#Terry Conrad

[faustiandevil]

There is no greater personal Hell of your own making then getting obsessed with some dead actor and not being able to watch their entire filmography.

[babacontainsmultitudes]

Having finally gotten around to watching Mentopolis (and being unable to not tie everything back to dndads), I just want to say that I think Terry and Nicky do that thing Conrad and Justin do where they say "🥺 You're my best friend" to each other but only ever do this when something bad or dramatic has happened send tweet

[nofatclips]

Grandpappy's Gold by Bearaxe featuring Terry Moore, live on Band in Seattle

[evilhorse]

An angel

[galtchild]

My barbenheimer has been reading these at the same time.

Conrad is a difficult read but very rewarding. Pratchett is a confection that I have to meter out so that I don't run through his books too quickly.

I'd heard that Alien using the name Nostromo has no narrative connection to the book it came from and is just a cute reference. How? The book is about cursed cargo that dooms every person who covets it, including a longshoreman who handled it for his cold overseers. Kinda like that movie about the space truckers who are annihilated by their employers for the sake of their precious cargo -- the Xenomorph.

As Peggy Hill said, terrifying her captive student body, "Everything in life is between the covers of this book, people!'

[sassenashsworld]

Okay what specifically? The way you enter in it and analyse it and go deep

I am eager both of Conrad ghost making all he can to stay and your Mega Boss Nick

I have once read a fanfic about Kellogg and Nick sffectively sharing his brain and it was a really twisted work but your vision flirt with them in a way, like another side of the fandom, and I like it

I am a "good side" author, I mean.... I have write a novel about a little girl that grow learning she is a princess and have to save the univers, and it was my very first book... and I try to push on the other side

My last work, Betrayal on Ao3, have prove me I am not yet capable of going really on the dark, and the way you really do a solid and detailled analyse have trigger me. Such a work, a real talent, put in a fanfiction, will hook me, whatever it's a "good side story" or a dive into the worse

I love all good works, like His Name for a Love Song from Afterlife still my favorite fanfiction of all, because it's a Real Lord Work--even if forever unfinish

I have adore Book 0 or Willinglyghoulified on Wattpad too, because it's a good, deep headcanon of John Hancock and it's become canon for me

When an author is really capable of moving in the deep and seizing all fine aspects of their characters, in the good way or the worse, it's hook me and I am fan

I have read the better and the worse of the fandom and I never stop

And I am sure as hell that the moment you will give the fandom your work, it will mark the day

Continue!

Yeah, I know life and money can be bitch, I really know that, trust me, but you have a real talent and I am eager to see it blooming

Never give up, never surrender, eh!

Okay, how can you be just a little notes blog???

Your thoughts, your descriptions, your analyses... they are priceless

I was tired AF and hurt in my bed, and I was swirling around in tumblr, searching something new about my favorite private detective and I fall on your blog

And I see you barely have notes

Such a waste

Anyway no I didn't read a lot of your stuff because right now I was searching if you have an Ao3 account or something

Because you have to... you have to have write fanfiction, yeah? Please?

Anywah, now you are stuck with me as a fan

Hey, glad to hear you like everything. Sorry to hear about the pain you're in.

I wouldn't call it a waste. Sure, I haven't gotten the attention I wanted, but it's still been a fun ride.

As for publishing anything...

I've been writing fic for nearly a decade and a lot of it has been just playing with characters like dolls for the hell of it. I published one thing years ago and took it down about a month after. I don't know if I'll actually publish fic online again but if I do, I want at least five fics done before I die. Might be one-shots, might be multi-chapter, not sure yet.

I'm trying my damnedest to get on T but money's fuckin' tight right now, that goal definitely takes precedent over finishing a story.

I'm very curious to know what specific thing about Nick Valentine and/or Conrad Kellogg I posted hooked your interest.

For years now I've had the idea of Nick and Kellogg’s ghost learning to share Nick's skull peacefully once Kellogg proves he's not an active threat, not out for revenge, just not ready to leave yet because he's unsure of the state of his mortal soul. He doesn't know what's going to happen to him if they attempt to delete him, so he begs Nick to let him stay, and the two become friends and/or lovers from there.

No disrespect to people who like Possessed Nick stories where Kellogg is actively aggressive or trying to take over, I just lost interest in those pretty quick and wanted to see how it would work out if they agree he has to stay hidden from other people in Nick’s life, but Kellogg will ONLY possess Nick and hurt him if he tries to purge the ghost before he's ready to go. Always acting in self defense and demanding respect as his own person within their shared body / mind.

In Megacross: Ground Zero specifically Kellogg / Conrad Cereal falls into obsessive love with Nick, as the only thing he could cling to to stay alive, and Toon!Nick falls to his worst human impulses, anger and jealousy and his insistence that he has everything under control. He Has To Have Everything Under His Control. He backslides into repressive ideals surrounded by a "Pre-War" ((read: late 40's early 50's)) society and becomes obsessed with Kellogg / Conrad ruining his reputation.

Which may or may not result in him being chased by a horrific representation of his fear of his own Id. His human, needy, embarrassing desires.

Further complicated by the fact Toon!Nick doesn't remember any of their time living together.

[sentintheclowns]

YAGP FINALS 2025 PROGRAM DETAILS

since yagp never posted the program publicly, here are some notable dancers and their numbers! (i don't think i have the FINAL schedule, because there were a couple more competitors that i saw on the yagp instagram stories/posts!)

Pre-Competitive Group 1 (Classical & Contemporary Mon)

#9 Matinly Conrad - Ave Maria (Contemporary Only)

#15 Mina Terry - Three Odalisque Le Corsaire - Race Against Time

#17 Sylvie Win Szyndlar - Graduation Ball - Solitude

#36 Evie McCune-Barrett - Nocture Rouge (Contemporary Only)

#44 Calla Massey - Kitri Act III Don Quixote - Sanctuary

#50 Emilia Padesky - I've Waited (Contemporary Only)

#58 Gigi Shea - Deepest Regard (Contemporary Only)

#59 Mila Simunic - Gravity (Contemporary Only)

Pre-Competitive Group 2 (Classical & Contemporary Monday)

#62 Mika Florez - The Rise (Contemporary Only)

#78 Chloe Fan - Graduation Ball - Hyperfocus

#81 Lexie Chanstrom - Rewind (Contemporary Only)

#87 Savannah Jackson - La Esmeralda - Veiled

#88 Sadie Daniels - La Fille Mal Gardee - Solo 7

#91 Stella Brinkerhoff - La Fille Mal Gardee - Dreaming

Pre-Competitive Group 3 (Classical Mon - Contemporary Tues)

#111 Aliya Yen - Before It Ends (Contemporary Only)

#125 Harper Schwalb - Raymonda Act I - In The Light Of The Moon

#127 Scarlett Manzel - A Thousand Steps (Contemporary Only)

#129 Bella Linman - Lilac Fairy Sleeping Beauty - Black Swan

#133 Kaia Erby - Satanella - The Pull

#142 Violet Marti - Raymonda - Interstellar

Pre-Competitive Group 4 (Classical Mon - Contemporary Tues)

#172 Lucia Piedrahita - La Esmeralda - Mad Virtuoso

#201 Lisbon Hendrick - Peasant Pas Giselle - Effervescent

Junior Classical Group 1 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Wed)

#306 Athena Hu - Raymonda - Passing Of Time

#328 Elsa Peng - Harlequinade - Weathered

#335 Ellary Day Szyndlar - Paquita - Chrysalis

#338 Victoria Carrillo - Harlequinade - Kolysanka

Junior Classical Group 2 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Wed)

#368 Katarina Carney - La Esmeralda - Midnight Waltz

Junior Classical Group 3 (Classical Wed - Contemporary Tues)

#402 Madelyn Murphy - Pas D'Esclave - The Final Farewell

#420 Isabella Tjoe - Satanella - Nightfall

#421 Savannah Manzel - La Fille Mal Gardee - Diversion

#422 Fiona Wu - Queen Of The Dryads - The Sting Of Loss

Junior Classical Group 4 (Classical Wed - Contemporary Tues)

#435 Kya Massimino - La Fille Mal Gardee - No Other Path

#465 Anjali Dyen - Harlequinade - Longing

#468 Kiera Sun - Raymonda - Seeing Red

#475 Chloe Helimets - Grand Pas Classique - The Muse

Senior Classical Group 1 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Wed)

#616 Lena Garcia - Le Corsaire - Moment In Memory

Senior Classical Group 2 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Thurs)

#650 Macie Miersch - Kitri Act III - Where Light And Dark Meet

Senior Men Classical Group 1 (Classical Thurs- Contemporary Wed)

#818 Natan Grzybowski - Talisman - Solo #75

Senior Men Classical Group 2 (Classical Thurs- Contemporary Wed)

#847 Max Berg - Basilio Don Quixote - Erupting Light

Contemporary Pas De Deux (Tues)

#903 Sadie & Nicholas - Prelude To A Soul (Elite Classical Coaching)

#910 Savannah & Max - Elegiya (Elite Classical Coaching)

#912 Erik & Laci - To The Moon (Larkin Dance Studio)

Classical Pas De Deux Group 1 (Wed)

#919 Sadie & Nichloas - Coppelia (Elite Classical Coaching)

#932 Kiera & Liam - Grand Pas Classique (Dmitri Kulev)

Classical Pas De Deux Group 2 (Fri)

#938 Savannah & Max - La Esmeralda (Elite Classical Coaching)

Ensemble Group 1 (Thurs)

#963 Ellary Day & Sylvie Win - Mercy On Me (Master Ballet)

#977 Fiona Wu & Raina Wu - Breaking In The Dark (Yoko's)

Ensemble Group 9 (Sun)

#1174 Kya & Lena - Lost Voices (Hollywood Ballet Academy)

[drawtectives-ultimate-showdown]

Season 2 Drawtectives NPC Bracket

Here go, season 2 characters! Same loosey goosey rules for character selection as season 1, every named non-player character that appears on screen with a speaking role, plus some extras I felt like including but didn't quite fit those criteria.

Here's our bracket:

Links to individual matches under the cut:

Finals

Miss Terry/Sharron Lutz vs Felix

Semi-finals

Miss terry/Sharron Lutz vs Joe Beans

Abayomi vs Felix

Round 3

Optimus Amicus vs Miss Terry/Sharron Lutz

Joe Beans vs The Animatronic

Don Jovi (again) vs Abayomi

Felix vs Villanius

Round 2

Optimus Amicus vs Conrad Uctor/Leland Bore

Miss Terry/Sharron Lutz vs Aeris

Liticus Guysus vs Joe Beans

The Animatronic vs Harvey Hornswaggle

Don Jovi (again) vs Hees Knees

Abayomi vs Checkers

Felix vs Anna Log

Kingston Munch/Albert vs Villanius

Round 1

Ed Roseson vs Conrad Uctor/Leland Bore

Reading Horse vs Miss Terry/Sharron Lutz

Laura Backstab vs Aeris

The Animatronic vs Squire

Humby Bonegot vs Hees Knees

Abayomi vs Anne Daction

Grandma Dog vs Checkers

Participation Trophy Horse vs Anna Log

Kingston Munch/Albert vs Gabbago

[jesuisgourde]

A list of all the books mentioned in Peter Doherty's journals (and in some interviews/lyrics, too)

Because I just made this list in answer to someone's question on a facebook group, I thought I may as well post it here.

-The Picture of Dorian Gray/The Ballad Of Reading Gaol/Salome/The Happy Prince/The Duchess of Padua, all by Oscar Wilde -The Thief's Journal/Our Lady Of The Flowers/Miracle Of The Rose, all by Jean Genet -A Diamond Guitar by Truman Capote -Mixed Essays by Matthew Arnold -Venus In Furs by Leopold Sacher-Masoch -The Ministry Of Fear by Graham Greene -Brighton Rock by Graham Green -A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud -The Street Of Crocodiles (aka Cinnamon Shops) by Bruno Schulz -Opium: The Diary Of His Cure by Jean Cocteau -The Lost Weekend by Charles Jackson -Howl by Allen Ginsberg -Women In Love by DH Lawrence -The Tempest by William Shakespeare -Trilby by George du Maurier -The Vision Of Jean Genet by Richard Coe -"Literature And The Crisis" by Isaiah Berlin -Le Cid by Pierre Corneille -The Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon -Junky by William S Burroughs -Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes -Futz by Rochelle Owens -They Shoot Horses Don't They? by Horace McCoy -"An Inquiry On Love" by La revolution surrealiste magazine -Idea by Michael Drayton -"The Nymph's Reply to The Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh -Hamlet by William Shakespeare -The Silver Shilling/The Old Church Bell/The Snail And The Rose Tree all by Hans Christian Andersen -120 Days Of Sodom by Marquis de Sade -Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke -Poetics Of Space by Gaston Bachelard -In Favor Of The Sensitive Man and Other Essays by Anais Nin -La Batarde by Violette LeDuc -Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov -Intimate Journals by Charles Baudelaire -Juno And The Paycock by Sean O'Casey -England Is Mine by Michael Bracewell -"The Prelude" by William Wordsworth -Noise: The Political Economy of Music by Jacques Atalli -"Elm" by Sylvia Plath -"I am pleased with my sight..." by Rumi -She Stoops To Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith -Amphitryon by John Dryden -Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellman -The Song Of The South by James Rennell Rodd -In Her Praise by Robert Graves -"For That He Looked Not Upon Her" by George Gascoigne -"Order And Disorder" by Lucy Hutchinson -Man Crazy by Joyce Carol Oates -A Pictorial History Of Sex In The Movies by Jeremy Pascall and Clyde Jeavons -Anarchy State & Utopia by Robert Nozick -"Limbo" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge -Men In Love: Masculinity and Sexuality in the Eighteenth Century by George Haggerty

[arbitrary line break because tumble hates lists apparently]

-Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky -Innocent When You Dream: the Tom Waits Reader -"Identity Card" by Mahmoud Darwish -Ulysses by James Joyce -The Four Quartets poems by TS Eliot -Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare -A'Rebours/Against The Grain by Joris-Karl Huysmans -Prisoner Of Love by Jean Genet -Down And Out In Paris And London by George Orwell -The Man With The Golden Arm by Nelson Algren -Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates -"Epitaph To A Dog" by Lord Byron -Cocaine Nights by JG Ballard -"Not By Bread Alone" by James Terry White -Anecdotes Of The Late Samuel Johnson by Hester Thrale -"The Owl And The Pussycat" by Edward Lear -"Chevaux de bois" by Paul Verlaine -A Strong Song Tows Us: The Life of Basil Bunting by Richard Burton -Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes -The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri -The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling -The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling -Ask The Dust by John Frante -On The Trans-Siberian Railways by Blaise Cendrars -The 39 Steps by John Buchan -The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol -The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol -The Iliad by Homer -Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad -The Volunteer by Shane O'Doherty -Twenty Love Poems and A Song Of Despair by Pablo Neruda -"May Banners" by Arthur Rimbaud -Literary Outlaw: The life and times of William S Burroughs by Ted Morgan -The Penguin Dorothy Parker -Smoke by William Faulkner -Hero And Leander by Christopher Marlowe -My Lady Nicotine by JM Barrie -All I Ever Wrote by Ronnie Barker -The Libertine by Stephen Jeffreys -On Murder Considered As One Of The Fine Arts by Thomas de Quincey -The Void Ratio by Shane Levene and Karolina Urbaniak -The Remains Of The Day by Kazuo Ishiguro -Dead Fingers Talk by William S Burroughs -The England's Dreaming Tapes by Jon Savage -London Underworld by Henry Mayhew

[uzumaki-rebellion]

"The nighttime brings promises I can't keep

Givin' in is the one thing that I don't need

Got ahead of myself, gotta retrace my steps'

Cause I lost me the moment I took a piece of you

And you may never believe, but I'm sorry

I never meant for it to go this way (this way)

Only wanted the best and I'm stickin' to my story

This was a moment for me, and this was all it could be"

Destin Conrad & Alex Isley –"Same Mistake"

The state of mental disarray Celeste lived in would've broken the average woman. Having a feral pack of vampires follow her home brought on a fear so acute that she fled her cottage that same night and stayed with Mercy until the next morning.

She didn't tell her friend about the encounter, knowing she'd be packed off to a mental ward, or at least temporarily placed under observation at the hospital where Mercy worked as a nurse.

Mercy wasn't stupid.

She sensed immediately that Celeste's distress was beyond the made-up story about a burglar trying to break into her house. Crime happened a lot in the Easy, and any normal person would call the cops and bitch about soaring crime rates. Nothing would come of it, anyway. Outside of homicide, the NOLA police department wasn't known to haul ass for a B&E —breaking and entering. Mercy's suspicions were affirmed by the way Celeste acted, peeking out of the window every half hour like the time an old boyfriend before Freddie harassed her with stalking and drive-bys to her old apartment. All of her clique knew Terry left the city. She told them he had his job to get back to and things weren't going to pan out long distance. Mercy's lips poked out like she was itching to know if Terry was the problem and the reason for running off to her place in the middle of the night.

Celeste slept on the couch in Mercy's apartment and stayed indoors there while her friend left early for work. Daytime was a safe time. Isn't that what the vampire myths claimed it to be? She stared at the old bite wounds on her neck, thigh, and breasts. How could she be so blind to what they were? Terry had her so twisted up in the fog of lust that she glossed over proof that bloodsuckers were fucking real.

She groaned and closed her eyes. Terry manipulated her trust to feed from her.

New Orleans was the popular gothic home of vampire lore in the south. Countless books, movies, TV shows and the like centered it as the breeding ground for supernatural creatures. People made stories about monsters to scare children into being obedient. Bloody Mary. The Boo Hag. Zombies. Shit, even Voodoo still gave folks around those parts the heebie-jeebies even though white people turned it into a commercial joke. They sold Voodoo donuts, Voodoo dolls, and even ran up and down the French Quarter pretending to be Voodoo Witch Doctors giving graveyard tours to visit Madame Marie Laveau.

Like her ancestors before her, Celeste knew Vodun was real. Hoodoo was real. African retentions stayed rooted in the diaspora, and New Orleans was the most African city in America, witnessing unspeakable horrors done to Black people. White people were monsters bringing them to southern American shores. Surely their monstrosity enabled wickedness to flourish on southern soil and everywhere else. Her people danced at carnival, dressed as skeletons, and masked to hide their true selves. What better city to feed in than one that openly courted secrecy, excess, and spooky vibes? If people disappeared or turned up dead, the law and society could blame it on American's natural inclination to be violent with one another…not anything supernatural.

Vampires walked among them.

She swiped the cracked screen of her smartphone, looking up old wives' tales about Terry's kind. None of them supported anything he would be averse to. He had a reflection in the mirror. Crosses didn't bother him. He shook a priest's hand and didn't freak out. Never even flinched when she wore her gold cross necklace. She fed him garlic in the shrimp she cooked. The only things that tripped her up was that he walked around in the daytime, and she never saw him with fangs. Obviously, his teeth were sharp enough to break her skin, but regular human teeth could do that.

Maybe he was a familiar.

Dracula had Renfield. Maybe Terry was The Deacon's Renfield, luring people to their doom.

Celeste rubbed her scalp and swallowed down the anger festering in her chest. She'd made a mistake trusting Terry. She let a pretty boy's face and five-star Michelin dick trick her into submission of diabolical evil. The only saving grace was Terry's absence from her life, and whatever else ran around the Easy that scared the vampires away. She heard them say Old Ones. Perhaps that's what landed on her roof, causing the bloodsuckers to flee. Whatever it was, it didn't harm her, so she had one less monster to worry about.

As long as she stayed active during the day and locked herself in for the night, the vampires couldn't touch her. Had they wanted her dead or sucked dry, they would've done it days ago when she came home from work at night. They seduced people easily. Moved fast. It wouldn't take much to kill her on a dark street. They wanted her alive for a reason: to get Terry.

She texted Mercy and told her she felt better about going home. Made up a story about getting a burglar alarm. While driving to her small neighborhood in Marigny, she kept her neck on swivel to check for suspicious activity. She spent the rest of her time sleeping. She was so tired lately. Fatigue came easy.

Come nightfall, she turned all the lights on in the house and carried a sharp meat-carving knife on her. In her bedroom, she watched the news on her laptop, feeling drowsy. She typed in the words Shelby Springs into the Google search bar and tried to figure out where Terry came from. He claimed that he lived not too far from the place where his cousin was murdered. Three other parishes surrounded Shelby Springs. Typing Terry's name in the search engine brought up pictures of other Terry Richmonds, all white and mostly old.

Going another route, Celeste typed in the name Michael Simmons with Shelby Springs, and a slew of articles filled her screen. She read about a corrupt police force and an attempted coverup. Not one article mentioned Terry's name. Stranger still, four of the officers involved in the corruption scandal had disappeared months after being charged to stand trial. The only members of the force still around happened to be a Black woman who was set to testify against her fellow officers. She quit the force and refused to comment on any of the charges with the media. Celeste wrote her name down: Officer Jessica Sims. A second officer, who had been shot by his own Police Chief, made a move across the country to work at another police force.

If Terry went to help his cousin, surely Officer Sims would have information about his address, or at least the name of the parish he came from. Celeste stared at the screen. Officer Sims' round face looked haunted by something.

Another thought occurred to her, and she grabbed her cell phone. She called her cousin Butchie, who was friends with Travis.

"Butchie, can you text me Travis's number? I need to ask him something."

"About?" Butchie drawled on the other end.

"None of your business."

Butchie sucked his teeth and twenty seconds later, Travis X's number appeared on her screen. She typed it in fast, hitting the send button.

"Who dis?"

"Is that how you answer your phone? It's me, Duchess."

"Sister Celeste? What's going on?"

"Can you tell me, or ask your brother, where Terry lives?"

"Who?"

"Terry. Terry Richmond."

"Who dat?"

"Whatchu mean who dat? Your friend you brought to the Indian practice last month…your brother Scubbie's marine buddy. The one with the green eyes."

"Scubbie was never in the marines and I didn't bring anybody to the bar with green eyes. Have you been smoking that funny herb?"

"He came with you outside when you lit up my cigarette. The pretty boy."

Travis stayed silent.

"Never mind. Sorry to bother you. I thought maybe you knew him. Goodnight."

Celeste tapped her cell phone against her thigh. Terry used Travis to get next to her. He probably induced some type of hypnotic state like those vampires tried to do at her house… Jedi mind-tricked Travis into letting him hang with them. Once he was no longer needed, the memory of Terry faded from his mind.

She shut off the laptop and curled into a ball with the knife in front of her face. Resting her fingers on the handle, she made plans to visit Shelby Springs the next time she had another two consecutive days off.

Celeste drank a red bull to perk herself up for work at the elder care facility. The new client who moved into Miss Irma's old room was a cranky white man who never seemed satisfied with his care there. He often complained that his room was cold and drafty.

"There's no draft and your room faces the garden, the sunniest and warmest part of the building," Celeste said, helping Mr. Crawley with the door so he could move with his walker better to get inside his room.

"I'm telling you people I have a draft in my room and it's too cold, even when I turn up the heat. I pay too much money for this place not to have controlled temperatures," Crawley said.

"May I suggest wearing one of your nice sweaters?" she said.

Celeste grit her teeth, listening to Crawley go off, but she assisted him and nodded her head as his list of complaints grew. She helped him sit at the desk near the window where he wanted to write letters and his autobiography. He probably complained about his life there, too.

"You feel that?" he said.

Crawley held his hand out toward the closed window where sunlight created a square of light on the teal carpet. He grabbed her hand and forced it into the light.

"See?" he said, his pale blue eyes pleading with her to pay attention.

She stood with her fingers splayed out, dust motes floating in the bright light. Where warmth should've been, there was only a cold spot. She moved her hand in different areas around the window and there was definitely an icy chill that shouldn't have been there. Glancing up at the air conditioner vent, she didn't hear it working at that moment. Only the fan whirred, giving a pleasant circulation of air.

"I feel the cold air, Mr. Crawley. I don't know what I can do about it. Is it bothering you?"

"If it stayed in that one spot it wouldn't be a problem." He leaned in conspiratorially, and she moved closer to him. "But it moves around."

"Moves around?"

Crawley's tone of voice lowered, and he genuinely looked agitated by Celeste's facial expression.

"The cold moves around in here," he said.

She glanced at the window and reached her hand into the suspect area. The sun warmed her hand up. The cold spot was gone.

"See? I told you. Now it's all warm and normal again, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Celeste retrieved a sweater from the hook on the door and placed it on the back of Crawley's seat.

"I'll be back to take you to lunch," Celeste said.

She left the room and worked without incident until she walked down the hallway carrying a bag of collected trash and passed near Crawley's room. A large, cold spot sat in front of his door. The chill startled Celeste. The air in the building had slightly warmed up, but not enough to need the air-conditioning blasting more than it was. She walked through an icy gust and gasped at the sudden drop in temperature. Crawley's door was open. He furiously scribbled at his desk. Celeste moved back and forth between coolness and frigid air. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed someone walking toward the employee break room.

Miss Irma.

Celeste stood cemented to the floor, and Miss Irma turned a corner and glanced back at her. A male co-worker pushed a cart of meds down the hall and stared at Celeste's confused face.

"You alright, Celeste?"

"Did you see someone walk past you?"

"Just now?"

"Yes."

"Nope."

She didn't want to walk down the hall. Ignoring a dead woman should've been easy, but Celeste moved along the corridor close to the wall. When she reached the corner, she prayed no one would be there.

"Oh thank God," she sighed, seeing another empty hallway.

She left the building out of the side door to throw away the trash in the dumpster outside. A supervisor named Diane met her back inside the break room. Diane snacked on a bag of chips and a bottle of coke.

"Celeste, can you get in touch with Terry Richmond? He hasn't returned my calls to collect his grandmother's personal effects," Diane said.

"I haven't spoken to him in a long time."

"Well…his grandmother has boxes in our storage room and I'd hate to throw it out. The clothes we can donate to Goodwill, but there are photo albums and books—"

"I'll take them to him. I get off at five."

"You will? That would be great. Do you have time now to get it and put it in your car? I can help you. Mr. Richmond was told that we can hold items for thirty-days and he said he would get them before he left the city. It's been past the deadline."

Celeste followed Diane to the large storage room, and in the back were four medium-sized boxes and two bags of clothes. They took two trips to her car, and she squeezed all the boxes in the back seat and the passenger side. She dumped the contents of an over-sized box into the trunk and folded it up to reuse later at her home.

"Thank you so much. This makes me feel so much better. There are photos and all kinds of irreplaceable things in them. I'd hate to see them dumped in the garbage," Diane said.

"No problem. I'll keep them at my house and he can pick them up the next time I see him."

Diane left her alone. Celeste grabbed her smokes from the glove compartment and took an extra break. She hid herself in the garden and sat on one of the wooden benches. Seeing Miss Irma unearthed troublesome emotions. She worried that her mind was teetering on the verge of mental collapse from the stress and fear. Seeing ghosts on top of vampires was too much. Puffing and fretting, Celeste closed her eyes. Feeling dizzy, she leaned forward, hanging her head between her legs. Goosebumps pricked her skin as the temperature dropped abruptly around her. She shivered in the direct blazing sunlight.

"It's the baby making you feel sick," an elderly female voice said.

Celeste kept her eyes closed and head low, too afraid to open them or move. Reeling, she prayed silently and hoped that she wouldn't pass out.

"Don't be afraid. You know I won't hurt you…I just have to talk to you."

Celeste opened her eyes and focused her attention on the grass beneath her feet. She looked slightly to her right and noticed a pair of feet encased in pretty yellow house slippers. Moving her gaze higher, she recognized the simple pink floral dress, and the pale wrinkled hands.

"I'm scared," Celeste said.

The hand of a dead woman pulled her up, and they looked at one another eye to eye on the bench.

"Is this real? Or am I losing my mind?" Celeste asked.

Miss Irma's eyes twinkled. She looked more alive and vibrant than her last days at the assisted living facility.

"Your mind is fine, baby. Just fine."

"You're really a ghost, then?"

"That indeed. May I?"

Miss Irma pointed to Celeste's stomach. Celeste sat back.

"You want to touch me?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Miss Irma rested her soft hand on Celeste's belly. The warmth she exuded seemed so real. Ghosts were supposed to be smoky and floaty. Miss Irma sat next to her like the most solid and alive person on the planet.

"Well, now…Papa didn't waste no time," Miss Irma said.

"What are you talking about?"

"You are pregnant, child. It's still early, but you are about to become a mama for my great-granddaddy."

"That can't be true."

"Getting pregnant?"

"Terry being your great-granddaddy…he's not even…he's not…"

"You know it's true. I can see in your eyes you know his secret…what he is. On this side, they tell me that you've done the impossible, so now I must tell you something important…something I was too weak to say before I died."

Miss Irma cradled Celeste's hands, which shook so badly that the ghost had to clamp them down tight between her palms.

"You have my things. Look through them so you may know Papa's story. He was human once upon a time ago. I spent my long life documenting all I could for my grandson Michael, but he's gone and can't hold the secret for our family. Papa wanted me to tell his story. But my mind started fading and I couldn't finish my work. Now you have become my family, Celeste. There are beings in the world who mean Papa harm… and your baby, too. They hide in plain sight in other places, but because Papa came back here, they might come for him."

"Other vampires?"

"Les Gargouilles…gargoyles. They will seek him out and kill him. Their kind are enemies to Papa. Enemies to that child if they find out about you carrying a vampire's baby."

"I've seen a few gargoyle statues in the Quarter that were never here before."

"Oh no, then it may be too late."

Miss Irma rose from her seat and looked off into the distance. She paced in front of Celeste.

"They're not active in the daytime, so you're safe, even when they hunt at night. I've tracked many during my lifetime taking pictures of them all over the world. They protect humans and won't harm you because you're a child of God. The baby will be safe until it's born and out of your body…oh no…oh no…"

Miss Irma looked at her hands. They began to disintegrate, starting at her fingertips.

"Celeste! He loves you…he—"

Miss Irma's body broke apart and floated away like the graying ash of a dying fire.

Too stunned to move, Celeste sat on the bench for the rest of her shift. She wandered away only when the sun went down. Climbing into her car, she thought of what to do with the information given to her. After an hour of sitting in her driver's seat, she drove herself to the drugstore and bought an early detection pregnancy kit.

At home, she tested herself twice.

She was positive both times.

Chapter 11 HERE.

Masterlist

Taglist:

@nahimjustfeeling-writes

@planetblaque

@kindofaintrovert

@thedondada05

@blackburnbook

@avoidthings

@slutsareteacherstoo

@nayaesworld

@notapradagurl17

@4pfsukuna

@yamst3rdamctrl

@sweettea-and-honeybutter

@comfortzonequeen

@theereina

@brattyfics

@prettyisasprettydoes1306

@megane96

@honeytoffee

@taurusqueen83

@mightbeher

@melaninpov

@carlakeks

@woahthatshitfat

@hrlzy

@theglamclosetsl

@liquorlaughslove

[klykcielewe]

Horoskop

Jagna Sosjerka, 31.05.2025

Horoskop na następny miesiąc dla wszystkich znaków zodiaku. Podobnie jak rok temu, w tym miesiącu, zamiast horoskopu, gwiazdy wskazały każdemu książkę (będziemy je omawiać na spotkaniach Klubu Książki KNMMM, w każdą niedzielę o 12.00 u Dominiki Niekoniecznej w mieszkaniu).

Horoskop na czerwiec - Baran (21 marca - 19 kwietnia) Kazuo Ishiguro - “Okruchy dnia”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Byk (20 kwietnia - 20 maja) Robert Louis Stevenson - “Wyspa skarbów”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Bliźnięta (21 maja - 20 czerwca) Natsume Souseki - “Sedno rzeczy”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Rak (21 czerwca - 22 lipca) Carlos Ruiz Zafón - “Książe mgły”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Lew (23 lipca - 22 sierpnia) Osamu Dazai - “Owoce wiśni”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Panna (23 sierpnia - 22 września) William Golding - “Władca much”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Waga (23 września - 22 października) Erin Morgenstern - “Cyrk nocy”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Skorpion (23 października - 21 listopada) Irving Stone - “Pasja życia”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Strzelec (22 listopada - 21 grudnia) Joseph Conrad  - “Jądro ciemności”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Koziorożec (22 grudnia - 19 stycznia) Terry Pratchett - “Kolor magii”

Horoskop na czerwiec - Wodnik (20 stycznia - 18 lutego) Fredrik Backman - “Miasto niedźwiedzia“

Horoskop na czerwiec - Ryby (19 lutego - 20 marca) John Steinbeck - “Grona gniewu”

[vintagetvstars]

Hot Vintage TV Men's Bracket - Round 1 - Part 1/2 (Polls 1-99)

Round 1 (All Polls)

Ted Bessell Vs. Dick Van Dyke

Jonathan Frid Vs. William Hartnell

Claude Rains Vs. William Hopper

Eric Idle Vs. Peter Tork

Henry Winkler Vs. Tom Smothers

Martin Kove Vs. Tom Selleck

Jeff Conaway Vs. John de Lancie

Dave Foley Vs. Michael J. Fox

David Hyde Pierce Vs. Tony Shalhoub

Jason Bateman Vs. Rob Lowe

Ted Cassidy Vs. Boris Karloff

Eddie Albert Vs. Russell Johnson

Bobby Sherman Vs. Micky Dolenz

Robin Williams Vs. Fred Grandy

Kevin Smith Vs. Bruce Campbell

Brad Dourif Vs. LeVar Burton

Seth Green Vs. Brandon Quinn

Matthew Perry Vs. Tim Daly

Mike Farrell Vs. Judd Hirsch

Matt Bomer Vs. Timothy Olyphant

Larry Hagman Vs. Kent McCord

Fred Rogers Vs. Bobby Troup

David Cassidy Vs. Luke Halpin

George Takei Vs. Richard Hatch

Ricardo Montalban Vs. John Forsythe

Richard Dean Anderson Vs. Bruce Willis

Anthony Head Vs. Paul McGann

Thorsten Kaye Vs. Michael Horse

Darren E. Burrows Vs. Dana Ashbrook

Adam Brody Vs. Milo Ventimiglia

Adam West Vs. Richard Chamberlain

Randy Boone Vs. Dean Butler

Clint Walker Vs. George Maharis

Erik Estrada Vs. Paul Michael Glaser

Billy Dee Williams Vs. Rock Hudson

Ted Danson Vs. Jameson Parker

Sylvester McCoy Vs. Armin Shimerman

Joe Lando Vs. Spencer Rochfort

Ben Browder Vs. Keith Hamilton Cobb

Richard Ayoade Vs. Kevin McDonald

Patrick McGoohan Vs. Robert Vaughn

Chad Everett Vs. DeForest Kelley

Jon Pertwee Vs. Mark Lenard

Darren McGavin Vs. Peter Falk

Terry Jones Vs. Alan Alda

Michael Tylo Vs. Timothy Dalton

Sean Bean Vs. Valentine Pelka

Ioan Gruffudd Vs. Colin Firth

David Tennant Vs. Robert Carlyle

Jason Priestley Vs. Tom Welling

Martin Milner Vs. James Garner

David Soul Vs. Lee Majors

Derek Jacobi Vs. Andrew Robinson

David Hasselhoff Vs. Stephen Nichols

Jimmy Smits Vs. Hal Linden

Brent Spiner Vs. Ted Raimi

Patrick Troughton Vs. Andreas Katsulas

Miguel Ferrer Vs. Mitch Pileggi

David James Elliot Vs. Andre Braugher

Blair Underwood Vs. Mark-Paul Gosselaar

Don Adams Vs. Cesar Romero

Bob Crane Vs. John Astin

Walter Koenig Vs. Davy Jones

Tom Baker Vs. Jamie Farr

Woody Harrelson Vs. John Schneider

John Goodman Vs. Joseph Marcell

Danny John-Jules Vs. Marc Alaimo

Michael Praed Vs. Kevin Sorbo

Mark McKinney Vs. Colm Meaney

Neil Patrick Harris Vs. David Schwimmer

James Arness Vs. Robert Fuller

Clint Eastwood Vs. Robert Conrad

Jonathan Frakes Vs. Michael Hurst

David Duchovny Vs. Michael T. Weiss

Luke Perry Vs. Jeremy Sisto

Matt LeBlanc Vs. John Stamos

Reece Shearsmith Vs. Alexander Siddig

Eric Close Vs. William Shockley

Daniel Dae Kim Vs. Robert Beltran

Scott Cohen Vs. Scott Patterson

Dick Gautier Vs. Michael Landon

Wayne Rogers Vs. Alejandro Rey

Gerald McRaney Vs. Robert Wagner

Simon Williams Vs. John Cleese

Brian Blessed Vs. James Earl Jones

Noah Wyle Vs. Kyle MacLachlan

James Marsters Vs. Paul Gross

Paolo Montalban Vs. Robert Duncan McNeill

Garrett Wang Vs. Nate Richert

Christian Kane Vs. Michael Vartan

David McCallum Vs. David Selby

Leonard Nimoy Vs. Colin Baker

Randolph Mantooth Vs. Michael Nesmith

Demond Wilson Vs. Tony Danza

Ron Perlman Vs. Mr. T

Ron Glass Vs. Dirk Benedict

John Shea Vs. Michael Ontkean

Jeffrey Combs Vs. Rowan Atkinson

Tim Russ Vs. Bruce Boxleitner

Round 1 Polls 100 - 128

[crowleysgirl56]

Doctor Who reaction and recap!

Episode 7: Wish World

Ah whoops, did it again and forgot to get this review and recap out in a timely manner. As it’s part 1 to a two part finale it’s very hard to critique the episode as a whole so a lot of my questions will hopefully be answered with part two tomorrow night.

So once again, spoilers beware sweetie. Under the cut for more!

So I don’t think I’m going to do the usual positive and negatives with this post, but more a running commentary of the episode as we go.

Right off the bat we have THE Rani turn up a couple hundred years ago locating a seventh son of a seventh son of a seventh son and LORDY my Discworld brain was already screaming “TERRY, IS THAT YOU!” Anyone who knows Discworld lore knows that a 7th son cubed is a Sorcerer, so immediately I was curious what was going on here. It wasn’t until days later when I read a post on Tumblr that I realised The Rani kissing the baby was what was giving her, her magical powers to turn everyone into animals or flower petals. I was honestly so confused and angry thinking The Rani had somehow turned magic.

The next we see of The Doctor and Belinda they turn up in bed together as a married couple in some weird freaky 1950’s world, and suddenly Conrad and his toxic ideologies have come back to haunt us. I’m going to give this episode loads of kudos for finally doing something clever with Conrad’s story arc here. The idea that he is being used to throw the world into Dudebro/Incels perfect world order of straight men, dutiful house wives, and invisible disability and this stupid insane world is what causes everyone to doubt is absolute genius.

Also, utterly LOVE the very deliberate and direct poke at JK Rowling with the obvious book cover that looks like the original published Harry Potters. We see you Russell. And we love it.

Poppy turning back up again was a confusing surprise, and if you don’t mind me jumping to the end here, the Doctor revealing that she’s real is sending me down all kinds of theory rabbit holes. It’s like, we finally have an answer for who Mrs Flood is. Now WHO THE FUCK IS POPPY! (Is she Romana? 😜).

Ruby suddenly turning up at The Doctor’s door is frankly strange. How does she know who he is, and better yet, WHERE he lives? Why does she have more doubt than everyone else? The fact that she recounts later that she’s lived through 2025 before, with a reference to 23 Yards A TIMELINE THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN, is really troubling. Either, there really IS something special and different to Ruby, or Russell hasn’t thought this through and there will be no further explanation to it. I will be mad if it’s the latter. Also shout out to Ruby’s family turning on her on a dime as the new “Rory dies all the time” trope. Hilarious!

Before we move on, let’s talk about the intrigue of the Slips. Broken coffee mugs. What’s going on here? I utterly love the reveal later. The Doctor then bumps into Mel outside, who funnily enough, slips so much she has two large bins instead of one. Ok, I have a problem with Mel in this episode. One, she’s not really doing anything in this episode other than to remind us she exists. I’m hoping she will have something interesting and important to do in the second part. Two, she is an unfortunate reminder to David Tennant still existing out there as the Retired Doctor. Which I don’t like. And frankly if David turns up tomorrow night in the finale, I will be quite angry (well, I’ll love that he’s there, but still!), because we don’t need him anymore and relying on him undermines everything that has been established for Ncuti. Moving on.

We get a glimpse of the outside world which is bonkers. Giant ghost skeleton leviathans which only purpose of being there is to make people doubt. I guess? And a giant bone palace. Again, all this is cool, but I’m still at a loss to figure out why? Like, why is it all that stuff? Just for the doubt I guess? I don’t know, this just didn’t sit right with me, I found it too weird and without purpose.

The Doctor turns up to work at UNIT, but not our UNIT. This UNIT has something to do with insurance (apologies for not remembering the acronym). The Doctor makes the unfortunate mistake of telling another man he’s beautiful. Big no, no in Completely Straight world. At this point Ruby is also still doubting and makes contact with Shirley and finds the underground resistance of people who are essentially “othered”. Disabled and Queer folk. There’s talk about fighting back and Shirley brings out a UNIT iPad. I’m sorry, WHERE did you get that from?! Is this explained?! This bit annoyed me the most I’m sorry to say (the bit with the iPad that is. The actual yarning circle with all the resistance people was quite phenomenal!). I’ll say it’s kind of sad how they sat around in the circle lamenting a lost better world. Oh hunnies. It’s not much better here I’m afraid to say. You deserve much better than the real world.

Ok Belinda is at home and it’s interesting that Poppy has a lot of doubt, causing a number of mugs to crash to the floor. Just a wilful toddler, or something more perhaps? Belinda’s mother and grandmother have a heart to heart about being a perfect dutiful wife (Fuck you Conrad), and suddenly Belinda now has doubts when she can’t remember anything about Poppy’s birth. She then needs to go scream in a field. Girl, I feel you. Wouldn’t we all love to just run out into a field and scream. In fact, let’s all do it! Who’s with me?!….

So Mrs Flood pops in on Conrad and The Giggle is revealed in the baby, who is later to be revealed to be the God of wishes (I’m really hoping there’s more to this in the second episode), which is how Conrad is creating the world. And struggling in doing so, the poor little sad baby man. Ahem. Mrs Flood’s relationship with him is interesting. Like a weird mother song dynamic. I guess because his own mother was so fucking awful, that this is the reason he wants to latch onto any kind of kindness shown to him. I’m hoping more of this dynamic is expanded on next week. Also, when she recruited him I’m assuming she has done so after she bigenerated because she mentions how this plan is THE Rani’s plan, and how else would it have been her plan if she didn’t exist yet. So I’m assuming Mrs Flood popped back in time to grab Conrad. Speaking of, where is The Rani’s Tardis? I’m hoping there’s a super cool reveal tomorrow night.

We come to the best bit of the episode which is The Doctor getting a message from ROGUE! Who is still stuck is Super Hell apparently. Doctor did you even try to save him?! He loves you damn it! I have an awful feeling this is the last we’ll see of Rogue though, which I find disappointing.

We then get the reveal of the tables. Tables don’t do that! Chilling! Extremely well executed.

Let’s fast forward to the nitty gritty of the episode, which is where The Rani finally gets The Doctor and Belinda into her bone castle lair and expositions at them for a while about her plan (let me pause here for a second to say how much I loved the campness of The Rani, and her little dance number with The Doctor. Excellent. Gave The Master or The Toymaker vibes. More of that please!). But don’t worry, the exposition is the point. Pity I still didn’t seem to quite grasp it all at first until I had to sit down for 20 minutes after the episode to examine what was going on and talk it all out. Sigh. Remember when Doctor Who didn’t used to be so convoluted. Anyway the Rani needs to create a fake world, filled with doubt, so it’ll rip apart the world to free…. Dun dun duuuhhhhhh! Omega!

Wait. What? Who?

Ok, I’m a fan of Doctor Who from way back, but unfortunately I have not seen every episode. And because the BBC is shit at actually putting anything on DVD and because Australia is even shitter at making old school Doctor Who available here, it’s very hard to rewatch Classic Who. So I didn’t actually have much of a clue who Omega was other than I knew he was an old timelord, and what sparing info The Rani provided. Annoying considering you just spent the last 20 minutes extolling your plan, you couldn’t give just a little bit more info on who this guy was?!

Also what is it Disney? Is this new season a completely new and revamped show for new audiences? Or is it littered with deep-cut references that only the most devoted old school fans will feel any kind of awe for during a reveal? It felt very much like Benedict Cumberbatch declaring “I am Kahn!”

Look, it was an exciting cliffhanger. The Doctor plummeting to an earth that is falling apart around him (even if this means nothing because we know The Doctor will get out of it in part 2). The reveal that there’s something about Poppy. Omega coming back for…revenge? Let’s go with Revenge.

Final thoughts: an exciting episode that has successfully brought together the mystery threads of the season, even if somewhat confusingly. I know I’ve skipped over quite a lot, but feel like I’ve pointed out all the main parts that I had the most feelings about.

Once again I’ll give this 3 and a half out of five stars.

I pray that the finale sticks the landing. Question before we go: Why did the Tardis’ doors explode inwards at the cliffhanger of The Interstellar Song Contest? And how did The Doctor and Belinda end up unscathed in the fake world? Is that going to get explained?

[garadinervi]

45th Annual New Year's Day Marathon Reading, The Poetry Project at St. Marks Church, New York, NY, January 1, 2019 [Granary Books, New York, NY]

Performers: Andrea Abi-Karam, Ammiel Alcalay, Ashna Ali, Justin Allen, Julie Alsop, Jonathan Aprea, Penny Arcade, Ed Askew Band, Daisy Atterbury, James Barickman, J. Mae Barizo, Peter BD, Jim Behrle, Anselm Berrigan, Edmund Berrigan, Fabrienne Bottero, Michael Broder, Lee Ann Brown & Janice Lowe, Marie Buck, Phong Bui, Steve Cannon, Wo Chan, Yoshiko Chuma with Dane Terry, Lauren Clark, Todd Colby, John Coletti, CA Conrad, Lydia Cortes, Brenda Coultas, Alex Cuff, Matty D'Angelo, Kyle Dacuyan, Jordan Davis, Ted Dodson, r erica doyle, Ry Dunn, Anaïs Duplan, Marcella Durand, Steve Earle, Mel Elberg, Betsy Fagin, Will Farris, Farnoosh Fathi, Avram Fefer, Camonghne Felix, Jack Ferver, Jennifer Firestone, Jen Fisher, Jameson Fitzpatrick, Dorothy Friedman August, Kay Gabriel, John Godfrey, Suzanne Goldenberg, Adjua Gargi Nzinga Greaves, Phoebe Greer & Arthur Cañedo, Diana Hamilton, Odetta Hartman, David Henderson, Barbara Henning, Laura Henriksen, Erika Hodges, Bob Holman, Erica Hunt, Cori Hutchinson, Omotara James, Rachel James, Paolo Javier, Cyree Jarelle Johnson, Pierre Joris & Nicole Peyrafitte, Millie Kapp & Matt Shalzi, Vincent Katz, erica kaufman, Amy King, Anna Kreienberg, M Lamar, Yaz Lancaster, Sue Landers, Denizé Lauture, Paul Legault, Rachel Levitsky, Matt Longabucco, Brendan Lorber, Jimena Lucero, Filip Marinovich, Erin Markey, Douglas A. Martin, Eline Marx with Devin Brahja Waldman as teknikal issues, Greg Masters, Andriniki Mattis, Jillian McManemin, Yvonne Meier, Carley Moore, Tracie Morris, Dave Morse, Stephen Motika, Gala Mukomolova, Sahar Muradi, Uche Nduka, Peter Neeley, Precious Okoyomon, Edgar Oliver, Laura Ortman, Nicky Paraiso, Trace Peterson, Matt Proctor & Sarah Safaie, Lorelei Ramirez, El Roy Red, Batya Rosenblum, Bob Rosenthal, Douglas Rothschild, Judah Rubin, John Rufo, George Emilio Sanchez, Tina Satter, Tom Savage, Simon Schuchat, Purvi Shah, Frank Sherlock, Jayson Smith, Sean D. Henry Smith, Pamela Sneed, Patricia Spears Jones, Tammy Faye Starlite, Max Steele, Jim Stewart, Sara Jane Stoner, Bridget Talone, Susie Timmons, Edwin Torres, Tony Towle, Cat Tyc, Aldrin Valdez, Cecilia Vicuna, Anna Vitale, Morgan Vo, Asiya Wadud, Anne Waldman with Fast Speaking Music, Nicole Wallace, Lewis Warsh, Jacqueline Waters, Rachael Wilson, Chavisa Woods, Matvei Yankelevich, John Yau, The Double Yews , Don Yorty, Spoke and Feather, Sparrow / Foamola, The Blow, and St. Mark's Choir

Design: Kate Liebman

[titusandronicusonice]

What I read in 2024

Non-Fiction

History and Class Consciousness (1923) by Georg Lukács – okay, I didn't finish this book. BUT, I'm still mentioning it because the 80-ish pages I did read were so terribly influential on me that I couldn't not include it. Considered one of the foundational texts of 'Western Marxism', the first three essays (especially the one on 'Class Consciousness') show just how dynamic historical materialism can be.

'Theses on the Philosophy of History' (1940), and 'The Author as Producer' (1934) by Walter Benjamin – I read in a John Berger piece that Benjamin wanted to compose a book made up entirely of quotations. I think about that a lot.

Marxism and Form (1971) by Fredric Jameson – Jameson's account of the aesthetic theories of Adorno, Benjamin, Marcuse, Bloch, Lukács, and Sartre, plus an extended account of what dialectical criticism is and can be. (That last chapter is an expansion of his excellent 'Metacommentary' essay which you should read right now.)

Marxist Modernism (2024) by Gillian Rose – A transcript of Rose's 1979 lectures on Frankfurt School critical theory from Lukács to Adorno by way of Benjamin, Bloch, and Brecht. The lecture format makes it far more approachable than Marxism and Form but necessarily more simplistic. Regardless, Rose does a phenomenal job contextualising every theory discussed, outlining the unifying threads that might not be evident when approaching each thinker individually.

The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism by Rodney Hilton and others – Collecting the 1950s transition debate and complementary material. All your favourites are here: Sweezy, Dobb, Hilton, Hill, Lefebvre, Hobsbawm. I particularly loved the essay by Kohachiro Takahashi.

A Singular Modernity (2002) by Fredric Jameson – A rigorous theorisation of 'modernity' and 'modernism'. All your favourites are closet dialecticians. I devoured this in a week, so good.

Fiction

Guards! Guards! (1989) by Terry Pratchett – My second Discworld novel after having read The Colour of Magic 5 years ago. A joy to read.

Notebook of a Return to the Native Land (1939) by Aimé Césaire – A long poem tracing the coming-into-consciousness of an anti-colonial subject. Rich with history and anger. 'I would go to this land of mine and I would say to it: "Embrace me without fear ... And if all I can do is speak, it is for you I shall speak."'

Hard to Be a God (1964) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky – Future communist spacemen observe a planet whose civilisation is stuck in its Middle Ages (or, more accurately, backsliding into quasi-fascist reaction). A favourite, feels like it was written specifically for me.

The Tombs of Atuan (1971), The Farthest Shore (1972) by Ursula K. Le Guin – The second and third books of Earthsea. Tombs was excellent, probably the high point of the trilogy, or at least the only novel I felt was truly subversive of contemporary fantasy. The Farthest Shore I very much liked, but the narrative was far more conventional, if not conservative.

Mother Courage and Her Children (1939) by Bertolt Brecht – No one does it like him. I would do anything to be able to see the 2006 Meryl Streep production.

The City and the City (2009) by China Miéville – My first Miéville. This scratched a very specific itch for me, looking forward to when I have the time to start his New Crobuzon series.

Shadow & Claw (1980, 1981) by Gene Wolfe – The first half of the Book of the New Sun. A favourite, if not the favourite.

Melville (1941) by Jean Giono – Something between an essay and novella: a fictionalised account of Melville's time in London in 1849 and his decision to write Moby-Dick. I had very high hopes coming into this but it was not very great. Too hetero.

Heart of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad – I quite enjoyed reading this so I say in the most neutral way possible that this was the longest hundred pages I've ever read.

Gardens of the Moon (1999) by Steven Erikson – The first book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I wanted a huge fantasy world to get invested in (googled 'books like Elden Ring') and this one stood out to me. Erikson's prose left a lot to be desired, but the worldbuilding and plot construction were great. I'll probably read one of these books a year; will provide a series overview in 2034.

Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) (2019) by Hazel Jane Plante – An elegy for a trans woman by a trans woman, told through encyclopaedia entries about her favourite (fictional) show. So much life packed into this short book.

To the Lighthouse (1927) by Virginia Woolf – A favourite. From this novel alone Woolf ranks among the best prose stylists I've read.

Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853) by Herman Melville – [edit, forgot to mention this one]

[cover-art-showdown]

Round One, Match CCXLVIII

Le Père Porcher / Hogfather (Terry Pratchett), Pocket 2006. Cover by Mark Simonetti.

Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad), Penguin Classics 2012. Cover by Mike Mignola.