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Hot takes, wrestling rabbit holes, free-streaming deep dives & life on the open web. Welcome to taco ‘bout it—Schwegler’s corner for TV commentary, chaotic internet culture, and fediverse experiments.

  • the geese have made actual plans

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    the geese have made actual plans

    crafts, icebox pie, and two actual dates on the calendar. meet silly goose girls night, with upcoming gatherings at hilltop public house… Tune in & read →

    the geese have made actual plans. there is a calendar and everything.

    silly goose girls night is a project built around crafts, food, friendship, and making room for a little more play. their feed moves between projects you can try at home and real-life gatherings in montgomery, alabama. the name sets a fairly manageable dress code for your personality.

    their mission statement puts the emphasis on creativity, laughter, and an inclusive community, with women giving themselves permission to play. not every hobby needs to become a small business. sometimes scissors can just be scissors.

    first, the dates that have not already happened

    if you’re around montgomery, there are two things on their published calendar:

    • saturday, october 31, 2026, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.: find their table at the hilltop halloween market at hilltop public house, 3 north goldthwaite street. their latest announcement says they’re making things for the market and will have candy for the kids. stop by and meet the geese.
    • saturday, november 14, 2026, 10 a.m.–noon: make & mingle at hilltop public house. the calendar announcement describes a laid-back social: everyone is welcome, and you can bring a craft or project you’re working on and meet some new people. your unfinished project has been invited out.
    Silly Goose Girls Night calendar: October 8 pop-up at Lorraine's, October 31 Hilltop Halloween Market, and November 14 Make & Mingle at Hilltop Public House.
    the organizers’ calendar, which also includes the now-past october 8 pop-up. graphic: silly goose girls night.

    those details are from their public announcements, checked october 22. follow the account for updates before heading out; the november listing doesn’t specify a ticket price or registration requirement.

    they have already put the scissors on the table

    their first official event was the october 8 modgepodge collage night at lorraine’s bake shop. the event listing supplied the practical part: collage supplies, a canvas, and time to make something together. their next-day recap shows people working around the craft tables and thanks lorraine and bill for hosting.

    this is the useful thing about the photos: you can see the activity rather than being asked to imagine an abstract concept called community. paper, scissors, glue, other people. an unusually literal way to make connections.

    photos and original recap: silly goose girls night. the october 8 event has already happened; this is a look at what they’ve been making, not a current ticket offer.

    the stickers can finally stop waiting for the perfect surface

    one of their at-home projects takes a familiar problem—stickers too good to commit to anything—and turns it into a miniature gallery wall. their july 19 carousel walks through framing favorite stickers, including travel souvenirs, in little frames.

    a small project, an excuse to sit together, and something to put on the wall afterward. the sticker collection has received a promotion.

    and yes, there is pie

    the food side is similarly approachable. their cream cheese icebox pie reel uses a graham-cracker crust and a blended filling, then lets the refrigerator do its part. the full method is in their original post below. leave time for chilling; the pie does have one scheduling requirement.

    between the craft projects, recipes, and local gatherings, there are several ways into this particular flock. try something from the feed, send a project to the friend you’d make it with, or put one of the montgomery dates on the calendar.

    start with @silly_goose_girls_night on instagram. their official link page also connects to facebook and tiktok. at the time of writing, its eventbrite button still points to the october 8 event, so the instagram announcements above are the useful place for the next dates.

    featured image: the sticker-framing project, silly goose girls night. all embedded posts are credited to and linked to their original account.

  • the halloween comics shelf has a serious woods problem

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    the halloween comics shelf has a serious woods problem

    zombies, missing memories, hungry forests, monster hunters, and pop-star gods. the five comics on my halloween shelf. Tune in & read →

    the halloween shelf · 3 / 6 · comics
    five picks from my Trove comics shelf.

    the trees are having a terrible run of publicity on this shelf. children disappear into them. ancient things wait inside them. the local wildlife has features it should really have disclosed earlier. even leaving town won’t solve everything, because elsewhere the dead are walking and the gods have become pop stars. plenty to work with.

    these are the five comics on trove’s halloween shelf: a zombie epic, two deeply unwelcoming forests, a monster hunter, and some divine celebrity trouble. they offer different kinds of darkness, so here’s where to start depending on whether you want survival, a mystery, a short plunge into the woods, or mortality with stage lighting.

    the walking dead

    for a long stay at the end of the world

    From my media collectionThe Walking Dead (2003)Writer: Robert Kirkman • Publisher: ImageView on Trove

    robert kirkman’s series starts with rick grimes trying to find his wife and son after the dead have overrun the world. image’s series page makes the scale clear: the ordinary systems people depend on have collapsed along with everything else.

    it’s the survival choice, where getting through today leaves the fairly substantial problem of tomorrow. the familiar zombie premise provides a way into questions about family, safety, and living alongside other frightened people. start at the first issue and give the comic room to establish its own world. recognizing the title from television doesn’t mean you need to treat the page as homework.

    the low, low woods

    for missing memories and a town with terrible secrets

    From my media collectionThe Low, Low Woods (2019)Publisher: DC ComicsView on Trove

    carmen maria machado and dani send el and octavia into the mysteries of shudder-to-think, pennsylvania, after the two wake in a movie theater with hours missing. the surrounding woods contain rabbits with human eyes and other deeply unreasonable sights, while abandoned coal mines burn beneath the town. dc’s collected edition gathers all six issues.

    choose this for body horror, uneasy friendship, and the fear of discovering what happened when your memory went blank. the setting alone makes a convincing case for moving, although packing boxes is probably insufficient preparation for a place called shudder-to-think.

    wytches

    for the family fresh start that immediately needs reconsidering

    From my media collectionWytches (2014)Publisher: ImageView on Trove

    scott snyder and jock bring the rooks family to litchfield, new hampshire, hoping to get away from a traumatic past. something ancient and hungry is waiting in the nearby forest. that is the invitation in image’s first collection, which contains issues one through six.

    this is a direct route to creature horror with family fear underneath it. the promise of a fresh start gives the danger something specific to threaten: people trying to feel safe again. pick it when you’d like a contained six-issue entry point and a reminder to ask considerably more questions about a property’s woodland views.

    something is killing the children

    for a monster hunter who believes the kids

    From my media collectionSomething is Killing the Children (2019)Comic · 2019View on Trove

    james tynion iv and werther dell’edera introduce erica slaughter to a community shattered by killings. children describe monsters in the woods; the adults aren’t sure what to believe, including whether this stranger can help. the publisher’s introduction to issue one is a useful spoiler-light starting point.

    go here for an investigation with a dangerous outsider at its center and a threat the town can’t comfortably explain away. the title is being very direct about the stakes, so violence involving children is part of the decision. erica’s arrival offers a possible answer, which is more than the local reassurance department has managed.

    the wicked + the divine

    for glamour with an expiration date

    From my media collectionThe Wicked + The Divine (2014)Comic · 2014View on Trove

    every ninety years, twelve gods return in human form. two years later, they’re dead. kieron gillen and jamie mckelvie turn that premise into a world where divinity and pop stardom occupy the same space, as image’s series overview explains.

    this is the shelf’s supernatural pop-fantasy option, for when you’re drawn to worship, fame, and the prospect of having everything briefly. the countdown gives the glamour a dark underside without requiring another trip into the trees. an excellent change of scenery. the mortality situation remains poor, but at least somebody has considered the outfit.

    part 3 of the halloween shelf: six category roundups from my public Trove picks, checked october 18, 2026. browse the complete shelf. featured image: Halloween Comics shelf card combining the five comic covers in this article from my Trove shelf. original cover artwork: Image Comics, DC Comics and BOOM! Studios, via Trove; used for commentary. Facet illustrations are site mascots.

  • ·

    long, exasperated groan: “Bringing Harry Houdini back from the dead could be a portent for the future of documentaries.”

    It is a perfect example of AI slop, a phrase we like to use for anything that is AI-heavy. Weird micro dramas.… Tune in & read →

    It is a perfect example of AI slop, a phrase we like to use for anything that is AI-heavy. Weird micro dramas. Karma-farming fake videos on social media. “We are Charlie Kirk.” Yet usually the AI slop is coming from the fringes. People not already working in the entertainment world and eager to get a piece of the profit pie. This is coming from Fox, albeit the right wing news entertainment version of Fox and not The Simpsons-and-FX version owned by Disney. Fox Nation is a streaming service providing curated content for Fox News super fans. AI slop appearing there, a small service with limited content, makes the slop feel even more sloppy. Watching the doc, I could practically hear a cigar-chomping executive shouting “slop em up, boys.”   Bringing Harry Houdini back from the dead could be a portent for the future of documentaries.

    Source: Can AI slop even have an aesthetic?

  • Free Cable TV Alternatives: Channels With Movies, Shows, and Variety

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    Free Cable TV Alternatives: Channels With Movies, Shows, and Variety

    Shout! TV, ElectricNOW, MovieSphere, and Revry offer different ways to recreate cable’s put-it-on-and-leave-it-on experience without a subscription. Tune in & read →

    sometimes I do not want to choose a show. I want to put a channel on and let it be television. a movie might become a sitcom, which might become something else. I can fold laundry while somebody in programming handles the decision-making.

    this is the part of USA, TNT, and HBO that an endless single-show FAST feed does not quite replace. a marathon is useful when I specifically want that show. a general entertainment channel is useful when I would like the room to contain a variety of television without my continued supervision.

    the best free cable replacement for that job is a small set of varied channels you actually like. these four are starting points, with different strengths. schedules can still include blocks and marathons, so the current guide matters more than an enormous channel count.

    Shout! TV: start with the flagship

    Shout! TV combines classic and cult films, television, and original programming across free live channels and an on-demand library. for variety, look for the main Shout! TV feed first. the company also operates dedicated show feeds and specialist channels; those solve a different problem.

    A grid of Shout! TV channel logos, including Shout! TV, Shout! Movies, and dedicated show channels
    Promotional image: Shout! TV; used for commentary.

    this is the useful old-cable quality: a programming identity broad enough to contain more than one title. you are choosing a general sensibility, then allowing the schedule to make smaller choices.

    the free Local Now channel page and Sling Freestream guide give you concrete places to inspect the feed. Shout! also offers direct viewing through its own site and apps. choose the ad-supported route if the point is keeping the bill at zero.

    ElectricNOW: scripted comfort television and movies

    ElectricNOW has a lineup built around shows such as Leverage, The Librarians, Almost Paradise, and The Outpost, alongside acquired films. the combination is closer to a familiar genre entertainment network than a feed devoted to one sitcom.

    there is also genuine original programming. Electric’s 2026 expansion announcement explicitly scheduled the first two episodes of The Poly Couple on the FAST channel the same day the show launched in its app. the app itself contains additional channels, so select the ElectricNOW feed when you want this particular lineup.

    Official promotional poster for ElectricNOW's comedy The Poly Couple
    Promotional image: Electric Entertainment; used for commentary.

    you can inspect a free feed on Xumo Play or use ElectricNOW’s own service. expect episodic blocks as well as films; a varied library is not a guarantee that the next six hours have been programmed without a marathon.

    MovieSphere: the movie-channel half of the cable experience

    MovieSphere by Lionsgate is the choice for an evening of movies across genres. Lionsgate and Nielsen describe a free feed combining major releases and independent films from the studio’s library. Pluto TV offers a direct live channel.

    this one is a movie channel, rather than a movie-and-sitcom mixture. it belongs here because the HBO comparison includes that experience, too: arrive during a film, see what follows it, and stop designing your own evening. it does not come with HBO’s current originals.

    Lionsgate also markets paid MovieSphere options. use the free live feed, not a subscription checkout wearing a similar name.

    Revry: a mixed network with a queer point of view

    Revry combines queer films, series, music, news, and originals. it is an especially useful addition when you want the channel’s perspective to feel relevant, rather than relying on a generic algorithm to remember gay people exist.

    the network may still schedule title blocks. the reason to include it is breadth within a clear identity: scripted television can share space with performance, competition, and other programming. there is something to encounter beyond the episode you already came for.

    build a tiny channel lineup, then stop browsing

    start by favoriting Shout! TV and ElectricNOW. add MovieSphere when you want films and Revry when you want a queer network. look ahead a few slots in the guide before deciding which feed gets the remote tonight.

    that is a more useful test than whether an app advertises hundreds of channels. three channels you leave running beat 400 channels you spend the evening evaluating.

    these are alternatives to cable’s viewing rhythm, not free access to USA, TNT, or HBO themselves. the thing being replaced is the experience: somebody else assembles a varied schedule, and I am allowed to turn it on halfway through.

    I do not need every moment of leisure to begin with a selection committee. sometimes I would simply like television to proceed.

    previously in this series

    This is part 6 of Stuff You Can Watch Free. The series covers original shows on free networks and channels that recreate cable’s put-it-on-and-leave-it-on experience.

  • none pizza, left beef can vote now

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    none pizza, left beef can vote now

    none pizza, left beef is nineteen today. legally old enough to vote. still no sauce. still no cheese. a remarkably consistent platform.… Tune in & read →

    none pizza, left beef is nineteen today. legally old enough to vote. still no sauce. still no cheese. a remarkably consistent platform.

    Hitch smiles gently while holding a warm mug in both hands. Reaction: comfort.

    Steven Molaro’s original pizza-ordering experiment went up on The Sneeze on October 19, 2007. the website let him remove the cheese and sauce, then assign the remaining beef to one side. he wanted to see whether the pizza would arrive correctly oriented. the internet received a cultural artifact.

    the best part is that the form accepted this. every individual option made sense. together, they produced a small edible argument for considering the whole situation.

    nineteen years later, the original post is still there. a little bread. some beef. an enduring contribution to the arts.

    Photograph: Steven Molaro / The Sneeze.

  • 1
    my grilled cheese needed better bread, not a personal brand

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    my grilled cheese needed better bread, not a personal brand

    this week’s life-changing hack is to buy a sliced loaf from the bakery section and make grilled cheese with it. that’s the… Tune in & read →

    Illustrative photograph: Mack Male, “Simple grilled cheese” · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized for display.

    this week’s life-changing hack is to buy a sliced loaf from the bakery section and make grilled cheese with it. that’s the hack. we can all go home.

    the internet would like every minor improvement to arrive with a methodology, a specialized appliance, and a man explaining why you’ve been doing lunch wrong. sometimes the answer is just different bread.

    i’m not starting a bread discourse. sandwich bread has done nothing wrong and remains employed. i just made one small upgrade to a thing i already liked, without turning it into a new hobby.

    there is a useful category of improvement between “change nothing” and “become a different person.” move one aisle over. make the sandwich. enjoy your extremely local renaissance.

    this one neat hack will change your life and it’s just buy bakery bread instead of bread aisle bread and make grilled cheese with it

    — schweg, 🦇 (@schwegler.lol) 2026-10-16T02:57:08.326Z
  • immortality has not improved anybody’s living arrangements

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    immortality has not improved anybody’s living arrangements

    vampire families, reluctant covens, one slayer, and a haunted estate. five shows from my halloween shelf, with room for different attention spans. Tune in & read →

    the halloween shelf · 2 / 6 · TV
    five picks from my Trove TV shelf.

    apparently the real supernatural curse is having to deal with other people. vampires form households. witches need a group. a teenage slayer still has friends to worry about. even a sprawling english manor comes with several relationships in urgent need of attention.

    that gives the tv corner of the halloween shelf a useful through-line. these five shows make room for the awkward, affectionate, destructive business of being close to someone, then add fangs or magic or a deeply unsuitable house. they also ask for very different amounts of your life, which matters when october is already filling up. here is what kind of company each one offers.

    interview with the vampire: the relationship has a very long memory

    From my media collectionInterview with the Vampire (2022)Network: AMC • Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy • Year: 2022View on Trove

    amc’s adaptation of anne rice’s novel puts louis de pointe du lac’s account of love and immortality in front of journalist daniel molloy. louis, lestat, and claudia form the central vampire family, with all the intimacy and danger that arrangement suggests.

    choose this for a sustained gothic relationship drama. having centuries available does leave plenty of time to develop a grievance. start at the beginning and give it your attention: the interview frame makes the telling of the story part of the attraction. this is a serialized commitment, best approached when you want to get invested in some exceptionally complicated people.

    agatha all along: group work, with consequences

    From my media collectionAgatha All Along (2024)Network: Disney+ • Director: Caleb Heymann, Isiah Donté Lee, Jon Chema, Lauren Abiouness, May Mitchell • Genre: Comedy, Action, Science-Fiction • Year: 2024View on Trove

    a powerless agatha harkness and a mysterious teenager assemble a coven to face the witches’ road. disney’s conversation with kathryn hahn and creator jac schaeffer gets at the appeal: agatha is a habitual loner being forced to work with others, who have their own reasons for being difficult.

    the nine-episode run makes this a smaller calendar commitment. it is a wandavision follow-on, so that earlier series provides useful context. pick it for witchcraft, competing personalities, and a journey that requires an actual group effort. assembling a coven sounds lovely until somebody has to manage the coven.

    buffy the vampire slayer: make room for the whole friend group

    From my media collectionBuffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)Network: UPN • Director: Michael Gershman, Kenneth Zunder, Brenda Kalosh, Alan Steinman • Genre: Drama, Action, Supernatural • Year: 1997View on Trove

    buffy begins with a teenager equipped to hunt vampires, then gives her a life that stubbornly continues around that responsibility. school, friendships, and supernatural trouble share a calendar. sarah michelle gellar’s buffy has help, but having a support system does not make the monsters especially considerate.

    the original series runs seven seasons, making it the long-haul choice here. let october be the doorway if you want an ensemble to spend time with beyond halloween. start with season one and let the relationships accumulate. nobody needs to turn watching television into a deadline with candles around it.

    what we do in the shadows: eternal life, shared accommodation

    From my media collectionWhat We Do in the Shadows (2019)Network: FX • Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy • Year: 2019View on Trove

    vampire roommates on staten island provide a fairly efficient sitcom premise. nandor, laszlo, nadja, and colin robinson have the modern world to navigate, alongside the human guillermo. immortality has apparently failed to make communal living straightforward.

    choose this when you want the supernatural household to be funny. its six-season run is complete, and the comedy format makes it an easy choice for a few episodes at a time. begin at the start to get acquainted with the house. allow some space between installments if your tolerance for other people’s nonsense has already been tested that day.

    the haunting of bly manor: a house full of attachments

    From my media collectionThe Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)Network: Netflix • Genre: Mystery, Drama • Year: 2020View on Trove

    an american nanny arrives at an english estate to care for two orphaned children. the household includes a chef, a groundskeeper, a housekeeper, and a past that refuses to remain politely in the past. mike flanagan’s gothic romance draws on henry james and places love and loss inside the haunted-house machinery.

    this is a nine-episode limited series, a practical choice when you want a contained story. pick it for a more melancholy stretch of october, with room for the people as well as the ghosts. the accommodation looks impressive. the emotional deposit may be considerable.

    so: a vampire family, a reluctant coven, a slayer’s circle, a house share, or a haunted estate. pick the company and the commitment that fit. halloween television has plenty of ways to make staying home feel socially exhausting.

    part 2 of the halloween shelf: six category roundups from my public Trove picks, checked october 18, 2026. browse the complete shelf. featured image: AMC promotional artwork, via Trove; used for commentary. Facet illustrations are site mascots.

  • ·

    graham norton’s theme song did not need to go this hard

    graham norton’s theme song sounds like the party is already happening and you have made the correct decision by showing up. all… Tune in & read →

    graham norton’s theme song sounds like the party is already happening and you have made the correct decision by showing up. all this just to introduce some people sitting on a couch. exemplary use of everyone’s time.

    (more…)
  • my halloween bookshelf has concerns about the human body

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    my halloween bookshelf has concerns about the human body

    five books, from illustrated fairy-tale dread to gothic classics, queer body horror, and a supernatural romance. Tune in & read →

    the halloween shelf · 1 / 6 · books
    five picks from my Trove books shelf.

    some halloween reading comes with a reassuring amount of distance. old castle. distant village. someone else’s questionable basement. these five books keep finding ways to make the trouble personal: your home, your face, your body, the people who say they’ll take care of you. lovely. very restful.

    this is the books corner of the halloween shelf on trove, running from illustrated fairy-tale dread to gothic classics, alien body horror, and a supernatural romance with an alarming workload. pick according to how much unease you’d like to bring to bed. the bedside lamp can only do so much.

    through the woods: bedtime has been cancelled

    From my media collectionThrough the Woods (2014)Author: Emily Carroll • Publisher: DARKSIDE • Year: 2014View on Trove

    emily carroll’s collection holds five graphic stories, including his face all red. the publisher’s overview offers a useful warning about the territory: mysterious houses, an unsettling marriage, and familiar people who may be something else entirely.

    it’s a good doorway into this shelf if you want your horror in separate, illustrated doses. the fairy-tale setup makes the danger feel close to home, with a forest conveniently available whenever somebody needs to make a terrible decision. yes, it’s a comics collection living in the books section here. the woods have bigger administrative problems.

    you weren’t meant to be human: belonging comes at a cost

    From my media collectionYou Weren't Meant to Be Human (2025)Author: Andrew Joseph White • Publisher: Titan Books Limited • Year: 2025View on Trove

    andrew joseph white takes alien invasion into rural west virginia. crane, a trans man, finds refuge among the followers of a hive that trades shelter and possibility for loyalty and bodies. that refuge becomes a threat to his autonomy. the premise puts unwanted pregnancy and reproductive coercion at the center of the horror.

    this is the shelf’s heavy-duty body-horror choice, where needing somewhere to belong makes a person vulnerable to exploitation. check the author’s content warnings first. a book can be exactly the right kind of horrible and still require choosing the right evening.

    the picture of dorian gray: skincare with consequences

    From my media collectionThe Picture of Dorian GrayAuthor: Oscar Wilde • Year: 2008View on Trove

    oscar wilde gives a beautiful young man the ability to keep his looks while his portrait records the damage. penguin’s description lays out the bargain: dorian’s public respectability survives while his hidden life grows increasingly corrupt.

    choose this for vanity, temptation, and the creeping possibility that appearances are doing an awful lot of unpaid labor. the bodily unease happens at a remove, hanging on a wall, which somehow makes it more intimate. imagine having a permanent record of your worst behavior in the house. then imagine still inviting people over.

    frankenstein: the aftercare was inadequate

    From my media collectionFrankensteinAuthor: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley • Year: 2023View on Trove

    victor frankenstein creates life and recoils from what he’s made. mary shelley’s gothic novel follows the damage of that rejection, with a creature denied companionship and a creator spectacularly unprepared for responsibility.

    this is the pick for a sadder, more reflective halloween mood: ambition, loneliness, and the obligations that arrive after doing something irreversible. the creation is only the beginning of the problem. there is a whole person to account for afterward, a detail victor might have put somewhere in the project plan.

    a ferry of bones & gold: a little romance during the supernatural emergency

    From my media collectionA Ferry of Bones & GoldAuthor: Hailey Turner • Year: 2018View on Trove

    hailey turner’s soulbound series begins with mage patrick collins and werewolf jonothon de vere. patrick is a supernatural agent dealing with a missing immortal, ritual killings, and gods collecting a debt. turner’s synopsis adds an inconvenient attraction to an already crowded caseload.

    reach for this when you’d like the monsters and magic to come with queer romance and an investigation to follow. it’s the shelf’s urban-fantasy turn, with desire giving all that supernatural danger a different pulse. apparently even a looming disaster leaves room for a complicated crush. scheduling remains everyone’s real enemy.

    part 1 of the halloween shelf: six category roundups from my public Trove picks, checked october 18, 2026. browse the complete shelf. featured image: Emily Carroll / publisher cover artwork, via Trove; used for commentary. Facet illustrations are site mascots.

  • the websites are going to a costume party

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    the websites are going to a costume party

    meet Telly, Facet, the tiny pencil-wielding version of me, and Hitch from moots. the sites are getting ready for a little optional… Tune in & read →

    i’m getting the websites dressed for halloween. apparently having several sites also means coordinating a group costume, so this feels like a good time to introduce the little people wearing them.

    there’s a vampire, a bat, a wizard, and a little mint gecko. the halloween looks are still being finished across the sites, but the cast is ready.

    telly has kept the microphone

    telly is the blue television-headed host of taco ’bout it. you’ll see him around the blog, usually looking like he has something to say. his halloween costume adds a cape and tiny fangs. unfortunately, becoming a vampire has done nothing to reduce the talking.

    facet has wings now

    facet is trove’s purple crystal-headed mascot, with the round gold glasses. trove is where the movies, shows, books, albums, comics, and games go. facet’s halloween outfit is a bat costume: same glasses, additional wings.

    the pencil is doing wand duty

    the purple-haired character on schweg.xyz is the illustrated version of me. he normally has a pencil. for halloween, he gets a plum wizard outfit and the pencil gets a promotion. useful range for one piece of stationery.

    hitch joins the party

    hitch is moots’ little mint gecko, the newest face in the group. his halloween outfit adds a patched jacket and a collar with silver bolts for a little frankenstein dress-up. still considerably more approachable than most things associated with a block checker.

    a small invitation to get spooky

    the new experience being finished starts with a small animated character floating over the page after a short pause. clicking the costumed visitor will turn on the dark halloween look, with orange accents and animated backgrounds that lean spooky, whimsical, and a little camp.

    it’s optional. the invitation can be dismissed with ×, and the appearance can be reversed. the controls are being brought together in the header, where the light and dark choices live, so changing the look has one place to go.

    i’m keeping the character small and the page usable. keyboard access, reduced-motion behavior, dismissal, and getting back to your previous appearance are part of the final checks before the whole family is ready.

    the shelves get a costume, too

    trove’s halloween shelf styling is getting its own attention, including portrait images for sharing a shelf in stories. i’ll give those a closer look separately; this introduction belongs to the little bat supervising the collection.

    first halloween, then the next outfit

    the sites share the seasonal groundwork, but each keeps its own character. christmas is planned next, in november. for now, the dress code is capes, wings, and a little gecko.