#Hagging Out October 2022

[pagan-stitches]

Hagging Out: October

Thinking about taking part? Reply to this entry - or send me a DM                ( @pagan-stitches / @goadthings )- and I’ll add you to the list of October Hags.

Thank you @graveyarddirt / @msgraveyarddirt for asking me to guest host during one of my favorite months of the year!

It’s Spunky Night, it’s Spunky Night,

Gie’s us a candle, Gie’s a light

If ‘ee don’t, ee’ll have a fright.

--A once common rhyme among Somerset guisers Hallowe’en night

Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marchin’

We are the guisers at the door,

If ye dinna let us in

We will bash yer windies in

An ye’ll never see the guisers anymore.

--A once common rhyme among Scots Hallowe’en guisers

Excerpted from Ronald Hutton’s Stations of the Sun.

WHO: To join this challenge you must 1.) identify as a hag (trans, non-binary, and dude Hags welcome!), and 2.) be 30 years or older. While not mandatory, all former participants have been some flavor of pagan or witch or Christian, so incorporating the challenge into your practice or devotional schedule isn’t just tolerated, it’s encouraged!

WHAT: Octobers’s theme is “Hallowtide.”  Whether you celebrate Samhain, Halloween, All Hallow’s Day, Día de los Muertos, Dušičky, Dziady, All Saint’s Day, All Soul’s day, or any other day associated with the end of October and the beginning of November, this month your challenge is to share your Hallowtide preparations, traditions, customs and/or rituals. We’re keeping the theme deliberately broad - there’s no wrong or right way to celebrate

WHERE: In the convenience of your home! Unless, of course, you want to be a bit extra. Whatever you decide to do, and wherever you decide to do it, be sure to tag your posts with #Hagging Out so fellow crones can follow along. (Over the past few years we’ve essentially strong-armed everyone else out of the tag and claimed it as our middle-aged Hag fort.)

WHEN: October 30th through November 3rd! Participating Hags are encouraged to complete their challenge and write their entry when it suits their schedule, then pick one of the five “open” days October 30th – November 3rd to post it.

WHY: To consolidate our strengthening crone powers and exchange tips on the best way of covering stubborn greys. And because it’s occasionally nice to be social in the comfort of your own home without actually having people over.

HOW: By celebrating the holiday with whatever customs, meals, rituals and traditions are important to you - it’s wide open and up to you!  

🎃 👻 🦇 🧙‍♀️ October Hags: @goddess29, @hypomanicsatanicpanic , @buddyblanc @graveyarddirt, @tsavo-witch, @temperamentalterpsichorean, @mildlyoccultish , @stellasapiente, @hrusewif, @stormcrow513, @wildwood-faun, @lurelurk, @matagot-carfouche, @satsekhem, @sevenswordsofsorrow, @catastrophe-jones, @a-witch-named-crow, @incense-or-cigarette-smoke, @fauxsmilesforall, and @pagan-stitches

[mildlyoccultish]

Hagging out

I started my Samhuinn with buying a house.

Seriously, the offer we put in on a house was accepted, so the early afternoon was a write off.

Starting closer to supper, I started my Samhuinn cider. I have been making a hot cider for Samhuinn for about 20 years. Every year is slightly different, depending on what I have in the house. I feel like it's based on need rather than recipe.

This year I had cider from a local orchard. I added clove and allspice, sliced clementine, and cinnamon.

After letting that simmer a few hours, my partner and I went out to the cemetery to lay offerings on my ancestor's graves.

It was a beautiful night.

We came home, had some cider, and settled in for a movie.

I usually have more planned, but house hunting took up most of my available brainspace for the past few months. But there is nothing wrong with simplicity.

[hypomanicsatanicpanic]

hagging out- october entry

Typically October falls in the month of Marcheshvan, which is the second month of the Jewish year- it typically falls sometime between mid September and early November. Marcheshvan is also sometimes called "bitter Cheshvan" as there are no holidays associated with it-the only month in the Jewish lunar calendar with no holidays, and it marks the beginning of the rainy season in the Levant (where Judaism originated as an earth-based system of spirituality).

It's actually not that bitter for me. I love the rain and I tend to get really tired by the end of the High Holy days-- a huge 2-day harvest party, immediately followed by 10 days of solemn reflection then a day of fasting and atonement, then a "building and hanging out in makeshift huts" festival for a week, then a huge party where you dance with your holy scrolls in the street.

So for me, Cheshvan is about rest, recuperation, cleanup and maintenance.

But first, a few photos of the lovely Sukkah I built using my car.

Sukkahs are basically booths or tents built during the festival of Sukkot to commemorate the time ancient Jews spent wandering around in the wilderness. It's a way to connect with the struggles of our ancestors and to celebrate the fact that G-d was there to help us out in those times. 

There are a number of qualities a sukkah must have to count as a sukkah, including that it must be temporary, it must have at least three sturdy sides, and it must have a roof of natural material through which it is possible to see the stars. I'm broke and have very little skill at building, so I set up a makeshift sukkah using the doors of my car and sticks collected from the yard. It was great to relax there, eat some good food, and to catch up with myself.

The other thing that the local Jewish community here does in Cheshvan is a community cemetery cleanup.

 In Judaism, taking care of the dead is one of the highest good deeds it is possible to do, as the dead cannot ever thank you for your care or give anything back to you. There’s a very specific set of instructions on how to treat, honor, and care for a corpse- including washing it, praying for it, dressing it in special shrouds, and never letting it be alone from the time of death until the time it is buried. Anywhere with a decent-sized Jewish population there will almost certainly be a dedicated volunteer organization to coordinate and perform these rituals--the chevra kadisha (burial society).   At a Jewish funeral, mourners take turns filling in the grave--this is a sign of how we take care of the ones we love to the very end. And even after death, we remember those who have died by saying special prayers and lighting candles on the yearly anniversaries of their death.

Taking care of the cemetery as a community in the spring and fall by doing garden tasks and cleaning the stones is something really special as it demystifies death, gives young people and old people a chance to talk about the people they miss, and reminds people of the history of the community here. So we did that on October 30th. Here’s a picture of some of the older people yelling at some children about making sure to check for sticks before jumping into the leaf piles IIRC

It is our custom to place stones on graves instead of flowers because they are more durable and act as a symbol of the longevity / endurance of our memories of the deceased; and a symbol of Jewish continuity and survival of our people through time. 

There are some other theories for why this tradition came to be:

- Stones hold the souls in the grave, where they belong

- Stones deter demons or evil spirits from messing with the grave 

- As a sign of the desire we have for G-d to keep our loved ones close (Shepherds had a system to keep track of their sheep which involved holding pebbles in a bag; G-d is a shepherd, and the pebbles are to remind G-d to keep watch over the deceased person) 

Here are some stones that kids in Hebrew school painted to place on the graves.

My favorite one was a yellow stone with a scribbled picture of something that looked like a TV and a lot of ...gore? Not quite on-theme...Apparently the kid who made it misinterpreted what the rocks were for and made a drawing of “a horror movie on TV” on his rock. Unfortunately I’m not exactly sure what happened to that rock. Also, there was this extremely friendly cat who helped out (by which I mean, ran around to everyone looking for attention and generally being cute). Apparently her name is Captain, and she has a special sense for knowing which tomb mourners are coming to visit. So either a really smart cat, or the lady who lives near the cemetery was pulling my leg.  All in all, a great month.

[sevenswordsofsorrow]

Hagging out: October

Sorry for the late post, I've been busy

This year I celebrated All hallows eve, All Saints day, and All Souls day

For All hallows eve I prayed the de profundus and rosary. I also made these rose hip bundles with willow

For All Saints day I prayed the litany of the saints, rosary, and l lit a tealight candle every night. I offered water to the Saints in heaven

I also finished up my work on my protection onion from Michaelmas

For all souls day I prayed for the holy souls in purgatory with the de profundus and rosary. I also offered my ancestors some of the Herbal infused alcohol I made

I had a lot of fun doing this and I learned a lot 🎃

[finallydelight]

helloooo, by any chance can you do a chapter or Drabble of bam, Jungkook and Maya? It can be anything— it doesn’t matter💗

The Favourite Parent | Maya Chapter

author’s note: hi ! thank you so much for the request, I’ve been in my bam x jk x maya feels since yesterday and this was the first thing that came into my mind. I hope you like it, darling ❣️

October 5, 2022

''Does Bam have a favourite?'' Taehyung's question rang through the apartment, having everyone present look at the young couple.

Jeongguk proudly nodded his head, pointing at himself. ''Obviously me, I clean his poop and wipe his butt everyday.''

Jin, Hobi and Taehyung glanced at the woman sitting on the couch, who was visibly trying to hold her laughter in. Jieun looked down at her lap, a tired Bam laying across her legs. ''Yeah, you're definitely the favourite.'' She teased in a sarcastic tone.

The members laughed at her words, while the 97-liner pouted his lips. ''Hey! I don't see you cleaning that ginormous shit of his.'' Jeongguk complained, demonstrating the size of Bam's poop with his hands in dramatic fashion.

''When you got Bam, you said you would do all the dirty stuff and that I didn't have to worry about anything since you adopted him.'' Jieun defended herself.

It was early into their dating stage that Jeongguk had adopted the Doberman into his home. He had assured her that it was his dog and that he didn't expect her to take care of Bam in any way, but Jieun gladly helped out here and there. She didn't think her and Bam would get along as well as they did since Jieun was more of a cat person.

Bam quickly grew attached to the woman, always excitedly greeting her when she walked into the door and clinging onto her whenever she did anything. Jeongguk noticed and started referring to Jieun as 'mom' whenever he talked to Bam about her.

''Ji, you scold him too much, he definitely likes me more.'' Her boyfriend continued, not stopping until she admitted that he is Bam's favourite.

Jieun rolled her eyes. ''It's thanks to my scolding that he's so well-behaved, you're always wrestling with him.'' The two bickered back-and-forth, ignoring the three members and the dog watching them.

''Guys, there's only one way to end the entire discussion!'' Jin exclaimed, making the two stop and look at the oldest member. ''You two call Bam at the same time, whoever he comes to, is his favourite.'' He concluded.

Jeongguk got up from his chair. ''I like that, come on, Bam!'' He moved to the couch and sat next to his girlfriend, who looked unimpressed by the entire thing.

''Bam, come here.'' Hobi motioned for the boy to come to him. He got up from Jieun's lap and moved over to Hobi, who immediately started petting him.

''Ready to be proven wrong, Ji?'' Jeongguk glanced at her, a smirk already present on his face like he had already won.

She offered him a sarcastic smile. ''You tell me.''

''3, 2, 1, go!'' Taehyung counted down.

''Bam! Come here, boy!'' ''Bam-ie, sit next to me.'' The couple called him over, Jeongguk's voice towering over Jieun's. However, that didn't seem to have any effect as Bam swiftly made his way to Jieun's side of the couch and planted himself in her lap again.

''And we have a winner! Kim Jieun, everyone!'' Jin declared, heavily amused by their maknae losing the little competition.

Jieun put her arms around the big dog, kissing his face. ''My good boy! I know you love mom the most, my baby.'' She coddled him, looking over at a pouty Jeongguk.

''Hey, Bam! Without me, she wouldn't even be your mom, remember that.'' He whined, crossing his arms.

''You jealous hag.''

Taglist: @stopeatread @sakuurra @seongwhaffels @cosmicwintr @smh-anon @cixrosie @allthings-fandoms @themalipirate

[spookyserenades]

Can I just say that it makes me really happy whenever I realize the date is nearing 7th I hv a feeling you'd go all out for the spooky season I'm kinda curious abt something hope u don't mind my qs I'm like weirdly obsessed with this piece of art so yeah my mind is filled with qs hehehe the thing is I realized like u r very on par with the real timelines like Jk's birthday party was literally on September and stuff like that I'm aware that much time hasn't passed in this universe since the first chapter but it was really cool how the timeline here and the timeline irl kind of overlap... may be I'm jst reading too much into it cuz my love for Trouvaille doesn't know any limits :) anyways luv ya 🖤 cheers for a lovely chapter 🖤 and can I request we kick the ass of that audacious old hag? tc :D

AHHH hi love!! 💜🥺 I too get super excited for the 7th, its the day we all get to chat and go nuts together! I've been working really hard on this chapter (still am!!!) and I hope I can deliver some of the spookiness that goes with October. This next update will feature a few time jumps to include several events, so I hope it isn't too cluttered, but mostly exciting!

I don't mind questions at all, in fact, I love them!! And thank you for being so so sweet. So for the timelines, it happened completely by accident (which is cool and kind of witchy!!) I started writing Trouvaille in June of 2022. It just so happens that now, as I've caught up and have been posting each new chapter as I write it, the timing is lining up with the seasons! Which has of course, been a blast-- I mean some Halloween/Samhain themes in the next update will go perfectly with October. I will say, Trouvaille does take place starting in August 2022, if anyone is curious about the exact timeline.

Love you love you so much! 🥰 Thank you for sending in some kindness and your thoughts, I'm really happy you loved the previous chapter. I think that between Y/N, Jeongguk, and Namjoon, they'll be able to kick that old hag ghost's ass out and into Fenway Park LMAO!!

[honeydrop-sweetheart]

🔸🔶🍯 About Me 🍯🔶🔸

🟡 You can call me Lily! Or Miss Lily or Missy. Or Honey, since I guess it's on theme.

🟠 Any pronouns will do, but she/they fits this blog best.

🟡 Why will any pronouns do? I'm genderfluid. Or bigender. Or uncertain if I experience gender as a stable and concrete thing at all! 🏳️‍🌈 But this blog will be largely female-presenting, for a handful of personal reasons. 

🟠 I turned 30 in late 2023 and I have been questioning and exploring my gender since October 2022! (But between you and me, it had been a long time coming and I knew it. 🤫)

🟡 I'm spoken for, even though I'm a big ol' (non-practicing) slut. Yes, she knows I'm here to 🥺🥺🥺 my little eyes at all the lovely people here and hang out with my community (hedonistic, kinky queers). Yes, my absurd gender has quickened her winding path from Local Fag Hag to Disastrous Bisexual. Call me a bad influence!

🟠 Other relevant labels: bisexual, kinky (switch), autistic, ADHD, writer of problematic smut

🔸🔶🍯 My Blog 🍯🔶🔸

🟡 This blog is NSFW / 18+ 🔞 I block minors and unknown ages.

🟠 The blog is meant to be a safe and supportive space and I'll block and curate as necessary to keep it that way!

🟡 This is part personal blog, part positivity blog, and part nasty kink blog. I'll try and tag things so you can follow at your comfort level, but please be aware I don't plan to be shy about my interests. 😳

🟠 Asks are open. Nooooo. This doesn't have anything to do with the above bullet point. Not even a little. That would be sooo embarrassing and we wouldn't want me flustered at all, right?

🟡 Hard kinks doesn't mean we shouldn't be polite to each-other. Be kind, respect boundaries, and don't add captions/content to my photos. 

Kink content is likely to be varied and contain harder kinks. Even if it isn't something I'd do personally, I'm liable to find it interesting in the context of fantasy and smut. Specific topics which come to mind that I know might be unappealing to some folks: caregiver/little, CNC, degradation, and generally problematic fantasy scenarios.

I don't vibe with scat, AB/DL, or vore. Much love to you if those are your things, but it's not for me personally and I'd rather not.

🔸🔶🍯 My Tags 🍯🔶🔸

#mine = Pictures and such featuring yours truly

#answers = Ask box related

#methinks = Text posts authored by me; likely to be nonsense

#lore = Content that's more on the personal side than the horny/nonsense side

#kinky tag = Content which is unrepentantly horny and probably contains a harder kink (if you don't or do want to see such things)

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to say hi!

🐝➰ See you out there! - 💖 Lily

[friend-crow]

Hagging Out - October 2022

I was excited to sign up for this month's hagging out, and then when the time came to document things, I remembered: a lot of what I had planned is secret/personal. So, I don't have a lot to show for this month, but I'll share what I can.

I made a little wreath featuring origami moths. There were other decorations as well, but this is the one I made.

On Halloween night I gave out candy to the neighborhood kids, then turned off my porch light, closed all the curtains and proceeded to get weird. I won't go into much of what I got up to for the nights of the 31st - 2nd, but I will say that I got a lot more into scrying than I have in the past, which was cool because I've historically gotten bored and given up before anything neat happened.

As threatened in the August edition of Hagging Out, I made some witch torches using a dried mullein seed head which I harvested at that time. It was about 3' long, so I cut it into thirds before saturating it with beeswax. I'd never made a witch's torch before, and was afraid that it wouldn't burn very well, but boy, once it started burning, it really burned!

I'd planned on having a little fire as well, but since it was raining all night I ended up hanging out in the garage for much of the evening.

On November 2nd I got dim sum with my parents and aunt, in honor of my Great Uncle, who always used to meet us for dim sum when we were in San Francisco. Then I went home and dedicated most of the day to ancestor work. Again, I won't go into most of the details, but I made offerings of bread, chocolate, wine, water, and many, many candles.

It was nice having a couple of extra days off to focus on spirit and ancestor work, but now I have a horrifying amount of work to catch up on.

tagging @pagan-stitches with my submission, such as it is

[wildwood-faun]

Hagging out, October 2022

2022 is continuing to keep me in a state of keeping-it-together (barely). My practice has been pared down as much as I can pare it down and keep calling it a practice but I'm still hopeful that a day will come when I feel like I have some breathing room again.

I did not manage a ritual, small or big, nor did I have time or energy to spend in the kitchen. Sometimes we have to prioritise, and I had decided that no matter what, I would go visit the Elder.

The Elder grows on a hill between my town and a tiny village, on a crossroads on the pilgrim's path. All of this is significant, but none of it became apparent to me until long after I'd had a very powerful experience there (also on Samhain). I make a pilgrimage there at least a couple of times a year, and always on or around Samhain.

For this visit, I brought offerings of water, mead and flowers for Lady Elder and the spirits of the crossroads and sat and spoke to them a little. I hope to be able to do more next time. At the very least, I hope to be able to stay a little longer.

[stormcrow513]

Hagging Out October 2022 Hallowtide

Me and Mittens and Me and Circe in my best Witchy outfit Circe is also wearing a witch hat,

So October has been pretty fucking busy and hectic this year, and it just felt different too,

While I know Samhain doesn't have a specific date as it changes seasonally, typically for me I start feeling the season around mid to late August picking up steam throughout September and October peaking on Halloween and slowly rolling into yuletide in early November,

This year however I felt that first brush on August first, and I didn't feel that peak on Halloween, still writing this November 2nd haven't felt that usual peak,

I'm not sure why, maybe it's that while it started getting the fall chill early this year the plants haven't gone to bed, the leaves in my yard haven't dropped fully, barely at all really, there's still so much green left on everything, this is not normal here, so maybe it's climate change, changing Hallowtide as well,

Could be the loss, I spent months with Shy battling her cancer as it slowly ripped her away from me in pieces, to culminate in lossing her September 8th, it's exhausting loss, I'll like spend the rest of the year with metaphorical lead weights dragging my ass down,

Could be that I'm just changing getting older, I'm 30 and nothing in me is as it was, I got my first grey hairs at 23 my knees have always been shitty and my back started joining em, and worse of all my ribs on my left hurt a lot of the time, but with all that has come more experience as a Witch I'm sensing things better and better, after all this time doing magic pursuing this road, I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere,

I wanted to jam as much as I could into this month since for whatever reason October tends to be my most productive month, so I started this month out with @windvexer Red Pepper Spellbreaker which started me out on a good place, though I still felt a little blocked after so right before Hekate's Deiphon I did it again then did a Gate Opening with Hekate after I put Her offerings out on Her night,

I also started out the month by restarting my book Psychic Witch, I'd gotten fairly far into the book and then got stuck on an exercise and sorta fell off working it so I thought I'd start on Exercise one and do one each day for all 31 days, and then to keep going til I got to where is gotten stuck which was on Exercise 37, as a way to kinda reset myself, so I can finish this book, I succeeded and as I want through these Exercises I found myself getting more out of them then my pervious attempt, I found some easier and others found myself in deeper then I'd ever gotten, I'm proud of what I've accomplished with it this month

I also started on the Monday after the full moon on Sunday doing LTZS Witchual Workout, I wanted a way to exercise, to connect with my body and to connect with various energies some which I've never worked with before, I've done some of these in the past at random and found them helpful, so I synced up with them as best I could, I'm of today 24 days into it, I've made it even more of a ritual by giving an offering of water and flame to each energy invoked, as well as finishing with some yoga stretches to avoid cramping up, and meditation,

As to my ancestors I have managed for hmm maybe a year now to do daily offering of water to them, though I been cleaning their altar and adding something extra on Halloween, this year it didn't feel right, maybe cause I was tired maybe cause I'd had a distressing dream of my passed sister that reminded of the angry I still hold for her, which made me want to avoid her picture on the altar, either way I didn't manage to do it on Halloween I just renewed the water glass, though I intend to clean and set out more in the next couple days,

I did get my now yearly Pumpkin cheesecake made with my home grown pumpkins, I had my biggest haul ever with them this year! Though a couple didn't finish ripening and the vines died before they could finish and one big one went rotten before I could cut them up for some reason,

I still have a few to chop and boil as I couldn't fit em all in the pan that was clean so oops,

Anyway I think that covers it mostly, I didn't get much done on Halloween itself and I still have an Ritual to Persephone and Hades to perform along with my formal Ancestor work but I want to get this out while I've got the spoons, so

Love to you all, I hope you all had great Halloweens ect, and that all our next cycles be what we need and hopefully kind

Thanks and love especially to @pagan-stitches for being our lovely host this month 🌹

[djservo]

hiiii cas getting to that time again. how was your october reading/movie watching and what’s the november vibe? 🤭🙇🏽‍♀️

IMO MY BOOKISH BABE HOLDING MIRRORS UP TO MY HABITS 🪞📆‼️ ok here's the rundown:

The Pleasure of the Text by Roland Barthes

Danger and Beauty by Jessica Hagedorn

Lunch Poems by Frank O'Hara

Uprock Headspin: Scramble and Dive by Patrick Rosal

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

Dark Pool Party by Hannah Black

In my post-travels/daylight savings change brain fog I simply do not have the brain power to reflect deeply at the moment (lest I make you wait another week for this roundup which I'm already late to smh!) & like half of these were poetry/prose which is hard for me to concisely sum my thoughts up on anyway but I enjoyed my time with all of them with the exception of The Cabin at the End of the World which was ultimately a grueling drag 🧘‍♀️

I won't list every movie I watched bc that'd just make this even more overbearingly long BUT I'll say my stand-out favorites were Barbarian (2022), Swoon (1992), Vamp (1986), Diabolique (1955), The Lair of the White Worm (1988), Nekromantik 2 (1991), American Mary (2012), and Triangle of Sadness (2022) 💥 biggest flops were Bros (🫥) & Hocus Pocus 2 (not that i was expecting much in the first place but y'know the hollow bastardization of childhood favorites / all that precious time I'll never get back / blah blah blah I'm a hag whatever 🚬)

as for plans, movie-wise I think I wanna do a loose Noirvember but also it's Nora Ephron fall in my world so I'll probably revisit some of my fav cozy romcoms soon 🫶 book-wise, who's to say anymore!! the world (my pile of untouched books) is my oyster 🦪📚

[magnus-sm-writes]

Short Story Update: End of 2023

Believe it or not, when I’m not writing novels, I’m typically working on short fiction. I know I talk a lot about my poetry—and believe me, I do write quite a few poems—, but I’ve been trying to work on my short fiction since October of last year. 

What really got me going was the realization that it had been a full year since my last (and only, as of writing this) short story was published. “The Ghost You Left Behind” was published in Coffin Bell’s October 2022 issue. I got a little panicky about that (I think I cried). I’d put off both writing and attempting to submit short stories for quite some time due to the hectic events of my 2023. In short, I needed to do something. I was getting antsy.

I realized I needed to challenge myself more. Constraints equal creativity for me. It’s about testing myself, pushing to see if I can still write to a prompt or not.

This update showcases two short stories of mine: “The Boy & the Hag Stone” and “Plastic Fangs”. 

Out of both of them, you might think that “Plastic Fangs” was written first. But I actually began “The Boy & the Hag Stone” in October, and didn’t begin writing “Plastic Fangs” until December. What can I say? I’m a spooky boy year-round, except when it’s spooky season. Then I’m just a regular boy.

For both of these stories, I was inspired by visuals. Honestly, for any story, I am inspired by visuals. I don’t think in words; I think in pictures.

For “Hag Stone”, I was thinking a lot about the stone in Coraline. That cool little guy is actually rooted in beliefs that hag stones protected you from evil, and that looking through one could reveal hidden evils. Not exactly how it’s used in the movie, but I’m willing to give it a pass because I’m a sucker for a good Laika movie. I was also inspired by how much I personally hate wearing shoes. (I work in an office, and my coworkers know that I am most focused without my shoes on.)

“Plastic Fangs” was fun because it was my Halloween piece. (Just two months late on that, as always.) I had this idea of a scene where a vampire went as himself for Halloween. Not a very original idea, I know, but I was so inspired that I drafted the story in less than two days, and wrote a second draft in just as much time. 

(This is why I thought I could easily finish 2 short stories in the month of February. Which I did not do.)

These stories flowed from me with an ease that felt almost surreal. It was truly incredible. Perhaps that was because I had just gotten my full-time job and was finally able to stick to a schedule. Writing around an hourly work schedule was difficult for me because it was so unpredictable. However, with my work hours set (and by virtue of that, my writing hours set as well), I can easily finish more writing now than I could before, when I had objectively more time to finish things.

Both of these stories were fun additions to my growing collections of stories with fantastical elements. 

“The Boy & the Hag Stone” is about Rishi, a man who’s a little directionless in life, and the strange man he meets called Banshee. Banshee is the biggest manic pixie dream boy I’ve ever written. Quite frankly, I want to write more for him, even though he’s a very difficult person to write dialogue for. 

It is a little over 5000 words, though it needs some serious revisions. Somewhere in the middle, the style completely changes. I was going for a vaguely fairytale-esque vibe, in honor of the professor who encouraged me to write fantasy once again. It didn’t exactly work the first time around. Hopefully, a second pass will allow me to salvage the idea, because I think it fits the tone quite well. Banshee is mysterious enough to be a small-town folk legend. Funnily enough, that is my ultimate goal in life. 

My quote for “Hag Stone” is from Coraline, of course: “I think most things are pretty magical, and that it’s less a matter of belief than it is one of just stopping to notice.” I think that describes Banshee’s outlook on life perfectly. It’s not only that he himself is magical: he believes the world is full of magic, and that he’s just more attuned to it than the average person. 

What I love most about “Hag Stone” is that Rishi is just as willing to go along with Banshee’s weirdness as I would be. He’s having a far more interesting early-twenties crisis than I did. Mine ended (I think) when I became an administrative assistant; Rishi’s ended when he met a man who could see the future. We are not the same. 

EXCERPTS

His mother had swallowed a hag stone when she was pregnant, they say. He blew through town for a wedding. Though his name was Ian, they called him Banshee. 

Banshee came into people’s lives just as they needed him and left like a ghost. He was wild and unkempt, save for the polished stone around his neck, and had blank, colorless eyes like asphodels. I was a fool to let him sieve through my fingers, but I know I’ll see him again.

For some reason, I thought he would taste earthy. Like a mouthful of dirt, or of sand. Rotting leaves. Or like a mouthful of sugar. Pure and sweet. Like home, turmeric and sweat and heat, or home, wood polish and vanilla perfume and fresh laundry, or home, dust and stale noodles and horse. Banshee tasted like none of that, but somehow made me think of all of it. He tasted like a new home I could slip into. 

Songs I listened to while writing “Hag Stone”:

Haunted House - Florence + the Machine

Nobody - Mitski

Almost (Sweet Music) - Hozier

I Will Wait - Mumford & Sons

The second short story, “Plastic Fangs”, is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. Marcellus is a vampire on the hunt for a lover and a good meal all in one. He finds that in Abel. But all is not as it seems.

It’s a rather wordy short story at 5800 words. The ending is the shakiest part. That much is typical of how I write short stories. (That is: with no ending in mind, only what feels natural.) 

“Plastic Fangs” was one of those works I finished in two days at most. I actually began writing the second draft before I finished the first. Marcellus experienced such dramatic character development in the middle of the story that I just had to change the beginning because it didn’t fit anymore. Originally, he was just a run-of-the-mill, angst-filled vampire. Now he’s just a strange person that reads people’s diaries to learn their deepest secrets. For a dead guy, he’s full of life.

Abel is a good contrast for Marcellus. He’s a little angsty, pretty lost. Marcellus has had a lot of time to figure himself out; Abel hasn’t. That’s what makes their dynamic so interesting to me, I think. They have different life experiences. 

I’m certain that “Plastic Fangs” will take far less time to edit than “Hag Stone”. For one, it’s already had one round of edits. I also didn’t take any risks with the prose. It’s a pretty typical example of my style. I could see “Plastic Fangs” and “The Ghost You Left Behind” taking place in the same world. They have the same sort of vibe to them. 

The quote for this short story is from Rachelle Lefevre: “The thing I love about vampires that I find so fascinating is that, unlike other sci-fi creations, they aren't monsters from the get-go, they're human beings first... and so what kind of human you are would dictate what kind of vampire you would be.”

EXCERPTS

In October, Marcellus’ penchant for the dramatic—that which made him what he is today—gets to come center stage as he attends various costume parties, parades, festivals. He buys a set of flimsy plastic fangs that sit strangely in his mouth. Tacky in a charming way. An amateur stage adaptation of Dracula. 

Marcellus loved performing Doctor Faustus in the troupe. We understand Faustus better than nearly anyone, Julius said, because we’ve already sold our souls for profane power. He understands making selfish decisions; Faustus was only his favorite because Julius got to be affectionate as Mephistophilis. 

Abel has a small, blown-out tattoo that might have once been a smiley face right above his hip.

Songs I listened to while writing “Plastic Fangs”:

Howl - Florence + the Machine

Waltz of the Bone King - Peter Gundry

Ravenous - Autumn Orange

Haunted House - Florence + the Machine

These two stories really helped drag me out of a writing slump. Moving into my parents’ house did a number on me mentally and creatively, and I only managed to get out of that when I began working full-time and forcing myself to go out more instead of succumbing to my depression as I was. I think you can tell that I was still pretty depressed when I wrote “Hag Stone”, even if it is a story about hope. 

My husband actually suggested I try turning “Plastic Fangs” into a book. I think there’s potential with that. These characters interest me so much that I want to do way more with them than I can within the parameters of a short story. I have a few scenes written for a larger project with them, but I’m not quite sure where that will take me. 

Please ask to be added to the taglist! I'm tagging @bardicbeetle, because Larkspur is and always will be my inspiration for writing weird shit about vampires. <3

[theswearyscholar]

One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about my Twitter community (I know, #waitwhut) has been the development of the #AcademicSelfie. I encountered this movement through the international law and legal studies community. It was initially championed by Prof Douglas Guilfoyle and has been taken up by quite a few of us in the ANZSIL community. It’s delightful because one of the unspoken rules of academia is that you must simultaneously care very deeply, and also not care at all about how you’re dressed: be professional, but not superficial! Your brain is the important thing, not how you present yourself. But also, don’t look like a slob. And women? Be “professional” but don’t be pretty! Wear a suit, but not a pants suit (too masc), and not a dress or a skirt that is too clingy, form fitting, or flowy. We all know the “I don’t care” lewk is a signifier of how clever (white) men are, because they focus on their Very Important Thoughts rather than frivolous (feminine) things like fashion. The Academic Selfie hashtag confronts this discourse: is populated by scholars across the genders and is generally focused on style over fashion. It’s also a great space to explore vulnerability, such as those days where you’re feeling like an academic fraud, and therefore put on the costume of the academic. Or the days when your emotional and psychological resilience needs replenishing and you are living in the same tracksuit for the third day running, or in an animal onesie. The Academic Selfie has offered a place for people who are expected to inhabit only their minds to also inhabit their bodies. It enables scholars who are often focussed on Very Serious Thinking about relationships between States, corporations, and individuals, with issues of human rights, of justice, of politics, politicking and Realpolitik to explore and show their creativity. It’s not merely populated by sports jackets in tweed, but by Corporate Goths, by Homecounties Drag, by Candy Kids and some of the most beautifully tattooed middle-aged Punks I have ever seen. We even have an International Law Barbie, and she is ICONIC.

So the #AcademicSelfie is a place where I can touch in with my peers and my students. I can share my good days, and my bad. I can share the days when I am nailing because I am a GODDAMN GENUIS and gorgeous to boot, and the days where I am amazed that the academy has not yet figured out that I don’t belong there and I am faking it and also aren’t we due for a Cave Hag Winter right about now? I will genuinely miss that point of connection when the Twitterverse finally implodes/ eats its own tail all the way down/ when Twagnorok finally arrives #Twitterdämmerung.

The other thing that the #AcademicSelfie helped me to realise is related to my AuDHD (I was diagnosed last year at the age of 40. I went through THREE goddamn bachelor degrees and a PHD undiagnosed. I am SALTY AF. This is another story. However it also explains the regular asides because #ADHDTangents). So lockdowns revealed to a lot of folk with ADHD that they needed to put together new strategies to enable them to work remotely because just sitting down in front of the computer DOES NOT WORK FOR US. So maybe it’s timekeeping, maybe it’s drinking mint tea, maybe it’s putting on shoes but you need to do something to make your body feel like it has to work when it is not in its Work Space.

Now, I want you to bear in mind two things:

1. I wasn’t diagnosed until 2022.

2. My industry (academia) is unstable on a good day: we move between offices (usually shared) and classrooms. We often teach classes in the evening (so people who are working can study), we sometimes work on campus, we sometimes work from home. Many of us are precariously employed: in Australia we might be on six or 12 month fixed term contracts (if we are lucky), or casual contracts by semester (these mean the universities don’t have to pay us over the Summer break which is usually from late October to early March. I shit you not. That is the LONG SUMMER OF CENTRELINK and no one, NO ONE, want that). In the US this sort of teaching is described as adjunct teaching. I also want to stress that in Australia (where our union is running a campaign regarding wage theft by the Universities) we are significantly better paid as casuals than are the UK or US members of the academic precariat. Not enough to make it long term viable to work this way (she says after she’s worked this way for 10 years), not well enough to call it “financial security”, but well enough that (if I teach the equivalent of 2 full time teaching loads at 2 institutions during the academic year) I can mostly make it through Oct-Mar with my rent pre-paid and my Christmas shopping done in the October sales. Then I just spend that time working admin/retail/teaching if I can get it/doing research/trying to write/searching for jobs/failing to write/having ZombiePlagueFlu/having AuDHD burnout and depression.

Anyway, my point is that I have always struggled to focus when working from home (which I often do). There is washing/vacuuming/napping to do. The Academic Selfie helped me to realise that what I needed when I wanted to work wasn’t shoes, a playlist, or mint tea: it was make up.

Every morning as part of my routine I put on makeup.

This is often something that women in the academy are low key shamed for: it is conformist, it is a tool of patriarchy, it’s superficial. I’ve read the arguments against makeup. I see it, I understand them. Also, I’m femme, this is a political position that is

I don’t fucken care. Makeup helps me to focus.

I shower I get out and dry my face, I put on whatever serum I’m using at the moment. My skin care and makeup routine is not a habit for me, because my ADHD means I don’t form habits (I form Compulsions, and boy-howdy do I form them well). My skin care and makeup routine is, however, meditative and creative. My choice of textures and colours are premised on my outfit, on my skin’s needs at that point, on what character I want to present to the world.

Am I a Very Serious Grown Up?

Am I Professional Business Lady?

Am I Scatterbrained Professor?

Am I Manic Pixie Nightmare Broad?

Am I Soft Femme Romantique?

Am I Middle-Aged Mall Goth?

Am I Miscellaneous Pill You Found On The Floor At Revolver?

Each of these requires different bases, eyeshadow colours and styles, eyeliner colours, textures and applications, and LIPSTICKS.

Honestly, I can and have turned up to teach a class in every single one of these aesthetics.

Even when I’m teaching from home, or working from home, or reading from home, if I put on my slap in the morning I will guaranteed be more focussed throughout the rest of the day.

This leads me to the thing that made me want to write this morning:

I’m sharing the knowledge. I have a lot of makeup. I will never show my mother the extent of my makeup collection, but it’s one of my hyperfocuses, I love experimenting and I am perpetually on the search for the perfect red lipstick. (Things I would tell my daughter if I had one (I don’t): spend money on a good red lipstick. There are days where it will make you feel powerful. Line your lips, put the lippie on your top lip, do the mumumum lip smoosh. Apply eyeshadow or flush or something. Blot. Apply a light dust of powder to your lip. Apply the lipstick again. Mumumumumum. Blot. Go forth and battle evil.)

So here are my faves.

Primer:

L’Oréal Paris Prime Lab: I fucken miss the Garnier 5 second blur primer, but in Australia this has been my next fave.

ELF Poreless Putty Primer: This shit is hardcore, but well priced, smooth AF and holds all day. Bless KMart.

Foundation:

I miss The Original’s foundation which was perfect, because I’m not into a heavy coating. Usually I go with a tinted CC cream. But I recently picked up two products from W7 that are amazing. The one for heavy coverage is the W7 Ultimate Cover Up and that sadly seems to be discontinued so that sucks. The other one is:

W7 Genius Foundation: for a pasty bitch like moi, this is a light, soft, serum like cover with a matte finish. It’s perfect for every day and cheap AF.

When it comes to blush, shimmer, eyeshadow, I honestly just play around.

Mascara:

Generally I try to keep my makeup budget friendly (except for perfume, that’s a whole different ballgame), but I make an exception for mascara

Fenty Frontal Volume: Holy shit this mascara is flawless.

Lips:

Make-Up Studio Matte Silk-Effect Duo: I got this as a sample in the Velvet Mauve and I will repurchase. Long lasting, great colour, doesn’t dry out.

Fenty Stunna Lip Paint: I still haven’t forgiven Fenty for discontinuing my fave every day lipstick, but this red is currently the greatest of the red lipsticks available IMHO.

In terms of general makeup brands my fave (Kiko Milano) isn’t available in Australia, so I have to stock up when I’m in the UK. Their eyeshadows and shimmers are amazing and I love every lipstick of theirs that I own.

In terms of perfumes I’m a fucking monster. I love them. I spend FAR too much money on them. However, if you want a long lasting scent that is going to be sexy, elegant and professional, but also not everywhere and not going to bankrupt you, you can’t go wrong with checking out Fragonard. I get mine through Libertine because they send out samples with purchase that are basically a show bag for adults who love perfume. I am currently wearing their pomegranate one which is sweet but tart, and gorgeous for winter. I also love their violet perfume because I’m not super into florals that are rose-based and violets have a delicious, vintage edge to them. This perfume also has a bit of a citrus and berry sharpness to cut through the floral-powdery nose feeling. (How good is that autism, eh?)

Honestly, now that I’ve finished with this information, the urgency is gone and I’m like how the fuck did I get from Twitter to lipstick? Fuck it. I haven’t written this much in ages, so I’ll take it. I’m going to make lunch.

Do with this information what you will.

[puppy-boy-toby]

I posted 609 times in 2022

197 posts created (32%)

412 posts reblogged (68%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hoshi-neko-hikari

@blind-puppy-ayla

@dark-hybrid-ninja

@ask-liam-and-co

@sweetdrugs-and-introverted

I tagged 552 of my posts in 2022

Only 9% of my posts had no tags

#toby - 485 posts

#ic - 440 posts

#mobile - 102 posts

#hoshi-neko-hikari - 99 posts

#haku - 73 posts

#anon - 50 posts

#m!a: shadow toby - 38 posts

#blind-puppy-ayla - 36 posts

#m!a: tiny toby - 30 posts

#baby toby - 21 posts

Longest Tag: 87 characters

#i knew this was on their site but only recently rediscovered it so i'm posting it here!

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

*hmm, well that’s strange, there’s just…a random cardboard stage size of a baby crib that is just out here in the middle of nowhere, the stage had a red blanket that acted as the curtain, there’s also just a pile of 38 flash cards sitting in front of the curtain, do you open the curtains and see what’s behind them? Or do you read the flash cards first?*

(For Toby) @plushie-night-playtime

Toby looked at the small stage, sniffing at it. Then, he pulled back the blanket curtains to see what was inside before looking at the cards.

@plushie-night-playtime

17 notes - Posted January 18, 2022

#4

Question: Do Power Rangers count as Magical Boys?

🤔

18 notes - Posted January 10, 2022

#3

The GH's House (Open RP)

It was Halloween night and Toby was out Trick-or-Treating, dressed as Captain America! He went up to the first house of the night and knocked on the door. He didn't know, however, that the house belonged to a GH (Grouchy Hag). The door opened and she glared down at Toby, making him uncomfortable.

"WELL!?" She shouted at him, making him wince.

"E-Eto, Twick or Tweat?" Toby said, nervously held his candy bucket out to her.

"Not Again! Every year, it's the same thing! You little hippies want MY candy!"

"Be-Because it's Hawwo-" he tried to tell her, but she interrupted him.

"WELL I DON'T HAVE ANY!" GH yelled again, even though she was holding a candy cane. Toby looked in the house and saw a large bowl full of sugary treats too.

"Now, GIT BEFORE I CALL THE COPS!" GH threatened him and slammed the door behind her. Toby didn't understand why she was so mean to him, so he started to sniffle and cry.

Tagging: @hoshi-neko-hikari, @weirdgayenby, @dark-hybrid-ninja, @murukuruandfriends, @punkbatbeth, @ravensroleplays, @thegeasswriter and anyone else who wants to join!

23 notes - Posted October 28, 2022

#2

EK at the Pizzaplex (Open)

((If possible, I would love to rp this with any of the Security Breach characters. I'll leave it up to you where he ran away to.))

Toby was invited to attend EK's (Entitled Kids) birthday at Freddy Fazbears Mega Pizzaplex! It was so much more than a pizzeria; it had everything! Laser tag, go-karts, mini-golf, arcade games and animatronics you can actually interact with. All the kids at EK's party was having a blast!....Everyone except Toby.

EK and his friends would pick on him and leave him out of the activities because he was "too little", even though he was only a few years younger. Toby had enough, running away to another part of the PizzaPlex. He huddled into a corner and started to cry, feeling left out and alone.

@hoshi-neko-hikari, @dark-hybrid-ninja, @murukuruandfriends, @weirdgayenby, @ask-the-yanderes, @thegeasswriter, @ask-pregame-kaede-akamatsu, and anybody who wants to participate.

56 notes - Posted February 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Toby's Origins (Open RP)

Deep in the forest, along a rushing river, a wooden crate was floating along the rapids. At one point, the crate gets caught a riverbank and tips over, spilling the contents. A bundle of blankets wriggled out, revealing a baby boy with the ears and tail of a puppy! The only clue of where he came from was a small tattoo on the back of his neck that said "2-B".

The baby whimpered and let out some small yips. It was much too young to be out here on its own. He needs someone to take care of him or he will likely perish.

Will you adopt this small pup?

@hoshi-neko-hikari, @weirdgayenby, @dark-hybrid-ninja, @murukuruandfriends, @welcome-to-random-characters-2, @sweetdrugs-and-introverted and anybody else who wants to rp

66 notes - Posted April 28, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[starsbooksandtea2023]

Title: Hag of the Hills Author: J.T.T. Ryder Release Date: March 1st, 2022 Page Count: 332 Start Date: September 30th, 2022 Finish Date: October 21st, 2022 Review: Story: I didn’t love this book. I mean I didn’t hate it. There are worse books out there. I did contemplate putting it down a few times in all honesty. I pushed through it. I don’t think I’ll ever be rereading it, but I can honestly say that I’m glad I finished it. I think not knowing what happened would have probably driven me nuts. Characters: I can’t really give a good analysis on the characters. They all kind of blended together to me. If I ever read this book again, I’ll update this part of my review. Critiques: Nothing Final Thoughts: I’m not saying that this is a horrible book. Really. I’m sure there will be many people who pick this book up and absolutely love it. I genuinely hope so. This author put a lot of work and research into this book. I’m sad that it just wasn’t a book for me. There were parts that just weren’t for me at all. I recommend anybody who loves historical books give it a chance. https://www.instagram.com/p/CkZD5QFOpj_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=