#also rachel is also a favorite. they're all my faves so far

[volturialice]

Do you have any dark gothic/horror book recs? I’m trying to get out of thrillers at the moment. also looking for some dark classics. any ideas?

I was waiting to answer this until after the Bella's Book Club summer reading reclist went live and now it's live!! and I must say, full of some Choice gothic recs. But I'll list my personal faves here!

Dark™ things from my part of the BBC reclist:

Jamaica Inn (and My Cousin Rachel) by Daphne du Maurier - iirc I described Jamaica Inn as gothic + adventure in my recs, and yep, that's what it is. definitely part of the specific "the book cover shows a woman in a nightgown running from a scary building" gothic heroine tradition. I also gave a brief nod to My Cousin Rachel because it's another of du Maurier's works which I think is underrated (that one's more of a slow-burning gothic mystery featuring a hero of the 'little wet babygirl' variety.)

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia - Also as I said in my recs, it's very like Jamaica Inn in structure and genre, though of course the writing, the specific characters, and the central mysteries are different. But MG is (of course) Mexican and has more fun Get Out/Ready or Not vibes with its themes of class and ethnicity.

Girls Running from Houses by tanaudel on redbubble

Perfume: the Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind - Villain protagonist villain protagonist! This one I love mostly for its flowery prose and sheer aesthetic commitment. You're telling me this 18th-century French serial killer turns his victims into perfume?? Say more

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey - Seriously the most underrated YA series of all time. Also so gory and terrifying I sometimes cannot believe it's YA. To this day some of the scariest written horror my eyes have beheld, not to mention it's got banger prose. Most people know Rick Yancey from The 5th Wave which is such bland cookiecutter 2010s YA dystopia love triangle nonsense that I just want to shake everyone and go NO, READ THIS BRILLIANCE INSTEAD! ngl the last book in the series is Not Good (you can 100% tell he had switched all his energies to 5th Wave, which is a shame) but the first 3 are absolutely good enough to make up for it.

Other people's reclist recs that I too have read and enjoyed: Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier), We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Shirley Jackson), Dracula (Bram Stoker), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)

More classics: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (short and easy read!), The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (a must-read for aesthete gays everywhere. I mean cmon it's Oscar)

Extremely melodramatic "classics:' I loved reading Louisa May Alcott's little known "flops" A Long Fatal Love Chase and Behind a Mask (short story collection.) I might make Book Club read Love Chase at some point because I think we'd have way too much fun with it. We'll see.

My personal favorite that I think everyone should read: The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (short story collection of gothic fairytale retellings!)

Not exactly what you think of when you hear 'gothic' per se but definitely Dark and it's my OTHER favorite: Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (I never shut up about this book and it's for a reason. Very different from the movie, which I also love!)

My favorite gothic/horror authors:

Shirley Jackson - I've definitely talked about her before but both The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle are straight bangers (and short, easy reads to boot!) Do NOT think you can watch the Mike Fl*nagan Hill House show of the same name and call it a day—they're completely different stories. (also let the record show I'm censoring his name out of personal dislike he hasn't done anything 'problematic' afaik calm down)

Stephen Graham Jones - Insanely good writing oh my god. I have so far only read the My Heart is a Chainsaw books but his entire oeuvre is on my TBR because he cannot lose. Also he lives in my town and I'm starstruck just knowing this fact. Indigenous (Blackfoot) author who writes about indigenous characters!

Kelly Link - Writer of banger short fiction. I particularly enjoy Pretty Monsters because it's 100% written for the Twilight girlies and clearly made with love and silliness

Grady Hendrix - I didn't loooove Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, but I adored Hörrorstör and especially My Best Friend's Exorcism, which is a total masterpiece IMO. Another writer whose entire oeuvre is on my TBR.

[thnxforknowingme]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ♥️

🥰🥰🥰 Thank you! I've already answered a similar ask here, so I guess I'll go ahead and rec five fics that aren't on that list (which will take me through like the majority of the glee fic I've written since making this account...but on the other hand they're ALL my faves because I wrote them and I care about them so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Miles To Go (Klaine, 35k words, rated M) - I am so in love with this fic. I got the perfect prompt and the perfect art and I'm both so grateful and proud that I got to write it. It's about grief and sadness and anger and emptiness, but it's also about healing from those things, about making new connections and the mortifying ordeal of letting yourself be vulnerable with someone else, and also it's about driving across the United States, which I loved having the opportunity to write about. And I got to bring Klaine to California, so of course it's a great fic.

these bodies are hoping to get addicted to sound (Klaine, 5k words, rated E) - god WHY did I give this such a long title?? Anyway this is my only E rated fic to date, which makes me want to both brag about it and hide my face in embarrassment. I loved writing it though and I tried to balance the sexy with the heartfelt. Also god, just writing Blaine as totally self-effacing and mortified by his own desire was...a lot of fun. Writing this made me realize that English has a lot of different ways to say "perverted," which I think says a lot about America's deeply puritan ethos but ANYWAY also I got to throw some Kurtbastian in there which is always a good time

It's Who I'm With (Klaine, 15k, rated T) - my Advent Christmas fic! It has Kurt as a nanny to an eight-year-old, which forced me to leverage my working in an elementary school experience and writing abilities to try writing a believable child character. It has so much Christmas music. It has a Kurt-Rachel-Santana dynamic that I'm very proud of. It's about making holidays have meaning, through ritual and festivity but more importantly through the people you share them with.

The Feeling's Plain to Me (Klaine, 9k, rated T) - the sequel to It's Who I'm With! It explores the first few months of Klaine's relationship, and again I loved looking at them in this particular light, as a story that eschewed the Happily Ever After ethos of Glee and instead examined what it feels like to pursue relationships and creative careers as an adult in (what I hope was) a mature and realistic way.

Oh, Those Summer Nights (Samcedes, 1k, rated T) - my only Samcedes fic! (So far, at least.) Loved channeling my core competency for this story: Sarah Dessen-inspired YA teens infatuated with each other (I'm not saying I'm AS TALENTED as Dessen, just that I emulate her in...frankly most of my work). Adorable gestures of affection between two characters I really like while still keeping their relationship a secret. I loved exploring those early Samcedes days and also they were adorable in this brief one-shot.

I feel it's an important caveat to mention that I just got home from a brewery and am not 100% sober as I write this, so apologies for my excessive wordiness and any typos.

[merevide]

i have zero thoughts in my mind except this specific photo of helena. she slayed (literally)

[kuiinncedes]

Jeanne <3

How are you?

I'm not sure if this has been done before but out of the new directions who do you think would watch shadow hunters and what would their favorite characters be?

Hope all is going well 🧡

ahhh hi myle!!! <3 i'm doing ok school's a lot ashgklsdjf how are you??

i actually have not seen more than like probably 5 episodes of the show lol but i have read almost all the books babyyyy so sorry if this doesn't really fit the show haha but i'll try my best 🤪

also disclaimer i've found i'm not great at these kinda questions lmao 🥴

as for who out of the new directions would read the books idk they're pretty generic/popular ya fantasy books lol so whoever reads ya would probably read the shadowhunter chronicles haha we'll pretend for the sake of assigning favorite characters (bc that does sound fun) that they all read the books i guess for like new directions book club lmao idk 🤪

sorry this is so long ahhhh

quinn - tessa gray (her overall storyline of growing up being told what to do and who to be and then finding herself and her self-worth and finding love but not letting that be everything)(fuck i love tessa gray so fucking much)

kurt - alec lightwood (maybe a little on the nose lol but um in the books at least clary kinda assumes he's gay and he has trouble with that and just i think his growth also kind of parallels kurt's change from lima to new york and being comfortable in himself)

brittany - church the immortal cat akldhglfs (no but church is an actual icon we love church 😌)(and like just kinda from how they treated brittany on the show this is the first thing that came to mind)(but like church being a fave is valid tbh lskdghsfj)

santana - isabelle lightwood or will herondale (isabelle having to let her guard down a little to open herself to love bc she has one quote about being really scared of that and i think they're really similar in that regard)(will has love issues too for a very different reason but i think santana would connect with him too and how both he and isabelle in different ways keep up walls around them and especially will sometimes takes it a little too far)

puck - jace herondale or gabriel lightwood (fucked up relationships with dad/father figures idk if this is too much like just who's similar to who haha but i stand by it)(gabriel who had to learn he didn't have to stay loyal to his piece of shit dad and could become a better person)(kinda applies to both of them)

tina - lily chen or jem carstairs (lily was in love with raphael unrequited but she still became super close with him platonically and i feel like tina would appreciate that also bc lily's a fucking iconic vampire queen)(jem bc taste 😌 lol but also like he had to wait a very long time to get what he wanted ;-; it's a lot different from tina so idk i won't get into it and make this too long 😂)

mike - magnus bane bc they look the same ahaha jk

rachel - emma carstairs (they share a kind of singlemindedness and rachel could maybe learn from emma to not be so selfish sometimes haha)

finn - ...clary fairchild tbh (the way she's introduced to the shadow world and thrown into it with a lot of expectations is a little similar to finn and the glee club i think)(but would she actually be his favorite character alksdg)

sam - dru blackthorn (idk this feels really random i'm having trouble at this point 😂 but partly like how she's underestimated and underrated by her family ;-; who still love her with everything but they do kind of forget and dismiss her capabilities sometimes)

blaine - julian blackthorn (he kinda struggles with wanting to be perfect and having a lot of expectations he's trying to meet and people he's trying to please)(they are in veryyy different situations tho lol)(but i do think blaine has appreciating-julian vibes 🤪)

artie - simon lewis (simon's kind of a nerd and also plays guitar 🤪 but also i thinkkk like having to leave home (under very different circumstances dlhgkfj) is why i put him for artie 🥴 idk it's not very good lmao)

mercedes - cristina rosales (bc she SHOULD lol but alsooo idk maybe i think they're kinda similar but not really?? they're both pushed to the side a bit and constantly helping others i feel like i'm barely answering the question i'm just saying who's like similar 😂)

i really didn't need to say this much haha sorry if none of this makes sense or is very good lol but this was really fun to think about so thanks for the ask 🥰🥰 and sorry for doing a lot of book-only characters alskdhgsdf i failed the assignment in multiple ways 😂

[tacticalhimbo]

too lazy to log into main far cry(all or just one of them ur choice) and tow for .. blorbo plinko fandom meme

you know what? i respect that. you'll get characters for every far cry and the outer worlds (including dlcs) i have played simply bc i admire the dedication.

i will however spare the dash and place this under a cut ksdjkdkdks

also!! everything i say is in a light-hearted nature. there's nuance with a lot of these characters because far cry is almost... designed to make social commentary. and i throw a lot of it out the window for the jokes.

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

far cry 3: listen. jason gave me my name. literally named myself after this pathetic little white boy. but also... dr earnhardt. my beloved.

far cry 4: yuma my beloved 💕 i love her so much and i love the characterization the dlc added to her and i just. UGH. stan.

far cry 5: staci... baby boy. light of my life right there. i can fix him—

far cry new dawn: the judge. not bc they're the deputy tho. like. even before i knew that i just. gravitated toward them. genderless? mute? friend of animals? peak vibes right there.

far cry 6: juan!! he reminds me of my friend's dad so there is much love in my heart for him.

the outer worlds: vicar max... for no reasons in particular >_>;;

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

far cry 3: none of them give me that energy really but ig jason counts bc again... i named myself after the damn fool.

far cry 4: bhadra... sweet baby girl!! actual baby. a very good kid and caught in a situation nobody, esp a kid, should go through. ajay adopts her canon idc i make the rules

far cry 5: peaches... i love 😭 literally friend shaped but like. emotional support cougar right there.

far cry new dawn: fcnd sharky... UGHHH the dad bod 🥵 friend shaped. good for man6 things. doing his best. love him.

far cry 6: philly. eugh he has peak bro energy. would suffer through drinking beer just to hang out with him.

the outer worlds: parvati holcomb my beloved. would give her the world and then some!!

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

far cry 3: oliver! i love that stoner with my whole ass heart. he deserves the world after what happened on rook and i wish him nothing but the best.

far cry 4: i'd say every character bc far cry fans slept on this game bc....racism. but noore!! i love noore!! she just wanted to do good by kyrat and be a beacon for providing healthcare and stability and like. she put her family above all else. i love her.

far cry 5: tracey... i feel for her so badly, esp. bc she was friends with rachel before she became faith. and then she lost the only other person she had in her life that was close with her like that... 😭😭

far cry new dawn: underrated... hmmmmmmmm nana. she is a batshit crazy old lady who can and will kill a bitch between knitting. i love her. can she adopt me—

far cry 6: paolo!! fuck do i love him. everyone gives him shit for wanting to leave yara but like. he's queer. even among the guerrilla resistance, he faces active discrimination and violence. i do not blame him for putting himself first. it is not his responsibility to "fix" the mindset of others and i will die on that hill.

the outer worlds: ada... i have a weak spot for sentient, sarcastic yet loving ai

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

far cry 3: sam. SAM... my sweet german man. lemme give him a kiss 🥺 he deserved so much more.

far cry 4: not obsure but pagan bc i will not shut up about him.

far cry 5: virgil. that is all. would put him in friend shaped category but he's such a side character that nobody really pays attention to him so. his smile... i want a button from him.

far cry new dawn: selene!! i love her so much. she's doing her damn best and that is. all that matters.

far cry 6: rosa mel paquete, aka gilberto rosario. a spymaster drag queen? can fit into the poor little meow meow category but i have seen no content around miss paquete at all so!!

the outer worlds: halcyon helen 💕

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

far cry 3: mmh this one might catch me flack but buck. yes. the super sadomasochist. listen... he's interesting to psychoanalyze. plus the whole "history teacher" arc was just. great. funny. he has potential when he isn't doing... all that!

far cry 4: gonna say it, fc4 willis supremacy. he is a douche. he's a disgusting fed. and i love him. i want to give him the best-worst time he could ever have.

far cry 5: faith/rachel. she's popular but she's obviously problematic... she's one of the seeds... but!! she's a victim. fucked up what she's done but there is potential for her. the dlc even shows that, but won't spoil it. she deserves the chance to recover and heal.

far cry new dawn: thomas rush is a poor little meow meow. he's not unpopular or controversial or anything. he is just. a man. and i love that for him. been through a lot and for what!!! nothing.

far cry 6: maría... she is evil and i love that for her. peak girlboss. there's a lot of nuance around her role (but explaining is spoilers so!)

the outer worlds: adjutant akande. i love her for similar reasons to maría. she's so powerful 😌

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

far cry 3: riley, but in a "i love you and will torment you to make you laugh" kinda way. it's the older sibling instinct!! but like. opposite to john. i want to give riley the world and will give him some tough love to support him.

far cry 4: de pluer... 🥰 he'd kill me after and it'd be worth it.

far cry 5: john. he's an absolute bastard and as an older sibling, it is my duty to torment him as he's the baby of the family. cain instinct activated.

far cry new dawn: roger. for similar reasons to bembé.

far cry 6: bembé. not in a "i hate him and it's funny" way but in a "i love him and want to torment him for it" kinda way.

the outer worlds: rockwell and administor ludovico. old, uptight men are just 👁👄👁 prime targets.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

far cry 3: hoyt. fuckin' wish dot com elon musk headass... hate him! deserves nothing but the worst honestly babes.

far cry 4: sabal 😐 no room in my house for people who use religion/tradition to excuse their shitty behavior.

far cry 5: hurk drubman senior. fuck his conservative, maga headass. he'd probably call me a slur and it's on sight with him.

far cry new dawn: genuinely could not think of anyone bc like. idk. ethan is probably the closest one i'd send. he just needs to give me one good reason not to.

far cry 6: antón 😐 i'm still not recovered from the ending.

the outer worlds: i couldn't think of anybody... 💀