#I actually wanted to be a horror novelist and I think it shows

[calciumdeficientt]

I BEG… FOR TOM… GURNEY… HEADCANONS…

THOMASSSSSS MY SONNNNN MY BOYYYYYYYYY yah absolutely :3

TOM GURNEY HEADCANONS

That’s an autistic boy if i ever did see one. Tom is me i am tom. The no shoes thing is definitely a sensory issue, i like to think its the socks more than its the shoes, likely the seams around the toes. I feel like if tom is forced to wear socks and shoes he’s got very specific sensory needs. Absolutely no ankle socks, those were sent by the government to make your ankles feel like they’re being strangled by their oppressive regime, only gym socks pulled up as far as they can physically stretch with sneakers that are tied so tight he takes them off and there’s an indent of the laces on his foot and absolutely zero circulation from the ankle down

Tom runs a very successful horror blog, he talks about behind the scenes info for his favourite movies and also provides ratings of movies both new and old. It’s really funny to watch him in the cinema because he sits with a little norepad and makes notes the whole time so he can come up with a decicive score on the blog. He spends a lot of time in the movies, its where most of the money he threatens out of other students ends up. He goes to watch movies a minimum of 5 times to make sure he didn’t miss any details or lose any plot points that might bump up his initial scores. He has a secret spreadsheet and everything, its insane commitment, but special interest is gonna special interest, am i right gamers?

A very very good student when he applies himself, especially as a creative writer, if you look past all the blood, gore, and general slasher rapiness in his works you can definitely see all the signs of a promising novelist or screenwriter. In the poetry department, he’s not so stellar. Tom is still of the mindset that all poems must rhyme and are generally quite superficial and pointless pieces of writing. And they’re completely separate to all the private free form stuff he writes in his journal from time to time. Those aren’t poems at all they’re just… succinct vents

Tom is also a greatly talented drummer, the kid has rhythm all the way up to his eyeballs, and if he wasn’t so scared i think he’d be a great asset to bullworth’s marching band. But he knows he’d get torn to shreds by his friends so he stays well enough way no matter how hard miss peters begs for him to try out. He borrows a drum kit Russel keeps in his garage and practices using karaoke tracks of songs he illegally torrented onto his iPod, no sheet music, just vibes.

Tom’s face bruise is actually part bruise and port wine stain birthmark, hence why it stays that lovely purple hue forever. The redness in his eye is from repeated blows to the head from both friends and foes but the purple skin around his eye is (mostly) just birthmark

The rest of his bruises are actually just from minor injuries. I think tom has elhers danos syndrome (EDS) so the kid bruises like a peach. Minor bumps from passersby in the busy halls of bullworth leave him looking like he was in a full on beat down. That’s not to say that he’s not often in huge scuffles because he absolutely is, he’s just a little more physically delicate than the other bullies

Tom has the hots for angie (at least in my save he does) so he tries to act like a sweetheart whenever he’s around her. He knows that she knows he’s a bully but i think tom really wants to show her that he’s more than that, he’s better than that. Tom doesnt even like being a bully all that much, it’s just the hard facts of life at bullworth that you’re either in or out, and god knows he wouldn’t last a day if he was out.

[antisociallilbrat]

Poly Losers Publicity

This is an idea, a back bone of a fic that I'm never going to write so I'm putting it here. If you want to write it, go ahead. I just need to get these brain worms out of my head. This is from my Poly Losers Au.

So like Richie, Bev, and Bill are all relatively famous? Richie is a famous comedian (who I headcannon him being on SNL at one point in his career) and then you have Bev who is a famous fashion designer? Like her work rivals Gucci and other major fashion brands. Then you have Bill who is like the horror novelist, who always has his books being adapted into movies.

So anyways the public is nosy and wants to know who's banging who. Richie, Bill, and Bev, along with the other Losers have decided to keep their relationship a secret. Yeah being gay/bi is okay but they don't want to have to explain why they're in a relationship of seven people. Bev, Richie, and Bill handle this in many different ways. Bev just deflects any relationship questions in interviews and Richie jokes that he's a whore and no one will date him. (Stan and Eddie give him so much shit over that bit) and Bill,,,poor bb flounders.

Bill likes to dedicate his books to his lovers. Each book he writes has a dedication that says something like: "To my lover who watches the birds", or "To my lover that is sun on earth", and naturally people ask who this lover is in interviews. And Bill just doesn't know how to lie so the general public just thinks that Bill's lover is a multifaceted person who loves to grow plants, bird watches, work on cars, and also writes poetry.

This all works for a while until Bill is caught in public holding hands with Ben. Magazines blow up like :"Is this the lover of many talents?? World Renowned architect Ben Hanscom??" so now they just let the public think Bill is dating just Ben. Also Bill and Richie got an argument over it that went like:

Richie: "This is so not fair, why do you get Ben?"

Bill: "It's not like I was trying to get caught!"

Richie: "Well if you get Ben then I get Mike!"

Bill: "Fine."

Richie: "Fine!"

Bill: "Fine!"

On Richie's next stand up he tells everyone he's dating this cute librarian named Mike and like with Bill, the press eats that up.

But fans are crazy right? Like they had a working theory that Richie was actually dating this high end accountant (Stanley) bc Richie had been spotted with him a couple times at fancy parties. (Stanley is a slut for fancy parties and Richie only goes to the ones he's invited to bc he knows Stan will enjoy it) But some other fans had a theory that Richie was dating high end fashion designer Beverly Marsh. Because Richie only ever wears her clothes on stage or in interviews. Plus they've been spotted being flirty before at award shows. So fans are a little confused when Richie announces he's dating a humble librarian.

But remember fans are crazy so it doesn't take long for them to figure out that Bill Denbrough also only ever wears suits out of the Beverly Marsh brand. Which is strange bc Bill and Richie have very much a bickering banter in the spotlight. So they're all left wondering, what does this all mean?

Because yes Bev avoids relationship questions but she always has the same guy with her as her 'date' at events. A man not much taller than her and he's been seen reassuring her at her runway shows. Calming down her anxiety. (Eddie is 100% Bev's unofficial manager and I like to think that Bev's fashion is her and Eddie's thing. He's the one who goes to all her shows.)

So at this point fans are going crazy. They have Bill who is dating the famous architect but has written too many dedications for it just be about Ben. Also some fans 'ship' Bill and Richie bc of how they play fight through the press.

Then there's Richie who is dating the "Librarian" Mike Hanlon, but also Richie has been spotted with at like Galas with one of the best accountants in the business, Stanley Uris and he constantly flirts with Bev in the public eye.

But Richie and Bill both exclusively wear Beverly Marsh. And Bev who avoids relationship questions but is seen with the same man at shows, who the fans had pieced together is Eddie Kaspbrack. Someone who owns a predominant limousine company in New York.

And this all falls apart after one particular award show, Bill's book turned Movie won an oscar, and the Losers were out celebrating at what they thought was a private party....only to wake up the next morning and see all hell break loose. There are photos of Richie making out with Bill and Ben. There's a couple photos of Bev scandalously dancing with Richie's librarian boyfriend, Mike. Then to top it off Eddie and Stan are spotted sneaking away from said party. Two people with romantic links to Bev and Richie.

The internet blows up.

Richie tweets out the next day: "So I see you've guys have met my lovers. Yes, plural. Told you I was a whore."

I honestly feel like this has been down before, and if it has please let me know. I just can't get this particular version out of my head.

[ericaportfolio]

My Friendly Neighborhood Review

Hey Kids! Do you want a mascot horror game that's actually good? Do you want to shoot and watch puppets fly across the room in funny ways? Or do you want to play a game that breaks you to the point of ugly crying due to the messages about selfishness versus selflessness, the trauma of war, grief, depression, death, and depending on which ending you decide, make you feel miserable or hopeful? (Boy, what I wrote there got dark!) Then you should play My Friendly Neighborhood!!!

July 8, 1993, in a very unfriendly city where the citizens that were emotionally affected by the war that lasted for twenty years by watching it from their TV sets (An in-universe version of the Vietnam War in this game), an old studio's antenna starts up playing a canceled kids show that's the in-universe version of Sesame Street, My Friendly Neighborhood, over the news. You play as repair crewman Gordon O'Brian was forcibly sent by his employer, Sprocket Palm Property Management, and their clients, City Network Broadcasting Group, to shut down the antenna at the top of the abandoned studio's hotel. Failure to do so, Gordon, due to his terrible, mean, and rude behavior, would result in getting fired. Upon getting there, SURPRISE, The Puppets Are Alive That A Lot Of Them Want To Hug You To Death!!! Along the way, Ricky the Sock Puppet guides Gordon throughout the studio trying to convince him not to disconnect the antenna. Can Gordon survive the night at the studio as he tries to find a way up to the antenna? Or will Gordon be trapped in the studio forever?

Pros... There's a lot! I can list them all day! The game is a love letter to tv shows and movies made by the Jim Henson Company over the years. The shows and movies had different names to prevent copyright claims in the game's universe. The cute factor is that you'll get attached to Ricky the Sock Puppet. He's like if Scout Prime from Hello Puppets was similar to Kermit the Frog and doesn't curse. If you're thinking, wait Hello Puppets already did possess murder puppets, that seems repetitive! Actually, the puppets aren't possessed. I'm wondering if the creators are saving a twist for another game. (Please let it be Gordon, Ricky, and the Neighborhood characters versus the villains from the in-universe The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth movies after they fell for a trap they thought was a movie deal!) I won't dive into details in this review. Let's say you have to think on your own about what's really happening here. I think for a horror game to do that was refreshing. What you might have fun with in this game is the clever ideas and designs of the weapons you find, the Rolodex and the Novelist being two of them, and the puzzles you come across along the way. However, the best part of the game has to be the writing since it takes a survival horror game and turns it into a dark comedy that would make Mel Brooks proud. If you're a completionist and you finish the game, don't leave! There's More! There are 'secret tapes' scattered around the studio, and once you finish the game, they will unlock cheats and mods to create some interesting experiences the next time you play.

There aren't many cons to this game. Something was happening with the maps, but that was fixed, thankfully. If I have some things I have to nitpick, first, this game has a lot of backtracking to other levels that many would find annoying. However, you'll make discoveries along the way. Just get ready if the previous levels you have been through get harder as more puppets appear. Second, you need to be ready to conserve your ammunition. Once it's gone and used, it's GONE, and your left with the wrench. So plan ahead, or you're dead in the finale! For beginners, this game may take hours or days to beat unless you got the patience to win. As the game continues, some of the puzzles will get harder and leave you scratching your head for a while. There have also been some complaints that the game should be considered a horror game at times, even though there are terrifying moments. Especially in the climax and ending that would leave you shaking unless you wished for more from that. So the cute factor in the game may turn off some who want something darker than this. Yet, if you read carefully the files you collect, you'll discover where the true darkness lurks in this game.

I may need to warn you of potential spoilers to some trigger warnings of war, depression, and references to taking away your own life. In a game about fighting murder puppets, the game does a shockingly good job tackling war trauma not just for the victims and soldiers but also for the citizens back on the homefront, where many viewed the soldiers as villains and getting exposed to the war on their home televisions. Because of that, the citizens in the city were traumatized and depressed by it. Even one worker at the studio wrote about "going into the light". I got a theory as to what happened to them. Something I noticed at the beginning makes sense now when reading those notes.

So there are multiple endings in the game. One is the true ending. Whichever ending you get, get your tissues ready. You might cry ugly tears of joy. Overall, spending money on this game is worth it! Even if you don't have the money, watch your favorite Gaming YouTubers and watch the game as a movie experience. It's not perfect, but it's rightfully up there, along with that antenna. This game may not be for everyone, but if you're a fan of Resident Evil (which I should start watching more gameplay of the game series if able, to be honest), you grew up with Sesame Street and the Muppets, you're a big Jim Henson Company nerd, you like puppets, you're a fan of Hello Puppets and Welcome Home, and you love film noir, this game is for you. So get it while it's still on sale, grab a buddy or two, and get learning in your favorite friendly neighborhood!

I would give this game a 9/10 for Ricky being adorable and Gordon getting some needed sleep.

[olderthannetfic]

Hi! I'm this (724056867236708352) anon, the one about wanting to publish a SFF horror novel based on the transatlantic slave trade. I've been lucky to find a small group (<25) of horror novelists who meet every other week to talk about our interesting shows, books, movies, comics, manga, whatever. They're all really kind and open (and further solidified why I'd rather just associate myself with "freaks" over people who call themselves "normal" any day). Some are traditionally published, others self-published, and I've gotten some good feedback from them about the story, too, but this trend of agents behaving in that manner have become more common in traditional publishing. I just hate that I have to parade around all these vague labels to describe "who" I am just so a stranger can feel "comfy" about reading a book. It makes me feel like I'm not even human, like I can't have privacy or dignity. Writers aren't just just machines cranking out endless streams of "content" and shelving novels with an #OwnVoices sticker akin to a "Made with high fructose corn syrup" label in a grocery store. For people who claim to be progressive, they sure do enjoy filtering and judging people based on arbitrary identities, as though it can actually tell you anything about a person's character, values, or beliefs. We're people, too.

I did some searching for "sensitivity readers" on your blog, and I wish someone had just described it as a beta reader who's focused on reading for x issue/topic. The way people phrased it before made me think I had to give my book to a professional complainer. Like, why would any writer of transgressive fiction do that?

For now, I'm gonna sit on the book, though. I don't know if I might try traditional publishing one day or give self-publishing a try, but it certainly couldn't help to tighten up the manuscript with improved prose or plotting. It's nice to see there are people who frequent this blog who'd be interested in a story like what I wrote, so I guess whenever (or if) I do publish it, I'll have to market it correctly to get it in front of the right people.

--

Yeah. I wouldn't have put up with those agents either. Blech. Getting a book out there is not worth feeling like meat.

[sunbeamstress]

i jumped on the Walking Dead train really late, but i got to finish the show with the fans and i thought it was excellent. it also marks the second or third time i've binged a piece of acclaimed media that became noteworthy for fucking over its fans - the last time was when i beat the mass effect trilogy, a decade late. i thought that was excellent too.

of course it's a lot easier when the game you're playing already has the patched-in ending option and all its DLC, and walking dead was definitely easier to get through since when season 5 ended, i could go right into season 6 without The Cliffhanger

it's clear that the show i watched wasn't the show that AMC presented. scrubbed of its social media gaffes and godawful pacing, it was honestly a thrill ride. it takes a little time to stumble its way through the first two seasons, and the third is definitely more of a slow burn of dread, but if you can punch your way through those you're rewarded with a tense thriller that rarely wastes its time - every scene demands your attention and reveals something new. the moment my life settles down again i want to binge-watch it all over again with a friend.

in my early/mid twenties, i'd fallen in love with an artsy little tech-fetishist webcomic about a few kids struggling to avert the end of the world. you might have heard of it, it was called Homestuck. it would go on to balloon into a very different sort of work from the one it began (i miss the Amiga graphics and quotes from poets/novelists), but also it was the first time i looked around to realize i was in the middle of a fandom. and in those days it wasn't a lovely sight.

my problem was i hadn't been inoculated against this sort of thing yet. from the moment i discovered the MSPA forums, it was impossible for me to experience homestuck without also crossing over to get a life feed of how the fans were enjoying it, and that was uhh, complicated. i have a lot i could say about Andrew Hussie as a creator and maybe one day he'll get his very own rambling not-quite-essay from me, but i maintain that i didn't get to enjoy Homestuck the way it deserved because i am the sort of person whose opinions can be influenced by others. you are too, don't judge.

i hold fast to my conviction that the best way to enjoy something is to enjoy it pure and alone, or with at most perhaps two friends whose tastes you can trust. all too often i've seen people try to make it through the walking dead, or better call saul, or mass effect, or homestuck, or anything, while tapped into the overwhelming torrent of fandom opinion.

it actually makes things worse.

as the internet is fond of saying: the walking dead was a hell of a lot better without a bitch in my ear telling me it sucked.

there's a lot to say about how they reused the same ol' same ol' plot: zombos force the crew to move, they get settled in, then they solve some zombo-related problems until the newest batch of Desperate And/Or Corrupt And/Or Treacherous Humans comes to prove that actually we were the monsters all along

except it's fucking dope? they bare-knuckle brawl a shitload of walkers in a prison and take it over? and then they fight a war with the neighboring town??

Terminus, to me, is a singular point in the show that stands out in my mind. it was the moment i was like "oh shit. i think actually like this show." nevermind the way they began cranking up the horror factor (watching them slit that guy's throat in the horse trough was wild), but then Carol shows up and fucking Judge Dredds the place?

and then we see Rick turn from do-gooder cop to feral den mother who is willing to rip a guy's throat out and fjksdhgfjkhgjkhg oh my GOD how did you people not like this show

and then:

it was genuinely incredible watching Rick's role in the universe transform. we see him as an agent who is only ever acted upon: first by the emergence of walkers, then by a revolving door of people he can't trust, people he shouldn't trust but does, and people who have a funny way of doing the right thing just when you expect them to fail you the most.

but it's no way to live a life after the world has ended, and he has to get tough. his role changes, quite quickly, from agent to actor, and now he is the one with the control. he's the one sniffing out your bullshit, doing that unhinged lupine head-cock of his, and sending you to hell at the end of a colt python.

maybe if i was a man, i'd feel a little of what the fans seemed to have felt when Negan showed up. maybe i would have put myself in Rick's place, and found a little vicarious pleasure in the feeling of being a respected leader, building a new home with my bare hands; maybe i would have experienced disappointment or defeat or whatever the moment a bigger guy with a bigger gun shows up.

but what i saw was a hornet's nest being stirred; the natural reaction of a world much bigger than you just when you've begun to think you might control some of it. negan wasn't some Bigger Guy, he was a symbol, a walking metaphor for how things are always going to go when men like rick try to purchase peace with violence. if it wasn't Negan it was going to be someone else. i adamantly believe the fans hated negan because negan was holding up a mirror to them.

when i go on about this show, i genuinely do love all of it (even the nightmarishly slow seasons 9 and 10), but the images in my head all come from season 5, especially when they raid the hospital back in the city. the walking dead does not disappoint with aesthetics. the sets were phenomenal.

long, dramatic shots of broken chain link fences, sun-baked highways, half-abandoned urban streets with boarded windows and nothing left but graffiti. honestly feels a little like my childhood. i'm an urbex bitch at heart and i never wanted ANYTHING so desperately as the chance to get in there with Carol and Aaron and Maggie et al, and go plumbing the tombs of Atlanta for rocket launchers and medicine.

and while i never want to see backroads or quaint country towns ever again in my life, i won't deny that the backdrops of rural georgia and virginia gave the walking dead a unique visual language, a kind of run-down western vibe that really helped cement the feeling that these were just regular salt-of-the-earth people, forced to do extraordinary things. most of my dreams now usually have the same hickory and pine trees that dotted the countrysides.

i don't really know what i was trying to accomplish when i began this post (it's the only way i know how to write baby!) but to summarize, i fucking loved this show. i genuinely hold it to be one of the seminal works of modern zombie horror and also just an incredibly good survival soap opera about what it means to be alive in a world that has violently rejected you. i'm genuinely glad i gave it a chance and i'm so grateful my brother recommended it to me. i love you, bro.

[galaxygolfergirl]

Modern Mystery Inc. Remake

Since the Velma show is trending for being as bad as it is, I thought I would share some headcanons for each Mystery Inc. Member for the AU I’ve been working on.

This is specifically for the AU that I’ve been developing for a while, not the actual Scooby Canon itself. This is also not a complete list and more will be added latter, but hope you enjoy!

Fred Jones:

Fred inherited the Mystery Machine from his father, Frank “Skip” Jones, who was a disc jockey that hosted a late night radio horror show, “The Mystery Files.” Frank has since passed (his death was mysterious) when Fred was 10, making his wife, Margaret, a single parent.

He is a lower-middle class kid, working part-time as a mechanic to help support his mom.

Fred also has a collection of his dad’s old cassettes, mix tapes, and CDs that he plays while the gang is on the road, as well as recordings from his dad’s radio show that he listens to in private.

He dresses preppy/kind of like an old man to emulate his dad, whom he looked up to as a kid. His ascot also used to belong to his dad.

Fred has known Velma since Elementary school as they grew up together as neighbors, and were also in forensics class together; they are both sort of the brains of the group but Fred is kind of a “left-brain” himbo at times (smart, but needs a little more common sense). 

He and Velma also both love watching Forensic Files and Unsolved Mysteries. 

Fred became friends with Daphne through their AP English class after they were assigned to work on a project together. Turns out they both have strong opinions on pulp science fiction authors like Ray Bradbury and classic literature. 🤷‍♀️

Though, I don’t really want to characterize him as dumb or a genuine himbo as other versions do. Fred’s not dumb. He is a smart, well-meaning young man, but he is fallible to letting his good intentions get misinterpreted or not come across the way he thinks they do.

Fred is a well-liked guy at school, but by no means a popular kid, jock, or anything thereof. Think theater kid or English literature club kind of popular.

He did actually become friends with Shaggy on their high school track team, though. He had to drop track once he started taking engineering classes (hence the trap making skills), but he and Shaggy do hang out outside of classes. They both like sci fi, fantasy, and horror movies and video games and hang out at Fred’s house on occasion.

He wants to be a horror/mystery novelist, but also work as a mechanical engineer when he graduates college.

In this AU I don’t really want to characterize Fred as a womanizer like other versions have done. He doesn’t really strike me as that kind of guy. Fred, out of the 4 of them, has been in the least amount of relationships and has a general reluctance to due to his insecurities and duty as an extra provider for his mom; he has less time to date than most.

Daphne Blake:

She’s more of a rebellious rich kid who wants to escape that kind of life and frequently gets into trouble for general delinquency.

Daphne has an inferiority complex and thinks she’s not good enough, despite her parent’s wealth and her academic, social, and athletic success. She’s more pressured to succeed rather than encouraged, thus she feels like she has to act out to get her parents’ attention.

Towards her junior year of high school, she starts avoiding the popular people she used to be friends with and focuses on her investigative work with the gang, with whom she feels more comfortable with and finds more satisfaction in investigative and journalistic work.

Daphne has to access police and government databases because her father is a state representative, and thus is well connected to help the gang in their investigative work. Her dad doesn’t know that she does this, though.

Daphne has an older sister named Andrea Blake, who’s basically Gina from B99, whom she turns to for advice. They’re the only siblings who get along as Andrea is considered a “spinster aunt” and “wine mom.” Andrea is also a Y2K millennial, still living in the 2000s mentally, and her ringtone changes on a daily basis, variating between “Low- by Flo Rida” and “Evacuate the Dancefloor- by Cascada”

Daphne and Shaggy both have a penchant for weed and lived in the same neighborhood during their early tween years when Daphne moved from Vermont to California, which is where this AU takes place.

She and Shaggy got to know each other better when she did field athletics and he was doing track practice. They would frequently swap stories about their travels (her family moved a lot and he was an army brat) and general team gossip. They are also big Transformers and Star Trek fans.

Generally being a jack of all trades in terms of skills and abilities. She’s an excellent driver, investigator, martial artist, and in a lot of ways acts as the sort of muscle of the group ready to kick ass when need be.

She and Velma become best friends over the course of the series. They both like watching cheesy paranormal teen dramas and picking on them, indie dramas, and sharing music they like. Daphne also confides in Velma about her relationship issues and finds Velma a rational and sympathetic sounding board for advice and ideas.

Velma Dinkley:

Velma is ahead a few grades and thus graduates early along the others in the gang, but also being the youngest of the group means she is ID’ed more often and has to wait longer than the others before she can drink (and is lightly teased for her short stature and age). Frequently mistaken for being younger than she is.

Velma is a middle-class kid, thus is an active socialist advocate and feminist, GSA member, and has a scathing hatred of the 1%. She does find a bit of a conflict of interest being friends with Daphne, 

She is an avid mystery and horror novel reader, sharing Fred’s love of mysteries like his dad.

Since she and Fred have known each other since they were kids, they frequently drop by each other’s houses, either to work on homework, have small talk, or Fred will help with repair/lawn work on the Dinkley’s house. 

Velma is bisexual, having feelings for both men and women as shown through out past iterations and has already come out to her parents about this. She doesn’t date much as she’d like to, however, due to her busy academic schedule and investigative work with the gang. She also has trouble expressing herself vulnerably and is shy when it comes to romance.

She has a growing, eclectic collection of music from the 80s new-wave/post-punk/indie with which she shares with Fred on the road. Her favorite bands from this era are Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cocteau Twins  and she’s mad people haven’t heard of them; she appreciates and adores the Hex Girls as a result.

Velma wants to be a forensic scientist and bioengineer, one of the reasons being she stayed up way too many nights as a kid and watched Forensic Files and Unsolved Mysteries.

She and Daphne mainly became friends after joining up with the others on a few mysteries, and eventually starts hanging out with her after Fred invites Daphne over for a study group. They both like watching cheesy paranormal teen dramas and picking on them, indie dramas, and sharing music they like. 

Velma helps Shaggy with his homework after finding out he’s dyslexic and the two form a sort of older sister-younger brother dynamic, regularly trading humorous barbs with one another. She also adores Scooby, not being able to have a dog of her own at her house because of her sister’s allergies. She is also curious in studying his capacity for human speech and intelligence.

Norville “Shaggy” Rogers

His dad is a retired Iraq war vet and state security official, and because of Shaggy’s military family, they tried to get him to enlist after high school. He didn’t take well to the training and was released after a year, instead majoring in culinary studies with an athletic scholarship in track and field.

His parents are divorced; his little sister Maggie “Sugie” Rogers lives with his mom in Pasadena while he lives with his dad in Oakland. He misses his sister and his mom a lot and tries to visit them whenever he can.

Shaggy has PTSD and anxiety as a result of his turbulent family life, and later starts living with his cousin, Dustin, and has Scooby as a service dog for his therapy.

He also has dyslexia and has had some trouble with school; after becoming associated with the Mystery gang, he joins up with them for study group sessions and they help him with things he doesn’t understand while he provides the snacks.

 His dad and his army buddies would call him “Shaggy” because of his consistently messy hair, so the name stuck.

Shaggy is pansexual, having the most relationships out of the 4 of the gang, with all kinds of people. 

He is socially well connected and has inside sources to various underground groups and activities.

Shaggy does indeed smoke weed, and consumes it in a variety of ways.

Shaggy was into magic as a kid and knows all sorts of tricks and disguises. He can do ventriloquism and close-up magic and has used these tricks to get out of tough situations. 

Shaggy loves horror movies and Halloween despite his general fear and anxiety during investigations, and has acquired a vast amount of paraphernalia ranging from classic universal monster movies to the most recent ones. 

Shaggy also loves classic rock like Fred, more specifically underground gonzo rock and other niche acts like Arthur Brown, Frank Zappa, the Cramps, etc. 

Scoobert “Scooby” Doo

Scooby is a genetically engineered dog trained for human speech as a part of a secret army project that Shaggy’s dad worked on, but was considered “defective” for not being as aggressive as the other dogs. Shaggy begged his dad to let him keep Scooby and after he conceded, Shaggy started taking better care of him and they became good buddies.

Scooby was named after a popular brand of graham cracker treats “Scooby Snacks” after Shaggy fed him some when he brought Scooby home.

Though Scooby is intelligent, he still falls whim to the behavior of a dog; needing walks, doing zoomies, playing keep away with various items and dog toys, etc. The gang often forgets this and often have to remind themselves, “oh right, he’s a dog.” 

While being still being cowardly, Scooby can be brave and go after the villains if they’re endangering his friends, being very competent in taking them down. He’s a cinnamon roll who does have the capacity to kill you. 

Later in the series, Scooby becomes a father to a litter of puppies, including Scooby Junior, a Great Dane/Pitbull mix. Given the average life-span of Great Danes and coupling that with any genetic modification Scooby has been under, he probably only has 3-5 years left of his life and thus starts a family to spare the gang of any pain.

@scoobydoominuscoobydoo @frelmaa @ilovefredjones @cometcrystal @scrappedtogether @scoobysurfers @bookishdruid @blue-pixiedust @thosemeddlingsims @light-miracles @leftsleeverolled @thescoobydooby 

[solariaperegrine]

Art by @celestialsmessy1

A party, there just had to be a party. Penelope always hated parties. They are too crowded and too loud and once in a while, a creep would hoot and holler  at her, thinking she would take it as a compliment.

Penelope is not that desperate for a dick. She may be twenty and still a virgin but no, thank you very much, she is not that starved for male attention.

If anything she's  had enough of it.

The creep this time around is some blonde affluenza kid.

She knew his name.

He wore a name tag.

Did she mention this is a fundraiser she was required by her publisher to attend? It was supposedly a professional event hence the need for nametags. 

Hers  read: Penelope Featherington/Novelist, Danbury House

Great! Now, the creep will have a way to find out her info. 

Penelope shifted her weight on her feet in discomfort. Not only is the Creep asking her if she has a boyfriend, he's  also asking if she's interested in shifting publishers

Full name: Richard Fawker, from Abbott Publishing. If his nickname was Dick, then she would tag him as a Dick Fucker. If it’s Rich, then he's a Rich Fucker. If it's Chard, then he would be a Charred Fucker. 

She giggled to herself as she thought of the many ways he could save his phone number (which he handed to her  in a business card BTW) then block him later. She was being  careful not to offend the asshole.  Abbott is a top competitor and they have been vying to acquire Danbury  House for years. 

Just last year, they attempted  to outdo Danbury House sales by signing Cressida Cowper, a well known "radical" feminist (but in actuality just a misandric narcissist). Only for their sales to be stomped when Danbury  House signed both Eloise Bridgerton (an actual, intellectual, no nonsense, next Simone de Beauvoir, actual feminist) and Lady  Whistledown (the most popular romance novelist Europe has ever seen in the last 50 years) in one month. 

Agatha told Penelope  how butthurt Execs at Abbott would jump at any chance to diminish the Danbury brand,  perhaps even using tactics as low as attacks on grounds of character. 

Additionally, Agatha Danbury herself might pull out her hair if she discovered Penelope humiliated a competitor.   It would relflect badly on the company image. Agatha always prefer for their sales and awards to be their weapon.

Penelope thinks otherwise.  What use was her sharp wit if she can't use it to shatter overinflated egos?

"I've been told Lady Whistledown will attend. Do you know her?" Rich Fucker asked. Penelope bit the insides of her cheeek.

She internally scoffed upon realizing the man in front of her was showing his real intention.

"I wonder if she's a looker" he said. Penelope cringed.

Would the dickwad die in embarassment if Penelope was to suddenly tell him, she is in fact  Lady Whistledown all along.

Tempting. Penelope  thought.  Tempting... but not worth  it.

Not worth it. Her thoughts  echoed inside her.

Not worth it.  She repeated to herself. Besides, Agatha also wants me to scout new talent. 

Penelope looked at the crowd for a sign of Eloise.  She had excused herself to go to the loo. And in the five minutes El left her side, Penelope managed to attract trouble.

A sigh of relief escaped Penelope  when she saw  Eloise finally returning from the loo.

...only for her to do a 360 degree  turn around upon spotting Penelope  with a man.

Damn it!

Penelope's  eyes widened in horror.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. No!

It was truth she wanted dick but not just any dick. And certainly  not the horrid  Gucci wearing man's dick.

He's both a cad and a chad. 

The words died in Penelope's throat. Must have been the glass of Amarone she downed before the man with an assault of color for a wardrobe decided to sour her already unpleasant evening.

There was also the slight buzzing in her head. Damn Eloise and her alcoholic choices!

The Best Friend said it was liquid courage.

...liquid fire more like it.

Everyone knows Penelope  and alcohol don't mesh well together. They seem to always find a way to end up on the floor. 

"Can I get vodka for the lady" Dick Fucker said to the broad shouldered bartender whose back was to them as he was putting some bottles on the shelf. 

The bartender turned around. "Afraid not Sir, the organizer said we can only serve wine"  His voice, honey on her ears as it has always been.  

It cannot be.

"Colin?" Penelope said in surprise. "Colin, you're  home? El never said--"

"Surprise!?" He said, sheepishly. 

Understatement of the entire fucking century. Not only was Penelope  surprised, she was also scared, and horny and shocked and nervous because what the flying fuck is Colin Bridgerton doing in London when he should be in freaking Tuscany?

And damn it Colin Bridgerton  is fit!  Is that a tan? And a new tattoo on his forearm? 

Colin peered over to Charred Fawker, then stared intently at Penelope. "This git bothering you Pen?" 

She nodded softly, feeling  a lump form on her throat. 

Colin stared Fawker down. "The lady's clearly not interested, mate.  Get a hint!" 

Maybe it's the tattoos or the tan, or the black button down shirt, but somehow Colin looked quite scary when he had admonished the annoying man.

Penelope had never pegged Colin as someone intimidating. In her mind he has always been the charming, all smiles, lovable dork who sometimes make her panties wet when he rolls up his sleeves to reveal his inked and toned forearms.

To her distress,  he did roll up his sleeves, then poured a glass of wine  as they both watched Rich Fucker leave them be.

Colin and his forearms and his  voice.

Yum...

"Drinks on me, Pen"  

She did not say anything.

"Pen? You alright?"  He asked in concern. She must have looked flustered.

"I-uh- the Tattoo. It's  new!"  She managed to say.

"They're  my favorite  flowers" He said with a smile. It is so like him to ease in a conversation  with her as if they had not seen each other in six months.

"Roses?" Penelope  asked.

"Not just any rose"   He said with an affectionate expression overtaking his face. 

Penelope  knew Colin's tattoos always signify a person.

A  girl perhaps

She did not dare ask who could be the person which inspired the tattoo. For all she knew it could be Marina, the influencer.

Eloise sent her a picture  of Colin and Marina in France, laughing over Croissants.

What is even funny about Croissants?  Other than it's the only instance where being flaky is the desirable outcome. 

Ah. That had to be it. Colin probably came up with  a ridiculous  joke like that and Marina didn't know what hit her.

Gods, the man made Penelope fall in love with  him because  of a horse joke he made once upon a time, five years ago.

The tattoo IS probably because  of a girl. Penelope resigned.

And I am not that girl 

"Anyway, thanks for that. I owe you Col--catch you later. " She said, then turned her back to him, intending  to leave.

Colin stopped her on her tracks, by  reaching to grab her arm.

"Where do you think you're  going Pen?"

Oh no. Not the voice and the vice-like grip.

"I need to go"  she made an act of swiping through  her phone  as if checking something.

"You didn't even ask me what I'm doing here?" He asked, offended. He then looked from her arm to her face and finally let it go, reluctanctly.

She replied with a smirk. "Oh! I know--New Club? Charity event organized by Danbury House?  You stacking shelves? This is one of your new establishments isn't  it?  Otherwise why would a BridgerBro bother with bartending?" 

He laughed in response. "You know me too well, Penny but...No! This is actually Theo's"

Theo Sharpe, her and Eloise's  Agent Theo  Sharpe.

"I better go. I don't  think I can get home if I drink more"

"Pen you cannot be thinking  of driving--"

"I've had two glasses of wine Mr. Bridgerton" she said. 

"You and alcohol are a match made in hell Penelope" he joked. "You  are not leaving. I forbid it"

She scoffed at him. "Fine! FYI. I didn't drive here so I was thinking of getting a cab. But if you're  so concerned about me, find your ghoster of a sister and tell her to drive me home."

"I don't  think  that's  an option"

"Why?"

"Eloise kinda already left the bar --with some dude" Colin said uncomfortably. 

"Why would she do that? That's dangerous"

"Um.. it was Theo--"  Colin finally confessed. 

"Oh!" Penelope said, realizing.

"Take a chill pill Penny. One can pick up a lover anywhere"

"Speaking from experience" she retorted.

"Guilty" he said with half smile, then bowed his head in embarassment.

"Then-- I have no choice but to  get a cab"

Colin furrowed his brows. "You say that as if I am not an option-- Am I not an option, Pen?"

Was she imagining the strange lilt of disappointment  in his voice.

You're  the only option, actually. She thought.

But of course she did not dare say that out loud. 

It would be friendship sabotage.

She shook her head.

"So I'm not-not an option,  that's  a double-negative. I take that  as a yes"

"Colin..." she groaned in frustration. "Is this  how you usually pick up women? By being insufferable?" 

He chortled. "Yeah. That and my beautiful  face"  He bit back. Penelope laughed too.

Their eyes met then.

Colin stopped laughing, his face suddenly  becoming quite grave.

"Penelope--I must insist. I will take you home. I need to tell you something  anyway"

***

Soon Penelope found herself staring at a Ducati.

"That's  a motorcycle" 

"No--it's an Elephant" Colin said sarcastically, while handing her a helmet. 

Penelope hit him on the shoulder.

"When you said you're  going to drive me. I assumed there would be car"

" I told  you I was going to take you home--not drive you home"

Penelope  shuddered. "Fine"

She put on the sky blue helmet but struggled a bit with the buckle. 

Colin watched her fumbling before deciding to help her. He grasped the buckles, his knuckles grazing  Penelope's chin.

"Look up" he instructed  at Penelope, who kept  her eyes pinned to ground.

"Look up. You're  too short if you don't  look up I will need to bend a bit and my cute ass is gonna be on display for the whole world to see"

Penelope looked up but rolled  her eyes at him.

"What's  up with these buckles. Why are they so hard to fasten" she said, with some annoyance.

"It's  lower tech, but safer for crashes" Colin  explained.

"Wow. Thanks for reminding  me we could crash anytime" She said in sarcasm.

Colin tapped her helmet. Penelope  felt the vibration on her scalp.

"We will not. You're precious  cargo. I'll be extra careful"

[jams-sims]

One of thos ARG analysis video maker said this and I think it's very true for welcome home. "In the wake of mascot horror, its very refreshing to see someone make one that looks like it could have been a real show." Argo, welcome home puts a lot if effort into make the childhood tv show actually feel like a childhood show and not just a cover for all the creepy stuff.

The creepy stuff is just the flavoring on top. Its the world and the characters that really make it.

When I see people make OC they arent just random emoplyee number 58. It legit puppets who do hair, most likely would teach childern that its okay to be who you are and expressive yourself through your hair.

Train conductor puppet, obivously bam the towns gotten biger and their a train going through the town now. And all of a sudden you have someone to teach you train facts.

Me makes an puppet that does math but who very obivously hates it and wants to be a novelist. So in their hair they have number pins and the letter E. N. Here to teach kid beginngers algebra. The OC made are very tailered to the child tv show asethic and you don't see that type of love outside of people who like the muppets and it is very refreshing.

[daechwitatamic]

i just want to let you know if you ever made MFF MHH into an actual physical book i would buy it IMMEDIATELY.

omg stop :( :( :( thank you so much :(

i used to think i'd 'grow up' to be a career novelist but ykw im happy with this bc there's no publishers and editors and marketers trying to put their hands on it... read a lot of horror stories abt authors losing agency over stuff like their titles... their covers... plus i think you lose the ability to interact like THIS. i wouldn't trade anything for you lovely people showing up in my ask box or screaming in the tags or leaving me paragraphs of discourse about my characterization choices (lookin at you palm tree), yknow? like i guess at the end of the day i dont write FOR interaction but it'd be a lie to say that the interaction isn't SUPER fun

this was so nice of you tho and thank you for telling me :( i hope you continue to have fun reading what i write, that's really all i want <3

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

pyro and avalanche!

You know me too well.

Which one is more fond of scary movies: Avalanche. Pyro enjoys some of the gothic-style ghost or vampire movies, or anything with a good story, but gets annoyed by slashers or anything that he perceives as a "brainless gore fest." Avalanche is willing to watch any horror movie, and will just laugh at it if it's bad. He's more interested in being scared, Pyro wants style.

Which one gets the most excited about Halloween: Hmm....from what I've read online (assuming that's accurate), Halloween isn't really a big deal in Australia, and isn't really celebrated at all in Greece, outside of influence by expats and tourists. And Trick or Treating is a recent thing in Australia and wasn't really a custom before, so I headcanon that Pyro never did it as a child. But I think they both enjoy the costumes, because Pyro loves an excuse for a flashy outfit (he inevitably finds the "sexy" costume option, even if he personally has to a cut a deep V-neck into whatever he is wearing), and Avalanche is reminded of Apokries, the Greek festival season leading up to Lent. I think Avalanche likes handing out candy to kids. He spent so many years as a terrorist, it makes him feel good to do some small, nice thing for kids (especially something easy with no personal sacrifice on his part).

Which one would be more likely to survive the apocalypse: Avalanche, because he knows how to garden, and growing your own food is a big step forward for survival. He could also easily bury himself far below the earth if the apocalypse came in the form of a nuclear strike.

Which one would literally kill for the other: Both are equally likely to do that. They are basically Homer here:

Which one likes to scare or startle the other: I'm gonna say neither, actually. They are both violent dudes who have been through enough shit to probably have some kind of PTSD, they don't do that to each other. Both out of respect, and for the practical reason that they don't want to burn or shake their house down.

Which one is more likely to need comforting when they get spooked: Pyro pretends to be scared as an excuse to snuggle in close.

Which one always puts on a brave face: Avalanche is very stoic.

Which one would be more dangerous if they suddenly became violent: Both, really. I sometimes think Pyro tends to be a bit more vicious, but they are both criminal assholes and murderers with very dangerous powers.

Which one would be more likely to commit a crime: Boooooooth! They love crime! They'll get mad if one person commits crimes without the other, it's worse than cheating to them.

Which one believes in ghosts: Pyro. Or at least he really wants to believe. Gothic romance novelist loves the aesthetic of wandering around a haunted manor or possibly castle.

Which one likes to watch spooky show on television: If it's something like Haunting of Hill House, or any Mike Flanagan show with a lot of drama along with the scares, or campy fun like American Horror Story, then Pyro. Avalanche likes making fun of ghost hunter shows.

Which one would propose the idea of holding a seance: Also Pyro. It sounds "romantic" to him, and he wants to talk to a ghost. Especially if that ghost has an interesting story that he can turn into a best-selling novel.

Which one has nightmares more often: I'm gonna say Avalanche here, just because he seems so stoic and serious. Pyro will talk about stuff more openly, which is kind of a release, Avalanche bottles things up and it leads to nightmares.

Which one would want to explore a real haunted house: Pyro! Again, the whole aesthetic, and the possibility of actually meeting a real ghost, or at least having some kind of spooky encounter. Avalanche is mostly bored, and has practical explanations for all the cold spots and creaking floors. But he'll go along with it for the promise of having sex in a haunted house, because Pyro would absolutely want to do that.

[culttvblog]

Paul Temple: The Quick and The Dead (Seventies TV Season)

The introduction to this series of posts about 1970s TV shows can be found here:

I have very briefly touched on the Paul Temple 'franchise' on this blog's predecessor but have never yet blogged about a whole episode. I am going to have to refer you to the relevant wikipedia page for the full details of the many books, radio plays, films and these TV programmes made featuring the fictional crime writer and detective. I am also going to have to refer you to WIkipedia for the full choppy history of this TV series, because it suffered from inexplicable BBC lack of interest. The show was broadcast across four series between 1969 and 1971, and became wildly popular in Germany. The BBC for unrecorded reasons seemed to lose interest in it, and so the final series, including this episode, was rather focusless. The series then suffered from the junking policies of the time. The upshot is that the only way to experience all of the remaining available episodes of this show is to watch them dubbed into German. It's bizarre.

As it happens this fourth series episode from 1971 is an absolute cracker of a TV programme. It's like the show took all the ingredients guaranteed to make a drama successful in the seventies and mixed them up. There is a strong streak of folk horror in this one: we have inbred villagers, an ancient Pagan site, suspected current Pagan worship, all sorts of unexplained goings on, an apparent suicide, a supposedly mystified vicar, a young lad who is creepily the only child in the village and spends his days playing the organ in the church and being screamed at by his working class father... And then into the middle of this Temple and his wife Steve walk in like fashion plates and Temple blows the whole thing apart.

You'll notice that I'm making a point of being fulsome in this episode's praise first because I want to make it plain that the criticisms I'm going to make of this show don't mean I don't think you should watch it. This show is so lush and layered that it can't actually fail, but there are a few things I've found myself wondering.

A major thing is that you'll recall I said above that Paul Temple is a detective novelist and detective, and then the features I list above are not characteristic of a detective story. In that it also tends to be a bit different to many of the other episodes of the series I've seen. In fact I would go so far as to say that this is an MR James-style ghost story, rather than a straightforward Paul Temple in the mould of Francis Durbridge. If you want a more recent inspiration for the approach, you could possibly look to Hammer or one of Tigon's anthology films. You get the idea.

They made the decision, rightly, to accompany much of the programme with organ music. This was absolutely the right thing to do because it gives exactly the right horror film ethos. Some of the time we see an actual organ in an actual church being played, and the rest of the time virtually all of the interiors are sets, which is where it rather tends to go wrong in my opinion. The problem with the visuals is that this show can't decide what decade it's depicting. We see Temple and Steve dressed up to date, in synthetic fabrics, Temple with his shirt open almost to the waist, and they're standing in what looks like a set for a 1930s drama. Probably an Agatha Christie. It's the interiors of the cottages they're got wrong, and they should have done what they did for the church, and show an old place with gradual additions over the years, in other words the way anyone else decorates their house. Instead what we actually get is scenes that look like they're set in the seventies and then the scenes in the cottages look as if they're set in the thirties, with nothing visually dating from before or after. This is my only real criticism of this, that it makes the change from one scene to another seem wrong.

To me this feels like a loss of interest in quality control and I have read that there were a number of ways the final series really wasn't attended to properly, and it honestly shows. You don't get that in the earlier episodes I've seen. Another example is that to a native British person it is apparent that the boy is of a completely different class from his biological father, who also comes form a completely different part of the country, despite them all supposedly having been villagers since Doomsday. If you recall the Monty Python sketch about the poet father who disapproves of his coal miner son it is as ridiculous as that, only the other way round.

I suppose you could also say that there is too much going on in this show, but I personally like the sheer volume of stuff they've got in.

As I say, I don't think you should let these criticisms put you off: this is an excellent episode of a rather diverse and layered programme, which is well out of the ordinary for seventies TV shows.

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Archives from 2013 to September 2023 may be found at culttvblog.blogspot.com and there is an index to the tags used on the Tumblr version at https://www.tumblr.com/culttvblog/729194158177370112/this-blog

[translationandbetrayals]

Shiki, an anime perfect for the season

September is ending, and with it comes October, which means… Halloween!

So, it is the perfect time to talk about one of my favorite horror anime: Shiki.

This anime was aired first in 2010 and is based off a novel with the same title, written by Fuyumi Ono. It is a horror story that presents a mystery, and by the middle and end of it has some very grotesque and gory scenes that are also absolutely cruel. If you are an extremely empathetic person you might cry at least five times throughout the story (I did it, I am that person), so proceed with caution.

  A summary (without spoilers):

The story of Shiki takes place in a small village called Sotoba. It is so rural that the population consists of no more than 1300 inhabitants, where almost everyone knows each other. A typical countryside portrayal.

This village has only one entrance, and besides that, everything is surrounded by trees. Those same trees are the ones people use to make the tombstones and coffins for their dead. That's why one of the main characters, a monk that's also a novelist, says that they are surrounded by death itself.

In this place where nothing interesting ever happens, a big mansion with European architecture was built on a hill, a place the villagers used to call Kanemasa. This edification was empty for a long time, until the owners, the Kirishiki family, finally got to live there. And that is when everything started to change.

  One of the aspects that really caught my attention when I watched this show for the first time, was the character design of the cast. It has an art style that seems pretty unique, and I think it fits the story pretty well. Some characters look a bit creepy, but it is part of the charm these designs hold. (I would like to post them here, but sadly I don’t know how, so if you are interested, please check them on google).

  Now, I would like to comment and give my insights on this story, so there will be some huge spoilers. There are no big plot twists, since it is obvious from the start who were the culprits and what they actually are, but the motives and relationships between the characters, and what they can do to obtain what they want.

  Well, more than writing on the story, which I think is actually very simple because the reasons of why everything happened are said literally at some point, so if you pay enough attention, it is pretty clear. The vampire family wanted a place in which they could live freely, as if they were normal people. What was the meaning of this? That they actually wanted everyone in the village to become like them, to be one of them, and so, live like the normal people lived in other places, with their jobs and families, a normal life, but in the night. To obtain this, their only option was to kill everyone there, and hope most of them would revive and become part of them.

But why would they want to become allies with the same people that killed them? They were manipulated, as we can see with the case of Tohru, who was a kindhearted guy that got forced to kill his best friend, just because if did not obey, they threatened to go after his siblings. To me, it was one of the most heartbreaking parts of the story, specially because his friend, who is one of the main characters, decides to let him kill him, but trying to convince him of running away until the end. Natsuno (one of the protagonists) never wanted to live in that place, and he was very straightforward about it. He did not let others be friendly with him because he was decided to leave that place when he graduated school, so he really never wanted to get close to anyone. The only exception was Tohru, who was so nice even he could not reject him. So, when his only friend died, and he could see him be “alive” again, he was not strong enough to abandon him. He said that he would find a way in which they could live on without hurting people, that he would let him take his blood when he was hungry and that he would not give up on him. But nothing changed, and he died too. Because it was his life vs the life of Tohru’s family, and even if he decided not to kill Natsuno, the Kirishikis already wanted him dead because he was aware of everything. So even if he refused to do it, someone else would. It was inevitable.

After that, Tohru continued killing people and obeying the Kirishiki family, because what else could he do? The hunger the vampires had to endure was so painful, and he already lost by his own hands one of the most important people to him, he already hated himself enough to the point he could not care anymore about strangers, it would not change anything if he stopped now.

Besides that case, there were other persons that decided to kill their own families with the expectation that they would get up just like they did.

“Everyone feels guilty at first, but then we get used to it, because if we don’t eat, we would die”.

That was the excuse they would give to the recently awakened vampires (that in this story get the name of “shiki”), but it is not completely true. They had to drink someone’s blood at least three times, three days in a row to damage that person’s body. And even when that happened, if the person received a blood transfusion, they would get better. It was by no means necessary to kill anyone, it was a decision they took because they wanted to convert the village.

  Some people tend to comment on this series, saying that the main message is something like, when two sides are confronted, there are good and bad people on both sides. Or that shikis are to the humans, as humans are to the animals. I do not think so.

In one of the firsts chapters, there is a scene where the main character (Natsuno) rejects a gift from a girl. It was the funeral of another girl that often stalked him because “she loved him”, and the gift was a letter she wrote to him before dying. Her “childhood friend” found it and wanted to give it to him on her behalf. He rejected it in a very cold way, saying how he hated that place and how everyone there tried to push their expectations onto others. He was not close to the dead girl, so he did not want a present from her.

Later, he also comments how he hated that his parents just decided on their own that it was the best for him if he grow up in a peaceful place, and they just moved on without even asking him his opinion. And that everyone in that place was so, talking about others and expecting them to do this or that, pushing their opinions and just deciding for them.

The girl expected him to receive the letter, his parents decided that the countryside was better for him, the people of the village who had family business were expected to follow their parent’s field, and the Kirishikis expected to convert everyone there and make them part of their family. That is what I think is the main point on this story.

There are two other major characters who also happen to have a profession that they inherited from their families: one of them was the doctor, Toshio Okazaki, and the other one was the monk, Seishin Muroi. There is also a scene when they were young, in which Seishin says that they should not feel forced to follow the path their families wanted for them, but at some point, he realized how much the people of the village depended on them. It is important to the story, because both of them also realize what is happening there, but only one of them decides to take action and do something to save the village. The other, admits that he was actually waiting for the village to die, or to die he himself, since he was tired of faking being a good person just to please God. I do not remember if he said it literally, or if it was shown on the story he was writing, but he just wanted to be free.

I really think this is a pretty good story. Not because of the main plot, because it is really not a big deal, but because of the characters.

The main character 1, Natsuno, a cold boy that was unnecessarily mean to everyone, decided to die rather than to hurt or abandon his best friend.

Main character 2, the doctor Ozaki, he did some horrible things but at the same time was the only one actively trying to save people. I think he is a psychopath, but I can’t really blame him, since his motivation was for the greater good.

The last main character, the monk, I think he was lost and didn’t want to admit that he hated the village and his job. He tried to be neutral, because resisting and fighting the shikis meant that they had to kill them, and as a monk he did not want to do that. But actually, he was just waiting for everything to collapse, so he would be free. And he was not aware of this until the end, where he decides to save the one that caused everything and run away with her.

I think all of them are really good characters, independently if they appear a lot or not, or if they talk more than what they actually do, because there are characters who make the story move, and others that just make you think and analyze with them what are you seeing, and to me that is one of the most important things when watching a story.

I’m sorry for the long text, but it is really one of my favorite anime. If you read all of this, thank you.

-SBMC

[darkmarkets]

The Horror of the First Draft

(Or, is that a manuscript in your pocket, or are you just wasting your freakin’ life?)

There is a vast difference between short story writing and novel writing. Think of it as the difference between pot and heroin—sure, it’s perfectly easy to just write a short story now and then, maybe just a bit on the weekends (you can quit anytime you want) but it really just opens the door to more the more hardcore stuff.

And, once you’re chasing that novel-writing dragon, there’s no going back. Soon you’re getting up early or staying up late, plugging away half the day at your obsession, constantly fixed on nothing more than getting to those blessed words “The End.” It will be weeks, months, sometimes years before your lust is slaked, before you’ve bled enough over the page to actually call it finished.

But then, after you’ve thrown yourself on the sacrificial altar that is your novel, you wake up one morning and realize; the whole thing is crap.

There are few things more horrifying. I’ve been there. If you’ve ever finished a first draft of a novel, chances are, you’ve been there, too. Not necessarily because either of us are bad writers (well, maybe I am, but my delusions keep me going) but mainly because of the one universal truth that all writers must admit to themselves before they get to Novelist Nirvana:

First drafts always suck.

Always.

That’s not to say, of course, that first drafts never get published. Oh, there’s a lot of first drafts out there, infesting the market pools with their oily bile, turning black the hearts of readers who just laid down eight whole dollars for a book that was supposed to be entertaining, dammit. I’ve read one or two myself, and, I’ll admit, they turned me to the forces of evil.

But, don’t worry; it’s not so bad. Even if just looking at that first draft makes you want to throw yourself off a bridge—or get a slimy agent who will somehow manage to use the right incantations to Beelzebub get your draft into print—you have accomplished a wonderful thing. You have a draft! A First Draft means you have passed a horrific hurdle, climbed a dire mountain. You, my friend, are officially a Novelist.

So, I give you my condolences. I hate to say it, but there’s no turning back at that point. You’re doomed. Doomed to toil forever in that vast, maniacal obsession that is novel writing. Now you’ll languish forever in the purgatory of formatting and finishing, query-writing and polishing and dumping hundreds of dollars at your local copy shop to print out submitable manuscripts. Now you'll have to rewrite. (Oh, sweet Beezlebub, not rewriting!) It’s a horror I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

Oi. A heroin habit would probably be more useful. Sorry I had to be the one to break it to you.

EDIT: 3.14.10

So, I was hungover the morning I posted this, and rushing to finish my dark incantations to Beezlebub, so I neglected to mention something:

Yes, we're screwed as novel writers. But, once the horror has dawned on us, and we're faced with the realities of toiling forever in our miserably doomed states, there's only two possible options. We can stop...

Or, we can plunge recklessly forward through the murky swamp that is our own twisted literary dreams. We can wade through the muck to get to that glorious reprieve that is a Good Novel, by sweat and blood and tears, and by the screams of a thousand dishes never washed and the howls of a thousand TV shows never watched.

And, really, once you're hooked, that's the only option. To plunge recklessly forward.

I'll see you guys in the swamp.

Lorna D Keach

[jojo-hut-jrs]

*immediately flops in* 49 for Rubber Soul

Alright trial run let’s try this on for size

Rubber Soul X Reader:

49. “Are you okay?"

Somewhere, beneath the faded gold of the ever darkening horizon, you think there might lay a purpose you haven’t seen yet. A reason you can justify this existence to, an excuse you can cling on to when you have nothing left to rely on.

It’s damming to think about, even more so to accept, but since uncovering truths too absurd to rationalize it is the only thing that prevents you from breaking completely. That somewhere there are answers that are going to piece everything together into a single coherent picture, and with that you will finally know peace amidst this world of confusing abilities and even more confusing people.

The other crusaders each took their own approach when things got quiet, and so you had taken the chance to slip away for the time being. Singapore is lovely enough, and the city provides a nice backdrop for your thoughts to get lost in, a moment to displace yourself with.

Your drifts in a fuzzy haze of emotion and thought so complex and numbing that you don’t even notice that someone has joined in your brooding.

Or that they look exactly like you.

“Are you ok?” Your own voice is foreign and unrecognizable, an unnoticed suspicion in the amused, rhetoric tone that hardly rouses your attention until the question is repeated in volume.

You hardly raise your head in acknowledgment, not even bothering to turn around and address the stranger that you could hear slowly approaching you.

“I’m fine,” you answer back, your tone level but barren, like dry earth. “I’m just thinking for a little bit.”

“Oh?” Your voice sounds curious, and very close, “You’re just sitting here thinking? All by yourself?”

There’s a smile in their tone you can almost feel on your skin, but the numbness hasn’t dissipated, and the sunset still captivates you entirely. Blazon reds slowly deepen into blue, and the warmth of the body behind you is an accoutrement to your already complicated flurry of emotion.

“I suppose it doesn’t really matter in the long run,” you reply on reflex faster than you realize, “but at least this is more peaceful than anything I’ve been through in the past few days.”

The voice hums in curiosity, bending close to your ear so that their breath trails along the nape of your neck.

You hum back without explain further, listening to the steady breath of the stranger behind you as you attempt to lull back to a faded haze.

A prickling of impatience spikes the tone, and the body behind you shifts as it bends forward to just barely within your peripheral.

“Don’t you think it’s a little dangerous to be out here by yourself? You don’t know who you might stumble across if you’re not careful.”

The voice is taunting you, goading you into an expected response, if only you would turn your head so you could se your own eager face staring back at you, you own teeth bared and smiling on a way they never had before.

But you don’t. You only shrug so that your shoulders brush up against the body next to you.

An irritated whine resonates next to you, the body practically enveloping you as it keeps looking for the response that it wants.

“Can I ask you something?” You offer a question of your own. The person with you seems almost affronted by the suggestion, but your question spills out before they can object.

“What do you think it takes to be happy?”

You can sense the person pull back a little in confusion, the slight nod to their head barely a blur out of the corner of your eye.

“That’s kind of a stupid question, isn’t it?” They offer. “Why do you think I would bother answering this shit?”

“Just because you’re a stranger doesn’t mean I don’t value your opinion. I’d like to know your perspective, even if i don’t know you.”

There’s a beat where you can almost hear the expression on their face, a mix of confusion and irritation, a silent debate on whether to humor you for the sake of finding out where this will lead.

“Everyone wants the same shit, even when they don’t admit it.” The voice finally responds to you. “Money, for one. Power, adornment , stuff they can have. People can say they want peace and love all they want but what they really want is the stuff that comes with it, the stuff you can have for yourself.”

“I suppose, there’s a truth to that.” You reply to them. “Do you have all of that?”

Their grin is an audible crease of wet skin across slick teeth.

“More than you can even imagine.”

You smile despite the implications.

“I feel very lucky to meet you then.”

“Yeah, you damn well should be.” There’s genuine amusement in their words, a pride that radiates stronger the heat still close to your back.

“So you’re happy then?”

The voice hums close to your face.

“I think I’d be even happier if you turned to look at me.”

You turn your head, but not before closing your eyes, your smile genuine and soft, amusing and tender in its open playfulness. You can almost picture the look of frustration on their face, and the thought brings a light bout of laughter as the body shifts away from you.

“Do you think I’m a joke?!” Your own voice rises to a stern slap of a tone, not quiet shouting, but no longer the pleasant hush it had been teasing you with.

“No,” you respond, “I think this is the happiest I’ve been in quite some time.”

The person clicks their tongue, sounding a little farther away.

“I’m sure you’ll feel different soon enough.”

A moment passes before you open your eyes and find yourself alone as the sky darkens into black.

[phoenixyfriend]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm I want A QuinObi AU With a Hallmark Christmas Movie plot

Someone who went away to have a big city job comes home to their little rural town for the first time in five years and falls in love with their childhood friend, realizes that they are actually unhappy at their big city job, and decides to Return To The Low-Speed Life They Love I just can't decide which one's which

I brought this up on Discord and @deniigi said:

asdfjasFASFS:LDFJADSf these two are BOTH big city people Bail is the Bail is the rural guy Bail is like 'here is how we cut wood' and Quin tries and fucks up but Obi-Wan works out and has bigger arms than you'd expect both Quin and Bail watch him go to town

Your high school boyfriend comes back with his husband in tow and it's fine, you are also married (though your wife has been joking about having a threesome with your One That Got Away since they met at your wedding) and you think? They might be aiming at poly?

Someone puts Obi-Wan in a tank top and flannel that's open just enough to let the chest hair show through.

Plus a knit beanie (Breha gave it to him).

Bail does not want to think that Quinlan is funny but he is very funny and charming even if he cannot walk in the snow and he and Obi-Wan are clinging to each other in ice skates

Quinlan cannot chop firewood but he does know seventeen ways to light a fire, at least five of which Bail has never encountered before

Bail complaining to Breha like "I can't compete with the leather and motorcycle I am doomed." "Darling, I don't think it's the leather and motorcycle that grabbed Obi-Wan's interest."

Bail: I can't grow my hair that long either I'll look ridiculous Breha, texting Obi-Wan: down….2…..f--

Anakin comes roaring into town with a wife, twins, and a concerningly ripped teenage girl in the backseat. Bail is relieved that he at least knows one (1) person that is randomly coming to his little snowy town this winter. He's not going to ask how Padme happened to get married to someone from around here, he's just thankful she's here.

I also need Breha to bully Quinlan out of his leather in favor of a nice sweater.

Obi-Wan doesn't even celebrate Christmas, but he does want all the eggnog so he angles to get himself invited to all the parties anyway. He is coming to your party for canapes, not Jesus.

I want Quinlan's day job to be Male Model (it is a cover for Weird Spy Things), just for Bail to have another stupid thing to angst over.

From @catboydogma:

breha walks into their bedroom and bail is simply contemplating one of quinlan's magazine spreads in silence reading glasses on

"So is this a Do or a Be?" "Yes."

I think the Organas run a ski lodge. But like. A homey, cozy one.

Obi-Wan is a novelist, so we can have him move back home without actually having to quit his job.

(Everyone who meets him is always surprised because they are very gory horror novels.)

(At least one is basically the plot of the Geonosian brain worm episode)

[galaxygolfergirl]

Some Fred Jones Headcanons

This is specifically for the AU that I’ve been developing for a while, not the actual Scooby Canon itself, but hope you enjoy! I’ll post more about the gang sometime soon!

Fred Jones:

Fred inherited the Mystery Machine from his father, Frank “Skip” Jones, who was a disc jockey that hosted a late night radio horror show, “The Mystery Files.” Frank has since passed (in actuality went into hiding, more on that later) when Fred was 10.

He is a lower-middle class kid, working part-time as a mechanic to help support his mom, Margaret.

Fred also has a collection of his dad’s old cassettes, mix tapes, and CDs that he plays while the gang is on the road, as well as recordings from his dad’s radio show that he listens to in private.

He dresses preppy/kind of like an old man to emulate his dad, whom he looked up to as a kid. His ascot also used to belong to his dad.

Fred has known Velma since Elementary school as they grew up together, and were also in forensics class together; they are both sort of the brains of the group but Fred is kind of a “left-brain” himbo at times (smart, but needs a little more common sense)

Edit: I don’t really want to characterize him as dumb or a genuine himbo as other versions do. Fred’s not dumb. He is a smart, well-meaning young man, but he is fallible to letting his good intentions get misinterpreted or not come across the way he thinks they do.

Fred is a well-liked guy at school, but by no means a popular kid, jock, or anything thereof. Think theater kid or English literature club kind of popular.

He did actually become friends with Shaggy on their high school track team, though. He had to drop track once he started taking engineering classes (hence the trap making skills), but he and Shaggy do hang out outside of classes. They both like sci fi, fantasy, and horror movies and video games and hang out at Fred’s house on occasion.

Fred became friends with Daphne through their AP English class after they were assigned to work on a project together. Turns out they both have strong opinions on Ray Bradbury. 🤷‍♀️

He wants to be a horror/mystery novelist, but also work as a mechanical engineer when he graduates college.

In this AU I don’t really want to characterize Fred as a womanizer like other versions have done. He doesn’t really strike me as that kind of guy. Fred, out of the 4 of them, has been in the least amount of relationships and has a general reluctance to due to his insecurities and duty as an extra provider for his mom; he has less time to date than most.

@scoobydoominuscoobydoo @scrappedtogether @ilovefredjones @scoobysurfers @bookishdruid @blue-pixiedust @thosemeddlingsims @ilovefredjones @frelmaa @light-miracles