#the night guest

[taylor-titmouse]

The Night Guest (18+)

Ever since the death of her husband, Mrs. Arakawa has run her inn alone. There's never been a guest the seasoned innkeeper couldn't handle... but she's never had to host a hungry oni. It'll take all her wits and wiles to survive the night in his service--or else she may find herself in his mouth.

The Night Guest is a spin-off from The Dragon Double Feature 2, but takes place before it and can be read as a stand-alone story. This book features an older woman seducing a younger man, size difference, and more. You can find a full list of its contents on the shop page.

19k words, 11 spot illustrations, 3 half-page illustrations, one full page illustration. Available as a DRM free PDF or EPUB, and comes with a gallery ZIP of illustrations and development art, including subscriber exclusives.

Get it today for just $5!

Want more monster erotica? Check out my other works!

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: November Wrap-Up.

Hi, y'all! I'm actually shocked that I managed to get through four (4) books this month, because it was NANO and I also WROTE A WHOLE BOOK!! The (written) book in its two notebooks is pictured beneath the pen and NaNo Earrings :)

All of these reads were NaNo-adjacent, somehow (I like to stack my reading with my writing project so all the Vibes are Correct)--either Space, or Haunted, or Fucked Up Fungi (I wrote a weird book this month)(I had a great time).

Photos and/or reviews linked:

A HALF-BUILT GARDEN - ★★★½ I enjoyed this! It was very slow and contemplative, and I was surprised by how long it took me to read (#NaNoProblems), but I'm glad I did, and Rhamnetin was a DELIGHT.

JUST LIKE HOME - ★★★★ Reread for me, holds up very well! Star rating unchanged from first time through. I actually do recommend rereading this one, knowing exactly when Daphne dies.

GRAVEYARD SHIFT - ★★★½ I enjoyed this one too! Short fun weird little insomnia romp. Love a good fucked up fungus and a motley POV crew.

THE NIGHT GUEST - ★★★★ This was DEEPLY fucked up and AMAZINGLY crafted horror/suspense, and I definitely had delayed nightmares about it. I also love a good spec fic in translation (this one's from Icelandic!). Cats are NOT safe, very graphically so, so proceed with caution if that's a warning you need.

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. (Example: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!

[libraryofbaxobab]

September 15, 2024:

I thought I was in for a dramatic healthcare horror scenario where a woman is repeatedly ignored about her medical issues, but this is not quite that book. It's got other things to do.

It's giving modernized folklore. Other than the mythic origins of "nightmare," I couldn't give you the name of a specific creature or monster, but the vibe is recognizable.

Short and spooky, although it was the mystery portion that I found spookiest, rather than the monstrous parts.

7.5/10 #WhatsKenyaReading

[allbookedupblogstuff]

The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir

TL;DR: I doubt I’ll remember this, I really do. It was… okay? Source: Netgalley, many thanks to the publisher! Plot: A short story about a woman loosing her mind to pain and lack of sleep. Characters: Our only real character of note is Iðunn and I have to be honest, she wins my rarely awarded ‘Maybe Too Stupid to Live” award. Setting: The only real setting I can recall is a bit of a spoiler, but…

[victoriaperpetua]

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

This novella drew me in right away as I kept finding myself saying, “just one more page, just one more page . . .” Is this story about Iðunn’s descent into insanity or is there something more nefarious going on? I have my opinions, but I believe one has to read The Night Guest and decide for one’s self. It all starts out pretty normally but the next thing you know Iðunn is waking with…

[thebibliosphere]

I'm scrolling through some ambient noises to help me write, and it got me thinking. Y'know those white noise machines people use for sleeping?

Do you think there's a very specific brand marketed at Gothamites?

Like everyone else has rainy nights on the beach, whale song, the crackle of the campfire, and everyone's all-time favorite "rickety fan about to oscillate off your shitty ikea desk at four in the morning."

And then there's "The Sounds of Gotham," a nighttime ambiance made up of heavy thunderstorms interspaced with the wail of police sirens and the occasional smattering of gunfire.

If you upgrade to premium, you can get the added sound effect of "small vigilante child dropping onto your apartment roof followed by the heavy pitter-patter of their combat boots as they dropkick a criminal off the fire escape."

Mm. Cozy.

[riverlarking]

Succession (2018-2023) / The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015-)

[artemlegere]

𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝

𝐁𝐲 ����𝐝𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐀. 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭

𝐓𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧; 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧; 𝐓𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥; 𝐓𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝; 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞, 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.

𝐓𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧; 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐀𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧; 𝐓𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐎𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞; 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈 𝐚𝐦.

𝐓𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝; 𝐈𝐟 𝐞𝐧𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰, 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐞, 𝐓𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞, 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝.

Digital Art • Night Cityscape • IllustNation Nakata

[banditblvd]

Uh happy holidays and whatnot take the bandit equivalent to a lump of coal

[september-skeleton]

andrew garfield chicken shop date video of all time to ME. somehow simultaneously has the most (seemingly) romantic and natural chemistry while ALSO being the one that most blatantly acknowledges and almost criticises the pretence and orchestration fundamental to the format of the show. like it’s inherently paradoxical which makes it so FASCINATING. despite their flirting and dropping lore of their real life previous encounters (quote unquote meet cutes thanks for that one mr garfield) they also explicitly mention the facade of the show AND break the fourth wall- when he repeatedly touches the boom mic between them, and when they keep looking at the camera.

they deliver more successfully than ever on the central idea of the show while also actively deconstructing it! while breaking its established conventions! absolutely insane media experience 10/10

[taylor-titmouse]

The Night Guest (18+), Releases 7/12!

Ever since the death of her husband, Mrs. Arakawa has run her inn alone. There's never been a guest the seasoned innkeeper couldn't handle... but she's never had to host a hungry oni. It'll take all her wits and wiles to survive the night in his service--or else she may find herself in his mouth.

The Night Guest is a spin-off from The Dragon Double Feature 2, but takes place before it and can be read as a stand-alone story. This book features an older woman seducing a younger man, size difference, mommy dom, cunnilingus, praise, teaching, cowgirl position, and mating press.

19k words, 11 spot illustrations, 3 half-page illustrations, one full page illustration. Available as a DRM free PDF or EPUB, and comes with a gallery ZIP of illustrations and development art, including subscriber exclusives.

Pre-order today!

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: THE NIGHT GUEST by Hildur Knútsdóttir.

Sticking with the insomnia-flavored tiny horror theme (and also, apparently, the Deeply Fucked Up Bright Pink Books Published By Tor theme *side eyes JUST LIKE HOME*).

I watched (Zoomed) a conversation between Mary Robinette Kowal and Hildur on the day the book came out, and it was really interesting! Plus I am SO susceptible to Buying Books Impulsively Because I Think The Author Is Neat (*other side eyes unintentional Columbus Book Festival haul*), so I picked up a copy when Bookshop did a coupon for it.

I'm only a few chapters in, but so far I'm very intrigued! It's starting as a tense little mystery about Why Is She Always Exhausted When She Wakes Up and so far medical professionals have Found Nothing Wrong, which she knows is bullshit but can't solve (the exhaustion and the resignation about it are uh. too real. it's a very real book). The suspense and the tension are already ratcheting up, and the chapters are very bite-size and readable! Will report back a final verdict when I'm done!!

(Side note: it comes with apparently a massive content warning re: animal death/harm, which, per the Zoom conversation, does not fuck up Icelandic readers like it tends to fuck up American readers?? Specifics are all over Goodreads, so check there first if that's a heads up you need!)

[bogleech]

The complete walkthrough is too huge a video so here are just select highlights from our friend demonstrating her homemade escape room, really just three or four of a dozen puzzles @revretch and I found really fun and engaging! Friend is in engineering and spent her entire summer on just the light up map alone so I'm including her entire explanation of that part uncut. She isn't on social media but she hopes she gets nice comments and feedback anyway!

Reblog if you agree with us that she should consider doing this professionally, especially since this is a glimpse at how much she managed to build around a packed college schedule???

[rainbow-sunshine-unicorn]

The way Kate and Anthony were really just canoodling by the drinks table for most of the Ball

[softpawpup]

hello little one, it's so late, why are you still up? waiting for santa? well, you should really get some sleep if you want santa to come, sweet pea. santa comes so you can be surprised by your gift in the morning, i think it sounds fun to be surprised by your gift. how about we sleep together tonight? i'll put on your favorite christmas movie and i'll rub your back till you fall asleep. does that sound nice? good, i'm glad kiddo. now let's get comfy, that's right. all snuggly. and now for the movie. now just let yourself relax, sprout. i've got you. ziggy's got you. ~ from ziggy

[foldingfittedsheets]

There’s nothing I can say to out of town guests to make them understand. You cannot shut the washer once it’s task is done. You cannot leave the bathroom door shut. You cannot leave a damp towel on the ground.

The mold is coming. The mildew creeps ever closer. You cannot defeat it but you must take all the steps you can to fight it lest it overtake your dwelling.