampire horror romance thing? But I hated romance and loved whump so I just never wrote any of the romance part XD

Fun little tidbit about me: Since she was my gateway to writing and learning that I love creating stories and lore, I actually have her as my icon.

This is Charlotte Ross.

Idk man she gets whumped by a vampire, then saved from that encounter by a different vampire who kinda yanderes her specifically so he can trial run being around people without flipping out and killing someone. So like. He saved her and is caretakery, but specifically in that 'well I saved you sooooo it's not as bad if I kill you on accident..right?' kinda way.

Blablabla whatever they fall in love or something and work on finding a cure for both him and his brother (origional whumper vamp guy).

Voila.

Hated that book, but had SO much fun writing it.

I remember writing that first whump scene and I got so high on that feeling. My hands were shaking so hard and my door was locked and it was the dead of night and I was just thriving on those whumperflies. And I thoughht to myself '...this is the stuff I want to find in books and movies. I...I can just..write it myself..?? and it's not bad??? It's really good actaully??' (it was not, but it was GOOD FOR ME).

Anywho, that's my writers origin story. Idk I was like 15. Surprisingly, I'd not gotten into writing before that. The only other short story I'd written was in 7th grade for an assignment and it got published in a magazine after my teacher begged me to let her enter it in a contest and it won like second place?? That one was about a bird who lost her nest. She wasn't really an oc though. I didn't click with her and she didn't have a name, the whole thing was a metaphor.

Ig that should have been my first clue that I like and am good at this, but it wasn't :D

Patpatpat for baby Shea for trying. She got there eventually.

[laddersofsweetmisery]

So excited to start the books I've picked out for October. I'm especially eager to read this little beauty. Two chapters in and I'm appreciative of the amount of research and care taken to tell the lesser-known elements of the behind-the-scenes narrative of Mary Shelley's masterpiece, Frankenstein. She's so fascinating. More so, I am always floored by anything new I learn regarding her mother, often regarded as the first feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft. Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein, by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler, is a biography of sorts exploring the lives and work of Mary Shelley’s haunted circle of literary contemporaries—with a particular focus on the four poets and friends with her the stormy night she was inspired to write her gothic tale. Also featured in the book are those who influenced her magnum opus, Frankenstein, but were only in the room with her in spirit.

Poets and friends from that stormy night:

Lord Byron was that famous English Poet described in the book as “mad, bad, and dangerous to know.” He’s attractive, intimidating, and has a thing for scaring his guests. After frightening his guests with a reading of Fantasmagoriana, a collection of German horror stories, during a stormy night, he proposed a contest where they all take a shot at writing a ghost story of their own.

Percy Bysshe Shelley, or “Mad Shelley,” was fascinated by the occult and married to our equally fascinating Mary Shelley. He wasn’t as popular for his work during his life, likely because it was cut short when he drowned at 29, but his work gained notoriety after his death. He is considered one of the major English Romantic poets.

Dr. John Polidori is credited for the first and most influential novel about a human vampire: The Vampyre. His haunted figure is likely inspired by Byron himself. The two didn’t really get along. The Vampyre was also written as part of the ghost story contest proposed by Lord Byron.

Claire Clairmont was the mother of Lord Byron’s illegitimate child and Shelley’s stepsister.  

Before we make our way into Mary Shelley’s circle, we are introduced to her immutable parents William Godwin and his wife, who I’m casually obsessed with, Mary Wollstonecraft. No joke, their love story will bring you to literal tears, my god. I felt genuinely sick reading about her death and how those who very clearly despised her feminist views took her death as an example of the weakness of her sex. I hope she haunted those fuckers to madness.

Wanna read with me this October? I'll be reading the following books over this month, feel free to pick them up, too! This year, the classics are calling my name 🎃🕯 Since starting Monsters, I'm really craving more so I’ll be reading and rereading works that relate to it in some way :)

Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein, by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler (We’re starting here, obviously.)

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (We just have to!!!) Available on Kindle Unlimited

An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, by William Godwin (We just have to read from the parents who raised our beloved Mary Shelley.)

The Wrongs of Woman, or, Maria, by Mary Wollstonecraft (Again, we have to! Plus, it’s one of my favorites. I need to share it with everyone who crosses my path.)

Fantasmagoriana, “Tales of the Dead” (Why not read what inspired that stormy night writing contest?) Available on Kindle Unlimited

Lord Byron: Selected Letters and Journals, edited by Leslie Marchand (I wanna know more about this fella. He is also mentioned in The Wager. This one might be a little hard to find, but I’ll post what I can.)

The Vampyre, by Dr. John Polidori (Let’s end our October reading about a lil vamp and finding the comparisons to Byron.) Available on Kindle Unlimited

I'll be posting my thoughts and pages that stick out to me at the end of each day <3

[marsworms]

Hi, I found some stories on the Bogleech website that linked to your blog. If you wrote the Boxes series, do you think you could provide more information on the lore of the stories? :)

omg yeah I wrote those!!! what a lovely surprise to get an ask about them out of nowhere, genuinely getting this ask made me really happy :) I honestly didn't write up much super specific lore for it! the basic idea was that there's a very large (functionally infinite but not actually infinite) number of like, pocket-universes contained entirely in literal boxes, which are seen in a large warehouse in the story Somewhere Over the Rainbow (which was like, really the only lore-oriented (if at all) of the Boxes stories); that's not to say that the warehouse in Somewhere Over the Rainbow is Literally what holds all of the universes (including our own), but that that's how the human main character in that story perceived the emptiness outside of the Boxes. There's ways to travel between them, but humans and most inhabitants haven't figured out ways to control it; but some of the stories do imply controlled travel between Boxes or even inter-Box societies, like the uncanny bootleg merchant in Bootleg somehow getting into Our world, or Internal Scripture (funnily enough, from the same year as Somewhere Over the Rainbow so I guess I was into making connections between the different Boxes that year).

sorry for the pretty basic answer!! I unfortunately haven't written anything Boxes-related in about five years, though I do think that a lot of the basic ideas and concepts have stuck with me. I have my own website, hosted on neocities, where I host some of my original writing, so I've been meaning to collect together all the Boxes stories and put them up on there, possibly with original illustrations! if you liked The Boxes series, you should totally check out some of the stories I've put up on my site, especially the UFO horror short story Tractor Beams, I think that one kind of has a similar feeling to some of the Boxes stories :)

(if I'm completely honest, even thouse Horse Hole was the one that won runner-up in the creepypasta contest, the one I've always thought was the best was Stomach Bug :3 sorry for namedropping and linking like every story i wrote lol just, your ask got me thinkin about them again!!

[natalieironside]

Introducing the Writer Tag Game

Ty @iloveyou-writers for making this and to @thewriteflame for tagging me <3

Rules: fill in the blanks with as much or little detail as you would like and tag some writer friends to play too. (blank version)

Hello, there. My name is award-winning speculative fiction author Natalie H. Ironside and I won a writing contest in high school one time that I'm gonna milk harder than Pabst milks their one blue ribbon. I'm a writer of the dark sci-fi and dark fantasy genre(s) and I love to write about sad gay ppl in horrible situations. Also, hope. The hope is very important, and my stories can get pretty dark but they always have happy endings.

I cover a broad enough range that I think I can just reject the dichotomy of SFW/NSFW (everything is adequately tagged and described so the rest is in God's hands). I write about some pretty dark themes and a lot of my work deals with the aftermath of stuff like sexual violence and child abuse, so just be aware of that, as well as the "entrails, lovingly described" throughout. Tropes you will never find in my writing include any salacious depictions of sexual violence (the word "aftermath" in the above is an important one) or...Well, I'm not sure how to put this. Most of my protags are racial, religious, sexual, or some other sort of minority, and obviously there's some darkness in the world et cetera, but there's a certain way of framing bigotry in fiction as though it's cinematic action violence which I find uniquely distasteful and I will not be doing any of that. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this in a way that makes any sense at all but I promise to never try to be the Kojima of sexism.

In my humble opinion, my best work I've posted is The Scruggsdale Organizer #4: Local Woman About Tired of All This Mess because I think it's very funny. Maybe I'm just being precious, but comedy is really really hard and I very rarely even bother trying at it but I'm pretty proud of The Scruggsdale Organizer and this installment in particular. For y'all who don't know, which I'm sure is a lot of y'all since I haven't posted about it in forever, The Scruggsdale Organizer is an epistolary horror-comedy serial about a little town in rural Mississippi where strange supernatural things happen, but instead of blog posts or letters the story is being told through articles in a weekly anarchist zine. Yeah, I guess I've written some "novels" and some "short stories" and some "poetry" or whatever, but I look at Scruggsdale Organizer #4 as a time I set out to do a specific thing and just really nailed it; it's the literary equivalent of parking the car in the spot just right.

My all-time favorite character I've made is Freydis Gothi Thorkilsdottir, daughter of Thorkil Gothi Swordbreaker, Matron of War Witches, Matron of War Matrons, High Field Marshal, Eater of Cities, Mother of Abominations, and Chief Royal Consort. She's a recurring protagonist in my Nameless Queen dark fantasy universe and I am love her very much. Freydis is an enormous ginger transsexual, a sword-and-board fighter who can cast wicked spells, and a rough-and-tumble freebooting adventurer type who suddenly found herself part of the royal court and fast-tracked into becoming a monstrous demigod. It's super weird for her and she's dealing with a whole "to become a god is to lose everything that made life worth living" situation but she's also having a rip-roaring good time while she does it.

Something I'd love for you to know about my writing that isn't listed in this game is, well, I feel like we got kinda dark in the middle there, so I wanted to end back where we began and talk about hope. What really does it for me when it comes to the dark stuff is recovery; I like telling stories about recovery. My characters sometimes have very very bad days, but tomorrow can always be better than yesterday and there's always a reason to keep trying.

Thank you for reading and now I challenge the following people to fill this out: I seem to have misplaced my list of people who said they liked participating in tag games so I'm leaving this one open. I tag each and every one of you.

[alixx-black]

LOOKING FOR LABOR DAY WEEKEND READS?

A list of for-free stuff that I've written that I think you'll enjoy.

ROMANCE:

The Five Year Plan: A multi-chapter story about a hetero-passing LGBTQ+ couple that agree to an arranged marriage and has a happy ending.

I Remember: A short story written in the form of a letter about a same-sex couple.

Well, That Was Impressive: A short story about two boys were friends, went separate ways, and came back together as lab partners.

GENRE FICTION:

Virtually Innocent: A multi-chapter sci-fi story about a guy who was wrongfully convicted and put into a virtual reality retraining program.

A Love Vigilante: A contest winning short story about a succubus who takes her job very seriously.

We Need to Be Nice: A super short horror story about creepy children with a psychological twist.

Life Advice From the Recently Deceased: A how-to journal-style multi-chapter story written in first-person and details the work of ushering souls into the afterlife.

The Girl In My Reflection: A short suspenseful horror about mirrors.

REALISTIC FICTION:

Never Stood A Chance: A short suspense piece about an abusive and toxic home where someone goes missing.

The Freedom Kitchen: A short story about a woman's schedule while volunteering in a soup kitchen.

A Place for Me: A short story about a teenager who struggles with social anxiety and fitting in with her peers.

POETRY STORIES / POETRY COLLECTIONS

Night & Day Poetry Collection: A collection of poems that are reflective of one another about burn out and burn out recovery.

The Life & Death of Being A Human: A poetry series that tells the story of the human experience from life to death.

terminal: An epic poem that tells a fictional story about a child diagnosed with terminal cancer and will have the final chapter go like on September 1st!

NONFICTION ESSAYS:

Are My Scars Tattoos: A reflective essay about self-harm scars.

Changing the Way I Love You: A personal essay about loving children as they grow up.

Things Only Get Weirder From Here (For Both of Us): A humorous essay about raising a child through puberty.

FANFICTION AS LONG AS A BOOK, BASICALLY:

Make Memories: A "Girl Meets World" fanfiction that was inspired by "Every Little Thing" in which Maya Hart goes to summer camp in Canada and gets bunked with Lucas Friar - who is the last person she expected or wanted to see on her summer break. Teen romance, happy ending, 49K.

A Carry On Dictionary: An alphabet prompt inspired series about the Carry On character Baz Pitch and his love life. Melancholic and dark moody piece. 23K. Mind the trigger warnings.

I Don't F*cking Care: A one-shot song-inspired fanfiction for Carry On about the complicated relationship between Simon Snow & Baz Pitch. Very sad and dark reach. 25K.

The Song of Morgana: If I Were A Boy: A one-shot song-inspired fanfiction for BBC's Merlin that tells the story of Morgana in a modern setting. Bittersweet ending. 13K.

Dear Reader: A multi-chapter Harry Potter fanfiction that tells the unlikely love story between Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. Moody romance. 49K.

And Then There Was Us & Always Going to Be Us: A duology of multi-chapter fanficiton pieces for Girl Meets World that follow the teen romance and adult life of Maya Hart and Lucas Friar. Romance, friends-to-lovers with a happy ending at the end both times. 124K in all.

Little Talks: A multi-chapter song-inspired fanfiction for Merlin that rewrites the entire show cannon while remaining compliant in critical ways. It also explores the relationship between Merlin and Morgana Pendragon. Moody and bittersweet read. 15K.

[thehorrortree]

Submission Window: November 15th - 30th, 2023 Payment: $0.05 per word for fiction, $50 per poem Theme: Blight Apparition Lit is a speculative fiction magazine that publishes themed issues four times a year. We publish poems and stories between 1k-5k words in January, April, July, and October. We also hold monthly flash fiction contests between the 1st and 15th of each month. Flash stories must be under 1000 words and be inspired or based on the chosen theme. Read our submission guidelines and submit your work through our Moksha portal. Payment Apparition is a semi-pro rate magazine, paying $0.05 per word, minimum of $50.00 dollars for short stories and a flat fee of $50 per poem. If we accept your story, we are purchasing the right to publish the story online and in the quarterly edition. Rights will revert back to the artist after one year. Equity Initiative As Apparition Lit works to create a more equitable publishing community, we recognize that our open submission period is concurrent with some other really great literary magazines where marginalized writers also like to submit. Voices should be heard and we want to help increase that opportunity. Our submission window will remain open for an additional week each quarter for writers who identify as BIPOC and self-identify in their cover letter.  We will also accept simultaneous submissions from writers who identify as BIPOC or LGBTQIA+. Please just note how you identify in your cover letter, that it is a simultaneous submission, and see further details in the menu below on how to submit for each category. Past Contributors Once you are published by Apparition Lit, you join our tiny but mighty family. We love our alumni and will always do what we can to support their publishing career. We want to continually discover and champion new voices and different point-of-views. If we have published your work in any of the quarterly issues, please wait 3-4 submission periods before subbing again. If you’ve won a monthly flash fiction contest, feel free to submit for the quarterly issues right away, but please wait 6 months after winning the flash contest to submit flash again. What We’re Looking For Please note that we will not accept AI-generated content submissions. This includes stories or poetry that are written or co-written by AI. We are open to unpublished speculative fiction stories and spec fic poems! Speculative fiction is weird, almost unclassifiable. It’s fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and literary. Send us your strange, misshapen stories with enough emotional heft to break a heart, with prose that’s as clear and delicious as broth. We love proactive characters and settings that feel lived in and real enough to touch. Stories with style, stories with emotion, stories with character. We want it all. Please see “How to Submit” in each of the drop down categories below for formatting, subject line, and cover letter guidelines. Submissions that are sent outside of submission period or do not follow guidelines will be deleted unread. If you want to better determine if your writing fits with our style, you can purchase past issues or check out our stories page. What We Won’t Accept We do not accept simultaneous submissions or multiple submission. Please send only one submission for poems and one submission for short story per theme. (See Equity Initiative for exceptions). If a story is withdrawn and a separate story is sent during the same themed submission period, it is considered a multiple submission. (This includes the extended BIPOC writer submission window. It is still considered the same theme.) Multiple submissions are not accepted, including withdrawn stories. At this time, we do not accept nonfiction, reprints or resubmissions, excerpts from other works, or unsolicited interviews or reviews. We do not accept stories that have been published, whether in paper or on the internet. Do not send us stories we have rejected in the past. We currently do not accept translations.

Hard Passes While we love dark stories with macabre elements, we will not accept stories with gratuitous and graphic violence or rape, this includes any type of child abuse including sexual abuse. We will not consider stories that have extreme, purposeless violence toward animals. We do not publish erotica or thinly-veiled fan fiction. Stories sent outside of the reading periods will be deleted unread. Stories or poems with attached/embedded images or graphics files will be deleted unread. Our Themes & Reading Periods – 2024: Apparition Lit is open for poetry and short story submissions four times a year. Our submission periods are extended by a week for BIPOC creators only. BLIGHT (Submission period: November 15-30, 2023  CLOSED – Publishing January 2024) MERCURIAL (Submission period: February 15-28 CLOSED – Publishing April 2024) ANACHRONISM (General submission period: May 15-31 is CLOSED – Publishing July 2024) HARBINGER (General submission period: August 15-31 is CLOSED – Publishing October 2024) Please note that we will not accept AI-generated content submissions. This includes stories or poetry that are written or co-written by AI. We will only accept previously unpublished, complete stories between 1000-5000 words. If the story is complete with an extra hundred words, then it will still be considered. Any stories over 5,100 words, excerpted from a larger work, or incorrectly formatted, will automatically be rejected. We are now accepting submissions through Moksha. Please follow the guidelines below when submitting your work: Format the story using theShunn manuscript  — you do not need to include your physical address or phone number. Please only use Times New Roman or Arial font in your document. Name the file using the story title and your last name, i.e. THE SWAMP EXCHANGE_Barker. This helps us find your story in the submissions list. Provide a brief cover letter that includes your full name, the title of the short story, word count, and any relevant publications. Please do not include a synopsis. All acceptances and rejections will be emailed by the 15th day of the following month after submissions close. We currently do not have the available time or staff to provide personalized feedback on rejected submissions. If you have not heard back by the 15th, send a query to: info@apparitionlit.com with the title of your submission. Before emailing, please check your spam folder. To make sure you receive all emails from Apparition Lit, please add us to your Safe Senders list in your email client. Via: Apparition Lit.

[mylifeisweirdok]

31, 10, 12, 13

OOO YES ok let's do this in numeric order

10) has a written piece ever haunted me?

I in particular write some rather ~disturbing~ dead doves on AO3 (no I won't drop my user but if you find me, message me to win the contest!) and have created a small name for myself in horror poetry books. For my works, you can't not be haunted by what I write... The graphic, the terrible, the unwanted. I write not what comes naturally, but what is deeply despised.

My first "big" story to really become a hit was a story about a group of teenagers being trapped under layers and layers of broken and collapsed buildings after an earthquake. They were in the dark, with exponentially decreasing oxygen, the only sounds being created were by the settling of rubble and their friends rattled breaths. The MC fell asleep at one point (thought to be dead) and when they woke up they were topside and being treated. They recovered physically (slowly) and helped support their friends who were in the process of recovering, one specifically who had a pipe through their shoulder.

But they were so hungry.

All the time.

They made so much food and kept eating more and more and more. They became an amazing cook because they were starving. Their friends continued to praise their cooking skills as they grew and but they were hollow. They had the most rapid, drawn out, gradual decent into madness, and the story described every detail of it.

In the end, they never had escaped the rubble.

An obvious twist, even as you read it. You knew the MC never got the chance to escape. You knew what they were actually smelling when the MC opened the fridge to find rotten food. You knew, in the pits of your satiated yet somehow uncomfortable stomachs, why the MC was hungry.

You knew what the MC was actually eating, when they first got a bite to eat topside.

You knew what the MC was feeding their friends, when they were begging for comfort in the hospital.

And yet you, the reader, kept reading. You knew what the end result was,

and you

still finished it.

All in all my favorite work I've written so far, but alas that one hits differently in the back of my mind.

12) what three wishes would you ask a genie for?

The ability to separate water from other substances without physical repercussions, an RV skeleton that is in pristine condition, and a wifi router that provides the best wifi in any location.

I eventually want to travel the mainland Americas and explore inter/national parks. And hike the PCT! Love the outdoors. Plus I grew up with a dad who never quite knew what learning level I was at and would rant about certain things going on environmentally, so I was raised with an,,, eco friendly? mindset. If I had the powers, I would simply separate the water from the pollutants, and hopefully not get hunted by any governing body of power for doing so. And of course the wifi thing is fairly straightforward to me.

13) What is a subject hard to write about?

All of them! Words are hard

Nah but seriously? I can't go near anything inherently sexual I gross myself out and my intrusive thoughts eat it up. Consented stuff and not I am viscerally repulsed by any and all of my past attempts into the field of smut.

Any other subjects...? (I'm thinking) I guess romance too, unless it's really drawn out and vital to the storyline (I've only written a handful or romance works, I tend to stick to platonic and familial stuffs). In short I torture my characters, not a lot of room for romance in there ya know?

31) Write a short love letter to your readers!

My readers,

I apologize for any and all hurt I have done unto your beloved blorbos. I don't apologize for writing them though; when I open my website or my email and I see all the reviews left on my works I am filled with many emotions unnameable.

I adore your commitment to reading through my DDDNEs and smile at every comment saying you don't know how you finished it but did anyway. I cherish every notification letting me know my book has sold another copy to someone out there, looking for a story of hurt hurt hurt and finally a mite bit of comfort.

Does it make you treasure what you have, reading the torture I put fictional characters through monthly? Does it make you hold onto the life you live, allowing yourself to finally settle into your day to day life? Do any of my stories sit in the back of your mind, waiting to be remembered in the foggiest ways, so that you may dredge your way back to my works and lose yourself once again within my pages?

I hold all of my readers in the highest regards, and hope that every story of mine read is another person's motivation to keep going, for once you know the worst thing that may occur everything else seems much better in the end.

I love you all in the same way a college student loves coffee; you are the only thing keeping my blood pumping and my mind racing.

Thank you ✨✨

[raksha-the-demon]

End of Year Asks: 4, 5, 14, 22, 25

4. Movie of the year

I haven't really watched that many movies that came out this year. But I did have a very funny experience of starting to watch V for Vendetta with some friends on Nov 5 (you know, to avoid paying attention to The US Election Horrors), needing to stop it halfway through, and then completely failing to resume it. Maybe we'll watch the other half next year. Or next election.

5. TV show of the year?

This isn't techincally a tv show, but Loading Ready Run's Not a Drop to Drink: Vancouver Island by Night Vampire the Masquerade series is concluding Monday after three seasons and I am ready to gnaw my arm off about it. The characters are great, the story is intriguing, the players are charismatic, and everything is polished while still being something that feels like a genuine ttrpg experience. And, as someone who GMs, I feel like I've learned a ton watching Jacob Burgess run this game. This may be my favorite real play ttrpg show out there, and that is saying something.

14. Favorite book you read this year?

Small Game by Blair best name ever Braverman. A bunch of contestants on a Survivor-style reality show end up Stranded For Real and have to contend with the brutal horrors of nature, written by someone who has exactly the amount of real-world experience with those horrors that you'd expect given her name. As someone who loves survival horror and gets annoyed that the genre is often really just monster horror, this book delivers true survival horror.

22. Favorite place you visited this year?

I haven't done much traveling this year. My sister's new house, I guess?

25. id you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year?

lol. lmao.

Describe one.

I made a character for an Ars Magica game who is a short 16 year old werewolf with a greatsword. She's an adrenaline junky with insane luck (not as a mechanical trait or anything, I just keep rolling really well when the odds are against me), she's part of a very large feyblood family, she is possibly falling for the peasant boy neighbor (much to his mother's chagrin). Oh, and they all just moved on top of a hellmouth in Rome, to make sure demons don't get out and threaten all of Christendom.

[glassrain83]

Dear Yuletide Writer 2024

I am GlassRain on AO3, and thank you for writing for my tiny fandom(s)!

I love all these characters and any fic about them will make me happy. If you already have an idea feel free to run with it. If you want extra prompts or ideas, that’s what this is for.

(All these requests are copied from letters I've written before. I have simple tastes. I'm ready to eat two cakes.)

Yes please: gay stuff, outer space, magic. Non-con, dub-con, and mind control. Relationships where there’s a power imbalance but they also truly love each other and do the work to make it good. Relationships with size differences (not as in short human/tall human, as in human/building-sized dragon). Identity porn/any kind of reveal where the audience knows something and gets to enjoy watching the characters figure it out.

No thanks: Gore/body horror/graphic depictions of violence, embarrassment, extreme underage (teen characters having sex is fine), bodily fluids (except the usual ones for sex scenes), non-canon character death, mundane AUs.

Fandoms:

Leif & Thorn (Webcomic)

Characters: Leif, Thorn

Leif is a gardener in thrall to a mysterious debt, serving his native Sønheim at a foreign embassy. Thorn is a Knight of Ceannis who got severely burned while dragonslaying, and was rewarded with a cushy job guarding the embassy gates. Thorn doesn’t speak Leif’s language too well at first — but as they get to know each other, he finds a lot of reasons to learn.

Ongoing fantasy dramedy, with a cross-cultural romance and a great ensemble cast. (Read it here.) Leif/Thorn is canon, over a slow-burn arc that took about 5 years real-world time. They still have ongoing struggles around Leif’s control microchip, and Thorn’s effort to handle the unwanted power it gives him. Leif/Thorn/Kale is not canon yet, but the OT3 shipteasing is strong.

The prompts are Leif/Thorn-centric but I will take fic about other characters too. Other ships on the side are fine, canon or non-canon, as long as you don’t break up the main couple.

Prompts:

Canon-divergence AU where Thorn joined the Secret Order of Monster Hunters, successfully assassinated the vampires in that one early storyline, and decided to rescue/steal Leif as a bonus. What? He was in the area anyway, he might as well.

Leif/Thorn where Leif still has the microchip, but Kale has his powers and facilitates a psychic link between them, so Thorn can’t possibly miss if he tries something Leif doesn’t like. Can be established Leif/Thorn/Kale or “whoops this turned into our first threesome.”

Holiday fic where Leif and Thorn share their traditions with each other. Warmth and fluffiness a plus.

Crossover prompt: the Leif & Thorn universe has a Fantasy Eurovision Song Contest..what does Fire Saga’s act look like in a world with widespread/commonplace magic?

Doctrine of Labyrinths - Sarah Monette

Characters: Felix, Mildmay

The Doctrine of Labyrinths is a series of fantasy novels by Sarah Monette. It is set in the secondary world of Meduse and tells the story of the adventures of the wizard Felix Harrowgate and his half-brother, former assassin Mildmay the Fox.

Lush fantasy melodrama full of codependence and great hurt/comfort. I have gotten Felix/Mildmay fic before and will keep prompting more of it until the end of time (or until a TV adaptation turns this into a megafandom, whichever comes first). Gen about them is also welcome.

Prompts:

Sci-fi/cyberpunk AU. Make the hocuses into hackers, the magical curses into corrupted cybernetics, the petty thieves into data pirates. Could be the alternate version of a canon event, or a whole new SF-themed plot twist.

Missing scene from Felix and Mildmay’s journey across the continent in book 1, something where Felix has a bad turn and Mildmay successfully calms him down. Just lean all the way into the h/c in their weird-but-deep sibling bond.

Guilty frantic brothercest. (During a time in canon when they’re both mentally capable of consenting.) Especially if it’s already an ongoing situation when the story starts, so it’s not a story about how they fell into it, but about how they can’t seem to get out.

Crossover prompt: do something with Labyrinth. How would Felix and Mildmay face off against the Goblin King?

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Characters: Sigrit

Follows the personally close Icelandic singers Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdóttir as they are given the chance to represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest.  Ferrell, who co-wrote the script, wisely realises that this institution is beyond parody and is simply content to pay homage.

Bizarre, charming, joyful, magical (sometimes literally) tribute to Eurovision. Lars has the lifelong ambition to represent Iceland at the contest. Sigrit has the actual talent. A dozen real-world Eurovision winners have cameos. The elves in the hills have their backs.

Shipping-wise, basically I want Sigrit to be happy. For Sigrit/Lars, lean into the parts of his character that enable him to be a good boyfriend. For Sigrit/not-Lars, either give them a non-traumatic breakup, or make an AU where they were just friends the whole time.

Prompts:

The elves are back! This time, they need Sigrit’s and/or Lars’s help! You can pull the worldbuilding from real Icelandic folklore or make it up from scratch, I will be happy either way.

Instead of a song contest, the characters are thrown into a fighting-for-your-life contest. Hunger Games, Squid Game, Battle Royale etc. Our heroes survive through some combination of Sigrit’s determination and magical allies, Alexander and Mita’s loyalty and emotional support, and Lars’s power to cause unprecedented technical difficulties.

Alexander gives Lars an unexpected bi awakening. Sigrit gives Alexander an unexpected bi awakening from the other direction. What to do. What. To. Do.

Alternately, more fun scenes from Alexander and Sigrit’s growing Wholesome and Mutually Supportive Friendship. Including past the point where he trusts her enough not to hide his sexuality from her. 

Crossover prompt: the Leif & Thorn universe has a Fantasy Eurovision Song Contest..what does Fire Saga’s act look like in a world with widespread/commonplace magic?

[thecraftyfoxthewriterscorner]

Organization and Arrangement in a Written Work

A few thoughts about macro-level organization (or arrangement) in a written work, and some RevPit news.

Hi Story Crafters,

The RevPit Editor Window opened earlier this week, so I’ve been diving deep into submissions! Some general impressions I’ve gotten during my first pass include:

Which means I haven’t had too much luck on narrowing down my submission selection… But I’m getting there! 😊

Once I’ve narrowed it down a little more, I plan to schedule my 10Queries sessions. I’ll announce the dates on Twitter/X, so stay tuned! As a reminder, the 10Queries sessions will be posted on the RevPit subr/eddit, and you don’t need to have a r/eddit account to view the public posts!

Please make sure to keep an eye out on Twitter/X and the subr/eddit for announcements from the other RevPit editors about their 10Queries sessions! I know Jeni and Miranda have already hosted one, and Natasha has set a date for one. Even if you aren’t participating in RevPit, or if your query letter + first 5 pages aren’t chosen for a 10Queries session, there is still a lot to learn from the 10Queries threads. I highly recommend reading through them!

A Few Thoughts on Organization in Manuscripts

This week, I was working on the first round of an editing project that involved rearranging a poetry collection. The project wasn’t scoped for any line or copyediting, but the client was open to having the order of their poems rearranged, or even removed if one didn’t fit with the others. It got me thinking about how the structural elements of a written piece are organized, and the effectiveness of that organization.

For this post, we’ll focus on the macro-level: poetry and short story collections, and novels.

Poetry and Short Story Collections

For poetry and short story collections, theme tends to be the deciding factor for how they’re organized. In general, broad strokes, this can look like poems of death and decay being grouped together, and then transition into rebirth and life.

Of course, this isn’t always the case. For example, in Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa, the link between the stories is subtle—a cameo from a character of a previous story. (Spoiler notice: It’s been a while since I read the collection, but off the top of my head, I remember the first story involves the protagonist visiting a pastry shop, and the pâtissier makes a cameo in the next story as a side character.)

Novels

There is a little more leeway and room for experimentation with organization when it comes to poetry and short story collections. With novels, chapters tend to have a set organization—in other words, the sense of the story moving forward is an expectation that determines a novel’s organization. A couple of frameworks for novels that might allow for more experimentation when it comes to chapter organization include multiple points-of-view or a nonlinear narrative.

Overall, it seems the driving factor behind organization is the sense of progression. This is usually linked to time passing in a linear fashion, since we tend to process developments (e.g., character development, relationship development, mental/emotional/physical growth, etc.) with time.

Regardless of whether this is right or wrong, it is something that readers are familiar with, and something to keep in mind while you write.

If you’ve got a manuscript that you’re working on that might need some restructuring, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! I’m interested in working with authors of:

Fantasy

Dark Fantasy

Science Fiction

Horror

I’m open to working in most genres if an author and I fit well together, so please get in touch if you’re interested in working with me!

Send me an email!

Remember to keep an eye out for announcements about 10Queries sessions! Also, please note that if your submission is used in a 10Queries session, you won’t be notified until after the editor picks are announced on April 15. If you need a refresher, the RevPit contest schedule can be found here: https://www.reviseresub.com/annual-contest/schedule.

I’ll keep working through my RevPit selection process and prepping for my 10Queries sessions! I hope to chat with some of you then.

Best,

Leah

Visit The Crafty Fox Editing Services

Connect with me on social media!

Interested in learning more about me, and the kind of energy I’ll bring to a writer-editor relationship? Subscribe to this newsletter on Substack (it’s free!).

Substack post: https://thecraftyfoxwriterscorner.substack.com/p/organization-and-arrangement-in-a

[z-h-i-e]

New Year's Fanfic Asks - 4&5/5

The final installment for my good friend Anonymous...

16. Do you have that one fanfic that you wrote a ton for, ages ago, but never posted? Will this be the year, come hell or high water, that it WILL get finished and posted?

Oh, Unforgettable. You are basically done.  Someone just has to get my ass in gear and get it all put together and posted.  Probably me. But peer pressure helps, too.

17. Do you typically answer all comments/reviews individually? Do you plan to change the way you interact with your readers this year?

>.> This is something I am terrible at on AO3, but great at in emails and on Discord.  If you connect with me on Discord and show an interest in wanting to discuss what I’ve written, chances are we will end up in a voice chat where I will tell you stories that may never get written down and will wish you sweet elfy dreams when we part. Emails, there’s a good chance I’ll answer back and we’ll become email penpals and start writing fic together.  On Tumblr, I am likely to answer back.  On AO3, I have an embarrassing amount of unanswered comments (maybe someday we’ll play guess a number); I used to take one Friday a month, take myself to lunch at Panera, specifically one that I used as the basis for Salgant’s home, and answer AO3 comments. Then pandemic. So I need to get a routine going again.  But until then – I’m .zhie. on Discord, and I can be poked there. Or here. Here is good, too.

18. Do you typically post multi-chapters as you write, or finish it all and then start posting? Would you like to change your posting method? 

I am chaos. Both. Either. And I’ve even written and posted chapters out of order. I’ve posted them so out of order I’ve posted endings before the middle has been figured out. 

19. Would you consider non-fandom writing events, like NaNoWriMo or writing contests? 

Oh.  Oh, you have no idea.  I spent about 12 years as a NaNoWriMo ML, I run a state-wide writing Discord for the state I’m in, and I do in fact enter writing contests.  I was published as a poet when I was in high school, placed in a playwriting contest as well, had three different plays I wrote produced in a community theater type setting (I got to direct two of the three – two were comedies [those I directed] and one was a drama), and three times in five years been chosen for a local short works contest to be in their chosen ten for writing, and one of the years was a chosen photographer for the same contest (ten or less photos are chosen, and ten or less written works, and then they are read in public at an event night), and I perform at open mics on the regular, so locally, in person, not just online, a fair number of people know me as Zhie as well. (And at some of the public open mics, I do sometimes read fanfiction. The first one I read was back in 2005 or 2006, and it was a story about Celegorm, and then there’s been various stories since then, the latest one I recall was about Celebrimbor and Feanor reuniting in Valinor.  I read these while on a stage or in the middle of a room filled with people drinking fancy coffee drinks and eating pastries and there’s a couple of IRL fans who have recorded some of the readings, so they’re probably out there somewhere.) And I do all of those how to write sessions and events – at one of the writing groups I regularly attend (I’m a regular member of two in-person writing groups at local libraries) a member gave me the title ‘The Book Doctor’ and I kind of like it. 

20. Any plans to work on original fiction this year?

Yes. Fingers crossed. I need this fantasy horror story out of my head and on paper. 

21. Will you try writing software, like Scrivener or those programs that won’t let you stop writing?

I have used some of those in the past, but I don’t really have much of a need for them anymore.  I do still enjoy a good session of written? kitten! from time to time, and I’ll use Fighter’s Block during nano or any time I need to write much faster. (It’s the only reason I managed to write 50K words in 10 days during NaNo a few years ago.) 

22. Do you plan to take writing classes this year?

I’m kind of at the point where I give writing classes. I enjoy going to the two in-person writing groups because I think it’s important to interact with other writers outside of one’s normal genre, and I have a lot of different people I interact with.  One of the groups leans more nonfiction, and the other is more fiction.  So there’s a guy who writes these nonfiction essays about dead people (basically, famous people, but they have to be dead, I think so that he can have a definitive end, but he’s recently started writing a book about banned books), a WWII vet who writes poetry about the war, someone who professionally is a blogger, someone who writes social psychology pieces, someone who writes these one-page anecdotes that relate back to a Bible passage, someone who writes anecdotes about Jewish life in the 1960s/70s, someone who writes blogs about libraries and books, someone who writes about economics. Then there’s someone who is a children’s author (3 books published), someone who writes YA fiction, someone who is an illustrator, another who is writing a theatrical play for a specific band’s music, someone who writes those nostalgic books full of postcards, someone who is writing her family stories down for her grandchildren to read later when they’re grown up in case she’s not around when they start asking about family history, a scifi writer, a romance writer, a fantasy writer, a songwriter. And me. Those live writing groups are better than any writing class. I get exposed to so many ideas and levels of writing and things I would never write but analyzing them gets me thinking about other things, and all in all, makes me a better writer. 

23. Would you like to go on a writing retreat?

I would like to host one.  I’ve done college-level coursework in convention and meeting planning, and I’ve done a lot of convention and event planning.  However, at this point, one of the above mentioned people in one of the groups does run a writing retreat, and she has two of the events of that retreat open to the public, so I went to one of the events this past November, and I enjoyed it.  So maybe I’d consider going to her retreat, especially since I wouldn’t have to majorly travel to get there. 

24. By the end of this year, you want your fandom to think of you as “that author who _______.”

I don’t need to wait until the end of the year.  In the back of a dresser somewhere there’s a shirt that has a big purple rabbit on the front and on the back, it says something to the effect of “I’m the author that brought your fandom cheesecake and flamingos and purple bunnies”, and that’s pretty much what I do and what I’ve been doing.  I brought a little chaos, as a treat, and people seemed to like it, so I just keep doing weird shit, like licking virtual couches in Yahoo!Groups or running an event called Screw Yule just because I could. I bounce around, from the fanfic and fanart groups, into the crafting groups, over to the gaming groups, around to the bookclub groups, sliding into the scholarly groups, and I’m always just a little quirky and a little unexpected and very authentically me–I’m just tiggering my way around, and like tiggers, the wonderful thing about zhies is that I’m the only one. 

25. If you answered questions from this list last year, find your answers and compare your goals to your results. How’d you do?

I did not answer these last year, but now that I have a full slate, perhaps I’ll have to revisit next year.