LISTS - Blog Posts
List of random obscure stuff I'm fascinated with for no reason, or maybe there is a reason, but I'm too tired to figure it out:
1. Small spaces that aren't really safe given the overall environment, but that still feels safe for whatever reason. (Ex. 2D's underwater room from Plastic Beach, my own room, horror game safe rooms, the backseat of cars driving at night.)
2. The cold. Any version. The Arctic, snow in Texas, the sound of a box fan in the middle of winter. Snow. I like the cold. I like walking in it and having it surround me.
3. Blue noise. The ambiance noise. It's my favorite kind. It sounds cold. Ain't that neat?
4. Early 2000s nostalgia. This one's more understandable, considering I grew up in the 2000s. Particularly focused on the technology because young me was a big fan of the 'puter. Throw in a DS, and I'm sold.
5. Nautical stuff. I know next to nothing about sailing, but you bet your ass I love me some boats and sailors. Oh, or lighthouses and lighthouse keepers. Not so much pirates as just old people sailing boats. Make it cold and thats even better. Like that one oil rig horror game? Loved it. The ocean is cool too sometimes. Especially stingrays. Love em. You know what actually?
6. Stingrays. Funny dudes. Favorite animal. Any kind of ray, really. Mantaray, eagle ray, cownose ray... I think they're very cool.
7. Carousels. I like the pretty horses, fucking sue me. I'd like to design them, especially the ones with all types of animals. The ones on boardwalks or outside aquariums in particular are very cool because they have all the sea creatures.
1000 Books You May Have Actually Read
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Here's an updated list of what I'm thankful for ✨
The list definitely got bigger - some are old, some are new, some are silly, a lot more are of food 👏 but more importantly, they're reminders to appreciate what I currently have, counting the blessings not just today but every day ☺️
I'm also thankful for you all! 🧡
My top 10 Favourite "End of Year Lists" list
10. My own Facebook statuses and Tumblr posts - Quality, naturally, but back at the end due to my relatively low audience compared to the rest of this list. 9. Rolling Ston...- Ha can't keep a straight face for that one! 8. Stereogum - Premature end of year list happened back in Feburary. 7. Empire On-line- The Empire fails to strike back. 6. The Ticket- Sign o' the Irish Times. 5. Uncut albums of the year -what's the latest Americana release to completely pass me by? 4. Pitchfork - hip hop is the new indie...We swear! 3. Culture Magazine -Camilla Long is the worst film critic I have ever read. 2. Wire - decoder ring to follow in January 2014 edition. 1. Sight and Sound- Both comprehensive and at times incomprehensible.
I got bored so I decided to make a list of every online fandom I’ve ever been in (I know my handwriting’s messy)
The current list consisted of around 54 fandoms, plus or minus 5 considering a lot of these overlap, from all sorts of media including video games, musicals, books, films, TV shows, and music (and not sports TAKE THAT PERSON I KNOW! You know who you are 👁️👁️). Of these about 54, I am currently active in 24 of these, and the other 30 I’m rather not that active in or just not apart of anymore mostly from moving on.
I only listed the first thirty on the list in the tags lol
things you don't do for a girl you're "just friends" with:
walk her anywhere she wants to go, even when it's cold and wet outside and all you want is to be inside
be jealous when she brings up a boy you know she used to have a crush on (especially since you're pretty sure she's over him)
get butterflies whenever she moves her chair closer to yours
smile when you see her name on your phone (and refuse to remove the hearts you put on her contact when you had a crush on her, even though you're totally over it)
stay up way later than you meant to just to text her because as soon as you go to bed it's over
and you definitely, definitely dont want to kiss her. not the girl you're just friends with. not the girl you say you're over
Really says something about the dire state of offerings for men interested in sewing their own clothes that even searching things like "interesting men's clothing patterns" brings up articles with links to four or five whole websites that primarily offer admittedly nice but practically identical patterns for making button-ups and work pants and maybe a varsity/bomber jacket if you're lucky.
(Branching out into historical costuming for everyday wear is like your one shot at variation, and even then, the ratio of men's to women's patterns on every website is frustrating to say the least.)
Patternmakers as a trans man I am begging you. Give me a little more to work with here.
In case anyone is having a bad night:
Here is the fudgiest brownie in a mug recipe I’ve found
Here are some fun sites
Here is a master post of Adventure Time episodes and comics
Here is a master post of movies including Disney and Studio Ghibli
Here is a master post of other master posts to TV shows and movies
*tucks you in with fuzzy blanket* *pats your head*
You’ll be okay, friend <3
can we as a society make puppetry cool again. like lets make it trendy. Mainstream. more people should get into doing it and more people should appreciate it. puppetry requires craftsmanship and charisma and physical acting and vocal performance!! you can’t get that from ai. it has a charm to it that neither 2D nor cg animation has. Have you ever watched a puppetry performance and realized you were genuinely convinced that the puppet was getting into bed or eating something or giving a hug that you wholly forgot there was some guy’s arm in there.
isn’t it lovely. to make a funny little guy to tell stories with. is that not so human of us. it’s such a lovely art form. I love you puppets I love you muppets I love you marionettes I love you handmade sock puppets I love you paper bags with googley eyes I love you armatures I love you I love you I love you!!!!!
Black Horror Writers
Feeling a sudden desire, for whatever reason, to add some diversity to your bookshelf? Want to put a few bucks in the pockets of authors of color? Here’s a sampler platter to get you started.
Tananarive Due A film historian and a hot name in horror fiction, Due is an outspoken academic and prolific author. Start with The Good House, a 2003 Gothic, if you’re a fan of haunted house stories.
Wrath James White A former athlete, White is a hugely prolific author of hardcore horror. You can start with The Resurrectionist, but honestly, with more than 35 books to choose from, you’ve got plenty of options.
Victor LaValle LaValle has only written four novels so far, but they’re well-regarded and rich narratives. The Changeling is the usual recommendation for a starting place.
Brandon Massey Southern Gothic themes woven through horror, suspense and urban themes - that’s Massey’s brand in a nutshell. He’s plenty prolific, so you’ve got a bunch to choose from. Maybe start with this year’s new release, The Quiet Ones.
Chesya Burke A prolific short story writer, Burke writes speculative fiction and comic books. If you’d like a collection of stories all in one place, try out Let’s Play White. If you’d rather do a novel, read The Strange Crimes of Little Africa.
Jemiah Jefferson Do you like pulpy erotic vampire horror? You don’t have to answer that. Just buy Jefferson’s books if you do. There’s a series, so you’ll want to start at the beginning with Voice of the Blood.
Michael Boatman An actor and screenwriter, Boatman is also a novelist. He writes splatterpunk that Joe Lansdale has praised, which is as fine an accolade as they come. The Revenant Road was his first novel. He also shows up in a ton of anthologies, so keep an eye out.
Helen Oyeyemi Oyeyemi is a rising star, Shirley Jackson Award finalist, scholar, a world traveler, among other things. Her most recent book, Gingerbread, came out in 2019. I think it would not be out of line to compare her to Angela Carter.
Maurice Carlos Ruffin A debut novelist, Ruffin’s work launched with a bang in February. His book We Cast a Shadow was long-listed for a stack of prizes, and as a scathing cultural sci-fi horror, it fits right in with the work of folks like Jordan Peele.
Nnedi Okorafor A Nigerian-American writer, Okorafor writes for both children and adults, and her stories have earned a whole stack of awards. She is, for the record, also disabled. She’s got a whole stack of YA and adult books to choose from, as well as comic books. Binti and its sequel are as good a place as any to start, though.
Jewelle Gomez Philanthropist, playwright, poet, author – Gomez dabbles in a lot of things, and she’s an outspoken voice for LGBTQ women of color. Check out The Gilda Stories if you’ve always wanted to read about a black lesbian vampire (and, let’s be honest, who hasn’t?)
PS: When you order, don’t waste your money on Amazon. Instead, use a service like https://bookshop.org/ that distributes your hard-earned cash to independent booksellers. Keep money in your community.
PPS: I love Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler and also left them off the list because they’re well-known already and because I think it’s really important right now to support living artists, but you should check out their work too.
I was getting pretty fed up with links and generators with very general and overused weapons and superpowers and what have you for characters so:
Here is a page for premodern weapons, broken down into a ton of subcategories, with the weapon’s region of origin.
Here is a page of medieval weapons.
Here is a page of just about every conceived superpower.
Here is a page for legendary creatures and their regions of origin.
Here are some gemstones.
Here is a bunch of Greek legends, including monsters, gods, nymphs, heroes, and so on.
Here is a website with a ton of (legally attained, don’t worry) information about the black market.
Here is a website with information about forensic science and cases of death. Discretion advised.
Here is every religion in the world.
Here is every language in the world.
Here are methods of torture. Discretion advised.
Here are descriptions of the various methods used for the death penalty. Discretion advised.
Here are poisonous plants.
Here are plants in general.
Feel free to add more to this!
UNCONVENTIONAL NOVELS
[last updated Jan. 21, 2022]
(a list I put together… of lists I did not put together)
For those interested in techniques and genres that are outside of the mainstream market in the West/Americas, here’s a post of resources you can refer to for inspiration, research, or quiet support.
I believe there is no One Right Way to write a novel, and no one right way to present it either. Niche genres do exist, after all, and writing is an art form. Remember that writing “rules” are not a one-size-fits-all deal.
DISCLAIMER !! : Note there will be some overlap and you don’t have to like or agree with anything here. Also, while you may come across books by diverse authors, a lot of the ones listed here are old and probably written by white people, but BIPOC can and should be allowed to experiment with these, too. If content doesn’t interest you then maybe structure will. Form your own opinions.
but first, some recommended reading
Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Alison - in this book, the author explores form and pattern through close readings of various (niche/unconventional) novels.
What is Postmodernism in Literature? - a brief Youtube video presented by Dr. Masood Raja (Postcolonialism channel); simple yet informative.
Wikipedia articles - antinovel | verse novel | defamiliarization | metafiction | digression (literary) | fragmentary novel | weird fiction | new weird | slipstream | experimental literature | postmodern literature | interactive novel | hypertext fiction | LitRPG | cybertext | New Sincerity |
I’ll continue to update this post over time or write up more.
anti-novels
No rules, no problems. Take all the tropes and conventions of the typical novel and bastardize them through chaos. Or throw them out and make your own.
Goodreads: list of 100+
Barnes & Noble: flex your reading muscles
Millions article: long live the anti-novel, built from scratch
a review of Subimal Misra’s work This Could Have Become Ramayan Chamar’s Tale: Two Anti-Novels
bizarre, weird fiction
If you ever wanted to read or write about cat men on Mars, or a bear who talks and plays the saxophone, or people with blue butts… Well, you can.
Book Riot: 100 strange and unusual novels
Bustle: 13 super strange books
Goodreads: Monster/Erotica books
Owlcation: 10 of the weirdest novels ever written
blog post by Z. Burns ft. 7 more weird books
experimental
Hard to define but generally more about form than content. Maybe you want half your story told in footnotes. Maybe your paragraphs are separated from the main body of text and dispersed all over the page. Maybe some of it is upside-down.
Goodreads list
Bustle: 10 experimental novels that aren’t hard to read
Standout Books: 5 experimental novels that will inspire any writer
(preview) Experimental Fiction: An Introduction for Readers and Writers Julie Armstrong
sparse plot / low conflict / books where “nothing happens”
Very basically, a plot is a sequence of events affected through cause-and-effect. In the West, audiences often expect there to be a linear series of conflicts that ultimately leads to a big “showdown”. This is not a universal narrative structure, and personally I would love to see more “cozy” fantasy novels that aren’t about saving the world or destroying an oppressive government.
Reddit recommendations - “a book where nothing happens”
Book Riot: in praise of plotless books
(blog) mundane and slice-of-life SFF recommendations
sketch story (wikipedia) | literary sketch (britannica)
“I would like to read a novel that is composed of numerous very interesting facts, but which nonetheless fails to cohere for me as a book.”
● source: (blog): I would like to read a dull plotless novel…
List Challenges: novels with no plot whatsoever
Reddit thread on slice-of-life/mundane speculative fiction
recommended reading
the significance of plot without conflict - an excellent post on the kishotenketsu structure, which is influenced by East Asian values such as unity and harmony over conflict and resolution.
what is iyashikei and why should you care? - often found in anime and manga, the purpose of this genre is to provide healing
Keep reading
What books on the fae would you recommend?
In no particular order:
W.Y. Evans-Wentz, TheFairy-Faith in Celtic Countries (1911). *
Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory and William Butler Yeats, A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend & Folklore (Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry / Cuchulain of Muirthemne).
Emma Wilby, Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits.
Claude Lecouteux, Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages.
Katharine Briggs, The Fairies in Tradition and Literature (Routledge Vol. 30)
Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1570). *
Celtic Folklore (free ebooks). *
Robert Kirk w/ Andrew Lang, The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies (1893). *
Lectures & Papers of Note
Dr. Ronald Hutton, Traditional Fairy Beliefs for Manx Heritage. *
Emma Wilby, “Burchard’s strigae, the Witches’ Sabbath,and Shamanistic Cannibalism in Early Modern Europe.” *
Emma Wilby, The Witch’s Familiar and the Fairy in Early Modern England and Scotland. (JSTOR) *
AND, for a good read… this series of articles on British fairy traditions by Dr. Alexander Cummins (@grimoiresontape) is quite good: The Rain Will Make A Door, Part One; Part Two; Part Three.
* indicates links to public domain / open resource materials
Notes: I didn’t bother listing the few academic texts that may be cost prohibitive. They tend toward having a more specialized focus anyway. Also, my main, personal approach to fairy lore is through the realm of historical witchcraft, which is evident by a number of my selections.
Journals, articles, books & texts, on folklore, mythology, occult, and related -to- general anthropology, history, archaeology.
Some good and/or interesting (or hokey) ‘examples’ included for most resources. tryin to organize & share stuff that was floating around onenote.
Journals (open access) – Folklore, Occult, etc
Culutural Analysis - folklore, popular culture, anthropology – The Mythical Ghoul in Arabic Culture
Folklore - folklore, anthropology, archaeology – The Making of a Bewitchment Narrative, Grecian Riddle Jokes
Incantatio - journal on charms, charmers, and charming – Verbal Charms from a 17th Century Manuscript
Oral Tradition – Jewish Folk Literature, Noises of Battle in Old English Poetry
Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics – Nani Fairtyales about the Cruel Bride, Energy as the Mediator between Natural and Supernatural Realms
International Journal of Intangible Heritage
Studia Mythologica Slavica (many articles not English) – Dragon and Hero, Fertility Rites in the Raining Cave, The Grateful Wolf and Venetic Horses in Strabo’s Geography
Folklorica - Slavic & Eastern European folklore association – Ritual: The Role of Plant Characteristics in Slavic Folk Medicine, Animal Magic
Esoterica - The Journal of Esoteric Studies – The Curious Case of Hermetic Graffiti in Valladolid Cathedral
The Esoteric Quarterly
Mythological Studies Journal
Luvah - Journal of the Creative Imagination – A More Poetical Character Than Satan
Transpersonal Studies – Shamanic Cosmology as an Evolutionary Neurocognitive Epistemology, Dreamscapes
Beyond Borderlands – tumblr
Paranthropology
GOLEM - Journal of Religion and Monsters – The Religious Functions of Pokemon, Anti-Semitism and Vampires in British Popular Culture 1875-1914
Correspondences - Online Journal for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism – Kriegsmann’s Philological Quest for Ancient Wisdom
– History, Archaeology
Adoranten - pre-historic rock art
Chitrolekha - India art & design history – Gomira Dance Mask
Silk Road – Centaurs on the Silk Road: Hellenistic Textiles in Western China
Sino-Platonic - East Asian languages and civilizations – Discursive Weaving Women in Chinese and Greek Traditions
MELA Notes - Middle East Librarians Association
Didaskalia - Journal for Ancient Performance
Ancient Narrative - Greek, Roman, Jewish novelistic traditions – The Construction of the Real and the Ideal in the Ancient Novel
Akroterion - Greek, Roman – The Deer Hunter: A Portrait of Aeneas
Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies – Erotic and Separation Spells, The Ancients’ One-Horned Ass
Roman Legal Tradition - medieval civil law – Between Slavery and Freedom
Phronimon - South African society for Greek Philosophy and the Humanities – Special Issue vol. 13 #2, Greek philosophy in dialogue with African+ philosophy
The Heroic Age - Early medieval Northwestern Europe – Icelandic Sword in the Stone
Peregrinations - Medieval Art and Architecture – Special Issue vol. 4 #1, Mappings
Tiresas - Medieval and Classical – Sexuality in the Natural and Demonic Magic of the Middle Ages
Essays in Medieval Studies – The Female Spell-caster in Middle English Romances, The Sweet Song of Satan
Hortulus - Medieval studies – Courtliness & the Deployment of Sodomy in 12th-Century Histories of Britain, Monsters & Monstrosities issue, Magic & Witchcraft issue
Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU
Medieval Archaeology – Divided and Galleried Hall-Houses, The Hall of the Knights Templar at Temple Balsall
Medieval Feminist Forum – multiculturalism issue; Gender, Skin Color and the Power of Place … Romance of Moriaen, Writing Novels About Medieval Women for Modern Readers, Amazons & Guerilleres
Quidditas - medieval and renaissance
Medieval Warfare
The Viking Society - ridiculous amount of articles from 1895-2011
Journals (limited free/sub/institution access)
Al-Masaq - Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean – Piracy as Statecraft: The Policies of Taifa of Denia, free issue
Mythical Creatures of Europe - article + map
Folklore - limited free access – Volume 122 #3, On the Ambiguity of Elves
Digital Philology - a journal of medieval cultures – Saracens & Race in Roman de la Rose Iconography
Pomegranate - International Journal for Pagan Studies
Transcultural Psychiatry
European Journal of English Studies – Myths East of Venice issue, Esotericism issue
Books, Texts, Images etc. – Folklore, Occult etc.
Magical Gem Database - Greek/Egyptian gems & talismans [x] [x]
Biblioteca Aracana - (mostly) Greek pagan history, rituals, poetry etc. – Greater Tool Consecration, The Yew-Demon
Curse Tablets from Roman Britain - [x]
The Gnostic Society Library – The Corpus Hermeticum, Hymn of the Robe of Glory
Grimoar - vast occult text library – Grimoires, Greek & Roman Necromancy, Queer Theology, Ancient Christian Magic
Internet Sacred Text Archive - religion, occult, folklore, etc. ancient texts
Verse and Transmutation - A Corpus of Middle English Alchemical Poetry
– History
The Internet Classics Archive - mainly Greco-Roman, some Persian & Chinese translated texts
Bodleian Oriental Manuscript Collection - [x] [x] [x]
Virtual Magic Bowl Archive - Jewish-Aramaic incantation bowl text and images [x] [x]
Vindolanda Tablets - images and translations of tablets from 1st & 2nd c. [x]
Corsair - online catalog of the Piedmont Morgan library (manuscripts) [x] [x]
Beinecke rare book & manuscripts – Wagstaff miscellany, al-Qur'ān–1813
LUNA - tonnes from Byzantine manuscripts to Arabic cartography
Maps on the web - Oxford Library [x] [x] [x]
Bodleian Library manuscripts - photographs of 11th-17th c. manuscripts – Treatises on Heraldry, The Worcester Fragments (polyphonic music), 12 c. misc medical and herbal texts
Early Manuscripts at Oxford U - very high quality photographs – (view through bottom left) Military texts by Athenaeus Mechanicus 16th c. [x] [x], MS Douce 195 Roman de la Rose [x] [x]
Trinity College digital manuscript library – Mathematica Medica, 15th c.
eTOME - primary sources about Celtic peoples
Websites, Blogs – Folklore, Occult etc.
Demonthings - Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project
Invocatio - (mostly) western esotericism
Heterodoxology - history, esotericism, science – Religion in the Age of Cyborgs
The Recipes Project - food, magic, science, medicine – The Medieval Invisible Man (invisibility recipes)
Morbid Anatomy - museum/library in Brooklyn
– History
Islamic Philosophy Online - tonnes of texts, articles, links, utilities, this belongs in every section; mostly English
Medicina Antiqua - Graeco-Roman medicine
History of the Ancient World - news and resources – The So-called Galatae, Gauls, Celts in Early Hellenistic Balkans; Maidens, Matrons Magicians: Women & Personal Ritual Power in Late Antique Egypt
Διοτίμα - Women & Gender in Antiquity
Bodleian Library Exhibitions Online – Khusraw & Shirin, Hebrew Manuscripts as a Meeting-Place of Cultures
Medievalists – folk studies, witchcraft, mythology, science tags
Atlas Obscura – Bats and Vampiric Lore of Pére Lachaise Cemetery
Fantasy Book Rec Masterpost
Here is every fantasy book I’ve ever enjoyed (plus some short stories thrown in). List will be updated regularly as I read. There are books repeated as some fit into more than one category; I designed it this way so that if you’re looking for one specific sub-genre you can look at just that list and not miss out. Enjoy!
*last edited November 27, 2017*
High Fantasy
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Prophecy of the Stones by Flavia Bujor
The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
The Shades of Magic Series by V.E. Schwab (sort of)
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
The Land of Elyon Series by Patrick Carman
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Deerskin by Robin McKinley
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima
Down-the-Rabbit-Hole
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver
UnLunDun by China Miéville
The Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke
Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins
The May Bird series by Jodi Lynn Anderson
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Magic in the Real World (sometimes called fabulism)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
The Magician Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Half Magic by Edward Eager
Urban Fantasy
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
UnLunDun by China Miéville
Fairy Tale Retellings
Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman (short story)
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
Rags and Bones edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer (this one is a very mixed bag but i really enjoyed some of the stories
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Deerskin by Robin McKinley
The White Road by Neil Gaiman (short story)
Dragons
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima
Fairies
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
Ghosts
Ghostly edited by Audrey Niffenegger
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
The May Bird series by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Witches and Wizards
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
The Thickety series by J.A. White
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Vampires
Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot by Neil Gaiman (short story)
Other Magical Creatures
Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
The Smile on the Face by Nalo Hopkinson (short story)
Intelligent Animal Characters (may not be fantasy exactly but close enough)
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams
Redwall by Brian Jacques
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Enchanted Forests
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
The Thickety series by J.A. White
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Graphic Novels/Illustrated
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman (also short story and audio versions available)
Instructions by Neil Gaiman
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Short Story Collections
Ghostly edited by Audrey Niffenegger
Stories edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman
Unnatural Creatures edited by Neil Gaiman
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
Rags and Bones edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
YA
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Prophecy of the Stones by Flavia Bujor
The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
The Shades of Magic Series by V.E. Schwab
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima
Middle Grade
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
UnLunDun by China Miéville
The Land of Elyon Series by Patrick Carman
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
The Magician Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
The Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke (sort of in between middle and YA)
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (again, could be considered YA)
Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins
The May Bird series by Jodi Lynn Anderson
The Thickety series by J.A. White
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Half Magic by Edward Eager
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Film Noir Movies
People think that Film Noir is a reaction to World War II. Not true. Most of the great hard-boiled and noir pulp fiction came out during the 30’s, as a reaction to the great depression. Film noir didn’t become a big thing until after the war (post 1945), because the powers that be didn’t want to release pessimistic, down-ending films that would lower the country’s morale.
This could be a very loooong list. Hundreds of films in fact. So I am just going to list the films that I heard mentioned specifically in various film noir documentaries and books, as examples of great noir.
Film Noir Era 1945-1958
The Letter (1940)
The Stranger on The Third Floor (1940)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Glass Key (1942)
This Gun For Hire (1942)
Shadow of A Doubt (1943)
Double Indemnity (1944)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Laura (1944)
Murder My Sweet (1944)
Phantom Lady (1944)
Detour (1945)
Fallen Angel (1945)
Leave Her To Heaven (1945)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Black Angel (1946)
The Blue Dahlia (1946)
The Dark Corner (1946)
The Dark Mirror (1946)
Decoy (1946)
Gilda (1946)
The Killers (1946)
Notorious (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
The Stranger (1946)
Body and Soul (1947)
Born To Kill (1947)
Brute Force (1947)
Crossfire (1947)
Dark Passage (1947)
Dead Reckoning (1947)
Desperate (1947)
Kiss of Death (1947)
Lady In The Lake (1947)
Nightmare Alley (1947)
Out of The Past (1947)
Ride The Pink Horse (1947)
T-Men (1947)
The Big Clock (1948)
Call Northside 777 (1948)
Cry of The City (1948)
Force of Evil (1948)
He Walked By Night (1948)
Hollow Triumph (1948)
Key Largo (1948)
The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
The Naked City (1948)
Pitfall (1948)
Raw Deal (1948)
The Street With No Name (1948)
They Live By Night (1948)
Act of Violence (1949)
Border Incident (1949)
Criss-Cross (1949)
Impact (1949)
The Reckless Moment (1949)
The Set-Up (1949)
Thieves’ Highway (1949)
The Third Man (1949)
White Heat (1949)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
D.O.A. (1950)
The File on Thelma Jordan (1950)
Gun Crazy (1950)
In A Lonely Place (1950)
Night and The City (1950)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Side Street (1950)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Where Danger Lives (1950)
Where The Sidewalk Ends (1950)
Ace In The Hole (1951)
His Kind of Woman (1951)
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
The Prowler (1951)
Strangers On A Train (1951)
The Bad and The Beautiful (1952)
Clash By Night (1952)
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
The Narrow Margin (1952)
Sudden Fear (1952)
Angel Face (1953)
The Big Heat (1953)
The Blue Gardenia (1953)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
Niagra (1953)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Crime Wave (1954)
Human Desire (1954)
Rear Window (1954)
The Big Combo (1955)
The Desperate Hours (1955)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
The Night of The Hunter (1955)
The Killing (1956)
While The City Sleeps (1956)
The Wrong Man (1956)
Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
Neo-Noir Era 60’s-90’s
À bout de soufflé/ Breathless (1960)
Shoot The Piano Player (1960)
Underworld, U.S.A. (1961)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Harper (1966)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Dirty Harry (1971)
The French Connection (1971)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Chinatown (1974)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Body Heat (1981)
Blade Runner (1982)
Blood Simple (1984)
To Live and Die In L.A. (1985)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
The Grifters (1990)
King of New York (1990)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
New Jack City (1991)
The Silence of The Lambs (1991)
Basic Instinct (1992)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
True Romance (1993)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Devil In A New Dress (1995)
Heat (1995)
Se7en (1995)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Fargo (1996)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Payback (1999)
Listen you HAVE to fall in love. not necessarily with someone else. not necessarily romantically. Just love. fall for the way the sun slants through your windows at midday. fall for the sound of your best friends laugh when you piss them off. fall for the sound of a song or rhe taste of a drink. just romanticise everything please okay bye
Hey, you. There's something bothering you, isn't there? You're scrolling endlessly just to feel something. I know the feeling. But just think. Does what you're worried about really matter? Chances are it doesn't. The outcome of this won't change anything, and even if it will, I'm sure you'll get used to it pretty easily. But think, just for a second. In a week, it will barely bother you anymore. In a month you'll forget about it. Six months you'll be totally unaffected by it. Even if it seems like the end of the world we will find a way. Life still goes on. Life waits for no one. There are some things that will never change. The school bell will still ring on time. Your parents will still fight. The sun will still rise. And one day, you'll be totally fine.
I promise.
Everything sucks and I am not okay.
Okay then. Try these things. (mainly for neurodivergent people but really its for anyone who has a problem but Doesn't Know What)
SHORT TERM- i feel bad right now and need immediate relief
Get off your phone. Seriously
Drink a glass of water
Eat something with protein
Shower if you haven't already
Brush your teeth
Tidy your space a bit
Open a window and stretch your legs or go outside on a walk if you can
Say something nice to someone
Put on some music. Something relatively happy
Hug a living being (pet, sibling, parent, etc)
Change clothes or feel a nice texture or listen to some 8D music. Sometimes its a sensory thing
Get something small done. Reply to an email or something
Do something creative. Draw, write, sing, whatever
Learn some cool new information
Talk to someone. Phone a friend, talk to your parents, text someone, etc
Read a damn book (fanfic counts)
Sleep, or if you can't manage that, try to relax or meditate for 5 or 10 mins
If you have over excerted yourself physically mentally or emotionally, gove yourself a break.
LONG TERM - ive been feeling bad for a while and want to get a bit better overall
Try to talk to someone about life generally. You might just figure it out
Stop making suicide jokes. Yes, that includes ironically saying "i want to die" at any minor inconvenience. for me, this was changing it to "im going to commit a war crime" or "I'm going to buy a completely unnecessary amount of clothes". Be ridiculous with it. Keep the comedic value.
Stop being self depricating. Failed a maths test? "oh im just really bad at maths" turns to "my maths skills are unmatched. im a genius" it can be sarcastic. then youll get used to complimenting yourself and will do it unironically out of habit
Change something. For me this was cutting my hair. i felt out of control. i cut my hair because i couldn't do anything else. this could be joining a club, buying new clothes, dying your hair, choosing a new perfume or deodorant. Anything that makes you feel in control
I might add more to the long term list in the future but this is it for now. You will get better, the silly little guy on the internet believes in you <3
sometimes its just (seeing the moon in the daytime) (long car rides) (waking up slowly and naturally) (the smell of charity shops) (tea at just the right temperature) (lava lamps in the dark) (the smell of incense that lingers for days) (finishing a good book) (muffled voices when your head is underwater) (hearing your favourite song on the radio) (warm baked goods just out the oven) (looking at someone you know doing something mundane and being overwhelmed by how much you love them) (a cat laying on your chest) (the sound of wood burning) yknow
places to be alone
in a gothic cathedral
lying in bed, listening to summer rain
a hot bubble bath on a wintery day
a bookstore or a library
pine forest, neck craned upwards at trees against the sky
natural history museum
sunrise from a hilltop, with only the birds for company
near a crackling fireplace with a good book and a teacup
in the grass at sunset, watching the clouds and the butterflies
riding a bike down unknown roads and getting lost