#delta anthology

[trulybetty]

sunday in review | I

hello.

I took an unexpected hiatus from this before Christmas - my time, responsibilities and health have shifted in the last couple of months and with several spinning plates, something had to give. But I'm trying it out again - we'll see how it goes, let me know if you have any feedback!

writing habits.

plotted: - Javi P. x reader for Kel’s ‘Taylor Swift Drabble Challenge’ - Dieter x reader for Kate’s ‘Brandi Carlise Drabble Challenge’

worked on (i.e. jumped into and maybe added like three words, it's been a week): - Sequins!Joel x Reader - Tim x Cagney - Salt Water (I’m determined this will see the light of day at some point this year) - Angsty Dieter x Reader - x3 Lucien x Reader (this man has rotted my brain) - Texas Hold ‘Em anthology

on the blog this week.

handwritten asks which I’m slowly working my way through so the perfectionist in me isn’t awoken lol. If you’ve come across it I said I’d keep it up until Sunday, but if you want to drop an ask I’ll answer any extras that come through

march madness | 2024 I knew the full 63 was a lofty goal for me, my time to read fanfiction is now at odds with my time to write and that window has slowly gotten smaller. So I’ve been trying to squeeze in time to read where I can (list to be uploaded later)

what I read.

The One (Dieter) @schnarfer

Let Me Lay Down Beside You (Joel) @jomiddlemarch

Bookworm (Marcus P.) @write-down-your-dreams

easy like Sunday morning (Dieter) @gnpwdrnwhiskey

Delta Landscaping - Chapter 15 (various Pedro characters) @rhoorl

what I watched.

Road House - this movie knew the assignment

Lioness - so many ideas involving Frankie running through my head

9-1-1: Lone Star - watched for Liv Tyler, somehow staying for Rob Lowe, I don't know who I am

what made my dash happy.

There’s another Frankie Cat in the wild!

Heidi’s Joel AU moodboard

Mel’s Javi edit, who’s coming bar hopping?

celebrating.

Lolabee's 1 Year of Fic Celebration: 5th-7th April

fanfic throwback. this is where I go back into my read list and pick one at random to share - because all fic shouldn't be relegated to the archives after they've been shared.

Glass by @idolatrybarbie marcus pike and prompt no. fifteen— “is there anything we can do?” “we won’t be doing anything."

what was on repeat.

coming in under the wire was beyonce | cowboy carter 🙌

hope you're having a great Sunday! Let me know what you're up to in the comments 💕

#betty's sunday in review #sunday in review #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal characters

[vintagerpg]

A Night at the Opera (2018) is a hardcover anthology of previously published Delta Green scenarios. It takes its title from the sardonic slang of Delta Green agents, who refer to any operation involving the supernatural as a night at the opera.

Delta Green scenarios come in two varieties for me — ones I want to play IMMEDIATELY and ones I never want to play because they tackle subjects I just, for a variety of reasons, don’t want to play games about (and that’s fine, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with them, they just aren’t my taste in horror, you know?). There isn’t much middle ground. Two of the scenarios here — one about Tcho Tcho drug traffickers and one about an infectious fungus — are the latter. A third, “Viscid,” is one of the rare ones that sits in the middle ground, its a mad science/life after death horror yarn and is pretty solid thematically but requires a lot of manhunt travel that I am not sure how I’d handle as the GM. The other three, tho, are stone cold classics.

“Music From a Darkened Room” is a haunted house jam that is so fucking good. Self contained, terrifying, with an extremely high cost for solving — these ghosts have no intention of leaving. The Star Chamber has a great gimmick — players take the roles of their usual characters who preside in judgment over agents from a mission gone wrong, and also play through that action in flashback. Genius. The last one, “Observer Effect,” goes hard on weird science. I don’t even want to talk about that one lest I spoil anything. The whole book is worth the price for that one scenario.

#roleplaying game #tabletop rpg #dungeons & dragons #rpg #d&d #ttrpg #Delta Green #Arc Dream #Cthulhu #Lovecraft #A Night at the Opera

[visible-disappointment]

tagged by @eddiestardust to show my top 6 albums on rotation thank you!!!

to be expected really isnt it...

@riotstructure @mack-anthology-mp3 @rock-n-rollin-bitch @jetstarred @delta-magnetic @drdilfenshmirtz

[lil-tachyon]

For the last couple years I've been keeping a handwritten list of good horror stories I've read. I guess the most recommendable ones are The Music of Erich Zann by Lovecraft, The Stolen Body by Wells, Mimic by Wollheim, The Thing in the Weeds by Hodgson, Cyclops by Leiber, The Screaming Man by Beaumont, and The Open Window by Saki. I might type up and post the whole list on my blog after I've done some more reading (my list of things I still need to read grows much faster than the other list).

Including your other suggestions so I can tackle them all in one post.

I wasn't sure I was going to get to all these but I ended up being kinda knocked out by a nasty cold this week and had time to lay up in bed reading through all of them. Which was an absolute pleasure! Thank you for putting this list together. For fun I thought I'd do a mini-review of each story.

For context, I'm the kind of guy that's read probably every H. P. Lovecraft or Clark Ashton Smith story ever published. I had devoured most of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells by the time I was 14. What I'm trying to say is that I'm already a nerd pre-disposed to loving any Weird Fiction or early sci-fi/horror. If that kind of stuff isn't your speed, then adjust your expectations accordingly.

Also SPOILERS AHEAD for 50-100+ year old short stories.

"The Music of Erich Zann" - H. P. Lovecraft - 1921: This was always going to get a recommendation from me, I just enjoy Lovecraft too much. I'm glad I re-read it though, it had been a while and I think this might be one of my favorite of his stories now. The thing that stood out to me this time around was the exploration of the relationship between Zann and the anonymous protagonist. Feels uncharacteristic of a Lovecraft story to focus so much on the interactions between two human characters and it's done with a fair bit of depth. Bonus: no Lovecraftian racism in this story! Also check out this thrash/prog banger from the Mekong Delta album named after this story.

"The Stolen Body" - H. G. Wells - 1898: So when I opened up my copy of A Dream of Armageddon: The Complete Supernatural Tales (a misnomer it turns out, because it didn't contain the other Wells story on this list) I was surprised to find a bookmark exactly halfway through "The Stolen Body" from where I must've stopped the last time I tried reading this anthology over a decade ago. And I can understand why I would've stopped there because this story is kind of a slog. The premise is fine- a man severs his consciousness from his physical body in the course of an experiment in astral projection and is alarmed to find that when he attempts to return to corporeality another spirit has already taken possession of his frame. The problem is that this story is recounted twice- first from the perspective of a friend where, in spite of their incomplete information, it's pretty obvious what has transpired, and then a second time from the astral-projecting protagonist himself. In the protagonist's telling there's an interesting account of his journey through a kind of vapid hell where body-less spirits wander through eternity suffering of boredom and only able to interact with the physical world via mediums but the concept isn't explored in any depth and is recounted in a painfully "tell, don't show" manner. Can't say I recommend, but it's an interesting artifact of a time when late 19th century occultic beliefs showed up in sci-fi. Kind of like how a lot of 50s-70s sci-fi features psychics.

"Mimic" - Donald A Wollheim - 1942: My favorite story from the list. It's weird, compelling, and extremely brief. I won't summarize it because I think you should just read it. Surprised I hadn't heard of it before, especially since there's apparently a Guillermo Del Toro film adaptation of it? Also surprisingly difficult to track down the text. There are a few incomplete versions of it floating around but if you want the full story, I found it as part of this anthology on archive.org.

"The Thing in the Weeds" - William Hope Hodgson - 1913: - Before this, my only exposure to Hodgson had been "The House on the Borderland" (great story by the way), and reading the "The Thing in the Weeds" has me thinking I should dig a bit deeper into his bibliography. Conveys a sense of claustrophobia and anxiety that feels like classic "Weird Tales" fare while dealing with much lower stakes than unnameable cosmic beings. Maybe more horror stories should be set on the open sea...

"Cyclops" - Fritz Leiber - 1965: This is not a story, this is Leiber's idea for a cool vacuum-dwelling space creature dressed up as a story. Dialogue feels totally unnatural, characters are blank slates, tension is set at zero. But the creature is pretty darn cool and the story is very short. So if you want to just read about a neat alien, go ahead!

"The Howling Man" - Charles Beaumont - 1959: I had already seen the Twilight Zone adaptation of this story a while back so I knew the outline of the plot already, but that in no way diminished my joy in reading this. Beaumont's prose is highly engaging and contains a surprising amount of humor that I don't remember being present in the television version. The only real weak point is the ending. I think a bit more ambiguity over whether and to what the extent the Howling Man and the Abbott were lying to the protagonist would've demanded more introspection from the reader. The idea that releasing the Howling Man / Satan is the direct cause of WWII feels a little too simplistic and also depends on this weird assertion that the early Weimar Republic was experiencing an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity that I'm pretty sure doesn't hold up to historical scrutiny. Still highly recommend, a very fun read!

"The Open Window" - Saki / H. H. Munro - 1914: Less a horror story and more a... silly story? I don't know how to describe it other than it feels like the kind of thing you would have to read and analyze for a single high-school English period. Didn't really do anything for me but it's like a 5-minute read so check it out if you want. Does make me wish I could go on one of those "retreats to the countryside for my nerves" that turn-of-the-century English gentleman and ladies are always going on.

"In the Abyss" - H.G. Wells - 1896: A much better Wells story! And I was lucky enough to find this in the other print Wells anthology I own. (I have an addiction to bringing home old paperbacks I don't need but it's a cheap addiction and I don't have the heart to break it. Plus they're all on shelves and alphabetized so my wife can't get mad at me. Anyway, it's the shelves and shelf space that gets expensive...) It can be a little bit "gadget fiction-y" in its description of the submersible but overall it's well-paced with some good tension and a truly weird exploration of an underwater world. Recommend if you're looking for something outright odd or you like specifically underwater sci-fi. Don't recommend if you don't like thinking about the ways you might die in a submersible.

"The Stone Ship" - William Hope Hodgson - 1914: An interesting and definitely weird story, again about strange happenings on the open sea. Stretches the premise a bit too much, both in the actual length of the story and in my willingness to suspend my disbelief of the "scientific" explanation given at the end. I enjoyed it, but for a spookier and shorter take on a similar premise I'd recommend Lovecraft's "Dagon."

Anyway, thank you again @siryl for your recommendations, I had a blast reading through them!

#send me an ask! #h. p. lovecraft #h. g. wells #weird fiction #horror fiction

[audiofictionuk]

New Fiction Podcasts - 30th September

Norfolk Wizard Game New Audio RPG! A Mage: The Ascension actual-play taking place in the same universe as Hunter: The Parenting, following a group of Mages in Norfolk, Virginia, discovering the truth of reality and their ability to bend it at their whims. https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/norfolkwizardgame https://anchor.fm/s/e930593c/podcast/rss

The Redline New Audio Book! Racing for his life, Kal is like any other Ghoul with a life debt, but when a rare opportunity comes his way, Kal finds himself running the deadliest race so that he might win a life worth living. Pop in your earbuds, the world of the future awaits... https://www.izaicyorks.com/ https://feeds.captivate.fm/theredline/

Unwholesome New Audio Drama! Fiction horror stories in a cinematic soundscape. https://shows.acast.com/unwholesome https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/unwholesomehttps://deow9bq0xqvbj.cloudfront.net/image-logo/15940456/Oneiric-General-Cover_k4wd7p.jpg Oneiric New Audio Book! Oneiric, or The Hatch Pilgrim, is a dream quest, a grail quest, a fever dream... quest. https://oneiricpodcast.podbean.com https://feed.podbean.com/oneiricpodcast/feed.xml

A Void in Reality New Audio RPG! A Fate Core TTRPG built using The Quiet Year set in a world built around a giant chasm and run by an eldritch corporation. Where the only way to do magic is to drain your own life force or someone else’s. Join our ragtag group where everyone is the quirky one and our most normal member is the five foot tall ferret. https://redcircle.com/shows/avoidpod https://feeds.redcircle.com/7692d527-f88c-49f6-9b6b-be676bf54360

Voyagers of the Jump - An Original Traveller Campaign New Audio RPG! On the frontier of charted space, a ragtag crew of spacefarers gets the chance to start over and fix their lives, but only if they accept a dangerous mission that could avert a war—or start one. First published in 1977, Traveller is a science fiction RPG in the vein of The Expanse or Battlestar Galactica. Most who played the original game back in the day remember the robust character creation system where if you push too far and get unlucky with the dice, you can die before you even start playing. Voyagers of the Jump is an original adventure using the 2022 2nd Edition update to the Traveller RPG rules set by Mongoose Publishing. https://www.glasscannonnetwork.com/shows/voyagers-of-the-jump https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/voyagersofthejump

Haunted City - A Blades in the Dark Campaign New Audio RPG! A city bathed in perpetual darkness, and a history not yet written. On the streets of Doskvol, it's kill or be killed as crews vie for power by any means necessary. Haunted City is a dark, twisted romp through a Victorian dystopia, using the rules of arguably the greatest RPG system of the modern era — Blades in the Dark. https://www.glasscannonnetwork.com/shows/haunted-city https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/hauntedcity

Get in the Trunk - A Delta Green Anthology Series New Audio RPG! Cosmic and supernatural horrors await the agents of Delta Green, a secret organization committed to protecting an unaware society—whatever the cost. This formerly exclusive anthology series with a rotating cast of players and handlers has quickly become the most sought-after show on the Network. https://www.glasscannonnetwork.com/shows/get-in-the-trunk https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/getinthetrunk

Long Con New Audio Drama! Two brothers, Seth and Eric, as they stumble into the world of entrepreneurship with a mission that's as outrageous as it is heartwarming. When their father falls into a mysterious coma, they're left with a peculiar last wish: start a successful business. Armed with boundless enthusiasm, questionable ideas, and a flair for accidental chaos, these brothers will stop at nothing to fulfill their comatose dad's dreams. https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/who-let-you-in4 https://anchor.fm/s/e9cc28bc/podcast/rss

New Audio Drama! When a new lead prompts a fresh look at a cold case, Special Agent Nicole Baumer is tasked with finding out what really happened to sixteen year old Erin Michaels. But as parallels surface between her past and Erin’s, Nicole must finally confront her own trauma in order to save her. https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/SBP2836325918 https://feeds.megaphone.fm/SBP2836325918

Lonely Boy New Audio Drama! Get to know Lonely Boy, a 10-episode fictional coming-of-age audio drama about pop sensation Frederick Julius as he takes a musical rewind through the defining moments of his youth. Each Friday we drop a new 25-30 minute episode including a fresh indie pop track inspired by the story. From grappling with his dad's misdeeds to mastering middle school melodrama to finding first love in the most unexpected places, you'll root for this legendary artist as he ultimately deciphers what kind of man he wants to be. https://lonely-boy.captivate.fm https://feeds.captivate.fm/lonely-boy/

The World According To Bards New Audio RPG! A D&D actual play podcast following three bards. The main rule here is “yes, and…” Join us on our thrilling adventure full of lighthearted comedy and general wackiness! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldaccordingtobards https://anchor.fm/s/e96bc558/podcast/rss

Chronicles Of Pangea Ultima New Audio Book! The year is 250,000,000 AD. Meet Tyver α, descendant of Lloviant, who travelled to Pangea Ultima. This is not his home - he had not went here before. https://rss.com/podcasts/chroniclesofpangeaultima https://media.rss.com/chroniclesofpangeaultima/feed.xml

Acey Reads New Audio Book! Reading of original works by Acey Smith, and Sunflower Star Creative works. https://aceyreads.podbean.com/ https://feed.podbean.com/aceyreads/feed.xml

Autumn Tales New Audio Book! Enter a brave, new world where the move of a single letter in a turn of phrase creates the unlikeliest of protagonists. With their own dreams and goals to pursue, each must navigate an ever-shifting landscape by working together. https://autumntales.podbean.com/ https://feed.podbean.com/autumntales/feed.xml

#audio fiction

[bazzybelle]

Current Tag Game

Thanks for the tag, @phinofthestorm @windsweptinred and @mentallyinvernation

Current time: 11:17 AM

Current mood: Honestly, emotionally drained. It's been a week.

Current activity: Answering this questionnaire, listening to Speak Now (Taylor's Version), procrastinating cleaning my house.

Currently thinking about: That's a loaded question my friend...Let's see: My rabbit's food intake (he's had a VERY rough week), cleaning the house, my WIPs...

Current Obsession: In general, definitely Sandman. I had wanted to read this comic series for years (since meeting my husband in 2012), but it's a very heavy series. Essentially, I wasn't in the right headspace to dive into Sandman's many existential themes, until 2020. So I listened to the Audiobooks and feel deeply into the lore and the characters and the amazing world building. Then the Netflix show came out last year and Dreamling became a Thing.... Yeah sorry, I'm stuck here.

On a smaller note... I'm way too currently obsessed with how much Hades is eating and pooping. He was in GI Stasis on Tuesday and we almost lost him. It's been... it's been rough over here. He's ok. Death is a mug's game for him apparently. But now husband and I are just obsessively checking his food intake and how much he's pooping while he recovers.

Current favourite song: The same one it's been for like the last decade. Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.

Currently reading: Dreamling fics (specifically You create me against your lips by @delta-pavonis) (GUYS... THIS FIC!) (no but seriously... it's SO GOOD, and the art by @teejaystumbles makes me feral).

I also bought this beautiful Jane Austen anthology, so I'm making my way through it (currently reading the intro/biography).

Currently watching: I got Disney+ recently and it's got BOTH Boy Meets World and Criminal Minds so... randomly watching eps from both shows.

The next shows I'm planning on watching are Silo and I wanna watch Nimona.

Current favorite character: Hob Gadling from Sandman. He's just SUCH a guy. I already liked him a whole lot from the comics, before Ferdinand Kingsley rocked on up all "yes, but what if you loved him MORE?"

Not only do I love Hob's zest for life and hunger for everything, I love what he represents. He's the Human Everyman in a story about eldritch beings and supernatural magical beings. Hob's just there loving life. On the other hand, he is also the representation on what it means to be human. He is NOT a good man, but he keeps trying to be. Like humanity, he keeps trying to be better and to learn. Like humanity, he strives to grow and experience. He serves as a grounding presence for the otherwordly beings we meet in The Sandman series.

I dunno... I just think he's pretty neat.

Current WIPs: Oh God... Ok... so... I've got two in my Carry On list (Youth Without Youth and No One To Save) and three in my Sandman list (Hob Hanahaki, Reincarnation AU, and Grey's Anatomy AU). I also have a Renaissance/Queer coming out novel that I've been plotting out.

Tagging (no pressure): @carryonsimoncarryonbaz, @amywaterwings, @ninemagicks, @namistrella, @aroace-genderfluid-sheep, @wellbelesbian, @yellobb, @tryan-a-bex, @artsyunderstudy, @facewithoutheart, @stardustasincocaine, @blackberrysummerblog, @ivelovedhimthroughworse and @forabeatofadrum

#belle babbles #current things #tag game

[ichayalovesyou]

(Re)Discovering A Strange New Spock: “The Menagerie” (1x11, 1x12)

Previous: The Corbomite Maneuver

Next: The Conscience of A King

A meta anthology where I re-examine TOS, especially Spock, in light of the new information Discovery & Strange New Worlds has revealed about him to us.

Hoooooo BOY! This one is gonna be an absolute DOOZY. If any episode(s) from TOS were drastically recontextualized by the events of Discovery & Strange New Worlds it’s this particular pair.

I actually had a bit of an older piece of meta discussing theories about this episode after having rewatched The Cage, If Memory Serves, Through The Valley of Shadows, A Quality of Mercy and then these two if anybody wants to see the homework I did on this episode in particular. Tl:dr a lot of the footnotes/theories from that will be in here in a bit more polished and elaborated of a format.

Brace yourselves, this’ll be a long one! Onto the analysis!

Captain Pike’s Condition

There’s a few things that we can glean from the opener of this episode that I think people tend to forget when Chris’s condition gets addressed in a meta narrative way.

It’s a lot more than him being wheelchair bound and in need of a speech aid.

Chris has been in intensive care for months, when he’s taken to the Enterprise he needs 24/7 medical supervision. Any serious emotional upset could potentially put him in a coma. He’s canonically inplied to be in a lot of pain and is easily exhausted. The chair is confirmed to be life support and the only thing between him and his DNA unraveling to a terminal degree. Hence it’s limited capacity for mobility and as a speech aid, the device is prioritizing other things.

He survived severe exposure to delta radiation where two cadets in the same room died. Something I theorize may have to do with Una considering how she spared herself and La’an from warp core radiation, the chimeric antibodies still being in La’an afterward. If Una did something similar for Chris it may have been the difference between death and a very difficult but endurable life.

What Spock is trying to offer Chris is a chance at drastically improving his quality of life. “There’s surviving, and then there’s living.” Talos IV isn’t exile. It’s pain killers, it’s better mobility and speech aids than what Starfleet medicine can currently provide. Chronic medical problems can make leaving your house, or a planet, difficult. Chris being able to thrive on Talos IV whatever way he chooses. with various means of making life more livable. While leaving the planet being difficult to achieve beyond the planet’s confines isn’t all that different.

However indelicate and dramatic Spock’s attempt at helping Chris may be, I don’t think it’s out of some sort of unnuanced ableism.

Two Lights Means “No.”

When the triumvirate arrives, Pike dismisses Kirk & McCoy but allows Spock to stay. Which is no surprise given their relationship.

What does intrigue me however is “You know why I’ve come Captain.”

It implies that Spock had intentions to take Pike to Talos IV prior to the incident. Which makes sense considering Spock had the same foreknowledge as Chris has, if not as directly. Not only that but Spock made a game plan and Pike knows about it.

I also keep thinking about how Pike ends up in a medical facility on Starbase 11 of all places. The one space station that just so happens to be the closest to Talos IV. Which is something that Spock couldn’t have controlled, but Chris potentially could have. Which leads me to the following theory:

If Memory Serves is not the last time we will see Talos IV, I think it will be visited or at least discussed again in SNW. That plans may even be made between Spock & Pike about getting Pike there after the accident somehow. Then something unforeseen either pushing the time table forward (as in while Spock is still serving on Enterprise) or farther back (as in not immediately after the accident).

When Pike cuts him off by refusing, Spock’s response isn’t “I know you don’t want to go but logically blah blah blah”

It’s acknowledging he will be putting himself, his career, and his relationship with Jim at serious risk by doing this for Chris.

Knowing what we already do about Pike, he’s continuing to put the well-being of others above his own. Even when “well” is an extremely strong word for how he’s doing. Pike doesn’t want to risk the reason he allowed this to happen to him getting sabotaged because Spock wants to do something for his sake.

Unfortunately however, Pike taught his boy a little too well. It’s time for Spock to return a small amount of the kindness Pike showed him. With all the compassion of a Human being, and all the stubbornness of Vulcankind.

Kirk’s Faith in Spock, McCoy’s Thoughts on Spock in Private

Up until the evidence begins to weigh Jim down is incredibly defensive of Spock. Bordering on denial at the notion that he would ever be capable of betraying him, only in private to McCoy does he confide his budding doubts.

What does McCoy do in this situation? Defend Spock! He sees him how many people (especially people who have affection for him) see him, operating under the assumption that he Vulcans are honest. Which is hilarious when you consider Spock is the biggest liar between the three of them.

He then goes on to confirm what I knew he knew about Spock from the get go. McCoy is acutely aware of Spock’s utter loathing and rejection of his human side. He even admits to being more emotional and going off half-cocked, but believes Spock incapable of it.

Honestly I think McCoy will find himself liking and being annoyed by Spock in equal measure a lot more. After how he is proved right (Spock us as vulnerable to emotions like love and sentimentality as the rest of us) and proved wrong (Spock’s a liar and even a loose canon) in this episode.

Is This The Real Life? Or Is It Just Fantasy?

Spock seemingly managing to hardwire the ship to kill everyone if they undo the autopilot to Talos IV. It just doesn’t seem like a very Spock thing to do even under these circumstances where he allows the needs of the one to outweigh the many.

The entire fake-out court martial was done as a test for Kirk. However Spock does seem greatly taken aback at the idea of Kirk being punished for his actions as well. Which implies that either Spock is a very good actor, or didn’t know the Commodore was an illusion either. Which could mean that the Talosians were testing both Kirk & Spock for reasons unknown. Unless!

Spock and the Talosians share the same goal, to test Kirk’s faith. In this case, Spock is testing whether Jim’s career is more important to him than Spock or the truth. “Jim, don’t stop me, don’t let him stop me.” Which it is, but an element of trust has been broken between them, something I think takes a couple episodes to fully heal.

Pike In The Courtroom

I find the shift in Pike’s attitude from getting taken aboard to Spock’s fake court martial is intriguing. I wonder how much Pike knows of Spock’s plan and whether or not he can tell the Commodore is a Talosian illusion.

Regardless, he wants the one person who is real in that court room to see what happened to him and to Spock in “The Cage” even as the Talosian sock puppet plays devil’s advocate, very interesting indeed.

Then, when the Talosians remove the vision momentarily, Pike is the first to vote Spock as guilty. Yet allows the record of what happened to him to finish. Maybe as if to see what Kirk will do when faced with an otherwise unanimous choice.

Maybe it was also one last dig at Spock for defying orders. This further implies Pike knew the plan because I highly doubt he’d condemn Spock to death like that on the fly. Not after everything else they’d been through or why they were headed to Talos in the first place.

Then, when the chips are down, even after there are no consequences to Chris saying “no”. No punishment for Spock, and Jim finally understands what’s going on. Pike says “yes” when asked if he wants to go to Talos IV, and thanks Kirk through Spock before Spock leads him away.

Pike has finally let someone else do something compassionate for him instead of the other way around. Taking the advice that he so often gives others which frequently boils down to “let other people trust and be kind to you.” One, final assurance that Spock will be just fine as he moves on to other things. Speaking of which!

Pike Is Still Active Duty (Life Post-Talos)

The Talosians test Kirk, maybe Spock as well, the Commodore is an illusion and Spock (anc possibly Pike) knows that. Pike wants Kirk to see the whole story behind the Talosians. The Talosians want Pike alive and care about both him and Spock’s want.

Yet they’ve conceded to the inevitability of their extinction. Vina is no longer a prisoner. She has chosen to stay and act as a liason to the rare visitor as we see in If Memory Serves. Spock keeps insisting that it’s more complicated than it looks. He confirms they want Pike alive but denies that they want him as a zoo specimen.

And Pike is still an active duty officer and ranking Fleet Captain. The court martial never happened, and General Order 7 is waived for Pike & Spock specifically. Pike has explicit permission to go, and Spock’s charges are dropped.

To me this indicates that the Talosians need Pike for something, something other captive entertainment. As we know, the Talosians don’t seem to particularly enjoy doing things for free, and I’m sure they got their fill from the court drama they imposed on Kirk. Was that really enough?

I think the Talosians may need a Starfleet officer whose already familiar with them and their plights, maybe old, maybe new dangers to them. Spock’s got too many other obligations and Una isn’t present. Which leaves Chris, who has the most to gain from that arrangement.

I would like to think (and maybe it’ll be true) Chris’s career continues covertly as a liason between Talos IV and Starbase 11, continuing his career from a ground posting. If not, the guy deserves a nice retirement after how much he’s already given to the Federation.

Closing Banter w/ The Talosians

After letting Spock see Pike off to Talos IV, the Talosians make an interesting decision as Kirk stares wistfully in Spock’s direction as he leaves.

They show him Vina leaving in her romantic “happily ever after” with her illusory version of Pike. (There’s no way it was real Pike at this point lol, Pike & Spock couldn’t have made it to the transporter room that fast).

“You have your reality, may you find your way as pleasant.”

Man, if we know anything about the Talosians it’s that they love piping hot tea. Even if Spock & Kirk can’t see quite how deeply they care for one another, the Talosians certainly can.

#(re)discovering a strange new spock #star trek #star trek tos #star trek strange new worlds #star trek discovery #tos 1x11 #tos 1x12 #the menagerie #if memory serves #the cage #Star Trek Vina #Spock #s’chn t’gai spock #captain christopher pike #captain James kirk #Jim kirk #spirk #k/s #dr leonard mccoy #leonard bones mccoy #Talos iv #Talosians #Star Trek meta #meta analysis #character meta #cw long post #long post #lar trek

[notallsandmen]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @reallyintoscience & @beatnikfreakiswriting — thank you darklings❤️

Okay, here we go:

1. How many works do you have on A03?

13

2. What's your total A03 word count?

55,019 (I take so much time writing so few words)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Sandman, WIPS for Hellblazer, The Hour, The Expanse

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Putting Out Fire With Gasoline, Nocturnal emissions, and its sequel License my roving hands (which I WILL finish so help me god), Dream nonsense (my first awkward fic) Defiling the Sublime (my Honk Zone Magnum Opus)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always! It may take me a REALLY long time, or it may be in seconds. If you ask questions, or write long comments, you will get an essay back! ❤️

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
I don't write whump, MCD, actually unrequited love, love triangles etc. That being said, I love writing angst when I have plans for a happy ending down the road. My angstiest fic would be Disintegration, which made me so sad that I ended it by hinting at a reconciliatory eldritch incubus visitation 🥰

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The fic that makes ME happiest is Blanket Permission (which I am forever grateful to @quillingwords , for breathing the Purrito into life through her artwork)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, that’s never happened, thankfully.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Hell yes — the kinkier and more historically overcomplicated, the better. I’m particularly invested in relating the smut to history of sexuality and history in general, as well as folklore and mythology.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have two collaborative cross-overs that have been outlined but not yet written: Moulin Rouge AU with @academicblorbo , and Brideshead Revisited AU with @chaosheadspace and @quillingwords. I also have a Joanna Constantine/Death of the Endless WIP that will to some extent be a Sandman/Hellblazer crossover. Also, I really want to write a dreamling The Boat That Rocked smut fic!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. But Fern-Fevered was included in an anthology, which I will never get over

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have started two, but not yet completed them.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?
Freddie Lyon / Bel Rowley from The Hour. Will never get over them

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Straight up copying @reallyintoscience ‘s response here: I exist in a state of optimism where I fully believe I will finish the few Sandman WIPs I have going.

16. What are your writing strengths?
Weaponised bathos (trying to make the beautiful slip on banana peel)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing incredibly slowly, Overcomplicating/overdoing historical research. My latest WIP has a full-on bibliography…

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I love peppering in words in other languages related to the plot, as easter eggs to come back to, but I always include translations at the end. I spent an inordinate time trying to translate BDSM terminology into Old Norse for Lullaby, which was frankly such a mad endeavour that it should be mentioned as an example of my writing weaknesses…

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In my head: The Hour. Published online: The Sandman.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Putting Out Fire (With Gasoline) — made infinitely better by @mathomhouse-e ‘s stunning artwork!

Tagging some lovely writers (tagging wildly here, as usual only do it if you have spoons for it):

@imnotcrying-ipromise @im-not-corrupted @hardly-an-escape @honeyteacakes @pellaaearien @karalynlovescake @so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site @tj-dragonblade @two-hands-toward-the-sun @secondjulia @cuubism @dsudis @delta-pavonis @academicblorbo @valeriianz @gabessquishytum @aeon-of-neon @edgedancer77

#my dreamling writing #my sandman writing #ask games

[finlaena]

Quick doodle of one of my personal characters, Marianne Celestian, from one of the "Delta Caeli" stories I've come up with over the years. She's from a more 'slice of life' deal with some fantastical elements lmao. (It's an anthology concept; one story is neo-noir and another is mecha)

I love her, she's a personal favorite of mine, tbh. She's just a very cheerful if also naive sort who, despite being one of the main characters, doesn't ever actually have anything major revolve around her and is instead an observer to the goings on of others while occasionally getting wrapped up in crazy stuff (think Vaan from FF12 to an extent).

Perhaps someday, those stories will be told, but not today.

#original art #original character

[trillscienceofficer]

Hi :) do you know some Star Trek books you could recommend? I've heard some of them aren't great so I was a little hesitant to go through all of them

I DO have Trek book recs! I imagine you're asking for novels &co. and not, for example, titles like “The Fifty-Year Mission” or “The DS9 Companion” which are non-fiction books concerned with the production of the shows (but in any case the two I've cited are my favorites and I think especially the first one is a clear recommendation for any Trekkie). Also caveat that... I've not read that many novels either because, like you, I'm kinda skittish about wading through them all, especially after I've encountered a few really terrible ones.

Anyway here goes, divided in in 'Novels', 'Things that aren't novels but I recommend anyway' and a few titles on my TBR list that sound good and I feel confident suggesting even if I haven't gotten around to reading them yet.

Novels

The Lives of Dax (short story anthology, 1999) This is unquestionably still my favorite fiction tie-in for the Trek universe. Not all stories are good (Emony's and Curzon's are especially bad) but the ones I like are truly outstanding to me and inform my understanding of the Dax hosts to this day. I love the fact that it's framed as Ezri remembering various events of her previous lives. It's an easy read, given the format, and if you're willing to be patient with some stories the other ones will totally deliver, imho!

Catalyst of Sorrows by Margaret Wander Bonanno (2004) This book is part of 'The Lost Era' series, which tried to fill in the gap between the TOS movies and TNG. This one in particular is wild; main cast includes Uhura, Crusher, Sisko and Tuvok (the latter two going on a road trip!) and it's also a fairly deep dive into Romulan society written by someone who was obviously a DS9 fan. This was recommended to me many years ago by @senyorspock and if you like Senator Cretak from S7 of DS9 this is definitely a book you want to read.

Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume Two (anthology, 2005) I have mixed feelings about some of the directions taken by the two novels in this book but I think they're ultimately both enjoyable and contain some fun and poignant elements (the scene where Ezri visits Jadzia's grave on Trill is permanently engraved in my brain). If you like Trills and the Sisko family I definitely recommend this book.

Hollow Men by Una McCormack (2005) This novel is a fun follow-up to "In The Pale Moonlight" and while it is a little too concerned with sympathizing with poor little meow meow Garak for my taste (I realize here my opinion differs from most other DS9 fans) I still liked for its explorations of Benjamin Sisko's state of mind at the height of the Dominion War. Also I ugly laughed at every scene Sisko and Garak have together, I do enjoy when they butt heads but still need each other... it is a well-written book!

String Theory - Cohesion by Jeffrey Lang (2005) Unlike the others this is strictly a Voyager novel, set in the Delta Quadrant. This book gets... a little bogged down by its own cleverness sometimes but the author was clearly concerned with science and world-building making sense, which I can't argue against. But you're not here for this: the best part of the book is B'Elanna and Seven getting stranded on the surface of a planet and being forced to form a 'collective of two' in order to survive. It goes as well as you can expect (yes they absolutely still manage to fight even when telepathically linked), and it is amazing. I don't always agree with their characterization here but this novel is, to me, the episode with a B'Elanna&Seven B-plot that we never got on the show. (This book is also the first of a trilogy but I found the second one unreadable and I hear the third completely ditches the themes established by the first two, so.)

Spock's World by Diane Duane (1988) This novel is a classic for a reason. I wholeheartedly recommend it even if a lot of the Vulcan world-building & characterization in it isn't strictly canon anymore. I love the way it alternates between the present and the past of Vulcan, and the Enterprise. The history of the planet is told through episodes but they are so effective in explaining why Vulcans are the way they are. If you've never read a Trek novel before and you love TOS, definitely start here.

I have a soft spot for the novelizations of Star Trek II, III, and IV by Vonda McIntyre, which contain some amazing backstory for Saavik and how she came to be Spock's protégée, as well as generally offering interesting characterization for side characters that the movies had no time to explore. Not all of it is still canon, given that they were written in the early eighties, but it's not a deal-breaker to me.

Things that aren't novels but I recommend anyway

Star Trek: Waypoint (Issues 1-6, which you can find in a single volume), Waypoint special and Waypoint special (2019). These are the BEST Trek comics, period. It's all short stories about the cast of the shows up to Enterprise, and the quality is amazingly high, consistently so. I'm not a big comic person and yet these get to me every time.

Hidden Universe Travel Guide: Vulcan (2016) and The Klingon Empire (2017), both by Dayton Ward. Okay I just... love the concept of these lol. They're travel guides! For Vulcan and the Klingon Empire! Neither takes itself too seriously (there are chapters such as 'So You Want To Purge All Of Your Emotions') but it's a nice riff on the Trek universe, and they're beautifully illustrated. Characters from all shows will occasionally chime in suggest their favorite places to visit, too, which was a pleasant surprise. For someone like me who has trouble coming up with world-building stuff on my own, both books have been giving me plenty of inspiration (of course I don't always agree with the way things are framed but hey, I didn't expect them to be perfect!)

In my TBR list

Dark Passions Vol 1 and 2 by Susan Wright. Wright wrote one of my fave stories from “The Lives of Dax” and these two novels sound absolutely wild, I can't wait to read about all the mirror versions of the Voyager characters

Time's Enemy by L. A. Graf. This collective of writers wrote arguably the best story in “The Lives of Dax” and they seem to share many of my sensibilities when it comes to writing these characters so I've been meaning to read this DS9 novel for a while!

The Rihannsu novels by Diane Duane, which are THE Romulan novels par excellence, I believe, but I still haven't gotten around to reading them somehow

Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume Three simply because I just found a paperback of it recently, and it sounds interesting

#trek novels #askbox #thank you for the question i always enjoy talking about trek novels #i have read many more than these but the others i really didn't like so #anyway check the replies for other suggestions!

[ofowlsdinosaursanddragons]

KAIJUMORPHA AU OVERVIEW:

what is the au about and what are kaijumorphs?

Kaijumorpha au is an anthological Alternate universe that is primarily based on creature features, folklore, and me brainrotting over creature aus. The main central point of the au are those called kaijumorphs, humans with monstrous or pokemon like traits, that have been as old as when humans have been around in the pokemon universe.

In the Au, kaijumorphs can come in three different forms, these being demihumans, werebeasts, and Therus(working on the name).

Demihumans humans with Pokémon-like traits that are based on the type the person has birth (like dragon types having draconic/dinosaurian features and flying types having feathers or a patagium.)

( for example, my sada design.)

the next are werebeasts, and as their names imply, they are humans who can transform into a more monstrous version of an animal/Pokémon if given certain stimuli (the moon, sun, fight or flight etc). the amount of Sapience someone had in their werebeast form is based how many times the person has been used to the form (like the first few times, the person is nothing more than a feral beast but a few more times they become used to it).

I don’t have a picture for this but think of the werebeasts from the sonic freaks au as an example.

The final category of these kaijumorphs are the mythical Therus. mostly bestial beings considered to be the “legendaries” among both humans and animals (oh yeah, animals exist in the au btw). This group are most than not, artificially created via either human hubris or fusing human and pokemon. Therus are able to transform back into humans, but it takes considerable energy on the Therus and many of them (mostly unnaturally created ones) are unable to know how to turn back into humans.

The main stories

the main stories within the kaijumorpha au include (and tldr)

“child of the golden phoenix” (Johto games and Ethan being ho-oh’s parent and has a shoenn vibe.)

“emeralds under the delta sky” (Pokemon emerald/Oras fusion but Brendan is the biological son of Archie and Maxie)

“Tales of platinum borea” (pokemon platinum with a more ghibli vibe and Cyrus is actually a polar sauropod)

“scars of black and white” (Unova games but I draw HEAVY inspiration from the manga and FMA)

“crossed and splitting paths” (XY but It has a better story and I made Calem a centaur.)

“Eclipse at the edge of the horizon” (how absolutely powerful can I make the Elio/Selene in here? Oh I know! “Gives them kaiju forms that fistfight ultra necrozma)

“Fenrir’s chosen wolves” (Scottish werewolf twins fistfight eternatus and the armor dogs are ancient werewolves.)

“bonds forged in scarlet” (“how much found family can I put into Scatlet?”)

“power always comes at a price” (the Kieran story)

“Hisui’s boreal Titan” (Cyrus gets sent to hisui alongside Lucas and meet akari who is actually a clone created by Arceus)

#lore dump #kaijumorpha au #pokemon #“child of the golden phoenix” #“Emeralds under the delta sky” #“Tales of platinum borea” #“Scars of black and white” #“crossed and splitting paths” #“Eclipse at the edge of the horizon” #“Fenrir’s chosen wolves” #“bonds forged in scarlet” #“Power always comes at a price” #“Hisui’s boreal Titan”

[campbitch]

point horror is an aggregate horror series created in 1991 by scholastic inc, with novels written by authors r.l. stine,  lisa j. Smith, diane hoh, richie tankersley cusick, christopher pike, and caroline b. cooney. point horror is being made into a tv anthology series by hbo max (titled "point fear", possibly dead in the water w/ the restructuring of the service...). this post is about the locations and main plot points in the series. this post has mentions of suicide, drownings, and murder. please tread carefully. non-rp blogs do not interact with this post.

nightmare hall (spinoff series, diane hoh) — not it's actual name, but what students at the university refer to it as. a girl was said to have hanged herself in the dorm of the main character. the actual dorm building is nightingale hall at salem university. there's a pizza place on campus and a mechanical wizard fortune teller machine that kids go wild asking questions of. the popular sorority is omega phi delta. tri gamma from twisted could also be a sorority at salem u, but they are different authors.

the country house (trick or treat, richie tankersley cusick) — located somewhere in illinois outside of chicago. there's a cemetery on the property.

manorwood (help wanted, richie tankersley cusick) — located in florida, manorwood is the stately home of the swanson family, and the site of another supposed suicide that was actually murder.

santa luisa (funhouse, diane hoh) — assumed to be in california, santa luisa is a small boardwalk beach town with an amusement park.

greenhaven (the invitation, diane hoh) — connecticut adjacent, this is a book where popular cass rockham's fall party is legendary in their small town, but invites mayhem and murder one unsuspecting year.

the lake (the accident, diane hoh) — the lake is where a young girl drowned and is now haunted by her ghost. main character megan gets possessed by the ghost for a while. the ghost (i think her name is jane?) uses mirrors to find people she wants to possess, so the ghost can pretty much go anywhere.

beverly island (the lifeguard, richie tankersley cusick) — deadly lifeguards make life a living hell for the tourists on beverly island. they should be saving people, right? not harming them? someone tell them that. seems to be modeled after a small fishing town in maine. beach house (r.l. stine) would likely take place in this same area, with a killer on the loose who never leaves any clue behind and disappears without a trace.

there is a perfume line consisting of poison, venom, and obsession, sold at the store dry ice (a hot topic dupe) in the local mall. the perfume is pulled from shelves and the store disappears from existence after wreaking havoc on dove's life.

a character has the ability to freeze people she touches and uses this to get revenge on her friend for dating the boy she likes.

vampires exist in this series and are featured in the cheerleader and the vampire's promise spinoff series.

#idk i like making these posts so i can reference back to them #for verses and plotting purposes #suicide // #drowning // #murder // #car accident // #✰* — ˗ˏˋ locations ˎˊ˗

[vintagerpg]

A Victim of the Art (2018) was originally a Call of Cthulhu scenario, included in the Pagan Publishing sourcebook, Delta Green: Countdown. This version has been retooled for the Delta Green RPG. I am pretty sure it has only been published as a stand-alone booklet and hasn’t been included in any of the adventure anthology hardcovers.

Anyway, it’s great, a story of a serial killer stalking a seaside town. As with most Delta Green scenarios, the way through is neither clear nor comfortable. The source of the supernatural troubles isn’t a maniacal sorcerer; rather, there is a lack of intention behind all the key players that makes the mystery a real tragedy in the end. Delta Green is about costs, for the player characters, and for everyone they meet.

I enjoy Dennis Detwiller’s cover for this one, it is one of the covers that really enticed me into trying out Delta Green in the first place.

#roleplaying game #tabletop rpg #dungeons & dragons #rpg #d&d #ttrpg #Delta Green #Arc Dream #Cthulhu #Lovecraft #A Victim of the Art

[nitewrighter]

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better

I was tagged by @yourlocalrandombisexual

Three Ships: 

1. Whatever the hell Cam + Pal/Paul have going on-- I need to stress that this isn't a romantic ship. Camilla carried Palamedes' soul inside her even as it corroded her and now they've both given themselves up to make a new person because neither could stand to lose the other. The notebook. The tape recorder. "Life is too short and love is too long." "Go loud."

2. Gency-- Girlboss and Malewife with hearty helpings of whump and fluff, as well as discussions about personal growth. I've written entirely too much fic about them not to include them. Also it's nice seeing all the little references to their shippy stuff with the Valentine's event going on :)

3. Fitzcrozier-- What if our ships were stranded in ice trying to find the northwest passage and we were slowly being picked off one by one by a polar bear monster with a semi-human face and we were all slowly dying of lead poisoning from tainted food and we initially couldn't stand each other but we're gradually gaining a profound respect and affection towards each other as it becomes increasingly clear we won't make it back home... and we're both men?

First Ever Ship: I'd say the first ship that really felt like ~my~ ship was Saya and Hagi from Blood+. That ship had everything: Vampires, bodyguard dynamics, devotion, asymmetrical character development over an absurdly long period of time, weird almost insect-like biological imperatives influencing said devotion, a death pact... It's honestly shocking to me that Blood+ didn't have that much of an impact because it was everything to me.

Last Song: Delta by C2C

Last Movie: Oh god it was this really underwhelming super macho drama/thriller thing directed by Russell Crowe--Poker Face. Not nearly as good as the TV show Poker Face. You know what I'm just going to say "Tampopo" instead because that one was way better.

Currently Reading: Oh gosh a whole bunch of stuff. "How to Invent Everything" by Ryan North, "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt, this steampunk short story anthology, "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do" by Bruce Lee....The worst part about working at a library is you get Book WIP syndrome and the only thing that really forces you to try and finish books in a timely manner is the waiting list.

Currently Watching: The Last of Us on HBO, The Lost Kitchen, cooking videos on youtube.

Currently consuming: Black tea with cream and sugar and toasted Irish brown bread with looooads of butter!

Currently craving: A Geisha's kiss Sushirrito and to ride a train for at least 4 hours, if not take a 5-day long train journey. I need to be on a train like Ishmael needs to be at sea or else we'll both start knocking people's hats off.

Tagging:

@parker-of-loxley, @obicoconobi, @stealingpotatoes, @words-to-accomplish-something, @grainypicofthemoon, @macko-99, @the-legion, @callmeshei, @little-miss-mash

#tag games #about me

[aggressivelyarospec]

centipedesdilemma submitted:

“Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1955-1965)

A genre anthology television show, most episodes being of a thriller or mystery story. Can be found for free on the Internet Archive site with no adds, and also on Peacock with adds.

Was rewatching this show lately and realized the episode “And the Desert Shall Blossom” showcases a very strong friendship (to the point of it easily being a QPR) between main characters Tom and Ben, two elderly cowboys who have been living together for who knows how many years. Their bond is treated as completely ordinary by the townsfolk, which is nice to see - no one ever insinuates that they should be married or living apart. A really great episode.

Here is a list of episodes from this series that are romance-free, in case “And the Desert Shall Blossom” makes you curious about the whole show:

- “Triggers in Leash” - “Into Thin Air” - “Breakdown” - “The Long Shot” - “A Bullet for Baldwin” - “Conversation Over a Corpse” - “The Manacled” - “The Dangerous People” - “Mail Order Prophet” - “The Perfect Crime” - “Miss Paisley’s Cat” - “Miss Bracegridle Does Her Duty” - “The Right Kind of House” - “The Safe Place” - “The Crooked Road” - the two main characters are actually pretending to be married - “Safety for the Witness” - “A Personal Matter” - “The Diamond Necklace” - “Relative Value” - “Banquo’s Chair” - “The Dusty Drawer”     - $200 in todays money would be over $2,000     - It was popular in that time period for boarding houses to be rented, meaning several people could rent rooms in one house for anytime from weeks to years. Meals were provided by the landlady/landlord and people would usually eat together. Thus, the two main characters are kind of roommates - “Dry Run” - “Road Hog” - “Not the Running Type” - “The Little Man Who Was There” - “Cell 227” - “The Schartz-Metterklume Method” - “Letter of Credit” - “Escape to Sonoita” - “The Contest for Aaron Gold” - “Incident in a Small Jail” - “Ambition” - “Cop for a Day” - “Beta Delta Gamma” - “The Right Kind of Medicine” - “The Door Without a Key” - “The Test”- “Burglar Proof” - “The Last Remains” - “The Twelve Hour Caper”

Hitchcock Hour - “A Matter of Murder” ; two side characters are dating, but the main characters are group of friends who steal cars for the money and how they deal with being framed for murder - “Ten Minutes from Now” - “The Return of Verge Likens” - “The Photographer and the Undertaker” - “Power of Attorney”

It should be noted that this show was produced back when the Hays Code was still a thing, which limited what Hitchcock could do with some of his stories. One of these limitations was that murderers had to be either put in jail or die by the end of the episode/movie, even if it was self defense. However, Hitchcock found a clever way around that by using his appearance in the episodes closing statement to say what the censors wanted him to. Because of this, it would be better when watching to turn off the episode before this closing segment, as it would be respectful to what the original screenwriters intended.

P.S. The episode “No Pain” might count under Dragonfly-Fandoms October 11th question.

#aro movies monday #amm: oct23 #amm list: romance free #centipedesdilemma #long post #really long post #rest under the cut

[duckprintspress]

Contributor Spotlights: Tris Lawrence and Annabeth Lynch

Welcome to She Wears the Midnight Crown and He Bears the Cape of Stars, two brand-new anthologies that share a common theme – masquerades – but tell different types of stories – wlw in She Wears the Midnight Crown and mlm in He Bears the Cape of Stars. These collections are the latest titles from Duck Prints Press, the indie publisher founded by fans to publish original works by fan creators, and they’re crowdfunding NOW, only on Seed & Spark!

Curious about the collections? Well, here’s a sneak peek of the works of two of our creators!

He Bears the Cape of Stars Contributor Spotlight: Tris Lawrence

Biography: Tris Lawrence has been writing since she was a child, filling notebooks with the worlds, dreams, and voices from inside her head. She declared in sixth grade that she wanted to be a writer, promptly started drafting her first novel in seventh grade, and never looked back.

Tris has always been fascinated by the way people work: how their relationships fit together, how they interact socially, how they learn and discover. She has read avidly her entire life, devouring mysteries, romances, science fiction, and fantasy novels, and as an adult still loves all of these genres, as well as reading YA constantly. Her favorite stories center on people who are learning or discovering new things, and coming-of-age stories top that list, which is how the school of Pine Hills University came to be. She wants to share stories of people who are learning how to relate to each other, how to adult, how to college, and how to just be. She hopes to share stories about diverse characters with representation of everything she wishes she could have read growing up, and she hopes that these stories will touch the lives and hearts of those who read them.

When not writing, Tris is a wife, a mother (to two children, a cat, and a dog), a knitter, a system administrator, a black belt in taekwondo, an avid reader, and a music aficionado. Sleep, she claims, is optional.

Links: Facebook | Pillowfort | Tumblr | Twitter

Story Title: Delta

Teaser:

Ellis tried to imagine any of the people at work playing the game. Maybe someone down in IT, or one of the folks in Marketing… he couldn’t imagine any of the executives he worked with, or the financial people. On the other hand, he supposed no one would expect him to play, either. While Ellis would bet money that none of the people he worked with—or the other parents and teachers he had to deal with for his family—played Delta, he could be wrong.

It’s a risk I’m willing to take. Delta is the only place I feel like me. I spend so much time feeling uncomfortable in my own skin, I just want to have something here to remind me every day that I’m still me under the hood. I feel real in Delta. More real than reality. I want to be able to see the ink and have that touchstone for myself.

Ellis cleaned up his office, neatly stacking papers for tomorrow and writing out a list of tasks that needed to be done first thing. He responded to the one email that came in, then shut down his computer for the day. Anyone else who needed him here could wait.

Sasha’s message came in just as Ellis was retwisting the low bun in his hair. He stuck the hair pin in to hold it in place, then looked at his phone.

You don’t feel real?

She Wears the Midnight Crown Contributor Spotlight: Annabeth Lynch

Biography: Annabeth Lynch is a genderfae (she/they), bisexual author who writes mostly queer stories, preferring to write marginalized characters finding love. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, daughter, and two very overweight cats.

Links: Facebook | Instagram

Story Title: Silver Secrets

Teaser:

“How did you know it was me?”

Kanna shook her head. “I will always know you. You are the one thing that is never lost to me.”

Thalia’s eyes were still bright with unshed tears when she leaned into Kanna, their lips brushing. “You always were too smart for your own good,” she whispered against Kanna’s mouth.

Kanna pulled away, putting her hands on Thalia’s cheeks. “I need you to tell me right now. You didn’t do this, did you?”

“What? Of course not. How could you think that?” Thalia gasped, eyes wide.

“I don’t. But if you did, you can’t lie to me. I need to know now. Before the cops get here and start looking. I will always protect you unconditionally. You know that.”

“You saw me through my mask, can you not see me through my words?”

There was a long pause as Kanna stroked her cheeks. After a moment she said, “I see you, Thalia.”

*

Intrigued? You should be! But, if you want to read the rest of these stories you’ll need to back our campaign, running now through July 14th, 2022!

Visit our Campaign Page Now!

#duck prints press #mlm fiction #wlw fiction #queer fiction #queer anthology #genderqueer characters #genderqueer fiction #trans character #trans stories #crowdfunding