#mummy man: 'have you read the book of ancient horrors?'

[greyias]

This dialogue option is even funnier when you factor in that Ari is a follower of Lurue.

[poptod]

The Ivory Haunting (Ahkmenrah x Reader)

Description: His face is engrained into your head but his name is nowhere. Where does he exist? Why are you so obsessed?

Notes: this is strangely creepy and i dont know why. its not what i meant to do but i think its cool anyway. gender neutral as fuckin always WC: 3.1k

+

There's this carving – more of a bust or sculpture – that has your mind twisted every which way. It's a stupid thing, really, but you can't get his expression out of your head, and thus it haunts your waking and sleeping hours. The style is Egyptian, you think. He's wearing a crown on his head, one that you've seen in a couple museums before, and he has an absent smile on his face. While you scroll through the endless amount of photos of ancient Egyptian statues online, you note that it's an all too common expression.

At this point you can't even recall where you first saw it. Could've been through the endless internet surfing or the many museums you visited in your travels, but at the end of the day you're stumped. What was his name? Where did you meet him?

It's clear as day. His alabaster skin. He looks straight at you with empty eyes, the irises having eroded many years ago in the hot sahara sun. His nose has long fallen off, leaving behind a jagged scar that drags from his brow down to his lips, where that haunting smile sits so easily. They're full, his lips – sweet, and soft, even for stone. At each end are little dips, showcasing the slight smile. His chin is a little big, but it makes way for the sharp contrast of his jawline. He has cheekbones – mostly hidden behind the crown – and his ears are a little large. The trait that draws your attention each time is his eyes. Blank. Like they had truly been staring at the world for thousands of years.

You don't get out much anymore, not since the restrictions were put in place. There are moments, especially in the dead of night, in which you want so desperately to leave your tiny apartment, but the curfew states otherwise. Policemen and government workers roam the streets and you'd rather not get into a tussle over something so small as an urge.

Still, you stare outside your window, wondering why it feels like you're suffocating. This is how you spend a lot of your time nowadays, staring at the streets. There's hardly any cars out, and the sidewalks are barren, a sight you'd seen only once before during the original quarantine. London is not a quiet city. It's quite the opposite, and to see it muted is in the least upsetting.

Your job is... easy. Considering the state of the world, you're incredibly lucky, retaining your job and keeping away from the outside. You also get a lot of free time. Usually you'd spend it in front of a television, or in a good book, but now it's in front of your computer screen. The typing marker flashes in front of you, placing behind it the clear words you've searched at least a hundred times by now.

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BUSTS

By now you know what the first images are going to be. Nefertiti, mostly – her bust is by far the most famous. Then there's of course Akhenaten with his elongated skull, followed by several advertisements for Kemetic worship.

You don't know much about Egyptian history. Or, at least you didn't use to. Now you recognize the faces, though rarely do you ever remember the names of the many forgotten dead. You're just looking for one – one name, one bust, one dead man.

He's nowhere, not in the books you buy or the articles you read. When you sign up for an online course of ancient Egyptian history, you expect to see his face in a textbook, but he's not there. Sometimes it feels like you're the only one who remembers him, which is funny – you don't even know him. Either way it's a way to occupy the time, since you have so much of it lately.

The British Museum is reopening. There's a whole thing about COVID, of course, and the only way to enter is to get tickets online. Only a handful of people are allowed inside the museum at once, and since you don't hear about it until later, you are set to wait a month and a half before you can visit. Bitterness wells up in the pit of your stomach, but like most things you set it aside. None of it really matters anyway – yes, not knowing his name feels like drowning mid-air, but it won't kill you.

From the moment you reserve a ticket to the moment you can actually use it, you dream of him every night. Sometimes it's actually him, no longer a statue, taking your hands and leading you somewhere you don't belong. His skin is warm, unlike his statue, but just as soft as you imagined. His nails are meticulously cleaned and his eyes are bright, full of a life you're desperate to understand. It doesn't make any sense. You're yearning so deeply for him, for something you've never known before, and every second away feels like pure horror in your veins.

Why do you need him this much?

You look at yourself in the mirror, fixing a strand of hair that falls in front of your eyes. You're dressed well – at least comparatively to your former few weeks of dress – and a quiet excitement thrums in your heart. Today is a day you're going to go out, and to make it better you're going to the museum. They have an Egyptian exhibit. A foolish part of yourself hopes you'll find him there, nestled in the corner of a long and fruitful hallway filled with Egyptian statues.

It's... disappointing, to say the least, to find out there's only one room for Egyptian exhibits and it's occupied by only one thing, besides broken pots and stone dolls. The main exhibit's name is Ahkmenrah, a young Pharaoh older than the Great Pyramids of Giza. All information on him can be fitted onto a four by six stone plate. While standing in his room, surrounded by hieroglyphs you've been studying hard to understand, you look him up on your phone. There's little mention of him, but the one article you do find on him has a 3D recreation of his face. He looks white and you know the article's bullshit.

While absently holding a conversation with one of the curators, you discover there's a store of Egyptian exhibits kept underneath the museum that aren't fit for showcase since the downsizing. Whatever that means, you find a sliver of hope, one that pales quickly at the realization you'll never be able to go down there. They wouldn't let some random visitor (who wasn't even an actual historian) to go see closed off exhibits.

Fischer, the director of the museum, hires you four months after you send your resume in. The second he does you set your plan into motion – there's no time to waste.

The same day he gives you the keys, you're sneaking in under the cover of night. For some reason, the lights are still on in the main museum, but fortunately that's not where you're headed. You unlock the backdoor, sneaking through the night guard's break room until you find the door to the basement. Flipping through the keys on your ring, you quickly find the right one, shoving it into the keyhole and almost wrenching the door open.

You run down the stairs. It's almost sprinting, but you can't be too loud with your shoes. There's nothing in your mind except him, his funny little smile, the somehow soft alabaster of his skin. You need to get to him. Something inside you says he's here – he's here, he's here, and there's nowhere else you can be without your whole body combusting.

You stop dead in your sprint, chest heaving as you're faced with the open boxes filled with Egyptian busts. With frantic eyes you look them over, searching desperately for one familiar face, finding none until the very last open box.

It's here.

He's here.

The broken nose, the formation of the resulting scar, you recognize every. Fucking. Inch.

Each box contains little notes on who the statues are (if known), the material, the time period, and other such relevant information. Your hands shake as you reach forward, slipping the piece of paper out of the paper stuffing.

King Ahkmenrah

Date: ca. 3,100 - 3000 B.C.

Period: Old Kingdom

Place of origin: Egypt, Cairo

Medium: Ivory

Ahkmenrah.

Sudden clarity strikes you as it never has when you recall searching his name online. He's the exhibit. He's the mummy upstairs. He's actually here.

The blood in you freezes for a moment, caught up in shock and relief. Now you know his name. A small part of you is finally able to rest with the answer, but the rest of you knows exactly what to do – go upstairs. Find the exhibit. Lay at his side. After all this time you still don't know why, but the ache of neediness in your heart is enough to leave you weak to your inner desires.

Now that your head is clear, or at least unhindered by your questions, you note a worrying amount of sound coming from upstairs. Footsteps pound on the ceiling as you climb the staircase, leaving you curious and terrified. That many people shouldn't be in one place – it's a death wish for the modern plague. You grit your teeth, fingers curling up in to fists that dig your nails deep into your palm. Is it safe to go upstairs? There's definitely people up there and you have no idea who they are. The museum could be being robbed right now and you wouldn't have a clue. It's a death wish.

Why are you still going up the stairs?

Why are you opening the door?

This shouldn't be happening. There's enough people to fill the whole first floor, ranging from the public entrance of the museum to the African exhibits in the back. Almost all of them are wearing historical outfits, in such a wide array you might've thought they'd stolen them from the exhibits, had they not looked exactly like the wax figures. The marble statue of the Roman on his horse is no longer on its' pedestal. Actually, he's talking to a woman a few feet away from you, though he is still on the horse.

You should be passed out on the stairs going by how fast your heart is beating, but instead you stand in the doorway petrified. Your eyes sit wide, scanning back and forth over the crowd, searching for something you don't know of. With all the stimulus in front of you, you don't even know what to think. The exhibits must be coming alive. Does someone watch over them?

It's then, with little clarity in your head, that your eyes land upon the night guard. She doesn't look in the least bit rattled, so you easily assume she's used to this. Her calm is so alarming to you that you blink yourself back into your body.

These are... people. Just people. They haven't been put under some curse that'll bring chaos to the world. All they're doing is partying, and though the noise level is a tad unpleasant, it's just about as rowdy as some teenagers.

When you realize you aren't in danger, you bolt from your place at the door. Twisting through the gathered crowd, you slowly make your way to the staircase, ascending with quick feet as your eyes lock onto the Egyptian hall. It's a few more feet until you turn sharp, shoes squeaking as you slide into the room. The familiar gold lighting greets you, shining off the open sarcophagus, which you skid to a halt in front of as your lungs desperately try to catch up to your legs.

Of course it's empty. Your Pharaoh – or Ahkmenrah, you suppose you should use his name now that you know it – must be downstairs, where the life of the party is. Why would he stay up in this empty room, all alone? From here you can barely even hear the music that was once pounding into your ears. Still, for a moment you stare at the bottom of the vacant coffin, caught in the awe of such a long-standing history.

"What are you doing here?"

The words catch you by surprise, and in reaction you whip around, eyes wide as the voice continues, "who are you?"

My King. Before you can even process the thought, the words roll onto your tongue, but to your immense relief you catch yourself before actually opening your mouth.

"I..." it barely comes out with how little you've physically spoken recently, "I work here."

As usual, your voice carries that quiet, calm, slightly annoyed tone that makes people wonder why you're being so difficult. It's not really something you can control, but the King doesn't seem to notice. Maybe it's worked to your advantage this time; despite your racing heart and frozen feet, you keep an even tone.

"I don't think I've seen you here before," the King says, his eyes narrowing as he steps closer. You try to back up, but you're already pressed against the sarcophagus, and his glare keeps you from running.

"I just started today," you answer honestly.

"Ah," he says, his voice softer the moment he begins to believe you. "This must be rather alarming for you, then."

You're not afraid to admit he's right.

"A tad. How do you speak english?"

"I learned it during my time at Cambridge University," he answers. He's from over 4,000 years ago, so you know he didn't attend as a student.

"You were on display there?"

"Yes," he says with a bright smile, one that catches you entirely off guard.

It practically blows you away – his demeanor changed so quickly, from a stern Pharaoh to a sweet, young man who probably bought his girlfriend flowers every Monday. For a moment you wonder why you were so caught up in him before knowing him; now that you've heard his voice, seen the way he moves, your interest increases tenfold. It's not enough to see him. You need to touch him. You need it more than anything.

"I've been looking for you," you blurt out, but the words come out so slow it sounds like you consciously chose them. You bite the inside of your cheek as you watch his smile falter.

"What do you mean?" He asks. He's standing in front of you now – if you extended your arm and took a small step closer, you'd be touching him.

"There's a sculpture of you," you say softly, swallowing the lump in your throat, "but I didn't know how to find your name."

"How'd you find me, then?" He asks, but he looks less offended. Now there's a keen look in his smile and in his eye, like he's going to enjoy this, like he knows something you don't.

"Sheer luck," you say with a shrug. It's mostly true.

"I think I know you," he says, and his smile quirks further upward.

"What?" You say, trying to back up again as he steps closer. The sarcophagus is, unsurprisingly, still behind you. "How?"

"Back when I was a King, I had a slave my brother killed," he says in the least comforting tone, "but my father had this idea."

Another step closer. You can feel the heat of his naked waist on your shaking hands.

"See, he had a magician in his employ, and he would do anything for me. Especially since I loved that slave so dearly. Truly," he leans forward a little, placing his hand on the gold case behind you and trapping you against him. His chest is practically right against yours, but what you are close enough to feel is his breath, soft on your collarbones. "And so my father retrieved the soul with a special spell and sent it into the future, to possess another at birth, and to lie in wait until I called for it."

You can't feel your – well, anything. There's a pressure on your chest, but you can't tell if that's your wildly beating heart or just his warmth skewing your senses. All you can do is stare up at him wide-eyed. He can't be telling the truth. Magic doesn't work like that, it can't work like that, that's a sick story and he's telling it like it's nothing more than normal. Possessing a newborn child. Sending souls into the future. It can't make sense. You almost feel bad for your past self – under the employ of someone so cruel as to take a soul from the afterlife for his own pleasure.

But he's standing before you. He's 4,000 years old, and he's standing in front of you, pushing you against his own coffin and trapping you there. Do you belong to him, then? Is that why you can't get him out of your head?

"When did your search begin?" He asks softly, a gentle curiosity evident in his brow.

"A – about a year ago," you say, your voice so broken and shaky you're surprised he understands it.

"Last winter?" He asks knowingly, almost sweet, like he's doting on you. Then comes the part that really makes it shine; he reaches up and pets your hair, moving in long, soft strokes.

You nod, unwilling to meet his gaze any longer. How red you must be by now.

"I called on you then. It took you a little while, but I'm glad you made it," he says, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. "Unfortunately, I suppose you haven't retained any memories, since you didn't know my name."

"I guess not," you agree quietly. "I just have instincts."

"Instincts?"

You're reluctant to share with him the many instincts you'd had even in the short time from meeting him to now. The pure need to touch him. Past You probably had a crush on him, and even though you aren't really that person anymore, there's a need inside you to hide that fact from him. 

"I wanted to call you my King when I first saw you," you admit, your voice still quiet in hopes of him not understanding you.

"You won't have to call me that anymore. Maybe a tad around my parents, but when we're alone you may use my name."

"When we're... alone?" You question nervously, heart pounding at the thought of spending more time with him.

"You do work here, don't you?" He says with a sly grin. "I think I'll be seeing you quite a lot."

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh God.

If this is how you react just from spending five minutes with him, you can't imagine spending whole nights at his side. You'd explode. From what you don't know yet, but the pulsing rush in your heart is strong enough to worry you, and very rarely do you ever worry about yourself. The words in your head – your immediate reaction – simply won't pass. You can't bring yourself to say them, so you say what he wants to hear.

"As long as you want to."

[glossyeon]

natm || pt.1 || osh

*All credit goes to the creators of these images*

~𝘏𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮…~

𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜: Museum Curator!Sehun x Sculpture!Reader

𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: sexual content, oral m recieving, fingering, dirty talk, degrading names during sex, rough sex, nudity, explicit depictions of sex, Sad scenes, Reader is a sculpture?, Swearing, Lot’s of grammar mistakes, heartbreaking and heartwarming scenes ahead…

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 1.6k

𝘼/𝙉: This has been a series that I’ve been dying to do for a very long time! I think Museum Curator!Sehun is such an uncommon paring that we need more of these days. Also inspired by Night at the Museum Movie Series... Enjoy!

𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮: 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘖𝘩 𝘚𝘦𝘩𝘶𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘮 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 12...

                                   ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

At the strike of 12 o'clock midnight you are given the chance to come to life once more. No longer do the Velvet rope barriers that keep you motionless throughout the day block your freedom. You’ve done the same thing each and every night for the past thirty years since you were moved to this museum. Roam the halls and exhibits with your fellow friends of art that are bound to the grounds of this grand building just like you. 

There’s your sassy and confident friend HyunA, which is better known as the girl with the pearl earring. Constantly chattering and gossiping about the cavemen’s in exhibit B, or the newly arrived valuables that belong in the Victorian history section. 

Then there’s your calm and collected friend Mona Lisa, but you just call her by Lisa. Quite popular amongst the mummies in the Ancient Egypt section for some reason that you cannot out your finger on. The three of you have been together for the past decades, stuck to be stared, examined, and pick apart by the public eye. It’s not easy, but it’s what you were all made to do. 

Stay perfectly still and be art. 

Be the magnificent piece of history that people label you to be. 

That night was the same as any other. The booming chimes of the grand clock in the entrance of the museum signalled the time had come for everyone. The time to live. 

Soon, the stiff marble that you called your hair turned to luscious black locks, healthy and shining with brilliance. The pale cover that was your skin melted off to uncover a radiantly glowing hazel one. No one could deny that the beauty you obtained was less than perfect. You were the epitome of beauty, confidence, and love.

“Jesus Christ I think I’m gonna need to see a chiropractor after this” you signed in pain as you cracked the remaining hardened parts of your body. Standing in place for 12 hours was exhausting and cruel to say the least.

“You’re a sculpture. How on earth would you survive that painful session with a chiropractor? Your fine marble would bruise and dent the minute hands are laid on you.” Absurdity was evident in the voice that came from behind you. A voice with too many thoughts that had been kept hidden for so long that just ached to be heard...

“Taemin-“ you started out, tired of dealing with this again 

“First of all, how would you even meet this chiropractor? We are bound to the halls of this museum!” He stated as if you weren’t reminded of this everyday. “And what would the chiropractor even say to you if you show up to them? “Oh why hello there nice to meet you, you must be that hundred thousand year old sculpture th-“

“Taemin!” You shrieked in annoyance. It wasn’t long before you clamped the tall mans mouth shut with your hand and warned in a threatening voice. “I’m popular, I’m beautiful , and I have many many friends in this exhibit that wouldn’t mind making a few dents in those kneecaps...” you said, emphasizing many.

The boy gasped in horror and pulled away from you before gulping in fear from your series expression. you sighed and proceeded to leave, your white dress floating behind you as you tried to find your friends. “I have no time to deal with you” you explained, swiftly walking away. 

He called behind you “it’s not my fault that I’m constantly surround by my thoughts with NO ONE to talk too” he huffed and pouted his lips in a frown that you could already tell was there. 

it wasn’t long before the shrieks and laughter that belonged to HyunA filled the History section next door. You smirked, leaning against the wall with your arms crossed. You couldn’t help stopping to witness the scene of your friend right before your eyes.

HyunA’s voice and chatter was dripping with charisma and curiosity. As the girl sat elegantly on one of the museum benches, the Norwegian cavemen fought and huddled to get a glimpse of her beauty and an earful of her words. 

“And as his deep stoic eyes bored into my eyes, I knew right then and there. He was to be mine. From the tip of my tongue, to the ends of my toes, he owned me. Every inch and corner” 

your best friend seductively read out each word of the novel in her hands, passionately describing the lewd contents that were about to come. 

“Don’t you think that’s enough reading HyunA?” I commented, walking closer to the bench. The cavemen immediately moved to create space for the best friend of the woman they called their goddess. 

I smiled at the eagerness visible in her eyes. “How on earth am I supposed to stop now when I’ve just started!” She explained, patting the heads of the cavemen like they were her pets. To be honest, they weren’t far from it, with their eyes overflowing with love and admiration. 

“HyunA has taught us many important lessons during our nights!” One built and muscular man named Shownu stated, piling the agrees of many others as well. 

One man named Chan then began to say, “HyunA has taught us the importance of love, sensuality, and passion” he declared, smacking his chest with his fist and roaring with pride. the others didn’t hesitate to join in as well. 

Meanwhile, HyunA just seemed to stare virtuously at the men, admiring the fan club she had successfully accumulated during her read alouds. I shaked my head in disbelief and proceeded to swiftly snatch HyunA away from the male energy surrounding the room. 

“HyunA” I begged. “Please don’t hang out with those men anymore, hm? It’s not good to waste your nights away by reading some fantasty romance to them” I tried to reason with my best friend but HyunA being HyunA, she didn’t hesitate to assure me. 

“Oh Y/N,” she looked at me like I was a stray cat in need of help. “My time with boys like Shownu and Chan are just play times”. Brushing a hair behind my ear and while holding both my hands in hers, she went on. “I’m just trying to have a bit of fun before I meet The One” she declared, sighing at my clueless face. 

I snatched the book that was still under her armpit and shaked it in front of her. “Reading the museum secretary’s hidden fan fiction won’t do anything to help you find love”

“give that back” she whined. 

I pinched my nose bridge in disappointment and stress, raising the book high up in the air where she couldn’t reach it. As she was struggling to retrieve her precious novel, noises erupted from the ends of the halls. 

“What now...”

The hallways outside the separate exhibits were especially loud at night. It’s a true mystery how the security guards and night shift workers don’t find out about us. Dinosaurs, extinct wildlife, and many many nude men were running rampant, overflowing with excitement and life.

“Yuna that’s a 4000 year old Naqada Vase your holding” I exclaimed, reaching out to snatch it away.

But Yuna wasn’t easily defeated. Being born of Victorian Royalty, Shin Yuna was quite a mischievous handful, never hesitating to get what she wanted. 

“What, this one?” She smirked, dodging my actions and obviously playing dumb. Her small wrist went right through one of the handles, dangerously hanging it through one hand. 

Letting out the 100th sigh that night, my footsteps carried me away from the chaos. 

“If I don’t see it, I don’t know it” I mumbled to myself.

As HyunA and Yuna stopped to talk more about her petticoat, I made my way to the library of historical records. A place where not many of the historical artifacts went to enjoy their nights. But I preferred the quiet, peaceful setting as it was much more fun than getting pissed at by Napoleon Bonaparte. 

Shuddering at the memory, I then opened the doors to the library. Greeted with the familiar scent of must and candle wax, I happily pranced along the endless supply of books. 

Books from about the Ice Age to Modern Art surrounded me. My passion for reading could never bore me. Not in a million years. 

I swiftly walked past the spines of each and every book, only to stop at an empty shelf. The section of famous poets and philosophers that I was just getting fond of had been apparently moved to the other side of the room. Frowning in annoyance I was just about to head back when I saw him. 

The tall, slim, figure sitting at one of the tables, back covering the view of my presence. I stopped in my spot, frozen in fear as this man was definitely not one of the museum's peoples. At least not the usual ones on night duty. 

The countless precautions put in place to avoid being caught by the workers and night guards had served its purpose for all this time. If there was anyone to see the magic that happened in these walls, we wouldn’t know what we would do. 

Would we be taken away? Would we be shipped off to the CIA? Lord knows what would happen if I left HyunA and Lisa alone...

Although his face was covered with the cover of a book, there was no denying that his body was well crafted. The muscles under his black turtle neck stood out under the fabric, perfectly hugging his chest and arms. I felt quite a bit embarrassed with my sheer cloth dress, which was quite absurd considering practically everyone has seen the my crafted body. I carefully took a step back. 

“The quicker I leave and warn the others, the better” I thought. Keeping my footsteps as light as I could, I made my way almost 2 feet away from the door. And that's when his words echoed in the silence of the library. 

“You’re forgetting something aren’t you?”

(Copyright 2020 © Glossyeon // all rights reserved)

[seasidewriter1-writes]

The Mummy!Balance/Obi-Lara AU

A big thanks to @rjnorth-writes​ who helped me flesh this out! And a shout out to @ban-joey​ who asked to hear some headcanons!

Kinda like the Moulin Rouge! hcs, I’m gonna do some basic ones, but if y’all want ones that, like... follow the plot of The Mummy in more detail, or want a particular scene expanded on, lemme know!

So let’s start with a little dramatis personae:

Elara Skywalkers works as a librarian at the Cairo Museum of Antiquities. In the grand scheme of things, she’d love to work in the field, or in some more substantial role at the museum. But because it’s 1926, it doesn’t matter if she’s good at what she does––and she is good at what she does, you should see the stack of note filled journals she’s got––she’s relegated to librarian. And though it’s not what she wants to do, she does still enjoy it. Being around books all day is a joy; especially when she gets a chance to sit down and read a couple.

Then there’s Anakin. He’s the cocky little brother who manages to get a job as an assistant archeologist. He gripes about the fact that she’s not out there with him, and that she’d be able to identify things twice as fast as the white-bearded men that strutted around the sites. His a mischief maker, loves to bother Elara at work. Sometimes he’ll accidentally mess up her organizing, and as punishment she’ll make him assist her in putting the books away.

And last, but certainly not least––Obi-Wan Kenobi. A good, honorable, loyal soldier. Followed his troop into the desert on a goddamn rumor, because he wasn’t about to let them go without him. Betrayed by his comrade Hondo, he was left stranded in the desert, wandering until he made it to Cairo. Such events left his trust fractured, his exterior a little rough, and he’s more guarded than he’s ever been. What was once easy going charm, is now apathetic snark. He’s quick to action, slow to trust.

So it all starts when Anakin lifts a strange artifact off a stranger at the kasbah

He doesn’t steal, not usually. But this thing... this golden box with hieroglyphics on its sides... something about it is different. The man in possession of it seemed like a drunk, all scruffy hair and wild beard, sweat-stained clothes with sand in its creases

So he just... lifts it out of the guy’s pocket, puts it in his own, spares some money to buy the guy another drink, and then slips off into the night

Elara is more than intrigued with the thing, especially when she and Anakin figure out how to open it and discover the map inside––the map to the fabled Hamunaptra

Curator Windu (somehow, it works for him to the the curator, amIright?) discourages them from researching the matter further, or trying to follow the map

And Padmé, an American ambassador to the museum agrees with said notion

So when it comes out that Anakin stole the map and was not allowed to borrow it for ‘research purposes,’ Elara gives him the most long suffering look, and them whaps him with a pocket-sized book on ancient Egyptian history

After doing some good old-fashioned snooping around, Elara and Anakin discover that the man he robbed was arrested for brawling (and probably other charges he’s been avoiding)

At the jail they meet the jailer––Watto. What fun.

They’re brought to a cell, where the man they requested to meet is brought... and he is apathetic to say the least

He’s scruffy looking, with a bushy bead, stringy hair down to his shoulders, and sweat stained clothes

He clocks Anakin once he recognizes him and realizes what he did

Is very snide about the fact they want to know about the map (”I’m afraid you think me dumb. It’s obvious you’re in search of Hamunaptra.”)

When Elara steps forward to take the reigns of the conversation, apathy turns to roguish charm; which leads to his getting her close enough to the bars to kiss her through them, demanding that she get him out of there if she wants his help

And Elara is reeling from that kiss because it’s quick and rough and lingering, and nothing like that has ever happened to her before

One he’s saved from execution, he founds himself duty bound to help out the pretty lady and her snarky brother. So arrangements are made to help them journey out into the goddamn desert––‘cause that went well last time

Needless to say when the previously very scruffy Obi-Wan Kenobi is perfectly clean cut, Elara is thrown for a loop

 Because now his hair is cut and clean and swept into a perfect side-sweep. He’s clean shaven. And his clothes are crisp and clean... he is, perhaps, the most handsome man that she’s ever seen, and she is visibly struck by that

And yet she is reminded of his sharp, snide attitude and that has her more than a little hesitant. After all, the devil has a beautiful face...

Obi-Wan re-encounters Obi-Wan on the river boat, much to his chagrin; and even worse, Hondo’s taken to flirting with Elara, which gets him strangely riled up

And so he throws Hondo into the River Nile... but not while Elara is watching. Not that it would matter if she’d been there, because he didn’t care what her opinion of him was. Nope, he couldn’t care less that her opinion of him was at ground level...

By the time they make it to Hamunaptra, it’s become clear that Obi-Wan’s got a soft spot for Elara, who’s been happily rattling off facts about the lost city, the desert, ancient Egyptian culture... it’s endearing how excited she gets when discussing such things. And he’s happy to listen. Quietly, of course

And Elara realizes that he isn’t too bad––despite throwing her into the Nile, having a snarky comment for every situation, and being an over-all rogue. There’s a charm about him, something warm hidden beneath the exterior of a man who had been through and seen much

Dooku and Wyle are part of Hondo’s expedition crew

And it is through working their way through the tombs that the roguish Obi-Wan Kenboi finds himself being softer and softer towards the bookish, beautiful Elara Skywalker; and her brother’s growing on him, but he’s still a cocky bastard. And that Elara finds herself particularly drawn to this roguish man that seems to have a hidden soft side

And Anakin is watching it all happen, not sure whether he should egg them on, or be completely disgusted by it

Over drinks under a cloudless, nighttime desert sky, Elara asks Obi-Wan to teach her how to fight; and he agrees, and is pleasantly surprised that, even drunk, she’s a natural

They almost kiss again... but just as Elara goes in for it, Obi-Wan stops her and urges her to get some sleep... which comes sooner rather than later, given as she passes out shortly afterwards

The action and adventure only drives them closer together; the Mummy seems to have taken an interest in Elara, which neither Anakin or Obi-Wan are a fan of––and she really isn’t a fan of––and that drives them all back to Cairo

Obi-Wan and Elara get into it when he insists the best thing to do is flee, and she thinks it’s best to stay and fix the mess they’d made. She thinks they should stand their ground, and he fires back with the fact that this was not what he’d been contracted to do, and he didn’t start anything

So they part ways on bad terms, leaving Elara and Anakin scrambling to figure out how to fix this mess; and she’s initially enthusiastic when Obi-Wan makes his harried return, spewing something about the fact the Mummy and all its plagues were coming to Cairo for revenge

Elara, true to form, ends up being self-sacrificing and agrees to go off with Hondo and the Mummy, much to Anakin and Obi-Wan’s horror; but she knows that if there’s anyone that’ll fight through hell to get to her, it’s Anakin...

And she’s got a feeling Obi-Wan might just do so, too

And by the end of it all, that assumption is proved correct. He fights like hell to save her, even though she’s held up damn well on her own

The funny thing, both of them find, is how these situations can drag the right people together. How the danger makes you both re-evaluate and evaluate what matters. It reinforced just how dear Anakin and Elara are to one another. It revealed that, despite the circumstances of their meeting, Anakin and Obi-Wan are a good team. And it showed how a rogue and a librarian might just be perfect for one another.

[chizyk]

Death is only the beginning

MarcoAce Week 2019, promt “Monsters”;

@marcoaceweek AO3 “ “Ankhreshet?” he whipped his head round at the sound of a raspy voice so fast he almost got whiplash. He could feel his body going completely cold as he saw the mummy’s empty eye sockets staring right at him. ”

Heavily inspired by the movies “The Mummy” (1999) and “The Mummy Returns” (2001). 

Mummy AU, Modern AU; Rating: T (just in case);  Italics = speach in ancient Egyptian.

A bit late for this promt, but better late than never xD. Enjoy <3

“’It's just a book. No harm ever came from reading a book,’ he said.” Ace kept ranting under his breath, mocking his brother, Sabo, as he ran through the corridors of the ancient Egyptian city that had been believed to be lost for several millennia. The situation that they had gotten themselves into was out of this world, even by their standards. If he were to tell it to anyone, they would, no doubt, think he was insane. It’s something you’d expect to see on TV or read in a book – in the fantasy section, mind you. He still hoped that this was just a dream, or maybe he actually went insane and they hadn’t brought a cursed mummy back to life!

“For fucks sake!” he cursed as he rounded the corner of the long passageway, only to find yet another dead end. The place was like a maze, hieroglyphs doing very little in giving him directions at all.

He remembered reading about Hamunaptra in his ancient Egypt classes at his university, and how the modern historians and Egyptologists regarded it as nothing more than a myth. But when Luffy returned from one of his crazy trips with his friends and actually brought back an artifact that contained a map of the location of the city, it lit a fire in Ace, one bigger than ever before. He had an intense feeling that he simply must go and see it with his very own eyes.

He loved ancient Egypt, had done ever since he was a child; but it wasn’t just a random fascination, there was something else, something that he didn’t share with a lot of people.

He’d had dreams that he couldn’t explain ever since he was as young as four. Dreams so vivid and real, that at that age he could not separate the dreams from reality. And he had known it wasn’t just childish imagination, but no one could explain it. As Ace grew older he started to have visions, just like his dreams, only while he was awake. They got him into plenty of awkward situations, but that had been when he finally knew there was a lot more to it. They weren’t just random dreams he was having, or some crazy paranoia or delusion. He wasn’t crazy. These dreams and visions had continuation – the same place, same people. It was like a puzzle, piecing everything together piece by piece. He had vivid visions of two men, both tall and strong. One of them was older and looked like a pharaoh, judging by his attire and authority that he displayed. The other was also of high importance but of lesser stature; Ace believed he was either the pharaoh’s adviser or a high priest.

As for himself… he had thought he was a servant, but as he grew older and went into puberty, some of his visions started to get some sexual undertones and later became downright explicit, involving both the pharaoh and the high priest. He never knew their names – they rarely talked in his dreams – and he was able to understand parts of it only when he started to study and learn ancient Egyptian.

From what he could tell and puzzle together, both his dreams and information found in his research and studies of their societal norms and customs from back in the day, he was most likely a concubine of the pharaoh, but was having an affair with the high priest. The forbidden love scenario.

He tried to find historical records of the people he saw and managed to trace only the pharaoh – Akhenaten. He wasn’t the most popular ruler – as a matter of fact, finding information on him was almost impossible and what information he did manage to get on him was very limited and brief. All Ace could find out was that he ruled for approximately 20 years, but wasn’t loved very much by his people.

He believed his visions and dreams were memories. Memories of his past life. He read many articles about reincarnation and perhaps he would’ve been skeptical in other circumstances, but he couldn’t ignore everything that had happened to him. The possibility of ever being able to find more clues on what he saw in his dreams and what it meant was what drove Ace to go into studying ancient Egypt in the first place.

When they received full funding for the expedition to find the city he was beyond excited. He felt like he was about to discover something important not just historically, but personally. For some reason he always believed that City of the Dead was not just a myth, and perhaps his past life had a connection to that place.

It was risky to go out and wander around the desert to find it, but when they did, it was far greater than whatever they imagined they would find. It was magnificent! Most of the buildings were, shockingly, still intact and in good condition. Simply extraordinary. The moment Ace set foot on the grounds he felt as if he were…home. As if he was where he was supposed to be.

But now he was regretting ever thinking that coming here was a good idea. Discovering Hamunaptra was possibly the biggest historical discovery made in recent years, but they had fucked up. They had fucked up and now everyone was fucked along with them!

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He knew something was off the moment they stepped foot in that unmarked tomb under the statue of Anubis. He tried to brush it off –he was so, so excited, after all – but when they found the sarcophagus with a mummy still decomposing in it, Ace felt the feeling return tenfold, especially after seeing all the writings and warnings across his burial place.

He knew he shouldn’t have let Sabo open the Book of the Dead, let alone read from it. He had a bad feeling about that too, yet he couldn’t place his finger on it, simply knowing that nothing good would come of it. Yet he still let them do it, let them convince him that he was being silly and superstitious. Now they were stuck here, separated from one another, in the chaos and panic that unfolded at the camp when they discovered an empty sarcophagus and dead bodies of their two colleagues who looked like they had been mummified alive. And it turned out that now they had a rogue undead mummy risen from the grave, killing everyone in sight and apparently bringing its curse upon the world.

Ace rounded another corner and cursed under his breath again as he faced another dead end. Unfortunately, though, he couldn’t stop in time and ran straight into the wall and hit his shoulder, but instead of just bouncing painfully back the wall moved on the impact sent Ace to the other side of it.

He barely managed to regain his footing rather ungracefully, almost landing on his face. Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and when he turned his head towards it he wished he hadn’t done, because the sight that greeted him chilled his blood.

There, right before him, stood the newly awakened mummy, holding Alex, his colleague, by the throat and literally sucking the life out of him. He watched horrified as in mere seconds the mummy dried his colleague’s body to skin and bones, rejuvenating his own rotting bones and muscle tissues in the process. The sight was grotesque. Ace had seen many unpleasant things in his life – he and his brothers had a knack for getting themselves into trouble more often than not – however, this was something else.

Disgust and horror gripped Ace’s body as he watched his colleague being killed. He tried to move back, pushing the wall behind him, trying to make it open back up, but this time it was not having it, appearing to be a one-way entry. Just his luck to be stuck alone with a life-sucking mummy!

He looked around frantically, panicking internally and searching for an escape. His back pressed against the wall in futile attempt to make it move, even if he knew damn well it wouldn’t.

“Ankhreshet?” he whipped his head round at the sound of a raspy voice so fast he almost got whiplash. He could feel his body going completely cold as he saw the mummy’s empty eye sockets staring right at him. Ace wasn’t a feeble man in any shape or form. He knew how to fight and defend himself and could land a pretty good punch on guys who were several times bigger than him, however he wasn’t stupid and knew how to pick his battles. This was beyond him, and he had no chance.

As the creature continued to move towards him, he began to feel more and more claustrophobic. He had an urge to wail out of frustration like a wounded animal backed into a corner. He tried to move away from the creature as far as he could, sliding along the wall before he was stuck in a corner with the creature looming over him, no escape in sight. The mummy blocked his path, not that he thought he had a chance to begin with. He felt his legs going weak. He only experienced that kind of fear only one time before in his life. After the fire broke out in their house, Sabo had got badly burned and needed surgery on one side of his body. He almost died that day and the thought of losing Sabo or Luffy was unbearable for Ace. At least he hoped that they would be able to escape the city before the creature got its hands on them. Better him than them.

The mummy stopped right before him and when it reached out its bony arm towards him Ace turned away and shut his eyes, knowing what was about to happen and not wanting to witness it. He’d rather imagine the faces of his brothers before he died.

However, instead of being gripped by the throat and life being sucked out of him like he expected, he felt cold and slightly moist fingers brush against his cheek. He involuntarily jumped at the contact. The touch was gentle and completely out of place. A shiver went down his spine as Ace felt those fingers slide along his jaw and down his neck. It made him think that maybe it liked to play with its victims before killing them, which made the whole situation even worse – he’d rather die fast and be done with it.

His nerves were tingling; he could still physically feel the mummy’s fingers on his skin even as it moved on to gently brush the stray lock of his curly hair behind his ear. His eyes shot open as it gently but firmly gripped him by the chin, forcing him to look it in the eye.

Whatever he had expected to see, it wasn’t that.

“Do not fear me.” it said in ancient Egyptian, it’s voice was gruff and raspy. It spoke slowly as if it was trying out its vocal cords that were probably not in the best of shape, judging by the state of its body.

Obviously, what it said did very little at calming Ace down; all it did was make him confused. What did it want from him if not to kill him?

“W-what… do you want?” he could read ancient Egyptian with no problem, but it was one thing to work with ancient texts and hieroglyphs and quite other to work an actual conversation in a dead language. Everything that was happening didn’t make sense!

He got even more confused when he saw the features on its face softening. It’s gaze, even with hollow sockets and rotten flesh, read sad and full of longing as it stared at him.

“You,” it said simply, making the little hairs on the back of Ace’s neck stand.

“Why don’t you kill me, then?” He knew he probably shouldn’t be so bold, but beating around the bush was never his thing, despite how many times it had gotten him in trouble in the past.

“I do not wish to harm you, Ankhreshet.” It attempted to pull its mouth into something akin to a smile, although it only succeeded in making Ace feel even more uncomfortable and disturbed, and he didn’t like where it was going at all.

Gentle touches and those looks. Ace knew those looks. That was how one looks at the person they love. Ace wasn’t an idiot; he was able to connect the dots and realize that this mummy was confusing him for someone else.

“I-I’m not who you think I am,” he said quietly, not being able to look into its face. That was probably a nail in his coffin of his own doing. Perhaps he had seen too many horror movies to know that this sort of thing never went down well with evil spirits and alike. To his surprise, which shouldn’t even be a surprise, considering he shouldn’t be judging this like a cheesy horror movie, the creature smiled again (or at least attempted to) and this time leaned in so close that their faces were mere inches apart.

“Aren’t you?”  Ace’s breath caught in his throat and before he could retaliate, the creature grabbed him around the waist. He gasped and stared in complete shock as everything around him started to transform before his very eyes. The walls around him changed from dusty and faded to become new as if just built and freshly painted. The corridors were brighter and everything around him had more color. It didn’t look like a dig that was abandoned for several thousand years, it looked as if they were sent back in time.

But most importantly the mummy in front of him shifted from decomposing flesh to a man from his visions! The tall, blond high priest with the weird hairstyle that he saw in his dreams was right before him, and all Ace could do was stare in astonishment.

“You…” was all he could say, still in shock. He must be dreaming, surely. This just couldn’t be happening. But it looked and felt real – he could feel the man’s arms around his waist, but they didn’t feel cold or moist anymore, as they had been moments ago. They felt warm, human. The man smiled again as he lifted one hand to cup Ace’s cheek and gently brush his thumb along his cheekbone. The look in his eyes made Ace’s legs go weak, but this time it wasn’t with fear.

This man has plagued his dreams ever since he was a teenager. He would never admit it to anyone, but he even jerked off to those dreams when he was awake. He felt disgusted every time he would wake up from a dream where similar scenarios would play out with the pharaoh. Even if he knew it wasn’t actually happening, it still made him feel violated and dirty. He would spend at least hour and a half in the shower afterwards, trying to scrub the invisible hands off him.

But with this man…he relished those dreams. Every look, every touch… just thinking about it would make Ace hot all over. He had never met a man in his life that could actually make him feel like this man could. He knew it was ridiculous; he’d had multiple failed relationships simply because they couldn’t fill the void that his visions had created. Every single man he dated just wasn’t enough to make him forget and it was absurd, he knew it, to be in love with a man he saw in his visions.

“Stay with me.” and by god Ace wished he could. The man being a cursed mummy be damned; all Ace could think about was having those full lips on his and those big, strong hands roaming his body, making him tremble with want like they did in his dreams.

As if reading his mind, the man leaned down and captured his lips in a soft kiss. Simple, just lips pressed together and nothing more, yet Ace could feel a spark of electricity going through his body. He wanted more. He grabbed the man by his face and angled their mouths so he could deepen the kiss. He licked over the man’s lower lip before pulling at it with his teeth gently, earning a deep, throaty growl from the man. Without warning the man plunged his tongue into Ace’s mouth, making Ace moan and part his lips, giving the blond man access to lick and map his mouth as he pleased. And Ace didn’t mind in the slightest. He threw his hands around the man’s neck, bringing their bodies even closer. He moaned again as he felt those large arms on his waist moving downwards towards his hips and squeezing them firmly.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

They both jumped as they broke apart to look in the direction where the shout came from, only to see Sabo and Luffy both looking terrified and shocked. That brought Ace back to reality, breaking the spell that he was under and remembering what was actually happening. The mummy roared at his brothers, ready to advance at them, but Ace intercepted it, getting in its way and grabbing it by the shoulders.

“Nay, I’ll stay with you! Just don’t hurt them.” He pleaded, looking into its eyes. “Please.”

“What the hell are you doing, Ace? Get away from it!” He could feel Sabo’s furious gaze on his back, no doubt angry and scared that he has gotten himself into more trouble already.

“It’s fine Sabo, just go!” he pleaded with his brother, hoping he’d listen.

He didn’t.

“What do you mean, ‘it’s fine’? What the hell is this?” Ace couldn’t blame him really – he would’ve reacted the same if either of them were in his place – but as their big brother it was his duty to protect them.

“Yeah, we ain’t going anywhere without you, Ace. And I’m ready to fight that damn mummy!” Of course he was! Luffy just had to chime in his own two cents; it didn’t help that both of his brothers were extremely stubborn and overprotective, just like he was. It was beyond frustrating.

“No, guys, you don’t understand—” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as he was grabbed around the waist again. The second he looked into the mummy’s eyes the world went black and he slipped into oblivion.

Before anyone could react, the mummy picked Ace up bridal style, engulfed them both in sand and disappeared, leaving two distraught and horrified brothers behind.

The creature walked slowly through the dusty corridors of an empty temple, gently cradling the body in its arms. It laid Ace down onto the ritual table with the same reverence, softly brushing his cheek with its fingers.

________________________________________________________________

“I am willing to be a monster and set the world ablaze, if it means we’ll be together again, my love,” it rasped as it watched Ace sleeping soundly, blissfully unaware of his predicament and what the future held for him.

[angelic-writer]

Ministrysona OCs

Mia Hamspon

Age: 27

Sex: Female

Role: The Sword

Powers: Telepathy, Precognition and Magic

Personality: She is a cheerful girl who enjoys life to the fullest. She likes to tease the other field agents, especially Adam and Victor. She used to be pretty shy when she was first employed, but over time, she became an open book. She always hangs out with her friends Bianca, Mary and Catherine. She has a knack for horror and loves to draw. She always shares her artwork with Mary and they spend time praising and critiquing each other’s artwork. She always tries to get Bianca to go out with someone, but due to Bianca’s chronic shyness towards boys, it took her a lot of work. She likes to play video games and she is always seen playing on her PSP. She is especially seen playing Corpse Party all the time.

She also likes to talk about the multiverse theory and is interested in philosophy. Sometimes, her conversations go to deep topics like how much life is truly worth living for and even the possibility of life outside our universe. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that she can see into the future. She also is taking an interest in Rune-Crafting...

Backstory: Mia lived a relatively normal life, although she discovered at the age of 10 that she can see into the future and read minds. At the age of 17, she had a horrifying vision of a shadow taking over the entire English countryside. She tried to warn her friends about the vision, but nobody believed her. Soon, the shadow appeared and almost consumed the entire world. Mia was kidnapped by cult leaders and was about to be killed when two men saved her. One of them was wearing a trench coat and the other was wearing a black waistcoat and a trilby hat. Mia’s ankle had been twisted during the scuffle, so The Ministry Man bandaged her up and dropped her off to a safe place: One of the untainted towns. After that, the shadow was successfully banished. However, Mia, along with the rest of the country, seemed to have lost all memory of the events that happened. All she had was a vague image of what the man who saved her looked like. Over the years, she had grown enamored with her savior. She kept having dreams about him saving her and it always ended whenever she was about to touch his hand. She didn’t know his name. All she had was a vague image of his face and the sound of his voice. Wanting to hold onto that memory, she drew a picture of him. She didn’t know the man, but… He looked so familiar to her.

10 years later, she was employed by the Ministry. She was excited about the idea of being in a secret society and for a while, it was like a dream come true. But, when a certain Badger spilled the beans, she felt ready to punch him in the face. She usually hung out with three other girls. Mary Adams, Bianca Walker and Catherine Anderson. She decided, as cliche as it would be, to call her group “The Ministry Girls.” During her many adventures with the other field agents, mainly with Adam and Victor, she would meet several people, including Mike Badger and Chris Cobern. However, her meeting Chris for the first time gave her a sense of... familiarity.

She also would have several interactions with Doctor Diablerie and Kelly would often sass and insult him. She told Mia that since the Ministry hadn’t seen Trilby for 10 years, they considered him to be dead. Mia doesn’t believe that he is dead and started looking into what happened ten years ago. The things that she discovered jogged her memory about what happened...

Appearance: She has long, wavy brown hair and bright brown eyes. Her hair is put up into a half ponytail. She wears a long-sleeved white shirt with a green vest and a purple collar with light blue stripes, a red tie, a short, green plaid skirt, and black shoes with long, black socks. She has a white purse slung on her shoulder and she was holding a cell phone in her right hand. Sticking out of her unzipped purse were a pair of white ear buds.

Mary Adams

Age: 26

Sex: Female

Role: The Scroll

Powers: She has the ability to see spirits along with her brother. That ability was passed down from her mother to the two siblings. Later, she gained the ability to be possessed by spirits, mostly her mother. Malicious spirits tried to take over her, but due to her mother’s influence, she was protected. She is also immune to certain powers like hypnosis.

Personality: She is an ambitious girl who aims for big projects. She has a tendency to work for hours on end. The other agents tell her to take a break, but she doesn’t listen. Whenever she is not in the office, she is drawing in her sketchbook. She looks like she doesn’t talk much, but whenever she’s with the “Ministry Girls”, she likes to talk about what she’s working on. She appears to be working on a manga. “Some sort of Japanese comic book” as Victor would call it. Mary would be a bit sassy with him whenever they would interact.

Backstory: Her mother and father were part of the Ministry before they had the two children. Sadly, her mother died during childbirth and Mary’s father is left to care for her and her brother. When she was a child, she went to her father saying that she had something to tell him.

“Really? What did you want to tell me?” He asked her.

With a beaming face, she answered. “I saw Mummy while I was doing my schoolwork! She helped me with the problems I was having trouble with!”

Her father froze. T-This isn’t possible... There’s no way that she can see her... She’s dead... Unless...

“Mary... Can you tell me who else can you see?”

“Eh? Well, I see some kids playing around in the park... And sometimes, I see old people sitting on benches... I mostly see them at night.”

He realized what Mary was talking about. She can see spirits, just like her mother.

Soon, when they were teenagers, Mary and her brother were taken to the monastary where they worked to hone their skills. Soon, they were picked up by the Ministry of Occultism. She met Mia, Catherine and Bianca and they became a tight-knit group of friends. She doesn’t think much of it, but her ability to see ghosts worked out in the agents’ favor as she is able to see malicious spirits and get information so they can exorcise them.

Appearance: She has long, curly black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a white, long-sleeved dress shirt with a black, buttoned-up jacket, a short, green skirt, black tights on her legs and grey boots. She has a sketchbook in her arms.

Bianca Walker

Age: 22

Sex: Female

Role: The Sword

Powers: She has the ability to control magic, although she can’t use it due to her weak body. Whenever she uses it, it puts strain on her body and she needs to rest for a while before she can use it again. It was rumored that she has a great amount of power due to her Ancient, but her superiors tell her that she should not use it under any circumstances.

Personality: She is a typical young woman with self-esteem issues and a little depression. She loves romance and is a hopeless romantic. She often imagines herself with a partner that she wants to spend the rest of her life with, but she is doubtful about it due to her being insecure. She is just a person trying to figure out who she is. She is very shy and has a hard time talking to boys. The only people she can talk properly to are Mia, Mary and Catherine. She has a big crush on Victor, but every time she would talk to him, she would always stutter. Victor would always tell her to “stop stuttering and make a proper sentence.” Although she won’t admit it, the way that Victor looks at her and talks about her... It made her heart race.

Backstory: She was diagnosed with arrhythmia since she was born. Her parents told her that she shouldn’t do any strenuous exercise or else her heart would beat too fast. Since her heart was prone to beat abnormally, she would often stay inside and have her best friend, Catherine, over at her apartment. There were a couple of instances where Bianca almost died due to her heart giving out. Once was at the primary school and the second was at the secondary school. Those heart attacks had one thing in common. It was because of her Ancient who would come out if Bianca is being mistreated. Bianca doesn’t like her Ancient doing that because her being possessed puts a large amount of strain on her body which is not good for her heart. Eventually, Catherine let her stay over at her place after her second attack and Bianca referred to her as her best friend after that.

Eventually, when she was employed by the Ministry of Occultism (Later called the Department of Interdimensional Affairs), she met Mia and Mary. Through spending time with them, she slowly started to develop a friendship with them. And then, she started to develop a crush on Victor Cassen. She manages to talk to him through her nervous bumbling. At first, it was awkward, but eventually, they started to hang out normally. But, Bianca knows about Victor’s unsympathetic views on people who carry the taint of an Ancient. Since she has an Ancient of her own, she is scared about what he would think.

Appearance: She has long, straight black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a purple shirt with a black trenchcoat over it and black pants. She has a sapphire necklace around her neck.

@pepper-somerset @pk-sonica-omega @otter-wraith

[aion-rsa]

Marvel's 31 Best Monsters

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Marvel is more than just superheroes, they've done their fare share of horror characters, too.

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Halloween isn't just for monsters anymore. For every Frankenstein Monster that comes to your door, there are probably sixteen Iron Men and a few Rocket Raccoons. It seems that Marvel (and DC) heroes have infringed on the monstrous monopoly of Halloween, but that’s OK, because to even things out, the Marvel Universe has its fair share of monsters dwelling under beds, behind walls, and in gothic mansions (mansions usually expertly drawn by Mike Ploog) to even things out.

Starting in the late Silver Age, the Comics Code became less restrictive (because Frederic Wertham was killed by a mummy...actually, no he wasn’t), and Marvel was able to bring in all sorts of boogeymen to share page time with the likes of Thor, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four. These new, Universal-inspired monsters joined the Kirby Kreatures like Fin Fang Foom and Googam as the Marvel Universe became a world where things that go bump in the night became as commonplace as superheroes.

Join us as we journey into the darkest realms of the Marvel Universe and celebrate the greatest monstrous creations that ever sprang from the nightmares of the House of Ideas.

31. The Glob

Listen, I’m not going to exclude a character named the Glob from this list, am I? The Glob was once Joe Timms, a petty criminal, who like every other comic book swamp character ever, was transformed into a muck encrusted monstrosity by a mysterious bog. Glob fought the Hulk a few times before Timms was recreated into the being known as the Golden Brain and used as a weapon by the villain Yagzan and the crazed Cult of Entropists (and holy shit, did I just get an almost sexual rush from typing that sentence).

read more: 13 Essential Horror Comics

As the Golden Brain, Glob was defeated by Man-Thing because of course he was.

The strange bit of business is that there were three other Globs in Marvel history. There was the monstrous Glob from Strange Tales, a creature that was originally known as the Glop from Journey into Mystery, and the young X-Man known as Glob Herman. 

30. Scarecrow

There have been many comic book characters that have used the Scarecrow moniker, but this obscure Bronze Age Marvel creation might be the most twisted. This isn’t the iconic Jonathan Crane of DC lore or the lesser known Marvel villain that fought Iron Man and Ghost Rider many times. No, this Scarecrow is a demonic figure that dwells within a painting and, at times, walks the world of man.

Sometimes known as the Straw Man to avoid confusion with the Iron Man rogue, this Scarecrow only had three Bronze Age appearance but he was bursting at the seams with potential (and with hellspun demonic straw). The Scarecrow first appeared in Dead of Night, where the hapless Jess Duncan purchased the painting and began a story of Lovecraftian cults and cackling madness. But it was a story that was never quite finished as the tale of the Scarecrow has been relegated to the dusty bargain bin memories of the '70s.

read more: The Best Modern Horror Movies

But check out that Dead of Night cover, masterfully crafted by Gil Kane and Berni Wrightson and tell me that this Marvel monster couldn’t have been one of the greats. With his cackling laughter, his smile that reeks of insanity, and his gangly body, this Scarecrow was almost part of Marvel’s monstrous greats. And that’s no straw man argument.

29. Swarm

Swarm is a very obscure villain who made his debut in the pages of The Champions of all places. So why is he on our list? Because he's a freakin' Nazi Scientist MADE OF EVIL BEES! That's absolutely terrifying!

Fritz von Meyer was once one of Hitler's leading scientists who escaped to South America after the War and grew fascinated with the idea of hive intelligence. He tried to enslave a queen bee or something nutty and was devoured by her swarm. He was such an evil piece of schnitzel that his consciousness dominated the bees and he became Swarm.

read more: The 13 Scariest Moments in Afterlife With Archie

Swarm's most notable moment was on the Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends cartoon of the 1980s. The cartoon changed Swarm into an alien because I guess Nazi bees wouldn't go over well on Saturday morning after Foofur.

So yeah, genocidal Nazi bee man=monster.

28. Manphibian

In the '70s, Marvel had great success with its Universal Monsters parallels. Dracula was one of its top sellers and gained a large cult following, while Frankenstein’s Monster and Werewolf by Night each gained a level of success. Marvel had a Living Mummy so why not a Creature From the Black Lagoon knockoff?

Enter the Manphibian. Gosh, is that fun to say. Manphibian, Manphibian, Manphibian!

Anyway, old Gill Face here was kind of a tragic character. In his one and only Bronze Age tale, it was revealed that Manphibian was an alien creature that pursued a member of its own race across the galaxy after the rival creature murdered the Manphibian’s mate. The murderous swamp beast goes on a rampage until the heroic Manphibian stops it, but of course, the rest of the world now views the Manphibian as a soggy threat. Thus Manphibian was set up as Marvel’s leading Creature knockoff but it was not to be as Manny never popped up again.

read more: The Best Horror Movies on Netflix

Until recently that is, because modern day Marvel creators know that it is beyond awesome that something called a Manphibian shares the same world as Spider-Man and Wolverine. Manphibian has popped up recently in the pages of Ghost Rider, Punisher, and Daredevil and even played a major role in Marvel's recent Howling Commandos title thus proving that you just can’t keep a good alien version of a Creature From the Black Lagoon rip off down. MANPHIBIAN!

27. It, the Living Colossus

Marvel has a character named Colossus, Stephen King created a character named It, put them together and you get a child eating Russian clown with steel hard skin! Sadly, that’s not the It, the Living Colossus we are talking about although this It is still kind of cool.

It, the Living Colossus was created by Jack Kirby right before the dawning of the heroic Marvel age in pages of Tales of Suspense and was revived by Tony Isabella and artist Dick Ayers in the pages of Astonishing Tales #21 (1973).

In the Kirby tales, It was one of those rare Kirby Kreatures that appeared twice in the pre-Marvel Age monster mags. This It was a 100 foot tale Golem like stature crafted as part of an anti-Communist protest. As these things go, the stature was animated by an alien intelligence and trashed Moscow.

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Later, somehow, the statue found itself in the U.S. and once again was possessed and went on a rampage until a Hollywood effects genius named Bob O'Bryan. O’Bryan was the protagonist of the Isabella/Ayers Bronze Age tales. This time, it was revealed O’Bryan lost the use of is legs but was able to animate the lumbering piece of anti-socialist propaganda. By the way, the original It stories were inked by Ayers who got to revisit his co-creation over a decade later, how cool is that?

It has made recent appearances in the pages of Deadpool Team-Up and remains one of the most famed pronouns in Marvel monster lore.

26. Golem

While we’re on the subject of giant, lumbering stone colossuses, colossi? colossusseses? We have Marvel’s very own Golem.

There have actually been a number of Golems in the Marvel Universe but our stone monstrosity in question first appeared in Strange Tales and was created by two absolute legends, Len Wein and John Buscema. So this Golem of ours may not have had a huge historical impact on the MU but it was created by the same bard that created Wolverine, so it has that going for it. Actually, this Golem was infused with compelling Jewish lore and really captured the ancient feel of the Hebrew legend.

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The Golem is pretty much the exact character you expect it to be with killer Buscema artwork. It didn’t have many appearances but the Golem did pop up in Marvel Two in One because if a Bronze Age monster was worth anything, it probably showed up in Marvel Two in One at some point.

25. Hannibal King

Long before Angel opened his detective agency in the Whedonverse, Hannibal King was on the case. Hannibal King was a supporting character in Marvel's immortal Tomb of Dracula series. He was a skilled private detective and also happened to be cursed with vampirism. It can be argued that King was Marvel's first vampire hero and used his undead gifts in an attempt to take down Dracula himself.

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Later, when Doctor Strange rid the world of vampirism by destroying all bloodsuckers (they got better), Hannibal King was spared. Even later, the dark curse returned and King joined the Nightstalkers, a team of monster hunters that also included Blade. Film wise, Hannibal King is notable for being played by Ryan Reynolds, before he found his one true calling as Wade Wilson in Deadpool.

24. Lilith, Dracula’s Daughter

Universal introduced the concept of a female scion of Dracula with the wonderfully atmospheric and surprisingly LGBT friendly 1936 monsterfest Dracula’s Daughter. Never one to let a monstrously good idea pass it by, Marvel introduced its own version of Drac’s little girl in the pages of the ponderously named Giant-Size Chillers #1.

Lilith was Dracula’s first child, the product of an arranged marriage between Dracula and his first wife Zofia. After the death of Dracula’s father, the future Lord of the Undead cast his infant daughter and Zofia from their homeland. Zofia was raised by gypsies because of course she was.

read more: Why Sandman is the Essential Horror Comic of the '90s

One night, Dracula, now undead and thirsty, attacked the gypsies, murdering Zofia’s son. Swearing revenge, Zofia transformed Lilith into a very different kind of vampire, one not weakened by holy symbols. Marvel even tried to put a modern day twist by having the spirit of Lilith possess a woman in the contemporary age, but sadly, Lilith never quite caught on in a solo feature. Lilith still makes scantily clad appearances at times in the modern Marvel Universe and if Marvel ever decides to put a horror anthology series on TV, here’s your Elvira-like host. A fan can dream, no?

23. Godzilla, King of Monsters

Yeah, it does too count! I’ll slap you.

Godzilla was once a legit part of the Marvel Universe. Godzilla starred in his own comic for about two years. During the run of the title, written by the all-star team of Doug Moench and Herb Trimpe, the King of the Monsters met and fought SHIELD, the Avengers, the Champions, Fantastic Four, and even fought Devil Dinosaur. It was as awesome as it sounds.

On any other monster list, Godzilla would be towards the top, but at Marvel, Godzilla only sparked very briefly. But listen, there was an arc where Godzilla was shrunken down by Pym Particles and fought a sewer rat. So there.

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Actually, some characters introduced in the pages of Godzilla went on to become (not big at all) parts of the Marvel Universe. Such as the only remembered by Roy Thomas Doctor Demonicus. Anyway, Godzilla stomped around the Marvel Universe for a few years and it was awesome.

22. Frankencastle

Remember that time the Punisher died and was resurrected as the Mary Shelley inspired Frankencastle? Yeah, that was a thing and it was written by Rick Remender and it was way cooler than it had any right to be. It was hard hittin’, blood lettin’, limb flyin’, ass-kickin’ monster fun and if you don’t take it too seriously, it was one of the most daringly different Marvel stories ever.

It also pissed off hardcore Punisher fans which is probably not the best group to anger.

read more: The 13 Most Bizarre Appearances by Horror Icons in Other Media

The Frankencastle arc also featured just about every great Marvel monster on this list, so if these buggers are giving you a hankerin’ for some true monster madness, give Frankencastle a whirl. I was hoping that it would start a whole plethora of Punisher/monster amalgamations. DracuCastle, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Pun, the Punisher from the Black Lagoon…

21. Man-Wolf

Any fictional universe that has not one, but two great werewolves is okay in our book. Man-Wolf was once John Jameson, son of J. Jonah Jameson, cranky publisher extraordinaire.

John Jameson isn’t just your everyday werewolf, he’s a cosmic werewolf! Marvel actually pulled off some batshit insane sci-fi adventures with Man-Wolf in the pages of Creatures on the Loose. In addition, Man-Wolf was also right at home in straight up superhero tales as he took on Spider-Man and or in gothic driven Bronze Age awesomeness in the pages of one of the million Marvel creature features.

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As one does, Jameson was turned into Man-Wolf after he got a lunar gem lodged into his throat. He still pops up every now and then because space werewolves are never not cool.

20. Satana

The devil's daughter herself, Satana, burst open the Marvel black and white scene in the early seventies and was a nice tribute to cleavage laden, Technicolor Hammer Horror of the era. Satana is a succubus who seduced sinners and reduced their souls into butterflies, which she then kept in a little box and at times devours.

Some of the finest artists of the Bronze Age worked on Satana's early adventures starting with Roy Thomas and John Romita Sr. and moving on to Chris Claremont and Estaban Moroto. Her adventures were clearly cut for the same cloth as the Vampirella/Harris Comics stable of fright characters but they were also adult oriented, sexy, and atmospheric.

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Recently, Satana played a role as a member of the Thunderbolts in one of the coolest runs of that always underrated Marvel book. So here's to Satana, the daughter of Satan, one of Marvel's most underused and frightful bad girls and possibly the most unlikely character that Disney ever owned.

19. Simon Garth, The Zombie

The first Marvel Zombie, Simon Garth, proved his immortality by surviving the pre-Marvel Age. Garth first appeared in the horror title Menace in 1953 but was shunted into the Marvel Universe proper with Tales of the Zombie #1 in 1973 (an awesome black and white mag that I have a complete collection of. Ladies, the line forms to the right).

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Garth isn't your typical zombie. He retains a vestige of intelligence and morality which is somehow intensely disturbing. Imagine, rotting from within, but being completely aware of your desiccated state. Garth is one of those old school voodoo zombies and usually tried to do the right thing despite the thing that he is a walking maggot farm spit up from the pits of Hell.

18. The Living Mummy

As we said, Marvel had great success riffing on the classic Universal Monsters pantheon, so of course the House of Ideas had its own mummy! Marvel went a little left of center with its Mummy as it didn’t look to ancient Egypt for its shambling mound of bandages, it looked to ancient Africa and introduced N’Kantu, chief of the Northern African tribe the Swarili.

read more: 13 Essential Mummy Movies

Through the Living Mummy, some great creators like the late Steve Gerber were able to explore some Ancient African mythology and add some much needed diversity to the world of monster comics. The Living Mummy might not have lasted long as a feature, but N’Kantu starred in some truly great atmospheric comics in the pages of Supernatural Thrillers.

17. Sauron

Now, get a load of this prehistoric man terror. Sauron is not only a speaking, bipedal, pterodactyl, he also has the ability to drain the life energy from his victim. So essentially, he is a weredinosaur vampire and you bet your Creature From the Black Lagoon pajamas a weredinosaur vampire is going to make this list. Sauron makes his base of operations in the Savage Land and has gone head to beak with the X-Men many times. But for real, HEY DISNEY, YOU HAVE THE RIGHTS TO A WEREDACTYL, WHY AREN’T YOU USING THEM?

16. Groot

Groot was once an almost forgotten Kirby Kreature of the pre-Marvel Age until fans became hooked on a feeling and fell in love with this space Ent in Guardians of the Galaxy. Groot makes our list because in his first appearance, Groot was one evil, monstrous tree. He stomped around, tried to conquer Earth and did all the things a good evil monster should. Groot's monstrous roots (HA!) make him worthy of this list and the fact that he transcended complete monster obscurity and became one of Marvel's most popular characters makes this beastly tree one unlikely monster hero.

15. Mr. Hyde

Sometimes portrayed as a terrifying brutish monster and sometimes portrayed as a run of the mill super villain, Mr. Hyde is one of the oldest threats in the Marvel Universe. Named after the classic creature feature, the literary Mr. Hyde, Zabo created a formula that gifts him with tremendous strength and savagery. Hyde originally teamed with Cobra to make life difficult for Thor and Daredevil, but soon, the duo broke up and Hyde’s savagery really came out. In the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #231-232, Hyde sought revenge on the Cobra and his true brutality and deviousness was revealed.

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Since then, Hyde has been portrayed as a monstrous force worthy of his classic monster namesake. Of course, in recent years, a more watered down version of Mr. Hyde played a prominent role on TV’s Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD as the father of Daisy Johnson aka Skye. TV’s Mr. Hyde was tragic and nuanced but the comic book Mr. Hyde remains a monstrous threat that has created many horrors for most of Marvel’s mainstays.

14. The Morlocks

The Morlocks might seem like just another faction of mutants, but in the X-verse, homo superior just doesn’t come more Halloweeny than this crew of sewer dwelling monstrosities. The Morlocks long represented the more horrific side of the X-verse and there is just something about a group of outcast mutants living in the muck under our feet that makes these squad of ghoulishly creepy mutants worthy of our list.

13. Mephisto

You can’t very well have a list of the most nefarious Marvel monsters without listing the devil, hisownself. Not really the Biblical devil, Mephisto is a netherworldly tempter, a soul broker, and a liar who pretty much serves the same exact purpose as the Devil but he won’t get Marvel in trouble with Christian conservatives. Mephisto first battled the Silver Surfer in the Silver Age (HEY!) and has bedeviled (hiYO) just about every Marvel hero.

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He recently pissed off fandom by cutting a Faustian deal with Peter Parker and erasing Spidey’s marriage. Mephisto was a key figure in The Infinity Gauntlet, constantly whispering Iago like in Thanos’ ear and is the very symbol of corruption in the Marvel Universe.

Plus, he is a devil in a cape and that is always awesome.

12. Helstrom, Son of Satan

Son of Satan is a Marvel character who may not appear to be a monster (other than the big, honking Satan pentagram branded on his chest), but Damon Hellstrom here is the son of the Devil, and if that ain’t monstrous we don’t know what is.

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Son of Satan appeared in the pages of Marvel Spotlight before being spun into his own magazine. After the comic that had the balls to call itself Son of Satan in the mid-70s was unsurprisingly cancelled, Hellstrom became a member of the Defenders where he had his greatest success as a character. He's even getting his own TV series on Hulu soon enough.

11. Marvel Zombies

It's the entire Marvel pantheon of characters- as flesh eating zombies! When Mark Millar and Greg Land first introduced the Marvel Zombies in the pages of the Ultimate Fantastic Four, no one could imagine the splash these shambling, costumed creatures would make.

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In a bit of pure marketing genius, Marvel spun the Zombies into their own book. All of a sudden, you had zombie version of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Captain America, and the rest written by Robert Kirkman. Yeah, that Robert Kirkman, the very same bearded dude that created a little thing called The Walking Dead. Marvel Zombies had more mayhem per panel than most mainstream comics do in an entire year's run. So if you ever wanted to experience the horror of a zombie Peter Parker eating Aunt May, this is your jam.

10. Morbius, the Living Vampire

In the last days of the Silver Age, the Comic Code was still in full effect. You see, the Code strictly forbade the use of undead characters in comic book stories so Marvel (or any company) couldn’t use vampires. But how about a Living Vampire?

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Dr. Michael Morbius became a human loophole when he used bat blood to try and cure himself of a deadly blood disease. Morbius was transformed by this forbidden science into a living vampire and became a longtime ally and foe of Spider-Man. Morbius may have started out as a way Marvel could scratch its monstrous itch but the not so good doctor became the first true horror character of the Marvel Age and remains a Marvel staple.

He'll be played by Jared Leto in an upcoming Morbius movie, too.

9. The Lizard

Other than that gamma fueled green engine of destruction that we will get to ina bit, The Lizard is Marvel’s greatest Jekyll and Hyde like creations. Originally scientist and family man Curt Connors, the Lizard tried to help humanity by finding a way to regenerate lost limbs. Connors himself was an amputee and he really, really just wanted to help people. That’s when things went very wrong as Connors’ formula transformed him into a bipedal, sentient lizard Hitler.

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Now, Connors was not only feral and cunning, he could control any cold blooded creature and swore to dedicate himself to destroying all mammals. Lizard has long been Spidey’s most savage foe and would have been right at home in any Saturday matinee Creature Feature.

8. Frankenstein’s Monster

Something about the fact that a Boris Karloff looking, lumbering amalgamation of corpses is shambling around the MU fills me with comfort. The Marvel version of Frankenstein is pretty much a mashup up of Mary Shelley’s literary monster and the Universal classic creature feature. Frankenstein’s book ran for just a few years but the Mike Ploog artwork in the first bunch of issues is a sight to behold, and the manner in which the Bronze Age creators stuffed Frankie into the Marvel Universe proper was truly artful schlock.

read more: 13 Forgotten Frankenstein Movies

Over the years, ol' zipper neck here met the X-Men, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and many more Marvel mainstays and is still out there somewhere cursing the name of his creator. It’s alive, indeed.

7. Man-Thing

Most of Marvel's greatest creatures of the Bronze Age were derivative of the Universal Monster cycle of horror, but not Man-Thing. No, this classic Swamp Creature came from the strange tradition of comic book swamp beasts, the same tradition that spawned DC' Swamp Thing.

read more: The Weird History of Monsters vs. The Marvel Universe

After the brilliant scientist Ted Sallis was murdered and bathed in mystic swamp water and enhanced chemicals, he was transformed into the Man-Thing, a mindless yet empathetic beast who is drawn to intense emotion. Man-Thing was always a story engine more than a fully realized character as he would plod the swamps mindlessly drawn to the anger and terror of any human that dared to visit the Florida Everglades.

Man-Thing has a truly a horrific power as whatever knows fear, burns at the Man-Thing's touch. And what wouldn't know fear when gazing upon the misshapen form of 'ol creamed spinach face here. Marvel mainstays like Howard the Duck were introduced in the pages of Man-Thing's feature, and if you call yourself a comic book horror fan and you haven't read writer Steve Gerber's immortal run on the character, then you, my friend, are just going through the motions.

6. Werewolf by Night

Who ever thought a werewolf named Jack Russell could be so awesome? Werewolf by Night was part of the Marvel monster surge of the early '70s and remains one of Marvel’s most heroic classic monsters.

read more: 13 Essential Werewolf Movies

In fact, none other than one of Marvel greatest monster hunters Moon Knight first appeared in the pages of Werewolf by Night as Russell’s title was once an essential part of the MU. At times, Russell is cut from the classic Lon Chaney mode of lycanthrope but at others, the kind and moral Russell is fully in control of his inner beast and operates as a classic super hero (albeit a hairy one). One can usually find issues of Werewolf by Night in dollar bins and that is one hell of a bargain because Werewolf by Night was one of the strangest, most surreal titles of the '70s.

Awooohhhh!!!!

5. Ghost Rider

What more can be said about Johnny Blaze or any of the other demonic bikers who have called themselves Ghost Riders?

The legacy of the Ghost Rider began in the pre-Marvel Age with a ghostly Western character who haunted the prairie of the American frontier. In the modern era, stunt biker Johnny Blaze was possessed by the demon Zarathos and became the flame headed spirit of vengeance of legend.

read more: The Weird History of Ghost Rider

At times, Ghost Rider has been a threat to the Marvel Universe and at others, he has been a stalwart hero, but the fact that Blaze has the power to burn the souls of evildoers makes him a featured part of this Halloween list. Arguably Mike Ploog’s greatest character design, Ghost Rider has gone through many incarnations over the years but somehow, the curse always comes back to Blaze, a man who treated with the devil and no rides the highway to Hell as the legendary Ghost Rider.

4. Blade

By all appearances, Blade isn't really a monster. In fact, he might be the greatest monster hunter in comics (sorry Buffy). But consider the fact that Blade is part vampire, and you have a heroic bloodsucker worthy of making our top 5.

read more: The Evolution of Marvel's Blade, Vampire Hunter

Blade's mother was turned into a vampire as she was giving birth to the future vampire hunter, making Blade a Daywalker, a man who is half mortal, half monster. Blade not only starred in many Bronze Age adventures in the pages of Marvel's black and white mags of the '70s, he was also a major player in Marvel's classic Tomb of Dracula, a part of the '90s Midnight Sons line of books, but he is also the reason we are living in the Golden Age of super hero cinema. Without Blade's cinematic success, a relatively obscure Marvel character before the films despite his monster hunting awesomeness, there would be no Hugh Jackman and the X-Men or Marvel Studios Avengers movies.

Speaking of which, Blade will finally join the MCU as played by Mahershala Ali.

3. Dracula

The granddaddy of them all, Dracula, is not only a cinema legend, he is not only a legend of literature and television, he is a comic book legend as well thanks to the premiere scare comic of the '70s, Tomb of Dracula. After writer Gerry Conway kicked off the title in grand fashion, the immortal creative team of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan crafted arguably the greatest monster comic of all time.

read more: 14 Times Dracula Fought Marvel Superheroes

Somehow, Marvel made Dracula into a classic anti-hero that captured the atmosphere and pathos of Bram Stokers’ novel and the Universal Horror classic. Somehow, Marvel also managed to weave in some super hero craziness as well with Dracula serving as the sometime hero in a book that featured one of the richest supporting casts of any comic of the 1970s. So many characters on our list, Lilith, Blade, and Hannibal King to name but a few, got their starts in Tomb of Dracula. But it was Vlad the Impaler himself that outshined them all with his evil brand of nobility. Dracula went on to star in major arcs in books like the X-Men, Thor, Doctor Strange, and even Howard the Duck. 

Dracula, in his modern incarnation, still stalks the Marvel Universe and remains Marvel's greatest classic monster.

. 2. The Thing

I almost feel bad calling Ben Grimm a monster; after all, he has saved the world with his pals the Fantastic Four countless times, but those early issues of Fantastic Four were filled with classic horror nods especially when it came to the Thing. Remember when Jack Kirby would draw Grimm in an oversized coat, with a classic fedora pulled down over his eyes? More often than not, Ben would go on angry rampages, lashing out at the world after his transformation into a hideous rock beast.

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The early days of the Thing and the Fantastic Four borrow as much from the Phantom of Opera and the classic Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde as it did from Superman. So Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew makes our list. The horror tropes surrounding the Thing really didn't last too long, but seriously, read those early FFs, you can almost hear the classic eerie organ music when Ben steps onto the page - classic horror goodness.   

1. Hulk

Like the Thing, the Hulk is way more superhero than horror icon, but in the character's year history, there were plenty of times that this titanic creature was cast in the role of classic monster. Again, particularly during the early days of the character, the Hulk had much in common with the classic monsters of old. The Hulk had an obvious connection to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in fact, Bruce Banner has been called the Atomic Age Dr. Jekyll many times. The Jade Giant had a great deal in common with Frankenstein's monster and even had some parallels to the classic Wolf Man.

read more: Universal Monsters Timeline Explained

If you'll remember, in the original Hulk series, when the Hulk was still a malevolently intelligent grey brute, the Hulk did not transform when he got angry, instead it was at nightfall, and if that ain't classic monster goodness we don't know what is. So even though Hulk has thrown down with some of Marvel's greatest heroes and villains, underneath the skin of this Avenger beats the heart of a classic lonely and misunderstood monster that would have been right at home in a Universal classic.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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The Lists Marc Buxton

Oct 25, 2019

Marvel

Dracula

Hulk

Frankenstein

Ghost Rider

31 Days of Horror

from Books https://ift.tt/2JoI9Aj

[missnmikaelson-main]

The Mummy - Cairo 2

“I only know one person who could give us some answers,” Elena’s heels clicked on the stone floors of the Ramesseum.

She could hear the heavy footfalls of Kol, Nik, Lucien and Kai behind her as they passed beneath the towering statues that flanked the doors. Her muscles froze when they rounded the final corner.

“You,” the loud cry came from every mouth as guns were drawn and cocked.

Elena’s eyes darted from Finn Mikaelson to the man who had berated them in the desert and the slim blonde on his other side. The duo merely scowled at the guns while Finn nodded politely.

“Miss Gilbert, gentlemen,” Finn sighed. His eyes darted to the arm of the man to Elena’s right.

“What are they doing here?” Elena crossed her arms and glared. She could still remember the knife that had been held to her throat on the river barge.

“Do you really want to know?” Finn cocked an eyebrow. “Or would you prefer to just shoot us?”

Nik looked the man up and down quickly before uncocking his gun.

“I just saw my fist vanish into a walking corpse’s head, and then watched what little flesh there was dissolve,” he holstered his weapon, “I think I’m willing to go on a little faith here.”

“You won’t believe it,” Finn warned.

“Try me,” Nik cocked a brow.

Elena sat on the edge of the low stone bench in front of Seti’s tomb display between Kol and Nik. She knew she should be watching Finn while he explained everything to them, but her eyes were locked on the funerary mask of Seti I; there was something strangely familiar in those features she had seen time and time again.

“We are part of an ancient secret society,” Finn nodded to his siblings, “the cult of the Medjay, and we have a sacred mission that has been passed down through thirty-nine generations. For over four thousand years we have guarded the City of the Dead. We are sworn at manhood…” Finn rolled his eyes when Rebekah cleared her throat delicately, “… adulthood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Silas from being reborn into this world.”

“And because of you, we have failed,” Rebekah shoved up her sleeves.

“And you think that justifies killing innocent people?” Kol stared in horror at them.

“To stop this creature?” Finn leaned forward on Seti’s throne. “Yes!”

“I’ve seen that somewhere before,” Kol’s eyes caught sight of the mark on Rebekah’s exposed arm.

“I should think so,” Rebekah murmured.

Nik followed Kol’s eyes to the woman’s arm and the tattoo that was a perfect match for the one on his own arm.

“You did that on purpose,” Finn muttered.

Elena finally tore her eyes from the funeral mask when her companions fell silent. She looked between Nik and the blonde woman, who couldn’t have been much older than her; she had the same tattoo he did with an identical hieroglyph that meant nothing to her.

“What is that?” She nodded to the mark. “I recognize most of that tattoo, but the bit on the bottom…”

“It’s similar to a family crest,” Rebekah ignored Finn’s sharp intake of breath. “When we are sworn into the cult we’re given these marks so that, should we die among strangers, our family might be notified.”

Elena met the blonde’s familiar blue eyes; they were the exact same shade as Nik’s. She noted a few more similar features between him and the others as well. She shifted on the bench to find him staring at the tattoo on his arm; the tattoo he had woken up with one day in a Cairo orphanage accompanied by a splitting headache.

“Do we really have time for this?” Elijah leaned against a stone pillar.

“I knew it,” Rebekah shook her head with a humourless laugh. “You didn’t care a bit about father’s affair; you only sent me to ask so I was off the front lines.”

“And it worked out so well for me,” Elijah rolled his eyes, “you came back just in time for her,” he pointed to Elena, “to wake the bloody creature.”

“Wait a minute,” Nik’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Rebekah, “we’re…?”

“Half siblings,” Rebekah nodded. Her finger made a circular motion indicating Elijah and Finn as well. “Father said he didn’t find out about you until you were in the orphanage; he left you there.”

“He left me?” Nik’s eyes closed. His mother had died when he was a child, and the thought that a father he had never known had knowingly left him made his jaw tick with barely suppressed rage.

“Thought you’d be better off there,” Rebekah shrugged. “I personally believe we could have avoided this entire bloody mess if he’d collected you when he found you, but the past is the past.”

“Okay,” he rubbed his temple when he felt the headache coming on, “there are more pressing issues at the moment.”

“Like the walking talking corpse,” Kol grimaced, “that has an unhealthy obsession with my sister.”

“And why the bloody hell is he afraid of cats?” Nik nodded.

“Cats are the guardians at the gates of the Underworld,” Elena murmured.

“Yes,” Finn nodded, “Silas will fear them until he is fully regenerated, and then he’ll fear nothing.”

“Right,” Lucien dragged out the word. “You know how the bastard gets regenerated? He’s gonna kill everybody who opened that chest and suck us dry.”

“The creature must first regenerate, and then he’ll attempt to resurrect the woman he’s loved for more than four thousand years,” Finn drew in a deep breath.

“Amara,” Elena crossed her ankles and held in her shiver.

Elijah, Rebekah and Finn gave Elena disbelieving looks that made her hasten to answer the unasked question.

“In the city,” her heart drummed in her chest, “he called me Amara. And in Mr. Salvatore’s rooms he tried to kiss me.”

“It’s because you read from the Book,” Finn rubbed the back of his neck. “He has chosen you to be his human sacrifice needed to regenerate the body of Amara.”

“That’s not it,” Elena shook her head slowly and pressed her lips into a thin line.

“What do you mean?” Elijah’s spine straightened. “What else could he possibly have planned for you?”

“He said he was going to make me immortal,” she blinked and turned to look at the stone relief upon the walls.

Before anyone could address this new information the room was cast in darkness. Everyone tipped their heads back to look through the tall windows where the sun was being blotted out in a full eclipse.

++++

“We’ve got to stop him from regenerating,” Elena paced the length of her foyer. She met her brother in the middle. “Who opened the chest?” She paused by a low table and turned to Kai and Lucien.

“Well there was me and Lucien here, and then poor Damon of course,” Kai lowered the deck of cards he had been fiddling with and met her dark eyes. “And then there was the Egyptologist.”

“What about my buddy Beni?” Nik turned from where he had been watching the soldiers manning the walls of the fort through her open window.

“No,” Lucien tapped the arms of one of Elena’s chair, “he ran out of there so fast there was a cloud of dust behind him.”

“We’ve got to find the Egyptologist and bring him back to the fort before the creature can get him,” Elena reached for her wrap and turned towards the door.

“Okay,” Nik shifted to block Elena’s path. “You can wait here,” he nodded to the shaking men in her foyer, “and you two can come with me.”

The response was almost immediate.

“Hell no,” Lucien jumped to his feet and waved his hands decisively. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re safe here.”

“You couldn’t pay me to leave this fort,” Kai agreed.

Elena took a completely different approach.

“Who put you in charge?” Her hands settled on her hips. “I’m not some old suitcase; you can’t just leave me behind. I’m responsible for this mess and I’m going to clean it up.”

“Are you out of your damn mind?” Kol shook his head. “There is a corpse out there that wants to sacrifice you in some ancient blood ritual.”

“He’s only awake because of me,” Elena turned slightly to glare at her brother.

Bloody, insufferable woman, Nik shook his head and sighed.

Elena bit down her shriek when she was hoisted into the air over Nik’s shoulder. She beat down on his back and kicked but it was no use as he was much stronger than she was.

He held her waist firmly and strode into her bedroom before dropping her onto her bed where she bounced. By the time she managed to scramble to her feet he was slamming the doors shut and locking them with a skeleton key.

“Open this door,” Elena’s outraged voice sounded from inside her bedroom.

Nik tossed the iron key to Lucien and ignored the pounding and screaming taking place inside her bedroom.

“Keep an eye on her,” he pointed to the heavy door, “if you leave this door for anything I’ll rip out your spleens, got it?”

Nik turned on his heel and strode out the door with Kol right behind him.

“You know she’s going to kill you right,” Kol checked his pistol when they hit the courtyard, “and she’ll likely never forgive you.”

“As long as she’s alive to do it I don’t care.”

++++

Wes stumbled through the dark alleys that were somehow even darker in the shadows of the never-ending eclipse.

There was a haunted look in his eyes as he rounded a corner and darted towards the other end of the alley. In one hand he clutched an ornate canopic jar, and in the other was the black Book of the Dead.

Sure footsteps sent dread to curl at the base of Wes’ spine. He didn’t have to look to know who was stalking him; the terrified look in the eyes of the running vendor was more than enough.

Wes held the book tighter to his chest and attempted to vanish into the crowds of the bazaar.

++++

Nik paused when they reached the top of the stairs to take in the mess that was Dr. Maxfield’s office. Papers and manila files littered the floor along with heavy books holding the pages in place. There was a loud crash as Beni tipped over the last bookshelf and artefacts hit the ground.

“Let me guess,” Kol cocked an eyebrow, “spring cleaning.”

Beni spun fast enough to give himself whiplash. He twisted again when he saw the men in the door and rushed for the open window.

Nik sighed before picking up a folding chair. He took careful aim and hurled the seat across the room where it landed in the man’s path.

Beni tripped and crashed into the wall with a loud yelp.

Nik strode across the room, grabbed Beni’s collar and pinned him to the wall so his feet dangled several inches above the floor.

“Where’s your new friend, Beni?” Nik’s mouth was pressed into a thin line.

“What friend?” Beni frowned in confusion before pasting on a simpering grin. “You’re my only friend.”

Nik pulled a knife from his belt and pressed it under Beni’s chin.

“What the hell are you doing with this creep? What’s in it for you?” Nik’s eyes flashed dangerously.

“It is better to be the right hand of the Devil,” he tipped his head back to try and evade the knife, “than in his path. As long as I serve him I am immune.”

“Immune from what?” Kol looked up from behind the desk where he had been searching for the Book.

Beni’s lips stretched into a thin grin that revealed his rotting teeth. “You shall see.”

“What are you looking for?” Nik pressed the knife harder into Beni’s skin. “Lie and I’ll slit your throat.”

“The book,” Beni squeezed his eyes tightly shut and swallowed. “The black book they found at Hamunaptra. Silas wants it back; he said it would be worth its weight in diamonds.”

“What does he want the book for?” Kol held the edge of the desk; he had a feeling he already knew and it wasn’t for the reason Elena did.

“Something about bringing his dead girlfriend back from the dead,” Beni shrugged. “He needs the book,” his eyes cut to Kol, “and your sister.”

Nik turned to look at Kol quickly. The words of his long lost family echoing in his mind but before he got a chance to ask any more questions Beni took advantage of his momentary distraction.

Nik’s breath caught in his throat as a scrawny knee made contact with an area that was only ever meant to be treated nicely. His hands automatically released Beni as he doubled over and fell to his knees.

Beni was out the window before Kol could lunge for him. He held the window frame and glared when the rat faced man managed to land in a bush and stumble to his feet.

He cringed when he turned back around and looked at Nik who was releasing a pained breath.

“That looked rather painful,” he grimaced.

“Yeah,” Nik winced and climbed back to his feet. “You know, ever since I’ve met you I’ve had terrible luck.”

“I tend to do that to people,” Kol smirked.

A blood curdling scream sent both men scrambling to the window. Out in the street the screaming people backed away to reveal the shriveled corpse of Dr. Wes Maxfield.

Nik drew in a sharp breath and watched a partially decayed hand reach out and lift the canopic jar from the dead man. The creature turned around and caught his eyes before flashing a menacing grin and opening his mouth to an inhuman size.

Kol and Nik slammed the shutters closed when the swarm of black flies sped towards them.

“Damn it,” Nik ran his hands back through his hair, “that’s two down.”

“Only two to go,” Kol’s pulse was racing with the realization, “and then he’ll go after Elena.”

They shared a look before running from the room.

++++

Elena’s eyes grew round when she turned from her door and found a black robed figure behind her. A hand clamped down over her mouth before she could summon her voice.

“Please don’t scream,” Rebekah pushed her hood back to reveal her blonde hair. “I’m going to let go now,” she nodded to her hand, “just don’t scream.”

Elena nodded and exhaled slowly when she was released. She swallowed and looked Rebekah up and down quickly as if she expected a weapon to emerge and press into her skin at any moment.

“What do you want?”

“I want to know what you are.” Rebekah took a step back and crossed her arms.

“Excuse me?” Elena’s eyes narrowed.

“You know,” Rebekah walked around her room, “I’m the first woman to join the warriors of the tribe. Traditionally boys and girls are brought up differently, but my brothers never could say no to me and so I was brought up both ways.”

“My brothers learned the art of war at the feet of my father,” Rebekah ran her fingers over the smooth bedpost and looked around the room at the bright artwork and books lining the walls. “They know the basics about the book and the creature, but I learned from my mother. She was a witch, you see…”

“There’s no such…” Elena trailed off when Rebekah fixed her with a pointed look.

“After everything you’ve seen the last few days are you really going to tell me that you don’t believe in witches?” She smirked when Elena remained silent. “As I was saying mother was a witch. She knew the nuances of the Book and what was really required to use it; not just anyone can successfully intone the incantations within.”

“What do you mean?” Elena perched on the edge of her bed a foot from the blonde.

“I mean its magic,” Rebekah tilted her head, “and as such it needs to be used by…”

“A witch?” Elena’s brows shot up. “You think I’m a witch?” She pointed to herself with an incredulous laugh.

“I think you’re something,” Rebekah nodded, “and not just a witch. You know things that no living person should know; like the dead language of ancient Egypt. Not even the Medjay know it as well as you. The only thing you didn’t immediately recognize was my family’s sigil; which makes perfect sense if you’ve never come across it.”

“My brother thinks that we can fight the creature the way we would any other enemy, but I know we can’t,” Rebekah sighed, “and I think you might be the only one that can.” She searched Elena’s dark eyes.

“According to the oral history passed down through the women of the tribe Amara was cursed. They said her soul was banished to the darkest pit of the underworld. Much like the curse bestowed upon the creature this one left behind an imprint on the world.”

“Meaning?” Elena bit down on her bottom lip.

“A shadow,” Rebekah tapped the bed spread. “You said the creature wanted to make you immortal… I think he means to permanently preserve your body and banish your soul. I also think somewhere in the back of your mind you know a way to kill him, so I brought this,” she reached into the sleeve of her robe and extracted a small roll of paper.

“What is this?” Elena unrolled the small scroll and examined the hieroglyphs.

“A spell,” Rebekah smiled. “If you read that aloud it will unlock whatever’s hiding in the dark corners of your mind behind the cobwebs.”

“So you do think I’m a witch then?” Elena cocked an eyebrow.

“One way to find out,” Rebekah tapped the paper. “Fair warning though it will put you to sleep for an hour or so.”

Elena looked around her room to the locked door.

“It’s not like I’m going anywhere,” she shrugged. Kicking off her shoes, she scooted back on the bed and lay down. “I’m going to laugh when nothing happens though.”

“As you say, love,” Rebekah nodded.

Elena took a deep breath before reciting the ancient poem. A smug smile lifted the corner of her mouth when nothing happened but before she could look at the blonde her eyelids grew heavy and drifted shut.

“That’s what I thought,” Rebekah nodded. She lifted a thin blanket from the trunk at the end of the bed and spread it over the brunette. She meant to take a seat and wait for the girl to wake up when a hawk appeared in the window.

“Good evening, Horus,” Rebekah untied the message from the bird’s leg. She rolled her eyes when she read the summons from her brother. Giving the sleeping brunette one last look she checked the courtyard below and whispered the incantation that set her safely on the cobblestones.

Tags @elejah-wonderland @rissyrapp20 @elejahforever @eternityunicorn @fandomrulesall

[kristipetersenschoonover]

This is, perhaps, the most haunting tale surrounding the lost expedition: this message was in a letter left in 1847 on King William Island, and its contents hinted nothing, of course, of what was to come for the unfortunate crew.

If, last year, you watched the first season of AMC’s The Terror, then you have an idea of what this post is about: an exhibit about the mysterious fate of 1845’s vanished Franklin Expedition, the most infamous of Britain’s attempts to find the Northwest Passage.

DEATH IN THE ICE: THE MYSTERY OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION exhibit was at Mystic Seaport from December, 2018 through the end of April, 2019. It landed in the Collins Gallery of the Thompson Exhibition Building after a stint up at the Canadian Museum of History.

This is below decks on the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan. While this has nothing to do with DEATH IN THE ICE, parts of it looked so much like below decks on THE TERROR or THE EREBUS–as shown in the AMC TV series–that it felt almost like I was on a theatrical set and not the real thing. But make no mistake: real people spent months at sea, sleeping in this tiny bunk.

These doors lead to quarters below deck on the Charles W. Morgan. Again, doesn’t have anything to do with the Franklin Expedition–only that the set for the AMC series had exactly the same doors in some places.

This is below decks on the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan, which was built in 1841–just four years prior to the Franklin Expedition’s fateful voyage. This is an area, according to the interpretive signage, where whale catch was processed.

This is below decks on the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan, which was built in 1841–just four years prior to the Franklin Expedition’s fateful voyage. This is an area, according to the interpretive signage, where whale catch was processed.

This is a lamp that burns in the sleeping quarters, so that visitors can see just how dark it really was below decks on the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan.

The rigging of the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan, flagship of Mystic Seaport.

The bow of the whaling vessel Charles W. Morgan, flagship of Mystic Seaport.

Mystic Seaport’s Treworgy Planetarium, which presented a special show, “Polar Night, Arctic Light” as a companion to the DEATH IN THE ICE exhibit. The hour-long program explored the night sky from the perspective of King William Island, where the wrecks were found, so that visitors could see what the Franklin Expedition’s men may have seen.

Me on the steps of Mystic Seaport’s Treworgy Planetarium, which presented a special show, “Polar Night, Arctic Light” as a companion to the DEATH IN THE ICE exhibit. The hour-long program explored the night sky from the perspective of King William Island, where the wrecks were found, so that visitors could see what the Franklin Expedition’s men may have seen.

For those of you who don’t know, the NP was a fabled shortcut from Europe to Asia—something, if found, that would’ve saved time and money, as the current trade routes took months (and, initially, in the fifteenth century, the over-land routes were controlled by the Ottoman Empire).

There were several attempts to find the NP, and ultimately, it wasn’t navigated until 1906. While the passage had been found, the fact that the Franklin Expedition—which consisted of 129 men on The Terror and The Erebus—had not haunted generations of researchers and explorers.

The exhibit was housed in the Seaport’s Thompson Exhibition Building.

Inuit knowledge was ultimately the key to locating the lost Franklin Expedition. One of the things that’s especially interesting about that? The stories the Inuits passed down had to be accurate in terms of where things were located, because without that accuracy, hunting vital to survival couldn’t be carried out.

This is dinner service from THE TERROR—from when it was serving in the War of 1812. I’m not sure if these were in use during the fateful voyage, but I’m thinking not, or someone would have made a note of it somewhere. It’s gorgeous stuff. If I could get replicas of this? I would.

This is dinner service from THE TERROR—from when it was serving in the War of 1812. I’m not sure if these were in use during the fateful voyage, but I’m thinking not, or someone would have made a note of it somewhere. It’s gorgeous stuff. If I could get replicas of this? I would.

This is dinner service from THE TERROR—from when it was serving in the War of 1812. I’m not sure if these were in use during the fateful voyage, but I’m thinking not, or someone would have made a note of it somewhere. It’s gorgeous stuff. If I could get replicas of this? I would.

This is dinner service from THE TERROR—from when it was serving in the War of 1812. I’m not sure if these were in use during the fateful voyage, but I’m thinking not, or someone would have made a note of it somewhere. It’s gorgeous stuff. If I could get replicas of this? I would.

This is dinner service from THE TERROR—from when it was serving in the War of 1812. I’m not sure if these were in use during the fateful voyage, but I’m thinking not, or someone would have made a note of it somewhere. It’s gorgeous stuff. If I could get replicas of this? I would.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this story is how the men lived on the ice.

From this letter excerpt, it doesn’t seem at all as though the men were suffering too greatly.

One of the newest technologies of the time was canned food. It has been thought that lead in the cans may have contributed to the sailors’ demise.

These items were found at what the Inuit called “The Boat Place.” It is certain they belonged to Franklin’s doomed crew.

These items were found at what the Inuit called “The Boat Place.” It is certain they belonged to Franklin’s doomed crew.

These plates were actually on the HMS Erebus and were recovered from the wreck. They have been EXACTLY replicated for AMC’s THE TERROR television series (just watch the first dining scene in Episode 1 and you’ll see them). These particular artifacts feature scratch marks from cutlery.

These plates were actually on the HMS EREBUS and were recovered from the wreck. They have been EXACTLY replicated for AMC’s THE TERROR television series (just watch the first dining scene in Episode 1 and you’ll see them). These particular artifacts feature scratch marks from cutlery.

In 2014 and 2016, Parks Canada discovered The Erebus and The Terror, respectively—and it was the body of Inuit traditional knowledge, which had been passed down for decades, that defined the search area and eventually resulted in success.

I read this and all I could think of was ‘WTF—didn’t these guys read ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’?

The hulls of both ships were outfitted with iron plates to help them “cut” through the ice.

This interpretive material outlines alterations to prepare the expedition’s ships for travel.

Although researchers have a much better picture of how the tragedy unfolded, the solving of the mystery—of what actually happened during those frightening and arduous three years—is still underway. Now that the wrecks have been found, there is even more evidence to be studied (prior to this groundbreaking discovery, there had been some artifacts and three graves discovered on Beechey Island).

Examining the mummies on Beechey Island gave scientists an opportunity to consider factors which may have contributed to the sailors’ demise.

I was about to enter the portion of the exhibit that talks about the discoveries of human remains on Beechey Island.

In the 1980s, three graves were discovered on Beechey Island. In each was a man from the Franklin Expedition. Due to the environmental conditions, the bodies were mummified.

In the 1980s, three graves were discovered on Beechey Island. The remarkably preserved mummies revealed much information and spawned several theories about the seamen’s final fate.

Simulation of the cemetery on Beechey Island. There is a fourth grave there also, but it is thought to belong to a later expedition that had actually been sent out in search of the original Franklin Expedition.

This is a simulation of the grave of John Torrington, found on Beechey Island.

This is a simulation of the grave of John Torrington, found on Beechey Island.

Simulation of John Hartnell grave on Beechey Island.

Simulation of William Braine grave at Beechey Island.

In the meantime, however, some of the artifacts have been curated and can be seen in various museums and collections. Recently, the Mystic Seaport in Connecticut hosted DEATH IN THE ICE: THE MYSTERY OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION.

A recreation of what some of the uncovered artifacts looked like before they were unearthed.

A model of the EREBUS on the bottom of the sea.

The bell from the HMS EREBUS. I believe this is one of the first items that was brought to the surface.

I was fortunate enough to visit (since scary sea mysteries have long been a part of my childhood thanks to my dad, this was a MUST SEE no matter what I had to do to get there). The exhibit was open this past winter.

It turns out that the TERROR bombed Stonington, Connecticut, during the War of 1812.

I’ve included some resources for further reading on the Franklin Expedition. If you are a big reader, there are many well-written books on the subject. I’ve listed one here I read that I liked, but don’t be shy about searching through the list of titles online for more.

ARTICLES

Parks Canada: The Franklin Expedition https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/franklin

National Geographic: “How the Discovery of Two Lost Ships Solved an Arctic Mystery,” by Simon Worrall, April 16, 2017

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/franklin-expedition-ship-watson-ice-ghosts/

Horror Fuel: “All That’s Left: The Only Remains of the Franklin’s Lost Expedition,” by Daniel S. Liuzzi, January 21, 2018 http://horrorfuel.com/2018/01/21/thats-left-remains-franklins-lost-expedition/

Amusing Planet: “Beechey Island and Franklin’s Lost Expedition,” by Kaushik https://www.amusingplanet.com/2018/04/beechey-island-and-franklins-lost.html

BOOKS

Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition, by Paul Watson https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393249387/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Hq4cDbEPYKTB4

Death in the Ice: The Mystery of the Franklin Expedition (Souvenir Catalogue series), by Karen Ryan

This is a catalogue of the artifacts in the Death in the Ice exhibit, which was at the Anchorage museum before arriving at Mystic. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0660078813/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_da5cDbB8GYF8T

VIDEO

Buried in Ice: The Franklin Expedition (1988) https://youtu.be/41ajloClO7U

Timeline: The Search for the Northwest Passage https://youtu.be/M1I79u5Y9n4

Revealed: Franklin’s Lost Expedition (2005) https://youtu.be/Wg9Z3EyJ5DU

 Secret History: The Hunt for the Arctic Ghost Ship (2015) https://youtu.be/CAQusg8U4EQ

I’ll answer this question before it’s asked: AMC’s The Terror is based on Dan Simmons’ novel of the same name, which I found disappointing on a number of levels. I recommend spending ten hours on the series instead.

AMC’s The Terror

On Demand on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07BDQK1VV/ref=cm_sw_em_r_pv_wb_9oh0UgMilOViM

Blu-Ray/DVD: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DKSPGP4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_.x7cDb3FF8JM5

A look back at DEATH IN THE ICE: THE MYSTERY OF THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION If, last year, you watched the first season of AMC’s The Terror, then you have an idea of what this post is about: an exhibit about the mysterious fate of 1845’s vanished Franklin Expedition, the most infamous of Britain’s attempts to find the Northwest Passage.

[majingojira]

Monsters of the 20th Century

I had this odd notion.  A (brief) analysis of the origin of various supernatural creatures, as I wondered what ‘new’ monsters/supernatural beings had been created in the 20th century (roughly).   I’ve completed some of the research, and I’d like to share it with you all.  I’m also gonna tag @tyrantisterror because he is one of the more knowledgable people about monsters I know about on tumblr and I’m sure he can correct me a bunch in this!

1. Frankenstein - 1817 - The oldest literary monster and outgrowth of the concept of the Homunculus and Golem as an artificial being.  So pervasive is its reach, western ideas of Tulpa are tainted by it (every time you read about a tulpa ‘going out of control’, that is the influence of Frankenstein). 

2. Dinosaurs - The Dragons of the age of science entered pop culture in 1854 at the latest with the opening of the Crystal Palace Park.  Other prehistoric animals had captured people’s imagination before, and they didn’t start to enter fiction until 1864 (”Journey to the Center of the Earth”) and a short story by C. J. Cutliffe Hyne had an ancient crocodilian in his story “The Lizard” (1898).  Ann early Lost World style adventure, “A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder” by James De Mille in 1888 has the first true dinosaurs in them.  There, Antarctica has a warm spot where prehistoric monsters and a death cult lurk.  In 1901, Frank Mackenzie Savile’s “Beyond the Great South Wall” had a Carnivorous Brontosaurs worshiped by Mayan remnants.  “Panic in Paris” by Jules Lermina had dinosaurs attack a city, but it was published first in France so few saw it.  Finally, we have Conan Doyle in 1912 with “The Lost World” which solidified dinosaurs as a thing in fiction. 

3. The Evolved Man/Mutants - After “The Origin of Species” is published, it wasn’t long until Evolved Men or Mutants started showing up in fiction. “The Coming Race” and (1871), “The Great Romance” (1881).   They are generally big-headed and often have ESP of some sort.  In “Media: A Tale of the Future” (1891), they can control electricity too. It wasn’t until 1928 (”The Metal Man” by Jack Williamson) that Radiation was thrown in as a cause for Mutation.  Cosmic Rays would follow in “The Man Who Evolved” by Edmond Hamilton (1931).  After that, we have “Gladiator” by Philip Gordon Wylie (1930) where we have an engineered “Evolved Man”, and “Odd John” by Olaf Stapeldon which grants us the term “Homo superior” followed by “Slan” by A.E. van Vogt which has Evolved Humans as a persecuted minority.   And with that, everything that makes the X-Men what they are is collected.

3. Man-Eating Tree - First reported in 1874, the idea of man-eating plants grew since then to encompase many monsters, but started as Folklore about ‘Darkest Africa” (Madagascar) in the New York World.  They’d print anything back then.

4. Hyde - While it is tempting to link him to Freudian Psychology, Freud did not publish his work regarding things like the Id until much later (he didn’t even coin “Psychoanalysis” until 1896).  What is springs from, I currently cannot say without more research. 

4. Robot - Though there were automata since the days of the Greeks (Talos), the first Robot in modern fiction is from “The Future Eve” by Auguste Villiers de I’lsle Adam (1886).  THough the term Robot is not invented until 1920 with “Rossum’s Universal Robots.”  They definitely offshoot from Frankenstein, but with a more mechanical bent.  

5. The Grey Alien - The modern idea of an Alien has it’s first antecedents in the 1800s.  Specifically with the essay “Man of the Year 1,000,000″ by H. G. Wells (1892-1893). He speculates what humans will evolve into, and basically invites the Gray by accident.  It wouldn’t achieve it’s alien attachments until much later.

6. Morlocks - With the Evolved Man, there is also the ‘Devolved Man’.  That is what the Morlocks are. They are, as the name implies, tied to Well’s “The Time Machine” (1895), and the word has become a catch-all for subterranean monster-men, be they Mole People, CHUDs, or straight up Demons (’GvsE’). 

7. The Martians & Their War Machines - The First Alien Invader, and the first Mecha can be traced to “War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells, 1897.  Not much more to say as far as I’m aware.

8. The Mummy - The 1800s saw an Egyptian craze in England, leading to some really nasty habits (google “Mummy Powder” if you need ipecac).  1827 saw “The Mummy!: Or, a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century” which is more a bit of futurism with an ancient protagonist.  Though “Lost in the Pyramid” (1868) by Louisa May Alcott predates it, it is overshadowed by Conan Doyle’s horror story “Lot No. 249″ (1892) which has the classically animated mummy going out and killing people under control of another.  The former is a “Curse” story rather than a monster.

9. Cordyceps - Everyone these days knows the Cordyceps fungus as a great source for making zombies, and I’m lumping that fungus in with these other monsters because, well, fungus’ that take over humans is a monster of the 20th century.  Best known for Toho’s film adaptation “Matango” (1963), it is inspired by a short story from 1907 by William Hope Hodgson called “The Voice in the Night”.  There, the poor victim doesn’t realize they’ve completely become a fungus monster, acting as a warning for those near the island.    

10. Aerofauna - Conan Doyle strikes again with “The Horror of the Heights” (1912).  A pretty tight little horror story of a whole ecosystem high above our heads in the clouds.  Many a sky tentacle owes its existence to this one.

11. Lich - Possibly derived from Kosechi the Deathless of Russian folklore, the idea of undead sorcerers became a staple of the works of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smyth, dating back to 1929.  Though Gary Gigax coined the idea together for D&D and based it on Gardner Fox’s “The Sword of the Sorcerer (1969)

12. Bigfoot and The Loch Ness Monster - I lump these cryptids together, because (thanks to a ton of research by Daren Naish, Daniel Loxton,  Donald R. Prothero, and others) we can trace them back to the same source: King Kong (1933).  The idea of prehistoric animals being out in the world in hidden places goes back to Conan Doyle’s “Lost World” (1912), but Kong made it widely popular.  And between the giant ape and the Brontosaurus attack (and the timing of sightings picking up), we can blame Kong for this.

13. The Great Old Ones - Lovecraft’s primary contribution to fiction first appear in “The Call of Cthulhu” (1926) and expand upon from here.  As near as I can tell, he made a LOT of monsters.  These include “Ancient Aliens” & Shoggoths (1936 - “At the Mountains of Madness”), Gillmen (1931 - ”The Shadow over Innsmouth”), & The Colour Out of Space (1927).  14. The Thing - The Ultimate Shapeshifter.  It first appears in 1938′s “Who Goes There” by John W. Campbell, Jr.  Though Campbell's square-jawed heroes literally tear the Thing to bits, it reached its zenith of horror in adaptation.  I can think of no earlier shapeshifting humanoids of such variety at an earlier time, or of such fecundity. 

15. The Amazons - The Amazons do indeed come from Ancient Greece, but it was a way for the Greeks to rag on Women.  It wasn’t until later that women co-opted the image of the Amazons as a source of empowerment, and that was codified in 1942 with one character: Wonder Woman. She helped spark the Amazons further into the culture, or at least, Amazon women who have superpowers (as they did in those early stories).  From there, we get a more recent direct descendant that was part of the reason I started this list: Slayers from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

16. The Hobbit - Though ideas of ‘Wee Folk” are part of worldwide Folklore, Tolkien took them out of the realm of Faerie, and made them... idyllic middle-class Englishmen with his 1937 book of the same name.  With the Lord of the Rings following in 1954-1955.  His works also gave us other monsters and supernatural beings: Orcs, Ents, & Balrogs. 

17. Gremlins - An Evolution of the wee folk once again, this time adapted for the mechanical era and of a more malicious bent. It became slang in the 1920s, with the earliest print source being from 1929.   They were popularized by Roald Dahl in”The Gremlins” (1942).  Later they were used to vex Bugs Bunny (1943′s “Falling Hare”), and then they got their own movies in the 1980s.  The rest is history.  

18. Triffids - There are a LOT of fictional plants out there, and a lot of carnivorous ones, but the Triffids were the first to be extremely active in their pursuit of prey.  From 1952′s “Day of the Triffids” by John Wyndham, the story is a keen example of the ‘Cozy Apocalypse’ common in British Fiction, sort of like the whole ‘schoolboys on a desert island make well of it’ thing that “Lord of the Flies” railed against. This paved the way for everything from Audrey II to Biollante.

19. Kaiju - 1954.  You know what this is.  Between Primordial Gods and Modern Technology, the Kaiju are born.  The difference between a Kaiju and a Giant Monster is a complex nuanced one, sort of like what makes film noir. But, in general, if the story has Anti-War, Anti-Nationalist, and/or Anti-Corporate Greed leanings, it’s probably a Kaiju movie.  If not, then it probably isn’t.

20. The Body Snatchers - Another horror of 1954 from the novel “The Body Snatchers” (1955), which includes aspects that the movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” did not.  Like that the Duplicates only last 5 years and basically exist to wipe out sentient beings with each planet they infest.  Clearly drawing from the idea of the Doppelganger, these Pod People have evolved into a new form.

21. The Blob - That 1958 movie has one catchy theme song.  The whole thing was inspired by an instance of “Star Jelly” in Pennsylvania, circa 1950.  It was tempting to shift this under the Shoggoth, but I think they are distinct enough.

22. Gargoyles - Longtime architectural embellishments, they did not become their own “Being” until 1971 with “The Living Gargoyle” published in Nightmare #6.  The TV Movie “Gargoyles” came soon after in 1972, firmly establishing the monster.  Though it was likely perfected in the TV Series “Gargoyles” (1994). 

23. D&D - From 1973 Through 1977, D&D was formulated and many of its key monsters were invented.  Partly as mechanics ways to screw with players and keep things lively.  This brought us Rust Monsters (1973), Mindflayer (1974), Beholder (1975), and the Gelatinous Cube (1977). 

24. The Xenomorph - Parasitoid breeding is applied to humans to wonderfully horrible effect in the 1979 film “Alien”.  It became iconic as soon as it appeared. 

25. Slasher - The first slasher film is often considered to be ‘Psycho’ (though the Universal Mummy films beyond the first prototype the formula).  The idea of an undead revenant coming back to kill rather randomly started in the film “The Fog” (1980), but was codified by Jason Voorhees in either 1984 or 1986.   I am no expert on this one, though, so I am not fully certain.

26. The Dream Killer - Freddy Krueger first appeared as a killer in dreams in 1981, but there were other dream killers before him.  They could only kill with extreme fear, though.  Freddy got physical!  I think.  Again, more research is needed.

27. Chupacabras - This is another cryptid inspired by a movie.  In this case, “Species” (1995). No, really.  This is what it comes from.   I know a lot of these are really short down the line, but the research for this one is thorough and concise! 

28. Slender Man - The Boogieman for the Internet Age.  An icon of Creepypastas and emblem of them.

Needs More Research: The Crow/Heroic Longer-Term Revenants, Immortals as a “Group” (might go to Gulliver's Travels, but I’m trying to track Highlander here) are also on the list, but they are proving extremely difficult to research, so I thought I’d post what I have at the moment.  Shinigami might also be on the list since they are syncretic adoption of the Grim Reaper into something more.

[catrector]

The Immersion Tactic: Because we can’t stop telling people how to write

The writing process. You know, that thing that people want to tell you how to do properly. I’ve got some opinions. 

First and foremost, I'm no gatekeeper. I'm not here to tell you what is or isn't allowed, or what disqualifies you from the title of "serious author". I don't believe in cookie-cutter methods or elitism. I do believe in offering up information to others to do as they please with it, in order to help other writers find their way out of the dark woods that can be the writing process.

So. Let’s begin. As indicated by the title, my process has been immersion. Now wait, I'm not talking moving to France to bury yourself in croissants and macaroons. I'm talking diving in so deep that you're living your work during the majority of your free time. I'm talking about absorbing ideas and information while you're not actively working on your project, whether by watching a movie to study dialogue or by listening to a deeply moving love song to get in touch with your MC’s feelings. Writing is exhausting. Sometimes you need a break. But you can also choose to use your downtime in ways that benefit the work. 

If this seems an interesting theory, read on. It's worked for me, but it won't work for everyone. Maybe you'll steal a single item and leave the rest where it lies. I'm not here to judge; I'm here to build you up. Let me know if anything works for you. Here we go:

Sit in windows, on balconies, in gardens, at cafes, and on buses, and just stare into the abyss: You know when you lie down to sleep and then an amazing idea comes to you, and it's such inconvenient timing? It's not coincidence. You've finally stopped moving and thinking long enough to let ideas flow. Actively make time for this type of creativity by being idle. Leverage the still moments in your day to daydream about your story, even if you've completely zoned out at lunch and your whole table thinks you’re dead. 

Make a playlist: I have two playlists. I have one without English lyrics, so that I can tune out the world and focus on my task, and one with English lyrics. The second is a tool I use to immerse myself in my scenes and characters. I listen to it in the shower, on the bus, and while I'm doing the dishes. It forces me to remember the scene or character it references, and usually drives my motivation to write. Use this to keep your characters sitting on your shoulders at all times. 

Play video games: Yeah you heard me. While working on this project, I played God of War 4, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Northgard, Jotun, and a handful of other Norse/Viking themed games. They’ll never provide you with pure fact, but I learned to ask questions about the information they provided, to look up things they presented me with, and to study the contents for details I could use, like mood or setting. I didn't even know about Valravn until I play Hellblade, so I have no regrets. But don't be stupid. Horror games are perfect for brainstorming horror stories, dystopian  games for distopian worlds, etc. But I'm not dumb eh. You have no excuses to play Call of Duty if you're writing an Italian romance.

Watch TV: This depends on your subject matter. For me, I only watched Vikings. The takeaway is the same as playing games. Watch the thing, ask questions, look for facts. Study the content while you’re unwinding with ice cream and a bag of chips. Learn to identify tropes, try to guess where plots will twist and how, and then use those lessons to avoid being predictable. TV and movies are also the kings of dialogue, so pay attention. I learned a lot from watching Buffy on repeat, and recommend it to anyone.

Research with books: If you're not reading as research, you’ve missed a critical part of the reading books things. However, research isn't limited to looking up which era the T-Rex lived in. Read to study style, nuance, and flow. I started rereading the Kingkiller Chronicles because I wanted to learn from Rothfuss' writing style. No don’t argue with me. That man is a God.  

Make a Pinterest Board (or 20): How do you research ancient clothing, jewelry, and building types when your budget won't let you fly to Iceland for a month? Fucking Pinterest. Members of pagan communities who craft and wear period clothing have saved my life. Photo references of people, places, and things are key to any piece of research. Pin the shit out of things and then reference them for the rest of your days.  Go to a museum: Writing a book that takes place in ancient Egypt? Go get face to face with some mummies. Learn what you can while getting some air for once, and use the opportunity to talk out some of your ideas with your museum buddy. This applies to anything. Scout out cafes for scenes you're writing, go to fantasy festivals to drink mead and make offerings to Gods, check out a botanical garden and take notes, whatever floats your literary boat. Your body will thank you for leaving the house, and you won’t forget the experience. 

Go to writing meetings and don't actually write: Commiserating about the process might have been the only thing that kept me from crawling under a rock. Can't fix that plot hole? That's okay, these people know how you feel. Stuck on a section? They have some suggestions for you. Looking for research books? Somehow they have the perfect title for you. Sometimes you need a stiff drink and a chat to get back to work. (But for christ sake, don't be that guy who talks through work time. If everyone is feeling like chatting, fine. That's a group decision. Don’t be the asshat that distracts everyone else.)

Scribble down side stories: Sometimes something doesn’t fit the plot, but fits the world. It doesn't mean you shouldn't write it. It may help flesh out your current story. Keep a side folder for these and have fun writing them when you can't stand your story anymore. Cook and eat the food from your world: Good in the kitchen? Try making that exquisite meal you wrote into chapter 12. Remind yourself what sushi tastes like before you have to describe what it tastes like. Really want to go the extra mile? Learn to fish, make a fire and cook it yourself. IMMERSION. Sketch: If you have a talent for art, draw your characters. Draw their outfits, their jewelry, their pets. I did this a bit, but it turns out I'm out of practice and was more apt to throw the pencil through the window. Either way, it will help you visualize outfits, hairstyles, and will let you watch a fucking movie while you do it. Actually write the damn book: Naturally this is the most important part. You can’t get around it. You have to put in the time. I've done all of the above, but I've also stuck in hundreds and hundreds of hours of writing for this one story. And it can be hard to do the writing, I know that. But that’s what you’re here for, so when you’re done with the creative outlet, channel it into the writing. 

Now I hear the skeptics. These are all just distractions, you could just be writing! Listen, no one is saying don’t write. And you may be the type who can just sit and write, but not everyone is, and certainly not 24/7. All brains work differently. The conversation also conveniently ignores minds that function in other ways. Perhaps someone on the autism spectrum has another process than someone with synesthesia, or someone who’s neurotypical.  

Follow the path that takes you to the story. That path has more twists for some people than others. Put in the work, and do it how you need to do it. If you're worried about procrastinating because of all these side quests, give yourself guidelines and boundaries. Set yourself achievable goals that will bring you back to the work.

I’ve tried to have fun with my creative process, because that suits who I am, but it doesn’t make me less serious about the work I’m doing. Ask the people who haven’t seen me in a year if I’m committed to the work. The story will be written. It will be published come Hel or high water. I’m just doing it my way. 

TLDR; Don't let other people tell you how to be fucking creative.

[callie-the-snarky-geek-blog]

RvB16 Episode 2 Review: Incendiary Incidents

(Old Blog Repost)

Last time, not a lot happened other than going out for food, Donut unlocking his true potential as a contortionist, and alien Norse Gods are a thing that exist. Nothing that unusual for this show. We got the setup, so what’ll they do with it now as the pizza quest continues? Lets find out!

Overview

To the shock of no one, Grif crashed the ship. He rushes everyone through the insults and sidenote to Kai’s… so does she actually have regular contact with their mom? Makes me really wonder about where Grif stands with his family. Anyways, good news is the pizza place isn’t far off! They just have to go through some ominous woods! Grif however opts to go through the less than ominous woods which would take longer, but isn’t… well, ominous. This gets Simmons attention. Enough that, as they make their way through, he pulls Grif aside to find out what his deal is. My shipping heart is happy to see Simmons noticing that something’s not right with his not-boyfriend and getting to the bottom of it… please tell me I didn’t accidentally write an innuendo,

So you knwo that ‘new science’ Grif mentioned last episode? Well here’s that new science: laziness… sort of! So when stuck on the moon (I THINK he called it Iris? So… after Michael and Lindsay’s daughter/Geoff’s goddaughter? AWW!), Grif found a book that Jax left behind about story structure. He found out about ‘incendiary incidents’, which are incidents that jumpstart a plot essentially I tried to look it up to see if that’s an actual term… and all I got was a bunch of fire safety websites. But I’ll take Joe’s word for it and say it’s an actual term. So Grif cutting off Jensen before, crashing the ship deliberately as it turns out due to a message from Locus, and avoiding the ominous woods is to avoid getting into an incident that would jumpstart a plot, and therefore lead them into another adventure. IDK if this is clever fourth wall breaking but… wow. WOW. Even Simmons gets chocked up about how much effort Grif put into doing nothing. It’s counterproductive when you think about it, but still!

Unfortunately for Grif, he IS in a webshow with plot structure and the powers to be aren’t going to let them get out of it that easy. Caboose discovered a glowing lake. And a figure emerges form it. Now the episode summary describes a thought to be deceased team member returning. Oh my Gd, that… that’s crazy! It could anyone! But why?! Tex? Flowers? Shelia? Church? Alpha Church? Yellow Church?! The guy who got killed during one of those 360 videos?! The possibilities are endless! It could be anyone! Who knows what kind of shocking twist it cou.. it’s Donut. Who we all knew was alive. Yeah… well I’ll give them this, it had me hyped for the episode.

So Donut… Jesus Christ. No, seriously, Donut is now Jesus. He walked ont he water for crying out loud! Donut says that he had been taken through time and that they have to go into the past to stop a great danger… and absolutely no one buys it. Now to be fair, Simmons makes a good point later. They already went through a time travel story and it turns out it was just a simulation. So them being skeptical about this happening again, especially since only Caboose saw the body horror last episode and I imagine that he forgot by now, is pretty understandable. But yeah no one buys it and Grif feels relieved about avoiding the story bomb… until Simmons points out that refusing the call is an actual story trope. See Grif? There’s no escaping!

So the Reds and Blues make it to ton and… yeah, it’s been totaled. After talking to Jeremy Dooley… I-I mean a cop… no, I’m 90% sure that was Jeremy. Anyways! After that, Donut tries to convince them of time travel again, and this time has actual proof. He has this new gun which he uses to open a portal to a few days earlier. How did he get this? Well to put it simply, after he got hit by Loco’s machine he got sent back in time and his body got wrecked, but God found him and fixed him. IDK if he means the Christian God or one of these alien Gods, but they’ve picked the Reds and Blues to be his time traveling warriors and has sent back four more guns for them to use to go back in time with. The portals can also only fit two grown humans at once.

Unfortunately, things go downhill quickly. So you guys remember the four armed guy from the trailer? Well the sky goes dark and he appears… oh sorry, typed that wrong. I mean that SHE appears. Yes everyone, we have a legit female villain at last!! I couldn’t get her name, but part of it sounded like Callie… which is my name… UGH… anyways! Yeah, she starts causing chaos and destruction. Donut uses a bubble shield, telling the others to use the portal guns and get away. They comply with everyone pairing off: Cabbose and Lopez, Tucker and Sister, Grif and Doc, and Sarge and Simmons. Donut remains behind, though I assume that he’ll follow them later. Huggins, who has been following the group, chases after Grif and Doc by going through their portal. We follow Sarge and Simmons as they land in… what looks like ancient Egypt. Could be wrong, but we’ll have to wait and find out cause that’s the end of the episode!

Review

Well all of that escalated quickly!

So… gonna talk about Grif first! Cause yes, he’s getting a character arc! I mean I guess it could have ended here since his plan failed, but since Huggins went after him and Doc we could get something on that front. Anyways, so I was right and Grif is actively trying to keep them out of getting into adventures. To the point that he’s putting effort into maintaining laziness… that’s the kind of logic I expect form this show. It wasn’t how I expected it, but I expected it. It’s also good to see that he does still have some hangups from the moon. He seems a lot more… what’s the word? High-strung than normal? He’s also still talking in pretty large bursts compared to normal. I don’t know if that’s just me reading into it too much, but it seems like Joe is trying to show that Grif still has hangups from his self-exile. Which hey, if it means more Grif focus, I am not complaining!

The episode is more about plot than the last one. Last week was the setup, and now the payoff is here. So first, Donut. He was written SO WELL. One of the issues last season was that Donut was pretty much a background prop and they even forgot to put him in scenes. Joe must have realized that this was a problem cause he’s already fixing it BIG TIME. Donut’s had shit happen man! He comes off as slightly mroe serious and competent in a sense that he actually knows the gravity of the situation. But he still feels and acts like Donut, which is good! It shows that he CAN be useful and competent, but without sacrificing his personality. Heck he only spouted out one innuendo and it was just to prove that it was really him. I am digging this new direction!

So turns out that the four armed guy si a terrifying alien goddess of death… I dig it! So someone pointed out that this character is similar to Hela from Thor: Ragnarok. SO it REALLY seems like Joe is basing the villain off Norse mythology… or just the Marvel Cinematic Universe verisons of them. Either way is fine. So I’m not sure if… Kali-Ra I think is her name? Anyways it doesn’t seem like she’s with the same group as Huggins cause I imagine that she would have reacted. I also don’t think that this chick is the main villain since DOnut referred to a ‘devil man’, but still she is terrifying and badass and I LOVE it. We finally got a female main villain guys! Joe is the hero we’ve waited for! Yay! Also Sarge asking he rot marry him, Of course he’d want to marry a violent death goddess… I’ll totes ship this!

Alright, time travel! SO ever since Joe mentioned it in that post a while ago, I’ve… been skeptical. Time travel in pretty much every show tends to be confusing and create tons of plot holes. It even happened in RvB before with Season 3 before Burnie retconned it as a simulation. Didn’t save my head from imploding, but still that’s a fair excuse. Hopefully Joe has a VERY good idea on what he’s doing with this, but I’ve been warming up to the idea since then. It’ll be fun to see the guys in different time periods at least! Form how it looks, Sarge and Simmons may go tomb raiding it it really is Ancient Egypt. I mean Sarge vs mummies, there is no way that cannot be epic!

So the gang is being split up, and the pairs are interesting! Sarge and Simmons sin’t that much of a surprise and tbf it’s been a long time since they had some one-on-one time. Simmons has also grown out of being a kissass quite a bit, so it’ll be interesting to see how that goes. Caboose and Lopez are together… so I’ just going to assume that in every animated RT production, Burnie is just meant to be stuck with/get annoyed with Joel in one way or another. Cause that is the impression I’m getting. Tucker and Sister are together, so I imagine flirting… okay I’m good with that! Hopefully Sister gets some focus to herself that isn’t just Tucker trying to hit on her, but still I’m good with this!

And finally Grif and Doc… that one is gonna be interesting. Grif in particular seems very grudgey against Doc for the betrayal and we just saw Doc save Grif form getting crushed by tackling him into the portal. Which props to Doc for that BTW. Still with that and since they’re 100 on an adventure now, Grif’s not gonna be a happy camper. Also if O’Malley gets active and starts going into Grif’s past issues like in S13, I… imagine that’ll be rough for our favorite orange boy. Also Huggins chased after them, so I assume that they’ll be discovering her soon. Which if she pals up with them…t hat could be really cute tbh! I am all for Grif and Doc shenanigans with a a ball of light! But yeah, this could lead to a LOT of things and I’m very interested in seeing how this plays out.

Final Thoughts

It was great! Admittedly this is a lot mroe bizarre than RvB has been in a while but it’s also RvB where Grif still being alive after getting hit by a tank and having Simmons organs thrown into him improperly isn’t ever questioned. Alien Norse Gods? Ia m all for it! Donut being Jesus? Awesome! More setup for Grf having a character arc? HELL YEAH MAN. It was a well done episode, progressing the plot without wasting any time, gives us a glimpse at how dangerous our villains our, gives us a badass female villain, and sets up everything for the episodes ot come. There’s definitely a feeling of epicness compared to last time, so it looks lie Joe is taking the armature gloves off and giving us one Hell of a story. I am very excited to see where it leads!

[clarkent]

what's so great about the mummy 1999?

are you ready for this? 

it is the most wonderfully made, historically inaccurate, giddily fun, perfectly paced, goofy horror movie romance novel bullshit bonanza that has ever blessed the silver screen.

i mean it is just so beautifully full of every genre without being overwhelming.we’ve got: comedy, action, suspense, horror, romance, adventure, ancient aesthetics, and it’s a period piece. all perfectly balanced and blended into one movie.

and the characters are so LIT

we got our main babe, evelyn “motherfucking” carnahan, a super-klutz librarian, total history nerd, and certified badass/damsel in distress. she raises the dead on accident, because she cannot resist books, and has the guts to put that motherfucker back where he came from and literally saves the world.evie’s greatest hits: 

“what is a place like me, doing in a girl like this?!”

*after totally destroying the library* “i’ve just made a bit of a mess in the library.”

“no harm ever came from reading a book.”

evelyn: *upon opening the tomb* “i’ve dreamt about this since i was a little girl.”rick: “you dream about dead guys?”

“oops.”

then we’ve got rick “brendan fraser” o’connell, your not-so-typical battle hardened gun slinger with a heart of gold. he seems filthy, rude, and a complete scoundrel at first, but then he turns into a literal puppy, with massive heart eyes, that worships the ground evie walks on.rick’s greatest hits:

*screams at mummy*

*screams at sand*

*screams at things that are illogical to scream at*

*screams*

next is our Comedic Relief Character™, jonathan carnahan, who also rises above his trope. he’s there for the laugh sure, but is never useless. he actively helps to move the plot along and isn’t just there. he also is the farthest thing from brainless and annoying.jonathan’s greatest hits:

evelyn: “have you no respect for the dead?”jonathan: “of course i do, but sometimes i’d rather like to join them.” same.

oh and that time he was like “IMHOTEP” and saved his own ass like that was so smooth, y’all know what i’m talking about right??

then there is ardeth BAE. he is the audience rolling his eyes because *sighs* white people. he’s tired of these motherfucking mummies in this motherfucking desert. literally prettier than everyone.(he has a much bigger role in the mummy returns, but is still so fab here)

and of course THE MUMMY. imhotep. actual emo. literally carved some poetry into the back of his sarcophagus when he was buried alive with flesh eating bugs, because he is that Extra™. just wants to bring his girlfriend back to life so he can make out with her without it being treason. 

and all the side characters are also gr8.

now i wanna take a moment to talk about the romance. because it is so BEAUTIFUL. like usually in action movies it’s macho man undermines girl and they bone. not here. no time for that shit. 

rick and evie have such a great relationship based on mutual respect and affection. they both cater to each other’s strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses. they are the literally definition of: “those two. in a fight, they’re lethal. around each other, they melt”

what else, i could literally talk about this movie all day.

the special effects have held up pretty well.the music score is GORGEOUS.the costumes are amazing.the makeup, especially for anck su namun, OH WOW.the george of the jungle era brendan fraser sign me the fuck up.rachel weisz.

so many good things.

it’s just great.

#i secretly rate every action movie from 0 to the mummy

it’s a beautiful mess of a movie that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and transcends time and posterity as the alpha mummy movie, and to those who disagree i beseech you:

[sunken-standard]

'I think I like this holiday.'

Set in the same universe as the ‘raising the dead’ one.  Only one single prompt to go, and I don’t think I’ll be getting to it before November.  Sorry :(

*

“So who are we raising this year?”Sherlock asked, breezing into the morgue.  She wanted him there a bitearly, probably for help with the set-up this time.

“You’ll see,” she said, ahint of mischief dancing in her eyes.  "Just need to do a bit ofprep work and then we’ll grab the bags and be off.“

*

Not much had changed in the year sinceshe’d revealed who she was, though he wasn’t sure why he’d expectedit to, really.  Experiments in the lab had shifted to experiments inher flat or sometimes road trips out into the country, sometimes heasked her for a bit of a shortcut with her scrying mirror for anurgent case, and he’d saved a few hundred pounds on dry cleaning. Turned out she wasn’t as habitually tidy as he once thought; herentire flat was ensorcelled to keep itself clean and she had spellsfor everything.  He understood why they’d tried to endwitchcraft all those centuries ago; the incantation she used tounclog a drain could dissolve a human being into a puddle of goo in amatter of minutes.  If Mycroft got wind of it, she’d probably belocked away in some secret island prison and weaponized as-needed.  

And Toby, who wasn’t just a plain oldhouse cat, but actually her familiar…  Sherlock still didn’ttrust him.  He knew entirely too much and he was too smug about it. At least his silence was easily bought with a tin of sardines or asprig of fresh catnip.  For now.

Sherlock’s virginity had become hisbiggest asset, as far as Molly was concerned.  Blood of a virgin,hair of a virgin, tooth of a virgin (and oh how unpleasant that onehad been, but she had a spell to re-grow it so it wasn’t thatbad, considering), once he even had to hold a raven’s egg in hismouth from sunset to sunrise; he was a rare and valuable commodity. Between that fact and the cat, he was sure never to get a leg over. Not that that was important, exactly, he had Molly all to himselfanyway because he made sure to keep her busy with experiments andbringing her in on more of his cases and the occasional celebratoryouting that was certainly not a date.  Even so, a bit more would benice.

*

“Catherine Eddowes.”

“Nope.”

“Mary Jane Kelly.”

“No, none of the Ripper victims,they’d be too decomposed.  They need soft tissue, remember?”

“Not Robert Pakington, then,”he muttered, racking his brain for who the surprise guest of honourcould be.

“I don’t even know who that is.”

“First murder ever committed inLondon with a handgun.  1536.”

“Ah.  I’ll give you a hint—”

“No hints!  I want to figure itout on my own.”

“More data, then.  We’re notgrave-robbing.”

“Well that’s disappointing,”he huffed.  Not that he was looking forward to the shovelling, but hedid enjoy flouting laws and decency.

“Maybe some other time,” shesaid, sounding like someone’s Mum.

So, soft tissue, but not grave-robbing. Probably not a corpse in another morgue, she’d just have them sentto Bart’s (she could get her hands on anything she wanted and didn’teven need magic to do it).  More decomposed than last year’s cat-ladybecause she was working backwards from fresh after the skeletondebacle, so dead more than four months before being discovered,assuming no extenuating circumstances like exposure to the elementsor submersion…

Either she’d been keeping a corpse onice in a Lok'nStore somewhere or it was a preserved specimen.

“One of Gunther von Hagen’sbodies?”

“No, but that would beinteresting.  I wonder if it would even work on a plasticized body,since they’re mostly inorganic.  We’ll have to remember that for nextyear,” she said.

Her use of ‘we’ in conjunction with‘next year’ made him warm inside.  But back to the matter at hand—

“Jeremy Bentham?”

“No, but warm.  Ish.  Right train,wrong station.”

“A mummy?”

“You’ll see.”

“So it is a mummy.”

She mimed zipping her lips and throwingaway the key.

*

“I knew it was a mummy,” hewhispered as Molly’s friend led them through the bowels of theBritish Museum to one of the conservation rooms.  She squeezed hishand hard enough for the bones to grind together, probably afraidthat he’d blow their cover.  Him,of all people.  Who did she think he was?

Assoon as they were in the room with the mummy, the alarm system wentoff (Molly’s doing).

“Bollocks,”Molly’s friend (whose name he hadn’t caught, but was no threat at allbecause 1. gay, 2. married, 3. under 30) swore.  "Must havetriggered a sensor somehow, it happens sometimes, be back in a tick.“

Thefriend scurried off and Molly dropped Sherlock’s hand with theone-word order of “Candles,” while she set her bag on thenearest table and unpacked the grimoire and Thermos flask ofblood-herb ‘soup.’

“Sheet?”she prompted over her shoulder, pouring the blood mixture into thecap of the flask.

Heleaned over the mummy and pulled back the sheet and stared indisbelief for a moment before finally finding his voice.

“Molly,this is Lindow Man. One of the most significant artefacts in all of British history, notsome ten-a-penny Egyptian mummy!  Whatif something goes wrong?”  He watched in horror as she dippedher fingers in the blood and smeared three lines on the corpse’sforehead.

“Nothing’sgoing to go wrong, I’ve done this before.  You’ve seenme do this before.  Unless there’s something you’re not telling meabout the potential reactivity of one of my reagents—?”

“I’mstill—” he cleared his throat and rolled his wrist in a vaguegesture because he wasn’t going to say avirginout loud “—if that’s what you mean.”

“Thenwe have nothing to worry about.  And I thought we’d have a betterchance communicating with this one, unless you can speak ancientEgyptian?”

“Ihave a working knowledge of ancient Greek, the linguafrancaof the time,” he sniffed, annoyed with her tone.

“AndI have a working knowledge of all the Brittonic and Goideliclanguages, andLatin, thanks to this,” she countered, holding up the grimoire. “Now, if we could get on with it?  On a bit of a schedule.”

He huffed and stepped back; it wasn’tthat he didn’t trust her abilities—he did, more than anyone (notthat he knew any other witches, but that was beside the point)—hewas just very aware of the consequences should something not go toplan.

Molly graced him with a half-smile thatwas the equivalent of a sarcastic thank you and continued anointingthe body, then grabbed her book, realizing too late that she’dforgotten to wipe the blood off her hands.  She scrunched her nose inannoyance and his stomach did that funny, flippy thing it always didwhen she was being utterly adorable.  She read the incantation andthe blood glowed gold for a moment before disappearing into thecorpse’s skin; nothing happened for a moment, and then the toes onthe severed right leg began to wiggle.

The head slowly turned from its bentposition to face forward, crackling like old parchment, its mouthworking to form words.  Sherlock prided himself on his ration andsubsequent immunity to fear; a chill ran down his spine from thesight and he fought the urge to grab Molly and run.  Molly,however, seemed utterly delighted and leaned closer to try to catchwhat Lindow Man (!!!!) might be saying.

He watched as her brow wrinkled and herexpression morphed into consternation.  She stepped back from thebody and looked up at him.

“I’m pretty sure he just called mea cow’s vagina and told me I should be strangled by my own hair,”she said.

“Going to go out on a limb and sayhis ritualistic murder was carried out by your forebears,”Sherlock said dryly, watching the corpse try to prop himself up onwhat was left of his arms.

It was then, of course, that Molly’sfriend re-entered the room, muttering something about needing keys;they hadn’t planned for that contingency.

She looked between the body, Sherlock,and the door in a panic; the friend was supposed to be gone for tenminutes at least, long enough for Molly to cast an amnesia/re-written memory spell.  Sherlock triangulated and worked out anglesin his head and moved two steps to his right, pulling Molly alongwith him as he wrapped his arms around her and dipped her backwardsagainst the table the body was on.  Molly flailed, off-balance andcaught off-guard, then flung her arms around him in a bid to stayupright and just out of reach of the angry, wheezing corpse behindthem.

“Sorry,” he murmured beforeleaning in to kiss her, committing fully to selling it despite thefriend not being able to see their faces from that angle.  

Much to his surprise, she kissed back,and rather ardently at that.

“Whoa, sorry!  I, ah, I didn't—Imean, you said it was your anniversary but I—yeah, I’ll just be outin the hall for a few minutes,” the friend said, footstepsalready retreating.

He lingered for just a second longerbefore breaking the kiss and pulling Molly upright.  "How longuntil the spell wears off?“ he asked quietly.

"I don’t know, it could beminutes, it could be hours!”

“Is there some kind ofcounter-spell or something to break it, like snuffing the candlesor—”

“Blood,” she interrupted. “The blood is connected to you and the purity of your life forceis what’s animating the body.  If your blood is corrupted, the spellbreaks.”

“So you mean…?”  Surely shecouldn’t.

“Do you have a better plan?”she snapped.

He couldn’t fathom there being a moreperfect plan ever conceived of in the history of plans.  "Virginsacrifice it is,“ he said lightly, dipping back down to kiss heragain before she could say anything else.

*

"So much for grave robbing orplasticized bodies next year,” he said, breaking the awkwardsilence in the cab on the way back to—where were they going? Bart’s?  Her flat?  His flat?  He hadn’t been paying attention whenshe’d given the cabby the address.  They hadn’t spoken a word to eachother since they’d broken the spell.

Really, he’d rather forget those threeminutes of mortification, being watched by a two thousand year oldcorpse no less; he wondered if she’d do him a favour and alter hismemories.

“It’s alright, I’ll just go backto the universities again.  Might be able to weasel my way into ananime club or a LARP group.  Or, I mean, there are, ah, other…spells… rituals, really… we could do, if you still want to haveum, the same level of participation with, ah… fluids.”

“Fluids.”  

“Nevermind, forget I said that.”

“I believe we can work somethingout,” he said tentatively.  Then the full impact of what she was(probably) offering hit him.  He couldn’t help but grin.  "Ithink I like this holiday.“

[serpensthesia]

@jet-playin tagged me (again, ages and ages ago) but I’m finally doing it! Answer below:

1) If you could only listen to one genre of music for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Oh man, what a question. I’d probably say “indie rock” because that kind of covers a lot of bases? Man, but that leaves out all the rap music I love… “indie rock and rap”? This is hard!

2) Internal monologue or verbalized soliloquy?

To read? Internal monologue. To watch? Verbalized soliloquy. To do myself? Internal monologue, for sure (but my friends would probably say I prefer a verbalized soliloquy, haha).

3) What would you use as a metaphor to describe Earth?

It’s not my original idea but I kind of like the Native American myth of the earth as a turtle? Or that the Earth is held on a turtle’s back? Turtles all the way down, man.

4) Do you have a film that you can watch over and over and over and over? If so what is it?

Many! I’ve seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show more times than I can count… and not by choice, but I’ve probably seen the Incredibles and We Are the Titans more times than I can count as well, because those were apparently the only two movies we were allowed to watch when I was in high school.

5) What was the first book you remember reading?

I read a lot as a kid, but like… all the usual kid books? Those books with the golden spines, or Dr. Seuss books are probably some of the first books I ever read, but from when I can actually remember going to the library and getting books that I wanted to read? Probably either a Nancy Drew book, which I was obsessed with, or a book about mummies/ancient Egypt or the Black Plague (both things that fascinated me when I was a wee lass). The first book I can very vividly remember being read to me was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and then the Hobbit… there were obviously a few years between those memories, haha.

6) Is life a river or a road? Why?

Even when I want it to be a road, I think it’s a river. Roads indicate ease of travel - someone has already forged this path, even if they did it a long time ago and now the road is broken or forgotten. But I think life is a river because it ebbs and flows, can be turbulent and sometimes it goes places I would rather not go… places where it seems like no road could possibly go.

7) Mystery question! Think of a question and write down your answer, but don’t tell us the question!

Green, but red for kitchen appliances and shoes.

8) What is the most ridiculous point you’ve ever argued?

I guess it’s cheating to say anything I’ve ever argued about? I once started an actual fight with HGD because I wanted him to add his songs to the collaborative playlist from his own Spotify account, rather than from the account that he actually used (which was an account we shared). It felt ridiculous while we were having that argument but it was super important to me (at that point in time) that it said “added by [HGD]” rather than “added by [KK]”…

9) Do you have something that never fails to make you feel like a kid in a candy store? If so, what is it?

Getting mail that isn’t bills because I’m boring AF. People complimenting my hair (while it’s dyed). Getting a really good idea for cupcakes on the same day that I’m going out for coffee so that I have people to give said cupcakes to.

10) What’s you’re favorite film from your childhood?

Better Off Dead, maybe? My parents are both really into John Cusack… and the Little Mermaid (which was released the year that I was born!).

11) “Railroad crossing! Look out for cars!” Can you spell that without any R’s? And, for those of you who are like me, please do so. 😜

God, I’m so bad at riddles… is this one of those things where I’m supposed to be like “yeah, it’s “t-h-a-t”?

[theonyxpath]

As Gen Con looms ever closer and most of us at Onyx Path and a really big chunk of our tremendous freelancers look at spending a week getting to talk face to face with each other and all of you attending in Indianapolis, we’re also looking at a bunch of things that are happenin’ here at Onyx Path central.

As you might have guessed from the photo, Pugmire has started shipping to backers of its Kickstarter. The photo is especially nice because it shows pretty much all of the physical rewards in one shot!

  Besides being great for the Pugmire backers, this is also pretty big news for Onyx Path publishing as a whole. This is our first totally new game line we’ve taken from idea to the published work. To have it turn out so well, and to have so much of a Pugmire community already playing and reading…well, that’s immensely gratifying and bodes well for our future projects.

And if we are doing well in general, that means that the chance of us producing more projects for your favorite game lines goes up, too.

Additionally, as I mentioned last week, Pugmire will be something folks will start seeing in their Friendly Local Game Stores before the end of the year, and that is an experiment that could open up a lot of possibilities.

    You might note below in the project progress report section of the BLURBS!, that Deviant: The Renegades is now officially in the First Draft stage of writing. (That’s the logo and CofD-style skull above here).

Deviant has been a long time getting to this stage, and someday perhaps Dapper Dave Brookshaw will talk more about the ups and downs of getting it here, but suffice to say that the Dapper One busted his hump to pin down as many parts of the setting and rules as he could and really prep this game to be something special.

As a refresher, here’s the gist: you’re a human being who was remade by a shadowy organization (could be one madman, could be a vast international cabal), with all manner of powers … which are linked to mutations and curses. The bad stuff.

Deviants range from wild and uncontrollable psychics to savage human-animal hybrids to abominable mixes of man and machine to creations of surgical horror. You’re out for revenge against the powers that created you… and they’ve got no idea how hard you’re gonna hit them.

Here’s the text we’ve used before:

You woke up…different. Someone changed you; on a slab, an operating table, an altar. By luck or by fate, you escaped. Hunted by the ones who made you, they hold all the cards. Except one thing, what they don’t know is that a fire burns within you because what they did wasn’t right. What they don’t know is that YOU’RE hunting THEM.

Deviant presents a game where the victims of experiments band together to bring down the monolithic organizations that twisted and warped them.

    Wraith20 art by Samuel Araya

  We are in the last week of the Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2 Kickstarter, and we’d love to get the next Dark Era added to the book before the fabled 48 hour warning! With the Eras we have, that will be expanded by another line, and the ones we expect to add from backer Reward Tiers, this is already set to be a sweet book.

But getting some Eras in after the 48 hour scramble would mean a sweet book and a Dark Eras 2 Companion book, and that would really add to the fun. So tell your friends, tell perfect strangers, just let folks know that the more backers we get the better the chance is for more Dark Eras!

      Brian LeBlanc illustration from the Changeling 20th Jumpstart

  You also might have noticed, if you’re the noticin’ type, that pretty much all of our Exalted 3rd projects have started moving forward these last few months. Some of that is certainly the very hard and dedicated work of our new developers, Eric Minton and Robert Vance, and some is due to the same sort of changes to our infrastructure I’ve remarked on all this year.

We just had a great Skype conference with our EX3 devs, and they had many ideas they pitched for further ways to develop the line. Some totally new projects and some ideas for projects requested by our always exciting Exalted community.

The trick for us is to balance what experienced Exalted players need/want, what we need to do to bring newcomers into Exalted, and what kind of a schedule we can put together that does both of those things while not letting the “big books” take too long to see the light of day.

Yes, we have always had a lot on our plates, and those plates are not only full, but we are juggling them as fast as we can! And by juggling, I really mean trying to deliver the very best quality projects while still respecting the situations our creators go through in their lives as they are trying to create that high quality.

Like I mentioned last week; there’s also another balancing act of getting our projects into the best venues for not only all of you to buy them, but also so that our community will grow, while not letting Onyx get caught in a bad deal. The making of art and entertainment is integral to what we do, but nothing will get published if we make too many bad and unprofitable deals.

Lots of those spinning plates.

You’ll hear more about that, and new projects, and all sort of stuff at and during Gen Con as we announce things, reveal this year’s brochure, and generally make pests of ourselves all over social media.

      Here again art for Beckett’s Jyhad Diary by Michael Gaydos

    Finally, a plug here for our long, long, time friend, artist Michael Gaydos, who wants you to know that he is offering a lot of his RPG art for sale here: http://ift.tt/2uSBJRs

Not only are you sure to recognize some of the art Michael has for sale there, at really nice prices, I must say, but you might also recognize his name since he has had some well-deserved success recently with his comic work on Jessica Jones (and I hear he’s also doing some Defenders art?).

He’s a wonderful artist, I’ve been blessed to work with him for just so many years on Vampire in particular, and it’s a perfect time to buy a piece of his art.

As a suggestion.

  BLURBS!

  KICKSTARTER!

Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2 is now in its last week! Last week we added the Golden Age of Pirates Dark Era, featuring the Mage: The Awakening and Geist: The Sin-Eaters game lines!

Now, help us decide on which Dark Eras and which game-lines should fill up this Prestige Edition book! We’re starting with The French Revolution for Vampire: The Requiem and Demon: The Descent, The Great War – Western Front for Geist: The Sin-Eaters and Werewolf: The Forsaken, Light of the Sun – Europe 1600s for Deviant: The Renegades and Mage: The Awakening, Seven Wonders of the Ancient World for Changeling: The Lost and Promethean: The Created, Rise of the Last Imperials – China for Mummy: The Curse and Hunter: The Vigil, and One Thousand and One Nights – Islamic Golden Age for Beast: The Primordial and Vampire: The Requiem.

We’re voting on which of these three Dark Eras to add into the book after our next Stretch Goal is met: King Arthur’s Britannia, the Epic of Gilgamesh, or the Jazz Age/Roaring 20s. Come back the Kickstarter and vote on your favorite!

  ON SALE!

  ON AMAZON:

  We’re delighted to announce the opening of our ebook store on Amazon! You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle. Our initial selection includes these fiction anthologies: Vampire: the Masquerade‘s Endless Ages, Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition‘s Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage 2, Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition‘s Truth Beyond Paradox, Chronicles of Darkness‘ God Machine Chronicle, Mummy: The Curse‘s Curse of the Blue Nile, and Beast: The Primordial‘s The Primordial Feast!

And now you can get these books in the Barnes and Noble Nook store too!

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II

Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox

Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology

Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile

Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology

  And here are six more fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds

Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology

Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology

Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology

  Andand six more more:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

      Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages! And Screens…so many Screens!

    ON DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

This Wednesday we will be adding new Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras shirts to our RedBubble store! Now you can support your favorite game lines in their historical versions!

    Satyr Phil Brucato beckons you once more into the Annex of Mage: The Ascension with this 300 page follow-up to M20. The M20 Book of Secrets is NOW on sale in PDF and PoD versions at DTRPG.com! http://ift.tt/2tKyJtb

More Than Magick

For mages who think they have everything, this trove of treasures expands upon the wealth of material presented throughout Mage: The Ascension’s 20th Anniversary Edition. New Traits, new rules, essays, answers, information… the Secrets are revealed within.

Enter the Annex

Building upon the M20 core rulebook, this Book of Secrets features updated rules and setting material, such as…

An M20 FAQ Genres & Resources

Matters of Focus Justice & Influence

New Abilities, Archetypes, Merits & Flaws

Expanded Rules for Combat, Resonance, Wonders, Computer Systems, and More

This Ascension Continues…

      Chomping it’s way to you comes the Dagger of Spiragos adventure PDF for Scarred Lands! This second in the Spiragos trilogy for levels 4-6 is now in both 5e and Pathfinder PDF versions on DriveThruRPG.com!

PF: http://ift.tt/2uvy38a

5e: http://ift.tt/2uS6FDT

The Titans’ Relics Must Be Destroyed! 

Artifacts from the fallen titan Spiragos have been recovered, and forces are at work that would see them used for ill. The Dagger of Spiragos and the Ring of Spiragos are now in the player characters’ hands — and they must do what they can to rid Scarn of the foul relics of the titans, whatever the cost!

What Came Before 

Dagger of Spiragos is a sequel to the 2014 Gen Con Scarred Lands Special Preview adventure, Gauntlet of Spiragos (available as a free download on DriveThruRPG. com and RPGnow.com). It is also the second adventure in the Spiragos Saga, with Ring of Spiragos, the dramatic finale, as the third and culminating title.

In Gauntlet of Spiragos, the PCs traveled to the legendary Chasm of Flies, where they discovered a tribe of spider-eye goblins who possessed relics of their fallen master, Spiragos. Now, with those items in hand, the PCs travel to the city of Fangsfall, where they must seek aid in destroying the foul objects.

But others wish to possess these items, too,

    Sailing out of the dark, the V20 Dark Ages Companion PDF and physical book PoD versions are going on sale Wednesday on DriveThruRPG.com! http://ift.tt/2pX42dq

Travel the long roads and deep seas in search of power and experience danger, or tackle the wilderness to hunt monsters and face death. Settlements large and small dot the black expanse with the promise of sanctuary, life, and community. These bastions of civilization present cold comfort, when playing host to vampire warlords and sadistic Cainite faiths. Whether led by a Prince, a coordinated belief, or hounded by monsters from without and within — no domain is truly the same as another.

Dark Ages Companion includes:

• Domains scattered across the world, from small fiefdoms to massive cities. Bath, Bjarkarey, Constantinople, Rome, Mogadishu, and Mangaluru each receive coverage.

• Apocrypha including plot hooks, new Paths, and mysteries to explore in your games.

• A how-to guide on building a domain within your chronicle, including events and servants necessary to make a domain as functional or dysfunctional as you wish.

• A study on warfare in the Dark Ages period, so combat in your chronicles can gain authenticity and lethality.

      From the Primordial to your Chronicles, Beast‘s Building a Legend has risen in PDF and PoD formats on DTRPG.com!

http://ift.tt/2u1BBkU

CREATING A CHRONICLE IS REWARDING…

…so why should the Storyteller have all the fun?

The whole troupe should get in on the action, making for a chronicle that reflects the preferences and predilections of all the players.

Building a Legend is a guide for doing exactly that — making a cohesive chronicle, starting with character creation, for Beast: The Primordial. It includes advice on creating Storyteller characters, folding in real world history, and populating the Primordial Dream.

        From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Requiem for Regina (Vampire: The Requiem Elizabethan London 1593). We have shared the world with monsters for millennia. In Elizabeth’s London, vampires built their own empire brick by bloody brick while Elizabeth I cemented her grip on newly Protestant England. Carefully balancing demands from those with Catholic and Lutheran sympathies, she forged a police state. Yet London emerged as a thriving cultural center, and from the crucible emerged a Kindred society forever changed.

http://ift.tt/2sl0Zh4

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG!

      What dark secrets do the eldest vampires hold? Find out in Thousand Years of Night for Vampire: The Requiem! Advance PDF version available now on DriveThruRPG.com. http://ift.tt/2sV8lZR

You may think that with a multitude of people coming, going, dying and running away, we’d be tired, done, or ready to give up. Instead, I find myself restless, looking for the next thing.  There’s always a next thing, and I for one am not yet ready to die.

– Elder Kincaid, Daeva Crone

This book includes:

• Detailed instructions on creating elder vampires, including how to base chronicles around them

• A look into the lives of elders, how they spend their nights, who they work with, and why including their roles in both their clans and covenants

• New Devotions, Merits, and Rituals for elder vampires

• The kinds of creatures that pose a threat to elder vampires, including Inamorata, Lamia, Sons of Phobos, a new elder conspiracy, and more

      From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: To The Strongest (Mage Death of Alexander 330-320 BCE). In the rise and fall of Alexander the Great’s Empire, armies marched and cultures clashed. In the birth pangs of Hellenistic civilization, Awakened sorcerers all over the ancient world met, fought, and joined together. In the chaos of Alexander’s assassination and the wars that followed, Cults became Orders amid conflicts still burning in the present day.

http://ift.tt/2tmTVl6

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG!

  From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Three Kingdoms of Darkness (Changeling and Geist China 220-280). Famine weakens the empire, and war splits it apart. It is an age of ambition and strife, where the hungry dead walk the earth in great numbers, and the Lost must rely on their own kingdoms. Warlords and commoners, ghost-speakers and orphans — who truly serves the Mandate of Heaven?

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2rp8hPL

    From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: The Wolf and the Raven (Werewolf and Geist Vikings 700-1100). The Viking expansion across Europe comes at a pivotal time in history, as new faiths rose to challenge the old and new ways threatened to sweep ancient tradition aside. The Forsaken sail with raiders and explorers, seeking new lands to claim and new spirits to conquer, while Sin-Eaters walk the battlefields bringing the honored dead to their final rewards. The world grows larger and more dangerous by the day, but there are great rewards for those brave enough to fight for them.

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2rUjKtX

      Curated by Matthew McFarland, developer of Changeling: the Dreaming Twentieth Anniversary Edition and featuring authors such as Myranda Kalis, Wren Handman, and Peter Woodworth, this C20 Anthology of Dreams is on sale in electronic/PDF and physical copy PoD formats on DTRPG.com! http://ift.tt/2snBT0X

We dream, and we tell stories. We dream of love and the sort of person who might complete us. We dream of horror and wake breathless. We dream of magic, of flying through the air, or breathing underwater. We dream of fantastic vistas and amazing monsters.

We dream, and then we wake, and we tell stories. Our dreams create the Kithain, the changelings. Our stories are sustenance.

        CONVENTIONS!

GenCon IS IN TWO WEEKS. August 17th – 20th, Indianapolis. Our booth will actually be 20′ x 30′ this year that we’ll be sharing with Nocturnal Media and White Wolf. We’re looking at new displays this year, like a back drop and magazine racks for the brochure(s). FYI, 4-Day passes have sold out! First time ever! Here’s the map again of where we’ll be:

  In November, we’ll be at Game Hole Con in Madison, WI. More news as we have it, and here’s their website: http://ift.tt/RIm6qP

      And now, the new project status updates!

    DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Monarchies of Mau (Monarchies of Mau)

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

  Redlines

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

  Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

DtD Night Horrors: Enemy Action (Demon: the Descent)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

  Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

Scion: Origins (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

  WW Manuscript Approval:

M20 Cookbook (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Ready Made Characters (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Editing:

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

  Post-Editing Development:

Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition

VtR Half-Damned (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

    Indexing:

    ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook – Ellis is working on painting everything up.

Cavaliers of Mars

Wraith 20

W20 Changing Ways – AD’d and Contracted.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

VDA Jumpstart

Scion Origins

Ring of Spiragos

Ex 3 Arms of the Chosen – Finals coming in.

Beast PG – Finals rolling in for most of the stuff.

VtR Half Damned – AD’d and Contracted.

Book of Freeholds

  Marketing Stuff

  In Layout

Prince’s Gambit – New Cards out for playtesting.

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary – Working up a test chapter this week.

  Proofing

M20 Art Book – In progress…

  At Press

Beckett Screen – Shipped to shipper.

Pugmire – SHIPPING!

Pugmire Screen – SHIPPING!

Pugmire Cards & Dice, Pins – SHIPPING!

Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – Printing.

Monarchies of Mau Early Access – PoD proofs coming.

Dark Eras: Lily Sabre and Thorn – Waiting for PoD proofs.

Dark Eras: A Grimm Dark Era – Waiting for PoD proofs.

VTR: Thousand Years of Night – PoD proofs coming.

Gen Con 2017 Brochure – Signed off on proof on Thursday.

Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition) – PoD uploaded and processing…

C20 Jumpstart PDF – Out to backers soon.

CtL Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology PDF – prepping for going live.

      TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: It’s J. K. Rowling‘s birthday! Harry Potter can be argued as the “setting” that opened the door to what has become a much more fantasy-genre, geek-aware, world, and we owe her big thanks for that!