#NOT POSTING ON MAIN EVER. NO. TERRIFYING. SPOOKY

[mister-nibbs]

[harryslittlefreakk]

bite me

welcome to the first post of fictober 🍁🎃 this month will be all about witchy, spooky, cozy blurbs - enjoy!!!

summary: vamprry realises that halloween means he can mark his girl without anyone suspecting a thing 🧛

warnings: violence (i guess? biting), mentions of blood, hints of smut

wordcount: 1.1k

a/n: this was SO FUN to write!! ive never played around with the spooky/supernatural in writing so please let me know how i did!

fictober masterlist | main masterlist

“My sweet girl.”

You turned at the sound of Harry’s voice, the low rumble starting a fire in your core. You knew what you’d see when your eyes met his.

The room was dimly lit, the moon casting silver beams across his face as you backed into the wall in front of him. His veins pulsed against the gentle skin of his neck, his eyes dark and glimmering with a blood-red shine.

His nose twitched as he looked at you hungrily, his body edging towards you as though your scent was physically drawing him in.

You studied him for a moment, your heart racing as he stared back at you. Your hand reached out to take his, your touch hesitant as his fingers gripped your hand with an unrelenting force.

“Let me in, Harry,” you whispered, sucking in a deep breath as you waited for his movement.

He’d let you in before, entwining your minds until you saw the world from his eyes, experienced yourself through his body. It was the only way you could see his reality, and you loved it.

To loom over yourself in bed, feeling the arousal that you caused flooding through his body, feel the pleasure of you both as he fucked you, coming together as one joint entity.

To hear the blood pounding in his ears, his heart hammering and pulse racing as he sunk his teeth into the neck of someone who’d never know how intimately they were handled by him.

Your chest grew tight, your lungs feeling as though they were crumpling in the depths your chest - and then you were standing a foot away, watching yourself hold the hand of the body you were in.

Your scent was intoxicating, more potent than ever. Harry’s throat burned, the familiar ache that came when he hadn’t fed for too long. He tried to focus on your voice, the softness of whatever you were saying, but every word seemed distant, blurred by the pounding of his heartbeat.

You raised a hand to your - his - throat as he swallowed hard, his jaw tightening. The hunger, the need was clawing at him, consuming him. He loved you, more than anything, and he’d promised himself he would never hurt you. But right now, all he wanted was to taste you.

“We have the party tonight,” you murmured, your voice coming from somewhere close and yet so far away. Your lips didn’t move, but the girl in front of you was speaking with your voice. “And neither of us have costumes. You could go as a vampire,” the mouth in front of you was morphing into a mischievous smile. “And I could go as your victim.”

Harry’s heart raced, a mix of shock, desire, and fear coursing through him as your words sunk in. He hadn’t ever expected you to offer yourself up as his prey. The thought of feeding on you, of sinking his fangs into you soft skin, terrified him - but it also excited him, in a way that made his entire body ache.

“I don’t want to lose control,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “I don’t want to risk it.”

Your blood was hot through your body, your core tight as you felt Harry’s brain ticking through the emotions. He was hungry, so hungry, so fuelled by desire that though he voiced them, he was barely even considering the implications.

He dropped your hand, and you found yourself back inside your own mind, shut out from Harry’s body. He didn’t want you to feel whatever he did. The adrenaline pumped through you, bouncing between every wall and surface under your skin. It was an arousal stronger than you’d ever felt before, a desire that coursed through you with an intensity that made you ache.

You moved closer, your breath warm on his cheek. “I trust you.”

His hands trembled as they cupped your face, staring into your eyes. Slowly, you tilted your head, exposing your neck to him, the pale skin beckoning, the rhythmic thrum of your pulse a siren’s call. He could feel the sharpness of his fangs, aching to break free, to taste the life that flowed through your veins.

For a moment, he hesitated, his instincts warring with his conscience. But then you whispered his name, soft and reassuring, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. With a gentle breath, he pressed his lips to your neck, his fangs piercing your skin in one swift, tender motion.

A sharp sting bloomed at the side of your neck, but it was quickly followed by a pulse of warmth, almost like the pain melted into something sweeter, deeper.

Your breath caught, chest tightening with the rush of adrenaline that surged through her veins. It was intoxicating - the heat of his breath on your neck, the way his body pressed close to yours. The initial shock of the bite quickly gave way to a strange, electric thrill, sending waves of tingling pleasure coursing down your spine. Your heartbeat pounded in your ears, fast and heavy, and each thud seemed to sync with the slow pull of blood leaving your body.

Your fingers curled into his shirt, gripping tightly, not out of fear, but out of the urge to be even closer to Harry. You weren’t afraid. The tiny niggling worry that the moment would terrify you, would transform your relationship into prey and predator, gave way to a pride that swelled in your chest. Pride that you could give him this, that you could be the one to quench the thirst that he had held back for so long.

Your body buzzed with the sensation, a soft warmth spreading through your limbs as Harry fed. Each pull of his mouth felt rhythmic, like a connection beyond words. Your vision blurred slightly at the edges, a soft dizziness creeping in, heightening your other senses as. You were more aware of the closeness between your bodies, of the way he trembled slightly as he fought for control.

The faint tug of Harry’s lips against your neck slowed, his tender kisses replacing his teeth, and as he finally pulled away, you exhaled a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding.

You were light, your mind slipping into a strange, euphoric haze as the adrenaline mingled with your desire. A gentle exhaustion washed over you, but your heart beat steady and strong. You tilted your head slightly, catching his gaze as he looked at you, concern and affection in his eyes.

“I’m okay,” you whispered, your voice breathy but sure. Harry pulled you close, your head buried in his chest, his heart still pounding steadily. His thumb grazed over the bite, the blood already starting to dry onto your skin, his chin still warm with the last drops.

“That’s one hell of a Halloween costume,” he whispered, a gentle laugh lacing his words.

omg so fun!!!!

taglist: @angeldavis777 @softestqueeen @jerseygirlinca @palmettogal508 @drewsephrry @austiebuttbutt @indigo24hughes @peterparkerbae @im-an-overthinker @daphnesutton @loveableidioticweirdo @tenaciousperfectionunknown @swag13r @ashleighsss @tswiftsgf @chesthairrry @nikkisimps @hannah9921 @lilfreakjez @prettygurl-2009 @s-h-e-l-b-e-e @indierockgirrl @cicicavill7 @cohnfusedarling @ell0ra-br3kk3r @stylesfever @stylesbrock @harry-nialllover @triski73 @meetmeintheemeraldpool @harryshousewitnessprotection @danaehldy @fairytale07 @storyschanging @wannaliveinparadise @mrs-anna-styles211994 @mema10 @fangirl509east @devilsqueen722

[ladyloveandjustice]

My Favorite Books I Read in 2024

I read a ton of good novels last year- 32 in all (and uh, 82 manga/graphic novels, but we’ll examine that in another post). Here’s a link to my Goodreads year in books (the manga is at the beginning, the novels start with Red, White & Royal Blue) and my storygraph wrap up.  

Read my posts on my favorite anime of 2024 here and on my favorite manga/graphic novels of 2024 here.

I got to have fun reading some classics like The Odyssey and The Wizard of Oz, but I also read a lot of notable newer books! Let's take a look!

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

The story follows Silas, a trans guy in an alternate 1883 where violet-eyed people have the power to talk to spirits. If someone is perceived as a man by society, this power is treated as useful. But for anyone society perceives as a woman, it's a different story. There's this idea that the power to speak to the dead causes women to "go mad". Silas is diagnosed with this "sickness" and gets thrown in a horrible sanatorium that forces patients to become obedient wives. But this school has some dark things going on under the surface, and Silas might not even make it out of this alive...

This is a horror that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way though. The setting is vivid and creative, the characters who suffer under the weight of oppression are varied and complex, and the protagonist is easy to root for. It's very spooky, pretty relentless, pretty gory and pretty twisty. It's very hard to figure out who you can actually trust! It's also a fascinating exploration of transphobia and misogyny. It obviously draws on real things women and trans people struggled with in the 1800s (accusations of having "hysteria" and other "illnesses" just for existing) but also talks about ableism too, as the main character is autistic. It really makes you consider how terrifying and isolating it would be to live in a time with so few resources and such limited knowledge, but of course, this still persists in a lot of places today.

 It's not all horror though, there is some catharsis and nice moments of Silas finding solace and support in other trans people and it leads to some really touching scenes and relationships. There's also satisfaction in seeing marginalized people banding together and doing all they can to fight back.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries and Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

This fantasy series follows Emily, a professor and dedicated researcher of the mysterious and often dangerous fae. Emily is out to make an encyclopedia of fae lore, and she has no interest in socializing with others when there's faeries to find. Unfortunately for her, her scholarly rival, Wendell, show up and decides to be all insufferably social and charming and interested in her. He might secretly be a faerie though, and Emily is interested in that, so, ugh, maybe she has to put up with him.

 These books are a ton of fun. It's a cozy adventure the creatively draws on some cool fae lore. It's biggest charm is our protagonist, who is wonderfully grumpy and stubborn and clever and only wants to bury herself in researching this thing she likes She's the kind of person who puts footnotes in their own journal, and it's delightful.

Even when she starts catching feelings for Wendell, her research is always her number one priority. And Wendell, who is very obviously smitten with her the second he appears, is okay with that! In fact, her stubbornness and fearless, unshakeable commitment to her research is pretty much exactly why Wendell is so down bad for her, which makes him a really relatable love interest. He's obnoxious in a genuinely charming way and the teasing banter between Wendell and Emily is very entertaining.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

Kokoro has been unable to go outside her house ever since she dropped out of school due to horrible bullying. One day, her mirror glows, and she enters it to find herself in a castle with six other students. A little girl in a wolf mask tells all of them that there's a room in the castle that can grant one single wish, but only for one person, so whoever finds the room first gets the wish. They'll have an opportunity to hang out in the castle every day until the deadline, after which the castle will disappear. But as the kids get to know each other, things get more complicated.

This is such a lovely, healing story I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. While the story goes into the causes behind the epidemic of hikikomori and futoku in Japanese students, it's also a universally relatable story about the ways bullying, grief and trauma can affect a child and lead to severe anxiety. Kokoro's slow journey of recovery is touching and feels realistic, despite the fantastical elements. The book shows how brave and hard it is to take these small steps, and how Kokoro struggles to even talk about what happened. The focus of the book is the connections the kids make with each other. It explores the secrets they carry, how they accidentally hurt each other, but also how they ultimately are able to empathize with and support each other. Each character is interesting and achingly human in their own right. The whimsical fairy tale elements of the story complement the themes well, and the book delivers some really solid plot twists that serve to make its themes stronger too.

One thing to warn for is we learn that a fourteen year old girl has entered a relationship with a man in his 20s. This isn't shown to be healthy or good for her though, and the reason she does this is heartbreaking. There's also some (non graphic) attempted SA. With that in mind, this is just a really cool tale, and I full recommend it!

First Light by Liz Kerin

This is the second part of a duology that began with Night’s Edge, which I recommended last year, and honestly, this book is even better than the first one, which was already pretty great. The book continues to use vampirism to explore the cycle of abuse effectively. This time, Mia is seeking vengeance on her mother's abusive ex-boyfriend, who was responsible for turning her Mom into a vampire. But when she finds the ex-boyfriend and infiltrates his little cult (with her kinda-girlfriend, who actually genuinely wants to join), she gets manipulated by him the way her mother did, her trauma and past making it easy to fall into a cycle that's familiar. She starts to understand her mother, and vampires in general, more than she ever thought she would. It's just a really interesting take on vampires, and this one actually addressed some of the thing I thought were a little iffy in the first book. It's dark, but there's also a lot of catharsis.

I think these books are easily among the top of my list of favorite vampire media. Content warning for abuse, and the vampire bites having a hint of a metaphor for sexual violence like they often do.

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

 Bright Young Women follows a young woman in the aftermath of a serial killer breaking into her sorority and killing several of her friends. The media and police are all too willing to question her testimony and distort the details to fit their narrative. Another woman suspects her girlfriend was murdered by the same killer, and they team up to find the truth.

Bright Young Women is a page-turner, and I honestly didn't realize it was so heavily based on the Ted Bundy murders until I read the reviews, because I didn't know much about him (or most real life serial killers, a fact which I am very okay with). But the book is here to dunk on Ted Bundy and the ways his "intelligence and charisma" were greatly exaggerated by the media and even the judge at his actual trial, rage about the ways the victims stories are erased in favor of the killers who are glamorized and fawned over, point out the ways the police constantly fail victims, and to set the record straight to those who idolize serial killers.

The story centers the survivors and victims, talking about their lives and triumphs and the goals they were working toward and what could have been. It's depressing, but it also shines the light on the bravery of the women whose testimonies got the killer convicted even when the rest of the world was dismissive of them.

This book is a really tough read, and obviously there's a huge content warning for sexual violence, the graphic aftermath of horrific deaths...the method of one rape and murder actually really disturbed me (mentioned in the aftermath, the book never shows the actual acts), it was so gross and horrible (and unfortunately, happened in real life). Read with caution. But it's a book that will definitely stick with me for a while.

The Rise of Kyoshi and the Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee

I never got around to the Kyoshi novels because there's been a lot of mediocre Avatar the Last Airbender spin-off media...but I should not have hesitated, because these were actually really good. They follow the life of Kyoshi, the famously badass Earth Kingdom Avatar, and shows how she became how she is.

Yee does a great job capturing the world of Avatar, while also expanding on it in interesting ways. I really liked a lot of the little details that deepened the world--for instance, it's mentioned that Firebenders shave their heads when they lose an Agni Kai because of the disgrace, which gives context to Zuko's initial hairstyle and actually makes the fact he actively kept his hair from growing back for three years extremely sad, since it implies he thought he would only be worthy of that once his father approved of him again. It was something I think Yee definitely came up with himself, but it made a lot of sense with the show in a way that felt natural.

The novels were definitely darker than the show, but not in a Netflix Avatar let's-watch-a-bunch-of-people-we-don't-care-about-burn-to-death way, but in a way that felt natural to Kyoshi's circumstances. I found I usually did care a lot when a character died because they were often likeable. I found the death of one character in particular near the end of book one genuinely heartbreaking.

The books did a good job explaining why Kyoshi became more severe later on, and in how she wrestles with how far she can go with her role as the Avatar, what justice is, and whether killing people solves anything. The second book was not quite as good as the first, with its decision to switch out the cast of the characters for entirely new people and just being more meandering in general, but it was still a good read. I definitely rec if you're an Avatar fan, odds are you'll really enjoy them!

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

In the country of Concordia, each province has one heir who has a "Blessing"--basically a unique magic power. Ganymedes (a.k.a Dee)'s dad cheated on his wife a bunch, and one of the children from those affairs must have inherited the Blessing rather than Dee. To keep this a secret, Dee's dad makes him pretend to have a Blessing. Now Dee has to go on a voyage with the other Blessed and, sick of the charade, he's decided he's going to make them all hate him so he gets kicked out of the group. But that plan is extremely interrupted when his shipmates start getting murdered one by one.

Voyage of Damned is just a really good time. A queer murder mystery romp with a ton of suspicious and varied characters vying for power, a fun lead with a distinctive voice, tragic romance, cute friendships, and even some touching exploration of prejudice, suicidal ideation and self loathing. It was just extremely readable and I was entertained the whole way though, but it also made me feel things sometimes. It also delivered a ton of solid plot twists, including a big and satisfying one that made me want to go back and read through a bunch of scenes knowing the truth (and I did).

Dee and his distinctive glib narration probably won't be for everyone but I liked him and vibed with him. He goes through a lot, including finding out his boyfriend he'd been separated from for five years is now engaged to a girl and acting super cold to him. The tension between Dee and Ravi and how it affects all his relationships is a real emotional hook, and his banter and dynamics with the people he likes (or even some people he doesn't) are generally fun to read. If all I've said sounds cool to you, give it a try, you might like it!

Bonus Rec: Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

Shesheshen is a blob monster who dines on the humans (mostly those who try to kill her). She can look human with some effort, and go into town to feed sometimes. But the she falls in love with a kind woman named Homily. This clearly means she needs to do the proper romantic thing and lay some eggs in Homily so their little monster kids can be born by devouring Homily for the inside out. Wait, humans aren't into that? That's awkward. And despite her biological impulse she doesn't really want Homily to die? Even more awkward. Oh, and Homily's family are monster hunters and it turns out that was Homily's brother Shesheshen ate a while back? Super mega awkward. What's a monster to do...

 I'm a lover of actually monstrous monster women, so I was hyped for this one, especially with the great cover by @jmfenner91! While it disappointed me in some areas, it was still fun and heartwarming enough I'd recommend it.

Our monster lady is a great character, and her unique point of view where she's nonchalant, cynical and often hilariously baffled by humans is a joy to read. Her personality, her super gross biology, and how she sees the world...she's so charming and her romance with Homily is very cute. I also really like that the book focused on healing from abuse and finding a way to move forward with each other's support. I also liked the romantic climax, and the discussion of finding kissing weird, because that made me feel seen.

There were quite a few things that kept it from being a five star review in my heart though--Sheshesen is completely disconnected from people, has just spent her life alone in her cave, but she knows what an abuser is and exactly how abusive people operate in a weirdly modern way. Abusers are also only portrayed one way: openly cruel and evil with zero sympathetic qualities to every single person they interact with. There is no cycle of abuse with these people, they never act nice to to draw their victims back in, we don't see more subtle, manipulative emotional abuse, almost no claims of caring about people. Obviously cartoonishly abusive rich people exist in real life, and I don't necessarily need abusers to be humanized. Still...it just felt like the nuance of most real life abuse was being ignored. And because these people were so one dimensional, it was pretty tedious to spend SO much time with them.

Still, the book was very monstrously sweet, and it was overall a good read. I wish it could have been a little more, but what we got was pretty nice.

[lynnsartsworld]

🤍Meet the Artist🤍

Lynn Gerhardt 🤍

29 years old 🌻

Orientation: Allosexal 🌸

Art style: Is a mixture of Western and Japanese’s art styles…

(Bing AI)

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Hi, I’m Lynn. 🪽

I’m 29 years old and I’m an artist—though just as a hobby. I’ve been drawing for almost 20 years now, which feels like a huge milestone because I never really took art seriously when I was younger. But as I got older, I started to get more serious about it.

I have tremors in my hands that probably won’t ever go away, but funny enough, since I started taking art seriously, the tremors have actually calmed down a lot. Maybe something neurological rewired itself in my brain because now my drawings are much smoother and cleaner.

I absolutely love drawing April, Poppy, and Evangeline—they’re my main characters, especially April and Poppy. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without them. I’m still working on stories about them, but it’s taking some time.

You probably won’t see those stories though, because I use ChatGPT to help write them, and I know people online can sniff out AI pretty quickly. So for now, I keep those stories mostly to myself because the internet can be scary like that. But I still love Hogwarts Legacy and I don’t think I’ll ever really leave the fandom—no matter what.

A little about me beyond art: I love chocolate, hanging out with my work friends, and meeting new people (if they’re not too busy).

Things I don’t like? Bullying, harassers, people who think way too highly of themselves, and those who bring others down for no reason. I’m terrified of needles. I hate worms and any bugs that wiggle—it seriously gives me the heebie-jeebies. I also hate climbing ladders because I’m scared of falling, but I love roller coasters!

Oh, and I drew myself recently—not how I really look but with a little blindness in my right eye because I’m kind of farsighted from astigmatism. So, it’s a bit of a spooky version of me but still cute.

In real life, my eyes are dark brown, not light olive or grey, and my hair is black. I do have a little scar on my left eyebrow from falling really hard a long time ago.

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Overall, I really hope you like this new “Meet the Artist” post—it’s way better than the last one I had (which I deleted, so it’s gone now). I also included a new drawing of myself. Just a reminder, I’m a traditional artist, and I’m happy to welcome anyone who wants to follow along.

Sorry if this sounds a little awkward or weird, but honestly, I admire every single one of you who takes the time to read and support me. I really love you all, my lovely people.

If anyone ever harasses you, don’t let them get to you—they’re just ungrateful and having a bad day. Newcomers especially should remember that. Don’t let anyone bring you down, because that’s just awful.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day, evening, or night—wherever you are, my lovely witches and wizards. Goodbye for now ⭐️!

[llycaons]

🌕🕸 Wei Wuxian birthday fic recs 🎃👻

For Halloween, I wanted to contribute by highlighting some of my favorite fics from the reclist that focus specifically on wwx, that are set during Halloween, or that have a general spooky vibe or monster elements. I picked a lot of feel-good comedies and romances (yes, there's monsterfucking dw), but there are some more difficult ones in here too - he's a character involved in both joy and the grief, after all. ♥🖤

*NIGHT HUNTING* by detention_notes

summary: in a universe otherwise without magic, wwx and lwj start being haunted (around halloween!) by mysterious references to cql canon. some drama but mostly lighthearted references and shenanagins. jc is hilarious in this one, and so is lxc. one of my old faves - spooky, tender, and silly. a perfect halloween read. cql characterizations work issues: none author issues: none

*Tie Your Heartstring Up Tight by athena_crikey

summary: non-cultivation AU where lwj is a wu, something like a shaman who spiritually interacts with nature to provide guidance for his sect and balance to the world. he’s asked by jc to find a missing wwx, so he leaves his isolated little home in gusu to go on a journey with a strangely intelligent black hare he takes as a familiar this work is a real treat. so atmospheric! fantastically evocative descriptions of winter landscapes, wonderfully fun relationship banter and chemistry, a unique and yet authentic and well-researched setting, a satisfying little character arc for lwj as realizes the error of his ways and works to account for his mistakes, a thematically appropriate story for our main characters, smooth writing and a clean, fresh style. somber and grounded and sincere for the most part, just as lwj himself is, with wwx’s bright playfulness and sense of humor bursting through now and then. work issues: ngl this xue yang was literally a homophobic stereotype author issues: omegaverse, forced courtesanship….egg-laying? just thought I’d mention that one but honestly I don’t even mind, uh one where wwx has to provide a dowry. like. ugh, why?

*second person* by theherocomplex

summary: this is one of the most stunning and beautifully written fics I’ve ever read. in one timeline, wwx is grappling with being in mxy’s body, slowly healing and coming to terms with his traumas while traveling solo after leaving CR. in another timeline set some time in the future, a wwx reunited with lwj races to save his life after an assassination attempt both parts of the story interweave with each other; at times aching, at times terrifying, at times introspective. with a wonderful ending after an intensely compelling showdown. the second person pov was so engaging and unusual. cql for most things except wwx being in mxy’s body. I dislike when the post-temple travels are longer than a year, but the characterizations are so good, and the writing is so gorgeous, and the time for healing is needed so clearly that I don’t mind see author notes for warnings. wwx’s new body is written as if it’s a discrete entity from him and they are both talked about as if they have their own desires and goals. there are some allusions to wwx’s suicidal ideation early into his travels, as well as a semi-graphic description of torturing a character to death work issues: none author issues: xicheng, 3zun, dubcon, and sex pollen

*And you must keep your soul/ Like a secret in your throat by athena_crikey

summary: vampire wwx! modern AU where he’s living peacefully in the boonies and cultivator lwj approaches him for help on a case against the wens. fairly good romantic development, and once the author decides to make it rated E, a LOT of sex scenes. great characterization and exploration of trauma, and an utterly devastating take on the canon yunmeng sibling situation. avoids a lot of the more cliched vampire romance tropes - actually quite unpredictable in a lot of ways. satisfying and fun work issues: none that I recall except they made wlj kind of booby a la the donghua and wwx kind of rude about it. yeah we get it you’re gay author issues: omegaverse, forced courtesanship….egg-laying

*The Shape of Your Love (is Horny) by Vamillepudding

summary: demon influencer wwx meets and then tries to romance mortal lwj without knowing much about how humans work, despite having lived on earth for years and watching a lot of demon porn about humans. just really silly and off the wall. they nail lwj being a weirdo and this makes him really compatible with non-human wwx. the way they had instant chemistry and fell right into a relationship was so low-drama and sweet. based on the title you'd think there are weird sex things going on but it's actually rated just T. nhs is great and there's a ton of really funny lan family moments and jc stuff too. work issues: unfortunately the other main couple is jgy/lxc author issues: see above - xiyao

*somewhere they live, somewhere they multiply by perilously

summary: one of the few horror fics I’ve enjoyed. postcanon wwx struggles with his past and some parts of his life in CR, and the gift of a large, creepy mirror exacerbates issues. the quasi-argument between himself and lwj is quite raw and feels well grounded in their characterizations, and the atmosphere is extremely well-crafted work issues: none author issues: none

*hold the fire in your palm by oogenesis

summary: wwx is an infamous demon a la bartimaeus, and lwj is a demon hunter. they’re mistakenly, magically bonded together when wwx is summoned to the human world, and have to figure out how to send him back to the demon realm while keeping his identity a secret. the better lwj gets to know wwx, the more he has to face his assumptions and principles regarding demons. the plot is really interesting and the romance is wonderfully developed. action scenes are a bit shaky but I think the worldbuilding and tantalizing mysteries more than make up for it. another sadly discontinued work, but I think it ends at a nice place anyway. novel characterizations, but not for the bad stuff there’s some discussions of homophobia, so mind the notes work issues: none

*No Charming Smile, No Violet Eyes by mossymossy

summary: granted I've only read the first chapter, but I was a wreck. wwx's emotional journey of dying and then waking up alive again...it's about grief and loss and slowly coming to appreciate being alive despite the pain. *screams* really good emotional writing and incredible cql characterizations. literally just like watching the show. work issues: none author issues: none

ordinary bodies by messier45

summary: a moody and introspective fic where postcanon wwx dwells upon his dissatisfaction and grief involving his new body, and the things he never got to do with his old one. not very warm and fuzzy, but cathartic and very raw and I really liked the way it handled wwx’s body issues. the romance in this was not the main focus, but it was excellent - even though the grief and discontent there was a lot of love and gratitude, which feels more realistic and honest than ‘wwx is married and everything is happy forever!’ trans author! work issues: none author issues: none

*Odd Geometry by maziodyne

summary: sunshot AU where wwx was not adopted by the Jiangs, and is instead a healer in Yunmeng, using his unusual qi powers to treat the community for no fee. elemental magic co-exists with cultivation, resulting in a unique and complex magic system. the lead-up to and entirety of the sunshot campaign - and indeed the entire fic - is extremely well-researched, the characters are on-point, the ocs are super fun, the action scenes are heart-poundingly exciting, the romance is gentle and tender, the pacing clips along, and the relationships are teased out with incredible heart. absolutely a must-read. mixed canons with characterizations leaning towards cql. it's here because it's SPOOKY baby work issues: none! author issues: none! my mutual wrote this and I beta read it!!

an hour of sunshine by astrolesbian

summary: very short work, either canon but I feel cql. modern AU wwx, easing into mental health and listening to his body. attending a silly halloween party, experiencing the love of his friends and and kissing lwj on a balcony. really sweet and low-drama. bit corny but I just like it when things are nice for him! also jc is funny work issues: none author issues: genderbends

your light in the mist by seularen

summary: postcanon, wwx just has a really good day. although not very plot-heavy, I do love the language in this fic, and I think the way jc and wwx are written post-temple is extremely satisfying. novel verse work issues: none author issues: I’ve read a few of their other fics and found them quite good otherwise, but the sex scenes are incredibly weird in the way that novel-faithful fics tends to be (cnc). xiyao as well

*end the rises and the falls*  by eeriemedusa

summary: postcanon and married, a still-recovering wwx attempts to use kink unsafely as a coping mechanism for his residual trauma. one of the most nuanced portrayals of a character’s relationship with sex that I’ve ever read. compassionate and loving. novel canon, but it doesn’t matter too much. the atmosphere in this one was built up SO well wwx is triggered during sex - see notes work issues: none author issues: none

*see you yesterday* by glyphic

summary: oh, boy. modern AU with cultivation, and set on halloween - a russian doll-style death timeloop set in new york city following a wwx (believed to be dead) and lwj (studying for his doctorate) a few years after the roughly-canon adjacent events of nightless city. there’s some memory manipulation involved to make wwx and lwj forget each other after the war, but it’s easiest to just read it and see how it all comes together. the novel-inspired worldbuilding is absolutely incredible, and I was also impressed by the more cql-leaning characterizations and the wonderful relationship development. absolutely lovely descriptions of the characters falling in love and finding joy amidst some of the darkest lives I’ve seen them live. this is a very angsty and difficult version of the story and I did have to fight back tears more than once, but it was so worth it. currently unfinished but the last chapter took a year to come out so I’m holding out hope expect everything that happened to the wens, wwx, and mama lan in canon, plus child death. see notes for each chapter’s specific warnings; this is not a lighthearted or easy work work issues: none author issues: none

a bite of a vow, a taste of the truth by occultings (microcomets)

summary: kind of a guilty pleasure tbh because this is schlocky and tropey but modern AU wwx and lwj are cultivators who are assigned a case on the disappearance of all these couples and they have to pretend to be a couple in order to infiltrate and…yeah there’s succubi involved they have to ‘prove’ they’re a couple. so they pretend? but there’s no actual sexual activity forced by situation or under the influence of magic when they do eventually get together I thought it was really sweet. the characterizations are good, there’s fun interpersonal drama/angst, and the ending made me smile a lot. I also liked the exploration of wwx’s backstory and I thought it tied in well with canon. what can I say work issues: several allusions to wwx’s cnc fantasies. the actual sex scene isn’t very appealing imo but nothing terrible author issues: allusions to cnc, genderbends, sex pollen

*Vagabond by xantissa

summary: postcanon, wwx returns from a year of travels to a mysterious illness plaguing the region. he, lwj, and another investigator work to solve it while he and lwj navigate their feelings. I liked the oc a lot - lwj has a friend! I don’t want to give more detail because the mystery is so compelling and the plot twist was a genuine surprise. there were a lot of little details that didn’t make sense, but I loved how sweet wwx was with wen ning, and the romance was so satisfying it’s kind of up to interpretation but there is arguably in-universe homophobia and consent to sex under a false identity also, one lan has romantic feelings for another one, but based on how it’s treated I really don’t think they’re related work issues: PM mountain kiss is talked about and it’s not made a big deal of 🙄 author issues: lxc/lwj is the big one. also nhs/nzh, niyao, xiyao, 3zun, dubcon

empty as the sky by incendir                

summary: lwj and wwx investigate a cursed pot, which sends wwx into another reality in which he holds a powerful political position, retained his golden core, and is still in the lives many of his loved ones, some of whom don’t even exist in his old life. his subsequent dissatisfaction pushes him to reflect on his original life and where his true happiness lay. I really like stories where canon wwx interacts with alternate versions of his story, and this is a nice examination of a world that wouldn’t be out of place in a fix-it fic, but with a balanced and thoughtful portrayal of what that would still be lost in that world as a result. there were joys and sorrows in both lifetimes, which imo follows the themes of canon well. cql verse, except wwx is in mxy’s body. lwj isn’t actually there for most of this fic, but their relationship is ever-present work issues: bit of ableism treated poorly? a wheelchair user’s chair is grabbed without his permission in the style of wwx’s boundary-pushing in CR. other than that..wwx is nicer to jc than he would be in canon imo but this is years after the temple showdown and they appear to have reconciled author issues: nhs/nzh, sl/xxc/xy, jl/lsz

[amchara]

Trick or treat~ (for TSC)🎃

Hello!

Most of my recent TSC thoughts have been half-formed post Chain of Thorns ideas - so may I offer this snippet of a potentially dead-in-the-water Gracetopher fic, which is erm- not the happiest but in theme with the spooky, beyond the grave side of Halloween.

----

Grace opened her eyes. The sky was a soft blue, shot through with wispy gold clouds. She took a deep breath and for the first time in months, the stomach-churning scent of burnt tyres, leaking gas mains and damp that had permeated London for months had cleared from her nostrils.

No wailing air sirens. 

Instead, there was a faint whistling song that was growing closer. 

Grass blades tickled the backs of her calves as she sat up. The evening raid had happened so swiftly she hadn’t time to pull on her nylons before droning sounds had her scrambling to the shelter. 

Grace searched her last memories before she woke up. A little boy’s sobs as he clung to his mother, terrified. The almost melodic distant, shattering glass, and the percussive feel of bombs falling ever closer. Until the final scream and percussive shockwave that had pulled the air from her lungs, a crushing vice.  

She had survived close calls before but…Grace let out a slow exhale as she pulled the pieces together. 

Funny, she thought, lifting her eyes towards the horizon, she hadn’t expected the afterlife to look like Hyde Park on a spring day. And then she stilled, her fingers grasping in her dress as she recognised the figure in front of her.

He set the enormous picnic basket to the side and crouched down.  

It had been so many long years ago but Christopher’s gentle smile was ever the same. 

“Hullo Grace,” he said. 

“Hello, Christopher,” she replied faintly. “I’m dead, aren’t I?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” he told her, and there was an endearing tilt to his head, as he took gauge of her expression. “Rotten luck that but uh. Well, I brought us a picnic.”

Grace nodded. She helped him unpack it, pulling out bottles of cold lemonade and ginger beer, pickled eggs, ham and chicken sandwiches, a Victorian sponge and a small case of lemon tarts. Grace’s mouth watered. They had been on rationing since early winter, and it had been months since she’d had proper cake. 

“I wasn’t sure I’d be allowed here,” she said, her eyes watering as she recovered from a particularly fiery mouthful of ginger beer. She gestured around the idyllic landscape. “That I’d done enough.”

He was quiet beside her, before setting down his lemon tart. The kind, inquisitive look behind his glasses loosened something behind her heart, as violet eyes gazed into hers. “Grace. You know it was never about atonement, don’t you?” 

She looked down, tracing patterns on the brightly striped picnic blanket, the faded scar from the missing Voyance rune still visible, before his hand closed over hers. Unlike others, he didn’t try to squeeze it or stroke, and she remembered with a heartwrench the delicate way they had worked together, all those years ago. 

She let out a shuddering sigh. “I did know that. But I doubted it at times,” she confessed. “It… was hard.”

“But you made your way,” he reminded her.  

--

(Ask me for a Halloween writing treat)

[candyandmeat]

Repostober day 4!

This is fairly old! Made in 2020 :0 !

This was my attempt at making adventure time characters based of me, my current best friend at the time, and my brother. I even had ideas of what their introduction episodes could look like!

I don't remember where I kept the notes for them but here's what I remember...

:readmore:

My character would've have been found stalking the ruin of a bombed town. Anytime that they were seen would've been in shadows giving them a spooky mothman/boogie man vibe. Finn & Jake (or who ever is the protagonist of that episode) would be terrified of them until they took of their mask and stepped into light. Revealing that the bombed out town they stalk used to be their home and that bomb mutated them into being part moth. Since then they try to scavenge the town to save anything that's not totally destroyed

FB or "Frozen Boy" is just a normal human boy that was frozen for many years in a music shop. He struggles to remember his so for the time being he accepts the nickname "FB". I think Princess Bubblegum is the one who defrosts him to see what would happen and he does not react well the whole world being so different. Later on he might be seen having a job at the music shop Marceline visits that one time.

Fire is a cool uncle type character with a sentient fire guy chilling in his stomach area (that might also be him too?). I'm not quite sure how he came to be but I think his corpse many years after he dies becomes irradiated with fire magic and he kinda just rolls with it. I think he was supposed to be a cool parental figure like a uncle or an older cousin. Fire and "Mothman" would've have been siblings in this universe too but due to happenstance they don't know that each other is alive at first. There would be clues dropped here and there relating the 2 to the same things, maybe someone of the main cast could've figured it out.

That's all I remember so far, if I think about it anymore I would be making more stuff up. Thank you for reading this far :3

(Also, if you've seen this drawing before I originally posted this on my old side blog art account that is now called candybeforemeat!)

[yourfavouritetasha]

Long Way To A Small Angry Planet (and its sequels if you like it) by Becky Chambers - Incredibly rich and affirming sci-fi, concerned less with "ooh space" and more with the deep and complex connections and navigations between fundamentally different peoples and cultures.

The Scholomance (and its sequels if you like it) by Naomi Novak - Classic premise of 'wizards have to go to magic school' except the wizard in question is basically a Doom Witch and the school is a fucking murder house. Interesting premise explored well, it's fun having a bitter introspective protagonist, I like her a lot.

Gideon The Ninth (...and its sequels if you like it) by Tamsyn Muir - The short pitch is enemies to ??? in sci-fi with necromancy. My pitch is that Gideon is the most enjoyable protagonist I've ever read in a book. The 1st book is from her POV and it is such a fucking joy experiencing a really dense, macabre, and quite scary world, but through the eyes of (basically) a big butch himbo. Full of jokes, a murder mystery, and just a lot of old school Gothic Tension, smashed into "but I raise skeletons and travel space." Book 1 is magnetic, book 2 (Harrow The Ninth) is actually, deliberately difficult and confusing to read which might put some people off but I like how Tamsyn plays with the form and the reader. And book three (Nona The Ninth) wins the prize for Most Wholesome (and ignorant) Protagonist Of All Time.

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt - The best book I've read in years. A fucked horror story that is extremely fucking English and extremely about transphobia and English terfism. The setting of this book could not be mistaken for anywhere else. Unsettling, painful, scary, and at it's culmination, overwhelming. Fuck it's so good. It's so good. If you think you can engage with Spooky Transphobia, read it.

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt - Alison getting a double posting here. Not a sequel to the first book at all, and in many ways considerably bleaker. Still absolutely about England, still absolutely about transphobia (and classism). This one ramps up the grossness and will absolutely ick you out at points (it's great). Also contains a famous British author and massive transphobe who DEFINITELY ISN'T JK ROWLING

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - What if you spun magic through the setting and language of a historical empire book? That's the premise here and Susanna fucking nails it. The tone and culture and writing are all so of an era, all big moustaches and fears about The French, all serving as a backdrop for one of the most interesting rivalries I've seen play out in a book. (also holy shit this book came out 20 years ago now that's CRAZY to me). ALSO. Contains the single most terrifying depiction of elves I've ever encountered.

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala - Non-fiction. Akala is hands down one of the most important figures in examining class & race in England today (imo). Also his music will fuck you up. This book does what it says on the tin, examines race and class in England, as England continues to pretend it's an empire. Importantly, this book is fucking angry.

Debt: The First 5,000 Years - by David Graeber - Phenomenal non-fiction book by an anthropologist, examining, well, debt, and how it shapes literally everything in our current world. It's not an uplifting read, but it's well written, covers and examines the subject really well, and will quite probably teach you a lot/give you things to consider. (Notably; that the system sucks and should be destroyed).

Okay imma stop there! I've realised now that there's a strong focus on books that are either about, or set in, England here. Most of them not flattering. Oh well! Enjoy 💚

Oooooh, I have most of these on a list, I think we talked about some of them, thank you for reminding me! ❤️

And I don't mind, dunno if I ever told you or anyone on here, but one of my main focuses of my research is Alan Turing, work and life, I know England's deep and nasty secrets

(and since I studied general history and loved deep and nasty secrets, no country is safe 😂)

[rotpunks]

i think i need to exorcize all my Thoughts about analog horror and how its shittybad out of my brain so here we go.

It's bad! Okay okay that lacks all nuance and unfairly tears down the analog horror series out there that are good. That I'm sure exist somewhere, but I haven't found em. I think the main issue for me is how absolutely boring they are if you aren't scared. And it's hard to be scared, because it basically amounts to VHS noises and spooky images. Oh yes I am very terrified of um... Guy with a weird face accompanied by a music sting. Gonna have nightmares tonight! I'm sure this scares some people but I'm not easily scared and the tension built up by these series is abysmal, mostly because of other issues I also want to talk about. The main issue is that I have nothing to be scared for. I know the scary thing isn't real because it's always supernatural, and I can compartmentalize things and know that the nefarious anglerfish is not going to come kill me in my sleep. So, like, who cares?

"but tim you got genuinely scared by emh multiple times and that has a supernatural antagonist" yes! because there were CHARACTERS! I cannot comprehend dedicating so much of my life to a story with zero characters. Sure there might be Named Entities but I watched most of the mandela catalogue before i dropped it and i cannot name a singular character. nobody is posting about the artful writing of that backrooms series. Nowadays the webseries game is all about LORE (insert matpat here) and coming up with a new way for the world to be fucked up. Bonus, these fucked up worlds are also not interesting enough for me to want to keep watching because we're drip fed literally everything. You're hinging your story's interest on the lore and then you give me nothing and expect me to stay interested? You cannot seriously expect me to sit through a video that's a glorified spooky powerpoint (with VHS filter!). No, introducing a new monster isn't lore development if it's basically a reskin of the last one. We need to get information on the causes of the spooky monsters and the underlying rules of the world, but I highly fucking doubt any of these people consider that.

The story won't move, no new lore ever drops, there's no characters to be interested in why should i give a SINGLE SHIT about any analog horror series at all. No sir, not getting out of this chair! But the biggest problem is that it's crowded out everything else in the webseries zone. We're just not getting shit like we used to get, with characters and live action and silly college students. I think partially it's because everyone's too scared to fuck up, youtube has Standards now and you need to look Professional. So everyone just does the professional-looking analog horror instead of fucking around with the boys. It fucking sucks because if you want to watch a new webseries and you don't want a boring powerpoint, you are literally just out of luck. Go rewatch the old shit is pretty much your only option. And it's just going to keep happening because people only come out and criticize analog horror when it doesn't meet their morality standards

[theglassesgirl]

[October 27 2024 edit] WOWZERS I was looking thru my drafts and realized I never posted my response to your insight!! Let me remedy this by posting it now, since we’re in Holloweekend and this episode is apt for spooky time!

My original response:

Im glad this episode made you interested in the series! It’s definitely more than a filler episode considering how well the many interpretations of what makes someone “primal” or “monstrous” meshes with the current season’s conundrum.

[Spoilers]

It’s an interesting juxtaposition because once we go back to the main storyline you have to wonder if Spear is the one seen as the Inmate - an animal who is “barely human” because of what he did to the village. But how is that fair when they enslaved Mira’s entire people and REFUSED to let them go even when Spear and Fang were clearly retreating? The Viking’s seeking “revenge” is akin to Darlington and Charles’s hunting of the inmate to me. They are a privileged people who feel threatened and harmed by someone “inferior” and will likely excuse their future fall into barbaric actions by insisting they were only defending themselves - from the people they were hurting. [Spoilers]

I’m mostly speaking as a literature major whose been knee deep in Victorian and gothic horror genres of the era; I’m inclined to agree with you when you say many upperclassman Victorians hated the idea that they, as a “learned” society (which really only included the wealthy enough to get an education) could ever come from or devolve into barbarism. However, it is precisely in the genres I’ve mentioned that those authors argue that there are no human beings more likely to conduct atrocities in the name of science and respectability than a man like Darlington (and charles for that matter). The Invisible Man comes to mind for this comparison but literally every classic horror written in this era insists that when someone goes off the deep it’s ALWAYs lord duke asshole moneybags whose the culprit. It’s less Charles’ “we as humans will revert to protect ourself when all else fails” and more “the privileged are the first to degenerate to protect themselves”

We know nothing of the inmate’s class or history, so he acts like a literal boogeyman who attacks his victims out of instinct and opportunity. And that’s what make such a stark comparison because Darlington’s house is FULL of weapons from across the eras! Again, this is a wealthy man who goes through his entire arsenal to hunt down one man who is very mentally unwell. He has the training (his college boxing days) and the physical strength and health (given his estate) to go after an inmate who is working off adrenaline alone. Anyone other than a lord like Darlington WOULDVE been dead, no matter how “primal” - which is a case that can be made because only Darlington himself goes “primal”; everyone else either dies or like in Charles case, does not. As such, you have to ask what level of “primal” nature is justified here. The inmate (likely) has never known any other life and is a terrifying force of nature in a society that simply refuses to see him as “once” human. Darlington “had to” protect himself, so his actions will (likely) be excused by his peers as justified against an “inhuman” beast - and so the privileged win again.

Which is jarring when you consider we WANT the main “underprivileged” trio of Spear, Fang and Mira to win against the far more “advanced” Vikings they just escaped!

But you’re right! There are many ways to interpret this episode in the scope of the seasons larger themes and how it fits!

I don’t presume to argue with Charles or anything but his friend less proved his point than he did demonstrate how his privilege informed his quick degeneration to protect himself/the friend he actually liked.

Darlington didn’t even think to warn or check on the cook and is calling this inmate a savage

He didn’t care about their other friend much and was willing to leave him without making sure he would survive his injuries

He has a history of physical competition in the most posh and privileged frat universities (basically, argue w the wall Oxford is no different from any other overrated college, doesn’t surprise me a guy like Darlington whose already a jerk used to box at all)

He quickly got into the idea of hunting the inmate down (self defense sure, but even Charles didn’t exhibit this amount of bloodlust)

Not to be all “who is the real monster” but a privileged white man going feral vs an underprivileged inmate whose history we don’t even know in favor of making him more spooky doesn’t necessarily encompass a full-proof sample size that backs Charles theory; after all, the worst and most inhuman people are the….the rich 🤷🏽‍♀️

[causticbicaudate]

I had a dream a few nights ago where I was investigating missing persons cases and uncovered a transhumanist cult headed by some douchecanoe I've unaffectionately named Elon Husk who wanted to evolve humankind past their lame meat mechs and transition them to synthetic bodies

Issue was, they found out that they couldn't transfer consciousnesses into AI. Next best thing was to use a brain. But in order for the mechs to work properly, they needed more than just the brain intact. The entire spinal cord needed to also be present

So they obviously needed a specialist to accomplish such a thing. Main issue there was that said specialist they hired originally as a consultant wasn't actually interested in going back to mutilate people so he had to be "convinced" to help them (which I’m assuming this was taking place post-PN2)

My main goal was to save a kid who was captured by this awful transhumanist group; I ended up failing my mission because Husk unveiled that the kid had been scraped and packed down into a robot body to a whole TV audience and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to find an exit, immediately found the operating suite, and then got caught by an extremely irate and aggressive Loboto who blindsided me and pinned me to his operating table with a threat to lobotomize me if I didn’t comply

Instead of sticking around to get my brain shoved into a metal body, I shook myself awake

But I was really struck by Loboto's extra terrifying appearance and his super messed up new chrome claw hand and it's been haunting me ever since tl;dr I had a spooky dream about a cult who thought human bodies were lame and also Loboto was there

[dialovers-lover-xoxo]

Hello everyone ❤️

So this morning I found out that I have the same birthday as R.L. Stine, one of my favorite authors and biggest inspirations

In honor of spooky season and in the hopes of entertaining you, I'm going to share the story of how I actually fell in love with the Goosebumps books

So it was maybe 5th grade and in my school all the classrooms had books that you could take home whenever you wanted, as many as you wanted, for however long you wanted. You just had to make sure they returned unharmed and before the school year ended.

So one day I was in class and I saw R.L. Stine's book "Night of the Living Dummy." propped up facing me during class. On the cover is Slappy, the main antagonist of the book and a recurring villain throughout the series. It scared the HELL out of me.

For an entire week, I could hardly sleep at night. I was scared to go to school because I knew I'd see the book. I would wake up in the middle of the night and think that Slappy (though I didn't know his name at the time) was on the edge of my bed, giving me that same creepy smile like on the cover of the book. I was absolutely miserable. I loved school, I loved my teacher and friends and learning new things, yet I was desperate to stay home because that puppet literally haunted me at night I was so scared.

Finally, after a whole week of living in fear, I just said "fuck it"

I went to school the next day, took the book home and read the entire thing that night

And you know what?

I loved it

The book was fantastic. I went back the next day, returned the book, and within a few days, I read every Goosebumps book my classroom had. Then all the Goosebumps books my school's library had. Then all the Goosebumps books the public library by my house had to offer me.

Earlier in this post I stated that R.L. Stine is not only one of my favorite authors, but one of my greatest inspirations and it's true. You guys know my writing as it relates to Diabolik Lovers but I actually write a huge variety of stories. Including short horror stories with twist endings that stay with you.

To be fair, I started writing before 5th grade, probably 4th, and I always liked writing and reading horror, but to this day, almost a decade later at age 19, I still credit R.L. Stine and his books for inspiring me to write some of my favorite short stories over the years.

If I hadn't faced my fear, I would've spent the rest of 5th grade terrified of that book. I wouldn't have fallen in love with the Goosebumps series. Maybe I wouldn't have become the avid and passionate writer I still am to this day.

This story was to entertain you but also there's a message here. Throughout my life, despite my love of reading and writing horror, I've been a scaredy-cat and my adamant refusal to step out of my comfort zone has actually resulted in me missing out on a lot of memories. It's only in recent years that I've started to try new things.

It's important to have boundaries, and never ever let someone peer pressure you into doing something you aren't comfortable with. It's okay to not be comfortable with something and to stay where you feel safe. But it's also good to, if you wish to and are comfortable with it, step out of your comfort zone and face your fears. You may end up liking something you were previously too scared to try.

Who knows? Maybe you'll fall in love with an awesome book series and form a life-long passion

[isas-oc-asylum]

Arboresian Territories Lore

Arboresia is comprised of 6 territories of varying sizes, the borders of which constantly change. The cultures of each region are WILDLY unique and the Arboresians who call them home are passionately loud about how amazing they are.

Magic is the main influence of this, of course, even down to how the climate functions differently in each region. What do you mean there’s a blizzard in one territory and its 90°F in the one right next door? Magic fucking said so, that’s why. Earth’s regional climate logic be damned.

Four out of six of these territories are referred to as the Primary Territories. These four have cultures and names that revolve around the four seasons, which arguably is the phenomena that contributes most to making nature so beautiful, as it influences the flora and fauna. Fitting nature-inspired regions for the nature-loving country. These four primary territories are Autumn Hallow, Goldray, Bloomshine, and Fort Frost.

Arboresia also has micro-territories such as the Metsuki Kingdom, and disbanded territories such as Obsidimoore. These are not major enough to get a section elaborating on them, but I might change my mind on that.

A lot of territory culture and the expansion on how these territories are so cool come in the form of headcanons and such that don’t fit the format of this post, but that can be remedied by asks or other posts. One way or another I’ll find a way to convey how awesome and unique each territory is.

All flags below have been made by @deaths-presence​!

The 6 Arboresian territories are:

Autumn Hallow

Goldray

Bloomshine

Fort Frost

Jazswing

Scornwood

Natives in each territory are called:

Autumn Hallow: Autumn Hallowans

Bloomshine: Bloomshiners

Goldray: Goldrasians

Fort Frost: Frostians

Jazswing: Jazswingers

Scornwood: Scornwoodians

Autumn Hallow

The Autumn Territory, obviously. To nobody’s surprise, the spooky and magical supernaturals founded the Autumn and Halloween-themed territory first. Here, magic and power are loudly celebrated. October is Supernatural Pride Month and Halloween is the biggest, most extravagant and magical holiday in not just the territory, but perhaps the entire country. Autumn Hallowans party HARD and there is nothing more significant to them than being your true spooky self, no matter how terrifying or weird. Autumn Hallow is the most densely populated with supernaturals, though the entire country is comprised of them.

Territory Flag:

Goldray

The Summer-themed, yeehaw territory. Blend yeehaw aesthetic & hot girl summer. This territory is all about warmth and summer fun. If Arboresian agriculture isn’t coming from Autumn Hallow, it’s coming from here. Go to any rural American state, or fuck, just stand in a cornfield somewhere. There ya go, it’s Goldray. Arboresia has an entire population of Florida Man equivalents and they live here.

Territory Flag:

Bloomshine

The Spring-themed territory. Here, nature is even more everything than it is in the rest of the country. Litter is a felony and nature prevails over all. This territory is incredibly green and full of colorful plants and the most mystifying creatures you’ll ever see, even in its biggest cities. It’s very easy to mistake this territory for a rainforest or some kind of insane fae realm. Everything here is mythical and full of whimsy. Bloomshine is heavily populated by elves and other mythical creatures, rather than supernatural. Fairies, satyrs, unicorns, all of it.

Territory Flag:

Fort Frost

The Winter-themed territory. It’s like a free trial of what its like to live in Antarctica during the Winter, and during the other three seasons it’s a more accessible version of Alaska. Despite Autumn Hallow’s... everything, Fort Frost is the territory that terrifies Arboresians the most. Shit here is just another level of wild and scary. Internet cryptids found footage type scary. Yetis are real and they fucking live here. But even with an array of massive, deadly creatures both normal and mythical, Fort Frost still has all the cozy and gorgeous winter wonderland things all you cold weather enjoyers love the most.

Territory Flag:

Jazswing

The American 1920s called, they want their aesthetic back. For some reason a bunch of Arboresians (maybe who were American immigrants? But nobody knows for sure) fell in love with the aesthetic of being party animals with bomb ass fashion, so they made a territory about it. Jazswing is a territory of music, fashion, and living the high life no matter how poor or wealthy you are. The territory also has a reputation for not only bringing back the good parts of the American 20s and the arts, but it holds Arboresia’s biggest port, which is a popular spot for tourists, and modern day pirates. But most notable of all, Jazswing has a not-so-subtle and very present underworld of crime. Mafias, hitmen, bootlegging, drug dealers, the whole package. Jazswing has a rich culture that goes deep, but you best be careful about how far into it you venture.

Territory Flag:

Scornwood

Steampunk isn’t out of fashion or purely fantasy, you’re just a pleb who hasn’t visited Scornwood, Arboresia. Its a place of innovation, traditional magic like alchemy, and the coolest parts of the steampunk scene, especially the fashion and cool gadgets. Live your spunky sci-fi dreams here. Don your goggles, top-hats, pinstriped clothes and smother everything you own in gears. This is the territory for you. Scornwood loves tradition, and can be very exclusive about what or who enters it to avoid modernity tainting the things that make it special. They don’t live a strict no-tech lifestyle whatsoever, in fact they LOVE the stuff, but it absolutely MUST fit the culture. None of that sleek chrome bullshit.

Territory Flag:

[spiritsonic]

Hey there! I was wondering, do you have any concepts/concept art or storylines for gotf that you never ended up using? If so may we see? :)

Sure! There's a handful of things Okida and I have brainstormed at one time or another that I can confidently say won't happen now. Gonna put it under the cut so the post isn't super long!

Black Knight

The main one is a second Storybook Series adventure, this time focusing on Black Knight. We had a good time thinking about the changes to the setting post-game. Our version was more SatAM themed, putting "Robotnik" in the role of an invading Roman general, and "Sally" as a renegade Guinevere leading a Robin Hood-esque band fighting back from Sherwood Forest. There would have been a focus on Silver playing Galahad's role and needing to go on the Seige Perilous. Sonic and Metal were along for the ride too, but due to some magic rules bullshitting Sonic didn't get alive'd again, but instead played a haunted sword alongside Metal as a shield, both wielded by Silver.

(I would have it be known that I came up with this BEFORE Pokemon's sixth gen came out, thus Honedge didn't exist yet. Nintendo, I expect my royalty check in the mail any day now.)

Long story short, while coming up with the setting was fun the story quickly got VERY big and didn't offer a ton of opportunity for character or plot advancement so in the interest of time we decided to not do it.

GOTF Marine

While figuring out all the New Chaotix stuff, we considered adding Marine to the cast. She would have been a friend of Blaze's who was obsessed with conspiracy theories, especially relating to aliens and GUN. She was very pushy and wild, and kind of a technical/hacker genius sort, and of course like her game counterpart she would have been terrified of ghosts. In this earlier version the parents' secrets were kept longer, so the kids ended up doing an investigation on their own, I think.

(I would have it be known that I came up with this BEFORE Sonic Boom or Steven Universe had come out, so Sticks and Peridot didn't exist yet. Cartoon Network, SEGA, I expect my royalty checks in the mail any day now.)

We didn't have anything in mind for her beyond that initial arc though, and Sicily ended up filling the role of paranoid techie person so she never made it in. A bit of a bummer, she would have been fun to write.

Tarnish

Tarnish was the name of Anti-Silver from Moebius, and was considered for a much longer version of the Moebius arc. He would have been the last surviving disciple of Antique's cult, her warped protege. You already know what he would have looked like, the outfit Silver wears during the story was originally intended for Tarnish. the big difference is that when he was a child, Antique had his arms amputated so he'd be forced to develop his psychokinesis faster. So he had big weird psi-arms.

(This isn't actually a picture of Tarnish, I can't find one in my files, but you can see I re-used the arm idea here)

While cool and spooky, Tarnish really boiled down to a miniboss for the gang to fight before reaching Antique, and since Okida and I were getting really tired of being stuck on Moebius we decided to just get back home ASAP. If I ever do a "director's cut" of GOTF in prose form, I'd probably put him back in and expand on Antique's whole deal.

That one time I wrote a GOTF screenplay in college

Ok so in my first screenwriting class in community college, I in my infinite hubris decided to write an alternate version of GOTF that would be more tied to the Archie-verse. I think I was around 17? It starts off as a pretty straight redo/update of Issue 1, then the story veers off as the Zone Cops bust in, here to arrest the boys and destroy the dimension for being a fan AU disrupting the balance of the multiverse. Unfortunately, the class wrapped before I got past the very beginning of act 2... but what's there isn't that bad? It's not perfect, but does a better job explaining the premise and doing things in an exciting way. I have it saved as a PDF, if people want I could put it up on my Patreon.

The absolute worst part was when we did a table read in class. Listening to a random dudebro do a "haha you're too slow!" Sonic impression while reading GOTF Sonic's Traumatic Backstory Monologue... truly exquisite suffering. The teacher loved it, he wanted to submit my script to a college screenwriting competition.

----

Anyway, that's some scrapped GOTF stuff. There's probably more, but these are the ones that came to my mind right now!

[cherrybombfangirlwrites]

Following that ask to ramble: please, ramble about Fractured Stars Falling!! (also nice to meet you, name's Midnight!)

Hello there! Nice to meet you too, I'm Anna :D

I'll share as much as I can, you can also check out the wip intro for FSF (link in pinned post), and the tag #wip: fractured stars falling.

So a quick overview before we jump in:

Fractured Stars Falling is going to be a nine book series of dark fairytale retellings. There is one book for each of the six fairytales I'm retelling- which are Cinderella, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, The Frog Prince, Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty- plus three final books to wrap up the huge-ass plot and all of the character arcs (there are thirteen main characters). The biggest themes of the series as a whole are: what makes life worth living, healing from trauma, and finding hope even in the dark and through all of the pain and suffering.

There's going to be a lot of trauma, angst, spooky dark shit, and mental health issues involved. There is also a lot of LGBTQ+, POC, disabled, and neurodivergent representation.

Now here's all of the essential information (if I include more than that, we'll be in spoiler territory and scrolling for days ;)), organized book by book under the cut, because there. is. so. goddamn. much. it's a lot, I'm not even kidding.

Book 1: General Cinderella

To summarize in one scentence, General Cinderella is about Cinderella going to a gladiator tournament for the prince's hand instead of a ball. The book takes place in the kingdom of Dinvirty, which is the kingdom charged with guarding the gate that keeps the Witch Queen and her dark magic locked in the sandy prison. It's located at one of the highest points in Eltya, tucked away in the valley of the continent's biggest mountain. It snows most of the year, with about a week of warm weather where green grass can be seen before the frost and cold come back for the rest of the year. The kingdom is largely inspired by and based on the Vikings and the Roman Empire. The book's big theme is challenging beliefs and challenging the system when it's broken.

The Protagonists

Tris: The main protagonist of the book. While currently living with and slaving away for her stepfamily, Tris dreams of becoming a war hero that legends and songs will tell of one day. She's black, trans, and plus sized. Her hair is short, afro style coils that she usually pulls into a bun or ponytail behind her head. She's been teaching herself to fight ever since her father died, so that she can join the army and leave her awful stepfamily behind- the tournament is her first chance to prove herself.

Prince Kaye: The secondary protagonist, and Tris's love interest. Being born into a family of warlords, Kaye, who has always hated violence and the dark thoughts that plague him- doesn't have the greatest relationship with his parents. He's latino mixed, bisexual, and has OCD and a little bit of anxiety as well. His parents wish he would give in to his dark thoughts and become a bloodthirsty violence lover like they are, and it puts a strain on their relationship with him, despite how much they love him and want him to be happy.

The Antagonists

King Burningham and Queen Persephone: Kaye's parents, and the king and queen of Dinvirty. They are bloodthirsty warlords who worship the war god Keyon and especially love the gladiator fights in the arena built right next to the castle. King Burningham is a large man, stronger than ten men and with a huge braided beard. His wife, Queen Persephone, is beautiful in the most terrifying way, and has deadly, quick skill with a blade.

Side/Supporting Characters:

Lady Livian: Snow's stepmother. Not really an antagonist as we don't see her after the first chapter of the book until the ending. Though she does lock Tris in a basement and everything...

Daeva and Doria: Tris's whiny stepsisters that aren't much of a threat, but very annoying and expect Tris to do everything for them.

Prince Ashton: Prince Kaye's older brother, and the middle child of the royal siblings. Skilled fighter and loves the glory of beating men twice his size, but doesn't pressure Kaye to be like him the way their parents do.

Princess Elane: Kaye's big sister, and the eldest of the royal children. Skilled with all weapons and battle strategy. She's a very supportive sister to Kaye and tries to speak up for him against their parents.

Helena: A friend that Tris makes in the arena who starts to change Tris's perspective a little bit

Gregory with the Glass: a craftsman in Tris's village who specializes in armor and glass

Book 2: Snow Knight

In one scentence, Snow Knight is about a young princess trying to solve the mystery of who is attempting to assassinate her, while also trying to overthrow her tyrannic stepmother a year after her father's death. The book is set in the kingdom of Goke, just over a set of mountains from Dinvirty in another valley that opens up to flatter land. While a fairly cold climate, the seasons in Goke are fairly regular, with winter weather lasting three months and summer weather lasting three months and so on. The kingdom leads the education in Eltya, so it's full of intelligent scholars, astronomers, philosiphers, and other smart occupations. The kingdom is full of deep, dark green forests, which is full of woodland creatures and magical creatures such as dwarves. It is heavily inspired by the medieval gothtic era. There's a lot of themes about standing up for yourself instead of letting people walk all over you, and how to cut off a person who is hurting you (even though you desperately want them to love you because you've tried so hard to love them and you thought that if you tried hard enough they would love you back- but they don't love you and will never stop hurting you).

The Protagonists

Princess Snow: The main protagonist of the book. A year after her father's death and her stepmother taking over, Snow is working and training hard in preparation to challenge her stepmother for the throne and overthrow her. But her plans are interrupted, when with a hunting party, she's nearly assassinated by her friend the huntsman, who was blackmailed into killing her. Snow is a sex and romance replused aroace, asian, and in a QPR with her best friend. Snow is very much a people pleaser, and is very compassionate- her biggest strengths and weaknesses (which her stepmother expliots). Lan: The secondary protagonist, and Snow's best friend. While a flatter character, they do have a small arc of realizing that it's ultimately up to Snow to heal and realize what her stepmother is doing to her, and that they can't try to force the healing for her. They are Nonbinary/Genderqueer with they/them pronouns, Aro-spec and Ace-spec, mixed asian, and Snow's QPR partner. They are loyal to a fault, and a talented poet.

The Antagonist

Queen Reigna: The main antagonist. She married Snow's father about a year before he died, and took over about a week after his death. She's from a Councilor's family in Dryklan, and the marriage was purely for alliance purposes, while King Stanton and Reigna did like each other a little bit. She's always seen Snow as nothing but a nuisance, and once the young princess's father was gone, Reigna became even worse, and began to manipulate and emotionally abuse Snow to keep her out of the way. She's the best swordfighter in the kingdom, and has killed every person that has challenged her for the throne.

Side/Supporting Characters

Irae: Snow's mentor and tutor since she was young. An eccentric middle aged woman who loves to study plants and herbs. Hunter: A good friend of Snow's, and the huntsman who was blackmailed into killing her. (yes his name is an intentional pun, I think i'm funny) Captain Thorne: Army officer, captain of the royal guard. He has been helping Snow with her training since she started.

Book 3: The Little Pirate

The Little Pirate, in one sentence, is the story of the little mermaid as it was originally told... but after the guy left and the mermaid didn't die, instead having to move on with no voice and the feeling of walking on knives. The story is set on the high seas of Eltya, about three years after Cassandra's fisherman left her. The seas are filled with sea monsters bigger than ships, and beautiful tropical islands filled with dangerous and poisonous things. On the biggest of the islands is our hero's destination, where a huge man eating gorilla and active volcano with cursed magic at the heart lie... All of it inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. The main themes are about moving on from people who have hurt you, and healing by addressing the pain and letting yourself feel it rather than trying to bury it and forget because that will only make the pain worse.

The Protagonists

Captain Cassandra: The main protagonist. The little mermaid who fell in love with a fisherman and gave up her tail and voice for him, only to be left behind and forgotten. She's mute, partially deaf, plus sized, a redhead, and pansexual. She's the kind of pirate captain who cares about her crew, and will fight for them. After a few years of gaining experience in piracy, she's become very clever and calculating. Because of how her first love ended, Cassandra pushes others away- especially potential lovers- and self sabotages to speed of the process of them leaving before she can get attached. Cassandra thinks that by shoving it all down and not focusing on herself, the pain will disappear- but it doesn't. Erica: The secondary protagonist and Cassandra's love interest. The new crewmate with a dangerous map in her possession, and Cassandra's second chance at love. Erica has been a pirate for a while, roaming from ship to ship and having fling after fling, and is a hopeless romantic who loves the little joys in life. But after recently coming into possession of a map that leads to a cursed object on a dangerous island, she's been on the run from Gar Face and his crew for a while. She's an amputee with a peg leg, lesbian, and Polynesian.

The Antagonists

Gar Face Gabe: A rival pirate captain who has had it out for Cassandra ever since she messed up his face in an explosion about a year prior. Also working for the Witch Queen to bring her the dangerous curse that's found on the biggest island. The explosion tore a lot of skin away from his face, and living the pirate life, it never healed properly, so most of his face is all red and swollen with one dead eye. He had scars on his face before that, giving him the name, but it was nothing like the humiliating and huge scars that Cassandra gave him.

Side/Supporting Characters:

Billy Badbreath: Cassandra's grandfather who cut off his tail and replaced it with mechanical legs to join her so she wouldn't be alone. A happy go lucky pirate with gray hair and a little too much love for alcohol. First Mate Felicity: Cassandra's first mate, and main sign language translator. Loyal and trustworthy, she's one of the few people that Cassandra trusts with the story of her heartbreak. Cassandra's Crew: Eye-Spy Sally (the lookout), Angry Alice (the cook), Big Becky (the muscle), Quick Queenie (the speedy one), and Cannongirl Katie (in charge of the cannons) Gar Face's Crew: TBN *To Be Named*

Book 4: The Lord's Son and the Frog

The Lord's Son and the Frog is the story of the frog prince, but with dark magic, fancy royal balls, a shady councilor, a healthy dose of mystery, and cursed mountain mines involved. The book is set in the kingdom of Dryklan, where the second biggest mountain range in Eltya is- filled with the richest and purest metal and stone resources. The climate is a bit hotter, but with regular seasonal patterns. Most of the kingdom is the mountains, so there's not much space for living other than the sides of the mountains, where most citizens in Dryklan are settled. The kingdom is largely inspired by France and Italy during the Renaissance, and French royalty in the 1600s/1700s. The main themes are learning to be brave and fighting for what you love, even when you're scared and the odds are stacked against you.

The Protagonists

Max: The main protagonist. The skiddish son of Councilor Florron of Dryklan. He's very book smart, and is really good at chess, but hates conflict and will avoid it at all costs. If he sees something suspicious, he looks the other way, even if he shouldn't and stand up for others. He's gay and black. Max has had a few flings and been in romantic relationships before, but none of them got very far. He prefers to stay holed up in his room with his books and his chess set, or out in the gardens of the huge palace (where all of the Councilors and their families stay), relaxing by the calming pond and old well with a book. When he meets Monty, and they notice strange things happening in Dryklan and one of the Councilors acting shady, Max gets dragged into trouble. Prince Monty: The second protagonist, and Max's love interest. He's a lost prince who was cursed to turn into a frog forever- but the spell went a little wrong so he randomly switches between human and frog form. He's very suave, adventurous, a thrill seeker, and flirtatious. Monty is gay, middle eastern coded, and taller than Max. He's on the search for his sisters and brothers, and very lost in time as well as place.

The Antagonist

Councilor Darevan: One of twelve councilors of Dryklan. A shady man with lots of secrets, and is rumored to be using the forbidden dark magic. Working for the Witch Queen and trying to free her.

Side/Supporting Characters

Max's Parents: He's an only child, so his parents give him all of their love. His father is Councilor Florron and his mother is Lady May Florron. Darevan's servants: TBN, just as shady as their master, and a little creepy.

Book 5: Handsome and the Beast

Exactly as the original beauty and the beast... with a bit of a gender swap and fire magic of course. Like "Beauty" being a shy, village bookworm boy, and "The Beast" being a lost princess with fire powers. The book takes place in an area that was once the kingdom of Farkle, having fell five hundred years earlier. Most of the once great kingdom is overgrown with deep, dark forest, which is filled with dark magic and dark creatures such as werewolves. The climate is very chilly most of the year, but with less snow and more rain and fog- although the farther into the forest you go, the more snow there is. The region, especially the fashion, is largely inspired and based on Tzars of Russia and the Romanov Dynasty era of history. The story's biggest themes are letting people in and forgiving yourself instead of beating yourself up and shutting other out.

The Protagonists

Elliot: The main protagonist. A shy village bookworm who dreams of an adventure like in the books he reads. He has blonde hair, blue eyes, lots of freckles, and is a trans man. He's a dreamer, and also cares about his family and taking care of them. So when his father doesn't come home from a trip, rumored to be lost in the dark forest, of course he's going to go looking for his father. After getting lost in the woods during a blizzard, he's forced to take refuge in Hestia's castle and stay there until his horse has healed and the storm has let up enough to travel safely. Princess Hestia: The secondary protagonist, and Elliot's love interest. The lost princess with fire powers and a painful past. She has light brown wavy hair, honey brown eyes, and light brown skin with freckles. She's plus sized, and has an anxiety disorder- which usually manifests as anger outbursts. After two years of being alone in the castle (with only her servants made of fire to keep her company), and chasing off curious travelers, she's become extremely closed off, and self isolates as much as possible. Whenever she hurts someone, or breaks something in an outburst, she beats herself up, isolates herself, and may stay locked in her room for days.

The Antagonists

Francis de Leonron: A whiny, sniveling rich brat, who Elliot was betrothed to when they were about ten years old. He and his father use their money to get what they want, and they manipulate the villagers using their superstitions to do their bidding. Francis himself can't do much on his own, and is always calling for a servant to come and tie his shoes or cut up his food. Lord Leonron: Francis's father, who owns a few trading ships in Greyvenhill and several other trading vessels. A snide businessman who will do anything for more money and luxury.

Side/Supporting Characters

Daisy: Elliot's ten year old little sister. A sweet girl who loves playing pretend, playing with the animals that they keep behind their house, and learning to read from her big brother. Sir Beautyson: Elliot's father, and a merchant that makes enough to keep his family fairly well off with a big house, some animals, and a few servants- though they aren't nearly as rich as the Leonrons. Grandma Greta: Elliot's grandmother. A little forgetful, but means well. Embers: One of Hestia's servants made of fire, the butler. Very formal but kind. Has a little lizard companion made of fire named Lava. Ashes: Another one of Hestia's servants, the maid. Very grumpy and doesn't say much. Flicker: Another of Hestia's servants, the cook. Almost constantly happy and makes the best soup.

Book 6: Sleeping Beauty's Bodyguard

The story of Sleeping Beauty, but with a hotheaded, redhaired princess and her sweetheart of a bodyguard who is head over heels in love with her.

Set in the kingdom of Greyvenhill, the hottest and most humid of the kingdoms in Eltya. It’s the trading hub of the continent, with the most coastal area and a river running through it that leads to the other kingdoms. The climate is very hot and humid, with forests, open grassland, and even swamps closer to the coast. Largely inspired by medieval folklore of King Arthur and Robin Hood, and the historical era of that time. The biggest themes are protecting the people you love, finding a balance between caution and bravery, and tragedy.

The Protagonists

Princess Sapphire: One of two protagonists, and Raven's love interest. The fiesty, hotheaded, stubborn, redhaired princess that chases danger and risk rather than avoiding it. She's a redhead, demisexual, and has ADHD. Sapphire's arc is mostly her learning that she's not invincible and there are times she needs to exercise caution. After her mother died when she was too young to remember, her father has become so overprotective he won't let her leave the castle (she sneaks out anyway), and got her a bodyguard. Raven: One of two protagonists, and Sapphire's love interest. The protective, overly cautious bodyguard of the princess- who he is head over heels in love with. He's Latino, bisexual, and autistic (he masks a lot, so its not immediately obvious outside his pov). His arc is all about learning to be comfortable with vulnerability, and that there are times he should take risks and throw caution to the wind rather than be overly cautious.

The Antagonists

The Witch Queen: The witch corrupted by dark magic, finally having escaped her sandy prison. Puppeteered by the dark magic, on the hunt for more life to corrupt and feed the magic. She actually doesn't show up until the very end, but the war and destruction she's waging on the other side of the kingdom are mentioned, and they fight her dark sorcerers. She's a crazy and quite deranged, with tattered old clothes, a rat's nest of hair, and ashy skin with black blood vessels from the corruption.

Side/Supporting Characters

King Jerome: Sapphire's father. A very nervous man, and so overprotective of Sapphire he won't let her leave the palace and hired a personal bodyguard for her. Queen Constance: Sapphire's stepmother. Just as anxious and overprotective as her husband, though she means well and wants Sapphire to be happy. The Witch Queen's Dark Sorcerers: Servants of The Witch Queen, corrupted by the dark magic and sent across the land to do the dark magic's bidding. Izzidora: Sapphire's lady in waiting and best friend. A hopeless romantic and huge flirt. Indigo: A talking unicorn who Sapphire and Raven meet while hiding in the forest. Very grumpy, and stabs a lot with his horn. Little Stripe: A talking chipmunk, who they meet along with Indigo. The biggest chatterbox you will ever meet, and best friends with Indigo. Harry: Raven's best friend, and Izzidora's bodyguard. Raven's Brothers: Raven has four older brothers in the royal army with him, three of which are high ranking officers. Currently unnamed.

Book 7: Escape from the Under

Now, the character's stories are intertwined as one half is trapped in the underworld and trying to escape while the other half is desperately trying to bring them home, and the two groups team up in hopes of reaching their goal. The setting switches between two realms: all across Eltya, land of the living, and The Under, land of the dead. The Under is a desolate place where everything there is hellbent on making you suffer until your soul rots away and what made you mortal is gone forever. Lots of creepy and spooky stuff down there like demons and monsters. The Under is all ruled by a terrifying God of Death, with an endless army of demons under his command. The landscape in the underworld is inspired by underground cave systems like those found in New Mexico, and Goblin Valley in Utah (look up pictures they're both super cool).

Protagonists

Team Dead: Tris, Lan, Erica, Max, Elliot, Princess Hestia, and Princess Sapphire (you've met them all) Team Alive: King Kaye, Queen Snow, Captain Cassandra, Prince Monty, and Raven (you've met them all) Triveya: The only character of the main cast we haven't met yet. She's in the living world with our alive team, and is the resident magic expert as a wizard. She's a redhead, unlabeled queer, and ADHD and autistic with a fuck ton of burntout gifted kid trauma. She also has a pet dragon named Torch, that's basically a puppy with claws and fire breath. Most of her arc is learning to let go, let herself be messy and make mistakes, and a lot of that former gifted kid learning to accommodate themselves and that they don't deserve the pressure of always being perfect and being the smartest person in the room shit- in short, her arc is about going from a 'gifted' kid trying to be perfect 24/7 to a former 'gifted' kid that's messy and feral.

Antagonist

Undral, The Under King: King of the Underworld and God of the Dead. Absolutely terrifying and merciless. Thinks humans are annoying and whiny and punishes them for trying to escape the Under. Only shows up a few times in the book, but when he does he punishes the characters for attempting to escape.

Side/Supporting Characters

Cassandra's Crew: First Mate Felicity, Billy Badbreath, Eye-Spy Sally, Angry Alice, Big Becky, Quick Queenie, and Cannongirl Katie Hestia's Servants: Embers (with their lava lizard friend Lava), Ashes, and Flicker Indigo: The talking unicorn helping Raven Little Stripe: The talking chipmunk who also wants to help Raven Under Demons: Azazel and Phsyce. Hate their general and king, and genuinely want to help the mortal souls that shouldn't be dead escape.

Book 8: *untitled*

The Witch Queen comes after the main characters, as they now know what can stop her- an ancient amulet that can take away any magic, split in three pieces and hidden across Eltya. She's made a deal with the Underworld King to bring the once dead characters back to him, along with those who helped them escape. Set all across the world of Eltya, as the heroes travel by ship to Nyman's Island for one of the pieces, then hike through the Snow covered mountains between Goke and Dinvirty, and finally deep into the forests of what used to be Farkle. The main themes are that of the series as a whole.

Protagonists

Our 13 heroes that you've met

Antagonists

The Witch Queen, who you've met

Side/Supporting Characters

Cassandra's Crew, Indigo, and Little Stripe

Book 9: The Final Battle*

*Working title* Armed with the one thing that can stop The Witch Queen, the heroes race across Eltya to banish her back to her sandy prison before she kills them all. Once again, set all across the world of Eltya, coming to a head at Keyon's Gate where the Witch Queen first escaped. Once again, all of the overarching themes of the series.

Protagonists

Our 13 heroes

Antagonists

The Witch Queen

Side/Supporting Characters

Cassandra's Crew, Indigo, and Little Stripe

Thanks for reading, if you got this far <333 I love this WIP so much and I really want to finish it and hopefully get it to at least one reader who will become obsessed with it one day

[lady-and-lyon]

So, I made one post a while back about how awesomely feminist the show Wild Kratts was, with how its two main female characters were women of color in engineering and deserving roles of power, female villains who weren’t motivated by spite or quest for youth, etc, but today I wanted to talk about something slightly different, that I’ve wanted to cover for a while now, because I also think it’s very good - and that’s how the show portrays masculinity, in a way that’s really positive!

First, we have our two main characters, Chris and Martin Kratt. Keep in mind these two are basically self-inserts - and there are plenty of creators, especially males, who have used self-insert characters in really scummy ways - all I have to say is Powerpuff Girls reboot and you know exactly what I’m talking about. Even if they weren’t literal self-inserts, male characters, superheroes especially, oftentimes serve the male power fantasy, being just the strong, stoic, all-powerful person so many boys are told they’re supposed to be. I could get into a whole discussion about how the male power fantasy is present even when males are not (ever look through a fashion magazine and wonder why there are so few men? Sure, part of it is that the industry thrives off exploiting women’s insecurities, and men aren’t as concerned for their appearance, but another part of it is so that the guy, looking through it, can feel like he has no competition for these women - there’s a reason so many comedians have jokes about fashion magazines being their sexual awakening as kids. It’s really scummy) but that’s not what this is about. So, the bros had every opportunity to do just that - make themselves these traditional heroes who aren’t actually really good role models, like batman or what have you. It’s certainly not uncommon for celebrity cartoons to do stuff like that. But Martin and Chris chose a different approach. They’re pretty strong standouts for positive masculinity. They’re openly affectionate - both with eachother as brothers, and with their friends. They cry, sometimes over little things - most of the time when big superheroes cry, it’s ‘cause they lost the girl they loved or their mentor or something like that, only in the big, most agonizing moments do they shed a tear. But here, Chris or Martin will cry just because they’ve had a bad day, or because they’re overwhelmed and overjoyed that someone named a mantis after them! In a lot of shows or movies when a guy cries over something little, it’s usually played for laughs, or to emasculate him, but here it’s casual without being unreasonable or overdone. The brothers cry just ad much, maybe even more (haven’t gone back and counted or anything) as the girls do. Not to mention, it’s a very nice depiction of a loving, healthy sibling relationship. As the youngest sibling myself, it’s refreshing to see a pair who don’t abuse eachother with noogies or cruel and snarky remarks. When they do fight, it’s never a screaming match, and also because they had a conflict of interest or disagreed over a fact, not because, say, one of them stole the other’s shirt or is neglecting the other’s feelings. Kids, being very impressionable, get exposed to a lot of abusive sibling relationships played as normal in media, and start thinking this is how siblings are and should act. For instance, my sister (who is now my best friend and has gotten over all these bad habits over time) when she was younger watched a lot of Kim Possible, a show that is great, but has a bad family dynamic with Kim and her little siblings. The “tweebs” as she calls them are always irresponsible, destructive, and making Kim annoyed to no end. My older brother was one of the most polite, reserved, kind little kids, but she still treated him like he was a brat and a nuisance, because that’s what shows like Kim Possible taught her little brothers were. Additionally, I was always treated like a spoiled crybaby who just wanted attention and got away with everything - I was not any of those things, ever, but that’s what shows teach you little sisters are. Sure, Wild Kratts has a smidge of that, with Chris seemingly being the stereotype of the know-it-all little sibling, but instead of being constantly looked town upon for being too “perfect” like with Hailey Long in American Dragon, Martin often praises his brother for his abilities. Sure, Martin gets annoyed when Chris tries to correct him on things, like in the episode Wolf Hawks, but everyone else does too, so it feels more like a take-down of mansplaining than a sibling spat.

I talked too in the feminist post about how refreshing it is that Chris and Martin more or less willingly put themselves under the authority of Koki and Aviva, two women of color. I don’t think it’s possible to say any one character is the “leader,” they all work as a evenly balanced team, but it’s safe to say that Koki and Aviva make the more responsible decisions. The bros try to get out of their calls a few times, but the show plays it more like they’re being irresponsible, and less like they’re renegade cool dudes who don’t take nothing from nobody, especially not two girls. They are pretty much always punished via karma for their reckless choices, most especially in To Touch a Hummingbird, where their arrogant attitudes blow up in their faces rather spectacularly. We also never see the narrative most present in sitcoms, where the male leads mess up and go out of their way to cover it up and ultimately gets away with it - after all, you have to root for them, right, because sure they messed up and had no consequences, but aren’t they just so lovable? No, here Martin and Chris always have to fix their wrongdoing, and it’s always deserved when they get comeuppance. Another aspect of the show I like is that, many times, when the bros get captured or are in peril, they are saved by the women - and most refreshing of all, there’s never a moment of “wink wink nudge nudge wow I can’t believe I had to be rescued by a GIRL” or even “wow you saved me you’re pretty good honey guess I shouldn’t have underestimated you, you go girl!” No, when the girls save them, it’s just - you know, relief? Because they were saved? It’s never a scenario played as an exception, or any more dire than when the bros need to rescue eachother. The bros are genuinely happy to have them as teammates. The show even did the standard “boys vs girls” episode in the form of When Fish Fly - but instead of being actually girls vs. boys, it’s engineers vs. adventurers. There’s nothing really gendered about it - the girls happen to be engineers, and the boys happen to be adventurers. And the episode doesn’t end with the boys being “wow gosh darn I shouldn’t have doubted you girls are better at everything,” it’s a mutual agreement that both parties have hard jobs. Basically, the bros are very naturally respectful of women. That plays more into their feminist narrative too, but either way, it’s refreshing.

Then, we have Jimmy! Jimmy, the lovable gamerboy pizza man. At first glance Jimmy seems like the stereotypical cowardly, pathetic, emasculated loser. He’s frightened of most things, as of yet has no power suit, and he BAKES for crying out loud! But none of these things are framed as terribly bad traits. Sure, we laugh when he screams and runs from an animal, but though it happens over and over, the crew doesn’t get sick of it. They don’t berate him or belittle him because he’s so gosh darn cowardly. There’s a great scene in Rattlesnake Crystal where Jimmy has to deliver something to the bros alone, in the middle of a spooky desert. He is terrified the whole time, sprinting off after he delivers the goods. When Martin and Chris run into him, they don’t laugh at him for being spooked, they just greet and then bid fair well to their friend. To them, this is just Jimmy, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Jimmy isn’t coddled, but he is reassured many times that he’s a valuable member of the team. I love that little message, that you’re just as important of a person even if you can’t do as much or have greater limits. When his friends do try to get him over his fears, it’s not because they have to, that the day will somehow be ruined by Jimmy’s incompetence p, but because they’re his friends, and want him to experience fun and wonderful things that he would otherwise miss out on. But what Jimmy CAN do is just as important! Jimmy is a gamer, which in a lot of shows, is portrayed as a lazy, useless, mindless hobby. But here, because he plays video games, it makes him essential for piloting the ship and teleporting important items. There’s always the joke that video games improves your hand/eye coordination, but recent studies have shown it has much better effects. It can make you much better at keeping track of multiple moving objects and processing technical but variable information- two traits which, fittingly enough, are really really important for air traffic controllers and airplane pilots! He also demonstrates a lot more courage behind the wheel of the Tortuga, which makes sense - in an impersonal setting, he would have more sense of calm and control and courage, because it’s so similar to a video game world. It’s not all too different with how I feel more emboldened to pick fights with people on the internet, but get crazy anxious if a real person so much as looks at me. So Jimmy’s love of video games isn’t because he’s irresponsible, it has real benefits. A quick last point - Jimmy also eats a lot, but they thankfully don’t make him fat or greedy or anything like that. He never takes food from people, he actually bakes, and shares it with others! Having the baker be a boy is a lovely touch.

I might do another post about the toxic masculinity of the two villains, (or four villains, I guess, if I wanna discuss the minions) but I’ve got other work to do, and this post is long enough already, so I’ll get around to it later. I’ll sum it up with this - Wild Kratts is a show that teaches boys it’s not only ok to be kind, but essential. The brothers protect defenseless animals, advocate for things “icky” and “weird,” like bugs or snakes or worms - not because they’re boys, and boys like icky things, but because they genuinely see the beauty in all life, and are encouraging us to slow down and do the same. The Wild Kratts are heroes who save the world not by being the strongest or smartest or coolest, but by looking after those who are exploited and vulnerable, who are essential to the world, even if they can’t always do everything. In Wild Kratts the only weaknesses a man can have isn’t what he can’t do, but what he does do that he shouldn’t have. Sure, it’s a cute show about two funny guys who have cool powers, but it’s also a show about accountability, compassion, respect and trust. The show says “boys will be boys” in all the right ways - Martin is a lovable goof with a heart of gold, but he still has to get his act together when he messes up, and he’s still creative and smart and openly sensitive. Chris is a bit of a know-it-all show-off, but he can also mess up as much as his brother, and is still bold, brave, adventurous, and can put his money where his mouth is. Jimmy is a cowardly, napping, eating machine video-gamer, but he’s still a valued member of the team, has incredible skills and talents, and will always help his friends, even if he is really, really scared. It is so important to have role models like these, in a world dominated by unhealthy machismo. The Wild Kratts are heroes who save the world - both animated, and real.

All they need now is a canon queer character, and I’ll stan them forever! My money’s on Aviva!!