#Books of Horror Volume 3 Part 2 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bloody-wonder · 6 months ago

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mid-year book tag

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2024? i have read so many good ones this year but no particular one stands out to me as The Best so i'll name top 5 instead (in the order i read them in): a thousand stitches, doctrine of labyrinths, in other lands, big swiss, my brilliant friend - so, quite a range of genres and tones, as usual :)

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2024? the virtu is definitely my favorite part of doctrine of labyrinths and the tropic of serpents, the second book in the memoirs of lady trent, was just a perfect historical fantasy adventure novel - it's like if jane austen wrote indiana jones except it's also a nature documentary about dragons. last but not least, empire of the damned which came out in march solidified jay kristoff's empire of the vampire as my favorite vampire book series. you might have heard me screaming about it from the rooftops. all three of these sequels, i find, are even better than the previous book in their respective series.

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? i'm saving kj charles' death in the spires for the fall since it's a spooky campus murder mystery (i think?) and i also want to read apostles of mercy and so finish lindsay ellis' sci fi series (which i have lost interest in somewhat tbh but i'm nothing if not a completionist lol). i was curious about the familiar but the reviews i've seen don't look too promising so i'm probably not going to prioritize it.

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2024? i'm looking forward to kj charles' new romance book, the duke at hazard, as well as the new evander mills mystery, rough pages, but the piece of fiction i'm anticipating the most is actually the radioapple southern gothic au by my favorite fanfic author reminiscentbells. she's going to write the whole thing this summer and start posting in september - i'm so excitedddd😱

5. Biggest Disappointment? emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries is the book equivalent of a ghoul wearing the skin of your beloved. i wasn't a fan of a deadly education either😒 was very excited to read gaywyck but the expectations of "jane eyre but gay" which the cover of that book gave me were unfortunately not met🤷‍♀️

6. Biggest Surprise? i didn't think i might be into extreme horror and neither did i fancy myself a sally rooney girlie so i was quite surprised that i liked her conversations with friends as well as the sluts by dennis cooper. will definitely read more from both authors next year. an even bigger surprise however was solitaire which i picked up on a whim after tori came out as ace in the last heartstopper volume. i have a complicated relationship with alice oseman's books mostly due to the fact that i'm years past the target demographic age but still feel compelled to read them bc it seems they're the only mainstream books with prominent aro/ace rep out there. so i didn't expect much and was astonished to discover that tori spring is like looking at a mirror reflection of my 18yo self - uncanny in a fun way. ig i shouldn't be so surprised this turned out to be my favorite oseman book since it's the one with the most mixed reviews lol people like to hate a depressed teenage girl😬

7. Favorite New Author? i have devoured doctrine of labyrinths and the cemeteries of amalo in february so now i can safely say sarah monette aka katherine addison is one of my favorite authors. each of her series has a different tone but there are consistent themes of real or magical disability and non amatonormative relationships which are explored in creative ways throughout her stories. i also like her worldbuilding quite a bit, especially the naming systems and fantasy terminology. i read more books by celeste ng as well as by vale aida - both are likely to become favorite authors too. in the latter's case - provided she writes a sequel to hostis. if not, i shall never forgive her😅

8. Newest Favorite Character? okay this is just impossible to narrow down! first of all, liathe from empire of the damned bc i want her Gender: wearing a porcelain mask and a splendid crimson coat, formally bowing to her adversaries before she beats the shit out of them with her blood sword, referring to herself by the royal we and hissing every time she speaks - character of all time material right there. behold my beautiful girl who has done nothing wrong!🥰

(official illustrations by bon orthwick)

secondly, elliot schafer bc he's the most obnoxious prickly boy in other lands and yet everyone wants him carnally lol. i adore his internal monologue - probably the best i've read in ya. his dialogue too tbh - his cutting repartee game is off the charts. honestly, he's just my favorite type of character: a mean bisexual gremlin who scolds people so creatively that they fall in love with him on the spot. what more can you ask.

finally, i have to mention that to my great surprise i liked mildmay more than felix harrowgate🤯 idk felix is this cunty traumatized savant which is a character archetype i'm used to liking so it was a safe bet. the opposites attract sidekick or love interest of such a character is usually not my cup of tea but mildmay is the exception that proves the rule ig. mostly it's bc of his unusual manner of speaking with those funny slang turns of phrase and just generally the contrast between his expressive internal monologue and his reserved demeanor. as a result, he easily rivals felix as the most interesting guy in the book. such excellent character work! taking my hat off to monette🎩

9. Newest Fictional Crush? i reserve this question for that special kind of obsession only a very particular character can inspire and this year it's alastor from hazbin hotel. which, i know, is not a book but i have read so much alastor fanfic in the last few months that he's basically like a book character to me at this point lol

💕Best Ship💕 elliot schafer and luke sunborn are very cute. i don't usually go for cute but here we are. especially after reading that short story from luke's pov i realized i just need more of these two together😌 felix and mildmay with their unholy magic bdsm union - need i say more? forbidden ship that watered my crops. last but not least, i'm currently trudging through the realm of the elderings bc of fitz and the fool and as of assassin's quest it finally started paying off: i'm being queerbaited and asking for more🥲

10. Book That Made You Cry? a thousand stitches is such a wholesome cozy book and it made me cry multiple times the way that a nostalgic movie from childhood can make you cry sometimes. especially the pug scene😭 the scenes of thara celehar walking the corn maze in the cemeteries of amalo made me cry a lot too. the symbolic depths addison is able to achieve with the labyrinth motif, the exploration of grief and forgiveness and letting go - unparalleled🤌

11. Book That Made You Happy? a thousand stitches made me happy! especially the pug scene!!😅 honestly it was like watching a disney movie back when they were good except also more relatable bc atwater's characters read neurodivergent and aspec-coded to me. love how she maintains that the kiss of true love that breaks the faerie curse doesn't have to be romantic. re-reading the three musketeers made me very happy too - it's one of my top 10 favorite books of all time and i was kinda nervous i might not like it as much as an adult. well the joke's on me bc now i can confirm it's one of the best books ever written😊 reading in other lands and big swiss cheered me up a lot too bc they're just so damn funney😄

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? haven't seen a lot of adaptations so ig dune part two wins by default. twas a fine movie. the wheel of time is also a nice show in my opinion but i didn't read the source material so idk how good it is adaptation-wise🤷‍♀️

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year? my favorite ones are probably the ones i wrote about the three musketeers and in other lands but i think i also wrote some good critical/negative reviews of the mask of mirrors and of the vorkosigan books i read this year (1 2 3)

14. Most Beautiful Cover? behold the cover of the voyage of the basilisk!🤩 i want to frame it and hang it on my wall so that i can gaze at it adoringly and connect with my inner ishmael

(art by todd lockwood)

i also like this vintage romance cover of gaywyck and the uk covers of the farseer trilogy. it's a shame that the books are not as good as the covers led me to believe. especially in the case of gaywyck - this cover is Such A Vibe! but alas

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? in terms of series i want to finish the memoirs of lady trent, read one more witcher book, at least a couple vampire chronicles and then reread swordspoint and hopefully complete that series too. other fantasy i want to get to at last is fire & blood and the hands of the emperor - both are big and intimidating tho. for my classics challenge i need to finish a couple of tomes i'm reading slowly throughout the year and then also read the name of the rose. american psycho and mona awad's bunny have been on my tbr for ages - maybe i'll finally read them this fall. and i also want to finish reading kj charles' backlist bc the completionism drive is stronger than the fear of having no kj charles to read lol

i never do things a normal amount - every time i take up new media i go all in. so i had a musicals phase, a movies phase, a tv show phase - each lasting a few years and then i barely watched any of these once the phase ended. which is why i've been wondering if my current Book Phase is about to wrap up soon but, given how many books i managed to read since january, it sure doesn't seem that way. instead, it feels like the more i read the better i am at finding books that i'm likely to enjoy - which leads to more reading. and i cannot complain about that tbh😁📚

tagging @magpiefngrl @doh-rae-me @oliviermiraarmstrongs @fugitoidkry @pinkasrenzo @counterwiddershins @figuringthengsout @sugarbabywenkexing @fandomreferencepending @venndaai @weirdsociology @sixappleseeds @theodoradove

please tell me what you've been reading this year (if you want)! one can't have too many book recs👀

goodreads │ old mid year tags 2020 2021 2022 2023

#book tag #you can add or remove questions as you like btw #and as always if you're not on the list but want to talk to me about books - consider yourself tagged :)

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thelioncourts · 2 years ago

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I’m really afraid jacob won’t comeback on season 3 since he only signed for 2 seasons while sam signed for 5 seasons already. What do you think about that? Do you think jacob will extend his contract? I know rolin want to keep louis as the heart of the series but given that in books he was sidelined by anne rice, would jacob stay or chose other projects to have more chance as the lead actor rather than being limited in s3 and future seasons ?

I don't think we have anything to worry about re: Jacob Anderson in regard to the show. I've been seeing a lot of people worrying about it lately, and while I love that people love Jacob enough to be worried (!), I don't know where the fear is coming from, but I do hope that I can maybe alleviate some of those fears. I'm no expert or anything, but here are some things I think are note-worthy:

I want to point out (and I don't have a source on this one. If anyone does have the source, I would greatly appreciate it and will add it) that I've read that Jacob only signs on for a season at a time when he does shows. I've read that he did that with GoT and so it's not surprising that he, so far, is only signed for the first two seasons of IwtV in order to sign on for the first book. But, again, it's a habit, it's a pattern, he has a reason for doing it. It doesn't mean that he won't sign on for more seasons. In fact, I very much feel (like -- so strongly feel) that we will see Jacob on IwtV until its very last episode. Here's why --

“When I read the novel, it was very clear that this was a romance –indicates the showrunner–. And we wanted to tackle it in a big way: overflowing passion, big fights and big reconciliations. A relationship like that may not be the best thing for you in life, but sometimes you just can't control yourself, and that's what happens to Louis and Lestat." Will the show respect the structure of the books, in which Louis disappears and Lestat comes to the fore? “We want to focus on the relationship between the two,” replies the showrunner. That does not mean that they will be together in every scene of every chapter, but when the second season arrives you will have a clearer idea of what will happen to Louis, and even more so in the third, when we adapt Lestat the Vampire [second volume of the saga ]." "We will keep the spirit of the novels and their emotional arcs, but their plots are built in a very different way than what a TV series asks for. Besides, who would want to get rid of an actor like Jacob Anderson? ".

from this Cinemania article

LOUIS’ FUTURE: If the TV series continues beyond the first book and adheres to The Vampire Chronicles storyline, Louis would be relegated to the sidelines as Lestat takes centre stage. O’Byrne says creators are aware of fan fears that the currentBlack-led story is positioned to serve a white hero’s arc. Assuming more seasons come, he says Louis will remain “a force in the show, in some way or another going forward.” “The way we have envisioned the show from a racially diverse perspective is something that will continue to be a priority for us,” says O’Byrne. “Part of that would be trying to keep Louis involved beyond the way he just dips in-and-out of the canon (after) the first book.” Issues around race were prominent in season one and will continue in season two as Louis and Claudia explore Europe, says O’Byrne, teasing that it will touch on “France’s colonial past.“

from this Toronto Star article

"I came back to them and said, 'I don't think it's a horror show, I think it's a gothic romance. I want to write a very excitable, aggressive, toxic, beautiful love story,'" Jones said of pitching the series to AMC. "And they were down for it." Jones also explained that the first season of the series will cover about half of the story in the Interview With the Vampire novel with potential future seasons getting into the rest of the Vampire Chronicles books, the series has already used those additional books to help build out that toxic love story. "Let's see them really go through all the little obstacles and challenges of a relationship," he said. "Like Bogey and Bacall, with some fangs."

from this ComicBook.com article

And from Jacob:

Coming into this in the beginning, I definitely had a fear that I wasn’t going to be accepted because of how Louis is presented in the original novel. It feels really significant to me that I’m included in the way that people think of this story now. From that point of view, it’s lovely. Loustat is something that…I mean, Sam was way more kind of ingratiated into the Anne Rice fandom than I was early on, I’d only read the first two books, which I was very much in love with, but I hadn’t read beyond at that point. But, we were saying, “Loustat.” We were calling them “Loustat” throughout the shoot... A big part of what made this adaptation really great, especially for Black viewers, was that it was color conscious storytelling. A lot of that had to do with it being set in the American South during the time period it was set in. But in the finale, you’re leaving that and leaving that area. Are we still going to explore that aspect of him, of Louis and Blackness, wherever and whenever we end up in season two? I think as it does with all of us, it follows you wherever you go, because we don’t live in a world that is post-racial. Wherever we find Louis, it’s going to be a part of his story. It’s going to be a part of his existence and his daily life. I mean, it is in Dubai, you don’t really see it, but I think there’s something very interesting about this Black man living up in a tower in Dubai. Honestly, I’m not being secretive, I don’t know yet exactly what is going to be explored in season two, but I always find this thing really interesting about European sensibilities at a certain time. Like James Baldwin going over to Paris to escape racism in America. This idea that Paris was this really welcoming place for Black people, particularly African-Americans. It would be interesting to see what we do with that. I think in a lot of cases it wasn’t necessarily true. It just wasn’t as awful as it was in America at that time.

from this InsideHook article

I think there are a lot of things here that give a ton of hope/confirmation of Louis' long-term part in this show.

From a "my personal interpretation of how they're setting up the show," and "my personal interpretation based on what they've said," and "my personal interpretation based on what is smart for a television show trying to stay on the air in a time where shows get cancelled very easily," here's what I'll say:

A lot of the above-mentioned information tells us that when Rolin Jones went into creating this show, he created it with the romance of Lestat and Louis at its center. I've said this before in other asks, but you can't set up a show that focuses primarily on a romance, turn around and get rid of that romance as a central aspect, and expect viewers to keep watching. At this point, viewers are invested in Lestat and Louis. Any post I see about the show not from stans, or overly involved people running blogs and twitter accounts ( :D ) are about the romance and ship of Loustat. It's drawn people in and will continue to do so, especially when season 2 comes around and we see the immensity of Louis' longing for Lestat, his yearning, and the undoubted 2022!Lestat reveal at the end. Audiences will be clamoring to see 2022!Louis and 2022!Lestat reunite. C l a m o r i n g. To not have it would be detrimental tbh.

It's also important to note that they are not doing a direct adaptation of the books. They are doing the spirit of the books, doing certain big arcs of the books, but clearly they are not doing the books themselves word-by-word. All things considered, it's not that hard to put Louis into these plot arcs, especially with how they've already changed things (i.e. Louis and Armand still being together in 2022, the complications of what Daniel being there means, etc.). And, personally, I think the addition of Louis to these plot arcs would vastly improve them, something I've always felt regarding the disappearance of Louis in the books series (by far my biggest Anne Rice criticism/complaint). In these three asks here [x] [x] [x], I've elaborated on my thoughts about the future of Loustat/the idea of Lestat with any of his future partners in the books/etc. and, to add to this, I feel like it's important to note that Lestat's other romantic partners in the books (beyond being part of what some like to call Anne's "anybody but Louis era") are characters like Nicki (who we will see, but who will die), Gabrielle (his mother, to which I don't see the show going too much into given the network and audience and also she abandons him frequently lol), Akasha (who we will see, but it will be non-consensual so it doesn't actually count in regard to romance), Antoine (who is Antoinette in the show and we've seen how not-full-of-love that relationship is and also its end), Gretchen (?????????), Dora (?????????????????), Rowan Mayfair (which Anne has said was one of her biggest regrets and I pray the show doesn't do it), and David Talbot (who I hope never comes to exist in this world and they give some of his storyline to Louis and/or Daniel, as it should have always been). Like there aren't any other characters set up for Lestat to be with other than the love of his life, Louis. I think we should also take note that Jacob is very much acting as though there are long-term intentions of staying. He's been reading all of the books (last I heard, he was on book 8, which is !!! crazy) and I don't feel like he would be reading them without the intention of knowing what he may be expecting in later seasons.

I could keep rambling, but to sum up what I've pulled from articles and my own thoughts, I think the show is going to continue with Sam and Jacob as pure co-leads for the entirety of the show. I think without them both, the show will not succeed and I think the show very much knows that.

#interview with the vampire #jacob anderson #amc iwtv #iwtv #louis de pointe du lac

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kolbisneat · 10 months ago

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MONTHLY MEDIA: March 2024

……….FILM……….

Dune: Part Two (2024) Every piece of technology felt and looked so tangible. The baby worm too! Love the tactile nature of this whole production and I hope studios take note that CG can't be the only tool in your belt. So much bigger than I imagined and just enjoyed the whole thing.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) Ages surprisingly well and a script that lets the main quartet be both funny and layered.

……….TELEVISION……….

Columbo (1.01 to 1.03) Hey I'm starting Columbo! Love that each episode is feature-length and Columbo appears fully formed right out of the gate. The sets and costumes are all so glamorous and L.A. Very excited to keep going.

Succession (2.05 to 3.04) The Kendall play at the end of season 2 felt very much like the Kendall play at the end of season 1 and while I'm still a huge fan of this series, I just hope it's not the same going into season 3 and 4.

Delicious in Dungeon (Episode 1.09 to 1.13) Great adaptation that isn't just a straight recreation of the artwork in the manga. The more kinetic/frantic moments in the animation are a nice departure and while they don't pop up in each episode, now that I'm 13 eps deep I can appreciate how they're sprinkled throughout.

Love is Blind (Episode 6.02 to 6.13) It still amazes me that anyone goes on reality tv.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Twilight | ContraPoints by ContraPoints Yes I did watch a nearly 3-hour essay on Twilight, sexual expression, and all that comes with that. And you should too. VIDEO

Instagram fatigue and the rise of 'Resentment Reels' by Taylor Lorenz While I haven't noticed this specific phenomenon, I have noticed Instagram declining as an app (both as a user trying to see anything other than ads, and a creator trying to get my work seen in between those ads). It's a bummer. VIDEO

Saltburn: The Tumblr-ification of Cinema by Broey Deschanel Every since I saw Saltburn, I've been thinking about what wasn't quite sitting right with me. This unlocked a lot of what I couldn't describe and most of it stems from the writer/director's upper class upbringing. Saltburn isn't a "take down the rich" movie, it's a horror story from the perspective of a wealthy family. VIDEO

Why Is It So Hard To Cross The Street? (& What You Can Do To Help) by Strong Towns Accidents where drivers hit a pedestrian are going up in my area so this really hit home. And for those feeling like there's nothing you can do at ground level, consider taking their course (not a paid sponsorship I'm just in real support of community-lead initiatives). VIDEO

……….READING……….

Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock (Complete) After picking up the last book in this series (which I've yet to read) I figured I'd start at the beginning. Love the fast pace pulpy action and I can see how this influenced the creation of D&D.

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (Complete) This one would lose me for stretches but the final quarter of the book is stronger. A lot less cozy and a lot more action than I was expecting but skimming other reviews it sounds like this was written during her more...adventure-focused era. Three books deep and I have to give Christie credit that each has been a completely different experience.

Adventures of a Japanese Business Man by Jose Domingo (Complete) Always love going back to this nearly wordless epic that follows the titular Japanese business man. I love the complexity of the earliest panels and wish that could carry throughout more of the book, but it's always such a treat to discover just where each new panel will go.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 5 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Enjoying rereading this with shorter breaks between volumes as I certainly missed/forgot details on my first read. It's here that the story and tone shifts from light romp to a more dramatic and dangerous affair but it never loses its spot-on humour. Love those dryad pumpkins.

Ultimate Spider-Man HC Volume 11 by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, David Lafuente, and more (Complete) Going from some of my other comics back to this, I'm struck by just how wordy it can get. Now knowing where the story goes, it was a great idea to prime readers to the idea of Peter Parker dying even if it's not from this event.

……….AUDIO……….

Blank Check with Griffin & David (Podcast) Late to the game on this but really enjoying burning through their back catalog. Obviously started with their episode on Speed Racer as it's a near perfect film that you should watch right now.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Tuesday group just killed a mayor! So the aftermath of that is going to play out over the next couple of sessions. And the Mof1 crew is investigating the aftermath of their own district-wide catastrophe and it's all looking rather suspicious!

Spot It (Blue Orange Games) I can't recommend this game enough. It's so easy to learn, rounds last maybe 5 minutes, it plays well with small or large groups of any age, and all it requires is pattern recognition and quick reflexes. Every time I've played this someone says they're going to buy a copy for themselves.

And that's it. See you in April!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #Andrew Kolb

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dailypavitr · 1 year ago

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Pav's history in chronological order

Okay, okay. So. If y'all are curious as to what are the comics you have to read to get a pixel of Pavitr or and in what order, I got you. Now, want to clarify something:

If you only want to read the two volumes of Spider-Man: India, that's legit. The only thing you'll miss is why is he in Earth-616 at the very begging, but nothing that jarring.

Early life and becomig (a) Spider-Man

Easy peasy, it's only four issues! The first comic is, obviously: Spider-Man: India (2004).

Spider-Verse Related

Now, overall, Pavitr is pretty much a side side side character in the Spider-Verse, but has his moments!

Spider-Verse Event (2014). Like, all of it, yeah. Reading order in here.

Deadpool: Too Soon? Infinite Comic #6. Seems odd, right? Well, yeah; that's because he only appears in like, two panels, LOL. But he appears! That's something. Hobie also appears! And they play baseball against a bunch of Wolverines.

Spider-Verse (Vol. 2) (2015). Secret Wars Event.

Web Warriors (2015). He's the genius of the group! Has great great moments.

Spider-Geddon (2018) (second Spider-Verse Event; third if you count the Electroverse thing) (also HERE is where you can see him with a freaking BEARD). Reading order in here.

End of the Spider-Verse (2022). More importantly, Edge of Spider-Verse (2022) #3 is the tie in for his main vol. 2 series! Reading order in here.

He survived the End of the Spider-Verse!

Now you can read Spider-Man: India (2023) in peace! Knowing that he lived to tell us about all The Horrors(TM).

And after Spider-Man: India (2023) he was kinda kidnapped by Loki along with Black Cat (616), in Marvel Voices Infinty Comics (#75 to 76).

He dances Bollywood (probably) songs in Free Comic Book Day: Marvel Voices #1 (2024)!

Now he's part of the Spider-Society (2024)!

This new Spider-Verse will be released on August, 14! So stay tunned to see if baby boy Pavitr will be in more than one panel!

#figured I needed a pinned post and you know what this will be it #pavitr my beloved #pavitr prabhakar #daily pavitr #spiderman india #comic pavitr #spiderverse pavitr

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bl-danmei-planet · 1 year ago

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Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite BL media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Hi! Thank you for your message 💖

I like works that are darker, explicit, and deal with some sort of trauma and BDSM relationship. My favorite trope is puppy top/tsundere bottom so you will find that in most of these works as well.

Ten Count

by Rihito Takarai, manga,tw: dubcon, mentall illness(OCD), 6 volumes + audio drama, upcoming anime (2023?)

This is the first explicit yaoi I read. The main couple are in a BDSM relationship. It's very psychological and deals with sexual trauma and sexual liberation.

The Pawn's Revenge

by EVY, manwha, crime, tw: sex trafficking, violence

Although the story's setting is dark the main couple are very loving as they form a strong bond when they become accomplices in crimes. I also love how the bottom in this story is quite strong although he has a dark past.

Husky and his white cat Shizun/2ha

by Meatbun doesn't eat meat, danmei, fantasy, tw: noncon, student-teacher relationship, +5 volumes, +manhua&audio drama

My favorite danmei and my all time favorite BL! It has equal parts of smut and angst, which I personally love. The main character has done great sins in his life and he gets transmigrated to get a fresh start. 2ha deals with the guilt, forgiveness, shame, and unconditional love.

Lullaby of the dawn

by Ichiko Yuna, manga, fantasy, 3/4 volumes

Amazing wholesome fantasy romance with a puppy top and a shy tsundere bottom.

Painter of the night

by ByeonDuck, Manwha, Historical, tw: noncon/dubcon.

Painter of the night has a beautiful art style that captures emotions and eroticsm very well. The work also deals with trauma,homophobia, and sexual freedom.

ENNEAD

by Mojito, Manwha, Historical, tw: noncon

This is a mythological retelling set in Ancient Egypt. It is a harem-type drama with a slowburn between a puppy top and an arrogant bottom.

Twittering Birds Never Fly

by Kou Yoneda, Manga, Yakuza. Tw: csa, 7+ volumes +anime

This work also deals with trauma (csa) and how the main couple deals with it as they entangle in a complicated relationship with each other. It's both very bittersweet and psychological.

In These Words

by GuiltPleasure, manga, crime, tw: noncon, gore, +4 volumes+side stories/prequels

This work is not for everyone, it is so far the most dark and explicit work I've read. I love it as someone who's into Hannibal, horror, crime, and dark romance. The storytelling and art style are top notch.

Heaven official's blessing/Tian Guan Ci Fu

by MXTX, danmei, fantasy, 8 volumes, + manhua,audio drama and donghua.

Although I prefer darker and smuttier works, I absolutely love Tgcf which has a very sweet friends-to-lovers slowburn. Tgcf has a vast world building and in-depth character study. You could say it also deals with sexual repression. I love how the main couple protects each other throughout the story.

Little Mushroom

by Shisi, danmei, post-apocalyptic, 2 volumes, +manhua&audio drama

This is a great scifi story and the BL part of it is a bonus! The main couple represent opposites sides of the story symbolically, which I really love.

#boy's love #yaoi #danmei #recs

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coraniaid · 9 days ago

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Some 2025 Goals (Books, Films, Etc.)

This is an utterly self-indulgent long post, sorry. I know that could describe a lot of my posts on here, but this one especially is really for (future) me more than anybody else.

I've decided it might be fun to set some targets for books / films / TV / music / games this year. Nothing especially flashy though: if you read this and think 'well, those should all be pretty easy, shouldn't they?' then thank you; this is exactly the point of the exercise.

Reading

Unlike most years, I'm not going to set a specific target for new books read in 2025.

Last year I read 51 books, which feels like a slightly strange number: it's bigger enough than average that bringing it up in casual conversation feels uncomfortably like bragging , but it's small enough compared to most people I know who read a lot that it also doesn't seem like anything actually worth bragging about. Also, my target for the year was 52. The thing is, I'm not sure having a target like this last year actually helped me read a wider range of books or enjoy reading more; I'm not even sure, honestly, that it helped encourage me to read more books than I would have otherwise.

So, while I am still going to track all the books I read this year, I'm not going to set an overall target. I am going to set some sub-targets though, namely:

Read more books (novels or short story collections both count; anything published in a single volume is 'a book' for this) in genres I don't usually try: at least three horror books; at least three romances; at least three historical fiction novels and at least three contemporary literary novels.

Read at least twelve books which won some kind of (distinct) award (the actual award doesn't matter so much, though it should be something with a bit of prestige in its field: the catch is that these twelve books have to represent twelve different awards)

Read at least twelve books first published before 1925 (since I notice that very few of the books I finished in 2024 were published more than one hundred years ago)

Read at least twelve books published in 2024 or 2025 (since I've also recently noticed that I practically didn't read any new releases last year either)

Somebody other than Adrian Tchaikovsky has to be my most read author in 2025. This is non-negotiable. (No offence to Tchaikovsky, whose work I -- obviously -- like a lot, but he was somehow my most read author in both 2023 and 2024 and it's got to stop at some point)

Watching

I don't really watch much in the way of film or TV. Or, rather, as regular readers of this blog might guess, I watch a lot of the same nearly thirty year old TV show repeatedly, but I don't watch a lot of new TV. So, goals here:

Finish The Americans. I started watching this show in 2023 and made it to the end of Season 3 last summer. The thing is: I'm honestly not sure whether I like it or not? The individual performances are really good (especially Keri Russell as Elizabeth Jennings), the premise is the right combination of absurd but just about played straight, but -- especially from the end of Season 2 onwards -- some of the writing choices are ... well, they are very odd to me. (Also, while I've never expected the politics of the show to be good, I think the fact Oliver North of all people gets a story credit for one episode is honestly pretty gross). But, that said, when the show is good it is good and I own physical copies of the next three seasons, so ...

Watch Season 2 of We Are Lady Parts. This should be easy (which is, of course, the point). I liked Season 1 when I watched it last year, and then I just ... didn't watch any more.

Watch Season 1 of Mr Robot. Of all the big critically acclaimed 2010s shows I've somehow managed not to watch -- and there are a lot of them -- I think this is the one that sounds most likely to interest me (without reading enough about it to spoil myself). Only committing myself to one season because ... well, maybe I'll hate it?

Watch The Corner miniseries. I'm a big fan of The Wire and I've owned a physical copy of this for over three years which I've just never got around to. Should be easy enough to fix that.

Watch fifty new (to me) films this year. That's just under one a week, which should also be easy, right? Well, it'd be about twice what i managed last year, so maybe not. Films I tried last year but didn't finish count as new, I guess (there are quite a few of those).

Listening

One thing the last couple of years have taught me is that I don't listen to as much music as I'd like to beiieve I do. And my instinctive "well, I don't really use Spotify much..." excuse whenever Spotify Wrapped season comes around at the end of the year feels less convincing every time. So:

Either remember the details of my existing last.fm account or (more likely) create a new one; download/set-up the last.fm scrobbler.

Try to get back into the habit of listening to music while I do other things, as opposed to only listening to music when I have the time to focus on it exclusively. (I'm not entirely sure how to quantify that one, but it seems noticeable that, for example, I'm not listening to any music while writing this post...)

I want to have listened to at least thirty new (to me) albums by the end of the year, at least twelve of them by artists I've never listened to before and at least twelve (not necessarily a different twelve) in (sub)genres I don't normally listen to (I'm honestly not sure whether that's something I managed last year or not, but it feels like it should be pretty straightforward ... right?)

At least one of my Spotify Wrapped and last.fm Playback totals at the end of the year should be at least 10% higher than the equivalent figure for my 2024 Wrapped. (I don't think I ever posted that figure here, but ... yeah, this should also not be hard.)

Playing

Last year I set myself the goal of completing twelve video games. I thought that was pretty modest, but might be a good start to working through some of the backlog of games I owned but hadn't ever really properly played. Of that initial twelve, I managed a total of ... zero. That's not great!

So, no mere numbers here. I'm going to try to be specific. I want to complete (or put in enough hours/effort that I feel I can fairly give up on as beyond my abilities) at least four of Baba Is You, Control, Cyberpunk 2077, Disco Elysium, The Witness and one as yet unnamed game (which I can pick at any point during the year).

Will try to come back to this post periodically (but probably not as often as every month) to update my progress (if any).

#long post

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jasper-book-stash · 9 months ago

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March 2024 Reading Wrap Up

I got bronchitis and my period at the same time in March, and then spilled tea on my computer, so March was a very stressful time for me. Regardless, I managed to read 10 books! And honestly, overall, this is one of the better months - the lowest I've ranked a book is 6/10, which is damn good considering the absolute bullshit I usually read.

Religious Text

None applicable.

1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?

None applicable.

2/10 - Trash

None applicable.

3/10 - Meh

None applicable.

4 to 6/10 - Mid-Tier

Tomb Sweeping | Alexandra Chang

I read this book while sick. And boy howdy, did that make it a weird experience. I get what it was going for, but it really wasn't my vibe. It just felt like everything was...unfinished. Which was the point, I suppose, but it was still annoying.

7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats

What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality | Daniel A Helminiak

This is a very short book compared to my usual reads, topping at 152 pages. And I appreciate a book that gets straight to the point and analyzes the historical context around various works, particularly religious works. Good job. My only complaint is some editing issues.

Born to Love, Cursed to Feel | Samantha King

This was a poetry collection and was the only other book I read while sick, and boy howdy did I have a time of it. I spent most of the reading just...putting post-it notes in and nodding along to the lines. It was a surprisingly good book, considering I found it in the back alley version of a book store.

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South | Aaron Oberon

Look. This is not a 101 book. It's not a 102 book. It's not even a 201 book. It simply is. And as much as I enjoyed it and enjoyed reading it, the fact that I spent most of my reading time fixing the editing means that I cannot, in good faith, put this any higher than an 8 out of 10. Dear Aaron Oberon, if you ever read this, PLEASE give me access to the original file so I can fix your punctuation and spelling mistakes. Sincerely, a fellow Southerner.

9/10 - Very Very Good

Snow White with the Red Hair, volumes 21-23 | Sorata Akiduki

I am still so fucking feral over this series. I love them so fucking much. I want them all to be happy but I also like seeing their shenanigans. Unfortunately, though we're at 26 published volumes, we've reached the end of the ones in Missouri Evergreen that I may access. I'll either have to wait and hope that someone gets them, or I'll have to bite the bullet and buy them myself.

Not Pounded By Anything: Six Platonic Tales Of Non-Sexual Encounters | Chuck Tingle

This is my first expedition into the erotic Tingleverse after reading some pieces of the horror Tingleverse in Straight and Camp Damascus. And I really, really like this book. It's 77 pages and is such an easy read. Godspeed, you glorious bastard.

10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone

Well, everyone who's into the genre these fall under, at least.

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, tenth edition | Janet Burroway

I found this in the free section of a bookstore in the middle of nowhere, and let me tell you, it is now marked up one side and down the other with highlighter, because I needed it. There are so many good parts of this book that it's genuinely one I would recommend to people who are trying to figure out why their writing feels flat.

Sacred Gender: Create Trans and Nonbinary Spiritual Connections | Ariana Serpentine

First, I want to congratulate the author on what is possibly the coolest name ever.

Second, if you're an occultist, polytheist, witch, magic practitioner, or in any other way affiliated with things beyond or within mortal ken...get this book. It's making me rethink a lot of my own experiences with my craft and my religion, but in a good way.

#jasper post #books #bookblr #authors #reading wrap up #2024 #march 2024

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emeritus-fuckers · 1 year ago

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For the role event!

1. probably a sibling on sin, i’m not musically inclined besides for choir singing so i don’t think i’d work well as a ghoul

2. probably Primo or Terzo. i think Primo and i would hound over our plants/gardens and i can be very laid back/slow paced. i think Terzo and i both have a flair for the dramatic and would understand each others wants/struggles

3. i’m an introvert when meeting new people but once we know each other i can be a bit wild. i’m known to not have a filter or volume control so i can be a bit much sometimes

4. probably anything to do with gardening or books. i love plants and have my own garden so i already know a thing or two. i also love literature and would love to just organize/go through books. i also love small repetitive tasks as they keep my mind occupied

5. i prefer to stay at home unless it’s traveling for an event. going out and about too much drains me mentally and i love being a cozy home body

6. i love naps and stuffed animals. i’ve always grown up with animals and currently have a cat. my current favorite hobby is annotating books. i love horror and gore, october is my favorite month and my birthday. i go bird watching despite most birders being older folk

This post is part of the 1000 followers Role in ministry event. Entries for the event are now closed.

Your role in the ministry is... Keeper of the Garden Library

You work under for Primo. The garden library is cosy and small, its located in the Ministry itself. The door to it is small and barely noticed but the doorframe itself is painted with flowers and vines.

While in the library you spend the day re-ordering the books, making sure the ones on loan are returned and loaning out any books people want to borrow. It's a beattiful room with views onto the garden.

Primo will drop in often, mostly to have a chat with you and drink tea. Also sometimes as he needs to check a book for information. He is impressed that you know the place so well. He only has to state his gardening issue and within seconds you places the correct book in his hands.

Or you just tell him the answer as you often spend time reading the books. There is a cozy reading nook at the far side of the libary. There is a log fire and a comfy chair (with cushions and blankets) surrounded by book shelves.

You also help out in the garden a few days a week. Primo is always apprecaitive of your help as you have a lot of knowledge already and he enjoys talking to you.

Terzo also likes to drop in, mainly to have a long chat with you. He'll use the excuse of needing advice on his house plants whenever Primo catches him (not that Primo minds.)

When Terzo joins you, the libary is filled with dramatic gasps and discussions over your daily struggles and wishes. You get on really well together and often hang out outside of work too.

Written by Nyx

#anon #ministry roles event #whats my role in the ministry event #role in the ministry #ghost band #ghost bc #ghost band x reader #ghost bc x reader #ghost x reader #papa emeritus I #primo

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neixins · 6 months ago

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mid-year reading wrap-up

most of what i’ve read so far this year’s been…aggressively fine, which is just not that fun or interesting to talk about tbh. however, there have been some delightfully high highs and atrociously low lows that i do wanna talk about!

but first, some stats for any mathematically-minded curious imps in the audience

average rating: 3.15 (i know i'm stingy with my ratings but yikes!)

number of books read: 27 -> 11 novellas, 10 novels, 5 short stories, and 1 nonfiction

i’ve also picked up 26 different manga series and oneshots. some i’ve read start to finish, some i’ve only read a few volumes of (and i plan to continue most).

highlights

mammoths at the gates by nghi vo: it’s no secret that i adore the singing hills cycle and this installment was a poignant tale of grief and memory and change, and it was just as brilliant as the rest of the series.

from far away, vol. 1-14 by hikawa kyoko: a wonderful, gentle story about the power of love, compassion, and community, featuring well-written protagonists who are full of love for each other and the world around them.

on the fox roads by nghi vo: this novelette is free to read on reactor mag (aka tor) so i’m not gonna say anything else except that nghi vo never, ever misses. go read it now!!

seven little sons of the dragon by kui ryoko: i don’t need to tell any of u how talented of a writer and artist kui is but this collection was truly one hit after another

two rogues make a right by cat sebastian: i’ve read only two cat sebastian books so far but she’s quickly become my go-to romance author. she just Delivers romances that will make u giggle and kick your feet! this one is about a guy who whisks his best friend away to the countryside after his chronic illness gets worse and they slowly realize that they’re in love <3

a little light mischief by cat sebastian: an absolutely delightful little novella about a lady’s companion who’s been disowned by her family and the pretty ex-thief maid who’s being very distracting!!

i decided not to include any manga series i’m still reading on the list but frequent visitors to neixins dot tumblr dot edu know how much i adore yona of the dawn, even when it’s trying its hardest to murder me. but u’ve probably heard me ramble about it enough already (and if u haven’t: my tag). and since i’m doing honorable mentions, i’d be remiss not to mention dungeon meshi (read vol 1-5 so far) and natsume’s book of friends (read vol 2).

and another honorable mention goes to the empress of salt and fortune by nghi vo which i’ve reread multiple times in the past few years and it never fails to dazzle me. this time around i listened to the audiobook (narrated by cindy kay, one of my favorite narrators).

boo tomato tomato

nothing but blackened teeth by cassandra khaw: this was more of a disappointment than a book i hated so i feel bad lumping it in with the rest of these but i did buy a physical copy at full price so it gets a mention. this novella’s biggest flaw was that it kept saying that the characters were part of a toxic codependent friend group but they just felt like strangers who didn’t like each other, which made it seem like they were staying in the creepy haunted house just because the plot needed them to, rather than for the reasons they claimed. khaw’s prose is quite unique though so i’m excited to check out the salt grows heavy despite not liking this one.

the woods all black by lee mandelo: i wanted to love this so badly because the themes were so up my alley and i love slowburn horror with an explosive final act. but unfortunately, it was so so bad

love on the other side by nagabe: literally half of this collection included relationships between adults and children (which definitely weren’t platonic/familial like the blurb led me to believe….) and the vileness of those stories was enough to drown out anything good in the rest of the collection. i actually also read two other nagabe works (before this one; if i’d read this first i wouldn’t have bothered). monotone blue would’ve been fine if there hadn’t been an assault scene that got brushed off way too quickly…and the wize wize beasts of the wizarding wizdoms was a mixed bag; some of the stories were just as terrible as love on the other side but “marley & collette” was very sweet, not gonna lie…..

i’ve also had many, many dnf’s which i don’t log, but i simply must give a shoutout (derogatory) to romancing the duke by tessa dare which i had high hopes for and which instead made me read this godawful sequence of words with my own two gay eyes (during pride month no less!): "He was just so near. And so tall. And so commanding. So male. Everything female in her was rallying to the challenge." thanks i hate it……

in conclusion, my hopes for the second half of the year can be boiled down to: save me nghi vo and cat sebastian save meee

#putting it under the cut bc i rambled more than i thought i would #beloved mutuals please share ur reading highs and lows with me if ur so inclined <3 #i'm gonna go make dinner now

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tenebrius-excellium · 8 months ago

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Welp, I thought I was done talking about the Httyd books,

READ THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. IT'S MEATY and you might not like what you find.

So, a huge part of why I love the Httyd movies is because they explore those fundamental philosophical topics of war and peace, justice and mercy, friendship and romance, and even marriage, through a lense of traditional Christian values. Right? They contrast the ideal of what life should be with how it is and come out on top through radical grace.

Beware that I recently fell in love with God again after a long break of being bitter and questioning, so I am radicalized and on fire myself.

The books baffle me.

Because while they literally serve as the base inspiration for the movies, they don't exhibit the same values. The Httyd movies are idealistic and naive, the books are realistic and clever. The books are bold enough to pitch a boy against an archipelago, to explore all those large topics such as friendship, isolation, horror, abuse, and evil in depth, - they are intelligent enough to turn the Slavemark into a hero's symbol!!!, and yet - after a massive tale with the space of 12 volumes and digging into all of those vast discussions about the state and fate and nature of humanity - the plot arrives at the Gods and just... halts there.

Never explores them.

The Gods get mentioned and never explained! But that's an issue, because if there are no Gods, then letting the King's Things find Hiccup so mysteriously is strange, and letting his crowning ceremony be confirmed by a sort of God-like appearance doesn't make sense either, like... what is the point of teasing at that, then? What is the reason for having sages and sentinels and priest-like people? 'Spirituality' is too shallow, 'superstition' devalues Hiccup's claim.

For if the Norse Gods exist, hoooo boy, then two things about them are confirmed, 1. that they see what's going on and 2. that they actively helped by ordaining Hiccup III. king. But this then begs the question of why the vikings never asked their Gods for more help instead of waging all their wars by themselves!? Nor does it explain Furious' lament for the world, for if the Gods take care of it and guide the right people to the right places at the right time, then he shouldn't have to worry so much? If anything, he should be taking his complaint about the treatment of his dragon species to the Gods. But he just sort of... voices that. To no one in particular. Cuz Hiccup isn't God. The readers of the books aren't God either.

Let's look at option 3: The Gods can only intervene by using people if a person's heart is already in the right place. If there is no one with a good heart around, the Gods obviously can't crown a good person king. This would demand a change in humanity's heart so that it can be saved by the powers that be above. To be used for good, you have to want to be good. Otherwise, if the Gods just took hold of you and made you do things, you wouldn't have free will anymore. So for the Gods to be able to save humanity, humanity must first want to save itself.

This is certainly an option. But certainly not the one I was able to deduce from the plot of the books. The powers and presence of the Gods were just not fleshed out enough for that. There was no proper relationship between the mystic and the action plot; it sort of got smudged into one another without visible correlation. For a series of 12 books, this was not enough to satisfy me. I was left with the impression that the books are clever in the sense that they believe humanity must solve its own problems. As such, they do not gain my sympathy.

Because you cannot establish a conflict THAT huge, then introduce GODS, and then NOT THINK THAT YOU NEED TO ASK THEM FOR HELP.

The books scream of "we need help!!!!!! we can't do it!!!!!!!!!!! is anyone listening????" and then they shift that agonizing, desperate cry of the heart onto... mystic powers whose existence is never proven and who never even show their face. And then Furious basically closes with, "well, humanity's the one at fault - it's up to y'all, guys." And this is final.

To be so clever, to explore such deep and complex topics, and to then not be humble enough about admitting to need the help from a higher power is so outright selfish, presumptious, ignorant and blind that it is no wonder humanity can't save itself.

Thus, the Httyd books remain in senseless activism. To become overly Christian now: Sure, Valhallarama was able to powerfully turn a symbol around. But she was not able to abolish the symbol. This is what the world does (unironically look at it): We gather around opinions, around literal flags and symbols and icons and statements and ideals, but it only drives us further apart. This is what happens in the Bible in the book of Judges, where everyone builds their own little religion, feels entitled to take revenge on wrongdoers in their own little ways, and simply ends up making matters so much worse instead. Gathering around all these powerful symbols that cannot save the world is called idol worship, by the way. This is what the God of the Bible means when he says to not make a representative image of something. A single value can't save us. Standing behind a flag cannot save us, because that flag is limited to certain aspects, but not to the nuances of the human experience as a whole. The meaning of a flag can change in an instant, and you may suddenly find yourself on the wrong side, depending on whatever is popular right now. If you're proud of a flag and that flag then gets associated with atrocities (totally not speaking about ANY current world events right now or something), it has not been a stable thing to get behind. It's a house built on sinking sand.

God himself says to get behind his name for the sole reason that he openly and confidently claims there is no other name by which the world will be saved, and he has already proven it by having saved us himself but that is a story for another time.

To return to the Httyd books, after 12 books, when confronted with their fictional Gods who can clearly help them, it is to my understanding that the vikings refused and would rather do it themselves. And that - this kind of pride after a war this severe - is what I find appalling, depressing, the list goes on. This just means that there is no salvation for the book!verse, and then Furious was right. Because the humans did not think they needed to ask a higher entity for help, when its presence and benevolence was available.

Now the movies pursue a different narrative. Hiccup only arrives at a similiar stage in the moral dilemma at the end of the third movie, and that, too, doesn't get resolved. But it is clear that Hiccup hasn't stopped looking for a solution, and it is also clear that if ANYONE offered him his help, Hiccup would take it. His tribe is also humble enough to change their hearts, instead of merely having a single leader with a changed heart. This is still salvageable.

For the movies, I believe the next step would have been to make Hiccup the actual king of the Wilderwest by having him introduce law. Since it would then be outlawed to hunt and kill dragons for sport, the archipelago might have a decent future for a time.

If then further modern conflict arose and the law couldn't prevent people from breaking it, we'd be back at the needed intervention of a God. A good God who will change your heart for the better if you submit your free will back into his hand, to form and to mold it, because you trust him that this is best for you, and for everyone.

That is literally Christianity.

And I have the right to mix that into the Httydverse because Httyd literally asks those kind of questions. Httyd searches for idealism with realistic resources. Idealism, however, can only be achieved when we let the LORD take our flaws and let him gently show us a better way.

I stick to the movies because even though the movies never get to the point where some saving Gods would be a necessary option, the spirit is clearly there. This is the hope which the movies carry, - the hope of real, changed hearts, redeeming humanity bit by bit - and which the books don't.

Yeah.

#httyd books #httyd books fandom #wherethekiteflies #analysis #httyd books analysis #christianity

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cartoonus-maximus · 8 months ago

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Notes and Observations on FNAF TFTP Vol 3: Somniphobia

So… Volume 3. It sure is a volume. Regrettably, I was bored through most of it. Like, I enjoyed it more than I did Volume 2, but that's an extremely low bar. I thought the Epilogue was the best part of the whole volume, tbh.

These are my notes and observations made while listening to the audiobook, which I borrowed from my local library. Fair warning: there will be spoilers. If you want the whole experience for yourself, you should skip this and go read/listen to the book yourself first.

I like the cover art, though. It's simple but fun. Just the way I like my silly children's horror books from Scholastic.

Note to any Moon fans who just happen to be here: he only shows up at the very end of the first story. He doesn't say anything. In fact he mainly just stands there and stares weirdly at the protagonist. However, he and the protag end up walking off together to "seek out adventures," so there's that. Do with that information what you will.

We also get a surprise appearance of Ballora in one of these stories! Which I found to be a very pleasant surprise and one of the highlights of this volume.

Here are my observations on the other books from this series, if you are interested.

That's enough intro. Let's get into it.

"Somniphobia"

Somniphobia -- the fear of sleep. Generally caused by bad experiences with nightmares, sleep paralysis, or other bad experiences had while sleeping.

The story opens at a yard sale, where an older married couple are scoping out the yard sale that their neighbors are putting on. They discuss the reason behind the yard sale, and tell us that their neighbor's son has mysteriously fallen into a coma, and because of this the neighbors are selling off a lot of their possessions in order to pay medical bills. One of the items being sold by the family is a toy that belonged to their son -- a snowglobe-like toy with a Daycare Attendant Moon figure inside. The implication is that this Moon globe is the reason for why this boy has mysteriously fallen into a coma.

We then transfer our attention over to our actual main character, a high school boy named Sam Barker. Sam and his friends are eating lunch and talking about weird fears that they each have, from cliffs to clowns to amusement park rides. Sam apparently has a long, extensive list of fears, so much so that his friends roll their eyes and make fun of him. (And no, none of the fears listed at this point will be important later. Wasted foreshadow potential.)

Later that evening, Sam and his friends go to a party at a classmate's house. He's too socially awkward to really engage much with the other party goers, so he mostly just… hangs out.

He ends up talking with Lydia, a girl he's had study group with before, and she flirts with him before trying to get him to try an alcoholic drink with him. Sam refuses the drink, talking about how unsafe and unhealthy alcohol is. When Lydia tries talking about how she wants to try cliff diving, Sam starts telling her what the statistic likelihood is of her being injured or dying from that hobby. Obviously uncomfortable, the girl politely ends the conversation and leaves.

Sam's friends all harangue him about being such a wet blanket. One boy, Jules, tries to force Sam to drink the alcohol (to lighten up!), and Sam has a panic attack. Sam goes home alone, and his friends, feeling bad about sending him into a spiral, leave shortly thereafter. Jules argues that he was "just joking" and didn't do anything wrong, but the other three boys in the friend group tell him off. (Well, at least these kids don't universally suck.)

Some time later, one of the members of the friend group, Raad, decides to spend his birthday at the Pizzaplex. (Because it's soooo common for high school seniors to spend hours at a Chuck E. Cheese place, I guess????) The whole group goes with him.

(The audiobook narrator mispronounces "Fazer-blast." Not important to the story, just mildly annoying.)

At the Pizzaplex, Glamrock Freddy and Roxanne Wolf walk around the building, interacting with visiting children. Sam wonders if they're human employees in costume or if they're the real animatronics. (Pretty sure those are the animatronics, pal.)

Despite wanting to hang out and have a good time with his friends, Sam feels overstimulated. He thinks of the Pizzaplex as "constant sensory overload." He thinks everything is too loud, surrounded by the noises of the arcade games, animatronic performers, music being pumped over loud speakers, and the general chatter of the patrons around him, and he can't escape the smells of pizza, popcorn, and cotton candy.

Raad takes them to an arcade room of the Pizzaplex. He says he wants to win a "Moondrop Dream Sphere," which is apparently a top prize in the Pizzaplex arcade. He explains that the thing -- a little ball with a figure of the Moon Daycare Attendant in it -- lights up and is supposed to 'help you slip into a hypnotic state and focus better on things.' The toy "is supposed to take things from your subconscious and bring it more clearly into view." He says he thinks it could be helpful for studying, as he is failing physics and is willing to take any help he can get. (That's… so weird.)

The DA character is called "Moondrop the Jester" in this story.

The boys apparently come here often, and already have 790 tickets saved up. Since the Moondrop Dream Sphere costs 1,000 tickets, the boys are determined to earn them all today. They manage it, earning 1,001 tickets and earning their new toy. Thrilled with their winnings, the boys return back to Raad's house to try the thing out.

When Raad pauses to greet his pet dog, Sam immediately launches into a story about a man who had his face eaten off by his own dog. Raad does not enjoy the anecdote, or the implication that his own dog might do that. (Oh my god, Sam! Ya gotta install a mouth filter, buddy. Some thoughts need to stay in your head.)

(Sam gives me autistic vibes. Don't know if that's intentional or important or neither. And given the fate of the *last* character to give me autistic vibes, I'm a little wary at this point.)

The instructions on the toy advise only using it for 10 minutes a day. Setting a timer, the boys take the snow globe/jester toy out, along with their school notebooks, and prepare a "hypno-study session."

Once the Dream Sphere is turned on, the boys are sucked into some sort of shared, lucid dream experience, where they're all sharing knowledge and memories from their textbooks. They walk around the Egyptian pyramids out of Jules' history notes, while also reading and memorizing physics facts. When the ten minutes are up, the Dream Sphere powers itself down, and the boys return to themselves.

Raad lets Sam borrow the Dream Sphere, and he takes it home with him. Sam uses it to study the next day, and it leaves him feeling so good and happy and energetic afterward, that he cleans up the apartment he and his mother live in and even cooks dinner for his mother.

The following day, Sam decides to use the Dream Sphere again, this time deciding to use it for 15 minutes, blatantly ignoring the instructions that came with it. (A strange thing for the "everything is dangerous and you could die, actually" guy to do.)

"Sam heard rock music blaring from his mom's bedroom. Mom was painting again." Lol. Anyone walking in on me doing art.

"… like a human computer downloading a file." … Interesting way to phrase that.

After staying in the Dream Sphere for 15 minutes, Sam finds himself reliving a memory from his own childhood, a memory of playing in the park with his late father. Something "blue and gray" shifts in the corner of his vision. (Hello, Moon!)

Over the next few days, Sam uses the Dream Sphere more and more, using it to re-experience the time he spent with his dad. He uses the sphere for longer than the instructions suggested each time. Every once in awhile, he thinks he sees a hat with a bell or something blue out of the corner of his eye, but it's always gone when he turns to look.

Sam's mom grows concerned about the toy when Sam mentions that it's supposed to put him in a suggestive state. She jokes that he's going to come out of it "clucking like a chicken" one of these days, but she also genuinely expresses concern about it, commenting that something like that can't be terribly healthy. Sam ignores her concerns, but also doesn't tell her the truth about his usage of the toy - that he's reliving the memories of his dad.

One night, Sam struggles to sleep, feeling keyed up and anxious. He only calms down once he takes the Dream Sphere in his hands.

The next day, Sam has "a bad case of brain fog" and is irritable and unfocused. He spaces out so badly at one point that he doesn't even realize a class is over, and ends up snapping at Lydia, his not-girlfriend, and picks fights with his friends. (This story is extremely obviously a metaphor for drug addictions.)

After being unfocused and irritable all day at school, Sam goes home and uses the Dream Sphere again. He finally relaxes, and feels like he belongs in the "lucid, dreamlike" world of the Dream Sphere.

The Sphere no longer makes him feel happy and energetic, like it did the first few times. Now it makes him feel relaxed and tired. When he looks in the mirror, he almost doesn't recognize himself: he looks paler than usual, with deep bags under his eyes, and has his fists clenched as if in preparation for a fight.

"He tried to smile, but it didn't look natural. He gave up on trying to look happy, and went out to meet his mother." (Paraphrased, but roughly what the text says at one point.)

Sam forgets a commitment he made to help a friend with something, and then blows off his mother when she reminds him to do his chores. She points out that he hasn't done his chores or worn clean clothes in days, even though he's usually so good about those things. She zeroes in on the Dream Sphere, the only thing new in his life that she knows about and something that she knows he's weirdly defensive about, and she tells him to give it back to Raad. They get in a fight about it.

"Are you doing something that you are not supposed to be doing?" (It's okay, Mrs. Barker, you can ask if he's using drugs. These books are rated for middle schoolers and up, you're allowed to reference drug use in this manner.)

Mad at his mother for her "wild accusation," Sam retreats to his room, where he uses the Dream Sphere again.

He has strange dreams that night and doesn't sleep very well. He feels bad enough the next morning that he tells his mother he thinks he needs to stay home from school, and, after checking him over and thinking he seems genuinely sick, his mother agrees.

Sam and his mother have a talk, both apologizing for the fight last night. They talk about Sam's late father and how they both miss him. (Weird to see a healthy family relationship in these books.)

Sam spends a long time with the Dream Sphere that day, reliving memories of his dad. He has a realization that his dad would probably be disappointed in some of Sam's recent choices.

Sam and the Dream Sphere go through all of his memories of his father, finally reaching the day his father dies in a motorcycle accident while Sam is still a young child. Sam doesn't want to relive the memory, and he forces himself out of the lucid state and shuts off the Dream Sphere.

Even with the Sphere shut off, Sam is still trapped in the memory, reliving his dad's death. He tries shutting the Sphere off again, and this time it works. Terrified of this experience, Sam finally snaps out of love with the Dream Sphere, and decides that he needs to return it to Raad immediately.

Catching sight of his reflection in a mirror, Sam sees that blood vessels have burst in his eyes, and he's bleeding in them.

Sam goes to Raad's house, only to find no one home but the dog, Brutus. To his surprise, the front door is unlocked, allowing him to walk directly into the house. No one is home. He calls Raad's cell phone, and Raad answers, saying that he and the other guys just got out of school; when Sam tells him the door was unlocked, Raad gets frustrated with himself for leaving it unlocked. Raad says that he and the other guys are heading back to his place after school, so if Sam wants to just wait around for them they should be there in about 25 minutes. Sam agrees.

Back with the other boys, Raad tells the others that it's Jules' turn with the Dream Sphere next. Jules, fully knowing that Sam is waiting for them at Raad's house, decides they should make Sam wait, and cajoles the other guys into coming with him to the Pizzaplex to try out a new arcade game. (Because obviously we can't have them being good friends or showing up to help their friend in any way. That would be too inconvenient.)

While waiting for them, Sam considers the Dream Sphere one last time. Against his better judgement, he decides to use it again. He doesn't even bother setting a timer this time.

This time, Sam lucid dreams a perfect world. He asks Lydia to go to prom with him. She readily agrees, seeming pleased that he specifically asked her. During the dream, he gets a phone call from his dad, who is still alive and tells him that his mom just sold her first painting, and the family is going out to celebrate. Sam can't remember ever feeling this happy before, and is thankful that the Moondrop toy gave him such a good dream this time.

He comes across the Moondrop Dream Sphere. He finds this strange, since he's never seen it as part of the dream before.

He also starts to hear sounds trickle in from the real world, and he realizes how long he's been in this dream world. He also realizes that he never actually plugged the Dream Sphere in anywhere when he arrived at Raad's house (it's an electrical device, so it shouldn't work unless it's plugged in), and that it just magically turned on by itself when he willed it to.

(… Really? We're doing this? Ugh, fine.) While Sam is trapped in the dream world, he can feel his face being eaten off by Raad's dog.

Moondrop the Jester appears in this dream world (yes, the full-size Daycare Attendant) and watches Sam while Sam writhes in pain. Shortly, the pain subsides, presumably telling us that Sam's body has died. No longer in pain, Sam no longer cares about that sort of thing, and purposefully turns his back on reality, choosing to follow the Daycare Attendant deeper into the dream world, "eager to see what new adventures they could create together."

I don't understand the ending. The story was set up for Sam to fall into a coma due to overuse of the Dream Sphere, likely due to drowning in the dream world, but instead he gets his face eaten off by a dog and (presumably) dies on his friend's couch? Why? What was the point of the opening scene then, if not to foreshadow the ending? What the point of introducing Sam being having him talk at length about how he can't swim and how he's afraid of water? Does the art of foreshadow mean nothing anymore?

And this may come as a surprise to (-checks author credits on wikia-) Kelly Parra, but dogs don't just randomly eats people's faces off while they're asleep! DX That's a dumb ending to the story!

I do like the idea of Sam essentially walking off into the sunset with the Daycare Attendant, though. That part of the ending amuses me greatly. (And I can think of several people I've seen online who wish they could walk off into the sunset with the DA, lol.)

Sam in this story be like: "Friendship ended with reality. Now Moondrop is my new best friend."

"Pressure"

(-tries to restrain self from humming "Under Pressure"- -fails miserably-)

This story centers around a group of high schoolers by names of Luca, Nolan, Maddy, and Asher. Luca is our protagonist, and, like any good FNAF book protagonist, Luca isn't particularly fond of his friend group. Also like any good FNAF teen group (or really just teens in any horror media, actually) these kids are all incredibly annoying and unlikeable as characters.

The group originally formed a friend group because the three boys -- Luca, Nolan, and Asher -- play together on the school football team and enjoy the same horror movies, and Maddy, one of the school cheerleaders, is both Nolan's girlfriend and Luca's childhood friend and crush. (There's an unnecessary amount of drama regarding Luca's feelings about Maddy.)

The teens are visiting "Urban Legend Role-players Auditorium," a section of the Mega Pizzaplex where customers can dress in costumes provided by Fazbear's and participate in a LARP game with other costumed customers. The game is specifically to act out the "rumors and ghost stories that had become associated with the Fazbear Entertainment brand over the years."

While other kids fight over costumes of the animatronic characters, Luca wants to play the night guard, citing that he wants to "play the hero."

Even though the murders are brushed off as fictitious, Luca believes they really happened. This makes him a bit of a conspiracy theorist. His friends think his beliefs and interest in the whole thing is weird, and Luca hates having to defend himself against them.

(Wow. Assuming the child murder *actually* happened in the past, Fazbear's really just looooovvvves making light of it, don't they? And, if the murders never happened, if it's all just rumors and hearsay and fictitious stories, Fazbear's is still really invested to using these stories are part of their brand. Because nothing says family fun like ritualistic child murder and deadly haunting, amirite?)

The kids look at different play scripts for roleplay games they could choose from. They gravitate toward one called "Green-Eared Killer," a short rp script about three teenagers who break into the Fazbear Frights haunted house and get stalked by Springtrap, with the kids having to try escaping before getting killed by Springtrap. (… I just had a flashback to an rp thread I wrote with a friend ages ago, with a very similar plot line.)

Despite wanting to play the night guard in a different scenario (and despite believing that the murders really happened and people really died), Luca gets bullied into playing Springtrap for the game. He's not into it, but the other three really want to play the teen victims in this slasher set-up.

(…. Luca. My good dude. If a girl calls your eyes "platinum magic," you should *absolutely* ask her for a second date.)

The Springtrap costume is extremely ugly, realistic, and smells terrible. It also feels gross and crusty.

Luca doesn't want to play a killer, even if it's fake, because one of his childhood friends really was kidnapped and found dead weeks later. Luca had thought of his friend like a little brother, and it hurt and horrified him that something so awful could happen to someone he knew. He still had nightmares about it. His friends don't know about this, and just harass him until he agrees to play Springtrap for them.

(If these kids don't shut up soon, I'm going to start stabbing them myself.)

On the way to the game room, Luca (in full Springtrap costume) passes by some younger girls who are playing. One of the girls is dressed as Foxy and is mock-lunging at the others, and they all seem to be enjoying their game, which Luca finds cute. He then notices an adult male employee also watching the girls, the grown man watching them too closely and smiling to himself about it. The man is very clearly a creeper, and it disgusts Luca. Luca starts to go confront the man, only to get distracted by some little boys running past him. Looking back at the man, Luca sees that the man has turned his attention to the boys, the same creepy, too-interested-for-comfort smile on his face. Luca decides to go confront the creep, but gets distracted by one of his friends calling to him. When he turns back, the man is gone.

(This creeper's description makes me think of Pinkypill's design for William Afton, since he's described as pale and thin and gaunt and having blue-eyes.) (Yes, I'm aware that Afton literally has silver eyes in those books, but it's specified that his eyes used to be blue, so I'm counting him as 'blue-eyed.')

(Also this scene is very reminiscent of the "Go Go Go, Foxy" minigame from FNAF2, with the imagery of Foxy playing with a bunch of children while a creepy, smiling guy stands nearby.)

The kids enter the game room they'll be using. The room, or rather set of rooms, has been designed to resemble something like the Fazbear's Fright horror attraction. Wall decor includes both old Freddy's memorabilia, children's drawings, and sets of fake knives (for some reason). One section of the rp stage shows what looks like children's birthday party that was abandoned midway through, with paper plates and party hats strewn across the table and floor. There are also other animatronics in this set-up - a Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica on a central stage, and a Foxy in Pirate's Cove. These animatronics are more like statues than anything else, but have some mobility, as they can move their arms up and down.

As Springtrap, Luca starts the game in a "safe room." He also has a prop knife.

(I love how there are no knives ever in any of the games, brandished by any character for any reason, but in every single book featuring a killer in a rabbit suit they are *always* portrayed with knives. And of course, Lillard's iconic knife usage in the movie. But the games get a total of 0 (zero) knives, and at this point, I just find it comical.)

The kids start their game. As Luca starts to stalk his friends, he feels something inside his costume "gauge his arm." Other parts of the costume start to poke and prod him at various points. Irritated, Luca can't wait to get out of this costume.

At one point, he hears Balloon Boy voice lines play over an intercom, the same way it plays in FNAF3; Luca recognizes this game as a VR game.

SpringLuca and Maddy both get jump scared by Foxy, who almost brings his hook down on both of them. Luca jumps, and something inside the Springtrap costume clamps shut around his leg, puncturing him. Luca cries out in pain, but his friends think he's just playing the character and trying to scare them, so they run away like they're supposed to. Luca can feel his leg bleeding, and he tries and fails to get his friends' attention.

As the game progresses, Luca gets stabbed by more and more parts of the costume. His friends all find places to hide and Luca feels like he's alone in the rooms. He tries to take the costume off, but can't figure out how to. He only gets punctured more for his efforts, and ends up bleeding and in a lot of pain.

Luca grabs Maddy, trying to alert her to his injuries. As he does, metal parts of the costume clamp around his head, pressing against his skull and into his scalp and even pressing into his mouth, and several small hooks attaching the costume head to his own flesh. He almost falls to the ground screaming in pain.

A series of snaps sounds throughout the costume, and Luca feels himself getting pierced in several places. He howls in pain, and, for the first time in awhile, his friends all pause, staring at him. Maddy, Nolan, and Asher, thinking Luca is just playing and getting into character, pretend to be scared and all scramble away in mock fright. They laugh gleefully and run away while Luca suffers.

Luca considers just sitting down somewhere near the exit door and waiting for his friends to get bored. But he's been bleeding pretty heavily inside the costume from his injuries, and feeling woozy from the pain and blood-loss, so he decides his best course of action is to continue trying to get his friends' attention. (Because that's been working so well for him. -rolls eyes- )

(Shouldn't there be employees nearby? Like, this roleplay set-up is essentially an escape room for kids, so shouldn't there be a Fazbear employee nearby, just for safety? Couldn't Luca try to get the attention of an employee?)

"A row of pizza ovens… dark and empty…" (Well I should *hope* they're empty! Last time I saw a pizza oven in Fazbear's Fright, there was a whole man in it!)

Okay, and now we have a brief convo about mob mentality. (Well, group think, but y'know. Same difference. And I recognize that this story is trying really hard to be a warning about the dangers of peer pressure, but it's not doing a good job about it, and this whole convo feels very hamfisted.)

Luca gets separated from his friends so much, he can't find them anymore. Feeling too weak and woozy to continue looking for them, he collapses, curling up in the corner of one of the fake storage rooms.

Asher, Nolan, and Maddy leave the game, deciding it's over. They barely even notice that Luca isn't with them. Literally leaving their friend behind, they decide to go get a pizza. (I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say that I think each of these kids should have gotten stabbed in the leg with a big knife. Ugh, they're the worst.)

After taking a rest, Luca manages to get back up. His shoes are now soaked in his own blood. While Luca is wondering if his friends are still around, he notices prop costumes moving nearby, as though someone had brushed past them. He hears a door open and slam shut somewhere nearby, following by many small footsteps and children's voices. Luca realizes that this group of kids are taking their own turn at the "Green-Eared Killer" game. He then realizes that that means his friends have abandoned him.

"He would [wait for the kids to leave] before approaching the exit door, pounding on it until someone opened it. Or until he died. Whichever came first."

While waiting for the kids to move on, Luca ducks into a dark corner where they won't see him. From this new vantage point, Luca is able to see that creepy man from earlier has entered the game room, and is putting on a Springtrap costume himself.

"… the pervert in the rabbit suit." Idk why, I just thought this line was funny.

Even in severe pain and believing that he's actually dying, Luca makes up his mind to tackle the creep before he hurts anyone.

When he hears one of the kids screaming, Luca begins to fear the worst. He follows the sounds to where the terrified little girl is trying to escape the grasp of the creepy man. Having enough of this guy, Luca tackles the man, putting him in a choke hold.

(And it's made very clear that this isn't a misunderstanding or anything -- this man definitely has bad intentions for these kids. We're not told what those intentions are exactly, but clearly it's nothing good. The kids don't even seem to know him, and the little girl he grabs actually bites him to get away, something children usually only do with people they don't like or strangers.)

Luca dies while strangling this man, ensuring that they both die together. Luca's last thoughts are about how this, his final act, is the first time in a long time that's done something for himself, of his own accord, because he felt it was the right thing to do.

I have a few observations about parts of this story:

First, I need to say that the vibes of that ending scene made me think of this scenario from skeletoninthemelonland. Just, Luca embodying his new rabbit form so completely, while also deciding that he's going to take control of his body back, and using his last bit of control to take down a man who is an obvious threat… Made me think of the fan concept of Spring Bonnie not being happy with Afton using it to harm children.

Second, I find it interesting that the general public knows the story of the Fazbear murders and hauntings, but the facts around them are so murky that anyone who believes they really happened is labeled "a conspiracy theorist." Outside of the Fazbear higher-ups, no one knows for sure if the murders happened or not, or how much truth is attached to the stories, if any. I just find that interesting.

And thirdly, let's talk about Fazbear's business tactics. Whether the murders really happened or not doesn't matter -- Fazbear's is capitalizing off of the stories. Which is just… so gross and weird. Because whether the stories are true or not, this company, which markets itself to children and families with children, is attaching stories of child abductions and murders to its brand, and attaching it so openly that children are encouraged to act out these stories on the building's premises. Can you imagine going to Disneyland and they openly talk about some of the shadier goings-on in their industry, and were encouraging small children to act it out? Wouldn't that be weird and make you feel gross?

So yeah, just further confirmation that Fazbear's is a godawful company and is nothing but harmful to its customers and employees alike. What else is new?

"Cleithrophobia"

Cleithrophobia -- the fear of being trapped, or locked in a small space.

There are stained glass windows in the Pizzaplex. We are again told that the Pizzaplex is shaped like a giant pizza - circular, with wedge-shaped sections for different activities.

We open on a group of teens who are visiting the Pizzaplex together for the first time, and are exploring all the different activities they can try out. They pass by the roleplay section (as seen in "Pressure"), the climbing tubes (as seen in "HAPPS"), a Chica-themed Tilt-a-whirl, a broken down AR booth (as seen in "Under Construction"), a dining room, a carousel (as depicted in the "Help Wanted 2" game), an arcade, the laser tag arena. They also spot the theater, and remark that there is a "little kids play area under [the theater]."

The kids have acquired a map of the building, and are pouring over it to see if they missed any attractions during their initial walk-around. Eric points that the index lists a "Ballora's Fitness and Flex" section, but that it's not depicted anywhere on the map images. Deciding to ignore it, the kids get in line to ride the indoor roller coaster.

The story then flashes back to "Five Months Earlier," refocusing on our new protag, a man named Grady, who is a technician who works at the newly built Pizzaplex. Grady is doing rounds through the building, checking each of the individual attractions before opening. While everything is dark and turned off, he thinks the building feels a bit like an empty circus tent.

Grady is part of a team of three technicians. The team are working under orders to stay together at all times, but, when the other two knock off early, Grady chooses to stay behind to get some extra work in; they're behind schedule, and Grady would rather do the work now than come in to do on the weekend.

The computer system of the Pizzaplex has recently been installed, but something is wrong with it. It was storing data just fine at first, but the system glitched for some reason and lost all the data at once. Because of this, a lot of the technical aspects and programming around the Pizzaplex is having to be re-coded again.

A use of the word "phenom" that feels very forced. (I don't know, that word's just weird to me. I've literally never heard it before in my life until FNAF started using it.)

Grady goes to work on "Ballora's Fitness and Flex." This attraction in the basement of the Pizzaplex, and features vertical climbing tubes that run up and down the walls, allowing kids to climb up and slide down them. There are ladders to reach the openings of the tubes. The tubes are narrow and strangely shaped, with the shape of them meant to encourage the climbers to slightly contort their bodies -- not enough to hurt, but enough to encourage a level of flexibility. (This sounds like a dumb idea, but okay.) (Also this is just real life Chutes and Ladders / Snakes and Ladders.)

Because of a traumatic experience with a babysitter (who locked him in a closet for several hours instead of actually babysitting, an experience that caused child!Grady to injure himself, become dehydrated, and eventually pass out from lack of air), Grady has a severe fear of tight spaces.

Unfortunately for him, he's the only one of the technicians who can fit into the climbing tubes in Ballora's Fitness, so it's his job to enter them and check to make sure they're safe. (Which I have to say, is extremely dumb. They're plastic, see-through tubes. They either work or they don't. It's not like they're connected to the computer system.) He's also going to check on Ballora and make sure she's functioning, as the animatronic ballerina is present in this section of the Pizzaplex; to get to her, he's still going to have to go through the tubes. (Why does he have to go through the tubes, though? I don't understand any part of this set up.)

Almost as soon as Grady starts climbing, Ballora pops up through the floor on a platform sticking out from the wall. She turns to look at him (wow! Open eyed Ballora!) and greets him cheerfully. This version of Ballora is just her upper body (so torso, arms, and head) and is attached to a mechanism that moves her throughout the attraction. Her hair is styled in a bun and comb like a flamenco dancer. She also usually sings in short verses in lieu of regular speech.

"'I encourage you to slide on in,' Ballora started singing again. 'That's the best way to begin.'" (*opens mouth* ... *closes mouth* No, I can't. It's too easy.)

Grady doesn't like Ballora's singing; he thinks she sounds sinister.

Ballora assures Grady that she's here to make sure he doesn't get stuck in a tube. Soon enough, Grady does get stuck, and Ballora, mounted on the mechanical arm, enters the tube to pull him out. She pulls him too hard though, and it nearly wrenches his arms from their sockets. She pulls him all the way through the tube, cheerfully unaware of the injury she's causing to Grady, and drops him off on one of the wall platforms.

"Please, can I help? I want to help." (Big fan of this take on Ballora's character.)

As much as Ballora wants to help, she either wasn't programmed properly or has some sort of glitch in her system (possibly from the system-wide computer crash). The next time Grady needs her help, she grabs him too hard and ends up crushing his hands and shattering his finger bones. Further "help" from her ends up breaking other bones in his body, including those in his arms and legs. Unable to hold his hands properly anymore, Ballora tries to grab another part of Grady's body, leading to her accidentally stabbing one of her fingers through his eye, and then breaking his nose.

Grady's coworkers Ronan and Tate return, as they carpool together and Ronan forgot his house keys at the Pizzaplex. While they're here, they realize that Grady is doing the check-up on Ballora's tonight, so they decide to check in on him.

(Unrelated to the story, but I am madly, desperately in love with Ronan. I need this fictional side-character man carnally.)

Ronan and Tate check on Grady. They come face to face with the mangled remains of Grady, still in a tube. His body is broken in many places, and he's been stretched to "nearly twice" as tall as he normally is. Ronan nearly throws up, while Tate looks closer at Grady, eventually determining that Grady is blinking and therefore still alive.

(I know Tate is just supposed to be an annoying self-centered loser prick, but I think it's weird that he knows just a *little* too much about the legal workings at Fazbear's and is a *little* too comfortable around a mangled body. His knowledge and behaviors are super suspicious, and for no reason.)

After some inspection of what's left of Grady, the two men think their coworker has mere minutes left. Tate believes it's worthless to call for help, as he doesn't think Grady would survive the rescue. Unknown to either of them, Grady is still alive and slightly lucid, able to hear their voices but not understand most of their words.

In the end, the two men leave, abandoning their coworker to his fate. In his dying moments, Grady is still being pulled and tugged on by Ballora, who is trying very hard to help him get unstuck.

As Ballora continues to drag his near-lifeless body around, she keeps repeating "You are stuck. Let me help you. I want to help you. You are stuck. I want to help you." She seems to be glitched out, and is either unaware that her charge is injured or knowing that he's injured and being unable to do anything about it.

I didn't have many notes to take for this story. Not much happens in it -- just a game of IRL Chutes and Ladders gone terribly wrong. That doesn't mean I don't have a few thoughts about it, though.

I like the inclusion of Ballora. I'm intrigued by the idea of Ballora being in the Pizzaplex somewhere, but she's been locked away, closed off from everything else.

I also liked the segment of the unrelated teenagers checking out all the attractions that the Pizzaplex has to offer. The segment gives us a clearer idea of what the Pizzaplex looks like in these books, and revisits some areas we've already seen (like the AR booth and the climbing tubes) while also showing us a few areas we haven't seen yet. Makes me wonder if we're going to a get story later down the line that focuses on the theater area.

The story mentions there being a weird glitch in the computer system at the Pizzaplex, telling us that the whole system -- including security systems, the arcade machines, the lights, and even the animatronics, since everything is connected to a single system -- all crashed and now behaving strangely, and the technicians are basically having to go through everything piece by piece and reprogram everything. Makes you wonder if this crash was random, or if it was directly caused by something… Like, for example, someone hacking into the system that shouldn't have been there (like Patient 46) or an AI entering the system (like the Mimic) or a virus being uploaded to the system (like Glitchtrap). Food for thought.

This story focuses really hard on Grady's trauma and its origins, when it absolutely doesn't need to. The most it needs to say is that Grady was locked in a small closet for several hours by his babysitter. But instead, we spend quite awhile reliving Grady's memory with him, as his babysitter and her boyfriend trick him into the closet, and Grady screams and cries for over an hour, only for help to nearly arrive too late. The story spends more time on this, Grady's original childhood trauma, than it does on his slow death by Ballora's attempts to help. I don't know if that's important or anything (and I only say this because it's not the first time we've seen a terrified child locked in a closet by a cruel teenager in this franchise), or if the writer/s simply focused on the wrong section of the story.

And again, suspicious Tate is suspicious. I don't know he's meant to stand out as a suspicious character or not, but… there's a weird amount of attention put on him. Grady thinking Tate looks uncannily like his original abuser, with similar facial features, similar mannerisms, and the same cocky smirk. It's made clear that Tate isn't interesting in doing his job well, but that he also know entirely too many specifics about the Fazbear's employee rules -- the same rules that he pretends not to know or care about when Grady asks him directly about them. He's shown to be oddly calm about Grady's predicament, so much so that he's described as "gawking at [Grady's remains] like he was looking at an exhibit at a zoo," and he's even the one to decide to just leave Grady to his fate.

(I also think Tate gives off Michael Afton energy, but maybe that's just me.) (Or maybe I'm getting wires crossed and thinking of Michael Tait. Who can say?)

(If you don't know who Michael Tait is already, all you need to know about him is he's a Christian performer who would definitely be on Scott's radar. All I'm really saying here is, if the character Tate is meant to be some sort of parallel for Michael, the real person Michael Tait may have inspired Scott or one of his team members to choose the name "Tate." Again, I'm just spitballing here, and it may not mean anything.)

Epilogue:

Lucia and her friends listen in fear to the monster's footsteps. The teens have locked themselves in a small store room, and they can hear the thing (the Mimic) stalking around outside, searching for them.

The teens decide to split up to look for possible exits. Team 1 is Hope and Nick, Team 2 is Adrian and Jase, Team 3 is Lucia and Kelly, and Team 4 is Joel and Wade. The teams are chosen largely based on which kids are already friends and work well together, with the exception of Lucia and Kelly, who don't know each other that well yet but don't dislike each other.

Jase is an artist and has a good memory, and draws them a map of the Pizzaplex and basement based on their earlier exploration of it. They divvy up all the rooms and areas in the Pizzaplex, each team being given a list of areas to search. (Pretty standard "teens in a horror story" explanations.) Once their stalker vanishes, the kids make it back upstairs, where they begin searching.

(I don't understand what they're looking for. I thought they were looking for a way out, but now Lucia and Kelly are searching the bathrooms, so I no longer know what they're doing.)

Wade and Joel search the employee lounge. They get scared out by a scraping sound coming from inside the vents in the walls. (I wish they had gotten jumped by a Mini Music Man. That would at least be funny.)

Nick and Hope search the backstage area of the theater. Hope feels like she's being watched. Nick opens a costume wardrobe, only to get grabbed by something and pulled inside. He's returned a moment later, but is now missing an arm. Metal arms reach out of the wardrobe to grab Nick again, this time twisting his head clean off his body. The metal creature steps into full view, and we get a description of it from Hope's point of view, telling us that it's definitely the Mimic as seen in the "Ruin" DLC. Hope runs away from the Mimic, surviving this initial encounter.

Meanwhile, Kelly and Lucia are now best friends. (Or they're flirting. Unclear.) They're interrupted by Hope running past them, screaming in terror. The two girls follow her, and are soon joined by the two pairs of boys. The rest of the teens try to get words out of her, but Hope is sobbing and shaking too hard to answer them, only wailing when they ask where Nick is.

The kids duck into the Parts and Service room and lock themselves into it, hoping to find a safe location or impromptu weapons they could use to defend themself.

Lucia describes the Parts and Service room as "looking like a beauty parlor for robots." She says there are three metal chairs in it that have clamps on the armrests, somehow looking like both salon chairs and torture devices. (Oh, like the Shreddy Fazchair from the movie, perhaps? Or maybe something akin to Roxanne's salon?) There are also several empty exoskeletons of Fazbear characters littering the room, though done of them resembling characters we've ever seen before -- there are dogs, and a cat, and another, undescribed character wearing green overalls.

Hope is finally able to tell the others what happened to Nick. When she finishes her story, one of the exoskeletons moves behind her, apparently not as empty as previously thought.

Wearing the suit of a dog character, the Mimic grabs Hope by the arms, tearing both her arms off in seconds. While the other kids scream, the Mimic turns Hope around, tearing off her legs, and then her head.

All at once and in a panic, the kids run to the door, too freaked out to open it at first. They finally get it open and run for their lives, the Mimic following slowly after them.

(It's weird that the Mimic tears off her legs. It wasn't programmed to do that.)

(But good… The epilogues are really getting interesting now. Love that for us.)

#five nights at freddy's #tales from the pizzaplex #a brief analysis #my thoughts and theory noodles #my tftp analysis

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