#halloween adjacent

[frameacloud]

The above image is an excerpt of pages 172-173 from Kate Bornstein’s book Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws. New York: Seven Stories, 2006.

I’d describe it as a survival handbook particularly meant for queer teens and other people who don’t fit in and so are fighting for their lives in a hostile, bigoted society. Some of the book’s suggestions for things to do that are better than destroying yourself seem strange or scary. Throughout, though, the book’s one rule is “Don’t be mean.” That’s important context, because that shows this excerpt about being a frightening monster is NOT saying to be cruel or harm others.

I recommend the book to anyone who thinks that sounds useful. Here is the book’s WorldCat listing, which you can use to see if a copy is available at a library near you. Or you can buy it as a print book or eBook directly from the publisher’s site. Or from whatever bookstore you like; bonus points if you can support a small local bookstore that’s worker-owned, feminist, or queer, since those are good community spaces to keep around. I’m not affiliated.

Transcript of the excerpt:

The heading says

“52. BECOME A MORE FRIGHTENING MONSTER THAN THE ONE THEY THINK YOU ARE.”

The icons under the heading indicate that this 52nd alternative to suicide has:

a low-medium difficulty level (as tricky as riding a cow)

a medium safety rating (three hearts, two skulls)

a medium-high effectiveness rating (three umbrellas)

a morality rating of G for General (meaning it’s something you could do in front of your grandma)

“Keywords: mischief, delight, magic”

For decoration, there’s an antique illustration of a costumed dancer wearing a horse tail and mane.

The body text says:

“If people knew the real you, would they run screaming from the room? Well, whatever kind of monster they think you are, it’s probably safe to say, you’re really much more terrifying. Sometimes we like to look freaky. Sometimes we like to blend in. It’s our choice. But shifting from one to another keeps people from figuring out who or what we are.

“The cultural monster here at the turn of the century is the shape-shifter. Being an outsider isn’t what makes us monstrous. We are monsters because we’re so good at either revealing our monstrosity, or keeping it hidden when we want to.

“It’s when we become something the über-culture can’t quite put its finger on that we know we’re being a worse monster than the one they think we are. In this culture, that’s a crime. You have to match your photo ID. So, go ahead. Be a chameleon. Enjoy yourself. Play safe, and try not to scare the little children.

“EXTRA CREDIT: Write an essay, poem, recipe, film or performance piece on this question: if a culture’s monsters reflect its greatest fears, what does it say about über-American culture that its monsters are for the most part shape-shifters and mutants?”

Image description ends.

[rhapsodyred-writes]

What are any of your ocs that you want to talk about now afraid of?

Luna is terrified of heavy machinery. She's always afraid of being chased down by a snow plow or a semi truck.

Lillianna doesn't like bugs. The more legs, the worse her reaction.

Owen is afraid of Red, the skeleton. They have a bit of a...rocky history.

Sykes is afraid of computer viruses. As an android with a learning AI, he's terrified of getting infected and having to be factory reset.

Dezyn is afraid there will come a time when he won't be strong enough to protect the ones he loves.

[portalwalker]

"...wait, the chocolate idea actually worked? Wow. Sounds like we're going to have to keep that hormone-cocktail mess on hand for the next time the zombies rise from their graves."

Maria leaned back against the tree behind her, one hand on her left ear as she look up at the canopy above her head. There's no visible phone or bluetooth earphone or any kind, but she is clearly speaking to someone.

"Who's getting credit for that one?" Her eyebrows rose. "Pacifica found out? Oh, wow. How's she taking it?"

A few seconds later, and Maria snorted as something unheard.

"Well, so long as her parents aren't able to take credit for it, I don't see why you can't include her in the paper you're going to write about this." Maria grinned to her left. "Chocolate infused with the chemical cocktail for contentment satiates zombies and sends them back to their graves; who knew? At least we have something on hand if we don't want to sing in harmony every single night for the next week."

She looked back up at the sky again. "I'll probably be back in an hour, yeah. This dimension's pretty calm from what I've noticed; I didn't even need to get involved to help get things back on track. I'll give them a little more time to see if things go south yet, but I don't think they will."

Another pause. Maria's expression contorted into one of near-disgust and almost-horror.

"Sixer, I wouldn't recommend looking at that package. I know what's in it, and honestly, I'd rather burn it than try to hologram it over my armor. I think one of Gideon's former prison mates sent it in good faith, but...no. I don't know if it's my knowledge of that dimension talking, or just a gut feeling, but dressing like 2B for Halloween sounds like a very bad idea."

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

i saw them in the cookbook pages and Immediately thought of this meme:

[cornflakesdoesart]

happy halloween, her are some witch kitties <|:-3

[ID start: fine liner drawing of 3 stylized balck cats in conical witch hats, the witch hats have ribbons wrapped around them tied in bows, the ribbons are in shades of lilac, the cat in the lower right corner has a bow around their neck end of ID]

[stylus99]

HAPPY SPLATOWEEN - OFF THE HOOK

[life-in-the-monster-haus]

Photos via Twitter.

$3 Halloween Decoration called “SkeletonDoll” found at Walmart with …. Familiar proportions.

Update: she’s $5 and 15” tall.

[labotor]

recent + old scarecrow art dump 🎃

[tj-crochets]

I tried making a spider using the same “draw the thing on the back of the fabric” method I use for the ghosts and uhhhh it sort of worked?

I might’ve accidentally made a tick plushie, which was not what I was going for but is arguably more halloween than spiders. It might also be a weird mothman. It’s ambiguous lol

[frameacloud]

“To love and accept someone after being told a deep, personal secret about who they are is a precious, precious gift. The way I see it; the person you are close to trusts you and loves you enough to tell you about their soul, their true self, looking for somebody to understand and confide in, somebody to love them for who they are. Supporting your otherkin partner will mean the world to them, and your relationship with them may even strengthen as you learn and grow together. You may also learn a lot more about yourself; as well as your kin partner.”

- Excerpt from “Loving Someone With All Your Soul: Having an Otherkin Significant Other,” by the Polyrhythms, circa 2012. You can read the full article here.

[hools]

theyre watching a scary movie 👻👻👻

[eggst]

i know this is a camp camp blog but please i cant keep suppressing all my other hardcore interests psease

[lesbianfakir]

Ok final thought for the night and then I’m done being annoying.

My crossover is Princess Tutu: the Thing. Need u to imagine the opening scene where the dog is running while they all shoot at it but it’s just a little duck waddling through the snow miraculously dodging bullets

[splendidsneb]

"Oh Laurie, when are you going to hurry up and get a boyfriend?"

Decided to sit down and enter Hyper Focus™ mode and do a piece for myself start to finish in one sitting.

Heavily influenced by the art style of the current project I'm working on at the studio. (seriously I'm in love with the character art)

I even went so far as to use our designated layout brush for the lines and treat shadows the same way.

I LOVE how this turned out! <3

[stick-by-me]

Just a nibble...

From this shop here!

New follower sticker for: @whynotzoidbergdotorg!