#blue cat writer's dracula

[aster-blogging-dracula]

Reading BlueCatWriter's Dracula along with Dracula Daily

Ok so I've been meaning to read all of @bluecatwriter 's wonderful Dracula hc fics in order for a long time but I never have time to get with it so I decided to read it along with Dracula Daily this year.

If anyone else wants to do the same, here are the dates (or aproximante dates*) for each fic. (idk if someone has done this already but oh well) (BlueCat if you read this feel free to correct me if i got any date wrong)

*(Since there's 2 pre-canon fics and 2 days of may before dd, i'm setting those fics on those dates. Dates of undated fics are also adjusted to not overlap with date of other fics)

*(The order during the varna stay is a bit wacky since the book gets pretty vague for 2 weeks there but I tried to adjust it as well as possible.)

1-A picnic in may. May 1st 2-Home before you know it. May 2nd 3-I too can love. May 16th 4-Three letters. May 19th 5-The prisioner. May 28th 6-Tonight is mine. June 29th 7-Stay awake. August 14th 8-In sickness and in health. August 24th 9-Full of vague fear. August 24th 10-A golden afternoon. August 31st 11-A doctor’s confidence. September 2nd 12-I come to my friend when he call. September 2nd 13-Blood she must have. September 7th 14-After the transfusion. September 7th or 8th 15-Sleeping beauty. September 10th 16-The wolf in the window. September 17th 17-Sympathy. September 18th 18-Things will be different. September 19th 19-My only son. September 19th 20-Come, my husband. September 28th 21-These others. September 29th 22-Lucy’s second death. September 29th 23-How good and thoughtful. September 29th 24-Brandy, bath, and beadtime. September 30th or October 1st (preferably the former since the dd entry is slightly shorter that day) 25-A pale orphan. October 2nd 26-You will not call in vain. Between September 30th and October 11th?? 27-Renfield’s death. October 3rd 28-Safe for one more moment. October 3rd 31-Hungry. Between October 12th and October 15th 29-A week in varna. Between October 15th and October 27th? 30-Waiting. Between October 17th and October 27th? 32-Judge moneybag. Between October 15th and October 27th? 33-How i miss my phonograph. October 24th 34-Mem. get recipe for mina. Between October 15th and October 27th? 35-Farewell, sweet friends. October 30th 36-Starlight on the sereth. October 31st 37-Step into the light. Between October 15th? and November 6th (if reading in one sitting wait until november 6th)

38- Love multiplying. November 7th onward

Omg guys it's may already I'm so exited for this. This year I know I will be up do date with everything even tho I'm busy with my End of Degree Project because the dracula fixation i caught last year is a part of my life now I have been planning this so long guys.

[revasserium]

the unofficial ultimate bungo stray dogs reading list

this is mainly for myself bc i rly do want to read most if not all of these and i'm sure it's already been done by someone somewhere. but, i thought why not post it lmao; most if not all of these can be found on anna's archive, z-library, or project gutenberg! (also, consider buying from your local bookstore!) for those that are a bit harder to find, i've included links, though some are from j-stor and would require login to access.

detective agency:

osamu dazai:

no longer human (novel)

the setting sun (novel)

nakajima atsushi:

the moon over the mountain: stories (short story collection)

light, wind and dreams (short story)

fukuzawa yukichi:

an encouragement of learning (17 volume collections of writings)

all the countries of the world, for children written in verse (textbook)

yosano akiko:

kimi shinitamou koto nakare (poem)

midaregami (poetry collection)

edogawa ranpo:

the boy detectives club (book series)

japanese tales of mystery and imagination (short story collection)

the early cases of akechi kogoro (novel)

kunikida doppo:

river mist and other stories (short story collection)

izumi kyouka:

demon lake (play)

spirits of another sort: the plays of izumi kyoka (play collection)

tanizaki junichirou:

the makioka sisters (novel)

the red roof and other stories (short story collection)

miyazawa kenji:

ame ni mo makezu; be not defeated by the rain (poem)

night on the galactic railroad (novel)

strong in the rain (poetry collection)

port mafia:

mori ougai:

vita sexualis (novel)

the dancing girl (novel)

nakahara chuuya:

poems of nakahara chuya (poetry collection)

akutagawa ryuunosuke:

rashoumon (short story)

the spider's thread (short story)

rashoumon and other stories (short story collection)

ozaki kyouyou:

the gold demon (novel)

higuchi ichiyou:

in the shade of spring leaves (biography and short stories)

hirotsu ryuurou:

falling camellia (novel)

tachihara michizou:

in mourning for the summer (poem)

midwinter momento (poem)

from the country of eight islands: an anthology of japanese poetry (poetry collection)

kajii motojirou:

lemon (short story)

yumeno kyuusaku:

dogra magra (novel)

oda sakunosuke:

flawless/immaculate (short story)

sakaguchi ango:

darakuron (essay)

the guild:

f. scott fitzgerald:

the great gatsby (novel)

the beautiful and the damned (novel)

edgar allen poe:

the raven (poem)

the black cat (short story)

the murders in the rue morgue (short story)

herman melville:

moby dick (novel)

h.p. lovecraft:

the call of cthulhu (short story)

the shadow out of time (novella)

john steinbeck:

the grapes of wrath (novel)

of mice and men (novel)

lucy maud montgomery:

anne of green gables (novel)

the blue castle (novel)

chronicles of avonlea (short story collection)

louisa may alcott:

little women (novel)

the brownie and the princess (short story collection)

margaret mitchell:

gone with the wind (novel)

mark twain:

the adventures of tom sawyer (novel)

adventures of huckleberry finn (novel)

nathaniel hawthorn:

the scarlet letter (novel)

rats in the house of the dead:

fyodor dostoevsky:

crime and punishment (novel)

the brothers karamozov (novel)

notes from the underground (short story collection)

alexander pushkin:

eugene onegin (novel)

a feast in time of plague (play)

ivan goncharov:

the precipice (novel)

oguri mushitarou:

the perfect crime (novel)

decay of the angel:

fukuchi ouchi:

the mirror lion, a spring diversion (kabuki play)

bram stoker:

dracula (novel)

dracula's guest and other weird stories (short story collection)

nikolai gogol:

the overcoat (short story)

dead souls (novel)

hunting dogs: (i must caveat here that the hunting dogs are named after much more comparatively obscure jpn writers/playwrights so i was unable to find a lot of the specific pieces actually mentioned; but i still wanted to include them on the list because well -- it wouldn't be a bsd list without them)

okura teruko:

gasp of the soul (short story; i wasn't able to find an english translation)

devil woman (short story)

jouno saigiku:

priceless tears (kabuki play; no translation but at least we have a summary)

suehiro tetchou:

setchuubai/a political novel: plum blossoms in snow (novel)

division for unusual powers:

taneda santouka:

the santoka: versions by scott watson (poetry collection)

tsujimura mizuki:

lonely castle in the mirror (novel)

yesterday's shadow tag (short story collection; i was unable to find a translation)

order of the clock tower:

agatha christie:

and then there were none (novel)

murder on the orient express (novel)

she is the best selling fiction writer of all time there's too much to list here

mimic:

andre gide:

strait is the gate (novel)

trascendents:

arthur rimbaud:

illuminations (poetry collection)

the drunken boat (poem)

a season in hell (prose poem)

johann von goethe:

faust

the sorrows of young werther

paul verlaine:

clair de lune (poem, yes it did inspire the debussy piece, yes)

poems under saturn (poetry collection)

victor hugo:

the hunchback of notre-dame (novel)

les miserables (novel)

william shakespeare:

romeo and juliet (play)

a midsummer nights' dream (play)

sonnets (poetry collection)

the seven traitors:

jules verne:

around the world in 80 days (novel)

journey to the center of the earth (novel)

twenty thousand leagues under the seas (novel)

other:

natsume souseki:

i am a cat (novel)

kokoro (novel)

botchan (novel)

h.g. wells:

the time machine (novella)

the invisible man (novel)

the war of the worlds (novel)

shibusawa tatsuhiko:

the travels of prince takaoka (novel; unable to find translation)

dr. mary wollstonecraft godwin shelley

frankenstein (novel)

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (24-30 Sep 2023)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Starter Villain (John Scalzi, author; Wil Wheaton, narrator) - fast & entertaining, 'what it says on the tin' - Charlie, whose life is not so great atm, inherits his estranged uncle's supervillain business & all the attendant issues. No real surprises but a very fun ride. Also very much a love letter to cats.

😊 Adventures in Babysitting (cygnaut) - 49K, XMFC - Gen fic where the 'kids' (Jean, Scott, Ororo) get Erik's help when Prof X and the others go missing, but unfortunately they also tangle with the Avengers along the way.

💖💖 +77K of shorter fic 💖💖

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

D20: The Unsleeping City - "We Need To Talk About Pete" (s3, e7)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Subway Skirmish" (s3, e8)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Borough of Dreams" (s3, e9)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Panic At The Art Show" (s3, e10)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Home For The Holidays" (s3, e11)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Broadway Brawl" (s3, e12)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Faeries and Feces" (s3, e13)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Showdown at the Stock Exchange" (s3, e14)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Hall Of Heroes" (s3, e15)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Times Squaremageddon Pt. 1" (s3, e16)

D20: The Unsleeping City - "Times Squaremageddon Pt. 2" (s3, e17)

Blue Willow Presents: KJ Charles | A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel

Only Murders In The Building - s3, e9

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Simply Reflecting - Is It Really Embarrassing?

Re: Dracula - September 24: Asleep or Awake, Mad or Sane

⭐ Welcome to Night Vale #190 - Listeners

Re: Dracula - September 25: Bloofer Lady

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Twin Oaks

Today, Explained - Murder, Canada Wrote

Ed Zitron's 15 Minutes In Hell - Episode 8 - Chris Hayes

Re: Dracula - September 26: Friends For All Our Lives

Into It - Hip-Hop Is 50 and It’s Having a Midlife Crisis

⭐ 99% Invisible #554 - Devil in the Details

Vibe Check - Hot Labor Year

Re: Dracula - September 27: This Great Un-Dead

Today, Explained - Why the US is suing Amazon

Ologies with Alie Ward - Benthopelagic Nematology (DEEP SEA WORMS) with Holly Bik

Off Menu - Ep 207: Nick Frost

Re: Dracula - September 28: Some Rational Explanation

One Year - 1955: The Cutter Incident

Today, Explained - Man’s best friend banned in UK

Into It - The Writers' Strike Is Over; What Does Hollywood Do Now?

Re: Dracula - September 29: My Arms Are Hungry For You

Dear Prudence - Should I Donate Sperm To My Ex? Help!

Cautionary Tales - "7000 horses are being flown across space…" - Cautionary Questions #2

Today, Explained - Blame Capitalism: Degrowing pains

Hit Parade - The Bridge: Feels So Good

Re: Dracula - September 30: Let Me Be Your Friend

⭐ What Next: TBD - Who Will Pay For A COVID Vaccine?

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - Bob and Erin Odenkirk

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Only Murders In The Building (Original Score) [Siddhartha Khosla]

Only Murders In The Building 2 (Original Score) [Siddhartha Khosla]

Only Murders In The Building 3 (Original Score) [Siddhartha Khosla]

Take a Chance - a Metal Tribute to Abba [Amberian Dawn] - shout out to @mycupofstars for turning me on to this!

ABBA Heavy Metal Covers

Leo Moracchioli

Lady Gaga

The Grunge Era

Rivers of London playlist

Social Distortion radio

[corneille-moisie]

my tags master post in alphabetical order

abolish money ^^ i just like that this is my first tag in alphabetical order lol. pretty self-explanatory and tells you exactly what kind of person I am B)

an addams family post includes posts about the comic, the tv series, and the movies, fanart, cosplays...

an audhd post includes posts about both adhd and autism

an art post includes traditional art, sulpture, digital art, some fanart when i feel like tagging them as art too (sometimes nsfw)

a ballet post from now on, im gonna refer to myself as a retired ballerina

a book post includes posts about books, that i read, that I want to read, that i'm writing...

a cute animal post includes cute animals : bats, cats, rats, crows, owls, etc etc etc

a decor post includes post about decor and decoration

a disability post includes post about physical and mental disability, chronic conditions, neurodivergence, etc

a fanart post self explanatory

a fat post because i gleefully glorify obesity :D

a feline post meow

a flora post includes plants and flowers and trees and

a food post usually comes with a recipe, might also only be me talking about what i'm making

a handmade post sewing, knitting, mending, crafting, etc.

a language post post about languages, linguistics, etymology, translation, etc.

a movie post includes posts about movies i'm watching, want to watch, or that i like, sometimes includes reviews

a music post includes mostly audio posts, probably also post in which i talk about music in general, a lot of japanese and/or goth music

a queer post includes posts about genders and sexual identities, including but not limited to mine

a pirate post arr ! get stuff for free :)

a poll post self explanatory

a pun post i want to make a pun here :(

a resource post includes a lot of master posts, drawing resources, writing resources, etc.

a tv show post includes posts about tv shows im currently watching, or shows I like in general the addams family, ReBoot, Interview With The Vampire...

a vampire post including but not limited to the vampire chronicles, carmilla, dracula, nosferatu, the hunger, what we do in the shadows, the lost boys, eventually some of my ocs as well, and etc etc etc :)

a video game post includes posts about dragon quest I through XI, dragon quest builders 2, zelda in general, animal crossing, stardew valley, sometimes mario kart and the sims (4 mostly) too

a visual kei post including but not limited to blam honey, BLOOD, dir en grey etc., eliphas levi (most of key party tbh), luci'fer luscious violenoue etc., malice mizer etc., schwarz stein etc., vidoll........

a writing post includes posts about my writing, writing resources, posts about writing and being a writer in general

firefox extensions i figured i could group them all under the same tag

hope this helps hope this helps !

my cats includes posts about Lugosi, Wendy, Frankie, and Storm

my ocs includes posts about Astride, Orlège, Gladys, Hydrange, Isadore, Jasmine, Ségolène, Victor...

obligatory corvid reblog includes posts mostly about crows and raven, but sometimes about blue jays and other corvids as well

obligatory schwarz stein reblog because its schwarz stein ♥ includes possibly all my posts about schwarz stein, rudolf steiner, hora, velvet eden (only with hora), kaya, femme fatale, node of scherzo, isola, meties (are there even posts about meties here lmao) because schwarz stein brainrot :)

show of face incudes posts where i show my face

[viterbofangirl]

I posted 3,877 times in 2022

11 posts created (0%)

3,866 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@cat-a-holic

@canardbabillard

@featherfur

@squirrelasinthewoodlandanimal

@fallynleaf

I tagged 3,870 of my posts in 2022

#fanart - 278 posts

#star wars - 165 posts

#heaven's official blessing - 157 posts

#tgcf - 157 posts

#the daily adventures of viterbofangirl - 131 posts

#*undignified giggle-snort* - 130 posts

#dracula daily - 128 posts

#this blue hellsite - 126 posts

#just for fun - 122 posts

#somedays i love this website - 95 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#every scene with renner and johannson together is played as a huge unspoken 'fuck you' to brucenat and the farm family and bless them for it

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Hey I don't have links myself but re: that post about DuckDuckGo: I've seen a different version of the post with links to the CEO's Twitter where he refuted that (and explained why independent outlets fall lower in results) and I don't think it's true. There are a few reblogs in the notes with links. Also many of the alternatives in that list are Google or Bing clones posing as "independent" search engines to lure in people who are cautious about the big names.

Thank you so much for this info! TBH it's a relief because I've been quite happy with DDG, and I will now be on the watch for poser search engines!

4 notes - Posted June 19, 2022

#4

Tag game!

Thanks to the ever-lovely @akamarykate​ for tagging me! <3 

Rules: Tag nine people you want to know better.

Three ships: Most recently, Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing from The Untamed, but I gotta go with Luke Skywalker/Mara Jade from the Star Wars EU, and Gary Hobson/Toni Brigatti for the longest-lasting ships!

First ever ship: See the above two! They were going on around the same time. L/M probably predates G/T by a year or two, but G/T was more viciously shipped (at first).

Last song: “Queen” by Loren Gray

Last film: Film? Ah geez. I honestly don’t know. I’m going to cheat a little and say “Frozen II” not because I recently watched it, but I’ve had a strong hankering for it so it’s got a 99% chance of being the next movie I watch!

Currently reading: I’m technically in the middle of “Because Internet” by Gretchen McCulloch, but tbh I’ve been reading a metric shitton of MDZS fanfic on my Kindle.

Currently watching: I’m taking a very brief hiatus from The Untamed and just finished up rewatching BBC’s The Musketeers, a.k.a. Man Candy the Series.

Currently consuming: Alyssa’s Healthy Chocobites

Currently craving: Reaching That Point In My Life Where I Regain A Smidgen Of Energy. And also the inspiration to continue some WIP fics!

Tagging: @themoonstarwarrior, @cat-a-holic, @fallynleaf, @threadsketchier, @squirrelasinthewoodlandanimal, @pityen81, @shaelit, @lucife56, @ancientstone but seriously no pressure on the above and loads of encouragement to participate to anyone else! To anyone who wants to play, please just tag me so I can see your answers! <3

5 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

#3

(x)

5 notes - Posted January 3, 2022

#2

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! 💖

My sideblog was tagged by @ancientstone and so I decided to post there AND on my regular blog!

Okay, so, I've been writing and not completing fandom stuff since I was at LEAST 16 which means over twenty years now, but I looked through my folder and I *think* these are my faves in no particular order:

1) Sinbad and the Garden of the Hesperides: a Proteus-heavy sequel to Dreamworks' animated "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" because Proteus deserves ALL THE LOVE dammit! >:[  (currently over 41k words and unposted but stay tuned because I know the first 4-5 chapters are done at least...)

2) The Sense of Her: a FMA Royai one-shot taking place over multiple points in the series, each scene focused on one of the five senses (currently on AO3)

3) Gunslinger: written in a different narrative style than my usual (Old-West stylized omniscient present vs alternating third-person POV) it's a retelling of Roger Corman's (yes, I know) movie "Gunslinger" starring Beverly Garland that is one of my favorite MST3Ks (yes, I know) but still has really good bones to the story (unposted and honestly barely started but still has some damned good lines if I do say so myself)

4) No Miracle for the Likes of Us/Rebirth/Codename:Teen Idol 'Dite: *CHEATER ALERT!* These are _three_ Venus/Kunzite-centric Sailor Moon fics, but are set in the same no-Stars-AU, with the first detailing the fall of Silver Millennium, the second beginning with the Shitennou being revived immediately after the manga's SuperS arc, and the third being a plot line so heavily intertwined with Rebirth that I haven't decided whether or not to make them one big fic featuring Codename as specified interludes o_O;;; (overall size: *drops face into hands* it... it just keeps GROWING... *sobs*)

5) She-Ra: Princess of Power: a massive retelling of the original She-Ra series as a continuation of the Mike Young 200X animated He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, with each chapter an "episode" (currently a highly disjointed >57k monster, but the first two "episodes” are on AO3)

Tagging @akamarykate @fallynleaf @rhysiana @threadsketchier @adriannasharp and anyone else who wants to participate! Tag me if you reply so that I might properly appreciate your efforts and genius! <3

7 notes - Posted April 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Offered Up

Abel you placed the stone in my hands Told me that God prefers innocent lambs Strike hard strike true my own my brother Then He’ll prefer you favored over another

Offer me up

Don’t worry don’t worry my own my brother I’m happy I’m happy my own my brother Release me release me my own my brother

Offer me up

The stone sat heavy and thick in my hands The blood ran heavy and slick on my hands This murder it seemed like a trick on my hands

Who is the victim? Who was the victim?

(inspired by @zelkam’s gifset)

22 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[waveypedia]

A thing to consider about killing Tuba is killing denizens is what Simon has learn to do since he was a kid, hence the bad habit comparison, bad behavior is hard to break & Grace herself took her bond with Hazel then learning she was a denizen to learn killing them was wrong. Simon was willingly to trust Amelia until he's told not to by Grace & the Cat, the latter also telling him how to trap Grace in her memories, hence the product of bad parenting comment.

Narratively I can see the point of Simon's death facilitating Grace's final change & showing what would've happened if she didn't change her ways, but I don't exactly see him as 100% responsible for his actions (unlike say, Mace) & rejecting plenty of clear chances, he rejected Grace's last offer before his death, but many of the others weren't in his favor. A character can die without it being drawn out, we saw it in the same season with Tuba's offscreen death.

yeahhh but like. the point is that simon and grace had the same opportunities to change & grow. simon didn’t get his first chance when grace tried to help him in the final battle - that was his last chance. just because that’s the only time they actually spell it out doesn’t mean the opportunities weren’t there. simon was traveling with hazel and tuba as well. he had the chance to bond with hazel like grace did, but he chose not to. i think him trusting the cat so implicitly actually makes things worse - not to say he wasn’t manipulated by her and her suggestions don’t absolve him of total responsibility (even though he’s an adult and he’s still responsible for going through with those actions at the end of the day) because the cat is a denizen. not only that, she is the singular denizen his magnanimous hatred and distrust of denizens comes from. when watching his interactions with the cat with that in mind, it paints a fascinating picture. simon holds so much [hate] for denizens and this denizen in particular (and he is justified in a little bit of that, especially the distrust) but at the end of the day he still understands she’s her own person and a living entity. which goes directly against the teachings and ideals of the apex. i doubt simon himself realized this, but it does reveal that not only does he have the potential to change his views like grace, he probably actually had more potential because he had this starting point. when simon traps grace in her memories, he trusts the cat over grace, meaning by the apex’s teachings strictly in that situation, simon saw the cat as more human than grace. point being i don’t think you’re wrong, per se, i just think you’re underestimating how much agency simon has. 

i feel like im reiterating but that’s exactly the point!!! it’s supposed to be drawn-out and uncomfortable!!! it’s supposed to hurt!!! it’s because his death is so awful that it has the effect that it does. the writers knew exactly what they were doing when they wrote and storyboarded that scene. tuba’s and simon’s deaths are both turning points in the story and both have a major emotional impact on the audience. yet they’re executed in different ways because of the different story beats. tuba’s death hurts no matter how it was done. simon’s death hurts because of how potent it is. it’s also because tuba’s death was offscreen that simon’s death has the effect that it does. if the writers switched the order of the deaths, or made tuba’s death onscreen and simon’s offscreen, simon’s death wouldn’t have the impact that it does. it’s like something one of the crew said about the scene where alan-dracula flies in the last episode - they had to keep that particular power until the very end, otherwise it wouldn’t be as exciting (paraphrasing). it’s the same principle here. if they killed all their characters onscreen, it wouldn’t hurt as much. if they killed a character onscreen and then a character offscreen, it lessens the effect of the death. tl;dr tuba’s and simon’s deaths aren’t separate events that we can effectively compare, but rather two [parts] of one consecutive story that was carefully constructed to have the biggest possible effect on the audience.

i hate to sound rude, but i think i’m going to cut this discussion off here. i have no problem with explaining my thoughts and talking about shows, but at this point all this feels like is an argument and i’m not comfortable doing so in such a public forum. this isn’t a discourse blog. if you want to keep talking privately, that’s fine, but as of now all this is doing is stressing me out. i want to stress that i’m not trying to discourage anons and i really do enjoy answering asks and discussing things via anon asks (like how this thread started). i don’t get asks too frequently, especially out-of-the-blue asks like this, and they really do make me happy! i like to talk djfhgkskd. i just feel uncomfortable arguing so blatantly in such a public forum. i don’t doubt you mean well, but whenever i’ve seen other people answer consistent asks like this and argue via that format it usually turns into less courteous discussions and i want to avoid that. please don’t hesitate to send me asks in the future if you want my opinion on something or to have a less discourse-y discussion! i really mean no insult.

[loreweaver-universe]

And that’s...the show.

What a clever way to get Lake off the train.  On multiple levels!  Not only was it clever in-character, but her escape came from her accepting her nature at long last--which was what would have brought her own number down to zero.  That’s such an excellent way to end her journey--truly, she was the same as a passenger the whole time.

That was a good finale.  Not the action-packed ending that season 1 got, but it didn’t need to be, really.  It was different from Tulip’s journey in ways where a bigger action sequence than what we got wouldn’t have been appropriate.  In fact, the fight with Sieve feels kind of like an afterthought--it wasn’t obviously, it tied off an important loose end and gave Alan Dracula something to do in the final two episodes, but it didn’t really feel like a proper focus of the episode.

Showing off One-One’s weird blue-and-orange morality system was really cool.  Watching him actually get trapped in logic loops was fascinating, and I think he was used VERY well here.

Alan Dracula was a fun sideshow character, but often felt like he was just there for the animators and writers to play around with, rather than an essential part of the team like Atticus and One-One were in season 1.

Jesse was a good deuteragonist!  Shut up, Tumblr spellcheck, that’s a word.  Jesse’s journey was simple--come to terms with the fact that he and his friends were bullies, and it was very deftly done.  The fact that the train reorders its cars and constructs them for individual passengers’ journeys makes it interesting that his final obstacle was confronting the Apex--the train even works other passengers into its plans.  Which, ironically, makes the Apex more denizen than passenger.  Anyways, Jesse’s journey was simple and well-handled, which is good because he wasn’t actually who the story was about.

That would be Lake.  Mirror Tulip.  Horseradish, as I’ve been tagging her since season 1.  The Chrome Car was my second-favorite episode of season 1, due to excellent character drama, excellent horror, and excellent writing all around.  I remember wishing very much that Lake had joined Tulip on her journey--clearly, the people writing the show wanted to keep telling her story, too, because we got a whole season of it.  Lake’s journey of self-discovery and self-actualization was a really fascinating one.  Watching her slowly come out of her prickly shell until she was finally ready to accept herself for who she was was an excellent journey.  I really do think it’s SUCH good writing that she basically got her own number down to zero right when she got One-One to let her off the train.

Mace and Sieve turned out to be excellent villains, as well--Mace more than Sieve, really, but Mace got more focus and had more presence, and rightfully so.  My favorite episode of the season focuses on him and Tulip, after all.  What an excellent bastard.

All in all, a good season, but not quite as strong as the first one.  That’s not a low bar to fail, though.  Excellent work all around, and I’m delighted with the ending.

The final episode just wasn’t as strong an ending as season one’s though, and wasn’t the best episode in season 2 by a couple places.  The Tape Car was creepier and focused on horror, which I liked a lot, and The Wasteland was just fantastic.  It also has to compete with some VERY strong episodes in season 1--which, again, is not a low bar to fail.  All in all, I’d place The Number Car at my new #3 for season 2, between The Lucky Cat Car (which was very funny, but didn’t have the emotional or dramatic stuff The Number Car did) and The Tape Car (which I’ve already covered), as well as my new #7 overall, between The Lucky Cat Car and The Cat’s Car, which did drama and horror VERY well.

That’s it for Infinity Train, at least until we maybe get a third season!  In a couple days, I’m going to make a post on my Patreon asking for show suggestions for what to replace Infinity Train with in the main slots, and then we’ll have the poll to replace it a few days after that.  I’ll keep you posted as to what the results of that are!  In the meantime, up next is going to be this month’s Patron Picks--as usual, I’ll be doing Paranoia Agent, Baccano, and then A Place Further Than the Universe.  After that, we’ll be getting back to She-Ra for a solid while--I’ll be starting Season 2, so stay tuned for that!

Streamwise, I streamed the first part of my blind playthrough of Transistor yesterday (which you can view here) and will be starting what I think will be the rest of the game shortly.  If you want to tune into that live, head on over to my Twitch channel and give me a follow!  That should be happening within the hour.

As always, thank you all for tuning in, and thank you very much to the 62 patrons who make it possible for me to do this for a living!  I’ll see you next time!

IN OTHER NEWS:

I recently completed my blind playthrough of Transistor!  You can see the full playlist of those streams by clicking here!

I recently completed my playthrough of Final Fantasy VII Remake!  You can see the full playlist of those streams by clicking here!

I recently completed my playthrough of the second story campaign in Fire Emblem: Three Houses!   You can view all the streams of the Golden Deer and Black Eagles routes I have done by clicking here!

If you’d like to help me pay my rent, buy me some food, or help with my bills and medicine, please use my direct donation link!  If you’d like to support me per liveblog completed every month, please pledge to my Patreon! Becoming a patron not only allows you to vote on what shows I do whenever I choose a new one, but also grants access to the community Minecraft server to $5 patrons or higher!

You should also go pledge to Gio’s Patreon–our Discord server maintenance tech, creator of Rubybot, and community Minecraft server overlord deserves far more than I can afford to pledge to him by myself.

If you’d like more of me and my content:

My Episode Lists master page, where you can find every show and liveblog I’ve done!

My Discord server, where you can come hang out with me and other fans, check out member liveblogs, and join community gaming guilds!

My Twitch channel, where I stream variety games every so often!

My Youtube channel, where you can check out past streams!

My ask blog, where you can send me questions and comments!

My Twitter, where I make announcements about liveblogs and streams!

It’s your kindness and support that lets me do this stuff, and I wouldn’t be where I am without all of you to do it for.  Thank you all so much for your support, and for tuning in every episode!

OTHER PEOPLE YOU MAY ENJOY:

I may have been one of the earlier Steven Universe liveblogs, but a whole community of livebloggers has sprung up over the last five years!   I linked to a bunch individually for a few wrap-ups, but honestly, this end-slate is already eight billion miles long, so I’m just gonna link to my links page.  Click here if you want recommendations of other livebloggers, or other neat people, or webcomics and podcasts that I recommend.

[straightupstrangetimes]

13 Not-So-Scary Movies to Get You in the Halloween Spirit!

Contributed by Kris Rustic, host of Obscure Anomalies podcast

Halloween is around the corner. Everywhere you look a horror movie is playing. For me, I love it. There is just something about being scared while knowing full well you are safe. But not everyone is into that sort of thing. My wife is one, so I tried to find lists of not-so-scary movies but was having trouble coming up with one, so I decided to write my own.

Please keep in mind, I did try to keep the list more kid and family friendly.

13. HOCUS POCUS

300 years have passed since the Sanderson sisters were executed for practicing dark witchcraft. Returning to life, thanks to a combination of a spell spoken before their demise and the accidental actions of Max, the new-kid-in-town, the sisters have but one night to secure their continuing existence. With the help of his younger sister Dani, his high school crush Allison, and a magical cat, it is up to Max to save the children of Salem.

A must see on any Halloween movie list. Full of light-hearted humour, this film is loved by people of all ages.

Watch it: Amazon Rent or Buy

12. CASPER (1995)

Furious that her late father only willed her his gloomy-looking mansion rather than his millions, Carrigan Crittenden makes a plan to burn the place to the ground. That is, until she finds a map leading to a treasure hidden under the house. But when she enters the rickety mansion to seek her claim, she is frightened away by the mansions ghostly inhabitants. Determined to get her hands on this hidden fortune, Crittenden hires afterlife therapist Dr. James Harvey to exorcise the ghosts from the mansion. Harvey and his daughter Kat move in and soon Kat befriends Casper, the ghost of a young boy, who is “the friendly ghost.” But not so friendly are Casper’s uncles--Stretch, Fatso and Stinkie--who are determined to drive all “fleshies” away. It is up to Harvey and Kat to help the ghosts cross over to the other side.

I may get some flack putting Casper this high up on the list, but hey, to each their own. Casper is a fun little film filled with the right amount of supernatural scares placed inside a package that every age can enjoy.

Watch it: Starz; Amazon Rent or Buy

11. THE WITCHES

While staying at a hotel in England with his grandmother, Helga, young Luke inadvertently spies on a convention of witches. The Grand High Witch reveals a plan to turn all children into mice through a magical formula. When they find that Luke has overheard, the witches test the formula on him. Now, with the help of his grandmother and new friend Bruno Jenkins, Luke the mouse must fight back against the evil witches.

Based on the book of the same name, The Witches is a classic. This may be one of the more frightening films on the list but is still children-friendly. Besides, who doesn’t want to save the world as a mouse.

Watch it: Amazon Rent or Buy

10. THE MONSTER SQUAD

The Monster Squad is a club of friends who idolize the classic monster-movies, especially their non-human stars. One day, Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein’s Monster, and other classic horror icons, all of which the club idolize, arrive in town in search of a magic amulet to destroy all the good in the world. It is up to the five friends to save the amulet from destruction and use it to cast the monsters into limbo.

One part The Goonies, one part Ghostbusters, and one part Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, the Monster Squad is a true cult classic that was way ahead of its time.

Watch for yourself and find out if the “Wolfman has nards.”

Watch it: Amazon Rent or Buy

9. BEETLEJUICE

Adam and Barbara are like every other happily married couple -- who just happen to also be dead! Before they died, Adam and Barbara had spent their vacation to decorate and make the house their own, that is, until the fatal car crash. Unfortunately, a new family is moving in, and not quietly as they make plans to redecorate the house with the help of an interior designer. Adam and Barbara try to scare them out, but end up becoming the main attraction to the money making family. They call upon Beetlejuice to help, but Beetlejuice has more in mind than just helping.

While having a special place in my heart for taking place in Connecticut, Beetlejuice is an all around classic starting Michael Keaton and a young Winona Ryder.

Watch it:: Amazon Rent or Buy

8. PARANORMAN

Norman Babcock has the ability to speak with the dead -- and he often prefers their company to that of the living. Norman learns from his estranged uncle that a centuries-old witch’s curse on their town is real and about to come true -- and only Norman can stop it. When zombies rise from their graves, Norman and his ragtag team must summon all their courage and compassion to the limit to save his fellow townspeople. Taking place in the fictional town of Blithe Hollow, this stop-motion film is a beautiful take on the Salem Witch Trials.

I have to admit, I slept on this movie when it first came out. I had no interest in it at all, but then I watched it and became an instant favourite. The humour is a little more blue for a “children’s” movie, but the lesson learned in the end is valuable for all involved. Did I mention it is also well known for being the first mainstream animated film with an openly gay character?

Watch it: Sadly it is not available for streaming on Amazon, Netflix, or Hulu at this time, due to licensing agreements

7. FRANKENWEENIE

Young Victor Frankenstein is a science nerd and an outsider at school, but he does have one friend, his dog Sparky. Sadly, tragedy strikes, taking Sparky away from Victor. Heartbroken, Victor is given an idea of how to bring Sparky back to life. The experiment is a success and everything goes fine, that is, until his fellow students learn of his secret and use it to resurrect their beloved lost pets. Frankenweenie is a heartwarming tale of a boy and his dog, and the lengths we would go to keep our beloved friend.

I consider Frankenweenie to be the sister movie to ParaNorman. Both are stop motion and came out in the same year. The difference is Frankenweenie takes you back to the classic universal horror icons in a brand-new way. Did I mention it is in black and white and has that classic monster movie feel?

watch it: Rent on Youtube

6. NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

What happens to the Pumpkin King when he tires of being just that, the King of Halloween. Jack Skellington is bored of the same annual routine of scaring the people of the real world. One day, he stumbles upon Christmastown, full of bright colours and warm spirits, bringing a new lease to Jack’s life. He plots to bring Christmas under his control, only to find that the best-laid plans of mice and skeleton can go awry.

Originally I intended only one movie per director, but I don’t think you can begin to discuss family friendly Halloween without Tim Burton, especially because you cannot have a Halloween list without Nightmare Before Christmas. In all fairness, this is the perfect movie to finish out the year with.

Watch it: Amazon Rent or Buy

5. COCO

Miguel dream of becoming a musician, just like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. The problem, his family has a generations-old ban on music. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel steals Ernesto’s guitar and finds himself in the colourful Land of the Dead. With the help of a charming trickster named Héctor and Miguel’s dog Dante, Miguel must find his way back home, meanwhile learning the truth about his family’s past.

All bite. Coco is a Dia de los Muertos movie. I know some of you will complain that it is not a Halloween movie. Truth is, the spirit of Dia de los Muertos and Halloween are close enough for me to warrant inclusion into the list. The scenery and background is gorgeous, the story will tug at the heartstrings, and you will get to learn a little about the culture behind Dia de los Muertos, even if a bit Disneytized.

Watch it: Netflix

4. HALLOWEENTOWN

On Halloween, while Marnie is arguing with her mother Gwen, the kids’ grandmother Aggie comes to visit. Aggie wants to start Marnie’s witch training before her 13th birthday or Marnie will lose her powers forever. But there is another reason for Aggie’s visit. Something dark and evil is growing in Halloweentown, and Aggie wants help to defeat it. While Aggie and Gwen are arguing, Aggie uses magic, which Marnie observes. After Aggie leaves to return to Halloweentown, Marnie, Dylan and, unknown to Marnie and Dylan, Sophie follow her onto the return bus. Soon afterwards, Gwen follows the children to Halloweentown. While there, Aggie and Gwen are attacked by the dark force. Marnie, Dylan and Sophie have to race to get the ingredients to activate Merlin’s Wand to stop the evil and save Halloweentown.

A classic made for TV Disney movie, this film (and all sequels) are a perfect Halloween movie for all ages, and albeit a little cheesy at times. But who doesn’t love the occasional cheesy movie?

3. SCOOBY DOO AND THE WITCH’S GHOST

When the Master Gang Scooby meet a famous horror writer Ben Ravencroft (who may or may not be based off of Stephen King) during their last mystery, he invites them to his small hometown of Oakhaven, Massachusetts to join in the annual Autumn Fest. Ravencroft tells the Mystery Gang about the history of his ancestor, Sarah Ravencroft, who happened to be an evil witch and is supposedly haunting the town of Oakhaven. The gang decides to help the town and solve the mystery of the Witch’s Ghost.

This was tough to pick. We have Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School, Scooby Doo and Zombie Island, I mean honestly any Scooby Doo movie could fit. But I picked Witch’s Ghost for three simple reasons: takes place during the fall, witches, and the Hex Girls, a fictional all-female Goth Rock Band.

Watch it: Amazon Prime, Boomerang Channel on Amazon

2. MONSTER HOUSE

13-year-old DJ is obsessed with his creepy neighbour, Nebbercracker, and his eerie house. After all, rumours of his past have run rampant in the town. But one day, DJ and his friends witness the house come to life. Unable to find an adult that will believe him, and with Halloween vastly approaching, it is up to DJ and his friends to find a way to destroy the house before innocent trick-or-treaters meet their end.

At times, this film is a little on the frightening side, at least for the younger ones. The characters are well thought out and put together. While the animation is not ground breaking, it looks great and fits the movie perfectly. A perfect film for those looking for a fun, clean movie this Halloween.

Watch it: Amazon Rent or Buy

1. GOOSEBUMPS 2: HAUNTED HALLOWEEN

While collecting junk from an abandoned house, best friends Sonny and Sam come across an unpublished “Goosebumps” book. Opening it, they release Slappy, a mischievous talking dummy. Hoping to start a family, Slappy kidnaps Sonny’s mother and brings fourth all of his ghoulish friends (creatures and monsters from the Goosebumps novels) to life, just in time for Halloween. The sleepy town becomes overrun with monsters, witches, and other mysterious creatures. It is up to Sonny, his sister Sarah, and Sam to save their town, his mother, and foil Slappy’s plans.

Goosebumps (2015) is a pure nostalgia ride with a brand new feel and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween is no different. Trading in some of the humor for a little more horror feel, the movie has a little bit to offer for everyone.

Watch it: Netflix

The truth of the matter is, this list is not perfect and may never be complete, but it is a great starting point to the ever growing list of the Not-So-Scary Halloween movies. I feel in writing this, I have left so many great films off, so I have a list of some runner up films that just barely missed being on my top 13.

RUNNER UPS

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA

Dracula and the classic horror monsters are afraid of humans. In an attempt to take a vacation away from humanity, Dracula operates a hotel way off in the woods. One day, a brave human makes his way to the castle, where the human and Dracula’s daughter “Zing”.

ADDAMS FAMILY (1991)

A man claiming to be Uncle Fester, the missing brother of Gomez Addams shows up at the Addam’s household. The family is thrilled, however Morticia begins to suspect the man is a fraud as he cannot recall details of Fester’s life. With the help of a lawyer, Fester manages to get the Addams evicted from the home. Can the Addam’s family save Uncle Fester? Can they get their home back?

DOUBLE DOUBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE

The Farmer family is in debt and might lose their house. The Farmer Twins discover the somebody mean and shrewd is responsible for all the family problems. The determined twins try to trick at their evil aunt out of her magic moonstone to save their family home.

THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD

Two animated adaptations of classic literature adapted by Disney make up this film, which is the only reason it made the runner up list as Mr. Toad, while good, has nothing to do with Halloween. However, in the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” the gangly schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, falls for the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel. Caught in a love triangle with Katrina and Brom Bones, Ichabod fears the local legend of the Headless Horseman. Is the legend more truth than lore?

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS MEET THE WOLFMAN

Alvin loves monsters and monster movies, though he is terrified of them. Stuck with Werewolves on the mind, he believes his next door neighbour is one. Reluctantly, Simon helps Alvin investigate the neighbour. Meanwhile Theodore is bitten by a strange dog, and finds his inner “inner monster” and starts behaving like a werewolf himself.

Did I miss your favourite Not-So-Scary Halloween movie? Let me know what it is in the comments below.

_________________________________

Enjoyed this piece of high strangeness? Share it with your world!

[grifters-roadie]

17 questions

17 questions 17 people

Tagged by @oh-how-i-love-my-fandoms

Nicknames: an old roommate called me netgurl94 and would leave me notes addressed as such.

Zodiac: Virgo

Height: 5′3″

Hogwarts House: uhhhh one of the pottermore quizzes said Ravenclaw, the other Gryffindor? it has been several years

Last Thing I Googled: fact checking something circulating on here before reblogging it (and before that it was a voting guide bc im doing that tomorrow c:)

Song Stuck in My Head: Underworld Blues! fascination with the mechanisms hit me like a goddamn train within the last 36 hrs.

Number of Followers: mainblog 1075. here, like, 6.

Amount of Sleep: approx 8? but like 5am to noon so the quality of that sleep is debatable

Lucky Number: (floundering. three?)

Dream Job: Director. Writer + Director.

Wearing: Satin chemise + orange tiedye boxers lmao + bracelets

Favorite Song: Street Hassle by Lou Reed

Favorite Instrument: bass guitar.

Aesthetic: forever torn between gritty glam rock n roll, shredded clothes + patches, and vintage Hollywood glamour, the drama of it all. def pretty feminine, even if its variations in the theme of it.

Favorite Author: Dodie Bellamy is pretty fckin good. I read “the Letters of Mina Harker” a few years ago and have bought copies for other people bc I remain enthralled by it and wanna be able to discuss it with friends. Written in dual voices of herself, Dodie, about her life and husband and lovers in 80s SF as well as the voice of Mina Harker (of Dracula fame) who is possessing her body and seducing Dodie’s lovers and penning letters. It’s brilliant and visceral and smart. 

Favorite Animal Noise: crunching interspersed with mumbled little pleased noises I heard a possum made while eating pumpkin (witnessed once upon a youtube vid). or the delighted upward tilted “mmrp?” cats make when they take interest in you petting them.

Random: i’ve checked off a couple things from my bucket list in the last few months! hopped a train! shaved my head! shaved my eyebrows too but that was way back in april and they’ve more than come back.

I’m not gonna tag anyone else, but do wanna thank you, @oh-how-i-love-my-fandoms for tagging me in the first place! thanks dude

[itcameuponamidnightqueer]

a happier 2019 wrap-up

every year for new year’s, my mom gets everyone one-a-day calendars tailored to their interests. for 2020, she got me a calendar of funny/stupid answers people have written on tests. 

but for 2019, she gave me a calendar with a different trivia question every day. i had two rules for this calendar: 1) i had to write down an answer for each question, even if what i wrote down was the dumbest shit in the world, and 2) i wasn’t allowed to look at the answer until the day after. 

i saved up all of the ones that i got right bc i like to quantify things, so if nothing else, i know 93 things—

january 18: many musicians have recorded and performed the song “hallelujah.” who wrote it?

january 29: thurl ravenscroft was an accomplished voice actor who sang “you’re a mean one, mr. grinch.” however, ravenscroft was best known for voicing which TV commercial icon?

february 7: who was the first african american appointed to the US supreme court?

february 12: mount rushmore features the giant carved faces of george washington, abraham lincoln, thomas jefferson, and which other US president? 

february 13: what is ninjitsu? 

february 26: mae c. jemison went into space in 1992 aboard the endeavor, earning her what distinction?

february 27: who wrote and first recorded the song “big yellow taxi”?

march 2: what is the longest running show in broadway history?

march 5: what is the largest library in the world?

march 8: what two novels did the lesser-known brontë sister, anne, write?

march 12: which reptile can breathe through its rear end?

march 16: the winner of best picture at the 2017 oscars was moonlight—but, in an historic mix-up, the announcers initially declared which other nominee to be the winner?

march 21: which is the smallest planet in our solar system?

march 22: why is a pound cake called a pound cake? 

march 23: the hit musical wicked is based on a 1995 novel by which author?

march 24: billy eichner, comedian and host of billy on the street, once had a role on which beloved NBC sitcom?

march 27: name the star who plays offred in the hulu series the handmaid’s tale?

april 6: the 2015 song “fourfiveseconds” was a collaboration between rihanna, kanye west, and which other legendary musician?

april 8: why do apples turn brown when sliced?

april 16: what is a pooh-bah?

april 19: what is the belgian town of duffel’s claim to fame?

april 29: what ancient babylonian king created a compendium of 282 laws to guide society in 18th century BCE?

may 2: what is the name for the condition in which a dog’s feet smell like corn chips? 

may 5: in mary shelley’s frankenstein, which character is named frankenstein?

may 7: name the australian pop star whose debut studio album blue neighborhood included hits “youth” and “wild”.

may 10: which superhero did british actor benedict cumberbatch play in a 2016 film?

may 16: which american film tradition began this day in 1929?

may 17: in science, what does “triple point” refer to?

may 26: what function do cats’ whiskers serve?

may 27: where is the tomb of the unknown soldier located?

june 1: which cult classic film popularized the red swingline stapler? 

june 3: who is barbie (the doll) named after? 

june 4: eid al-fitr is an annual muslim festival that marks the end of what?

june 10: which actor was offered a role on the o.c. but turned it down for a role on one tree hill?

june 11: the sport that americans call soccer is known as football in many other countries. where did the term “soccer” originate?

june 17: there is a species of horsefly known as bootylicious. which celebrity inspired the nickname?

june 18: the amc series the walking dead is based on a series of comic books penned by which accomplished writer?

june 24: which actress played wonder woman in the 2017 film of the same name?

june 27: what makes chili peppers hot? 

june 28: which architectural engineering feat allowed the ancient incans to cross canyons and rivers with ease?

june 29: the word “scuba” is an acronym. what does it stand for? 

july 3: who is the bestselling fiction writer ever? 

july 5: which animated film was the first to be nominated for best picture at the oscars? 

july 9: which item did women living in the dust bowl during the great depression commonly fashion into clothing? 

july 16: in nintendo’s mario video games, the nefarious wario is mario’s foil. who is luigi’s foil and archrival? 

july 18: pop stars taylor swift and zayn malik teamed up to record the song “i don’t want to live forever” for which 2017 film soundtrack? 

july 22: which is the only letter that doesn’t appear on the periodic table? 

july 23: which novel is considered frank herbert’s masterpiece? 

july 25: name the three women who were cast in the first season of SNL in 1975. 

july 26: during which years did the olympics award official medals for the arts, including painting, architecture, sculpture, music, and literature?

july 28: what are the ingredients of a moscow mule?

august 2: which “luxury” music festival was supposed to take place in the bahamas in april 2017 but dissolved into chaos and was eventually canceled after attendees began to arrive?

august 3: what is the claim to fame of anchor bar in buffalo, NY? 

august 8: the la brea tar pits are a popular tourist attraction and fossil excavation site. what does “la brea” mean in spanish? 

august 9: the popular board game clue goes by which other name in the UK, where it was invented?

august 11: what is earth’s largest ocean? 

august 12: who wrote johnny cash’s “a boy named sue”?

august 13: what were the original 3 pokemon that players could choose from at the start of pokemon red and pokemon blue, the first pokemon video games released internationally?

august 14: what kind of music did katy perry release as a teenager before she became a pop star? 

august 20: philip k. dick’s novel do androids dream of electric sheep? inspired which 1982 film with a different title?

august 30: batman is to gotham city as superman is to what? 

september 6: what is the hottest planet in the solar system? 

september 9: the first book of the “his dark materials” trilogy is known as the golden compass in the US, and what in the UK? 

september 15: one of the classic monopoly player tokens is a dog. what breed is it?

september 16: why are spiders technically not considered insects?

september 22: on her debut album, lily allen included a song called “alfie” about her little brother. alfie allen is best known now for his role on which TV show?

october 2: a killer whale isn’t technically a whale. what is it?

october 8: name the breed of large domestic cats native to new england 

october 10: which company uses the slogan “because we’re worth it”?

october 12: which female pop star had a brief stint in an R&B group called basic instinct in the 1990s?

october 16: if you ordered a berliner in a cafe in wisconsin, what would they serve you?

october 21: in 1943, when many NFL players were drafted for service in WWII, which two teams combined forces and formed a team called the steagles?

october 25: virginia was the birthplace of 8 US presidents. which state follows close on virginia’s heels as the birthplace of 7 US presidents?

october 28: bram stoker’s legendary vampire dracula is widely thought to be inspired by which real-life romanian prince?

october 30: in european folklore, what is a familiar? 

november 1: what does nanowrimo stand for?

november 13: name the movie that imagines how playwright j.m. barrie came to write peter pan.

november 14: which US state has the smallest population?

november 16: who technically owns all of the unmarked swans in england?

november 19: which entertainment icon was offered the role of phoebe in friends but turned it down?

november 22: robert louis stevenson’s novel treasure island features a cast of colorful characters, including the infamous long john silver. what is the name of the novel’s young protagonist, an innkeeper’s son who ends up serving as a cabin boy on a sea adventure?

november 23: where is dollywood?

november 28: not surprisingly, americans eat more food on thanksgiving than they do on any other day of the year. which day boasts the second-highest food consumption?

november 29: “swish swish”, a song on katy perry’s 2017 album witness, was rumored to be a diss track about which other pop star?

november 30: which actor wore a hairpiece every time he played james bond?

december 2: in greek mythology, perspehone was the goddess of the underworld and the wife of hades. who were persephone’s parents?

december 3: which prominent magazine declined to run an excerpt of the catcher in the rye on the grounds that the characters were unbelievable and the writing was “show-offy”? 

december 12: which comic book series featured batman’s first appearance? 

december 14: what was elvis presley’s natural hair color?

december 21: a 16th century da Vinci manuscript known as the codex leicester sold for over $30 million. who was the wealthy buyer?

december 23: ancient egyptian queen cleopatra had relationships with both julius caesar and mark antony. which of the two men was she buried next to?

december 27: which of the following hollywood stars did not get their start on the disney channel—shia labeouf, hayden panettiere, keri russell, ellen page, ryan gosling

december 29: technically, peanuts aren’t nuts. what are they?

[pellicano-sanguino]

The Long Carmilla Post 2 - Return of the Long Post about the Queen of Lesbian Vampires

When Tumblr tightened its policy about censoring nudity, they targeted a long post I'd made about Carmilla, since I showed photos of Ingrid Pitt and Yutte Stensgaard with their bare breasts in it. I have now censored the post, edited it and added a little. Carmilla is my favourite vampire of all time, and I have a long history with her different incarnations, so I wanted to bring the Long Carmilla Post back.

When I first posted the Long Carmilla Post, I had just seen the movie made by the Carmilla webseries folks. The sudden fame of the webseries surprised me. I can't help but think, that there must be a lot of new Carmilla fans, who instantly think of Natasha Negovanlis when they hear that name. If this series had been around when I was a teen, damn, would I have loved it! I would have been obsessed with it. But it was not, and I can't really become as obsessed with it now as the new fans do. Because when I hear the name Carmilla, several different faces appear in my imagination. I have already been obsessed with Carmilla from a rather young age, and while I love the webseries and this movie, for me it's just one of Carmilla's newer incarnations, not her default form.

I don't want to sound like a hipster (”I liked Carmilla before the webseries made her cool!”), I just thought that as a lesbian vampire lover I should make a post about my favourite vampire, and the history I have with the character.

There are some images of blood under the cut.

When I was younger, there really wasn't any lesbian litterature around (well, there probably was but I didn't know what books to search). I had a habit of switching genders in the books I read, making everyone female so I could get the girl romances I craved for, but this always felt forced and not ”real.” I read lots of vampire stories, because I've always loved that genre, but it was very much dominated by stories of male vampires. When I read Dracula, it had a short introduction speech that talked about the history of modern vampire stories, and it mentioned Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla.

Tracking the novella down was a bit hard, considering that back then I didn't have internet and so could only read books that I found in the library and bookstores. Fortunately the translation of Carmilla was included in one horror anthology that our library had. I managed to get my hands on it, and this cover illustration was the first ”face” of Carmilla that I knew.

I can't really put a finger on why I became so obsessed with this story. It's not that great of a novella. A very basic old-timey vampire story about a monster who threatens the life of the protagonist, who is saved when the monster's true nature is revealed, after which it is hunted down and destroyed. And the lesbian subtext is very, very subtle. There was just something very mysterious and fascinating about Carmilla. She is still among the few vampires who actually frighten me. Though Le Fanu's story isn't very scary by modern standards, Laura's nightmare scenes somehow got under my skin. There's something very creepy in the way vampires in older stories used to steal blood from their victims while they were sleeping. The idea, that there exists a predator who instead of straight up attacking its prey, approaces it by a cover of flawless mimicry, is horrifying. You are being slowly eaten alive and you're not even aware of it happening, or that it's your charming friend doing it to you.

I started having dreams about Carmilla. The first ones were nightmares, but even if they were scary, they didn't make me anxious, just excited. I was scared of Carmilla, but I wanted to see her, I wanted to hear her voice. It was as if I had fallen under her spell, much like Laura, but unlike Laura, I was aware of her true nature. I knew what she wanted, I knew that in my dreams, her kisses would lead to bites. But to a young lesbian who loved vampire stories, those kisses were worth losing a few drops of blood in the dream kingdom. She was one of ”my people.” She was not a genderswapped male hero, she was ”real.” She genuinely loved women and blood, and I loved her.

Halloween isn't really celebrated where I live, but one October a friend of mine decided that she'd hold a Halloween party (which became a yearly tradition for us for many years to come). She invited a group of her friends to watch horror movies at her house, and everyone should wear a costume. There was no competition what I would go as. I had a light blue dress that I decorated with blood stains, and over it I wore a dark gray cape, on which I had painted purple flower patterns to make it resemble the coat Carmilla wears on the cover illustration. It must be almost twenty years old, but I still have that cape.

Little Pellicano as Carmilla. I think I must have been 13 or 14 when this party was held.

Then I saw my first Carmilla movie. A Hammer film called Vampire Lovers.

This is a very silly movie. Very cheesy. But young Pellicano loved it. I can still quote many of the scenes from memory. The movie follows LeFanu's novella rather loosely, but I think it's one of the most faithful adaptations. It included the basic ”plot” that Carmilla uses to get close to her victims, has the nightmares (including Carmilla's monstrous cat form), keeps the plot point that she must form her new names anagrammically and makes her killer be a man who lost his daughter to the vampire. So far I think it's the only movie version that includes the scene where Carmilla sees the funeral procession of a girl she killed and loses it completely. I've always found that scene interesting, many claim that her fit of anxiety is caused by hearing the chanting (being unholy creature who's weak to christian things) but I think it's more than that. Either she has horrifying flashbacks to her own funerals (waking to vampirism and having to claw her way out of her own grave, that would scar me for sure) or she is genuinely sorry for killing the girl and terrified of having to face the truth that her love will always end in death.

I want to interpret Carmilla as a vampire who really loves her victims, not as playthings but as real lovers. But she wasn't a reluctant vampire either, she embraced the monstrous side of herself. It was natural to her, and so it was inevitable that the women she loved would eventually die. Maybe she preferred to ignore this knowledge in the daytime, and when she was forced to see what her night time activities had resulted in, the fit of anxiety happened.

A bit off topic, but one scene from the novella that I've never seen make it into a movie, is when a wandering salesman offers his dentistry services to Carmilla, offering to file down her fangs, which sends Carmilla into a fit of rage. I don't know, I always thought that scene pretty funny. Poor guy, offering to de-fang a vampire and getting a HOW DARE YOU rant in response.

So, the next ”face” of Carmilla was obviously Ingrid Pitt. While this movie wasn't particularly explicit (all the sex happens off screen), the lesbian subtext was much less subtle, which pleased young Pellicano. And then there was the infamous bathing scene (would show pics, but gotta censor for Tumblr. You can easily find them by image googling.).

When I was younger, I suffered from being underweight for a long time (had always been a small girl). Seeing Ingrid Pitt's figure motivated me to try to gain weight. She was so beautifully soft and curved, not just her chest, but her shoulders and legs and everything just looked so smooth and nice, while I had thin, pointy, stick-like limbs with sharp edges and none of that lovely roundness. I know teens should not look at celebrities and actresses as body models, but I think having Ingrid Pitt's shape as body goal was healthy for me. I never reached that goal, of course, but I did eventually reach normal weight limits (50kg, the weight needed for blood donors).

That friend of mine, who hosted Halloween parties, watched the movie with me and knew that I was obsessed with Carmilla. One day she got me a fake gold necklace with a red plastic gem on it, shaped like a blood drop. I don't know where she got this trinket from, but it was similar to the pendant Carmilla wears in the movie, and even if it was just cheap junk, I treasured it. And totally wore it during the next Halloween party, going as Carmilla like I always did. I've lost the gold chain, but I still have the gem.

Also still have the VHS. I don't know why I've kept it, I have no VHS player anymore.

Before I move on from Ingrid Pitt, I’d like to mention a pet peeve of mine. Ingrid Pitt has done two vampire roles (three if Elisabeth Bathory from Countess Dracula is counted). The more famous role is obviously Carmilla, it’s probably her most famous role ever, period. Her other vampire role is Carla Lynde from House that Dripped Blood. Now, the thing that annoys me is that article writers tend to always mix these two up. Whenever they write something about Carmilla or female vampires in general, they always mention Ingrid Pitt’s role as Carmilla in Vampire Lovers, but they always use the same damn stupid promo photo that is from House that Dripped Blood. That’s lazy research! Do they just image google “Ingrid Pitt vampire” and fail to check if the photo they use is actually from the movie they’re talking about?! The roles don’t even look identical, Carmilla’s a brunette while Carla Lynde is blonde, Vampire Lovers is set in 1800s, House that Dripped Blood is set in 20th century. The worst one was when the museum in my home city had a vampire themed exhibition and even they used the wrong photo for Vampire Lovers. If a museum can’t get their facts straight, that’s just sad.

Here is an example of my pet peeve in action, an article about vampire movies, using the wrong fucking photo for Vampire Lovers. And yes, I know why they like using this particular photo (”höhöhöö boobs, I’m so mature”). But that just makes me more angry when they do it.

Hammer made a sequel to Vampire Lovers called Lust for a Vampire. It was...  disappointing. It introduced a male love interest for Carmilla, which in my opinion was complete bullshit. If you want to make a story about a female vampire who falls in love with a human boy, by all means make it, but don't call it Carmilla, call it something else. That being said, there were a good amount of lesbian action going on as well (this time Carmilla plotted her way into an all girls' school...) and if there's one thing Hammer rarely fails at delivering, it's the bucketloads of unconvincing bright red fake blood. I skipped the icky het sex, but always enjoyed this scene:

Yeah, Yutte Stensgaard was the third ”face” of Carmilla. When I think of that name, this blood-covered, sleepy-looking vampire maiden is among the images that instantly pop into my mind.

The third Carmilla movie I saw was titled just Carmilla and starred Meg Tilly.

This was clearly a cheaper (maybe made for TV) adaptation. Meg Tilly didn't leave as big an impression as Ingrid Pitt and Yutte Stensgaard did. But I do remember one line from the movie clearly. When Marie (the southerner ”Laura” of this version) asks about Carmilla's past, Carmilla brushes it aside by saying ”That was another lifetime. I'm much happier now.” I adopted this phrase into use. Whenever people are unknowingly asking about a painful thing from my past that I don't want to talk about, I will say it to let them know that nothing good comes from digging old wounds that have already scarred. That was another lifetime. I'm much happier now.

I do remember that Meg Tilly's Carmilla was the movie with the ”awkward floaty blood drinking pose.”

I'm sorry, but that just doesn't look comfortable. Or functional.

Then the big day came – my family got a computer that could access internet. It was an awful piece of junk that could barely be used for writing emails and visiting messageboards. It wouldn't play videos, loading images took forever and big pictures often made it freeze. However, I had access to the internet now. The first word I ever googled was obviously ”carmilla.” Among the sites I found back then, was one about a German play, starring a woman called Ulrike Schneidewind.

The site had big, beautiful promo photos of the play. They took forever to load, but I returned to watch them often. There was something captivating in Ulrike Schneidewind's look for Carmilla. I'm not usually a fan of vampires with the white face+red lipstick+loads of mascara-look, but hers was beautiful, like a painting, like a creature that really wasn't human.

I don’t know if they used fake blood in the actual play or if it was only for these promo photos, but it looks incredibly pretty and surprisingly convincing.

I have no idea what this demon looking thing is supposed to be - Carmilla’s monstrous cat form maybe?

Ulrike Schneidewind became the next ”face” of Carmilla, even though I have never seen her act. All I've seen are these promo photos of the play (I have heard her speak. There's a couple minutes long news clip on Youtube about a vampire lifestyler event she attended). Supposedly there exists a VHS of the Carmilla play they performed on a Romanian tour, but they must have only made a handful of those, since I've never seen it on sale anywhere. I check the German eBay every now and then in faint hopes of finding a copy but I've come to accept that I'll probably never see this show. But still, Ulrike Schneidewind's look left an impression on my mind.

Around those times I started to draw comics in which my self-insert character shared a house with six vampire roommates (Carmilla, who owned the house, Brunhilda from Wake Not the Dead, Teresa from Last Lords of Gardonal, Ruthven, Dracula and Francis Varney) and an OC named Charity (Brunhilda's donor and girlfriend). I mostly pulled the designs for my vampires out of thin air, really (well, Dracula was as he was descrided in the novel, with fuzzy moustache and bushy eyebrows) but Carmilla's design was based on Ulrike Schneidewind's look, with blue veins shining through the white skin and lots of dark makeup and black hair.

Sad part is that it's been over ten years and my drawing skills have not improved at all. This is not ”art” this is doodles. But drawing these was super fun back then, so I shouldn't feel ashamed of them now, I think.

Besides these comics, I wrote some fanfics too. But I'm very glad I never put those anywhere public, because damn, they are embarrassing to read now. It's because my fanfics were actually serious business, full of drama and sturm und drang, and they turned out rather cheesy. Also full of, ahem, erotic content written by someone who had no personal experience on the subject yet. The comics on the other hand were just made for shits and giggles, and I think they've survived the test of time better (by which I mean, that I have actually shown my comics to other people, because occasionally I think I made a fun one, while I've never shown my fics to anyone and have already burned the worst ones.).

When the wonderland of internet was opened to me, I gained access to all the books in the world. I was no longer restricted by what our library and book stores had, I could buy stuff that wasn't published here. So obviously I got a copy of Kyle Marffin's Carmilla sequel. It's not a very good book. Quite silly, childish and badly written (men really shouldn't write about lesbians, they know nothing about them and enjoying an erotic scene becomes rather hard when you imagine some gross het dude writing it while drooling on his keyboard). But it was the first time I read a rather explicit lesbian sex scene, and that got me very excited, because finally all the subtext was thrown to garbage. Here it was, black on white, proof that Carmilla was into girls, not just their blood but their bodies as well. My late discovery of lesbian erotica may seem weird now, when anyone can gain access to mountains of lesbian smut in the internet, but back when I lived with my parents I never dared to look up smut on the home computer, in fear that they'd find out. Until I moved out, my only access to lesbian erotica was books, and Carmilla's Return was the first one I got.

Rant time: I might also add, that annoyingly enough I had been encountering explicit het sex scenes in books, movies and TV years before. And while I never intentionally searched naughty stuff on the net, I had bumped into het porn there accidentally as well. I wonder if heteros understand how freaking frustrating this kind of thing was. Their smut was all over the place, in every book, every film and all around the net, pretty much rubbed to my face, while MY stuff was so obscure I didn't even know where to look for it. And then they had the nerve to claim that we are ”flaunting it” and ”making it all about ourselves” whenever there was a gay sidecharacter somewhere. Grr. Grrr. Rant over.

I bumped into some incarnations of Carmilla later too, but none left an impression on my mind like these early ones did. The worst Carmilla I ever saw was the main villain in Lesbian Vampire Killers. That movie is easily the worst vampire movie I have ever seen (maybe even the worst movie I've seen, period), it's an ”erotic horror comedy” that is neither sexy, scary or funny. It is nice that when they were thinking of a character to star in a movie about lesbian vampires, they chose Carmilla. But the movie is such utter garbage, I'd rather they'd left my favourite vampire out of it. Save your money and sanity -  don't watch this movie. It's bad.

I feel like a lot of time people want to take Carmilla's name and make a whole new character with it (like Reimi Urara's character in Vampire Succession, who is named Carmilla but isn't even a vampire at all). These ”Carmilla in name only” kind of characters don't count, and frankly speaking I'm not that fond of them. I guess it is nice that people want to pay respect to the legendary vampire by naming a character after her, but my opinion still is that if you don't want to tell the story of a lesbian vampire, call your character something else. If you take away either of Carmilla's two passions; that of women or that of blood, the character loses her trademark characteristics and stops being ”real.” You don't make a Godzilla movie where the king of the monsters isn't allowed to have his trademark atomic breath, and you don't make a Carmilla who doesn't love women and blood.

Now that I have said that, you probably guess my opinion about the (*spoilers*) ending of the webseries's third season. Yeah, I wasn't a fan of humanizing Carmilla. So, I went to see the movie with rather low expectations, and was pleasantly surprised. This movie is more Carmilla than all of the webseries's seasons together.

But let's speak about the webseries first. I was very positively surprised by it. One day I ended up googling Carmilla again (was probably looking for fanfics) and discovered this little gem. It had very little to do with Le Fanu's original, but what it decided to change was so good that I didn't care. And it had still lots of little nods to the novella. Carmilla's anagrammical names, the nightmares, they freaking included Laura's governesses De Lafontaine and Perrodon (I would totally watch a spin-off that just follows the adventures of Laf and Perry) and there's even a scene where Carmilla is watching over sleeping Laura, looking a bit similar to a famous illustration of the novella. Also, the theme song ”Love will have it's sacrifices”, is a direct quote, from a scene where Carmilla is describing to Laura the night when the curse of vampirism was passed on to her (of course, she doesn't out right say it, but the reader knows what she's talking about).

”--- I was all but assassinated in my bed, wounded here," she touched her breast, "and never was the same since."

"Were you near dying?"

"Yes, very--a cruel love--strange love, that would have taken my life. Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood.---”

I'm not going to say the webseries doesn't have its flaws, a little lazy writing here and there, plot holes and inconsistent characters occasionally (I feel sorry for Danny. She just can't win.). But it was incredibly entertaining, it made me laugh and it made me care about what happens to everyone. And like probably a lot of the fans, I adored the fact that they didn't dance around the lesbian thing. When Laura understands that Carmilla's advances weren't blood-related, her reaction isn't any dumb ”But we're both girls, how can this be?!” Whoever understood to make Laura gay too was a genius. When she gets all flattered and blushing after learning that a beautiful girl finds her attractive, it's such a relatable feeling. It's the lesbian romance I so wanted as a teen! Not stories of a predatory lesbian seducing dumb clueless het girls to the dark side, but girls experiencing all the usual things female leads in romantic stories do, only with another girl as their love interest.

The first season of the webseries is my favourite. The second was pretty good, too. Third, in my opinion, a bit unnecessary (here I think you could see the writing starting to slip). Then came the movie.

They could have completely abandoned the vampire theme and proceeded with the heroes' further adventures. But they didn't and thank goodness for it. They return to draw inspiration from the original source; the novella. We have nightmares, and I admit they actually made me uneasy, reminding me of that creepy feel Laura's dream scenes gave me in the novella. The image of Carmilla laying down in a coffin filled with blood is also from the story. There's a scene where Carmilla is forced to reveal her vampiric nature, and it really reminds me of the scene where it happens in the book.  

And they freaking quote it, probably being the first adaptation ever to use straight quotes from the book. ”Die together so they can live together”-speech isn't quite right word-to-word, I think, but still, it's an identifiable quote. I used to be able to quote the ”You are mine, you shall be mine”-speech in English, Swedish and German, but have now forgotten most versions (yeah, I read Carmilla in several languages when I was younger. I was freaking obsessed with the story). I still think it's the most memorable quote from the novella. Also, the book-reading scene with ”Girls are caterpillars who undergo several larval stages before becoming butterflies”-speech is also from the novella. I think the only famous quote missing in this movie is the ”I've never been in love and never shall unless it should be with you”-speech.

As a fan of the ”old” Carmilla I adore how they pay homage to the origin respectfully, while still making their very own story. Again, teenaged Pellicano would have been all over this stuff. But I had to make my lesbian vampire stories from other versions, and while those also have their flaws, I adore them just as much. I am just happy that Carmilla lives on, not forgotten and left in the shadow of the countless more famous male vampires (seriously, where the fuck are all the female vampires? Ones that are actually main characters in their story and pass the freaking vampiric Bechdel test?)

Carmilla lives on, indeed. She has made a new comeback in Netflix's Castlevania series. I watched the first season and liked it quite a bit. It was a bit too gorey for my personal taste, but that wasn’t a dealbreaker. I liked the art style and was interested to see where they take the story. When I heard rumours that the second season would have a character named Carmilla, my reaction was pretty much “Carmilla is part of the Castlevania franchise?! Why did no one tell me this before?!”

Of course I’m always eager to see new adaptations of my favourite vampire. So, I did some research to know which games she appears in, made some popcorn and sat down to watch some Let’s Play videos (I’m not a gamer and don’t own game consoles so the only way I get to experience videogames is through Let’s Plays in Youtube.). But I ended up rather disappointed. Carmilla in the Castlevania games is cartoonishly silly at best, downright insulting to the original at worst.

So, after seeing how poorly the games treated my favourite vampire, I looked forward to the second season of the Netflix series with mixed feelings. I was hopeful, thinking that they can't go anywhere but up from here. And I was pleasantly surprised. The character design made her a bit silly looking with eeeevil face and her body language is very femme fatale-ish (I don’t really see the appeal of the femme fatale trope, but then again, it’s usually written for male audience), but they didn't put her in an ugly, revealing costume and the camera focused on her face instead of her breasts.

It's disappointing that she isn't a lesbian in this one (she makes one joke that hints she might be into girls too, but because Dracula's war council is mostly one big sausage fest, we don't see her interact with other females much).

I am so, so happy that the makers of the show understood that Carmilla is not some boot-licking notice-me-senpai Dracula fangirl (an aspect of her I loathed in the games). The only reasons for a lesbian vampire to ally with a male one are if they have a common goal (such as defending themselves against vampire hunters) or if she has no other choice. Netflix Carmilla is the latter. Dracula is a powerful, dangerous monster, who is also very much insane and therefore unpredictable. When he summons Carmilla to join his senseless crusade against humankind, Carmilla can't afford to refuse and take the chance of the mad vampire king killing her for disobedience and making a warning example of her. She has to go to war she herself deems pointless (well, Godbrand had a point in his ”If vampires kill all the humans, what will the vampires eat?”-speech.). So she begins to plot to prevent the genocide (she actually wants humankind to keep existing as opposed to wiping them from the face of the Earth, remind me again why she is the one every fan hates while they love Dracula the Kill All Humans-madman? Oh right, she assaults one of the male fan favourite characters on screen and is therefore deemed much more evil than Dracula who slaughters countless innocent humans offscreen without mercy. Got it.).

I love that she uses cunning instead of seduction when putting her plot to gain freedom from Dracula's servitude in action. Admittedly, some of the scenes where she's manipulating Hector seem a bit seductive-ish, but are still nothing compared to the ”Oh great master let me lick the blood off your sword!”-bullshit from the games. Also, was I the only one who could see right through her mindgames? Every time she complimented some man, I was shaking my head ”Lady, even blind Reetta can see that you are full of shit.” So it really surprised me when Hector fell for it. How do you fall for such an obvious trap?

I like that Carmilla's reasons for her schemes are reasonable and based on common sense and war strategy rather than just being evil for the sake of being evil. That being said, the scene where she beats Hector felt unnecessary, the man was tied up and would have gone with her even without getting his ass handed to him, because he's a prisoner and has no choice. I understand that it's an important scene symbolically, tying back to the scene where the animal-loving Hector compares vampires to cats, to which Isaac points out that cats play cruelly with their prey. It's a turning point for Hector, who abandoned humanity and tried to find a new family among monsters only to realize that they are, well, monsters. What did you expect voting for Leopards Eating Peoples' Faces Party would bring to you? Anyway, I understand that the scene is important to the plot and character growth, but I can't help but feel that making Carmilla assault a fan favourite character so brutally was the writers way of making sure the audience hates her. I have a feeling that they want to be sure the audience hates her, because they have something disgusting in mind for her for the third season.

I already talked about this in my ”If you have to kill female vampires on screen, please don't make it look like a rape”-post. I am worried what they are going to do with Carmilla. She's obviously going to get killed, but I hope they allow her to go down with dignity. Lords of Shadows 2 already gave us a really disgusting, rapey killing scene (I’ve only seen one killing scene with an even clearer “lesbianism can be cured by rape”-theme, in Lesbian Vampire Killers where Carmilla is impaled by a dick-shaped sword), we do not need another. I don't want Hector or Isaac or Dracula impaling her body slowly and looking downward at her in disgust as she painfully dies. Yes, Dracula will be coming back, it's Castlevania after all. I'm also worried of the possibility that instead of killing her, they make Dracula force her back into his servitude, which would also be super gross.

I am happy that the character of Carmilla lives on, that new fans get to experience her with these new incarnations, but whenever a new Carmilla surfaces, I am also a bit worried at how they are going to handle her character this time. I will have to wait and see how the third season of Castlevania ends, until then it is useless to speculate.

[nyxshadowhawk]

Goth Tags

I know this is a YouTube thing, but I wanted to do these two lists, so I’m going to do them.

Ways in Which I’m Stereotypically Goth:

I’ve got the romantigoth aesthetic down. I love spooky, pretty things! I love gargoyles and ravens and black roses and moons and weird occult stuff and dark forests... I’ve got three Joseph Vargo posters in my dorm room, and I’ve run out of space to put resin statues in my bedroom. I wear lots of long, flowy black clothes and the occasional Goth Princess gown. I’ve also got an entire box (made of black wood with pentagrams carved in the top) full of silver and pewter jewelry, and Black Phoenix perfumes.

I really love spooky interior design and architecture. I loved Voltaire’s Gothic Homemaking and I drooled over Haunt Furniture. My dream home would probably be a Victorian-style, Addams-like mansion in the middle of nowhere (for when I become a world-famous writer...). I also REALLY love castles and old buildings, especially with gothic architecture and gargoyles. I really liked seeing old castles and churches in Scotland. Medieval Europe is 10/10 my aesthetic.

I’ve always really liked bats. When I was a kid (around six), my favorite episode of The Magic School Bus (for whatever reason) was “Going Batty.” That set off a bat obsession! Reading Stellaluna in seventh grade just reinforced it. I used to pretend to be one and wrap myself up in my blankets like wings. Bats are cute! I recently got back into them! There’s an adorable little plush one hanging above my bed. “So dark of wing and keen of craft, of all night flyers the master’s a bat.” (Actually, the master of night flyers is totally Prince Astor of Umbragard.)

I like horror stories and gothic literature. Back when creepypasta was big, I’d casually read collections of horror stories on Quotev. Now, I really love Nox Arcana’s “Tales from the Dark Tower,” Poe stories, Grimm’s fairy tales, and the like. I actually have a pretty strong stomach. I also genuinely love gothic lit. The Picture of Dorian Gray is my favorite. I didn’t make it through Frankenstein, though, it was too sad.

I’m introverted and a night owl. I wouldn’t say I have a “stereotypical” Goth personality, because I’ve been trying to be more optimistic and happy, and I’ve attempted to make friends, but one of the reasons I like Raven from Teen Titans is because I tend to be the isolated girl in dark clothes who’d rather be left alone. I’m not exactly stoic-- I’m an emotional wreck, but once you get me talking about a topic I’m interested in, I’m all moonlight and fireflies. I’m also a “tortured artist,” and I come alive at night. I stay up until at least 2 AM most nights. I ate breakfast at one today. 

I have a black cat named Edgar. I did not name him! He was given that name at the shelter. All the kittens in his litter were named after gothic writers, because they were all black! (His brother was “H.P.” after Lovecraft.) I was thrilled when my parents said we were getting him, and equally thrilled when they decided to keep his name. He’s such a sweet cat, and I love him.

I like vampires, but I have a complicated relationship with them. You’d think I’d be the kind of girl who’d be obsessed with vampires in middle school, especially if I loved the Vampire Friz episode of The Magic School Bus! But no. I wasn’t into vampires because they killed people and that was disturbing. (That’s why I independently created psychic vampires.)  However, since getting into Castlevania last Halloween, I’ve started to really warm up to vampires. I dressed as Lestat last Halloween, read Carpe Jugulum, have been consuming more vampire media than before... I’m still not obsessed, but I like them now. Still would hate to be one, though. SHADOWS FOR THE WIN!

I LOVE Halloween! I was devastated the two years it was canceled (freak snowstorm and Hurricane Sandy. Oh, by the way, my reaction to the current hurricane was, “He put his soul in a hurricane, now?!). I really miss trick-or-treating. I convinced my parents to throw an annual Halloween party, which gave me an excuse to get even more decorations for my room, and they pretty much can’t host it without me. Everyone shares my aesthetic during Halloween season!

I’m really into witchy and occult stuff. The more cryptic and spooky, the better. I was Wiccan-ish for a while, I don’t think I am anymore, but I’m still exploring my spirituality (through books like Nocturnal Witchcraft and Shadow Magick Compendium) with guidance from Hecate and Dionysus. 

Whether my music taste is truly “Goth” or not, it is certainly very spooky. Nox Arcana all the way! I really go in for the church organ and glockenspiel and chiming bells and melancholy piano and strings and harpsichords and minor keys. Listening to spooky music makes me happy. I have a whole list of creepy waltzes. Neoclassical is my thing. I also like Adrian von Zeigler, Peter Gundry, Two Steps From Hell, and fantasy music in general. 

Un-Goth Confessions:

I don’t like gothic rock. Some would say this means I’m not Goth, and it felt alienating for a while. Siouxsie and Bauhaus just aren’t really my thing. I don’t really like industrial and darkwave, either. The closest I get to traditional Goth music is Voltaire (I love the songs of his that I listen to, but I only listen to a handful), and a few songs by Dead Can Dance. I’m much more into Nox Arcana.

I don’t look stereotypically Goth. I joke that I look like Aurora and dress like Maleficent, because it’s true. My cheeks are permanently rosy and not easy to cover with white makeup (I don’t wear makeup often, anyway.) I have big blue eyes and wavy, golden hair (that I’m not going to dye). I don’t have any piercings— when my sister went for her second piercing, she encouraged me to get my ears pierced, but I broke down crying because I’m afraid of pain. I’m an adult!

I still like horsies and unicorns and other cutesy things from my childhood. I was really into Gen 3 of My Little Pony. I still have some fairy and ballerina stuff, even if I don’t display it. My bedroom is still lavender (and always will be). I definitely wasn’t spooky in childhood, and I’ve still got a non-spooky side. (It was kind of a big deal when I dressed as a rainbow unicorn fairy when I was seven, and then a dark sorceress when I was eight.)  I danced in my company’s adapted kiddie production of the Nutcracker until I graduated. I’ve got fluffy stuffed unicorns right next to my Spiral Bat Cat.

I HATE DIY. I don’t trust it! I don’t want to ruin my clothes with fabric paint or rip holes in things or in any way risk it turning out poorly. My style is tough to DIY anyway, but yeah.

I’m not really into the macabre. I only got into skeletons because of Undertale, and I don’t like, for lack of a better phrase, “the death aesthetic.” Blood, body horror art, the zombie look... I don’t really like anything morbid or sad. I’m iffy on graveyards and coffins.

I don’t like most horror films. I like spooky movies, like Coraline, but not horror movies. Although I like horror stories, I don’t like horror films, less because of the horror and more because they tend to end badly. I don’t like “everybody dies” stories, especially if it’s one where sympathetic people get killed off one by one, or slasher flicks that rely on jumpscares. Old-school gothic horror could work, though. I also like psychological thrillers like The Sixth Sense and Black Swan. Is Interview With the Vampire a horror movie? (I probably underestimate how strong my stomach is. Aladdin used to scare me. Look at me now!)

I still wear a lot of color. About half my wardrobe is black, which is still a lot, but not as much as most Goths. I’ve still got a lot of purple, and other colors.

I’m not a huge fan of Tim Burton. The only film of his that I really love was Corpse Bride. Beetlejuice wasn’t my style and didn’t contain enough of Lydia, Sweeney Todd was a bit too dark and gory (although I did like that one), Dark Shadows wasn’t as good as I was hoping, Alice in Wonderland was cool aesthetically but not a very good film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a dumpster fire... and The Nightmare Before Christmas doesn’t count because he didn’t direct it (and though I like it, I wasn’t blown away by it, either). My reaction overall? “Meh.”

I still contain a childish exuberance. I squealed and bounced up and down when the new Nox Arcana album was released. I will probably do the same before and/or after watching Season 3 of Castlevania, and when Grimoire of Souls is released. This is how I know that Goth stuff is part of my true personality. 

There’s a lot of Goth clothes that I don’t wear, in addition to not dying my hair, not wearing makeup, and not having piercings. I’d wear black heeled boots like Dracula’s, but not platform shoes. I don’t like fishnets. I hate ripped clothing. Not a fan of hoodies. I also will not wear leather clothing. And spiked collars? No no no. I’m pretty much strictly a Romantigoth. Maybe that doesn’t make me less Goth. But it makes me less stereotypical, especially when so much of the Goth stuff online is geared toward that end of the subculture.

And I don’t know if this makes me more Goth or less Goth, but I have one outfit from Hot Topic. And an epic “House of Belmont” t-shirt.

Okay, that was interesting.

“I’M SO GOTH, I LITERALLY DARKEN A DOORWAY!”

[nwbeerguide]

Gigantic Brewing, in cooperation with Dark Horse Comics, are selling 666, limited-edition, Hellboy Collectors Boxes.

Press Release

image courtesy Gigantic Brewing Company

(February 5, 2020) Oregon's Gigantic Brewing and Dark Horse Comics are teaming up to create 666 Limited Edition Hellboy Collectors Boxes, featuring Hellboy beer, based on award-winning cartoonist Mike Mignola’s legendary character. The acclaimed Hellboy beers were introduced in 2019 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the publication of Hellboy: Seed of Destruction.

The Hellboy Collectors Boxes contain all six of the Gigantic Hellboy Beers, limited edition 6x9 collectors print of the art for each custom label by Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart (printed for this release only), and a taphandle magnet for each character.  There are 666 cases for sale and each is hand numbered -/666.

The Limited Edition Hellboy Collectors Boxes feature all six different Hellboy beers, with flavors inspired by fan-favorite characters from the Hellboy comic books:

Hellboy - Maple Syrup Pancake Beer (6.66% abv)

Liz Sherman - Mole Chili Stout (6.66% abv)

Johann Kraus - Citrus Wit Beer (6.66% abv)

Abe Sapien - Indigo Blue Fruit Ale (6.66% abv)

Blood Queen - Cranberry Yuzu Sour (6.66% abv)

Trevor Bruttenholm - British Barleywine (9.99% abv)

The Limited Edition Hellboy Collectors Box will retail for $99.00. 600 of the boxes will be orderable on the Tavour.com app beginning February 10th, 2020. The remaining boxes will go on sale at the Gigantic Taproom at noon on February 29th, 2020.

Only those who enter the code "hellboy" into the Tavour app before 2/10 will get first access. Steps:

Download the Tavour app for iOS or Android

Allow push notifications

Enter code "hellboy" on the promos screen

Receive a push notification on 2/10 to order the Hellboy box

For more information about Hellboy Beer, follow Gigantic Brewery on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or visit https://www.giganticbrewing.com/pages/hellboy.

…

About Mike Mignola: Mike Mignola’s fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age; reading Dracula at age twelve introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore, from which he has never recovered. Starting in 1982 as a bad inker for Marvel Comics, he evolved into a not-so-bad artist. By the late 1980s, he’d begun to develop his unique graphic style, with mainstream projects like Cosmic Odyssey and Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. In 1994, he published the first of many Hellboy series through Dark Horse, leading to many spinoffs, prose books, animated films, and two live-action films. Along the way he worked on Francis Ford Coppola’s film Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), and with director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). A new Hellboy film by Neil Marshall is currently in the works. Mike’s books have earned numerous awards and are published in a great many countries. 

He lives in Southern California with his wife, daughter, and cat.

About Dark Horse: For more than thirty years, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, the company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Brian Wood, Gail Simone, Stan Sakai, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Kazuo Koike, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Miller, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, X, and Barb Wire. Its successful line of comics, manga, and products based on popular properties includes Dragon Age, Stranger Things, Aliens, The Legend of Zelda, Tomb Raider, Halo, The Witcher, Minecraft, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today, Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading entertainment publishers.

About Gigantic Brewing: Gigantic Brewing Company is an independent, artisanal brewery located in the Southeast quadrant of the Peoples Republic of Portland. Brewer/Owners Ben Love and Van Havig are veterans of the brewing community. At Gigantic we only do two things: make the best damn IPA in Portland, Oregon and produce seasonal, exciting, flavorful beers, most of which will be brewed only once. Our goal is simultaneously to create new interpretations of classic styles and to ignore those same style guidelines completely and brew whatever our creative natures produce. We hold ourselves to a simple principle – Never Give an Inch. We vow to start small and (stubbornly) stay small, focusing our efforts on making exceptional beer, rather than a lot of beer. When you drink Gigantic, know that we didn’t just put our names on the label – our effort, imagination, and dry wit are in every bottle.

from Northwest Beer Guide - News - The Northwest Beer Guide http://bit.ly/39eqy8B

[wingedkiare]

Getting to Know You Better

I was tagged by @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels and well, here I am!

Rules: Fill out the questions, then tag eight people you want to get to know better.

Name: Whitney

Birthday: Three days before Tyler Seguin’s

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Height: 5′2″

Hobbies: writing, reading, singing, occasionally drawing, even less often learning to crochet, and finally playing the ukulele.

Favorite Colors: Green, teal, red, blue, and black. Are gold and silver colors?

Favorite Books: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Agatha Christie books (I actually really like the Tommy & Tuppence books, though there weren’t many of those - I prefer Miss Marple to Poirot, too), The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (which might be the basis for The Ninth Gate, but it also is WAY better)

Last Song Listened To: Good Omens Opening Theme by David Arnold

Last Movie Watched: Top Gun. (I am so glad I watched that after we started watching Jaws 3 again on TV. LMAO)

Inspiration For Muse: Anything and everything. Dreams, songs, conversations I’ve overheard.

Dream Job: Writer.

Meaning of URL: I MADE IT UP.  So once upon a time I ran a SWRPG online that lastest for almost 8 years. And I had a character from a primitive species, who were actually descended from a Jedi who had crash landed there a milennia ago.  She was trying to explain something, got stuck trying to translate a word and said ‘winged kiare’ to talk about someone.  She was trying to describe someone as an angel - not like a savior by as a terrible winged warrior.  But since she knows four languages, that’s what she game up with.  Winged kiare.

Tagging: @accidentallypallas, @too-many-cats-in-one-trench-coat (I give you as much permission as I can to skip things), @sidsass, @inthebackoftheimpala @supertiggerwho, @vaderwho and anyone else who might actually do this.

[meny-sempai]

CASTLEVANIA is so good! Watch it on Netflix!

My art blog is becoming a total mess with these types of posts, but I just can’t control myself! Alucard is such a beautiful child and should be celebrated and hugged like a cute little cat. 

Warning: Alucard fangirl is writting this XD

Warning: SPOILERS

I have to say thanks to the creators of the show and everyone who worked on it. Season 1 was a good introduction, season 2 was awesome and impossible to forget. I never played the games, but I knew about the Castlevania series because of the beautiful art and music for the games. Still, you can easily tell the show runners are fans and gamers and that they care so much about the details. 

The fight scenes are some of the most imaginatively choreographed sequences I’ve ever seen and are animated and directed masterfully. You can feel the weight of characters when they move, you fill the pull of the swings and the gravity, you can feel and hear when the whip snaps and winds up, you feel the pressure she’s putting on the surroundings when Sypha goes full Avatar, you can see and feel the difference in the way vampires move from the way humans do. Even if the battle defies the laws of physics, even if the characters are over-powered, you don’t care. Not because it’s a cartoon based on a video game, but because the fights are grounded with good animation and sound effects. It also helps when the creators add characters making remarks, showing raw emotion, stumbling, missing the mark or playing “dirty”. It adds to realism.

I hear people say animation is stiff and low budget. I can see where they’re coming from, and I do admit, some scenes are stiff, they do avoid complicated movements and finesse in the “quiet parts” of the show. But, for me, I can let them be “lazy”, because all of these scenes have great lightening, fabulous backgrounds, good sound, fantastic VA work, top-notch quality dialog, good directing. Please, don’t forget how hard and time consuming it is to animate anything. And the creators chose to have a style that imitates Ayami Kojima’s. Animating in a complicated and detailed style is even harder. 

Another plus that season 2 has is that they included original music. When I heard the first notes of Bloody Tears I flipped. I hope we’ll get more original music in season 3. 

I heard there were some big changes in the characters of Isaac, Hector and  Carmilla. As someone who never played the games, I can only say: I liked their characters and their roles in the show. I liked how they were introduced, I enjoyed all three of them and I can’t wait to see how they’ll grow in season 3. (Isaac, I respect you so much, but you scare the hell out of me. Hector, you are so naive and stupid, yet I can’t help but love you and feel like you are such a hurt and lonely person. Carmilla, I get your anger and I like your strength and independence, but you’re a bitch and you need to be stopped.)

Speaking of characters and “quiet parts” I love the fact that the writers decided to make this type of show into a character driven story. I have no clue how any of the main three and Dracula were in the games, but watching the show they feel like real people to me with real virtues and flaws and problems. What makes them so impactful as characters is the constantly evolving dynamics they have with each other. And this dynamics is all shown in seemingly pointless banter and silent looks and touches. Because of these moments the deep and emotional conversations have weight. They don’t come out of the blue, they are not out of character.

My favorite part of the dialog/or lack of it is the way they present the conversation. They care so much about the way the words are said, what expression people make when they say something, what kind of light there is in a frame, what objects are there and how people interact with them while they speak. 

All in all, Castlevania has a very simple plot, but it does wonders with it. We are rooting for the good guys, but we’re also rooting for the bad guys. It’s insane. 

Another insane thing is that a short show about video game hunters and vampires managed to hurt me on a deep emotional level. I did not see the bloody tears coming, man. 

Yes, yes, it’s all Alucard, but you’ve been warned. I’m a woman with needs and I have a type.

I have no idea how the final battle in the game went down, but I think this was one of the best boss fights and the most appropriate way to put Dracula to rest. Everything and everyone was perfect in that final battle - the way the dork trio teamed up using each other’s strengths and protecting each other, the way Dracula was OP as fuck (while starving) and was pissed at everyone because he was tired of life, the words the son an father exchanged, the My boy... Our son... line, the way Dracula begged his son to kill him, the fear, confusion and pain of Alucard, the way Dracula wanted to hug his son, the way Trevor understandably wanted to protect Alucard and sliced Dracula’s head off, the way Alucard moved out of the way for Sypha to incinerate his father, the way those three welcomed the morning together - PERFECTION. 

Those three are just perfect, I adore how they show their friendship and respect/trust to one another... and I like how Sypha and Trevor are a thing now... BUT WHY, why did you leave him alone? 

He was so not ok, from the beginning of the show, he was way past being ok. 

He’s sassy and can laugh, but he is so lonely, detached, cold... angry - just like Sypha said. 

He wanted to make a grave for himself (to die), and my best bro Trevor pulled him out of the depression a little by giving him a task and his ultimate love/trust. But, that’s not enough. He’s still alone in the house with all the painful memories and proofs of death he himself had inflicted. 

He needs a hug, he can’t be left to cry alone, what are friends for? I hope the power couple comes back quickly. I don’t think Alucard has anyone else.

Guys, watch Castlevania. I recommend the English dub. There is just something special in the English dub that I can’t put my finger on. 

If I can make a wish for the season 3, I’d like to see more of this:

And this:

More juicy flashbacks for all our children, new and old, and more of Alucard acting like a vampire. Like... does he feed, how old is he exactly etc? Seriously, though, I want to know more about the vampires and about the Belmonts. They already teased us with Leon! Ooohh boy! 

BONUS:

Just some proof how well rounded and real the characters are here.

Nope. This whole post was totally not an excuse to watch the show again just so that I can screenshot the fuck out of the golden half vampire bastard. 

[ctpinocchio]

The Cast

Pinocchio: Kudzai Mangombe

Kudzai Mangombe graduated from Liverpool Institution of Performing Arts in 2021.

Theatre credits include: LIPA: Cloud Nine, 4.48 Psychosis, Richard III of England. That’s What She Said, Out The Attic Productions. Malindadzimu, Hampstead Theatre

Radio credits include: Sea Gods, Sort Sol Theatre

Punchinello*: Ashlee Irish

*Also: (Geppetto / Blackbird / Monkey / Candlewick / Puffy / Busy Coalman)

Ashlee Irish Graduated with a BA(Hons) at the Arts Educational Schools London. Theatre credits include: Dreamgirls, Savoy Theatre, Tina:The Tina Turner Musical, Aldwych Theatre. Back To The Future The Musical (Workshops) The Life, Arts Educational Schools. TV Credits include: ITV: Olivier Awards 2019 Channel 4: TFI Friday Radio Credits Include: Chris Evans Breakfast show BBC Radio 2 and Anthony Cherry’s Friday Night is Music Night.

Fire-Eater*: Milly Blue

*Also: (Blue Fairy / Busy Boss / Snail / Clown)

An experienced musical performer and collaborator, songwriter and composer Milly Blue started her musical career as a vocalist for Basement Jaxx when she was a teenager, guesting on four tracks over two albums. She has since collaborated with the likes of, amongst others, Andrew Hung (of F*ck Buttons), performed alongside Beck, Kae Tempest, Guillemots and Anna Meredith, and toured internationally, supporting Scissor Sisters and Gary Numan and solo, supporting L7 and Little Dragon.

An actor from a young age, Milly was brought back into the theatre through music as a cast member in Dom Coyote’s sci-fi, ‘gig-theatre’ show ‘Songs for the End of the World’, performing across the UK and then in the Iron Shoes’ production ‘Fragment’ at BAC and the North Wall. She is also a regular face amongst the cast of ‘Catalyst’ in The North Wall’s Alchymy Festival.

Harlequin*: Lewis Doherty

*Also: (Salesman / Alidoro / Cat / Seagull / Monkey / Coco / Busy Window Cleaner / Donkey)

Lewis is an East Midlands based actor, writer and theatre-maker. After studying Drama & Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham he then trained as an actor at the Oxford School of Drama. Lewis has starred in Hood Documentary (BBC) and Enterprice (BBC), and was one quarter of award-winning sketch comedy group Laughing Stock.

As the writer and creator of The Beast Trilogy; Lewis has received critical success with his shows ‘WOLF’ and ‘BOAR’, which both sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe before successfully touring to UK theatres and festivals including The Lowry Salford, The Other Room Cardiff, The North Wall Oxford, Nottingham Playhouse, Birmingham REP, Latitude Festival, and Soho Theatre.

Columbine*: P. K. Taylor

*Also: ( Dame Cricket / Fox / Monkey / Tunny / Busy Builder / Eugene / Ringmaster)

PK is delighted to be back working with Creation again, after 2019/20’s TIME MACHINE – Time Traveller (on line, Audio and Site Specific), THE TEMPEST – Caliban (on line and site specific), HENRY VIII – Cardinal Woolsey and some of their storytelling adventures, feeling very lucky to have been working with them whilst in lockdown.

He has toured most of the UK and Mainland Europe over the last 3 decades in roles ranging from Dracula to Jesus. including Sweeney Todd, Rooster Byron, Arturo UI, Mme . Ranyevskaia, Mozart in

Amadeus, Emcee, Oberon/Theseus (3 times), Dorian Gray, Macheath and Falstaff…to name a few. Recent theatre credits: Gordon in OPENING UP (New Musical Cabaret), Drayton/Frizer in MARLOWE’S FATE (Offie nominated, White Bear) La Goulue in CAN-CAN (Union), working as part of a site specific, immersive production, based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, ROSELINE (Milan), The Wizard of Oz/ The Wicked Witch of The West in THE WIZARD OF OZ, Merlin in ‘LE MORTE D’ARTHUR’ and Tiresias/Older Odysseus/Circe in The Odyssey (The Scoop), Petal/Derek/Lucian Freud in TABOO (Brixton Clubhouse). Christmas Shows and Pantomime have always been a favourite of PK’s, having played as an Ugly Sister (5 times, his legs are great in heels.), Captain Hook, King Rat, Widow Twankey, Big Bad Wolf to name a few.